#I will endeavour to remember to make another post

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Snape's Search History - Part One

So this has been requested by quite a few people, now. For those who hadn't seen my previous headcanon post: here it is. I will try and tag all those who have expressed interest in the comments.

In short: After stealing Snape's phone and looking through his saddening search history, the trio come up with a plan to make Snape happy. This is how it unfolds, for the Potions Master has little idea what to make of it.

Enjoy and do reblog to inform the others!!

Part One.

All was still in the empty Transfiguration classroom. The dust lay undisturbed and thick upon the solid desks, which in turn were standing silent and endeavouring in their fortitude of unuse. The chalkboard looked dejected, the forgotten endeavours of clearing it of writing still visible in ashy smudges across the charcoal surface. And it would have probably stayed like that for another decade or two if the door wasn’t flung open and three small figures stumbled from behind it, making enough noise for the dust to twitch into the air again. A ‘quick, quick!’ was spat out by one of the disturbers accompanied by a few hisses of urge, then a scrabble as the doorknob was found and the door was pushed.

The dust jumped up from the desk as the door slammed shut and settled back upon it once more as Harry, Ron and Hermoine stood, panting, in front of it. 

After a short moment, Ron pushed himself from the door. His face broke out in a wide grin.

“Blimmin’ heck, that was a mess!” He laughed and dusted his hands. “He’ll be looking for it, now, I bet.”

“But we’ve got it!” Harry grasped the trophy tight, as though he was afraid that it would slip from him, back to its owner. “Let’s do it quick, before someone else comes to find us and sees us.”

Hermoine said nothing, but she was far from calm herself - in fact, she was inches from jumping down on the spot and breaking out into a mad giggle. The latter she repressed with difficulty as they all stormed to the nearest table, swept off the perplexed dust from it with their sleeves, then laid out the shiny, sleek device upon its surface.

The device was a phone. It wasn’t any old phone, either, for if it was perhaps only a few of the more eccentric would deem it a subject of interest. This was a working phone, one which withstood any feuds between its power and the magic sparking and fizzing, though quiet and invisible, in the air; even better yet - this phone belonged to a certain man whom the three giggling and bending over its shiny, black surface, hated with a vengeance. This phone belonged to the Potion’s Master: Severus Snape.

“Go on, Hermione.” Ron slid the phone over to the small witch with bushy brown hair. “You said you knew the password.”

Hermione nodded, growing solemn at the task at hand, shoved her brown mane out of her eyes and bent over the screen, which grew illuminated at the touch of a button.

“Merlin’s beard, what my dad would give to be in our place,” Ron breathed, as Hermoine tapped out some letters and numbers with her forefingers. “A fellytone, and a working one too-”

“It’s called a telephone, Ron,” Harry corrected, though he could barely breathe as he watched Hermione’s fingers working. “Ha, I cannot believe we’ve actually managed to do this. Fred and George are nothing compared to us, now.”

“I’d love to see their faces,” Ron whispered, almost wriggling with glee. “And I’m the one who fished it out of his pocket! Now, all we need to do is-”

“Got it.” Hermione smiled as the screen changed, displaying buttons with different icons upon a plain, dark backdrop. “Now, if I remember correctly, it's called explorer…”

“Why aren’t we doing this in the common room, again?” Ron continued. “I know Percy’s a prefect, but even he wouldn’t-”

“Because, Ron,” Hermoine began as she chose the right button, “we have no idea what Snape actually keeps or searches for on this phone. If it’s all weird, we’d be too embarrassed to even attempt showing it to them. Plus,” she added, when Ron opened his mouth to interject, “it’s not like we’re going to cast it out of the window as soon as we’re done. It’s not magic - at least I don’t think it is - and it won’t just disappear or fly out to find Snape. We can show the rest of our classmates later.”

Ron opened his mouth again, but then understood the sense of this and closed it. 

“There it is,” Harry said, as Hermione searched for the right option. “History. Oh, boy, this is gonna be good. If he’s not cleared it.”

Ron rubbed his hands and rocked on the balls of his feet as he leaned on the table. “Yeah, as ‘Mione said, I bet it's all weird. Let's see what’s first.”

Dangling hair and breathing mingled and hovered inches from the square surface as all three leaned in to see. However, there was hardly any giggling, after they all read the first position on the records of what, precisely, the Potion’s Master searched for whenever he had a spare moment. In fact, there was none at all, and the glee was slowly replaced with something that none of them had been expecting.

Hermoine’s eyes dulled and eyebrows furrowed as she read the first position aloud.

“... ‘How to be more approachable’.”

There was a rather awkward pause. Hermione made a rather sad ‘oh’ sound. Ron shifted slightly.

“That’s kind-of sad, to be honest,” he finally managed, frowning.

“Scroll down, Hermione,” Harry waved aside the tension and leaned forward again. “That’s only the first position. Perhaps he’s had a change of heart.”

“And the most recent,” Hermione murmured, but she scrolled down obediently. 

“Yeah, I bet it’s all weird further down,” Ron muttered, but they were all disproved again. Their childish glee was completely reduced to something rather prickly and uncomfortable as Hermione ploughed through the searches:

“...Where can happiness be obtained…” 

“...How to tolerate children…” 

“...Patience, tips...”

“...Wholesome fiction with happy ending… stories with happy ending… which sad books to avoid… books to make one’s soul happy…”

And then:

“...Fast, effective…”

Here, Hermione paused and bit her lip, her eyes sparkling strangely, her brow now heavy. Harry glanced at her, then finished for her.

“Fast, effective headache relief.” He straightened and shifted from foot to foot, then looked at Ron for some sort of inspiration to dilute the thickness of the air. “Did you know Snape gets headaches, Ron?”

“Nope,” Ron offered, looking rather ashamed of himself and his gloating, the tips of his ears pink. “I didn’t think so. I mean, it makes sense though, doesn’t it…?”

“I feel terrible,” Hermione whispered, balling her fists.

“Yeah, we should probably put it back,” Ron said, though he didn’t look as enthusiastic about slipping the phone back into the Potion Master’s pocket than he did about proudly obtaining it. “Should we just leave it on his desk when he’s not in the classroom?”

“And how are we going to do that?” Harry asked, frowning. “We can’t go running around the dungeons. The Slytherin common rooms are there.”

Hermione sniffed, then rolled her eyes, pushing the phone away from her. “You have an invisibility cloak, Harry. This shouldn’t be too much of an issue.”

“Oh, yeah.”

They stood there for another few seconds, before Harry reached out and hesitantly pocketed the phone. “Let’s get back to the common rooms. We don’t need to mention this to anybody.”

“No, we don’t.” Ron said sadly, recalling his former words of potential victory over Fred and George and how they just went down the drain. “Never mind. Let’s just go.”

The dust was rather glad to be free of them, and so was the classroom. Only the desks, however, were rather miserable that they once again stood alone in their fortitude of unuse, unnoticed, only there to be berated and slandered by the students. Just like, as the trio would soon deduce, Severus Snape, the Potion’s Master, was.

*

A week passed. The phone was returned back to Snape’s desk without much ado. After that, it was unmentioned, and whenever it was glimpsed, three pairs of eyes were averted to the candles or windows, and most certainly not to each other, no words about it leaving their mouths, though they most certainly bounced around in their brains, though some were more cluttered than the others’.

It was through Harry’s mouth that the uncomfortable topic surfaced and it did so on a Saturday evening, in the library, when the day was slowly coming to an end and the sun was sinking slowly outside the mullioned windows. Ron was scowling at his Transfiguration homework, when Harry shot out a sigh through his nose and put down his quill.

“Listen, guys,” he started, nudging Hermione, who didn’t look as though she had heard him and just kept right on scribbling, her nose nearly touching the parchment. “I’ve been thinking… Hey, Hermione, are you listening?”

“Shush.” Hermoine glared at him, then shot a pointed glance at Madam Pince. “We’ll get kicked out.”

Ron’s scowl didn’t shift and was merely re-directed at its favourite subject of complaint with large front teeth and a vehement urge to stuff her head with new fragments of knowledge. 

“Not if we keep our voices down,” he said, potting his quill too. “Talk, Harry.”

Harry opened his mouth mainly to play on Hermione’s nerves than to follow through on his plans, when his mind did a detour to the wisdom of him touching on such a sensitive topic in a public place.

“Let’s go somewhere else,” he said with a nod. “Not because this is the library. We need to speak about… you know what.”

This was of enough weight for Hermione’s quill to stop moving. She shot him a glance, then met eyes with Ron and sighed.

“Yes,” she whispered. “We can’t speak about this here. To be honest, I’ve been meaning to speak about this to you both too.”

They latched up their bags, grabbed their stationary, then swiftly exited the library, tripping over Harry and Ron’s untied shoelaces. Hermoine grabbed them by their bags when they turned the corridor towards the portrait of the Fat Lady.

“The common room’s full,” she hissed. “We should go outside. We won’t be overheard there.”

“Hermoine’s right,” Harry said, nudging Ron. “Let’s go.”

They turned around, then began slowly walking down towards the main gates. They all kept silent, their eyes trained mainly to the floor, sometimes only looking up to meander around the other students milling around the corridor. It was probably why they didn’t notice the ominous figure walking towards them until they had all but face-planted themselves into its black robes.

Hermione was the first to look up and stick out her arms to halt the other two, her eyes sharpening after she was prodded out of her thoughts by this slightly unwelcome reality. Harry and Ron had similarly dumb expressions as they blinked up at her, then at what was in front of them.

Professor Snape’s voice was as restricted to nothing but cold disdain as usual, and the black of both his clothes and expression matched this regularity. 

“Where are we going?”

Harry opened his mouth, but Hermione beat him to it.

“Outside for a moment, Professor Snape.”

Harry paused, then nodded along with Ron, trying to appear as though they weren’t hiding anything at all. The Potion’s Master observed them for a moment or two longer, before lowering eyebrows and, as it seemed, his guard.

“I suggest you look where you’re going,” was all he said, before drawing his cape about him and turning to pass them. But he didn’t manage to pass them, when Hermoine opened her mouth and after drawing a deep breath, emitted a string of words strung upon the same one:

“I hope you have a good night, Professor Snape.”

It was quite uncanny, really, how all three males looked at her with the same degree of incredulity and astonishment upon their faces, apparently forgetting things like enmity and dislike. It was enough to make poor Hermione flush a deep red and her words to run away from her before she could properly filter them through her teeth and tongue.

“Just being polite, is all,” she muttered, before she tugged on Harry and Ron’s sleeves sharply. “Come on, let’s go.”

She dragged them off with enough force for Snape’s surprise to cool off and his usual stone face return as he watched them stagger, though that was only visible to Harry and Ron for a few seconds before the vehement grip on their arms prevented them from turning back around, in case they both got whiplash. 

“Are you mental? What was that?” Ron hissed at her, when they rounded a corner, then he did a double take when he fixed his eyes on her features. “Blimey, Hermione, you’ve gone absolutely scarlet.”

“You’ve gone redder than his hair,” Harry commented, though with a hint of admiration in his tone as he stared.

“Oh, shut up,” Hermione muttered, then dragged them through the main door, into the cool of the evening. “Never mind that. Let’s talk about the subject at hand. And don’t tell me you’ve not been thinking about doing something similar to what I did.”

She glared at Ron and Harry, still flushed. They both pulled faces back, but they dropped their gaze after a few seconds as they trudged through the foliage.

“Alright, maybe,” Ron muttered under his breath, when they reached the black lake. “But it was nowhere near to what you just did.”

“What precisely did I just do?” Hermione snapped. “I was just being polite.”

“You were sucking up to him-”

“No I wasn’t.”

“Yes you were.” Ron put on a high-pitched voice. “I hope you have a wonderful night, Professor Snape-”

“Oh, shut up!” She stamped her foot. “You act as though you’re entirely ignorant. You were there when we looked at his history. You saw it. And if complaining and arguing about this is the best you can do, then I pity you, Ronald Weasley!”

