#and when i got last years copy as an example

[nabi-unveiled]

2025 BL/QL Recs (Jan - July)

Tagged by: @hughungrybear @homegirlisgayandtired @dramalove247 @watchthisqqq Thank you so much 🫶.

When I first got tagged by @hughungrybear and saw their list here, my thoughts were .... it's time to copy/paste 😅. Because all of their favorites are ones I thoroughly enjoyed. And then I saw other peoples' lists and...yeah, I agree with those too.

There have been definite misses this year. I have (mostly privately) raged over writing and wasted potential. I have white-knuckled while hitting play on so many finale episodes. I have thrown things over a consensual kiss. I hated a plushie. I didn't even know that last one was possible for me prior to this year.

But the things that have hit...hit for a lot of us. There's a lot of overlap in peoples' lists. In the end, I decided to just have fun.

A few notes:

I removed ALL of the ones I watched this year that weren't from 2025 (so LFLS, Let Free the Curse, Light on Me, I Feel You Linger, Cooking Crush, etc.) or ones that started prior to 2025 (THK).

I AM interpreting this prompt as shows that bring me joy and that I'm glad I have in my life. I'm not looking for technical masterpieces here. That list would be very short, and it would remove most of the ones that had a death grip on my heart or brain.

So come watch this show with me if....

You want to listen to me talk non-stop about how everything has layers and multiple meanings. You have been warned. Block out at least a week.

When It Rains, It Pours

Revenged Love

I'm not joking about talking about these (in filtered code) with anyone and everyone. Even my homophobic father has seen the behind the scenes clip of the snake wrapped around Wu Suowei. I might've taken perverse pleasure in that "hey look at this" since he's terrified of snakes. My pettiness increases with age.

You want to see me melt into a puddle of goo....over bookcases.

Secrets Happened on the Litchi Island

Ballboy Tactics

These shows made me have warm and fuzzies anyways, but they went that extra step and pinned each other to a bookcase 🥰.

You want to watch me go slack jawed repeating "pretty...so pretty" like someone possessed.

Realistically, this could be almost all of these shows. For example, SHOTLI has gorgeous scenery. Many shows have moments that my brain short circuits. But...

Reset

Look, I know this show has plot and symbolism. But this is the live cam of me watching this show:

Don't ask me anything of consequence about this show. I'm just going to say "pretty...so pretty". And maybe squeal over Janine saying "Take Me". It's risky posting this now since the finale comes out later today, but whatever happens can't change the amount of pretty.

You want to laugh while I lose my mind over Little Prince references

Moon and Dust

I'm not talking about recognizing this...

That's child's play. I'm talking about recognizing this...

So. many. references. I heavily fixated on this show. But I was mega stressed that my imp might die so I didn't post a lot about it. Good news? He didn't die. Bad news? He's currently banished from his home planet and separated from his rose. This is not a happy ending, and it's been pulled currently anyways 😭. But I still think on it WAY TOO MUCH. I need to finish up the post that dives into all of the references. It's buried somewhere in my drafts. 😅I love my imp.

You want to relish in a "good" polycule

Whether they're of the "let's pretend poly could save them" (Secret Relationships)

"Holy crap, we might have a canon toxic polycule?" (Revenged Love)

Or "Wait, this is an actual, functioning and healthy throuple?" variety (Two Husbands, One Wife). I love them all.

In all seriousness, I highly recommend the last one. It's an easy binge.

You take perverse pleasure in watching other people sob uncontrollably. No, I am not a pretty crier.

Heesu in Class 2

Top Form

The experiments that came out of Top Form were fun, but yeah...way too many tears came with these shows. I almost didn't include them for that reason, but they tell me misery loves company.

You want to indulge me by watching a fic with visuals.

My Stubborn

This show has the bonus of two narratively relevant and symbolic plushies. The plushie wars have been fierce this year though, and I'm not ready to decide "best of the plushies" yet.

Desire

Obviously, this show is ongoing and could end up terrible. Doesn't change the fact that I have bonafide omegaverse on my screen.

You support your mutual even when they can't explain why they love a show.

Ok. I could explain it, but you might not agree.

Business as Usual

FC Soldout

They still bring me immense joy. Warm and fuzzies all over just looking at these gifs.

This is getting long (no surprises there) so I'll cut it off here. We'll save the rest for end of year posts.

No pressure tagging: @soypim @obsessedferalgremlin @babyangelsky @delesaria-blog and anyone who wants to do it.

[leonardcohenofficial]

I'm so curious about your record collection, sorry if you've talked about this before/too many questions

Do you focus on collecting a specific genre?

Do you mind repressings or do you try and focus on orignal pressings?

Any records with a "can't believe i randomly came across this" story?

Favourite record that was gifted to you?

Any albums you've bought as a souvenir for a trip?

Whats your routine when you get a new record? Ie. Do you listen to it right away, do you do chores/scroll through phone ?

Do you ever buy an album with no prior knowledge (you liked the musicians on the album, liked the album art etc)

Do you have a specific list of albums you want or do you pick up whatever you happen to come across? Any grails you're still searching for?

no apologies necessary! i love talking about records and collecting so this is sincerely appreciated <3

i collect a pretty wide range of genres! i would say that the genres i've collected the most of over the years are jazz soul and folk (which is pretty fitting given those are the ones i tend to spin the most while DJing) i don't mind repressings at all given 1) they're often cheaper 2) they can be easier to find than original pressings and 3) many times the mix on repressings can be better than originals—a shining example from my collection would be the 1997 iggy pop mix of the stooges raw power (which actually just got remastered in 2023), which is FAR superior to both the original mix and whatever the hell bowie thought he was doing with his mix lol i am very dedicated to the art of cratedigging so i do often find records that i am pleasantly surprised to stumble across; to share one example from the other day while at my new local shop, i found a copy of ike white's single "changin' times" which is notoriously hard to find so i immediately had to scoop it up (especially because it's super relevant to a research project i have going but that's a sidebar) folks on here have heard me talk about this many times over but my grandmother gave me my first records in my collection which were all the beatles albums she had as a teenager and those are probably the most special records i've ever been given it can be kind of hard to travel with a ton of records if you haven't prepped in advance to pack them safely so i don't tend to buy them if i'm flying somewhere and don't have a sturdy bag to bring them back but i did buy a bunch of records when i was last in london and got creative about bringing them back to the states (i can't remember everything i bought but i definitely got black flag's in my head and fela kuti's afrodisiac) i don't really have a routine when i buy new records tbh; i do my best to listen to them soon after i buy them because i do think it's silly to have them sitting around in plastic unlistened (because what's the point of having them if you're not going to listen to them) but sometimes titles do end up sitting around for a while lmao i love blind buying records especially from the dollar bin; it's a fun way to discover new artists on the cheap and you never know what you're gonna get! that being said i am a big proponent of using store listening stations especially if you're buying used just so you have a clear understanding of what you're getting and what condition the record is in my discogs wantlist is over a thousand titles deep LMFAO; i'm always on the lookout for albums on that list + i am a completist when it comes to certain artists' work so there are definitely titles still out there for me to find!

[lunapwrites]

Me: cool, I'm just about caught up with everything for work, and can finally start getting ready for Christmas! Especially since my nephews will be here tomorrow.

Work: [gently places ANOTHER massive project in my lap with a tight deadline.] Sooooo about that time off you were going to take...

[foldingfittedsheets]

My paternal grandmother was a librarian. I only got to see that set of grandparents once a year as they lived out of state. I fondly remember summers spent at their house watching That Darn Cat and The King and I on loop, hunting for water skippers in the back creek, and reading the entirety of the Peanuts comics.

Because my grandma was a librarian she was delighted to foster my love of reading. We made trips to the library every week. One summer when I was seven or so I got really into this kids series about princesses all named after gemstones, each had a unique magic power.

At the end of each book was a puzzle or some extra bit of lore to decode. All of them were easily copied down in some way. Until I got to Sapphire’s book. At the end of the story Princess Sapphire was in peril! She needed a hero to come save her from a terrible fate. And there, on the last page, was a decoder device. It needed to be cut out and assembled.

I had to help save the Princess!!! In the iron grip of a fever of imagination I immediately found scissors and started carefully cutting the page. The page warned only to use scissors with an adult present and I scoffed to think I needed supervision just for scissors! I was a hero!Her plight called to me from the pages, imaginings of how I would daringly rescue the beautiful sweet Princess Sapphire ran through my little brain-

And about halfway up the page toward my goal I froze. This was a library book. I couldn’t cut a library book! What was I doing?! Even now in my memory it stands as a glaring example of the first time I mastered impulse control. Tragically, too late.

I was distraught. My grandma had a sacred duty to books and I, villain that I was, had defiled a precious tome! I wallowed for some time in abject misery, experiencing the greatest amount of guilt my tiny body had ever previously held. I’d probably go to jail. For a crime as monumental as wielding scissors against a book I wouldn’t even get dessert in jail.

Gradually, I processed my way through the grief of my vile deeds. I couldn’t have the decoder, I slowly accepted. That might be punishment enough. And I had only cut the page halfway. So it was only half a crime... It wasn’t illegal to lie when you’d aborted an evil act, right?

I didn’t know but I didn’t want to face my grandma’s potential wrath. I have no memory of my grandma ever yelling at me. I waited until the next day to approach her.

“Grandma? I finished my book and when I got to the end I saw someone had cut the page! They probably wanted the decoder because I also want that but it was very bad to cut a book, wasn’t it?”

My grandma regarded me benignly. She carefully took the book to observe it and nodded. “It’s good to see that they stopped before they cut it all the way out. Let’s go tape this together, and then I can photocopy the page and we can make you a decoder.”

I was ecstatic. Rewarded for my honesty! I created and cracked codes for the rest of summer with the flimsy paper creation we’d made. I genuinely doubt my grandma believed that I wasn’t the perpetrator, but I loved that she acknowledged that the person responsible stopped.

[according2thelore]

it's close to eight by the time dean knocks on sam's door.

sam doesn't sleep in here--hasn't in a while--but it's nice to have his own space. it still has all of his things: the box of photos underneath his bed, his beat-up copy of frankenstein in the nightstand drawer, his journal.

that's what he's doing when dean finds him: journaling. he's lying back against his headboard, pen in hand, sketching out a sigil from one of their last cases. it's truly dismal, but his journal has always seemed so naked without the harsh lines of sketches. dad was a much better artist.

john used to say it was all that time in vietnam--being in the marines was long periods of being bored out of your mind before the most compressed three minutes of hell you could imagine. gave a man a lot of time to draw.

sam erases the sigil again. fuck.

dean's knuckles on his doorframe is equally a welcome reprieve and an extreme annoyance.

but when sam looks up, he's taken aback.

dean's dressed to go out.

to go out, go out.

he's wearing one of his tighter t-shirts underneath his nicest flannel, the one with both cuffs intact and the maroon colour still vibrant enough to bring out his eyes. he's wearing his ass-jeans, though dean has no idea that's what sam calls them. his hair is freshly washed, his stubble is freshly shaved, and sam knows if dean were just a little closer, he'd smell like cedar and open air and leather.

sam's stomach sinks.

dean hasn't gone out in...months.

not since...

"hey," dean says, a little out of breath. "get dressed."

no. god, no. fuck no, even.

sam can think of a million things he'd rather do than be dragged along to watch dean try to talk his way into someone's pants. than tense his fingers around a warm beer bottle and watch polished fingernails brush against dean's forearm.

pull his teeth out with pliers, for example. eat his own shit, for another. start licking things from the artifact room that they had sorted into the "deadly" pile last week, for yet another.

"oh. uh." sam says. "nah, i'm--uh. i'm good."

dean deflates. there's no other word for it. he slumps against the doorframe, and sam hadn't realized that dean had been perched on the balls of his feet--almost nervously--until his heels hit the ground with a thud.

"what? no!" dean protests. he's got his cajoling voice on. "you've already got jeans on, man! grab your shoes."

sam straightens his legs out on the bed, lets his journal fall onto his thighs, but makes no move to get up.

"i'm wearing a shirt that says 'librarians make me naughty'." sam says, because it's true. it was a shirt that dean had wrapped in the shape of a candy cane and put under their lean-to christmas tree last year. he found it in a goodwill, and laughed for ten straight minutes when he saw sam's face upon opening it.

it's not sam's fault it's the softest shirt he owns.

dean rolls his eyes and waves a hand.

