#also I want to see Karasu so badly

[bluelockednyx]

" or for Isagi to stop looking at Rin's thighs whichever is easier" I- 🤣. ( this was so noticeable in that leg extension machine scene he had no reason to go and check up on him, stop him from overworking and prompt him to take rest but he DID)

I thought I was crazy for thinking that abt that one Rin panel but I'm glad I'm not the only one, since Kaisagi is rising in popularity esp w/ Hiori's comments abt the in-universe social media. Idk whether to lament over the lack of rinsagi or absolutely LOSE it over Isagi's reaction. Like it wasn't the kind of cute denial that Raichi was saying it was, bro was so OFFENDED. I can't.

Then again, it makes sense since public has seen more of Kaiser-Isagi than with Rin. I wonder what Isagi's reaxn would be if it had been Rin's name that had come like that 👀. Definitely not visceral disgust to this level.

Besides, recent chapters had carved a place for kainess in my heart and I feel like those 2 should cuddle and go to therapy. ( Any thoughts on recent chapters, that choking scene was disturbing...).

Do u think the light novels and profiles are not written by Kaneshiro? Bcz while they weren’t bad at all( they were quite great) there was this missing spark in them. Like with Isagi, they made him out to be able to see mosquitos across a room and note the temp change in the air as a BABY?? I-??????. I am very confused.

And in a profile, he has 200 level or smth eyesight?? Normal is 150 so.., idk maybe I am just being extremely dumb.

But to me, manga Isagi was so loveable and inspiring bcz he was a normal person who was willing to break and challenge himself to reach his goal, forging a will that was strong enough to withstand all the pressure. Not superpowers.

And in his profile, his type is someone who smiles a lot and it fits bachira but to me it sounds like another way to fit in to what people expect of him. There was a meta on Isagi and anger expression floating around in tumblr. And it says how Isagi loved Noa's style bcz of how brutal it was and through football he was able to exert anger in a socially acceptable way instead of being the peace maker and going along with Ichinan style football and just agreeing with Tada's decisions and blue lock is a release frm that. And like you said, isagi isn't as driven abt bachira as he is about him. Narratively too, that is a good thing, allowing bachira to make new connections and new bonds in Spain instead of being fixated with Isagi. And frankly, I don’t think it's healthy for Bachira to get with the first person to be his friend. Let him experience life first.

Well then, I am so excited for Pxg VS BM. The potential match ups, Kaiser most def knows Sae so some interesting conflict w/ Rin if he mentions that like Luna did. The Isagirin matchup, I'm just so excited. Also ,"# Stop looking at Rin's thighs challenge."

P.S. - I wrote a Rinsagi fic, so plz check it out.

How can I read your fic if you didn't send a link lol

Kaneshiro-sensei literally addressed the Kai//sagi shippers in the chapter: nope, not happening, no way, via Isagi himself. He may subvert this later on, but as far as I can tell, given the story's trajectory + Isagi's own character arc, it won't happen. Kaiser will most likely be coming back as a rival/enemy in the U20 World Cup arc too. There simply is no motivation for Isagi to ally with him at all.

Rin's spotlight and turn is coming up, so again, I'm not worried about the current lack of Isagi and Rin moments. It is supposed to be THE highlight of the NEL arc for good reason. And yeah, I doubt Isagi would be as offended if fans had been saying that about him and Rin. On the down low he really is fond of and respects Rin, whereas he despises Kaiser for just about everything besides his skill in soccer.

Truthfully, I've grown a little bored of the recent chapters. Not so much that they aren't good chapters, but more that there's a lack of variety to the characters. IMO Kaneshiro-sensei has hit a bit of a wall on character cast and variety - Ness' backstory is a touch too commonly seen for me to really get into, and feels lacking in effort, though tbf Ness is at best a tertiary character in-series who's there to prop up Kaiser's story.

No real thoughts yet on the choking scene. Currently it's only a sign of Kaiser's desperation to me. The throne he thought he had secured might well be about to collapse from underneath him due to Isagi's growing skill. Seeing how he'll match up against Rin is also interesting, seeing how Rin is actually very much self-sufficient as a striker, while Kaiser thus far seems quite dependent on Ness. I also believe that the PXG match will bring Kaiser into direct confrontation with Loki, who is posited as thus far the best U20 striker we've seen, given how he's a master for the PXG team, rather than simply a fellow player. Fingers crossed that Loki smokes all of them, including Noa, if he comes out to play too.