“Alright,” Harry cut in, weakly. “That’s not what we came here to do. Let’s just get it over and done with before curfew.”

Hermione glared at Ron once more before settling down. Both folded their arms and stared at the lake. Harry pursed his lips, for it was much harder to project his thoughts than he thought it would be, now that they were actually all together for that purpose alone.

“I think Hermione’s right,” he began, when Hermione was no longer red. “It would be wrong to keep at… you know.”

Ron snorted. “Being mad at Snape for picking on us for no reason?”

“He picks on everyone.” Hermione said, her eyes narrowed. “We’re no exception. Well, perhaps Harry is, but then you did get off to the wrong start at the beginning of the year.”

“No he didn’t,” said Ron.

“He was talking back to him,” she argued. “And it was the first interaction they had. No wonder Snape hates Harry.”

“And you,” Ron said pointedly. “You’re pretty much every teacher’s pet but his, and do you know why? Because he’s an-”

“Can you two not?” Harry snapped. “Can you two calm down? Please? This is serious.”

The arguing pair scowled at one another and resumed evaporating the lake with their glares.

“So,” Harry said, once enough silence had passed, “I think we ought to… you know, help him a bit. Be, erm, nicer.”

Ron turned and creased his forehead, but Hermione nodded, solemnly.

“We ought to,” she said, softly. “I told you, I was thinking about it. It’s all about perspective, really.”

“Perspective?”

“Yes,” she said. “Think about it from Snape’s perspective. Do you reckon he has a lot of friends?”

Ron scoffed. “Don’t make me laugh. Who would want to be friends with him? ‘Course he hasn’t.”

“Precisely,” she said, though she looked at him reproachfully. “You’re teaching over five-hundred children Potions, all of whom, if I may add, are intent on either not listening, not doing homework, or just being downright rude. Yes, Ron, I know he’s like that too, and perhaps he does deserve it, and if we didn’t know better, we’d be justified in biting back. The point is, he’s clearly sad. He looks it. He looks downright miserable all the time.”

“You’re blowing this over.”

“Oh, am I?” Hermione said. “Tell me one time in which you saw him smile. And I don’t mean meanly. I mean happily. Have you ever heard him laugh? Because I haven’t.”

Ron sucked on his lips, looking torn. Harry listened, looking solemn.

“I haven’t either,” he said, quietly. “At first, I thought like Ron does, but… I’ve lived with the Dursleys my whole life. They’ve held grudges for no reason, for a long time, and it's tiring to be the person receiving them and keeping them up.”

Hermione looked at him with eyes lined with admiration. She nodded.

“Exactly, Harry. We could just be the reason for somebody’s… well, perhaps not happiness, but… tolerance.”

“And how are we going to do that?” Ron asked, still looking begrudging, but not unwilling. “By saying good morning and good night?”

“We could,” Harry said thoughtfully. “That wouldn’t be going over the top, or anything.”

Hermione must have thought about this more carefully than both of them put together, because she started counting out everything they could do upon her fingers as she spoke.

“Not just that,” she began. “We could do everything which is expected of us, for starters. Like doing homework on time, doing it correctly, not just so that it's done and boxed off without thought, the right parchment length, perhaps more… I know, we could get the older students to check it for us, so that we know we’ve done it right… then, we could actually listen in lessons and excel…”

Ron was frowning as she spoke. Even Harry was getting slightly doubtful they would ever manage such a feat. 

“...Do extra work. If you don’t want to, Ron, then we could do something outside of lessons. Not necessarily work.”

“Then what?” Harry asked. “Like what?”

“We could… you know.” Hermione’s face became slightly pink again. “We could find out when his birthday is.”

“That’s going too far,” said Ron, firmly, looking slightly agonised. “Imagine his face… oh, no, I couldn’t.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Hermione agreed. “But then, I don’t know what else to do.”

“That sounds like a pretty good start to me,” Harry said. “Let’s start with lessons, Hermione, and if that doesn’t work, we’ll think of something else.”

Hermione’s face lit up, and for a moment both boys were afraid that she’d hug them.

“Great!” She grinned, then began walking towards the castle. “We have Potions on Monday, and homework due. Let’s get this done now! There’s still time. Alicia Spinnet’s good at potions - she’ll be able to point us in the right direction.”

Harry and Ron turned from the lake and began to follow Hermione as she marched towards the castle with an enigmatical spring in her step.

“I don’t know about you,” said Ron, as she talked on, “but I’ve got a weird feeling this is going to end up in a mess.”

“We’ve been in loads already,” Harry said, though there was something uneasy in his chest too, “so it won’t really make a difference. But Hermione’s got a point,” he added, after they reached the steps to the castle gate, “it must be annoying, being Snape. And, as we all know, doing homework properly’s always a good start to everything.”

“That’s utter garbage.”

“Yeah,” Harry said, grinning. “I’m quoting Hermione. She does it like she can’t live without it. And, from a teacher’s point of view, less marking seems like a good thing, at least to me.”

So the endeavours began, though they didn’t hold out to be as constant a flourish and blaze as Hermione made it out to be. Especially not after she insisted that they do twice the usual length as some form of surprise. 

“I’m not doing that,” Ron complained, throwing himself back in his chair and folding his arms. “I’ve got enough work as it is. And I’ve already done it to the best possible standard. Even you’ve said it's not bad, Hermione.”

“It looks decent,” she said, unrolling her homework, which made both Harry and Ron’s pale in comparison. “But if we’re going to show that we’re not hostile any more, we ought to try harder.”

So the homework was done somewhat begrudgingly and everything seemed to be going to plan, before Sunday evening. More precisely, the free afternoon of Harry and Ron was disturbed by Hermione suddenly coming in through the portrait hole, clutching something behind her back, then moving swiftly towards them and sitting at the table at which they were currently playing wizard’s chess.

“I’ve got something,” she said, slightly flushed. “You’re not going to believe what I made in the girls’ bathroom.”

The game was paused and the boys looked suspicious as they turned to look at her.

“The girls’ bathroom?” Ron repeated bluntly. “What have you been making in the girls bathroom, Hermione, that could make you go so bloody pink?”

They both looked blank as she withdrew a hand from behind her back and placed its contents upon the surface of the table with a rather proud flourish. It was a glass bottle, the sort which looked rather like a cuboid, stoppered with a round cork. It was filled with a light blue liquid, which seemed to glow faintly as it rested within its cool, glass confines. 

“That doesn’t look innocent,” Harry commented, knocking over Ron’s bishop. “What is it, Hermione?”

“It’s a headache draught,” she said proudly. “I found the recipe in one of the books in the library.”

Ron pushed his lips out as he stared at it, then picked it up.

“How d’you know he’ll know this is a headache draught, Hermione?”

“I reckon he’d know, since he’s the Potion’s Master.”

“But doesn’t that mean he’s fully capable of making these himself?” Harry asked. “It’s not like it would be a problem for him.”

“Yes, Harry,” Hermione said slightly impatiently, taking back the bottle from Ron, “but the thing is that some people, men especially, simply don’t bother with taking care of themselves. That’s what my mum once said, and I’ve observed it since. I have a good reason to suspect that Snape isn’t the sort to ensure his health is top-notch.”

“I wouldn’t care if I was him,” Ron agreed. “What’s there to live for, for him? If I had to teach a bunch of snotty kids Potions everyday, I’d probably kill myself.”

There was a bit of an awkward pause - Harry had begun to nod, but lost the ability to move his head as he caught the disapproval in Hermione’s eyes.

“I mean,” Ron corrected himself, “you’re probably right, anyway. How long did it take you to make this?” “An hour,” she replied, “but that was because I messed up the first one. I added a bat-wing too many, so I had to pour that down the sink. Anyway.” She sat up straight again, folding her hands on the table neatly. “It said that half this bottle is to be drunk with fluid twice daily. So we need to make this once a day.”

“We’re going to run out of ingredients within a week,” Harry commented. 

“Not unless we take a little too many during Potions,” Hermione said coolly. “It’s a basic potion, using basic ingredients. Nothing Snape doesn’t have in his cupboard.”

“That would be stealing, though,” Ron said. 

“No it wouldn’t, though, since we are giving it back to him in the form of self-help,” Harry replied. “And you are going to be making it every day, Hermione?” 

In response, Hermoine thrust her hands into her pockets and produced another six vials, placing them with a clink, clink, clink upon the table, neatly. The boys looked at her with varying degrees of astonishment and admiration as she lined the bottles up.

“When these run out,” was the nonchalant reply, though the pink returned to Hermione’s cheeks as it was spoken, “I will do so. Unless you’d like to help me make them.”

“I think I’m good,” Ron said. “You can take all the credit if you want, Hermione - I’ll be happy with just doing extra work.”

“Great,” Hermione replied, ignoring the slight annoyance tinging the last two words spoken. “Then we will start from tomorrow.”

*

As all three of the enlightened Gryffindors lined up outside the dungeon’s classroom on a Monday morning, all three could feel their hearts beating somewhere in their stomach. Hermione, as usually was the case when feverish with excitement or trepidation, wouldn’t stop talking, even for the danger of any nerves exploding in her counterparts.

“Remember what I mentioned yesterday,” she whispered with obstinance, leaning in so that she wouldn’t be overheard. “If anything happens, try not to shout, don’t argue, just try to be as polite as you can. Yes, even if it isn’t your fault, Ron,” she added, cutting off Ron’s indignant reply. “Just try to be as good-willed as possible.”

A drawling voice cut off this heartfelt advice.

“What are you three whispering about?” Draco Malfoy called from the front of the line. “You must be conspiring, since you’re standing so close to each other. Or are you just trying to kiss Potter, Granger?”

Hermione straightened, Ron scowled, Harry opened his mouth to retort, but they never got to, since the former turned around and raised her eyebrows.

“I hope you’re not jealous,” she replied, coolly, “because that would be gross.”

Malfoy scoffed. “Jealous? Of kissing you? Bleh.” He made a show of shuddering, then nudged Crabbe and Goyle, standing beside him. “Imagine kissing someone with teeth like that. They're absolutely massive. It would be like trying to kiss a beaver.”

Hermione’s lips turned down; Ron flushed a fiery red and took a step forward, but Hermione grabbed his shoulders before his clenched fist could go into swing.

“Snape will invite us in any second,” she hissed. “Don’t be provoked, Ron.”

“Yeah, don’t listen to him,” Harry said, shooting a look of hatred towards the blonde, pinched-featured boy guffawing. “He’s just being an idiot. It’s his natural state, he can’t help it.”

At that moment, the doors to the classroom creaked open, and they all began to file into their places. Harry and Ron began to meander towards the back of the classroom to their usual spot, but Hermione knocked on their arms and pointed towards the front row instead.

“Oh no,” Ron moaned, looking fearful, “no, not the front desks, Hermione…”

“Shut up, Ron,” was all she said before she dragged them towards the ominous front desks, just (oh, horror!) in front of the black board. They ignored the strange looks they received from the others around them and instead focused on unpacking all of their things needed for the lesson.

It seemed that they were all off for a good start, when Harry opened his bag, rummaged around in it for a moment, then looked stricken.

“What is it?” Hermione hissed, noticing, as she laid out her stationary geometrically on the desk. “Did you forget your homework?”

“No, I’ve forgotten to bring my Potions book,” he replied, turning his bag upside down. “Oh, great…”

“Silence,” Snape called from behind his desk, watching them with a distasteful look on his pale face. “Sit down.”

They all sat and slid their bags off the desk. Harry hoped nothing amiss would be noticed and instead of wriggling around nervously, he tried to listen carefully as the lesson began. Of course, Hermione had made the effort of ensuring that she was sitting between him and Ron, so that they wouldn’t give into temptations and burst into conversation with one another during inappropriate times.

Snape’s eyes darted towards them in a rather suspicious nature as the lesson began, as though he was expecting something dishonest at the least from this sudden change of seating and eagerness. However, the three looked back with innocent eyes, which, in turn, made the Potions Master’s eyes narrower, before he turned to write upon the chalkboard.