"i'll take you how i can get you. c'mon."

sam's stomach twists as he realizes dean isn't going to take no for an answer on this one. he's going to push and pick and bother sam until sam gives in. until sam is forced to watch.

"i haven't showered since yesterday." sam's pleading, now. but instead of dean's face screwing up in annoyance or rolling his eyes or dismissing him, dean's eyebrows shoot up. he leans a shoulder against sam's doorframe, mouth pulling up into a lascivious grin.

"ooh stop dirty talkin', sammy, i still gotta dine you first."

both the words and the quicksilver flash of dean's tongue on his bottom lip freeze sam mid-thought.

"you--what?"

dean's smile slowly fades. sam isn't playing along with the game, doesn't know the words to the song dean's singing, and dean's let down. sam's insides squirm. it doesn't matter what dumbass thing dean's come up with, sam hates to let him down.

"...you haven't checked the calendar recently, have you?" dean asks. with his date outfit and styled hair and casual lean in sam's doorway, he looks like a dream. a wet one.

the calendar ? "wh--yeah. it's friday."

"july fourth."

"yeah."

"yeah."

they stare at each other in silence for a few seconds. sam finally breaks it, "so what're you--"

"get your clothes on. please?" dean smacks a hand on the doorframe once, like it's a done deal. "meet me in the car in ten."