No, the light novel most likely isn't written by Kaneshiro-sensei, given what I know of the industry. The bulk of it is likely by Moegi Momo-sensei; with credit given to Kaneshiro-sensei because he's the OG creator of the Blue Lock series. That said, there's a good chance that Kaneshiro-sensei provided Moegi-sensei with story ideas and rough character backgrounds who then developed it into proper stories for novelization.

The character profiles are more likely to be done by Kaneshiro-sensei himself, though I am going to point out that it's published as 'supervised by', rather than 'written by'.

Emphasizing this: I generally don't care about light novels, character profiles etc. in terms of my interpretation of the story. To me, what appears in the manga is the only canon there is. Everything else that's official are canon-adjacent and supplementary; fun to read and get an idea of how the characters' personalities and relationships are off-page, but otherwise unimportant unless explicitly referenced in-story. Whatever is not depicted in the manga proper is free real estate.

As for Isagi in the light novel. Well.

He reads as autistic, from that apparent hypersensitivity + his hyperfocused interest in football, and as I've mentioned before: Isagi is also written very much as a tabula rasa, a blank slate of sorts, for target readers to be able to slip themselves into. I think that the emphasis is on Isagi having very clear vision, his personal advantage, amongst the rest of the cast, but again, to me, the light novel is not as important as what we see depicted in the manga proper.

No comments on Isagi's type in the profile, and how it could be Bachira. They're decently written together, and I understand why people would ship them, but they are also just kind of 'meh' for me. Kaneshiro-sensei may intend to write them as a pair, but they are a pretty run-of-the-mill standard MC + best friend ship, with the highlight being Bachira's personal growth via his relationship with Isagi. There are more satisfying ships for me in Blue Lock, and better romances in other animanga series, and while I am fond of shipping, I'm not reading Blue Lock for the shipping. It's just a nice bonus that I find Isagirin's relationship so damn interesting that I've stayed invested.

I haven't read that meta, but that's an interesting interpretation of Isagi's character. Blue Lock is somewhat of a meta commentary on the failures of the general Japanese culture's need to conform to societal pressures and not 'rock the boat', and how it has led to an under performance in football. Isagi as a whole has also been growing more assertive and more confrontational with others, though Kaiser's the only one whom he views with solid enmity.

In the light novel, Isagi's idolization of Noa stemmed from how Noa bypassed the opposing team one after the other, and then from how Noa would rather 'lose a game by a hat trick than win one with an assist'. And doesn't that sound quite like a certain someone, lmao.

Cheers to having PXG match to look forward to next year after the hols!!

[perrywrites]

Hiii, your absentminded murmuring and handholding writings were so good!!! The handholding scenarios were so sexy and intimate, and the murmuring ones made me laugh but we're also really hot at the same time. Would you consider extending the absentminded murmuring one to other characters? I'd love to see how you would write that scenario with Reo, Chigiri, and Kaiser (if you don't write Kaiser, since I can't see anything for him yet, then I feel like Barou/Shidou would be particularly funny (and hot)).

AAAAAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH, I'm so giddy, I'm glad the intimacy came across well 🤭🤭🤭 and omg... the Shidou one is 100% gonna turn into a public indecency case ngl LMFAO 😭😭😭 like w that man girly u gotta be the rational and restrained one... if you say something like that all. bets. are. OFFFF!

Also all 3 ended up being really long so for the sake of character limit, I'll be posting Kaiser right after, how does tumblr work and how do I post longer writings??? 😭😭😭

Absentmindedly murmuring that you want him inside of you during practice part 2;

NSFW 

Includes; Chigiri, Reo

Part 1 (Isagi, Hiori, Bachira) and part 3 (Kaiser, Barou) and part 4 (Nagi, Shidou, Kunigami) and part 5 (Sae, Rin, Karasu, Otoya, Yukimiya)

Where Chigiri is ‘silently’ possessive (no, because seriously, I can’t be the only one who can just smell the silent cat-like possessiveness and jealousy radiating off of Chigiri, right??), Reo is lovesick as always.