“You will be working in pairs,” he said, once all the instructions had been written and the sleeping draught introduced, “I expect this to be done and detailed on parchment by the end of the lesson.”

The vehemence with which Hermione threw herself into the task was quite unsettling, at least for the other two. However, since there were three of them, either Harry or Ron was going to have to go and work with another, and since neither of them wanted to be parted from Hermione (who, as usual, looked as though she knew exactly what she was doing) there was a little bit of dithering done. 

“Ron, why don’t you go and work with Neville?” Hermione suggested, as Harry slid over to her and almost grasped her arm as though to claim her for the lesson.

Ron looked stricken. 

“Are you mad?” he hissed, as discreetly as he could. “We’ll blow up the classroom!”

Hermione sighed. “No, you won’t-”

“Yes we will! It’s already happened twice before!”

However, Snape intervened before anything could be decided. They flinched, feeling the cold of his shadow and turned to see him standing behind them with his arms folded and his eyes still narrowed.

“Well?” He looked at the dithering three, from bushy brown hair to green eyes to freckles on nose. “This doesn’t look like a pair, to me.”

Harry shot a look at Ron; Ron glowered and made no move to move away. Hermione looked desperate.

“I’ll work with Neville,” she said, making them both shoot her panicked looks instead. “You two work together.”

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Snape said coolly, his eyes darting back and forth between them. “Potter, move your things to Longbottom’s desk. Weasley, you will work with Granger.”

Harry was about to open his mouth to protest, when Hermione stood on his foot and he ended up shutting it and nodding instead.

“Yes, sir,” he said, though sounding  slightly dispirited, then obediently gathered up his things and went to sit with Neville, whose round eyes didn’t leave Snape for the entirety of the time. He laid out all of his things, trying not to look at Ron, who looked rather smug at the change of circumstances, then looked up to find Snape’s eyes narrowed more still as they swept over the things he laid out on the desk.

“Where is your textbook, Potter?” Snape asked softly, his arms folded about him, looking much displeased. “Did you perhaps think that the presence of the scar on your forehead makes you unobliged to bring it? Or perhaps you think you know what to do already, without the book’s aid?”

Malfoy, who was working with Goyle to their left, snorted and nudged his crony. Harry remembered Hermione’s words and swallowed down his words, which were far too red and sharp for the plan they were trying so hard to execute.

“I apologise, sir,” he said, managing to sound relatively polite and stop himself from glowering at the same time, then took a deep breath. “I must have left it in the library yesterday. It’s my fault entirely.”

Neville stared at him. So did Snape. Harry turned to the former.

“Can I share your potions book today, Neville?”

“Sure,” Neville stammered out, then slid it over to him. “Here… here you go.”

“Thank you.” He turned to look back at Snape, who was looking incredulous at the least, almost nervous at the fact that he wasn’t firing a projectile of arrogance back at him. “Sorry to be an inconvenience, sir.”

At this, Snape actually took a small step back, twitching his cape around himself as though putting up a shield of defence, his eyebrows unbending themselves and creeping slowly upwards. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Hermione shoot him a huge grin and give him a very big thumbs-up. Ron looked torn between cringing and clapping, but ended up nodding in approval.

Snape must have been so thrown off-balance by this alarming bout of humility on Harry’s part, that didn’t even give him a reply. He just slid away from their desk with a last thorough look at him, probably deciding he was under the influence of some spell and not being worthy of both his time or his nerves.

“Nice job, Harry,” Hermione said to him over her bubbling cauldron. “See, you can keep your cool if you want to.”

“I nearly didn’t,” Harry replied with a grin, feeling some odd sense of pride from this accomplishment. “But tell me, Hermione, how are you going to put that vial on his desk?”

“Oh, I’ve got that all figured out,” she said rather breezily, dropping powdered porcupine spine into her mixture. “I’ll leave my book here, then come and get it during break, while he’s gone to the staffroom. Or perhaps I’ll just do it when his back is turned. I’ll manage somehow.”

With that Harry couldn’t argue, so he turned back to his potion and met with Neville’s intrigued face.

“What are you up to?” he asked quietly, as they cut and measured. Harry thought there wasn’t any point in elaborating, so he just said:

“We’re trying to be nice to Snape.”

“Nice to Snape?” Neville repeated, pausing with his cutting knife hovering above his cutting board. “Why’s that?”

Harry shrugged, stirring his potion the way it said on the chalkboard. “Nothing much. Thought we’d have some fun and do some good, you know, Neville?”

Neville didn’t look as though he understood, but then he shrugged and nodded.

“That’s… nice,” he murmured thoughtfully, then nothing more was said on the matter, though he didn’t look quite as uneasy as he did before. In fact, he looked slightly impressed.

Everything would have ended nicely and according to plan if Harry and Neville weren’t stationed at that particular desk. Their sleeping draught was slowly turning a bright-purple colour, as was Hermione and Ron’s (when Harry glanced over), when suddenly there was a sound of splashing and Harry was slapped in the face with several globs of his concoction; someone had thrown something into their cauldron.

Goyle was grinning. Malfoy sniggered, then moved a few steps back to his desk.

“Looked like it needed more bat-wing, Potter.” He shrugged. “You’re welcome.”

Harry stepped forward and was about to tell him exactly what he thought of him with his fists, when Neville poked him frantically and said, “Look!”

He turned back just as the huge, purple bubble swelling out of the rim of his cauldron popped; there was a sound like a giant slug being squelched and Neville and Harry were drenched from head to toe in sticky goo. 

There was a gasp, silence, then a few pounding footsteps, rustling of fabric and Snape stood before them with his eyes black and his mouth sneering.

“You idiots,” he began, whipping out his wand as their cauldron gave another sickening squelch and more gunk splattered out. “Did you not read the instructions? Can you two even read?”

“It wasn’t our fault, Professor,” Neville stammered, wiping gunk off his face, looking worriedly at his ruined robes. “Malfoy threw a bat wing into our cauldron. It was coming along so well, too…”

Snape’s eyes flickered to Malfoy, who pulled a face which was obviously meant to look innocent, then back to Harry, who had taken off his glasses and was frowning as he tried to remove the sludge from their surface so he could actually see.

“That’s right, Professor,” he managed, frowning. “We’d followed your instructions, this time.”

From the corner of his eye Harry saw the shape of Hermione draw something out from her pocket, nip backwards a few steps and discreetly place it on Snape’s desk.

Snape didn’t notice anything, still looking furious. He looked at the purple gunk disdainfully, waved his wand, vanishing it off them and the table.

“Five points from Slytherin,” he snapped at Malfoy, then turned to Neville and Harry. “And five from Gryffindor, for the disturbance.”

This was horribly unfair and normally, Harry would have exclaimed and let him know that it was just so, but Harry had a certain mindset now along with Hermione making frantic motions at him from behind Snape’s back, and so he didn’t say a word as he put his glasses back on and stared at him.

“I apologise for the inconvenience, sir.” He pursed his mouth and shot a look at Malfoy, who’s grin wasn’t as prominent, now that he had been put in his place. “Thank you for cleaning the mess up for us.”

This time, Snape certainly looked baffled. He even looked displeased, his lip curling downwards, though Harry had a feeling it was because he had no idea what was going on, rather than him being disgusted at the good upbringing he was no doubt convinced Harry didn’t have. Ron stifled a snigger with his hands. Hermione smiled.

“Yes,” Neville piped up, surprising all of them, as he examined his clean robes. “Thanks for the help, sir.”

Snape stared at him, then shot a glance at Harry, then made a sound similar to an incredulous scoff and waved his hand for the rest to get on with working. The babble of chatter slowly resumed, as did the clinking of vials and hushed muttering of the flames beneath the cauldrons.

Harry watched Snape walk back to his desk with his eyes still narrowed, sit down, apparently lost in thought, then actually look at his desk and pause.

Hermione’s eyes shot a discreet look at the Potions Master and the corner of her mouth couldn’t restrain itself from twitching upwards as Snape picked up the headache draught in two fingers (it was very clearly labelled in block writing, so that it was unable to tell who had written it) and read the label. The trio watched his eyes grow wide as his eyes scanned over it - he was astonished! - then flash upwards with suspicion.

Hermione had already averted her eyes with Ron, pretending to be reading a passage in the book together, and Harry managed to do the same very shortly after, so Snape simply scoured the room and found no potential gifters in any of the gathered. He looked back down to the little blue bottle. He uncorked it, brought it up to his nose hesitantly (probably expecting a lungful of poisonous fumes, Harry thought), then with the same expression lowered it, corked it and carefully placed it back down on his desk.

Like Hermione, Harry couldn’t keep himself from smiling as he watched the Potions Master’s reaction. Snape looked blankly at the vial for a second longer, then a strange expression of bewilderment came over him: he dragged a hand down his face, pinched the bridge of his nose and began to massage his eyes. He looked impressively beaten. More befuddled than Harry had ever seen him, which was strange, for this was nothing but an apparent act of thoughtfulness - it was as though he had no idea how to react to it!

As the class began to unroll their parchments to copy down the writing on the blackboard and add notes, Snape’s eyes kept shooting reluctant glances towards the strange present on his desk. Once or twice he even picked it up with a strange look of calm and intrigue on his face to study it.

Harry couldn’t sit still, and from the looks of it, neither could Hermione and Ron. Ron kept snickering to himself; Hermione was pink with pleasure and often joined him in his quiet outbursts of laughter. Before the lesson was out, all three were in such high spirits that Neville looked unsettled, because whenever he caught their eye they beamed at him richly, then went back to their work smiling.

“Homework,” Snape called at the end of their lesson, back to his dark mood and expression. “I want you to place it on the front table as you walk out. Now, go.”

Harry withdrew his homework from his bag - this, he hadn’t forgotten since Hermione had checked both their bags thrice - along with Hermione and Ron. They packed up, put on their bags, then approached the desk together. All three parchments were unmistakably longer than anybody else’s and almost rolled off the table as they placed them on the pile. 

When they turned to Snape, his face was made of marble.

“See you later, sir,” Ron began. “Good lesson.”

“Have a good rest of your day, Professor Snape,” Hermione added.

“Thanks again for your help, Professor,” Harry finished with a polite nod, then turned and walked out.

As soon as they were out in the corridor and the door was shut, they all burst out, clutched at one another in excitement, hissing out observations and whispering:

“Blimey, did you see his face?” Ron chortled, punching Harry in the arm. “He was absolutely gob-smacked.”

“I bet he feels bad about taking points off you, now,” Hermione added, her teeth gleaming as she grinned. “But listen. In a sense, this is completely worth it.”

“Yeah, we couldn’t get him so out of it any other way if we tried,” Ron added with vehemence. “We’re closer to getting him to quit his job by being decent to him than by being awful. Did you see his face when he picked up Hermione’s vial?”

He pulled a face of bewilderment, doing such a good impression that they all burst out laughing as they rounded the corner, running straight into Professor McGonagall who raised an eyebrow at this buzzing of laughter and jovial mood which they were exhibiting.

“Good morning,” she said to them, clearly looking for an explanation which, unfortunately for her, she wasn’t going to get, for her recipients were having far too much fun in their enigmatical benevolence to provide it to her.

“Good morning, Professor McGonagall,” Hermione sang as they walked past. “You look really nice today!”

“Yeah, enjoy the nice weather, Professor,” Harry added, “while it lasts!”

“Have a good morning,” Ron added as they got out of earshot, then waved and turned back around.

Minerva McGonagall stared after them with her lips pursed, wondering whether to follow them to check whether any charms had been cast on them to put them in such a cheerful spell or to pen this strange enthusiasm as the aftereffect of something ridiculous. The former seemed most likely to be the case, since they had just come out of Potions, and as far as everybody was aware - unless something catastrophic had happened which had temporarily rendered the Potions Master a fool in their eyes - it wasn’t exactly their favourite lesson for obvious reasons.