"wait--!" sam tries to protest, but dean is gone, leaving a breeze in his wake that smells like cedar and open air and leather. what a dick.

~~~

sam's foot taps nervously in his favourite toe-tapping corner of the impala's passenger footwell.

sam didn't dress up much, just a henley and one of his flannels that has no rips in it. last minute--just as he was about to walk out of the door--he turns around and swaps his jeans for the ones that dean smacks his butt in the most, a dark wash that brush his ankles, just a touch too small.

he brushes his teeth while he hauls them on one-handed, just in case.

because sam is starting to suspect--in the way drowning men must suspect that now is the second someone's noticed they've fallen overboard--that dean's not taking him out-out.

for one, they drove straight past the only town big enough to have more than one bar in a fifty-mile radius.

dean hasn't gone out-out in months, but it still makes sam exhale slowly as he sees the interstate exit fly by.

dean hasn't gone out-out in months because sam sleeps in his bed now. he does...other things in his bed, too.

it was a long time coming, an impossibly long time coming. they'd been fucking like rabbits since November after the first pop of tension, as acrobatic as two middle-aged men with chronic hip, shoulder, knee, and back pain between them could get.

sam adored his brother down to the very core of him, it's what he's made up of.

he has no need for sex or attention outside what dean can give him. even before they started this, sam hadn't had sex with anyone in a few months.

but dean...

dean hasn't gone out since the weekend before he and sam kissed for the first time. he hasn't made any indication that he wants anything else, anything more. a waitress had slipped dean her number on a check at a diner back in march, and dean had left the check on the table, barely even looked at it.

that doesn't mean he can't change his mind.

they hadn't had sex in a week due to back-to-back cases that left them strung thin, and dean had showed up on his threshold tonight in a going-out outfit.

sam can draw conclusions, even if he can't draw sigils for shit.

they'd never had the 'exclusive' talk, because they're not boyfriends. they're brothers. a hell of a lot more than boyfriends. un-break-up-able for one. the word is so juvenile it makes sam's teeth hurt. as if the other half of his mind could be the same thing as a teenager and her dirtbag crush.

dean's a grown man. his eyes can wander. sam's been trying to prepare himself for it, for the other shoe to drop. sam's under no impression that he's a paragon of sexuality.

and dean's always leaned feminine when it comes to sexuality. exclusively feminine, actually.

sam's convinced his number is about to get called right up until dean pulls them into an empty field. even when dean turns the car off and gets out without a word, sam is unsteady on his feet.

when dean starts walking around the car to the trunk, sam opens his door.

"where are we?" he calls, hauling himself to his feet.

dean's grinning--full on grinning--cheeks pink in the dark light. he's left the impala's brights on, and it's the only light (outside of the moon) for miles.

"don't know." he says, cheerfully, and opens the trunk. sam quickens his pace, until he's standing next to his big brother in front of the trunk.

"you don't--" sam starts to repeat, but he doesn't finish. in the trunk is a blanket, a bottle of jack, a plastic bag knotted high at the top and smelling like cooked meat of some kind, and a box--a huge fucking box--overflowing with fireworks.

when sam looks back up and meets dean's eyes, dean is glowing.

"happy anniversary, sammy." he crows. he reaches in and grabs the box of fireworks, shuffling underneath its heavy weight as he rounds to the front of the car, dropping roman candles in his wake.

sam is left reeling.

dean...dean did go out-out. he took sam out. on a date. this is a date, sam realizes, as dean hums the rolling stones under his breath while stabbing firework sticks into the ground. he unties the plastic bag, and finds two tupperware containers of steak he hadn't known dean had grilled, two forks, two knives, a smaller container of plain lettuce, and a bottle of whipped cream.

surprisingly thoughtful and a touch tasteless. sam's big brother down to a tee.

sam's big brother out on a date.

"c'mon sammy, gonna light these without ya," dean calls, "you fall in and get stuck in the trunk?"

an hour later, sam and dean are sitting in the grass leaning against the impala's front grill, pressed in tight between her headlights, lighting sparklers with the same lighter, burning them down to their fingers, and trying to stick them down the backs of each other's shirts.

an impasse gets reached when the back of sam's flannel singes a shade darker, and they settle for stealing bites of each other's dinner, instead.

"you're wrong, y'know." sam finally says, trying to stab at his container of lettuce. dean's legs are sprawled out in front of him, but his eyes are just on sam, body tilted towards him. he hmms, but doesn't ask.

"i kissed you november fourteenth." he says, matter-of-factly. "not the fourth."

frankly, sam thinks if they had something as mundane or tooth-rottingly saccharine as an anniversary, it should be the second sam was born. or the day dean came and got him from stanford. dean choosing the day they first kissed as an anniversary settles awkwardly and lopsided in sam's stomach. he doesn't like it.

dean scoffs, "okay, first, i kissed you." sam rolls his eyes. "and second, this isn't that. this is..." dean trails off. he clears his throat, and for the first time in almost an hour, dean's eyes flick away from sam.

he stares out at the open field. it's balmy tonight. almost uncomfortably warm. sam's sweating in his flannel, but isn't ready for the nakedness of taking it off, especially now that dean's gotten distant.

crickets sing in the grass around them, and far away in the treeline, cicadas scream. the air smells like burnt cardboard and smoke, and sam can still feel the fizzles of wonder in the tips of his fingers that fireworks still get out of him, despite how much he's seen.

dean is silent for so long that sam doesn't think he'll speak again. sam finishes his lettuce, and steals another bite of steak out of dean's container.

"ninety-six." dean says, finally. that's all.

sam's chest immediately floods with emotion so vivid it sets him back on his heels.

1996. sam knows. sam remembers. dean's over-long hair that summer. his eyes like lamps in the dark. the way he smelled like grass and home and fireworks. sam's sweat on the back of his neck. dean's sweat under his fingernails as sam grasped his forearm in wonder.

"that's the first time i almost kissed you." dean admits it like it's been pulled out of him by force, a touch breathless, a lot shameful. he doesn't meet sam's gaze.

sam's breath catches. he looks at his brother, at the grey hair at his temples, at the frown line in his brow. at the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. at the freckles on his cheeks. the hard line of his jaw, how there's a spot of stubble right underneath his ear that he's missed.

he pictures a seventeen-year-old dean pulling his thirteen-year-old self up into a kiss. he knows how much he had ached for it, for something that he couldn't even name. he remembers how much bigger dean was then, how he blotted out the entire sky.

"you should've," sam says, voice cracking, mouth dry.

"no," dean says immediately, hard. his voice is so harsh in the soft night that sam flinches back. dean jumps, leaning forward into sam with his shoulder, shaking his head and soothing a hand down sam's knee in apology. "no, i shouldn't've." he shakes his head. "it would've..."

but dean doesn't finish his sentence.

sam's never told dean this.

but when sam had died, that first time, knees in mud at cold oak, he closed his eyes in dean's arms.

and opened them in dean's arms. a dean ten years younger, flecks of burnt cardboard in his hair, eyes sparkling as he looked up at sam like he was the most precious thing in the world. sam was wearing a shirt he lost over eight years ago, and could taste ozone in the back of his throat, and was filled with such a profound sense of belonging and gratitude and peace that he melted right back down into dean's arms.

that had been heaven, sam thinks. he wasn't there long, but he remembers staying in that moment with dean as long as possible, bending low so dean could throw an arm around his shoulders as they surveyed their kingdom of sparks.

dean lights a sparkler, jolting sam out of his thoughts. he sticks it in the ground in front of them, and they watch as the flame races down the wick, shooting tickling sparks across the grass.

"we haven't celebrated the fourth before," sam thinks out loud. he sees dean shrug out of the corner of his eye. hell, the last time sam celebrated the fourth of july, it had probably been with jess and brady.

"we haven't been..." dean gestures vaguely.

they haven't been this before. they haven't finished what they started in that field all those years ago. sam wants to laugh.

unfinished business.

"twenty-nine years," sam says, at last, in wonder. he barely gets the words out before dean pulls him down into a kiss, forcing sam to slide from a sitting position into practically laying on top of him.

if sam was hot before, he's on fire now. everywhere dean touches is drenched in sweat, everything between them hothothot. sam sinks his fingers into dean's hair and scratches lightly at his scalp, making dean shiver and collecting sweat under his fingernails. dean tastes like jack and steak, and does that thing with his tongue that drives sam crazy.

when the pounding in his head starts to beat behind his eyelids, sam leans back, having to press a hand to dean's shirt to hold him off as dean tries to follow him, eyes still fluttered closed.

sam shucks his flannel, and rolls the sleeves of his henley up.

"give me a second." he pants, wishing that he had the foresight to show up naked. dean takes his flannel off, too, wincing as he has to shift his weight around. laying on the grass for long periods of time is for younger men, it seems. younger than forty-six, anyway. sam watches a bead of sweat roll down his big brother's neck, and realizes that yeah, he can actually lick that stuff away now, if he wants to.

sam vows to pay more attention next time.

"you're in charge of planning next year's." dean says, decidedly, he hauls himself to his feet on joints that creak and walks back to the impala. the air doesn't feel cooler when dean walks away, but it still feels awful.

dean opens the driver's side rear door. he emerges with a large, flat box.

when dean settles back down next to sam, it's revealed to be an apple pie.

"oh thank god." sam puts his head in his hands. "i thought the whipped cream in the bag was supposed to be for your dick."

dean's mouth snaps open, brow furrowing.

"if you want to get laid tonight you're not going to comment." sam interrupts, finger held up in warning.

dean clearly struggles with himself, before sighing in defeat. he pops the top open of the pastry box, and reaches around the blanket for his fork.

"i'll have you know i'm a real class act." dean pouts, shoveling apple pie into his mouth. "poised." he protests, sending crumbs flying all over sam's lap.

and the worst thing, the absolutely most humiliating thing in the whole world is that sam wants to kiss him anyway.

neither of them know, though, that this is their last anniversary. this is the last sparkler that dean will pick up. this is the last piece of apple pie sam will kiss out of his big brother's mouth.

they still have a few more midnight drives, a few more cold beers and warm nights and stars, a few more long days that end in warm, happy silence.

if they did know, maybe sam would lean in here, and lean his head on dean's shoulder, press his nose in so tight against dean's pulse that his nose bends at the tip and his breath clings to dean's collarbone.

but he doesn't.

they sit, a foot apart, until the last sparks of light fade from the sky.

[queen-of-signs]

💚 Double Whammy Synastry: When the Universe Copy-Pastes Green Flags on Both Sides 💚

Note: These are purely my personal observations over the years. But one pattern I’ve noticed? Relationships with five or more double whammys in their synastry seem to last longer. It’s not a guarantee, but I’ve seen it happen a lot.

Recently, I took a look at my uncle and aunt’s synastry who are married for 25 years, with a 22-year-old son, and still going strong. Do they have some worse aspects? Absolutely. But guess what? Their synastry also has some solid double whammys. For example:

My aunt’s Venus trines my uncle’s Mars, and his Venus trines her Mars.

Their Venus and North node placements both fall into each other’s 10th house.

Their Moons fall into each other’s 3rd house (also a Capricorn-Cancer Moon opposition!).

Their Suns fall into each other’s 9th house, fueling a lifetime of shared growth, learning, and probably a few philosophical debates.

Even with some tough aspects, their connection has lasted for 2.5 decades and with other long-term marriages too. So maybe double whammys help build long-term endurance, even when other things in the chart aren’t exactly smooth sailing. Just a fun little pattern I’ve picked up on!

Another pattern I’ve noticed isn’t a textbook double whammy, but it still works like your 5th house Venus falling in their 9th and their 9th house Venus falling in your 5th. This creates a mix of romance (5th) and adventure (9th), making the relationship feel both fun and expansive, like lovers who also inspire each other’s dreams.

So today, let’s dive into double whammies and other synastry patterns that scream green flags.

Mars trine Venus - Flirting is effortless, just a lingering glance, and boom, butterflies. One brings the spice, the other brings the sweetness. Fight's don't last long because the make-up energy is chef’s kiss irresistible. Sits way too close even when there's plenty of space. In the long run, both of you would still stealing glances like a couple of teenagers with a crush.

Moon conjunct Venus - Peak "Aww" energy. Random acts of affection. One can "ugly cry" in front of the other and they would still think you're cute. Both know what to say or not to say when the other is feeling down. You both catch yourselves smiling at each other for no reason, like two lovesick fools.

Mercury trine Mars - Productive couple. Both physical and mental attraction to each other. Love to playfully challenge each other whether it's in board games, workout sessions or who's better at something. Filled with inside jokes. Your life never runs out of content.

Jupiter trine Venus - You two are each other's biggest cheerleaders. Go big or go home energy. You spoil each other with gifts or hype each other up. Brings out each other's confidence and suddenly that dream job or a wild goal seems totally possible. Both feels lucky to have each other.

Saturn trine Neptune - Spirituality and practicality go hand in hand where one of you manifests while the other figures out how to build it. A quiet, steady trust and an unspoken "I got you" in every situation. Solid emotional support.

Moon sextile Mercury - One of you starts a sentence, the other finishes it. Both of you remember the small details about your private moments and probably the day you both met first. You both instinctively know what to say to comfort each other. Late-night convos just hit different.

Let's go thru the planet falling on each other's houses, also note that this is general and it can change depending on the signs and houses the planet is placed in the natal chart. The good side is about when it's mutual and the bad side is about when one of you isn't into the other or one sided.

Planet falling on each other's 1st house -

Good: Instant recognition. Influence each other's self-image in a way that is confidence-boosting. Strong physical attraction. If platonic, still notice each other in a friendly way. Mutual admiration.

Bad: Uncomfortable and irritable if not reciprocated. One of you will trigger the insecurities in other. Could feel controlled or burned. Can turn into rivalry or constant friction. If one person isn’t interested, the other’s presence can feel intrusive or suffocating.

Planet falling on each other's 2nd house -

Good: Both value each other literally and emotionally. Mutual appreciation. Feel secure. Expresses love through gifts, touch, or acts of service. A grounded and practical attraction.

Bad: If not reciprocated, leads to resentment. Might become too dependent on the other. One of you could see the other as greedy and materialistic. Money problems. Can feel transactional at times. Issues with self-worth.

Planet falling on each other's 3rd house -