Chigiri: he can feel your eyes burning passionately into his back - he doesn’t even have to look at you to know, he has a feeling you want something… You want him. But still, he glances to catch your dazed stare, finding himself amused by how your fuzzy eyes hazily trail after his form, your pouty lips parted slightly like you’re in a trance. He’s going to have to teach you to be subtler, though, because even as he can feel his heart squeeze in his chest from how cute you are - it’s taking everything in him to be rational and not burn the eyes of every man there - because he doesn’t want anyone else to see you right now. Because that kind of adorably inviting expression on your face should only be seen by him. Not anyone else, just him. The moment it’s his break, he’s sauntering over to you, prideful for anyone else but casual for him, an eyebrow raised. Even as he’s standing infront of you, you continue to stare up at him all dreamily, so he crosses his arms, huffing exasperatedly at your dumb look. He hasn’t even touched you yet, isn’t it too soon to make such a dumbed out expression? “You’ve been staring at me all practice, and now that I’m standing infront of you, you’re just going to be silent, hm?” He tilts his head at you, eyes narrowed playfully. It’s when you say what you say, that his eyes widen instantly. And then his eyes narrow again, except this time it’s no longer playful. Oh, you dared to say that alright. You want him inside, huh? He shifts on his feet, agitated. You couldn’t wait until after practice to tell him that? He can tell you didn’t mean to entice and tempt him as you did, with how out of it you seem, but… Knowing that you’re so out of it in the first place because of how badly you want - no - need him does something to him. And all of a sudden he finds himself fantasizing about having you in a way that makes heat rush through his body, you being all adorably submissive and ready for him, obedient as you always are, all cute whines as you plead at him with your misty eyes to just give it to you already. But of course, he won’t, and this time he won’t be dragging it out for a kind of sadistic affection to see you pout and whine, or to elongate this time of intimacy as long as possible, feel you as closely as possible. Oh no, absolutely not. This time, he’ll punish you. He’ll make you wait, even as his cock is painful and aching, even as you cry out and beg for him, your walls fluttering around nothing, he’ll make you wait for daring to let yourself voice this and be so alluring somewhere another man could see you. And also because now he feels incredibly irritated that he can’t just have you right now, that he has to wait for practice to be over, dammit. For now, he reaches his hand out and roughly ruffles the top of your hair, a successful attempt to get you to snap out of your enamoured trance and get that dumbed out look off your face right now, dammit. And as you look up at him, all wide eyes and confusion, he says, “Go wait for me in the car.” Because no way in hell is he going to let you sit out here or anywhere else and let someone catch you making a face like that again. It doesn’t matter whether it’s him you’re entranced with - of course it’s him - he can’t stand the idea of another man looking at you making that kind of face when he’s the only one allowed to see you like that. Don't forget, after all, he's the one you belong to.

Reo: at first he doesn’t pay much mind to your gaze, after all he’s used to your frequent visits to his practice, and it’s not weird for you to admire your own boyfriend and cheer him on. But he starts paying mind when a teammate elbows him and chuckles discreetly, waggling a teasing eyebrow as he makes some remark about Reo’s ‘busy night’ ahead. He looks at the man for the audacity he just stupidly sprouted to be daring to make a remark about his - Reo’s - sex life; baffled and eyebrow raised, Reo throws a couple of dismissive cold words before turning away - and then he glances towards you and ah. No wonder. Well, that explains the tomfoolery that just transpired. Although Reo responded like that to his teammate’s crass comment (of course he did, who the fuck did he think he was to try and joke around with him of all people about his partner and his’ sex life? Even if they aren’t protective or possessive like him, any other half-decent of a boyfriend should be responding like him, he thinks), now he just feels excited to be the target of your lovelorn gaze. Oh, you love him that much, do you? Want him that much? A part of his brain goes mushy and fuzzy from affection, you’re just too cute, and all his. The moment it’s time for his break, he rushes over to you, impatiently, longingly, desperately - though he tries to seem like he’s normal as he smiles at you and accepts the water bottle from your loose, dangling grasp. Thanking you sweetly and in what he hopes is a casual manner, he downs his water quickly to speak to you about your persistent stare. He cups your cheek, leaning down towards you, eyes creased and pupils saturated with love. “You’ve been looking at me the whole time like that, something wrong sweetheart?” Voice an affectionate coo, he asks you, half-teasingly, expecting you to turn bashful and avert your eyes, to allow him to chase you around with teasing like always. Except you say something that makes something lodge inside of his throat instantly, smile frozen on his face from pure shock. Did you - did you just? Quietly, he asks you to repeat your words, and when you do, in a sugary melted voice, Reo is at a loss of words. You’re still looking at him all yearningly, dazed eyes thick with desire; he can tell how out of it you are. Oh, you really do want him that much right now… And wouldn’t he be a bad boyfriend if he didn’t give it to you right now when you’re all cute and desperate like this? Wouldn’t he be just the worst if he didn’t bend you over somewhere, anywhere, sometime soon, and stuffed you full of his cock? Oh, wouldn’t he be just a sick bastard undeserving of you if he didn’t trap you into a mating press and just kept jackhammering into that wet pussy just meant for him? Breed you full of his cum and love? Just keep on loving you until you cried big fat tears and begged him ‘no more Reo, ah I can’t, p-please, I’m too sensitive!’ like you always do? ‘What’s wrong sweetheart, weren’t you the one asking for it?’ He snaps out of his little daydream when his coach calls him back to practice, saying the break is over. Reo nods, but he doesn’t move, his feet stuck as he looks down at your delirious eyes. Practice be screwed, he needs to get you home now and get inside you goddammit. 