She made up her mind a moment later, and after twitching the quill she was holding in two fingers, she directed her footsteps towards the dungeons and the Potion’s classroom to find out more about the state of affairs.

[rebelpeas]

dee rebelpeas is on her patreon arc

hi! do YOU want to support a fellow overachieving queer disabled artist for the low low price of $1USD per month? WELL fantastic news: you now can give me money!

in addition to behind-the-scenes patreon-exclusive posts sharing wips, speedpaints, and monthly art dumps, you will also be able to see the process within my beautiful mind as i hop from one artistic endeavour to another. because, yes, this art is not limited to exclusively drawings. you’ll also find creative writing, poetry, maybe an essay or two, textile arts and patterns, video game development, minecraft coding, skin design, and custom modeling, and literally anything else that may catch my interest for the next three months.

this also includes plenty of cool sick free downloads for you. wallpapers, game demos, modpacks, those icons for custom iphone homescreen layouts… you get the idea.

but wait, there’s MORE?? you also get first dibs on deciding what i draw: drawing requests, commission slots, and anything where i ask my audience for advice/suggestions will be opened on my patreon first. remember when i made dress-up games and picrews? when/if i make another one, my patrons will be able to suggest hairstyles, clothing pieces, and other accessories for me to add!

all that for JUST $1?! yup! but if you really want to, there is also a $5 tier. there’s no extra benefits, and all my patrons will be loved and adored equally. but if you want to give me five times the money out of the very goodness of your heart, who am i to stop you?

thanks everyone for all your support! bits aside, i appreciate you all so much and im so grateful for each and every one of you 🫶

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

@lurkingshan Ok. So I haven't really been in QL land long enough to have watched a lot of under the radar ql stuff to be honest. The OJBL journey is the thing that really is helping me discover more stuff or when someone else recommends something.

Also before I start a couple of things. I don't really know if any of this is obscure or not to be fair. I guess these are things that I had to go look for because I'd never heard of them. But that's me. Second thing. Outside tumblr I don't really know what's ql or not. The only distinction I really make is asian queer media or western. So, sorry for my ignorance in this. This is just some of the ones I watched not too long ago I guess.

Speaking of my ojbl journey. You already talked about No Touching at All recently. But I'll take this opportunity to plug another one that I really like and I wish more people watched was

Ai no Kotodama

The wonderful @twig-tea is my guide through this endeavour and when she told me about this one she also said that it was left out of a lot of rec lists at the time for a couple of reasons.

I'm gonna try to not spoil anything but I really don't understand. I loved the editing in this and how they used everything around the couple to mirror them and work for the love story. Everything serves a purpose here and it's all very deliberate. Sure it's a bit older (lol) and maybe some people are turned off by superficial factors but I really liked it and I loved the progression of these two idiots obviously in love.

Silhouette of Your Voice

I adored this one. Think Last Twilight but Japanese and they didn't screw up anything. One of them is losing his hearing and the other is just a sunshine that will work for his lunch. They are precious. And I think this one might qualify as bl. A warning to anyone who might see this: If you have sensitive ears, do not watch this with headphones. Because at times the sound we hear is the sound Kohei hears and it's not pleasant.

Twilight's Kiss aka Suk Suk

I love when I get to watch love stories between older people. It's just a great reminder that there's life as long as you're living. And life doesn't end at 30, or 40, or 50 or whatever it is that you've been been told to believe. Also queer older people is even rarer so when I found this one I had to watch it. I loved it so much. There's so many great moments, I love the tenderness of the mains, and the conversations around the gay retirement home and the music, I loved the music so much.

Another caveat (because obviously I have issues and need to explain myself a lot). I love my rose-tinted glasses but at heart, I live for the sad stories.

In Between Seasons

I cried so good during this one. It's a story about waiting and about using time to accept, and forgive and heal. It's about family and coming together. And it's beautiful. But it's no bl and it's sad, so fair warning.

That's all I got for now. If I remember more I'll share. I might need to start posting more about films I watch if for no other reason that I would have gifs to use on my own posts. 💜

[rtofbs]

Planets conjunctions in Scorpio: personal experience - 1

all planets involved here are in Scorpio with the ruler Pluto in Scorpio. please note that I'm not a professional astrology, and I just share bits of my experience and observations. the Venus-Pluto conjunction deserves a separate post dedicated to this aspect alone, so it's not included in the list as well as other conjunctions like Sun-Venus, so part 2 is coming soon.

Moon - Venus conjunction is my favourite aspect of all as it allows two people to exchange energies freely and create a safe and sweet heaven for both to be with each other. this aspect is intense, but not hot, it's more on a deeper emotional side of both people involved. - Moon person tries to give the Venus person the comfort and safety so Venus can be creative and happy. in return, Venus shows the affection and loyalty needed for Moon person to be relaxed. a) I have a co-worker (Moon) who did go above and beyond to make me (Venus) happy in the company, and in return I always wrote him long public appreciation posts and make him very special to me. every our interaction is pure pleasure and delight for me, his mere existence makes me so happy in my work environment. b) my friend (Moon) remembers that I (Venus) love a specific liquor, and brings it always to our gatherings, she remembers my small details. more than that, I socialise a lot thanks to her, as she welcomes and introduces me to various people, and makes my Venus more active. - the Venus person tries to soothe the Moon person emotions by physical touch, reassuring the Moon that they are there, hey, Moon you are not alone, and you are loved by me. another type of PDA, but more subtle, it's more of a way of non-verbal communication. - if these people had sex, the satisfaction of the Moon person depends on whether the Venus had pleasure or not. the Moon person is very eager to give the Venus pleasure, to make love, and the Venus returns the same. - they both can become emotionally co-dependent because the Venus person is very sensitive to what the Moon feels: the Venus might be sad if they can't provide for the Moon's needs, or the Venus will try to minimise the conflicts even if it's necessary to address some issues. - since this conjunction is happening in Scorpio, it's very prone to emotional roller coaster as both planets are weak. however, even if the relationship is rocky with its ups and downs, Venus tries to be understanding and more accepting the Moons emotions. at the end, Venus might be hurt, but the love is more than this hurt.

Sun - Moon conjunction creates a union, a ride or die type of relationship, where both are entangled with each other on a various dimensions and levels, and it feels intense as there are too much at stake: be it ego or emotional safety. I have experienced this aspect as Sun, and I have not forgotten any of my Moons. with this aspect I noticed: - the development of a relationship might be dependant on the Sun person, and if the Sun is mature and confident enough about who they are and what they want, this combination might be beautiful. the Moon in this case might try to hint the Sun person what to do, but most of the time they give the decision and the "doing" to the Sun person, or at least want some kind of confirmation on the decision made. - the Moon person might expect the Sun to be more action-oriented, leading and confident in themselves. this conjunction is specifically interesting, beautiful and confusing when the Sun is female, and the Moon is male. this can create situations like the Moon person was waiting until the Sun writes them first, while Sun wanted the Moon to reach out first because they are male. - at the same time the Moon will support the Sun in their aspirations, goals and ambitions, offering them gentle guidance, understanding and acceptance. when working together, the Moon can facilitate what Sun decided to other people, and is happy to partake in Sun's creative endeavours. - the Sun person is protective over the Moon person, and sometimes they can fight whoever whom they perceived as dangerous and not comfortable for the Moon. the Sun person reciprocates the support and might try to avoid the situations when the Moon is left alone without any support, so they will back up the Moon person or do something instead of the Moon person. - the Moon is very supportive of the situations where the Sun is shining bright, most of the times not failing to hype up the Sun person to keep going and shining brightly. - the relationships with this conjunction are formed quickly, because you both recognise each other energies almost instantly, and it's extremely painful for the Sun to lose its Moon, because the Sun will have the ego crush and heart break, as the Moon was significant part of their world and identity. - ngl, Sun can easily be obsessed with the Moon because of the Moon's efforts to make the Sun happy, and Sun might feel like "keep your eyes only on me".

Venus conjunct Mars is another aspect that creates a union between two people, and this union is full of passion and PDA. - I had this aspect with my former best friend, and people were thinking that we are dating (in fact no) just because we did everything together, and we were always hugging and cuddling, holding hands, taking selfies with some cheesy connotation, preparing gifts for the Valentine's day without any specific reason. - Mars conjunct Venus in friendship might play out as the Mars is involving the Venus in what they do and vice versa, this is a clear indication of partnership of all sort. - the Mars is protective towards Venus, and is willing to do a lot of stuff just to make her happy. I remember the time when I was distressed by the stupid joke, and the Mars started a fight just because I was upset. - the sexual tension here is real and sometimes all over the place. when we danced together, the world was all about us: eyes to eyes, body to body, you and me, here. - Mars can be expressive and supportive when it comes to complimenting the Venus beauty.

i hope you enjoyed this post, and please let me know what you think on these aspects and how it played out in your synastries with your significant other and how the sign of the conjunction influenced your dynamic 🧸 thank you, and see you later!

[missfrieden]

Tech as a father Chapter 40

Wow, 40 chapters posted now, thanks to all who read it and enjoy it. And also I got my hug in the last episode.

Masterlist

Chapter 40: Hair gel is now part of the gear it seems

As Tech returns with Orion, his smirk is barely concealed. He had made sure to return to the temple a little later than Amanda, hoping to avoid raising any suspicion. However, his brothers are quick to notice the dishevelled state of his hair, and they can't resist the opportunity to tease him.

Wrecker grins widely and nudges Echo. "Hey, Echo, look at Tech's hair. It's all messy. You think he was wrestling with some jungle creatures?" Echo chuckles and adds, "Yeah, or maybe he had a run-in with a particularly aggressive tree branch." Crosshair, with his usual dry humour chimes in, "I didn't know the forest had such strong hairstyling skills."

Tech, trying to maintain his composure, clears his throat and retorts, "Gentlemen, you have quite the imagination. I was simply enjoying some fresh air with Orion, that's all." Hunter, always the perceptive one, raises an eyebrow but decides not to press the matter. "Alright, Tech. Just remember we're on a mission here." Tech nods, a faint blush still on his cheeks. "Of course, Hunter. Always focused on the mission." He holds Orion a little closer, hoping to divert their attention from his moment with Amanda.

Wrecker, always one to seize an opportunity for fun, leans over and tries to ruffle Tech's hair back into position, but it seems to be a lost cause. He grins widely, clearly enjoying the playful banter. "Tech, the fresh air managed to get you smirking too, huh?" Wrecker teases, undeterred by Tech's attempt to explain it away. Tech ducks away from Wrecker's playfully rough touch and replies, "Well, Wrecker, there was a strong gush of air... you know how unpredictable the elements can be."

Crosshair, with his usual sass, adds, "Yeah, Tech, was the air strong enough to mess up your always perfectly styled hair? I didn't feel a breeze strong enough for that." Tech smirks and retorts, "You'd be surprised, Crosshair. Sometimes nature can be quite unpredictable." He glances down at Orion, who seems more interested in the conversation than the state of his father's hair.

Echo chimes in with his characteristic dry humour, "So, Tech, did this mysterious gust of wind also rearrange the armour pieces on your knees? Quite the breeze, huh?" Tech sighs and decides to play along, "Yes, Echo, it seems the wind was so intense that it decided to redecorate my armour. Very unpredictable weather we have here." The squad shares a collective laugh, lightening the mood in their makeshift camp area around the Havoc Marauder.

As the banter continued, Tech's smirk didn't fade. He appreciated the light heartedness of his brothers, even if they were just teasing him about his earlier escapade with Amanda. Wrecker, with his usual boisterousness, chimed in, "Tech, next time you go for a walk, don't forget to take the hair gel with you, just in case the wind decides to have another go at your perfect styled hair." Tech chuckled, "Noted, Wrecker. I'll make sure to add 'emergency hair gel' to my field kit." Hunter, the ever-watchful leader, interjected, "Alright, enough fun, everyone. We have work to do. Tech, you're on surveillance duty tonight." Tech nodded in agreement. It was time to shift their focus back to their mission, but he couldn't help but think that sometimes, even in the midst of their dangerous missions and secret endeavours, or his secret ones, his brothers managed to bring a touch of warmth and camaraderie into their lives. And that was something he wouldn't trade for anything, to be able to have such a family is something he will always be grateful.