Good: Convos never get boring. Finishes each other’s sentences or even texting the same thing at the same time. Hypes each other up. Daily life feel effortless. Playful banter, inside jokes and your own little code that no one else understands. Road trips and sharing the same hobbies together can be seen here.

Bad: One wants peace other other won’t stop rambling about their latest hyperfixation. Sibling-like at times. You both can be too up in each other’s business. Arguments about who is right rather than solving the actual issue.

Let's see the planet falling on each other's 4th - 12th houses in the next post.

✨ DM me for a synastry or complete birth chart reading ✨ and check out my pinned post for pricing! 🌟💫

[nonsensology]

I really wanted to draw something to celebrate the 40th anniversary of my favorite Oz movie; Disney's Return to Oz (premiered June 21, 1985). I included a couple characters from the broader Disney Ozziverse: Master Wix, from the cancelled book series Abadazad; and Finley and China Girl from Oz the Great and Powerful.

Abadazad is not strictly an Oz adaptation, but the story is so heavily inspired by the original Oz books that I feel it only fair to mention it when talking about Oz. It's so whimsical and charming! Sadly, it was cancelled after only three books, with the third book having only been released in the UK (I am so lucky to own a copy of all three), which is especially frustrating considering it originated as a comic published by CrossGen, but after three issues was rebooted as a novel-comic hybrid after Disney bought CrossGen's assets following the latter's bankruptcy.

I do not particularly care for the writing in Oz the Great and Powerful, but I do like Finley and China Girl. I also appreciate that this movie correctly designates Glinda as the witch of the South, not the North, and attempted to portray her as the wise character she is in the books, as opposed to her bubbly portrayal in MGM's classic musical.

I first watched Return to Oz shortly after my high school performed The Wizard of Oz during my junior year. This is a special memory for me as I helped paint and assemble props for the show, as well as provided the art for the cast and crew's t-shirts! My school's version of the show was unique in that it also incorporated songs from The Wiz. I had so much fun participating in the show, that I was inspired to check out more Oz material. Initially, I wasn't impressed by Return to Oz. But not long after, I began checking out the original Oz books from the public library, and the more I read and grew to love the world that L. Frank Baum created, the more Return to Oz grew on me. Now that I'm older, I can especially appreciate it as an example of 80s dark fantasy movies, as well as the incredible craftsmanship in its special effects. I wish this movie had been better received back in the day.

Disney somehow never manages to make it big with Oz related projects. Walt himself never got to make The Rainbow Road to Oz, a planned movie that would have starred the Mouseketeers. Return to Oz, Oz the Great and Powerful, and The Muppets' Wizard of Oz were not critical successes. And of course, there's Abadazad's cancellation. ABC's Once Upon a Time was probably the most successful integrating Oz in its great big fairytale multiverse, but I feel the writing quality of that show deteriorated pretty fast so I don't count it. It's actually kinda sad how Disney never sticks the landing with Oz. For a long time, Disneyland Paris' version of the Storybook Land Canal Boats featured a miniature recreation of the Emerald City, perhaps the only remaining reference to Oz anywhere in the parks. Sadly, it was recently replaced with a diorama of Paradise Falls from Pixar's Up. (Look, I enjoy Up, but it is not a fairytale and therefor does not belong in that ride, OMG Disney, you need to stop recklessly spamming unrelated IP everywhere.)

I do sincerely hope that someday, once Disney manages to finally pull itself out of its current dark age, that they can create an Oz project with a lasting impact and legacy on the public conscience. (At the very least, Disney could either uncancel Abadazad, or give the rights back to the creators.)

[crazy-pages]

I'm going to throw my two cents in to the conversation about why James Somerton didn't get caught earlier. Part of the answer is of course that he did get caught, he just bullied and lied to get away with it for a while, but I know a lot of people still express confusion. And of course he went out of his way to make sure his audience didn't know about other queer history sources other than himself. But still. How could he have so many viewers of his videos and none of them had seen X source material?

Well. To be blunt, most of his videos were pretty basic. He tended to copy the highlights of what he was plagiarizing, not the really advanced stuff. And insofar as he copied the advanced stuff, he had a tendency to chop it up and serve it out of context alongside other plagiarized work. The material he was presenting was revolutionary to an audience unfamiliar with queer history, but like. I'm guessing 'Disney villains are queer coded' is not exactly a new concept to the kind of people who read multiple books about queer coding in film.

Now I'm not a film studies person, I'm a physicist. But you know what I do when I get a video in my YouTube recommendations about some fairly basic physics concept?

I skip it. No shade to the creator, but like. I hit that topic a decade ago and I've added literally thousands of hours of studying and research to my brain since. I'm just going to give it a pass, all right?

These kinds of videos self-select for an audience which isn't going to be familiar with the source material. The people who know it are unlikely to keep listening after the first minute or so.

And you've got to remember how much of this content the experts have consumed! With very few exceptions for weird little things that stuck in my head after all these years, I would probably not notice a physics explanation plagiarized from one of my textbooks! Not because I wasn't intimately acquainted with the textbook, but because I was intimately acquainted with many such textbooks. Spend enough time learning this stuff and it all blurs together a little bit. Does this explanation sound familiar because you've heard it before, or because you've just read books which cover this specific topic seven different times? And does that wording or that example ring a bell because it's plagiarized, or because it's common to the field?

Catching this kind of plagiarism requires having the kind of people who are already familiar with these sources, and therefore uninterested in video summaries on the topic, to watch the video. And among those people who do, it requires them to match Somerton's words to one specific source on the topic out of many, that they probably read quite some time ago. And then you have the filter of how many of those subject matter experts have the source on hand to check, to turn a vague "...hmm" into something solid.

If you know enough about queer history to say that some of his plagiarism was obvious, now that you've watched the video, then you should remember that there is a reason you probably weren't one of the people watching his videos! And because YouTube promotes videos through algorithmic engagement, none of this stuff has to pass the sniff test for any other expert in the field before it gets released. No experts have to like it for it to get published or for it to get good reviews or for it to get a recommendation in, I don't know, the New York Times.

The only people who have to like the videos for them to get traction are people who are just trying to learn introductory queer history and film theory. The exact people who aren't going to notice this. And for those of you who to whom it is obvious, ask yourself. When was the last time you watched a basic level queer history introduction on YouTube?

[keferon]

Why’d monster hunter brainstorm timetravel to the specific era the story takes place?

Will the others ever see his alt mode?

The reason is the same as in canon - he wanted to save Quark.

Okay, I'll try and keep this short and sweet.

Brainstorm lives in the far future and is happy with Quark, until one day it turns out that Quark has a fatal spark disease that will kill him if nothing is done about it. They of course go to the hospital, but it turns out that only certain types of the disease are treatable and modern science still can't do anything about it.

Long story short, no one knows how to cure Quark's spark.

Brainstorm, as a true scientist and a good conjunx, naturally begins to research the subject himself and stumbles upon some strange information. All the sources, studies and records on the study of this disease go back a long fucking way. All that modern scientists have been doing for the last million years is just improving and refining the method of treatment, which was invented in absolute antiquity.

Brainstorm investigates further.

He discovers, all the original research records belonged to a mech named Perseptor, who amongst many other things was studying sparks. And it's when Brainstorm manages to get his hands on copies of these very original records that he finally realises why no one has been able to take this research any further. The records are very well structured, detailed and accurate, but half of the information is taken out of nowhere. The Perseptor specifies the types of sparks that certain substances affect in certain ways, but nowhere does he mention where he got this information from. He might, for example, write that certain types of sparks tend to develop internal micro-cracks when exposed to certain factors for long periods of time. And Brainstorm, having read that, can only stare blankly into space, because yes, micro-cracks in sparks is something that exists. But even in his time, there's no equipment that can detect them if they're INSIDE. So how the hell did an ancient mech with his primitive tools figure all this out???

His curiosity isn't satisfied. The research just cuts off in the middle, as if the mech that did it just abandoned it or died suddenly.

Brainstorm, like many scientists before him, tries to start his own research based on the information pointed out by Perseptor, but finds himself at the same dead end as all the medicine of his time. He just doesn't have the same mysterious way of collecting data that this...Perseptor had.

And Quark isn't getting any better

Eventually, Brainstorm comes up with a brilliant idea. What if, instead of trying to find a cure, he just (ha! Just.) went back in time and saved the dude who was definitely going to invent the cure but didn't have time? He decides it's genius and creates a time machine.

He goes back in time to find Perseptor and well, he gets a surprise. Turns out the dude who researched spark disease was a spark eater. And also on the verge of starvation, but Brainstorm finds a way to help him, it's all good:) It turns out that all this time, Perseptor didn't have any mysterious equipment to analyse the sparks, he was the equipment himself. In fact, he didn't specify the sources of his findings for the research, because the phrase ‘I figured it out because it tasted different’ sounds incredibly compromising and would have signed Percy's death warrant if his notes had fallen into the wrong hands.

Next, I'm not sure how it would have developed. I think as the story progresses, Perseptor and Brainstorm work together to invent a cure for Quark. And then, if you like to cry, Brainstorm goes back to the future and cures him, and Perseptor stays in the past.

If you want adventure, Brainstorm could take Percy back to the future with him. Quark would be really fucking scared and confused at first, but they'd figure it out quickly and conjunx Percy into their futuristic fluffy pairing. (Also, I have a lot of fun thinking about Brainstorm and Quark showing Percy the advances of future science, and the future world in general.

Also, I think Brainstorm would do a good job of hiding his alt mode while he was in the past, but a couple of times would use it to escape from someone. One time he'd also give Percy a ride, and I know Percy would be incredibly freaked out by the breakneck speed that jets can achieve ahahaha

——

That…wasn’t as short as I wanted…..my inner fic writer took control

[leisureflame]

"I CANT THINK"

If you write, I assure you you have thought that.

Fear no more child, for I have found a solution.

it's called Rapid writing

something we learned when I was in 9th grade drama class and I cannot emphasize enough just how effective it is. Its actually what gave me the idea for my first book.

Stop what you are doing and do what I tell you

go grab either a pencil and paper (or open an empty document)

set a timer for 2 minutes

ask a friend to give you a random sentence. I have a few examples that I myself rapid wrote to: a) I looked around and saw b) the old lady hung from the ceiling and laughed c) purple paint dripped from her long purple fingernails d) there is a hole in my ceiling. e) when I am sad I... f) When you close the door, I... g) there is a wooden door with a gold doorknob

Now the most important thing is not to think of this sentence before you start writing. as soon as you decide which one if you are choosing from my examples (or as soon as you hear it if you are getting if from a friend), start the timer.

start writing the sentence and without hesitating just keep writing. the #1 rule here is to not stop or hesitate for a single second until the 2 minutes are over. you can write nonsense if you want and if you REALLY can't continue then write some random words for a couple of seconds then continue AS LONG AS YOU ARE STILL WRITING.

another rule is that you are not allowed to delete. even if its a spelling error, just ignore it.

after the timer is done, I promise you will have something to work with. now copy the paragraph you wrote and paste it below, here you can start fixing spelling errors and adding things at your own pace because now the creative side of your brain has opened.

don't think about the way you are writing or the words you use, think about the story you are telling. the idea.

Sometimes you will get something beautiful and deep like I did here:

When I am sad I go to my blanket, not many people know about it, all they think is happening is that a child likes to cuddle in a blanket, but no. my blanket has a special thing about it, it is a magical blanket, well, not the blanket itself but the embroidery on the blanket, it simply takes my sadness away but it adds the story of my emotions to the embroidery, my blanket is a very pretty one, it is a pastel blue color and it has so much silk embroideries that you just think its patterns, but it isn't, if you look deeper you will find stories every one of those stories came from someones tears... my tears. whenever i cry, i wipe my tears with my blanket and my pain goes but my story stays.

or

there is a wooden door with a gold doorknob on the door there is a painting of you, and there are many locks on the door from top to bottom, when you open the door, there is a mirror. this door is the door to self discovery, from the outside there is a painting of how people think you look like but when you open the door, you get to see what you really are in detail and look at yourself they way you want to, you can smile or cry and the refection on the mirror will change but on the painting, it doesn't show ur emotions, just how people see you usually.

or you can get something so stupid like i did here:

there is a hole in the ceiling in my classroom. everyday a dinosaur would a pear and eat my lunch and i keep coming home hungry but my mom dsays she packed me enough food. so she didn't feed me. i told her a dinasour was eating my lunch but she said that disasours only live in Norway! so i went into the school vents looking for that idino and revenge my food, we met at last, held our weapons, i was holding a subway sandwich and the dino was holding a bana na MY BANANA  i lost it, so i attacked him one hit on the head and the whole species were extinct , people thousand of years from now said dinos got extinct because of a meteorite but i know better, also i am still alive because whoever kills a dino becomes immortal, also i killed my mom for not believing me and let her starve in her grave just like she let made me starve. and then i killed everyone who was a flat earther because i hate them and now i can kill anyone once i tap them with my super subway sandwich 

(by the way, ignore the horrible spelling, the examples i gave were from the unedited version.)

THE POINT IS ITS ACTUALLY SO HELPFUL. you can use it for a new story idea (i used the blanket one as an element in one of my WIPs and it helped the story a lot) or if you get something stupid like the dino one I wrote THATS GOOD THATS FINE because now you have your creativity going.