Also this was the exact expression I imagined Reo making at the nameless teammate LMFAO

[rindouheart]

hiii!! how's your day going?? i hope you have a good day♡♡. i was wondering if you could write some headcanons about yukimiya and nagi (i know you said you write for almost everyone but you can ignore nagi if you dont want to write him) having a crush on someone who is really flirty and affectionate??? you can avoid this request if you dont feel like writing dont be pressured please. thank you for reading my request, take care♡♡💕

YUKIMIYA and NAGI falling for an affectionate s/o 🌿

content. pure fluff + gender neutral s/o

author’s note. hi cutie, tysm for your request + AWWW YUKKI MY BB i love him more than my own life and yes, i also write for nagi despite being a btch towards reo (love/hate relationship with this giant marshmallow). I hope you like it!

YUKIMIYA KENYU

this boy!!!

he’s obviously used to be surrounded by people (especially girls) since he’s a model.

yukki has experienced many love confessions towards him, but he never had the chance to say the ✨ magic words ✨ to someone important for him.

and then there’s you. his best friend since childhood. you, his special someone.

you’ve always loved to give him hugs and to compliment him about his football achievements.

he just goes aww when he sees you.

yukki realises that he’s in love with you when otoya asked him “are you looking for them again?”

holy shit.

he absolutely adores when you give him loads of affection.

how to make him melt on the spot: say “i love you so much, yukki”

oh boy he fell so hard for you.

“you know you’re the best person i’ve ever met in my whole life?”

yukki dot exe stopped working

yukki often has to cover his face when you say something flirty to him.

he’s so embarrassed omg, he can’t even look at you without blushing 😭

he used to think that flirty and extremely affectionate people were kind of a burden, but you made him reconsider his opinion.

you’re so charming and sweet that he wants to protect you

while he was in blue lock and hadn’t access to his phone he missed you A LOT

yukki would probably confess to you on the two weeks break: he invited you to a cafè to meet his teammates and friends.

then, when you all went to the nearby arcade, he won a pink teddy bear in one of those damned claw machines.

he gave it to you and asked if you wanted to be his partner (!!!)

shocked otoya and karasu in the background

NAGI SEISHIRO

clearly clueless

he didn’t mind your clingy behaviour.

at first, reo introduced you to him, because he thought that having a couple more friends wouldn’t harm nagi’s health.

nagi was like “okay, whatever”

you weren’t sure if nagi was okay with too much affection all at once, so you just sat beside him and laid your head on his shoulder.

“you’re comfortable”, you pulled out your phone and started playing a random game.

reo absolutely adores you two as a soon-to-be couple.

nagi has mixed feelings: he loves and hates the fuzzy feeling that you give him.

“sooo… we’ve been picked to participate in this football special programme” reo was the one who told you about blue lock.

“can i give you a hug?” you asked to nagi before leaving

he obviously said yes!! he didn’t mind your affectionate behaviour at all!!

while his stay at blue lock, nagi always thinks about how much he misses your lovely actions towards him.

and when you kiss him on the cheek and say “i’ll miss you, seishiro”

he just 🧍🏻

reo basically died on the spot

nagi will never admit that he has feelings for someone who has an opposite character in comparison with his.

he would invite you to his apartment and play genshin impact with you (adorable)

“how did you become so good at league of legends? this game is so difficult” - nagi loves when you compliment his gaming skills.

you’re the only person who can play badly and not annoy nagi. this is how he tells you “i like you”.

you fell asleep on his shoulder while he was playing fifa on his PlayStation.

he thought that you were the cutest person he’s ever seen (yes, he took a selfie and sent it to reo).

he would confess his love for you by initiating an hug or whatever that has to do with affection.

he’s so awww when he hugs you, this 190cm marshmallow gives the best hugs ever, but he doesn’t know that.

@rindouheart ‘s headcanons — 01222023

[maochira]

Hi Mao! Im not sure if this has been requested before but like y/n who is best friends with Karasu, Otoya, and Yukimiya. Sooner or later Karasu and Otoya find out that y/n has a crush on Yukimiya (who may or may not know who knows) and try to help them get together.

The platonic chemistry between these three that I see around the fandom makes me wish for a group like them because it sounds so fun.