Chapter 41

Reblogs are very welcome and I am open for feedback, as english is not my first language, so maybe my sentences may be weird sometimes, or I write a word wrong even with google, or I use a wrong word for an item.

Tag: @spectacular-skywalker @aalizazareth @neyswxrld @clonethirstingisreal @sleepycreativewriter @moonwreckd

I know it is shorter, than usual. But when I wrote it, I found the idea funny. And no matter how long I mulled over it, there was no way I could make it longer or drg it. So here you go.

[matchaizuku]

Oh, you've read up some MHA Fanfics?

Can you recommend some? 😁

unfortunately i’ve only recently made an ao3 profile, which means that i don’t have a lot of fics bookmarked. i’ll probably make another recommendation post in the future, but in the meanwhile here’s a few fics i liked:

one shots & completed fics:

i have been in love with love (and the idea of something binding us together) by Drhair76 [6k]

"So we're gonna just not acknowledge the fact that you yanked Todoroki from the other side of the couch with only a thought?" Shinsou asks, eyebrow raising.  “Well-" "Shinsou," Todoroki says, cutting Midoriya off, "we're sleeping. Go find your own Midoriya to bother." or, Midoriya develops a latent quirk that pulls people he has an mutual affection for towards him with just a thought. Class 1A thinks it's cute. Midoriya does not.

very cute and fluffy, just a feel good one-shot, minor tododeku, crack treated seriously

journey to the past by aloneintherain [44k]

Izuku is five years old the first time he's saved by heroes. He's an instant fan of the woman in pink with her cheerful smile and the man with his ice powers and fine-boned features, even if they both refuse to tell him their names.  For most of his life, Izuku has been the centre of villain attacks, but he has never been injured. Every time, he's saved by bright, unknown heroes—heroes who smile at Izuku, and ruffle his hair or ply him with hugs, and seem mesmerised by how small he is. Heroes that the rest of the world doesn't believe exists.

i read this only once a long time ago so i don’t really remember it, but i do remember liking it. cute and fluffy, time-travel, gen (maybe hinted tododeku? but i could be wrong)

No One to Mourn You by PorcelanaRota [4k]

One day while on his rounds, Present Mic stumbles across a plot to kill a pro-hero.

this one is super interesting, i loved reading it. it’s not endeavour friendly. crimes are committed. also, it’s present mic!

incomplete:

bitter rivalry by theotherpacman [101k]

After the sports festival, Shinsou Hitoshi begins to train privately with Eraserhead in preparation to join the hero course. This is going just fine until Aizawa decides that apparently Hitoshi needs a peer to train with and brings in Hitoshi's mortal enemy, the asshole who knocked him out of the sports festival, Golden Boy Midoriya Izuku. But Midoriya turns out to be a little harder to hate than Hitoshi expects...

listen, i know that this isn’t complete and it’s unlikely that it will be completed, however. if you like shindeku you have to read this, it’s so good! it’s an enemies to friends to lovers, and the similarities between shinsou and midoriya are handled extremely well. 10/10 would recommend. i read this a long while ago and then specifically looked for it so that i could bookmark it.

[aashi-heartfilia]

My convoluted feelings about Toga... what now?

So after reading a bunch of metas all over the internet, my feelings about Toga's survival are more convoluted than ever. The fandom is basically divided into two parts:

Yes, Toga died for good. She lived, loved and died on her own terms yada yada (whatever I have been saying in my previous posts)

V/S

The hopeful part of fandom, that thinks after this type of dramatic closure Toga will somehow be revived because it goes against the themes of our story etc etc

...

Honestly, I can see why a bunch of people are saying this and then I found another Dabi Toga parallel which convinced me even more that maybe,...maybe there is an actual chance of Toga's survival!

Now hear me out!

There are literally a bunch of people who think All Might should have died in the Kamino arc, because his story arc concluded there but he survived. He survived and learned to live a life without his power, as a normal person and learn that even as a person be can make great changes.

MHA is not about people dying. Nothing good comes out of it. Twice's death proved that. Hawks murdered Twice but that came flying back at him when Toga unleashed the SMP again.

Plus, we had the Todoroki family arc concluding just before the TogaChako arc and Dabi also had the same realisation...that why not sooner?

But he survived.

Despite all the injuries he survived. Because Endeavour and Touya dying together could also have been a great conclusion to their character arcs but was it fair? Think about the Todoroki family who would have been left behind. Think about the backlash that Shouto, Rei, Fuyumi and Natsuo would have faced.

Touya dying meant they failed.

And then there is TOGA.

She literally had the most chances of survival in this battle! She is also the youngest of the group. Her dying would be a true tragedy because if a little girl like her couldn't be saved then who would?

It's similar to how they saved Eri from Overhaul. Remember how even her quirk was considered a curse?

Only for the story to remind us that her quirk is not in fact a curse but a blessing, by which Deku was able to defeat Overhaul.

Children are literally earthen pots, and they grow into whatever shape you provide them with. Toga's family was horrible just like Touya. Even though Touya burned her house, that contained all those horrible memories, that place still remained in her heart.

Toga finally found someone who was willing to accept her wholeheartedly. Ochako finally managed to save Toga only for her to die such a tragic death. Ochako tried so hard to save Toga, only for Toga to sacrifice her entire life for Ochako.

Think about the backlash it would have on Ochako. At first I thought it would inspire her to become a better hero and save more lives but she was already feeling horrible about making Toga cry. Now she would feel like she took Toga's life. She took Toga's happy future, even if it was Toga who willingly volunteered.

She would live with the survivors' guilt her entire life!

This doesn't feel right because this arc is also about making a little girl smile, and then do everything to make sure that she keeps that smile.

...

So what do you guys think?

[that-ari-blogger]

Stray Gods: The Role-Playing Musical

If I asked you to close your eyes and picture something that you have lived through, what do you picture?

Chances are, you are picturing a single moment in time, and feeling all the emotion that runs through it and connects it. Maybe it makes you smile or cry. But it's a single moment, crystalised in a wonderfully imperfect brain.

Life isn't about the great stories and sagas. Sure, that's what historians write down, but that's not what the life of a person is about. It's about falling in love, it's about a cup of coffee in the morning and a conversation with a friend, it's about crying in the rain, and it's about a moment of song and dance. Life is about the little moments, the things that you remember.

Stray Gods: The Role-Playing Musical is an epic, but it's also very much not. Stray Gods is about small choices and moments that add up. So, in this post, I'm going to be looking at some of those moments that I liked, and that some of y'all liked, and doing some analysis of what they say about the story as a whole.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Stray Gods is a video game. That's really important to the themes and emotions. Video games are often collaborative endeavours, the game itself often just serves to facilitate moments with the group. A perfect example of this is Ludohistory's streams with the crew from Overly Sarcastic Productions (Link).

I have played the game a few times over, with family members and friends, and on my own, and it's a lot less fun playing solo. Not that the game isn't fun to play on my own, but it felt like it was designed to be multiplayer.

The other benefit of the medium is Stray Gods' calling card. The story is interactive. You make choices and interacts with people within the game. When you convince people to give love a chance, that's your choices leading to an outcome.

One of the best examples of this happens twice. Once halfway through the first song, and then again later on in the story. You get to choose your primary character trait from Charming, Kickass, or Clever. And I think these three are interesting, because their names are misleading. Charming doesn't make you more charismatic, and clever doesn't make you more intelligent.

Instead, I read them as relating to the different driving forces. Emotion, empathy, and logic. I tried to map these on to Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, but it's not quite accurate. Pathos is emotion, Logos is logic, but Ethos is credibility, which isn't the same, but it's a neat idea. In any case, a kickass character is more likely to make rash, emotion driven choices and a clever character is more likely to step back and think, and that is reflected in the choices made available later.

@rosespark2 gave a different, more fascinating read of the concept (source).

I personally think that [the second choice of personality trait] is supposed to act in a way as Grace developing in the story. An example I could think of being maybe Charming Grace gaining Kickass trait later as her being a more open and compassionate person but seeing the injustices in the system become more glaringly obvious it starts to frustrate her and make her more aggressive.

I genuinely hadn't considered this, but it's fascinating to me. Specifically, because of how these choices influence the story. Your primary character trait lets you make slightly different choices, it affects the little moments later on down the line. For example, Clever lets you ask more questions or make different observations. Case and point, in Aphrodite's party, Grace gets asked if she knows the purpose of this event, and the clever choice is the exact opposite of another option.

You can say it's to forget, but if you're clever, you can say it is to remember. This gave me a chuckle the first time around, but on a second playthrough, it reminded me of something.

One of my favourite songs is Hotel California by the Eagles and part of the second verse goes like this:

"How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat. Some dance to remember. Some dance to forget."

A party can be for remembrance and for its antithesis at the same time. Because that's what this event is for, it's for keeping the good times and replacing the bad ones with new moments. It's a time to reminisce. And a clever Grace could work that tiny little detail out, and it could change your perspective on the entire story, a small moment having a big impact.

But as Rosespark pointed out, you get two choices of character trait, and they can act as character development. And the way that the story uses these choices works with this take. Because instead of your second choice superseding or supplanting your original, it adds to it. Because character development can mean losing parts of yourself, but it can also mean developing. Maybe you are clever and kickass, and that lets you make both clever and kickass choices.

This retroactively makes the Grace from the first half of the story feel incomplete, and that's exactly who this character is, she is young, and lost at sea, trying to find a way forwards. This is a character who needs to decide who to be, and that doesn't happen all at once, it happens gradually, in the smaller moments.

When you play a TTRPG (be it Pathfinder, or DnD, or Raccoon Sky Pirates), you usually play as a single character. And one of the fun things about those games is finding out in real time, who your character is, and it's influenced not just by your choices, but by those of your friends, and the rolls of your dice.

And characters are made in the little moments, because you cannot look at the wider story. I remember two separate occasions where characters went in completely opposite directions. One champion I made to seek out power wherever she could find it ended up being the redeemer of the group, and one alchemist I made to seek revenge ended up being a father figure. And those two characters came about not through looking at how the plot would play out, but by small decisions in the moment of play.

Stray Gods works a lot like that, and that's for one key reason. TTRPGs are reflections of life, in a way. They are spontaneous, and that's what Stray Gods seeks to achieve. It is possible to play the game with the intent of being specifically charming, but what happens when you get given a choice with no charming options. Most notably, do you side with Persephone or Apollo in Old Wounds? Character comes about in the small moments and the little choices that lead to a large outcome.

This all works for little choices within the game and within its music. The neat little instrumental association of the choices (Electric guitar for Kickass, harp for Charming, bass clarinet for Clever) is a cool choice that associates the choices with distinct moods that can really help to back up the choice as being charming or clever or whatever. And the repetition of this means that you end up associating those instruments with their choices. So, when a character other than grace starts singing with these instruments backing them up, you associate them with that character trait.

For example, Orpheus is the owner of the single coolest looking guitar ever made, and in The Throne, is preceded by this instrument. So, you immediately associate him with strong emotions, just through the music. When you finally meet him, he isn't particularly rash in action, but you are wary of him because of your intuition brought on by the guitar.

Another example of a small musical choice affecting the story is in Cast A Spell and was pointed out by @adragoncat (link):

[Asterion] might be singing a harmony, and when [Hecate] accepts his proposal, she starts singing a melody to compliment it.

It's a tiny choice in the grand scheme of things, within the entire musical, the Asterion and Hecate love story has no plot bearing. But I have gone into detail on the thematic significance in a different post.