I challenge you to actually try this and PLEASE share it with me I LOVE reading other peoples rapid writings. have fun <3

tagging @cosmosandcapybaras24 @ajsbookshelf @gloryofdawn, @chaoticharmony93 @deception-united and anyone else who's interested to try this out and share with me!

[sturnmeovr]

Posting for awareness and informative purposes only!! I am not a bully or hater by any means!!

(the first two pictures are my post. The third and fourth pictures are a post that was posted today)

Firstly, I want to say I did not come here to be hateful, only to spread awareness. Writing is my #1 hobby just like many others on this app. My account isn't that big, I’m just under 1,000 followers and I am thankful for every single one of them. I work hard on my writing. I'm 24 years old with a full-time job and I’m a mother to a 3-year-old dog😂🫶🏻 I stay up late most nights to write, edit, interact, etc. just like so many others on here. I love writing just as much as I love the triplets and it doesn't feel good when I log into my account to see other writers messaging me about someone stealing my work. Regardless if this is just an introduction post, this is my work copied and rephrased.

@bernardsbendystraws always preaches about how we should ask to use others work for inspiration. This increases the chances of your work getting reblogged, shared, and interacted with by other big accounts. When I say I'm not a hater, I mean that shit. I love talking to people on here. I brainstorm with anyone who private messages me. I help others with their writing. I don't care how many followers you have or how cute your account is, I interact with anything I like.

Had this person asked to use my work as inspo beforehand, I would've reblogged, liked, commented on every single post and followed immediately. I get so much warmth when someone shows an interest in my writing, so I understand 100%. But what we're not gonna do is copy and paste my work, flip a few words, and claim it as yours. Not only did you do that, you refused to take it down, claiming you asked another writer for permission and "only got a few words" from my post. You only said you'd rewrite it after I asked repeatedly asked you take it down. Then claimed you worded your message wrong. I'm not mad, I'm just saying - from my perspective, this is really shady.

I also want to state I am NOT the originator of babydaddy!Chris, there in fact was another account who had a babydaddy!Chris Au (still there but not active that I know of) before I posted mine.

I DO NOT care who has a babydaddy!Chris Au - I have zero claims on him!! I DO care when someone blatantly copies my work and marks it as their own.

Taking inspiration from someone else's Au and copying them are two different things. For example, @leoslaboratory has a babydaddy!Chris Au that came out after mine that is completely different. She uses her own ideas from her own head, plans it out herself, and fucking kills it on top of all that! Even though our Au's are different, she still credited me even though she technically didn't have to. Highly respected of her btw. Everyone check out her Au because it is honestly amazing!! <3

When you follow someone for months and all the sudden come out with 'your' work (like pictured above) that is identical to theirs, that is called copying. When you look up to someone's work, put your own twist on it, and come up with your own layout - that's called taking inspiration.

I just want everyone to be more cautious and considerate of others. This might be just Tumblr, but some people work really hard on here as crazy as that sounds.

And to the person who this is about, I blurred out your name because I genuinely hate it when people get bullied on here, that's the last thing I want to happen. I don't want to be responsible for that. I just hope you learned from this mistake and will grow from it! Writing about the triplets is supposed to be fun and doing things like this take the fun out of it. And trust, brainstorming up your own ideas is a lot more thrilling than going to someone else's page to take their work!

That's all I have to say - look forward to some posts from me soon 🫶🏻

Tagging others for awareness purposes only - @sweetshuga @chrisbratt333 @mattscoquette @muwapsturniolo @starrii-sturns @strnilolover @sofisturns @shadowthesim237

[majoryeager104]

I LIKE YOUR POSTS VERY MUCH!! I wonder if can you write dad shigaraki headcanon?

I don’t mind if I dooooo papa shiggy coming right up nonnie tysm for the request <3

cut off bc this turned out waaaay longer than I thought it would

✦••······················••✦•······················•✦••······················••✦

Dad shiggy

where do I start 😩

When he games, he gives his kid a remote w no batteries in it so they can ‘join in’ 🥺

And when they get older I can see him running duos w them omg

also

idk if anyone else has experienced this but I’m sure you’ve seen it

when a baby sort of like poses like their parent in their sleep

my baby brothers both did that

like they’d look at how my dad was sleeping and shift around to sleep the same way as him and it’s the cutest thing on the planet

NOW IMAGINE THAT W DAD SHIGGY

😩🙏

If it’s a son he’s tomuras ‘mini me’

if it’s a daughter…yeah still a ‘mini me’

they copy him like crazy

and for the longest time he just doesn’t get it

i picture his child smiling exactly like him

yk

adorably 😗

one thing tho I just know that when he became a dad he started working on all the bad habits he had built over the years

bc he wanted to set a good example and just be a good dad 😭

Dad shiggy cut out villlainy

or at least commits villainy on the dl like gru or some shit

“Double life” ahh father

but if he’s still committing crimes and yk being the master of destruction and all The sole reason is to have some fun

instead of golfing w the bros he’s committing grand theft w spinner

Moving onnn

When I think of dad shiggy I think of matching cringe shirts w the baby

can you imagine this exhausted stringy man pushing around a stroller, the baby and him both wearing shirts that say shit like

”big trouble” “little trouble”

”ctrl + c” “ctrl + v” (copy and paste lol)

need I go on

i will say one more thing if I mayyy

ik I just called him exhausted and stringy

but if he got to the point where he’d actually have kids with someone

In all seriousness

hes probably the happiest he’s ever been in his life

definitely cried holding the baby the first time

(definitely terrified watching the birth)

like imagine w me hereee

how gently he’d hold that baby

obviously for reasons that are self explanatory (decay)

but also

thats his baby

that he just had with the love of his life

with how his childhood was

and all the things that happened to him

he’d looked at that child for the first time and at that moment he swore on his life that he’d never let anything of the sort happen to them too

his biggest fear is failing them and you now period.

bc he can’t stand the idea of his child hating him the way he hated his own dad

But to end this on a bright note

he doesn’t do baby talk he does gamer talk

“chat you want McDonald’s” (I’m sorry)

”we’re not going to chuck-e-cheese that shit is mid asf”

(pls tell him not to curse in front of the kid they’ll have no filter once he’s done otherwise 🙏)

And he calls them the dumbest names too

”chaos incarnate” “ankle biter (obv)” “burnt chicken nugget” “my little potato chip”

so on and so forth

✦••······················••✦•······················•✦••······················••✦

Sorry that last part was inspired by the phrase “rise and grind my little sigma”

[primalsouls]

Good day! may I request Poly Langa x Reader x Reki (They are not in a relationship yet but they have a crush on eachother) where reader doesnt know how to show emotions very well and the only emotion they only know is a "soft smile". They have soft eyes and they are really caring,kind and gentle. They show affection by hugging and patting their heads with a soft expression. You may or may not do this as long as you are not feeling stressed and other.♥️

hihi!!

thanks for requesting! I've been busy with school and work lately 😭 but now i got time to write again!

I've also been rewatching sk8, so i got the motivation to write them again lol! hope you like this! ^^

tender pats

If you dance, I'll dance And if you don't, I'll dance anyway Give peace a chance Let the fear you have fall away

reki kyan x gn! reader x langa hasegawa

theme: fluff

warning: none, probably too much dialog?

summary: (name) doesn't know how to express their emotions well. they sometimes mimic others. but despite it, they have a kind personality with a softened expression on their face and a gentle smile. langa and reki both liked (name), and (name) liked both langa and reki. yet none of them make the effort to make the first move.

notes: after, what, a year i believe??? i answered this ask now lol life was... lifing lol... living... anyway, started rewatching sk8 and got the motivation to write this story haha! hope you like it! comments, reblogs, tags, & other feedback are appreciated! 💚

(name) was an average young student at one of the schools in Okinawa. they were indifferent in terms of emotions yet wore the most gentle expression on their face. their nature was caring for others and bringing kindness to those who crossed their path. growing up, (name) always had trouble showing emotions other than a soft smile. their parents weren't exactly the best examples, either. a stoic or unamused look were in their features whenever their eyes lay on anyone else, but when their gazes shifted over to their only child, the parents' gazes softened. usually, (name) would also try to mimic the other person's behavior to come cross more animated.

everywhere (name) go, kindness was shared among the crowd they merged into. Giving anyone who look their way a soft smile before they move along. Their eyes flicked to a familiar room sign, chatter spilling from the slight opened door. (name) carefully opened the door and was greeted by the sight of Langa and Reki playfully arguing which skater was best from a video they were both watching. (name) didn't understand skating that much like these two. Nor did they like skating that much as those two do. Last time they tried it, they broke they broke their arm. Reki apologized so much, even if it wasn't his fault. Their smile softened at them, opening the door as they knocked on it while walking in.

"Ready for lunch?" they asked, standing beside Langa’s desk. There was a faint blush on their cheeks, their heart fluttering when the boys threw a smile towards them.

"(name)! Yep, ready to go! Let's go to the rooftop." Reki said, getting his wrapped bento box. Langa copied his move, getting up from the chair. "(name), tell Langa that this guy is so much better at pulling out a kickflip!" The redhead boy walked beside the student, Langa taking their other side and watched as Reki showed (name) the video they were watching. (name) chuckled, shaking their head.

"i wouldn't know the difference, reki. they both seemed to be doing it the same way." they answered, earning a gasp from reki. a nice scent from the boy reached their nose. (name) noticed how close he was, their blush darkened the slightest. Reki had a dejected look on his face, slumping a bit on their way to the stairs that reached the rooftop. the (color)-haired student reached out a hand and pat the red-haired skater's head in a form to comfort him. said skater leaned into their touch and let out a soft hum.

"one day, (name), I'll make you see the differences." reki sighed, content to have his head patted by the student, his tanned cheeks tainted with a faint blush.

Langa watched the two with a curious look, pouting a bit when (name) patted his best friend's head. the trio reached the rootftop and sat in their usual places. The blue-haired skater sat on (name)'s right side while Reki sat on the other side, all three students crossed their legs and opened up their lunches. quietly, the tall skater watched (name) and reki talked more about the video again. his mind went back to how cute his friend was back a moment ago. he wanted a head pat, too. but how can he go about it? it was understandable (name) was more affectionate with his best friend. the two known each other longer than they had known langa. but they related, in most parts. both were scared of seeing their own blood. and had snowboarded in the past. langa remembered (name) mentioning the times they visited a ski resort somewhere in japan.

"(name)..." langa called out softly. when the other turned their head, the skater patted their head gently. "we should hang out at the park so you can see the differences other skaters do kickflips." he added, patting their head a few times. (name) blinked as they felt their cheeks burned up.

they truly didn't know how to express themself. receiving head pats was something they weren't used to. especially from another one of their crushes. their heart did kickflips of their own to langa's touch. "um... yeah... that so-sound good to me." they said slowly before their features softened. "I'll love to see you guys do a kickflip." their smile was encouraging, making both langa and reki let out a huff of determination to impress their crush.

"bet! i'm gonna do the best, awesome kickflip you'd ever seen, (name)!"

"pretty sure i'll impress them more."

"langa!" reki reached over and pulled on langa's cheeks, scolding the other before both felt a hand on their head and heard a light laugh.

"do your best, guys. just don't hurt yourselves." (name) said, patting both their heads. their encouraging smile not faltering any moment. gosh, both their hearts were doing their own kickflips at the sight of the (color)-haired student and their smile. yeah, neither of the two skaters were going to give up the chase. their hearts won't allow it.

[marauder-misprint]

I don't mind

Remus Lupin x fem!reader

8.1k words

Inspired by Absolute Silence's "I Don't Mind" - which means reader isn't the best person. Deal with it.

cw: angst, fluff, pining, angst, Y/N, angst, reader doesn't deserve remus, reader makes poor decisions, remus is too forgiving for his own good, reader has on-and-off relationship with someone else

You could pinpoint the moment you started to become friends with Remus. Third year, first Wednesday of classes, second period. Professor Dassow assigned seats for his Arithmancy classes and he put you next to Remus. It wasn’t that you didn’t know or hadn’t spoken to Remus before then. No, that was just when you started to become friends. 

You didn’t talk a lot at first, exchanging simple hellos when you arrived at class. Then he missed class a few weeks into the school year and he asked if he could copy your notes from the day he missed. 

“Ignore the doodles,” you said, handing him the notes. 

He smiled and got to work copying them down. He gave them back to you later in the day. He thanked you and you said he could borrow your notes any time. He made note of that and always went to you when he missed Arithmancy, which was more often than you had expected, and he sometimes asked for other classes’ notes as well. 

“Your Arithmancy notes are amazing. I assumed the rest of your notes would be too. Better than James and Sirius, at least.” 

From there, you started talking more both in and outside of class. Your growing friendship was strictly for Remus. You could sit and talk or do homework or whatever with him, but the moment James, Sirius or Peter showed up, you excused yourself. You didn’t know them all that well and you didn’t plan on changing that. You also knew that you weren’t the only person who was fine with being friends with Remus and not the others. Lily, for example. 

Sometime in the spring of third year, it was James who asked you for notes. He said Remus asked him if he could grab him. Remus was apparently going to be out longer than he usually was. 

“With his rubbish immune system, you know how it is,” James said with a shrug. “So can I get those from you?” 

You sighed but handed the notes over. “Tell him I hope he feels better soon.”

“Will do.”

And then Remus was back in classes a few days later. He looked paler than usual, but that would be what getting extremely ill does to you. You didn’t think anything of it. He told you he was extremely grateful when he gave you your notes back. 

“I did say any time, Lupin,” you said, giving him a smile. “Glad you’re feeling better.”

“Me too. Hate missing class.”

Over the summer, you didn’t write to each other. You didn’t expect anything from him. You weren’t that close of friends for you to think otherwise. When you got back in the fall, he gave you a smile and a wave, which you returned. And then when Professor Dassow didn’t assign seats in Arithmancy, Remus still sat next to you. He sat near you in Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts well, but he shared his desk with James and Sirius, respectively. 