Anyway I hope you've been having a good day and I hope u continue to have a good week ahead (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

This is my third time writing for Yukimiya and ngl I feel like I'm developing a platonic crush on him😭😭 so keep requesting stuff for him!!! Writing for him makes me giggle kicking my feet

Requests open! - current writing event - masterlist

Tags: gn!reader x Yukimiya, some sort of high school AU I guess??, you're classmates with those three

-ever since you first met Yukimiya, Karasu and Otoya, all of you became best friends pretty much immediately

-at first you only spent time with them in school, but after a few weeks Karasu started asking to hang out after school and on weekends, so you got even closer with them

-sleepovers!!! Lots of them

-most of the time you're at Karasu's place because he has the biggest room. Most of the time you watch movies or YouTube videos on his TV while you just talk

-random late night deeptalks!!

-Karasu is the first to notice you have a crush on Yukimiya. He literally notices it before you realize it by yourself

-Karasu always organizes the sleepovers in a way that'll end up with you and Yukimiya sleeping next to each other

-one morning, you wake up and the way Yukimiya is sleeping next to you, sunshine across his face makes you realize you're in love with him

-Yukimiya is the first one to return home from the sleepover, which gives you the chance to tell Karasu and Otoya about yout crush

-Karasu responds with "That's why I made you sleep next to each other" and you're like "How did you know???"

-Karasu starts listing all the small reasons why he had noticed your feelings for Yukimiya and it gets you a little embarrassed because how did Karasu realize before you did?

-Otoya didn't necessarily expect it, but he isn't surprised by it either

-they really want you to confess to Yukimiya, but you're way too scared of him rejecting you and the possibility of ruining the friendship

-Otoya and Karasu promise to not tell Yukimiya anything, but they secretly make plans together on how they can set up you and Yukimiya

-sometimes you do karaoke together, and whenever there's a love song Otoya and Karasu make you and Yukimiya sing that together. That actually happens to often, there's one specific song you don't even need the lyrics for anymore

-Yukimiya is a bit clueless about everything, but the way the others make him get closer to you, makes him develop a bit of romantic feelings for you as well, and they only continue growing over time

-your and his feelings grow over time and there's so much romantic tension between you all the time, Karasu and Otoya can barely stand keeping it to themselves. They really want to tell you to start dating already, but they don't because they've promised you that they wouldn't

-it takes TWO MONTHS until you and Yukimiya finally confess to each other and start dating

-Karasu literally throws a small party to celebrate that and (badly) decorated a storebought cake with lots of sprinkles in your and Yukimiya's favourite colours. He also wrote "Yukimiya x (Y/N)" on it with frosting

-that one love song you always sang during karaoke together??? It's your relationship song now and Yukimiya has given you a nickname based on it

[another-lost-mc]

Hello again! It’s the Mephisto x Mc x Karasu thoughts anon. I’m so happy we share the same braincell lol I was like yessss finally someone else gets the Mephisto and Karasu potential they would be such nerds together!!!

Also, I’m curious what you think on this cause from the fics/stuff I’ve seen so far it’s seems like a 50/50 split: Do you think Mephisto is loud as all hell or completely silent in bed? Personally, I’m on the side that he’s horrifically loud, like the loudest of the cast lmaoo, no matter what specifically he’s doing. He’s always making a snarky comment or rant, or monologue or comeback so it makes sense that he can’t shut up then too. I love him so much<3 Also I was wondering if I could pick an anon emoji? Maybe 📌 if that emoji isn’t taken. I swear I looked at the list like 4 times before I started typing my ask but they just won’t stick in my brain aaaaa. 📢 works too if the other is taken.

I have so many thoughts™️ about this. Let's talk about Mephisto's sexy-time noises first then we can add Karasu to the mix.

nsfw below (cw: degradation, praise kink, dom/sub dynamics)

I agree with the headcanon that Mephisto isn't quiet in bed, but I think there's nuance to it too. The way I picture it:

He's very guarded about letting people see the real him and that includes being intimate with someone or having sex.

So during casual hook-ups with strangers/distant acquaintances, he's not gonna let himself be vulnerable—it's all about that physical comfort and release he wants without exposing his emotional cravings.

I'm talking some grunts, growls, some groans maybe. There's not a lot of talking, that's not the point of quickies like this.

These usually happen in places that don't allow for intimate conversation either. He's not taking these partners home and he doesn't really want to go to theirs either (clubs like The Fall have back rooms for this sort of thing and he uses them often).

A lot of the degradation he spews at MC when I write him is usually because he's in denial, or in certain cases, he's angry/humiliated and wants them to feel as badly as he does.