But what I think Adraconcat is pointing out is that the music signifies the connection between the two characters. Asterion's singing is less than immaculate, and that is the point, but when Hecate joins in, she doesn't make his singing obsolete, but she adds to it. The two complement each other. Not only is Asterion's song more bearable with her addition, but his singing itself becomes a harmony as the voices intermingle and complement each other into something infinitely better than the opening fumbles.

Things don't have to be plot relevant to be remembered. You remember Cast A Spell because of the emotion you invest in the relationship, and if you don't invest, you don't remember. And there's nothing wrong with that. Memories are unique to the person. My favourite moment in the entire musical is a small line by Eros in The Ritual:

"My arrows are rusty, forget the bow"

The arrows rusted because they were metal, but forget the bow because it was wood and rotted away. (That may be obvious, but I thought it was cool). That bow, mythologically speaking, is what makes people fall in love. It gets used on Jason and Media, and it gets used on Psyche and Eros himself. Probably a mythological interpretation of the flightlines and unpredictability of love, it was a purpose for Eros, and this single line conveys a loss of purpose as time has shifted, and the song attributes that to the pain of Aphrodite.

This is especially powerful because Grace's entire journey is finding her own purpose, and she can empathise with that. If you get invested in Grace's story, there's a high likelihood you will empathise with this as well.

But the line that sums up the themes the most comes in The Trial:

"Give it time you'll find even an island drifts. You don't notice 'cause it only moves in teeny, tiny shifts."

Stray Gods is about the small moments, because Stray Gods is about choices. You make decisions, you accept the consequences. But sometimes you get so caught up in the small things and you don't understand or see what they all lead to.

You are defined by your choices, for better or worse. And sometimes you look back on yourself and don't recognise who you were or who you have become. And it's important to do so, because the moments keep coming. Even now, there is the choice to change for the better, even when all is lost, you can make a choice. And that choice will be remembered as a tiny moment that might just change your life.

Final Thoughts

This musical is phenomenal and my greatest respect to Austin Wintory for the music, David Gaider for the writing, and everyone else involved.

This is game niche, and that is a strength. It's a Greek mythology, murder mystery, musical, coming of age story, video game. But it zeroes in on its heart, that being the small moments and choices that make a life.

This game made me laugh and cry and sing along. It made me dance, and brought about some fantastic memories, and that's the best praise I can offer it.

Thank you to all those who have read my posts and fed my ego. I put out a request for y'all's opinions on this and while I admittedly overestimated how many responses to that call I would get, it was fun seeing what y'all thought and working that into the final analysis. I am eternally grateful to those who offered their thoughts. I might do it again for other series of analysis that I do.

But this isn't it for my analysis of musicals. In the new year, I plan to take a look at Wicked, so stick around if that interests you.

Previous

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

since chuuya was under koyo for a while, do you think he also got the ye olde "flowers thrive in darkness bla bla bla the world of light is meaningless etc". because its...sorta perfect to like, kinda instill the fact that he belongs in the mafia (or the world of "dark") so id imagine hearing the detective from sb saying he wants to bring chuuya to the "world of light" mustve meant a lot to him, only to lose that man moments later because of verlaine (which, interestingly enough, is similar to how koyo lost the man who was going to escape pm with her- to the world of "light")

Anon I love the paralleling here.

You know, I've often wondered what kind of influence Kouyou had on Chuuya. The only thing we know for certain is that she had him sit in on negotiations, and in the main manga, Chuuya is sent to negotiate with the Agency, so suffice to say, he must've learned well from her.

But you know, I think there was never any need for Kouyou to be so explicit about her "flowers that bloom in the dark can only thrive in darkness" belief, mostly because even by Stormbringer with the offer from Murase, Chuuya didn't think he was worthy of such a thing as joining the world of light. I believe much of that had to do with his doubts about his humanity, but even by the end of the story - Who helped Chuuya? Who defended him? It was the Mafia. And Kouyou was there too (ironically looking down on Verlaine's behaviour when... that's almost exactly what she tried to do to Kyouka...). In his mind, these people fought for him, so he stays and protects them. That's just the way Chuuya's mind works.

See, even if nothing was stated directly, undercurrents of a belief like that probably would've been present in her actions and the form her guidance took. There would only be certain types of advice she would give - because those are the only options available for people like them, stuck in the dark and there to stay.

Thing is, both Chuuya and Kouyou have this interesting sense of loyalty where they stay with the Mafia in part because they have something to protect - Chuuya cares for the people within the organization as they are his family, while Kouyou refuses to let the Mafia return to the ways of the old boss and protects Mori specifically for that reason. However, another huge drive behind their loyalty is, I think, simply because they believe they have nowhere else to go.

I also think it's interesting to note that the two act wildly differently only around one specific character who reminds them of themselves in some way - namely Kouyou sees herself in Kyouka and tries to shield her (but not really seeing Kyouka as her own person in that sense and assuming she knows best for her), while Chuuya sees himself uncomfortably in Dazai and is furious about it (so he tries to be everything Dazai isn't, in a sense).

It's interesting because typically Kouyou is very logical and an expert in negotiation (honestly I think she's the only reason Mori gets anything done sometimes... she's like, one of only two functioning executives and the only one to call him out on his bullshit). But when Kyouka is around, she becomes incredibly shortsighted and actually commits a serious faux-pas in negotiation - which is when one becomes unwilling to see other options (think it's called the "fixed pie"... I can't remember). She's trying to save Kyouka but not really - Kouyou is actually trying to save herself, but that endeavour is hopeless, in her mind, so it manifests as this urge to just keep her with her.

And with Chuuya, he's typically quite rational as well. Sure, he prefers to punch his problems whenever possible, but he's no fool. He's also quite surprisingly empathetic - he'll lay a beatdown on anyone but he also really gets people and respects them as human beings - it's a really notable aspect of his character. But Dazai? Dazai makes him lose it. He refuses to consciously empathize with Dazai - precisely because, as I've described in previous posts, they are so similar at their cores that he does understand him - and that's deeply uncomfortable because Chuuya does not want to be like that, or rather, Chuuya does not want to admit that there are sides to him that are like that. He rebuffs Dazai, often quite violently. But then he also worries for him. But then he thinks Dazai can handle himself. I've mentioned this before too but Chuuya's self-concept is deeply screwed up. He's not protective of his foil like Kouyou is with hers - Chuuya does not include himself in his self-appointed duty of protection.

The tragic thing about both of them is they are both people who lost their childhoods and were forced to protect themselves. So, when they are offered the bare minimum of support or safety, they feel as though that is something worth protecting, or even something to feel grateful for.

In many other series, this would likely be a heartwarming thing. In the context of these characters, it's tragic.

They can leave at any time. But unless something significantly changes, they never will.

Anyways, think I kind of derailed a bit from your original ask anon (sorry about that) but yeah I absolutely agree that losing someone immediately after just hearing that they believe in your potential must have been horrible, on top of everything Chuuya was going through already, and I do suspect his trajectory might've been different if Murase had lived, much like Kouyou's would've been drastically different if her and that man had've succeeded in escaping, and how Kyouka's was because of Atsushi.

@originalartblog has a Murase design and some comics with him that are wonderful and make me feel bittersweet emotions; I highly recommend you check them out anon, if you haven't already!

[dceuheadcanons]

I've been asked to talk more about my "Bruce Wayne has OSDD-1B" post, so I will be doing just that!! I will elaborate on further details about each headmate in the future. Feel free to see my last post on this if you have not already.

So far I've noticed that there are at least five headmates. Batman, B, Brucie, Bruce Wayne, and Mr Wayne.

Batman started forming the night his parents were shot, and his memory also starts there. He cannot remember his childhood pre-ten. He's a protector of sorts, but he also holds the rage. He's the most intelligent of the bunch, what with being the "World's Greatest Detective" and all. He is slow to trust people, but he believes that there is good in everyone. That is why he does not kill. Though that wasn't originally the case, he saw the worst in everyone for a decade or so, his viewpoint changed when he took in Nightwing. Every part of him has patrolled as Batman, the cowl belonging to them all partially because of his obliviousness towards his disorder, but he is the one made to be Batman.

B is the father. He formed for the singular purpose of being a parent. None of the others were prepared for such a task. He has great care for his children, despite failing in places due to the awful example his own father set. He would kill for any one of them. He was the one that endeavoured to kill The Joker when Red Hood was murdered. He doesn't take kindly to anyone he loves being harmed.

Brucie is the playboy. Everyone knows that. He doesn't take much seriously, he flirts with everyone (of appropriate age) that he meets, he does drugs, and he's an alcoholic. But he's the one that's been around the "longest". He remembers his entire childhood. He deals with his grief and trauma with hypersexuality and substance abuse. He's the least honest of the bunch and absolutely hates people seeing him as sad or weak. But he commonly accompanies Batman on patrols. He's good with words and good with people, able to manipulate and redirect effortlessly. He's the one that goes on out-of-costume intel missions. He's the one fucking all his rogues! He has the lowest iq of the bunch, but he's still considered a genius by his score.

Bruce Wayne is the child. The child that "died in the alleyway with his parents". In systems, these are commonly called littles. They're used to cope with high stress situations, but he is never usually left alone. If left alone he's quiet, flinches at loud noises, distrusts adults, and will be willing to beat the shit out of anyone that disrespects his father's name. If you do manage to get him to trust you, he will talk about things that he liked in childhood. Pokémon, Sonic Underground, classical literature, etc. He was born in the 90s in my AU, similar to the newest movie. I will roughly outline my timeline in another post.

Mr Wayne is the business man. He does not respond to Bruce, as he both sees himself as above others and ISN'T Bruce. He's the only introject, and he's an introject of Thomas Wayne. He isn't mean or entirely self centered. He makes sure the employees of his company and all of the companies he owns are treated well. He pays for employees' family's education, rent, food, whatever they need. He has a LOT of money and he knows that as long as he keeps his businessess going and his employees happy, he won't ever go bankrupt. He uses that to help whoever he can, he donates large sums to charities, etc. He's commonly around at the same time Brucie is. He isn't allowed to be around at the same time Bruce Wayne (the little/child) is, though, due to the fact that their real father was abusive. He'd scare the kid.

[dan-whoell]

what are some phancoded songs?

@fryday has covered this a ton recently, but some I doubt anyone else will say:

How Far This Can Go by Bowling for Soup. The chorus??

Let’s take it fast to slow Hold our breath and jump into whatever this is Grab a coat and let it all rain down If we never stop believing, it’s gonna be alright But if we don’t try, we may never know How far this can go

It's very early days, but also every adventure they've had??? Like even as recent as resurrecting the gaming channel, if they hadn't taken the chance on doing that we might not be in the middle of whatever the phagenda is now. I also think about Dan being 18 and still not having coming to terms with his own sexuality, but still jumping into whatever was going to happen with Phil.

By the time the curtain's falling There'll be standing under and screaming out our names Can’t you hear the future calling Will go all the way and never be the same, yeah

I mean. Self explanatory. Makes me cry to think about everything they've built. And I love the love the audience has for them. I can't think about it too long or I end up a pile of goo.

Come Monday by Jimmy Buffett. I grew up listening to this man, I've done a list of some favorites. But this one specifically gives me dnp vibes.

Come Monday, it'll be all right Come Monday, I'll be holding you tight I spent four lonely days in a brown L.A. haze And I just want you back by my side

Again, I think about them in the early days, hanging on every visit and always trying to get back to their bubble together. But also Dan on tour. I wish I could remember who it was that made a post about why now as far as a potential rebrand/launching so hard into joint content again, and the tldr was after wad, Dan coming back and and being like 'Okay. I've done it solo, and I've realized I don't want to do this without you.' And that's the same vibes I get with this song. Being away from each other sucks, and I just want you back by my side.

I can't help it, honey You're that much a part of me now Remember that night in Montana when We said there'd be no room for doubt?

You know. Their lives are so intertwined. Phil literally said our life. They own a house together. They have their own fucking language. They know each other so well. I've said it before but although I don't believe in soulmates, they are the exception to the rule. As for the second half... I mean. Early days. Jump in. See how far this can go.