One weekend, you ended up in a game of Truth or Dare in the Gryffindor Common Room. Disgustingly personal questions were being asked and you weren’t sure if you wanted to answer those, so when your turn came around, you picked dare. Sirius grinned mischievously before dishing out your task.

“I dare you to kiss Remus.” 

“What?” Remus asked, voice sounding thin. 

“Only if you don’t mind,” you said. 

“Al-alright.” 

Having been sitting on the floor, you crawled over to Remus and quickly pecked him on the lips. It was barely a brushing of lips that lasted less than a second, but it counted for the dare and for your first kiss. You had always imagined it would be something more romantic. At least the pressure of your first was out of the way. If you were being honest, you didn’t think much of it. 

Later that night, Sirius clapped Remus on the shoulder up in their dorm.

“You’re welcome, mate.”

“What for?” Remus asked.

“Got you a kiss from your girl,” he answered with a smirk. 

“She-she’s not my girl.” 

“Not yet. Or have you changed your mind? No longer fancy her?” 

“I, uh, erm. Don’t meddle. I’m fine.”

“Fine,” Sirius sighed, falling onto his bed dramatically. “I’ll stop being the perfect wingman.”

While Sirius didn’t continue his direct attempts to help Remus catch your eye, he did try to at least get you to spend more time with Remus. He did so with the help of James and Peter. Their mission? Befriend you so you’d hang out with them, and therefore, also hang out with Remus. 

Peter made the first move in befriending you. Sirius, James and Remus all ended up in detention while he got off scot-free. He walked up to where you were working on homework in the common room and sat down across from you. You looked up briefly before going back to work. He had his own homework with him. You assumed he was just going to also use the table.

“Y/N, can you help me with this Defense worksheet?” he asked once he had gotten set up.

“The one that’s due tomorrow?”

“That’s the one.”

“Right, well, I’m kind of busy? Arithmancy doesn’t exactly do itself.”

“Please? Remus says you’re brilliant. He’s in detention right now. Otherwise I’d be buggin’ him ‘bout it.”

“Potter or Black available?”

“Detention with him, I’m afraid.” He gave a faux-sniffle, like he was missing his friends. “It’s absolutely dreadful without them.”

You sighed. “You lot are dreadfully co-dependent. But what part is confusing you?”

By the time the other three got back from detention, you and Peter were laughing with his Divination dream journal in front of you. He was talking you through what some of his recent dreams apparently meant. 

“I really don’t think ‘death by toastie’ is a thing, Peter. I think you’re safe,” you assured him through laughs.

“I could choke!”

“Chew thoroughly then!”

“And if someone makes me laugh while I’m swallowing?”

“Hope your friends know the heimlich.”

“Heard of it, don’t know how,” James said, walking up behind Peter and leaning on his chair. “Did you say ‘death by toastie’?”

“It’s what his dreams say apparently. So you best learn to ensure your quartette doesn’t become a trio.”

You smiled at Remus before packing up your stuff and leaving, barely giving the boys a brief good night. Peter remarked that you’re even more helpful than your notes were. 

“Because she’s smart. I’ve told you this,” Remus said.

“Didn’t believe you,” Peter replied casually. “Now I do.”

“Because I’m so untrustworthy?”

“No, just think your brain’s a little screwy.” 

“What does that mean?”

“Don’t worry about it.” 

“Anyways… did you finish the Transfiguration assignment? I still need to do that,” James said.

Peter slid his finished assignment toward James. As James copied down the work you helped Peter with, James came to the same conclusion. You were smart. 

And so, the three continued their mission to fully befriend you. It was a slow process. Getting you to linger around them without being one-on-one was a struggle. The closest they got was when you were working on an assignment for Arithmancy with Remus during lunch, and once you were finished working with him, you left the table. 

But where the three struggled, Remus actually seemed to be making progress. Your conversations with him were becoming more frequent and you’d approach him if you heard something that you thought he’d find amusing. You didn’t seem to have any issue with asking him questions. You even hand delivered your notes to him in the Hospital Wing one evening after he wasn’t in class and you with him to go over them. The boys had a field day with that when Remus told them about it.

“There’s no way she’s not smitten with you. Come on, mate – all the signs are there!” Sirius said.

“I think you’re mistaking friendship for ‘signs.’ She’s just nice. You guys would go over the notes if I needed you to.” 

“But you don’t need us to. She should know you don’t need her to. And yet,” James said, agreeing with Sirius that you had to like him. 

“It’s the bloody Hospital Wing. No one likes being there more than they have to,” Sirius added.

Remus shook his head. “And she knows I miss a lot of class. She was probably just making sure I was up to speed.”

“You’re more up to speed than I am,” Peter said. “And I’m in class.” 

“She’s just-”

“Smitten with you. Trust me,” Sirius said, but Remus just rolled his eyes.

“If she was, which she’s not, wouldn’t you think she’d try warming up to you more?”

That shut the boys up for the evening. They could’ve suggested that you were shy, but that didn’t fit you. You weren’t the loudest, but you held your place. They could’ve said that you didn’t like big groups of people and maybe four people was your limit, but they’ve seen you talk to groups of like ten people. Every excuse they could come up with was easily disputed. So they dropped the topic of you.

You wouldn’t say that you were smitten with Remus. He was cute, smart and nice. He was a good friend. And that’s all you were looking for at the moment. You let the friendship grow. You slowly found it in you to tolerate his friends more, mainly in brief stints. It actually hit a point where you knew when the other boys would be elsewhere so you could hang out with Remus alone. 

One of such evenings, you were content to sit next to Remus on the couch in front of the common room’s fireplace. James was at quidditch practice, Sirius in detention and Peter at chess club. Remus was recounting his latest run-in with Peeves. It hadn’t gone well. Your laughter filled the common room and Remus swelled with pride that he was the one making you laugh. Ever so slowly, he inched his hand closer to yours. You didn’t notice, or if you did, you didn’t say anything. 

You leaned your head on the couch at an angle so you could look at Remus. “I swear I only run into Peeves when I’m late for Potions. It’s always Potions.”

He moved his hand closer. 

“I think he smells lateness.”

“And what does lateness smell like?” you laughed. 

Closer. 

“Not sure. I’m not Peeves. But I’ll ask next time I see him.”

Closer. 

“Could you also ask him to not loiter near the Potions classroom? Slughorn hates lateness. I could get away with McGonagall or Dassow or Binns.”

“I’ll try,” he said with a smile and then with a burst of courage, he let his hand touch yours.

You didn’t pull away as he allows his hand to completely cover yours on the couch cushion. His heart was practically beating out of his chest; yours did a little flutter at the affectionate action.

“Come to think of it, as long as you don’t make a big show, you could probably walk into History halfway through class and Binns wouldn’t care.”

“He’s more concerned with history than the present,” Remus said. 

“You’d think that’d make him a better professor.”

“But alas.”

You both burst out laughing. Peter was the first one to return from his evening activity. Remus saw him enter the common room, but he just smiled at Remus and went up to their dorm. You and Remus kept talking. When James and Sirius came back, they had similar reactions to Peter. Smiles and disappearing. It looked like Remus was getting the girl and who would they be to disturb that? 

When you called it a night, Remus went to bed smiling. You, also smiling, found yourself considering if maybe you’d like Remus as more than a friend. You weren’t actively looking, but if it happened, you didn’t think you’d be against it. It felt nice for him to hold your hand. It felt nice to sit and talk and laugh with him. Everything about him was nice, even if you didn’t quite like his friends. Maybe you’d grow to like them. 

You didn’t have to like them right away. Not for the rest of fourth year, at least. Remus held your hand a few more times after that night, but that’s all. He didn’t ask you to the last two Hogsmeade weekends. He didn’t ask you to go on a walk with him or to sit with him by the Black Lake. And then you both went home after finals. 

You were still friends and more so than you’d been after third year. That summer, you did write to each other. They weren’t long letters, nor were they extremely frequent, nor were they love letters. Based on what you read, they were full of platonic feelings. It was the same feelings you got from Lily’s or Mary’s letters. That didn’t stop you from hiding those letters from your parents though; you weren’t sure what reaction they’d have if they found out you were writing to a boy and you didn’t want to find out. 

When you arrived at King’s Cross in the fall, it was surprisingly easy to spot Remus through the crowd. He had grown at least a head taller. You said bye to your parents and started to make your way through the crowd toward the train, and coincidently, Remus. 

“Hey, Lupin,” you said with an easy smile as you passed him and boarded the train. 

Simple. Easy. Casual. 

He boarded the train right after you, not wanting to lose sight of you. He may have gotten taller, but you got prettier. He watched you until you disappeared into a compartment with Lily, Mary and Marlene. He kept walking until he found the boys. He would’ve loved to have talked to you more, but he supposed there would be plenty of time for that back at Hogwarts.

“Moony’s smiling,” Sirius teased the moment Remus entered the compartment. “He’s seen Y/N.”

“Shut up,” he mumbled, but that’s all he could say. Sirius was right after all. 

“Why do you think he waited on the platform?” Peter laughed.

Remus blushed as Sirius and James joined in Peter’s laughter. But they were right. Completely right. Remus waited on the platform while the other three boarded the train. He wanted to catch a glimpse of you before the ride to school, and he did and it left him feeling unusually giddy. If it was simply because you said hi to him, he was in for a long year, or a really good year since you didn’t pull away your hand in the spring. 

“Did you see Remus on the platform?” Mary asked you. “He’s a freaking giant now!”

“He’s a good few inches taller,” you said with a nod. 

“And to think, I stopped growing during third year,” she sighed. 

“You know he’s probably not done growing, right?” you asked.

She groaned. “It’s not fair!”

“It’s not but that’s life. Marls, you barely wrote this summer. What’d you get up to?” you asked, turning the conversation away from Remus.

The girls knew about the handholding and how you wouldn’t say no if Remus asked. You didn’t want to talk about it right now. There was simply nothing to say. The girls wouldn’t accept that and you decided that was a war for another time. 

The year started off as ordinary as you expected. It was normal sitting next to Remus during Arithmancy and near him during other classes. It didn’t take long for you to be working on assignments together and to be sitting on the couch by the fire late into night together. The first few times, it wasn’t anything romantic. Just hanging out and relaxing. Then he held your hand again and you rested your head on his shoulder. That felt a little romantic. A little, but not much. 

One thing you didn’t expect to happen was Remus asking you to come watch a few of James and Sirius’ quidditch practices with him. He told you he usually did homework and it would be nice to have someone else there besides Peter and a handful of girls who stalked James and Sirius’ every movement. 

“Ah, just say you like my company,” you laughed before agreeing to go with him. 

And then it wasn’t an odd sight to see you pressed into Remus’ side during the matches, whether Gryffindor was playing or not. It was an increasingly common sight, you and him together. But you assured the girls that it wasn’t anything real yet, just two friends hanging out. 

Two friends. Platonic. You kept repeating that in your head as he held your hand and you used his shoulder as a pillow. Friends can hold hands. Friends can lean on each other. Friends get squished into each other’s sides when the stands are packed. 

There were times, however, when the line between friends and something more blurred. You and Remus were in the library, sharing the same book for your Arithmancy essays. Your chairs were mere centimeters apart, allowing your arms to bump every once in a while. You weren’t doing it on purpose, but you also weren’t actively avoiding it. You liked how Remus turned slightly red when it happened and you looked at him with a small smile. He looked cute. 

You couldn’t stop yourself. Your essay was nearly finished and your arms bumped yet again. You looked at him and he blushed and you leaned in. Similar to that truth or dare game last year, it was a brief kiss. It lasted slightly longer and was barely more than a brushing of lips. When you pulled away, Remus was even more red. You just smiled and turned back to your essay. He stared at you for a few more seconds before following suit. 

“I kissed him,” you said as soon as the door to your dorm closed behind you.

“Remus?” Lily asked, looking up from her desk.

“Who else?” Mary answered for you, but you still nodded. 

“Wait, you kissed him or he kissed you?” Marlene asked.

“I kissed him.”

“What’s it matter?” Mary asked.

“It means she’s initiated twice,” Marlene explained. “And as far as we’re aware, he has yet to.”

“He initiated hand holding,” Lily said. 

“Not the same,” Marlene said with a shake of her head.

“Why did you kiss him?” Mary asked. 

You shrugged. “We kept bumping arms and he blushed every time I looked at him. Was kinda cute.” You looked to Marlene. “Where do you think this leaves me ‘n’ him?”

“Where you were before, I’d say. A little too friendly for friends, but one kiss in the library does not make you his girlfriend.”

“Right. Okay.” 

So, essentially, you were still friends. You wondered if Remus wanted more. The blushing had to mean something, you thought. You didn’t blush around boys you didn’t fancy; although you’d rather punch some of those boys. 

Remus was all smiles when he returned to his dorm.

“Did you make love to your essay, Moony?” Sirius asked as Remus placed his school bag on his desk. 

He rolled his eyes. “Got it off several times.”

“Sure it was the essay you got off and not, perhaps, Y/N?” Peter asked with a smirk.

James and Sirius jeered when Remus turned pink. He stopped looking at them. They just laughed more. 

“Well, mate? Tell us what happened,” Sirius said.

“She kissed me.”

Sirius cheered. “Love a girl with balls!” 

“And in Moony’s favor, there was no dare this time,” James added.

That was it for a month. The occasional hand holding and head resting, but that was it. You didn’t talk about the kiss, nor did another one happen. Classes came and went. Assignments started and finished. You figured you spent about equal time with your friends and Remus. 

Once again, you were pressed against Remus’ side during a quidditch match. Gryffindor was flying circles around Hufflepuff. The match was moving by quickly. Cheers from Gryffindor’s fans were obnoxiously loud and their volume only increased with each goal they scored. After Gryffindor’s seeker caught the snitch, you were ushered onto the pitch with everyone around you, and then back to the common room. No time was wasted in getting a celebration party set up. 

You and Remus were sitting next together, as to be expected. Everyone around you had butterbeer in their hands or something stronger. The energy in the room was pulsing. You could feel the beat of the music in your bones; some seventh year had gone overboard with their amplifying charm. 

When your favorite song started to play, you placed a firm hand on his arm.

“I love this song. Dance with me.” It wasn’t a question.

He didn’t move right away when you stood up, but you smiled at him and then he was up, letting you drag him over to where other people were dancing. Remus didn’t think of himself as a dancer. He was too unsure of his extremities and how they moved, but with you in front of him, it was slightly easier to let his body be loose. His awkward dancing made you smile. One wave of confidence surged through him and he took your hand to spin you. Your laughter filled his ears as you turned round and round. His smile matched yours. He loved hearing your laugh sound so genuine and pure; even better was that he had been the cause. 