He tries to avoid talking about his feelings by deflecting it all on the other person, but that strategy only works for so long.

In an actual relationship once he gets over the denial phase, he's still quiet talkative but his tone and his words are much more loving: sultry praise if he's more dominant, unashamed pleas and begging if he's more submissive.

He's also less guarded about the noises he makes so there's more of them. In terms of volume, he's loud but not as loud as Karasu can be.

When it comes to Mephisto x MC x Karasu together, that can change a bit depending on which version of Karasu he's paired with. I see Mephisto being more of a dominant type if there's more than one partner present.

OG!Karasu stumbles and stutters over broken praise and begging, but mostly he's whining and moaning a lot, and very loudly. He's more likely to take a submissive role with Mephisto present so he can spend his energy enjoying you instead.

DILF!Karasu is more controlled. He still makes lots of noises but they're not as loud and they don't have that desperate, needy edge. He's much more comfortable talking during intimacy too. He's worshipful and that means a lot of genuine, loving praise with a hint of teasing if the mood is playful. He's very good at reading what you need from him and giving that to you. If Mephisto is being a tease and a little derogatory, dilf!Karasu makes sure you feel warmth and softness in the things he says.

RAD!Karasu is similar to OG!Karasu but he's less confident and more submissive as a result.

NB!Karasu is like OG!Karasu except when he's feeling angry or jealous in bed (which happens more often than any other version of himself). In that case, he's similar to Mephisto: more dominant, more teasing and even a little derogatory until you can soothe whatever funk he's in. That being said, the likelihood of NB!Karasu sharing you with anyone at all is almost non-existent. lol

read more: mephisto masterlist | karasu masterlist

[sasaranomiya]

The Koukyuu no Karasu anime concluding has made me sad. Rarely have I wanted a story to continue so badly in anime form (last one to evoke this kind of sentiment was Kono Oto Tomare). May I ask how Gyosou Hall and Kouto Academy are written in kanji? Good luck with all your future endeavours!

Yeah I also hope the anime continues since there are a lot of things I want to see on screen like Banka, Shin (who has never done anything wrong in his life ever), the shell phone, etc... Honestly I'd be happy with a manga as well

Gyoukou Hall: 凝光殿

Koutou Academy: 洪濤院

[gingersnapwolves]

Kouri (and her lovely wife Karasu) watch Word of Honor, episode 12

Do you want to brood a little harder WKX?

ZZS: in my experience having a piece of glass or metal embedded in your stomach is not medically sound

My wife: and he would know

Listen, ZZS, you are absolutely right about all of this but I am pretty sure that ZCL’s dad in fact does not agree in the underworld that ZCL should just say fuck it and give the glazed macguffin back to the five dudes of alliance whatever

ZCL hugging WKX was the CUTEST thing ever

Also I see no way this conference will go badly

“Turns out I’m a good person” WKX please

Love that we’re taking a break from the Big Martial Arts Plot to watch these two go on a date with romantic theme music

I mean that, by the way, that is not sarcastic in any way

WKX: So what do you do for fun?

ZZS: I like to find people who beat me in the past and kill them.

WKX: *heart eyes*

Okay the whole ‘glazed armor in his wound’ thing makes more sense given that his piece is like one tenth the size of the others

The only thing funnier than how much WKX hates CWN is how much ZZS loves to troll WKX by being nice to CWN and making comments about how he and GX are great for each other

[kurama-is-love]

An unusual proposal (Oneshot)

It's been a while since I wrote in english, so please bear with me if this is not perfect. English is not my first language ;-;

Oh and this time it's a female Half!Demon/Human Reader x Kurama. Just to let you know! Again as warning, much much fluff between you and Kurama.

The Dark Tournament was looking forward to its grand finale.

Team Toguro faced Team Urameshi, consisting of Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama. Their fifth member, Mask, or rather Genkai, was 'killed' in battle by the younger Toguro brother the night before. Although you and your friends mourned about your deceased comrade, the others were not allowed to give in to their feelings now. One single mistake could result in the next death, everyone knew that.

You hadn't left your friend's side since the beginning of the Tournament and you were even allowed to stay at their side near the battle field. Though now you were concerned about the last battle.   You had asked to stand in for Mask as the fifth participant, but before you were able to speak to the competition officials, you were prevented from doing so by your friends, mostly Yusuke and especially Kurama. It was a lengthy and exhausting discussion that followed with the two of them. Yusuke was anything but calm and tried to dissuade you from your idea with irrelevant threats for "beating the shit out of you if you continue to try to participate". Of course he would never lay a finger on a friend, especially not if he were to draw the wrath of a certain fox on him ..