I hope you're enjoyin' the scenery I know that it's pretty up there We can go hiking on Tuesday With you I'd walk anywhere

It's the idea that everything they've done for 15 years, and everything they will do, they'll do it together. In the sense of a joint endeavour, or just supporting one another in solo projects. Them doing shit they'd never normally do on their own, but they have their soulmate by their side so how bad could it be?

(This one is depressing so apologies in advance)

Haunted by Spanish Love Songs. Sort of a Phil perspective on Dan's struggle with depression.

You're not haunted You just miss everything You're not a cautionary tale So don't you vanish on me

And you're not haunted It's just the devil in your skin It'll be this bleak forever But it is a way to live You're not alone You just miss everything When you're feeling like a ghost Would you come haunt me? Please come haunt me

I'm not gonna say a lot here, but I know what it's like to love someone so fiercely and be heartbroken that they cannot see themselves for who they are. I've also been the person who can't see it. I think a lot about Phil always being there for Dan, and I'd love to hear him talk about the experience of love in those situations. (And if he never does I totally get it, it's private and it's not really our business. Just from a relatability standpoint.)

This is in the same vein but Washington Square Park by The Wonder Years, specifically this:

She said, “I let this slide when we were younger You know you don’t have to write like this The whole world’s full of losers If you get a chance to win, (you should) take it!”

Like. Phil always trying to get Dan in colors. Dan face down on the floor and Phil being there to pick him up and distract him. I love a love song as much as the next guy but this is my bread and butter.

To end on a happier-ish note, Love Will Keep Us Alive by The Eagles.

I was standing, all alone against the world outside You were searching for a place to hide Lost and lonely, now you've given me the will to survive When we're hungry, love will keep us alive

Early days??? Phil being the first person that made Dan feel safe??

Don't you worry Sometimes you've just got to let it ride The world is changing Right before your eyes

Coming out??? Meeting so many queer fans on tour and that being a push to come out themselves?? HELLO??

Now I've found you There's no more emptiness inside When we're hungry, love will keep us alive

I think about the state of things now, how fucking happy they've been since coming back. How different it feels from when they started. There's always been laughs, always been fun, but there is so much joy now. I'm sure I've said it but personally my heart feels so fucking full when I see how far they've come. When I see what they've built for themselves.

Anyway I could go on and on about songs that make me think about dnp, especially stuff that's not top 40's pop or is 30+ years old, but I think I've yapped enough on this particular post.

[viviennelamb]

Hello Vivienne. I just finished your book after purchasing it for my kindle yesterday. Finding your writings has been in direct accordance to my souls path to enlightenment, it came at just the right time. I just wanted to let you know how much your writing has already impacted many others and is going to lead to the healing and awakening of numerous women. I thank God for allowing me the opportunity in this life to level up my consciousness and escape the matrix that has been plaguing me since I was a small child. Besides adorning praise onto you, I did have a question.

In some of your past posts and book, you mention hobbies and exercise. Would these things still be in alignment with one’s path as long as they were still putting God first? I know healing is possible when raising one’s consciousness, but I used to indulge in degeneracy such as unhealthy eating and a lack of movement. I now do strength training in order to prevent further injury to my physical body. If I do so not out of vanity or a mental escape like a rush of endorphins, is that okay. With hobbies, I’ve always been drawn to art since a young age. I would imagine that your take on it would be that it’s okay as long as it’s accordance to God and used as an outlet for beauty instead of degeneracy. I was curious on your thoughts about this. Thank you for all that you do :)

Wow @ you finishing it so quickly. I have another book I'm editing so you won't have to wait long for the next one. Every compliment you give is ultimately to God. ❤️

There is no fulfillment in aimless hobbies. I found it's typically a way for people to avoid their purpose because they're too intimidated by doing something real.

All hobbies are mindless consumption. Something like knitting is a trade because its purpose is to provide warmth, but most people call it a hobby because technology has advanced to create knits faster.

Hobbies are consumption activities such as anime, gaming, music and internet surfing which an individual drowns themselves in and doesn't inspire them to do anything better. It's as if the individual is a paralyzed zombie. Hobbies are intended to be addictive. The exception lies in whether you watch/listen to look for a particular message that aligns with your purpose. Media is useful for communication in this manner.

Any endeavour that isn't centred on God leads to emptiness, burnout and being highly sensitive toward the outcome. The second you know you are acting for God, you've already won and you won't care about the outcome or the logistics of how to get there.

Personally, I was addicted to video games for a good decade even though I knew it wasn't good for me, I felt like I wasn't in control of my body. The ego wants to be anchored in something, and it chooses something to identify with. Since I didn't believe in God, I believed in video games instead. It's a serious downgrade to identify with anything but God. Hobbyists also say to never make your hobby your career because even they know hobbies are soul-sucking.

-

For exercise, if you're doing it just to move, that's fine, but it's even better if it's for a Godly purpose. What has God put you here for? If you know this, then you must be in good health to carry out that purpose, so exercise would be for God.

Remember, your soul is God who has arrived to do one thing, so don't place God too far away. You need to become present to know who you are and stop rejecting/suppressing your role so you can finally become calm. Notice how there's somehow something wrong with everybody and we all must fix something about ourselves, but people rarely believe that one aspect of ourselves is meant to be our purpose? This is the matrix and makes us hyperfocus on something imaginary.

You can only be aware in the present moment and you're only actually present when you think of God. This is the thing that will bring you limitless happiness, but anything that society has told you to do will bring you misery. Once you remember to think of God, all of your negative feelings will wash away. All you have to do is make thinking of God, or being present, a habit. Once centred on God, your perspective on success will radically change and you will never feel a negative emotion or boredom again. Nobody will ever hurt you again as well.

I used to be addicted to exercise. Strength training didn't get me anywhere, cardio didn't increase my lung capacity and stretching didn't really do shit for me because I was mentally fragile. Any time I did feel like I was making some progress, all it took was a week off to place me back at square one.

I was very disciplined and consistent ate perfectly and never cheated for 9 years, at one point I went to the gym twice a day every day. I remember I was driving home and thought about how I would have to do this for the rest of my life for "health." Like... is this it?

I thought I was losing my will, so I looked into upgrading to a more expensive gym, but I saw the people who went there and they looked weird. They were extremely vain, on a supplement program that cost hundreds of dollars a month if they weren't on steroids and carefully monitored macros. I wondered why I was doing it and it was because I was told doing all of these things was healthy and I realized I don't even like exercise. I have no interest in becoming obsessed with my physical appearance either, that realm is just way too toxic for me.

The next day I went back to the gym and looked at other people who were doing the same thing as me and they were stressed out, anxious and depressed and I was on my way there too. I finished my workout and asked the dude at the counter to cancel my membership and never looked back. No joke, the pandemic was announced a week later and people were complaining about their gyms charging them even though they couldn't go lol.

I don't exercise minus walking and my pre-meditation energization exercises and you know what's interesting, now I have muscle and can maintain it sustainably, I'm not as reliant on breathing, and my body is miles more flexible and the body feels very light, nimble, and like liquid because it's becoming aware it's molecules. It's less likely to get injured in this state, so don't worry too much about injuries. Don't worry about anything tbh, just focus on doing what makes you happy and keep doing it regardless of what your material circumstances show you. If something is fruitless, or places you at highs or lows, don't do it. You should always feel calm.

The mind that is centred on God through meditation will allow you to become the soul and leave body consciousness behind. Otherwise, we would all be in the gym forever. Oh, and unhealthy eating is a non-factor, as you meditate your desire for anything unhealthy goes away naturally over time. Yogis have a saying that if you put in sincere effort, even 20%, God will take care of the rest. It's hard to believe people take the gruelling route when God is waiting to take away all of our burdens and worries for free. God's mercy cannot be expressed, especially as you become smarter and see the bigger picture and you'll see how God works.

[isnt-it-pretty]

WIP #6

I posted a wip of Lisa visiting Sumeru a while ago, so here's another. This one is set after the archon quest and deals with Cyno's trauma + insomnia

-

Cyno couldn't sleep. He wanted to, but dreams haunted his respite like fingernails on flint, memories buzzing just beneath his skin until he wanted nothing more than to claw them free. Insomnia had always been a struggle for him, but with the Akasha no longer harvesting dreams, it left them free to disturb him. The crowds in Sumeru City didn't help--he never liked them, and couldn't help but search shadows and rooftops of adversaries they might have missed. His anxiety had steadily mounted since disposing of the Grand Sages, paranoia clinging to his thoughts.

What if one of Azar's allies made a move against them? What if they didn't find all the loyalists inside the Akademiya? What if they went after Collei or Tighnari or Kaveh-

Had he made the right decisions? There was no way to know, but when the sky was dark and Cyno couldn't sleep, he went over them, re-examining every scrap of knowledge he had available. It was a futile endeavour, and yet he couldn't stop.

He leaned against the window in his office, enjoying the cool glass against his skin. Exhaustion called to him, but Cyno couldn't bear the memories.

Sometimes, when he closed his eyes, he saw the Court of Desolation and its endless sands. He pictured Taj's body crushed by rock, swallowed by the deserts. Others, he remembered what it was like to be too small to fight back, barely a child pitted against adults who had no fear of harming him, the way his fingers broke as he struggled to block blunted strikes. He remembered Azar, too, the things that could have gone wrong had he not met the Traveler. Tighnari's corpse left to rot in the forest, Collei once again subjected to the whims of the Doctor. It was enough to make him feel insane, the thoughts cycling in his head until they were barely distinguishable from each other, just a knot in his chest that beat in time with his frantic heart.

He should go to Cyrus, Cyno knew that. He always had in the past when the memories were too much, when fear prickled across his skin like insects burrowing into his flesh. But then he would have to explain the truth of what occured, and Cyrus would worry the way he always did when Cyno was involved in something dangerous and-

He took a deep breath and slowly released it, trying to calm himself. Outside, the sky was coloured gold with dawn.

Things had just been so overwhelming recently. He didn't know how to handle it, and wasn't that shameful? He was the General Mahamatra, and yet his archon had been forced to step in and order him to take time off.

He hadn't told Tighnari that. Maybe, if he didn't, he could continue this balancing act of pretending everything was fine, that he wasn't falling apart at the seams beneath the weight of his own memories.

Kaveh noticed, his concern manifesting in sharing cups of coffee at the Pupsa Cafe over cards and the promise of a sympathetic ear. Lisa would, too, as soon as she saw him. His history with these struggles was well known to them both. They had been there for his worst years, when even going to class was a struggle. Bringing him food and studying quietly in his room but commonplace, then. He hadn't been able to handle the cafeteria, or the House of Deana-- too vigilant of the eyes that trailed him, the people who wanted to see him hurt.

Tighnari didn't press when Cyno avoided the topic, but he knew he was worried. He just didn't know how to explain, how to put his thoughts into words.

[elvenbeard]

2077, April

"You really think I can make it, survive this?"

"'Course you can. I mean, you did already die and come back once, didn't ya?"

The chance of a lifetime the Konpeki Plaza Heist should have been turned Vince's existence into a living nightmare. Going from "just living, day by day" to "sheer survival, at all costs" in the manner of moments and following a row of bad decisions made by everyone involved, this was now definitely his last chance to get his life back on the right track. A second chance, after so many other second chances he'd already botched... while the one who would've really deserved another shot was now gone from Vince's life forever.

Jackie, the one person he had never regretted to trust in, who had never let him down, helped him out of the greatest messes, wouldn't be at his side through his biggest challenge so far. Vince would often lie awake at night wondering "What if he'd just kept the damn biochip? Would he be here now, instead of me? Why am I still here when he'd deserved it so much more?"

But then again... Jackie wouldn't have deserved Johnny Silverhand, Vince's newly acquired brain parasite from days long gone, unwanted voice of unreason, and perpetual threat to his mere existence.

Vince was dying, losing himself, little by little, day by day, after it had taken him ten long years to get to a point of self-acceptance and recognizing his strengths, desires, what he truly wanted from life. It was the cruelest irony of fate imaginable.