Remus danced with you for one more song before bailing. At that point, however, Marlene had joined you and you didn’t have to dance alone. From where he sat, Remus watched you dance for the rest of the evening as he sipped on his butterbeer. 

“Didn’t think you were the dancing type,” James said with a smirk, leaning toward him.

“Only when she’s asking.”

James laughed. He knew how true that was. It was only reinforced by Remus not dancing for the rest of the night. 

---

Marcus Dumond stopped you after Transfiguration. You weren’t close, but you were friends. More of friends of friends if anything, but him stopping you didn’t throw you off all that much. 

“Hey, Y/N,” he said, adjusting his bag strap on his shoulder.

“Hi.” 

“Would you be able to help me finish the essay? I’ve reread the chapter like six times and I’m getting nowhere.” 

“I’m no tutor but I can try.”

“Sweet. Library around seven?”

You nodded and smiled at him. He walked away and you thought nothing of it. You didn’t think the essay was all that difficult so maybe you would be able to actually help him. After dinner, he was waiting for you in the library. You saw Remus as you made your way towards Marcus, so you waved at him. His face lit up with a smile, but it quickly dimmed when you kept walking past him and sat down next to Marcus. 

You immediately got to work, discussing the theory that McGonagall had assigned the essay on. If you were being honest, it didn’t seem like Marcus was really struggling with it. He talked about it as if he had a firm grip on the subject, and his questions only furthered that assumption, picking apart small details that were probably more on par with N.E.W.T. levels than O.W.L.

As the evening went on, your chairs got closer until your shoulders were touching. Marcus looked at you with kind eyes every time you spoke. He listened to every answer you gave him. You continued to talk about Transfiguration long after he finished the essay. Eventually the conversation shifted to you and him, your personal lives, friends and such. He was incredibly interested in your answers, leaning closer as you talked. When you realized how late it had gotten, he insisted on walking you back to Gryffindor Tower. 

“We should study together more often,” he said as you stood a few steps away from the Fat Lady. 

You shifted your weight and tucked some hair behind your ear. “You think we were productive?”

“More than.”

“Then I think we can arrange for that.”

He leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to your cheek before whispering, “Goodnight, Y/N.” 

You watched Marcus walk away and disappear around the corner before giving the Fat Lady the password. Your face felt warm. You couldn’t help smiling to yourself as you went to your dorm and put your stuff away. It was a forward move by Marcus, but you didn’t mind. The girls thought your smile was because something more happened with Remus. Boy, were they wrong. 

It didn’t take long for them to catch on that something other than Remus was going on in your life. Marcus followed up on studying with you more often. He made a point to walk with you to classes you shared and he offered to carry your bag. He started making his presence by your side something to be expected.  He became more consistently in your atmosphere than Remus was. Marcus asked you out and started to take you on dates.

You were happy. It was that easy. School was going good, there was no drama within your friend group, and Marcus treated you well. The rest of fall went by in a flash and before you knew it, you were back in school for the spring term. Things were still good. 

For a while.

“Don’t be stupid. We’ve covered this hundreds of times. You know this,” he said one evening as you studied together. 

“We’ve never covered this! I know we haven’t,” you insisted. “And don’t call me stupid.”

“I’ll call you stupid if you’re being stupid. We covered this two days ago!”

“I wasn’t studying with you two days ago. Who were you studying with?”

“You!”

“No, you most certainly weren’t. Who were you studying with?”

“I swear it was you.”

“Marcus, tell me the truth!” 

“You’re being ridiculous! I am telling you the truth.”

“You aren’t. And you’re calling me ridiculous and stupid… Marcus, be honest.”

“I am!” 

You frustratedly shoved your things into your bag and stood up from the table. “You can find me when your memory comes back and you feel like telling the truth.”

Then you left in a huff. Marcus didn’t chase after you. He just watched you go with a deep frown on his face. It wasn’t until you were long gone that he realized he had been studying with one of his friends. You were going through a plethora of emotions as you stormed back to Gryffindor Tower. You were too deep in your thoughts to feel the tears streaming down your face. 

A gentle hand on your shoulder stopped you from going to your dorm.

“Y/N, you alright?” Remus asked in a soft voice. 

You sniffled loudly. You rubbed at your eyes before looking at Remus, but he saw the hurt in your eyes. He pulled you into his arms, hugging you tightly. 

“I got you… Come on,” he whispered and started to move you in the direction of the stairs to the boys’ dormitories. 

You let him guide you up the stairs into his empty dorm. You let him sit you down on his bed. He made you a cup of tea and just sat with you. He didn’t ask you any questions about what had happened. He knew that you were dating Marcus and he probably missed his chance with you, but seeing you sad made his heart clench and if he could help fix it, he would. Like always, Remus’ presence next to you felt welcomed. He was warm and kind and what you needed in the moment. After you finished your cup of tea, Remus held you again and you buried your head in his chest. He rubbed your back.

“You’re going to be alright,” he mumbled into the top of your head. “Whatever happened, you’ll be alright.”

You sniffled and nodded. You couldn’t deny that you had distanced yourself from Remus since getting together with Marcus. Being next to him again was nice. And he just held you and comforted you until you appeared to be a little better. He didn’t force any conversation out of you.

“Thank you, Remus,” you said once you felt okay enough to go back to your dorm.

You pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before disappearing out of his dorm’s door. He watched you leave and then stayed in the same position until the other three boys came back into the dorm. 

“Someone put a full-body bind on Moony before we left?” James asked, poking his shoulder. 

Remus didn’t move or respond, just staring ahead. 

“Oh! He blinked, that’s a no,” Peter said. “So what’s got you frozen?”

“Y/N,” Remus breathed. 

The three boys’ heads snapped toward Remus. You hadn’t been around for a while, since before Christmas. 

“Care to explain?” James asked.

“She…” Remus cleared his throat. “Was here. She was crying.”

The boys didn’t say anything. They didn’t know what to say. Frankly, they didn’t think that you crying was enough to have this effect on Remus.

“She kissed me.”

Sirius sputtered out some kind of noise. “She did what?”

“On the cheek.”

“Isn’t she still with that Ravenclaw bloke?” James asked. 

Remus shrugged. You had been crying. Maybe you had just broken up with him. He hadn’t asked why you were crying and you didn’t seem to be in a chatty mood. 

“Huh…” 

You spent maybe a day away from Marcus before he found the courage to admit that he was wrong. It was like nothing had happened. Remus was kept at arms’ length and you were at Marcus’ side. James, Peter and Sirius tried to keep a close eye on Remus to make sure that he was okay. He didn’t give them much to go off of. He knew it was stupid to get his hopes up ever so slightly from the cheek kiss, but that didn’t stop them from rising.

It’s good again for a time. Marcus was somehow treating you better than before. And again, you were happy. But something about Remus kept drawing your eye. You think it was something about that night you fought with Marcus. Remus didn’t think about helping you calm down. He just did. 

But you’re with Marcus and being with him was good. He made moves on you; Remus never did, not romantically. 

You were more than content with your relationship with Marcus. Then you got into a fight. You weren’t sure what set it off, but what started off as a picnic by the Black Lake ended up as a screaming match and you threw your cup of pumpkin juice into the lake. You stormed away. You didn’t let yourself cry, but you knew your emotions were evident on your face. 

You didn’t make it back to Gryffindor Tower before Remus found you. Part of you wondered if he somehow heard you yelling at Marcus. If he had, he played it off. He physically ran into you as you rounded a corner. His hands grabbed your waist to steady you so neither of you fell and when he saw your face, he pulled you into a hug. 

“I’m here,” he said softly.

And you let him guide you into the nearest classroom. You sat on the floor next to him, resting your head on his shoulder like you used to do on the couch. He didn’t reach for your hand. He sat with you in silence for a minute before speaking up.

“It’s okay to cry.”

“I shouldn’t need to.”

“Everyone needs to cry from time to time.”

“And when was the last time you cried?” Your voice cracked as you asked that. The image of him crying wasn’t something you wanted to linger on.

“Two weeks ago,” he said without sparing a second to think. 

He knew exactly when he cried last. The full moon had been that evening and he caught a glimpse of you making out with Marcus in the Transfiguration Courtyard. He was tired, stiff, achey, already feeling every effect the moon had on him and that sight sent him over the edge. He had retreated to his dorm and didn’t move from his bed until it was time for his transformation. 

Silence filled the room again. You didn’t cry. You didn’t feel the need to. Being next to Remus helped quell any urge you had to cry. You didn’t understand how he calmed you so easily. You could hear his heartbeat and you had to fight the urge to fully latch onto his arm and nestle yourself into him. Sitting next to him would have to suffice. 

You sighed, “I don’t need to cry.”

“Alright.”

You stood up and Remus took a second but mimicked you. Before you could leave the classroom, he pulled you into another hug and kissed your forehead. His lips lingered on your skin longer than he knew he should have let them. Even under the guise of comforting you, it was clearly more than a platonic kiss from him.

“I’m here whenever you need,” he whispered. 

“Thank you.”

Then you walked away like nothing happened. Like you didn’t fight with Marcus and didn’t find comfort in Remus. The next day supported as much; you were at Marcus’ side like you had been the day before and the day before that. That was your last fight with Marcus for the spring and the last time you spoke to Remus one-on-one. Finals came and went and then everyone went home. 

Remus wrote to you once at the beginning of summer with the intent of checking in on you. You couldn’t bring yourself to open his letter. You pretended that you never got it. You wrote back and forth to Marcus and went to visit him a few times. You successfully planned to get your school supplies from Diagon Alley together in August and your parents liked him when you introduced them. 

For the first time since third year, you didn’t sit next to Remus during the first day of Arithmancy. You didn’t gravitate toward him and the Marauders during your classes with them. Your excuse was that they could be distracting with how much they talked during class. It wasn’t the strongest of excuses, but it wasn’t necessarily weak. 

You really thought you’d be starting the school year off strong. Academically, you were. With Marcus, not so much. You were fighting more and more. You knew it showed on your face and it affected how you slept. You weren’t sure what you were doing wrong with him, but he was constantly nitpicking everything you did. 

A particularly nasty fight had your crying in the common room late into the night. It felt like you ended things with Marcus. Remus came down from his dorm and saw you. You were his weak point. Within a few seconds, he was sitting next to you and pulling you into his side. You didn’t fight him. He was a comfort to you. He didn’t ask questions you didn’t want to, or know how to, answer. 

After that fight, you didn’t talk to Marcus for a few days, but you went back to him, patching things up. He apologized to you, albeit a half-hearted one. Remus was sent back to watching from the sidelines as you went back to Marcus every time he made you cry. It was becoming more frequent. It wasn’t uncommon for you to be up in the common room, staring into the fire with a blank expression, when he got back from Prefect rounds. You never turned him away if he asked if you wanted company. 

What Remus wasn’t really expecting was you coming to him. You accepted his comfort when you were upset, but it was always offered. When you knocked on his dorm door in tears, Remus was speechless. The boys were in the dorm as well, and they shared Remus’ shock. Their confusion increased when Remus walked out of the dorm and closed the door behind him. They could hear the hum of low conversation before it faded; Remus took you back down to the common room. 

Did you end up snogging Remus that night after the common room cleared out? Yes. But after a few days away from Marcus, you were back with him. It left Remus confused and hurt. For two weeks, he watched you laugh and kiss and hug Marcus. For two weeks, he wondered what was going on. And then you were back at his dorm door, crying in a way that shook your entire body. This time the boys weren’t in the dorm so he brought you in. 

Did you end up snogging? Yes. Did Sirius walk in on you? Yes. Were you even more flustered? Yes. 

You awkwardly stood up and said, “Thanks, Remus.”

Then you walked out, avoiding eye contact with Sirius. Sirius tried to not give Remus a judgemental look, but it happened anyway. 

“Moony…” he said slowly. 

“Don’t.”

“As long as you’re aware…”

“Yeah. I know.”

Sirius told James and Peter what he walked in on the next when Remus wasn’t around. They had similar reactions. You and Remus shouldn’t be snogging. Not in their dorm. Not in the common room. 

Especially when you went back to Marcus the next day. 

This happened two more times before the boys tried to talk to Remus about it.

“She’s with Marcus, Moony,” Peter said. 

“Not when she comes to me.”

“She’s with him now. Literally right now. They are probably necking in the courtyard,” Sirius said. 

“Y/N only comes to you when she’s crying,” James added.

“Because she trusts me!”

“She comes to you for a snog before going back to Marcus,” Sirius said. 

“But she keeps coming back. To me.”

“Mate, we hear you, but this…” James shook his head. “This isn’t right. You deserve better.”

“There’s nothing better than Y/N.” 

Remus walked away from the boys, not wanting to discuss this with them. Sirius pursed his lips. 

“Fine. If he won’t listen, maybe she will.” 

Then he walked away with the mission of finding you. It didn’t take long for him to find you. You were leaving the library.

“Oi, Y/N!” he called, getting you attention. “We need to have a chat.”

You said bye to your friends and turned toward Sirius with your arms crossed. “Yeah, Black?”

“You need to stay away from Remus.”

You crunched your face in confusion.

“Whatever you’ve got going on with him. It needs to end. It’s not good for him.”

“It’s none of your business,” you said snippily. 

“It’s going to hurt him in the long run, which means it’s my business. You got to stop. You can’t be playing with his heart like that.”

“I’m not-”

“You are! I don’t know how you don’t see it, but you are. It hurts him every time you come running to him and then you leave… For that fucking Ravenclaw? Don’t bounce between the two. Pick one. It’s not good for Remus.”

“Whatever, Sirius.” 

You rolled your eyes and walked away from him. You didn’t like what Sirius said, but what could you say? You didn’t want to hurt Remus; that was never your intention. He just happened to be around when you were hurting and he offered comfort. He had been around enough times that you went to him automatically. 

The next few days, Remus was never left alone by Sirius, James and Peter. He was only alone when he was in Arithmancy, and that was when he was alone with you. Not ideal for the boys, but you seemed to listen to Sirius. You didn’t look his way during class. You sat as far from him as you could. You didn’t want to hurt Remus any more than you apparently already had. 

When you got into fights with Marcus, you went straight to your dorm. You didn't let anyone stop you. You knew Remus saw you but you kept walking, even if he said your name or reached out for you. You wouldn’t let him comfort you anymore. 