Speaking of the fox. It was Kurama's empathetic and factually convincing words that finally led you to abandon your idea and not take part in the fight. As much as you hated not being able to stand by your friends, it was clear to you aswell that you would not survive 2 minutes in the ring against a member of this diabolical team from Toguro .. It was just maddening ..

Before the fight started, you cleared your throat to attract the attention of your friends.

"Before you fight, I want to get rid of something .." you began and looked at the ground slightly.

"Spit it out, [Y/n]-chan." Kuwabara tried with a calm and understanding tone of voice to reassure you that none of them were mad at you for your earlier discussions. He thought that, because you were trembling all over and he could also tell that you were fighting back tears.

"I want you .. to be extra careful this time .. Your opponents are of a completely different caliber than all your opponents before .. And if ..Uh.. when you notice that you .. can't do it .. that you. . " you stopped, the thought of what should follow your sentence stung your heart. "... you will die if you keep going .. I beg you to give up .. just give up and end the fight .. Fuck this stupid tournament, your lives are way too precious ..!" you spoke a little louder and more determined as you looked at your four friends.

Hiei's expression was disinterested as always. Kuwabara looked away, slightly embarrassed, while Kurama had put on an illegible expression. Yusuke crossed his arms before briefly closing his eyes.

"Sorry, but we can't promise that." he said then.

"W-What ..?"

When you looked up, startled, you felt a hand on your shoulder. It was Yusuke's.

"If we give up, everything was in vain. Our training, the preliminary fights. And ... also the death of that old witch ... The least we owe her is to try to defeat her killer." He continued serious, but his face showed no sign of annoyance or anger towards you. He showed you .. friendliness and a small smile. "Anyway, thank you for taking care of us all. With that knowledge, we can do our best," he added.

"B-But .." your quiet objections were stopped again when Kurama took Yusuke's place and put both hands on your shoulders. A slightly worried smile graced his pale lips.

"Yusuke is right. If we give up here, everything we have been through so far will be wasted. Besides .." he continued and his expression darkened slightly as he looked at his opponents, especially at Karasu. "..we can't allow these .. monsters to continue their mischief to continue their murders in the world of spirits, demons and humans. If we don't stop them, who should do it?" he asked you.

You didn't know the answer and looked to the side. Kurama smiled sadly and put his hand on your cheek to turn your face back to him.

"Just trust us, okay?" He said softly and lovingly before placing a gentle kiss on your lips.

"Kurama .. I trust you. But I'm still scared okay ..?"

"That's perfectly okay." The redhead whispered and you sighed softly.

"I'm serious. I don't want to go through the same fear that I did during your fight against Bakken ..."

"Mhm .."

[Flashback]

The battle against the members of Team Masho had reached worrying proportions after Kurama lost consciousness while standing shortly after he was named as the victor in the battle against the ice demon Touya by Koto. The rules of this match were like an endless battle. As long as a member could fight, he fought against any opponent. This is exactly how he had defeated Gama at first and was able to win against Touya with the last of his strength. But now the luck of the kitsune seemed to have run out when he stood bleeding and unconscious on the battlefield and Koto checked whether he was still alive.

"That's enough now! I'll take over for Kurama!" Yusuke called to the judge when the third opponent, a tall, dark-skinned man with short black hair, stepped out.

"Not so fast. That guy is still there, so I'm his opponent now." The shinobi grinned maliciously and was already flexing his fists.

"You can't be serious! You can see that he is not able to fight!" You said and looked angry at Bakken.

"You stay out of it, you brat. I say: He can fight." With these words he turned to Koto, who looked back and forth between the two parties, perplexed.

"Well .. Well .. I also think that Kurama is incapacitated. We have to wait for the decision of the competition committee before an exchange takes place .." the cat demon spoke uncertainly.

All attention was then turned to the speakers when the committee announced its decision. They disagreed with the exchange and declared Kurama's ability to fight.

Yusuke and you had to watch in shock when Bakken started hit the unconscious Kurama again and again and injured him so badly that it was a miracle if he could survive this ordeal for long. When Bakken pulled Kurama up by his top and beat him again, the fabric on the top tore and Kurama fell to the ground. Blood ran down his forehead.

While you could only watch in shock, the stadium echoed under the calls of the demonic audience, who very unanimously demanded only one thing.

"Kill him!"

"Kill him, Bakken!"

"Yes, kill this traitor !!!"

You clenched your fists in anger before turning to the bleachers.