Misty's words accompanied him through his darkest moments: as long as your heart's still beating, there is hope.

Vince never wanted to be a legend... but for Jackie's sake, he'd make sure everyone would remember their names. He'd survive this, get rid of the Relic, of the terrorist in his brain, and make it out alive. No matter the cost.

Vince through the years (7/9)

A handful of before and after screenshots this time:

Some slight colour adjustments, and a little Relic-like glitch effect like it happens to Johnny whenever he's visible!

Also these two didn't make it to the final set, but I still really love the flying sparks effect :O These are completely vanilla, done in vanilla Photomode without path tracing. There's a lot of particle effects going on at Afterlife that render very interestingly sometimes (I think only since the graphics update though, since pics in Photomode take a moment to render, creating this motion blur/ long exposure effect). Sometimes this a bit annoying when you want to go for a relatively clean shot, but these looked really kinda cool for once xD

I've also been playing around a lot with a free filter plugin (search for GMIC) for Photoshop that has some really nice glitch effects, chromatic abberation, amongst many many many others :o If you don't know it and use Photoshop (although I think there are versions for other programs available as well!), I can definitely recommend it!

Now, to what I wrote above the cut, briefly. This is a relatively short post compared to all others in the series cause it's obviously the one aligning with what canonically happens in game and there's no need to retell all that in great detail xD What I wanted to focus on though was Vince's shift of mind between pre-Heist and post-Heist.

Before the heist, when Dex asks him what he wants, a quiet life or a blaze of glory, Vince is internally leaning more to a quiet life. Assuming though that that's not what Dex would wanna hear, probably, he deflects, gives him no clear answer. But yes, after having to run away from home, struggling on the street, busting his ass for Arasaka and barely making it out of all of that alive, had it not been for Jackie, he has no intentions of just throwing all his growth and progress away by blowing himself up in some daredevil endeavour. He's reached a point where he genuinely likes himself, his body, his life, and while he's not perfect, still in recovery from his time at Arasaka, and has done messed up things to get here, he would've been content with just small-time, low-risk merc work for the years to come.

With Jackie gone though, who has been a constant guidance over the last 10 years, with everything that rains down on Vince during the post-Konpeki shitstorm, I think this would change. He's being told "you're gonna lose yourself, forget who you are", "the body you literally shaped after your own wishes will soon be Johnny's", whom he cannot stand, no one wants to work with him initially after such a legendary failure, he has "a few weeks, at most" left to live... fuck all that, so hard. He's gonna fight tooth and nail to make it out of it alive, forget the quiet life.

He's gonna make sure as hell that, if all ends up being in vain, people will remember him and that he didn't settle for the easy way out. If he has to die, he'll do so standing - maybe scared, but head held high. Cause everything else would be a disservice to how far both he and Jackie have come together, to who he is at his core: a rebellious kid who once rather would've taken on a whole Valentino gang on his own instead of calling his corpo mother for help, someone who quit his secure job because he refused to keep taking the abuse from his boss, who risked his life for his best friend despite sending himself down a spiral of despair in the aftermath. He's not scared of getting his hands dirty, of forging his own path (alone, if need be), and of taking risks if he thinks they're worth it for himself or the people he's loyal to.

[dailybrandonrogers]

Does Blame the Hero Still Occur in The Current Timeline?

In the most surmised form, the events of Blame the Hero can be summarised as followed: in 2033, Blame purchases and uses a time machine. A series of subsequent events occur, and the time machine ultimately ends up in the hands of Abraham Lincoln, who now resides in the late 1970s.

The short answer is that I believe the events of BtH are doomed to occur over and over again in an infinite cycle WITHIN The Original Timeline. I believe that every single instance of The Original Timeline existing always leads to The Current Timeline. However, I do not believe the events of BtH occur in The Current Timeline. This may seem quite obvious at first, but there are some sub-events that make the situation quite nuanced. Here's an excerpt from this post that contains some initial thoughts of this idea.

Firstly, let's account for the perspectives of the three iterations of Sebastian/Blame/Grandpa.

As I've established by now, I am a huge truther for Stuff & Sam occuring in The Elmer Revolution Timeline, just 15 years before the actual revolution begins in 2033. This is where the 2018 iteration of Blame comes in; yes he was initially from 2033, but he decides to stay in the year 2018 after encountering another version (Main Character Blame, who later becomes Grandpa) of his 2033 self. The important takeaway from this is that Current Blame is fully aware of time travel and it's implications, but decides against getting his tattoo changed in favour of re-living his life all over again in the year 2018, and gives his time machine to Main Character Blame. Current Blame is going to continue to age, and be 38 in the year 2033. He will have no incentive to repeat his past actions; meaning, he won't buy a time machine again and travel back in time and do those actions all over again.

Sebastian Hernandez on the other hand will grow up to be 22yros in 2033. Hold this thought for a second.

Remember: MC Blame (Grandpa) is from The Original Timeline, whereas Current Blame is from The Lincoln Lives Timeline.

So we know how MC Blame ends up in The Current Timeline as Grandpa, but how does Current Blame residing in The Elmer Revolution Timeline still end up also in The Current Timeline? Well, we've gotta remember that every single Timeline is operating off the Canon of the one that came immediately before it; they are NOT variations of The Old Timeline.

Let's also account for what happens to the time machines across the story too.

In ADATB and Episode 1 of BtH, Main Character Blame uses his time machine to travel back to 2018. Although it initially gets lost, eventually used by the Mingeworthies to travel to 1865, used by Delores Cowpussy to return to 2018, it ultimately finds its way back to him when he mugs Helen Brownstein and successfully convinces his younger self to get a different tattoo. In episode 5 of BtH, he loses the time machine again (this time in The Abraham Lincoln Lives Timeline) prompting that aforementioned cycle to also occur in this timeline too. He hopes to retrieve it from the Mingeworthies before they travel to 1865 this time, and although he's successful, that time machine is broken.

Current Blame, coming from The Abraham Lincoln Lives Timeline with his own time machine, drops it in the tattoo shop whilst brawling with MC Blame. This is what allows Tattoo Shop/Eldest Elmer to do his whole 1942 endeavour and create plans for The Elmer Revolution. Elmer returns the time machine to Blame, and this is the time machine that is utilised for the rest of the story until it ends up in the hands of a pensive Abraham Lincoln in The Current Timeline in the late 1970s.

Unfortunately, we're gonna need a very stark detour here but I promise it's necessary.

Starting chronologically in the year 1942, what changes to the framework of the canon occur in The Current Timeline?

Grandpa exists. He meets Clarissa, and has his daughter Kathy with her. He also meets Donna, and his son Elmer with her too.

Sometime in the late 1970s, Abraham Lincoln and Hitler randomly appear mid-brawl in an elementary school one day while Bryce Tankthrust is confessing her love to Bobby Best. Hitler drops a book, which Bryce retrieves, and decides to run away with Bobby and have a happily ever after with him. Yes, Bobby is sent to an orphanage for the rest of his adolescence, but the two of them eventually reunite in their early 20s. Bobby never goes to prison, never swears revenge against Bryce, and never has the motive to nuke the entire planet in the year 2033.

The Mingeworthies lives are relatively similar in The Old Timeline vs The New Timeline until 2016. This time, Bryce Tankthrust is now president instead of Donald Trump between the years 2016 - 2020. They never end up adopting/stealing Cockwaddle from Jurgen Klausvonschwitz, who instead grows up normally with his father.

The point of denoting these changes relates to a simple question: would Sebastian Hernandez (then Blame) in the year 2033 want to get his tattoo changed? We know he still gets the gang sign.

Here are the two schools of thought:

Yes, Sebastian Hernandez in The Current Timeline decides to change his tattoo.

Sebastian would purchase the time machine off of Craigslist and travel back to the year 2018. He would lose it again, as that particular plotpoint has no reason not to still occur. Whether it would end up in the hands of the Mingeworthies is debatable, and I considered exploring the possibility that is does, but without Cockwaddle I don't believe they'd have any reason to be at the beach on August 3rd 2018. Moreover, Jurgen would have no incentive himself to want to travel back in time to figure out the kidnappers of his child, as Cockwaddle was never kidnapped. MOREOVER, Cockwaddle himself would not travel back in time now, because the whole "that date" situation relating to his kidnapping/being forcibly disabled no longer happens whatsoever. Therefore, the scientist would never be shot nor come to the beach on August 3rd whatsoever, meaning he doesn't take the time machine from Dick Flicker, which means the Mingeworthies have nobody to steal it from in the first place. I think it would be extremely funny if Dick Flicker DID actually "sell that piece of crap on eBay," but I'll get to that in a moment.

This particular theory, although semi-outlandish, does have a few pros.

It would explain why there's a Blame (22yros) in The Current Timeline in the year 2018 and onwards without demanding an explanation of how Current Blame in The Elmer Revolution Timeline translates over to The Current Timeline too.

Under the assumption that This Blame's time machine was sold on eBay, he is left stranded with no way to return home to 2033. However, it also means that Tattoo Shop/Eldest Elmer never learns about time travel, which means he never makes plans for The Elmer Revolution, so that never takes place either.

It provides some clean conclusions on certain events definitely not happening, essentially making The Current Timeline a fixed timeline. While I love this theory for this reason, the next one does have a bit more weight to it imo.

No, Sebastian Hernandez in The Current Timeline does not change his tattoo.

In Episode 7 of BtH, (also The New Timeline if you wanna keep track, albeit in an extremely newborn/beta version) Hitler is murdered by Bobby Worst in the late 1970s before Hitler gets the opportunity to even invent a time machine this time. Yes, Abraham Lincoln still has THE time machine, but it's arguable that Sebastian Hernandez in 2033 would never be able to buy a time machine off of Craigslist in the first place. There is the assumption that the time machine Lincoln has IS the one that eventually ends up on Craigslist though, in which case this is the catalyst for the above theory occuring; that's how Sebastian would obtain the time machine in the aforementioned theory. In this theory we do not have to worry about time travel being involved in ADATB in The Current Timeline at all, which makes things infinitely simpler. It still explains why the Elmer Revolution never occurs, but we'd still need an explanation for how Current Blame transfers to The Current Timeline.

My theory for this? TBD!

All of this to say that The Current Timeline essentially becomes a fixed timeline after the events of BtH. The events of BtH don't need to happen in this timeline, but they also physically cannot happen no matter what forces try to intervene.

So what implications does this have? I will go more in detail in a specific post, but it primarily relates to the events of Stuff & Sam in The Current Timeline, funny enough. The BRYCE finale gave us quite a bit to work with regarding the Elmer cloning hearts stuff, and also the factoid that S&S allegedly occurs BEFORE 2016 now... in this timeline. I will make a post in the future detailing a revised version of S&S that contains what I believe to happen in an amended canon compliant to the current timeline way.

[crevetos]

Hi, I'm looking for a Bnha scenarios/imagines book!

I read it some time ago and I cannot find it anymore. If someone knows what I'm talking about please give me your ideas!

Here's what I can remember from it:

- it may have been posted on quotev

- the book featured many characters like Aizawa, Fatgum, Endeavour, Allmight, Tamaki, Tenya's Brother most of the students, Best Jeanist etc etc it had lots of characters

- Aizawa's SO was a police woman (I think)

- Fatgum's SO used to be a hero but retired and opened a restaurant and she takes care of her niece

- Enji's SO is a teacher/teacher assistant at UA

- it was very long, and there was a sequel

-there was a scenario where the SO died, but the next chapter we learn that she survived or it was a nightmare

- there were scenarios where they broke up, where the characters saw the reader with someone else and then another where they make up

- Fatgum's SO wears an eyepatch

- At some point there was a scenario where the reader visits the character's family and there was a heartfelt discussion between Shoto and Enji's SO. She was saying that she didn't want to replace his mom, but she's there for him blah blah

That's it for now?

Please help me find it again 😭😭