A few weeks later, you were crying in the Astronomy Tower. You called it off with Marcus. Again. But this time it felt permanent. You knew it should be permanent. You shouldn’t go back to him. And you ended it, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. You had half a mind to go to Remus like you always did, but you kept thinking about what Sirius had said. So, you stayed in the tower and let out your feelings alone. You’d be okay. You always were. 

The door creaked as it opened and you rubbed at your eyes. If someone was going to give you detention for being out after curfew, they weren’t going to do it with you crying.

“Y/N?” Remus asked softly. 

You stiffened. Second to last person you wanted to see right now. 

“Are… are you okay?” 

You rubbed your eyes harder, but your sniffle gave you away. He was at your side within a second.

“Hey, hey, I’m here,” he whispered, but you pulled away.

He blinked in surprise. You never did that before. You had always leaned into him when you were crying.

“I don’t need you,” you said. 

It sounded hollow. It felt hollow. But it hit Remus like a Stupify to the chest. Somewhere deep inside of him he knew that it was true. He had been clinging to the fact that you kept coming back to him, like it meant something. He had been ignoring his friends and their attempts to get him to see reason, but he really, really likes you. Even when you were walking away from him and towards Marcus, he liked you. 

“I know.”

“Then go away, Remus.” 

It was still hollow, and that made Remus want to stay even more. 

“I’ll be okay, I promise. Just… go away.”

“Oh… Okay,” he said softly, standing up and turning towards the door. Before he left, he looked over his shoulder and added, “Don’t stay out too late. You’ll need sleep.”

Even when you were shoving him away, he cared for you more than he should have. Remus couldn’t let go of you. And you didn’t understand how he could do that. Somewhere inside of you, Sirius’ words echoed and reverberated. By going to Remus whenever things went south with you and Marcus was hurting him, and that mattered more than however much it helped you. You would survive without Remus’ arms around you. You didn’t know how much it was hurting Remus to kiss you and then watch you leave time after time. 

The next day, you didn’t go back to Marcus. Nor the next nor the day after. Time kept passing and you stayed away from him. He tried to talk to you once, but you told him no and walked away. You owed it to yourself to keep things ended, even if it hurt, even if you missed being held and loved. You needed to clear your head and that meant staying away from Marcus and Remus. You avoided him as much as you could, filling your time with your friends or just being alone. You could walk the castle or grounds and be with your thoughts. Maybe that’d help you see what you needed to do. 

You were up late in the common room alone. It wasn’t a rare occurrence. Usually, you were working on an assignment you had put off or wanted to do really well on. This time you were sitting on the floor in front of the fire, hugging your knees to your chest. You had never felt so empty. You knew what was missing: Remus. But you can’t go back to him. Even if you want to treat him right this time, Sirius and James and Peter… They’d find a way to convince Remus to shut you out, as they should. It was right of them to be protective of him. 

Then the portrait opened. Remus walked in. You looked up and your heart stopped beating. You hadn’t realized he was out on prefect patrols.

“Hey,” he said from the other side of the common room. There’s an awkwardness in the air between you.

Remus had stopped walking when he made eye contact with you. He wasn’t sure where he stood with you anymore. He wasn’t sure if you were even friends anymore. He tried to be what you needed and somehow that drove you alone. Remus wasn’t aware of what Sirius said to you, nor that you took it to heart. 

“Hi.” Your voice was as hollow as it was when you really ended things with Marcus.

“Do…” He shouldn’t ask and he knows it. He should go to bed. “Do you need someone?”

“No. Not someone.” You wet your lips before pressing them together. “I need you.”

Remus hated how he was at your side with a few strides, how he sat down on the floor next to you and put his arms around you. But then, like you used to, you leaned into his side. You weren’t crying and curling in on yourself like you had in the past. This time you wrapped your arms around him and pressed your face into his chest. You inhaled deeply, relishing in his smell. Merlin, you had missed it.

“‘M mry,” you mumbled into his chest.

Remus rubbed your back and peered down at you. “Hmm?”

You pulled your face back just enough to repeat, “I’m sorry.”

“For?”

“Everything.”

“Everything?”

You nodded and hugged Remus tighter. If you relinquished your grip on him, you were certain he’d go to bed and you’d lose this moment forever.

“That’s an awful lot to be sorry for, darling.”

You mumbled something into his chest again, but Remus let it be. You were in his arms again, and it wasn’t because you were running from Marcus. He hadn’t seen you with him for over a month. He wasn’t sure what was wrong, but it felt so good to have you burying yourself into his chest. He just rubbed your back. 

“I don’t deserve you,” you whispered after a while.

Remus hummed in confusion again, a simple urge to keep talking. 

“You… you deserve better than me. Someone who sees how amazing you are. All the time. Not just when I’m hurting.”

You felt Remus shrug. “I don’t mind.”

“You should.”

“I’d rather have you at your worst moments than not at all. I don’t really care what that says about me.”

You hugged Remus tighter. You truly did not deserve to have this boy in your life.

“Would you have me all the time if I asked?” you asked quietly. 

“Of course.”

“Can I ask something?”

He hummed. 

“How come you never asked?”

“I didn’t think you’d want to be mine in the way that I’m yours.”

“I… I want to be yours, Remus.” You adjusted in his arms so you could look at him fully. “I want to be the one who’s next to you. I want to be the one kissing you and holding you. I want to always be coming to you. Not just when I feel like crying. But when I’ve had a good day or a mediocre day or when I’ve just heard a stupid joke or finished a book. I want to dance with you at parties and sit next to you in class. I want to give you my notes so that you can not-so-secretly give them to your friends. I want to sit with you in the hospital wing whenever you miss class to make sure you aren’t falling behind in any way.” You paused for a breath. “I want to be yours, if you’d have it in you to have me.”

“I have it in me,” Remus said before using his arms around you to bring you close enough to kiss. 

It felt different than the times you snogged him. It was better. It was better because this time it matter who you were kissing. Not only was this Remus, but this was Remus who had been yours before you’d asked and now you were his. You had just been too blind to see before that he was truly yours, but he always had been. You don’t want to think what might’ve been if you had seen it. That would make you too sad.

Now wasn’t a sad moment. Now the beginning of you and Remus in the fullness of your feelings. You weren’t going to let go of him anytime soon. This was your Remus. And your Remus didn’t mind your flaws and mistakes. 

tags: @navs-bhat, @faceache111

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Doodles Made by a 6-year-old Boy Named Onfim, from Russia, c. 1240-1260 CE: created nearly 800 years ago, these drawings were scrawled onto the homework/spelling exercises of a little boy in Novgorod

Over the last 75 years, excavations in and around Novgorod, in Russia, have led to the discovery of hundreds of documents dating back to the Middle Ages. These documents were made using pieces of bark from the local birch trees; they include letters, notes, spelling exercises, shopping lists, receipts, and legal documents, among other things.

The most famous examples are the panels that contain the writing exercises of a 6-7 year-old boy named Onfim, whose work was often accompanied by drawings of knights, fantastical beasts, battle scenes, and depictions of himself in various forms.

These are just a few examples:

Birch-Bark Document no.199: on the back of a panel that had been used for his spelling exercises, Onfim drew this picture of himself as a wild beast, writing "I am a wild beast" in the center of the drawing; the beast is also shown holding a sign that says "Greetings from Onfim to Danilo," likely referring to a friend or classmate.

Birch-Bark Document no.200: Onfim began writing the Cyrillic alphabet at the top of this panel, but he then stopped to draw a picture of himself as a warrior on horseback, labeling the figure with his name; the drawing shows him wielding a sword while he impales his enemy with a spear.

Birch-Bark Document no.202: the boy's mother and father are depicted in this drawing, which accompanies another writing exercise.

Birch-Bark Document no.206: Onfim began to copy a liturgical prayer (the Troparion of the Sixth Hour) onto this strip of bark, but he apparently got distracted after writing just the first few words, and started drawing a row of people along the bottom of the panel instead.

The examples above are just a few of the many documents that have been unearthed in Novgorod (now known as Veliky Novgorod) and its surrounding areas. More than a thousand birch-bark manuscripts and styli have been found throughout the region, suggesting that there was a high rate of literacy among the local inhabitants. Most of these documents were created during the 11th-15th centuries, when Novgorod served as the capital city of the Novgorod Republic; they had been buried in the thick, wet clay that permeates the local soil, in conditions that allowed them to remain almost perfectly preserved for hundreds of years.

I know that Onfim's drawings are pretty well-known already, but my most recent post involved a very similar writing exercise/doodle from a child in Medieval Egypt, so I just thought I'd post some of Onfim's work, as well.

Sources & More Info:

Institute of Slavic Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences: Birch-Bark no.200, no.199, no.202, no.203, no.206, & no.210 (the site is in Russian, but can be translated)

Institute of Slavic Studies: Full Database of Birch-Bark Documents

The New York Times: Where Mud is Archaeological Gold, Russian History Grew on Trees

Russian Linguistics: Old East Slavic Birch-Bark Literacy - a history of linguistic emancipation?

[quartztwst]

Questions for the MagiKey Users!

(Quartz and Yuu are examples!!)

(Please copy and paste the questions!!)

Section 1 - Your OC Answers!

1. How does it feel to be a MagiKey user?

Quartz: "God, it feels awful honestly but I ain't got much to do at home."

Yuu: "I really like helping people with our powers! I also get to meet so much people!"

2. How popular are you in MagiKey rankings?

Quartz: "I'm not that popular honestly and I'm glad."

Yuu: "A lot of people seem to know me but I'm not really a fan favorite when it comes to top 10."

3. Which MagiKey would you rather have than your own?

Quartz: "Uhh.. What's her name? Metamorphosis (@/lficanthaveloveiwantpower). Yeah. I think her power is neat and cool. It's probably more unique than what I have right now. I wanna make cool psychological illusions too."

Yuu: "I like Divinity's (@/nivvetsworld)! Their abilities look so powerful! Aahh! It's so cool! The weapon and everything!"

4. Why did you become a MagiKey user?

Quartz: "Yall act like I had a choice. That fucking bird that i hate."

Yuu: "Quartz was one and I was suddenly given a key years later haha! I just wanted to spice up my life a little!"

5. How long have you been in MagiKey

Quartz: "Three years. I'm pretty old but it's cool I guess."

Yuu: "Only a year! I'm still learning from Quartz and others. I wish to develop more of my abilities so I can help others!"

Section 2 - You explain!

6. What is their motivation to keep being a magical user?

Quartz genuinely has no idea. She doesn’t have the energy to go through Crowley's bullshit but she also doesn't know if she's able to stop now. She's three years in already.

Yuu just thinks it's fun and exciting. In the foundation that they were raised in, not a lot of things were fun as this. They also really like to help people and seeing people being happy. They genuinely wish to see people live.

7. How are they usually in a battle?

Quartz doesn't really like attacking and likes to support other MagiKey users but if she has to fight by herself, she will. She's actually really quick on her feet and disappears too easily like a rabbit. Her goal is to catch you off guard so she can strike you down but she doesn't usually have well calculated strategies.

With her first ability, she uses the scarves as a tool to restrain her opponent right after she makes them confused by pulling them out of their mouth. She can use the scarves to potentially choke and tie things to the opponent.

Her second ability let's her to summon anything out of her hat. She can even summon people. YES. PEOPLE. If someone is in trouble in a different area, she can summon them out of her hat. They might get dizzy after. She also can summon explosions made out of confetti and basically anything except actual weapons like guns, bombs.

In her final ability, she can blind people with her other eye. She can only use this in the beginning of a fight so she can land the better attacks.

Yuu doesn't really do most of the fighting but they can swing the heavy basket at an opponent to do heavy damage. They're mostly there for support as well with their energy boosting strawberries. They actually have really bad stamina but with the everlasting supply of strawberries, their stamina is boosted a lot. They are the one who tries to pull the MagiKey users together to fight.

Their first ability is them swinging that heavy ass basket at an opponent. In their early fights, they used to be super stiff but now their moves are fluent with them easily throwing the basket at an opponent and being able bounce it back to their hands. No one is able to pick up the basket but Yuu because it feels super heavy to others.

The energy boosting strawberries are their second ability. These strawberries can boost mood and performance in battles. They never run out of strawberries and they can make it rain strawberries with a swing of their basket.

Their last ability is a giant scary Grim popping out of their basket. They don't actually have to place the basket on the ground. They can carry it and let Grim attack opponents or scare them. Grim is SUPER hungry so anything he sees that is not an ally is TUNA.

8. How are their daily lives?

Quartz and Yuu don't really do much but go to school in their foundation. After that, they head to MagiKey's secret training school.

9. What is their opinion on other MagiKey users in general?

Quartz thinks they're cool. Nothing much to say but she's always curious on why other people would even agree to being a Magical User considering how young and risky the job is. But she's a hypocrite since she is one of them.

Yuu finds them amazing and super cool. They love to see other user's fights and cheer them on.

Section 3 - Deeper Level (might get emo)

10. What are your OC's struggles as a MagiKey user?

Quartz always thinks of herself as one for not thinking a lot but the thing is that she does. She absolutely tries to stop these thoughts from roaming into deeper territories but how could she not?

In her three years of experience, she has encountered dead magical users and ones that died after corruption but she never tried to pay attention to it. She refused to because that is what is sacrificed when you do these duties: your life.

She always wondered why mostly children are chosen to defeat these so-called enemies in secret and how messed up it sounds but it's just a thought. It's just a thought.

When Yuu encountered their first intense battle which was with a corrupted magical user, their whole perspective changed. After defeating the corrupted user, the corpse of a young magical girl was left behind and it scarred Yuu completely.

It felt like a joke. It felt disgusting.

It felt like a dumb joke because what are you saying these monsters are just kids with problems? Couldn't we have found another way? If they knew that this would happen, wouldn't they recruit different people for this job? And what about their family? What will their family think seeing their child dead because of "unknown" reasons?

Yuu has tried to continue on after that but no matter what, the memory of the cold, limp body of that magical girl from that day keeps eating them alive.

11. What is their favorite color?

Quartz has no favorite color

Yuu likes yellow