"SHUT UP YOUR DAMN MOUTHS ALREADY!" you shouted so loudly that the stadium fell silent and Yusuke and the others looked at you too. "I CAN'T STAND YOUR HATE TIRADS ANYMORE! The next one who says anything about 'kill this bastard' will get a free ticket to hell from me. WAS THAT CLEAR?"

Your friends had seldom seen you so loud and serious. The girls, Botan, Shizuru, Keiko and Yukino were very shocked by your exclamation.

Suddenly one of the demons jumped down from the stands and stood next to you.

"Pretty loose mouth for such a shitty, weak half-breed, darling."the green-colored beast grinned and licked its lips with its iguana-like tongue. "You are nothing but a shabby one demon, who has human blood in them. It doesn't surprise me that you are on the traitors side. But don't open your mouth like that if you know what's good for you. " He threatened you.

Your eyebrow twitched menacingly as the demon extended its claws and tried to slit your stomach. You reached for your weapons,  chakrams, and a reddish-orange aura flooded the metal, your Reiki, mixed with Yoki. The audience held their breath when they could only hear lightning-fast cuts and white clouds of energy sliced the demon that was attacking you until the attacker fell dead to the ground.

"Anyone else has something to say to a " failed half-breed "? you asked the ranks, but the audience fell silent before you could finally devote yourself to the fighting again.

"T-That's enough! Kurama is on the ground and can no longer fight! I think a countdown is also unnecessary .." Koto interrupted the scene now when she saw the battered Kurama.

Bakken seemed to disagree and lifted Kurama up in the air again by his top.

"Now he's standing again. That means the fight goes on."the black-haired man smirked and wanted to make the final punch that should blow out Kurama's life light forever.

"Stop. That's enough, Bakken." a masked figure behind Bakken, another member of Team Mascho, spoke up.

"Why are you stopping me, Risho? I was just about to finish it." Bakken grumbled while Risho pointed to the opposite side of the arena.

"If you had landed this punch, that would have been your death." Risho spoke only dryly, while Bakken blinked and looked in the direction in which Risho was pointing.

Yusuke and you stood there, both of you in your strongest attacking postures. Yusuke was ready to use his "Rei-Gun" while your chakrams had turned into icy-tessen (Metal fans), the tips of their spikes were reinforced with your Reiki and turned into razor-sharp blades that could be shot individually. You were both ready to kill Bakken if he made any move.

"Tch. Fine. Well, you can have him back." Bakken sighed and threw Kurama carelessly out of the ring. Yusuke and you immediately rushed to the passed out Kitsune and Yusuke carried him to the edge of the ring. You were right behind him. After Yusuke dropped him off, you kneeled down at Kurama's side and looked up your human best friend.

"Yusuke." You spoke in a serious tone. Yusuke turned to you. questioningly. "... Beat the shit out of him. Hit that asshole really hard with a greeting from me." You muttered with bared teeth. Yusuke grinned and gave you a thumbs-up.

"Rely on me, [Y/n]. I will make sure that he gets a proper rubdown. And greetings from you. Just take care of our Kurama." Yusuke answered with a wink.

You nodded gently and put your hands on Kurama's damaged chest to let your Reiki flow into his body. That should give him enough energy to activate his own self-healing powers. At least that was how it prevented him from having too little energy.

He almost died ..

When Kurama woke up a little later, he promised you to never again risk his life so lightly.

[End of flashback]

"Remember your promise." you said softly and took Kurama's hand in yours to give it an affectionate squeeze. The fox just looked at you apologetically, but he was weighing whether he could really tell you that he couldn't keep this promise.

"I'm sorry. This may be my first promise, which I can't keep, as much as I would like to. But ..." he began before you could sigh in frustration. Kurama smiled and put a strand of hair behind your ear. "I'll give you a new promise for that." He said and made you blink in curiousity.

"One that you will keep?" you asked.

Kurama smiled and pulled you close for a moment.

"Yes. I promise you, if I survive my fight against Karasu .." he almost sounded as if he didn't believe in it himself, which only unsettled you even more. "... I will take you as my wife as soon as my human body is 18 years old."

Your eyes widened, speechless, at these words. Kurama, who had sworn off love and certainly did not want to settle down in the human world, had just given you the promise of marriage if he should emerge victorious from the battle ..

"K-Kurama .." you started, touched, when the Kitsune put his index and middle fingers on your lips and gently shook his head.

"I have to go into the ring now." He said, because the referee Juri had to call his name again.

Kurama broke away from you and went to the battlefield, where Karasu was already waiting for him. You held your breath as the fight began. It was going to be the hardest fight of all time for him, you were sure of it.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The fight was clearly dominated by Karasu for a long time, who seemed to foresee every one of Kurama's steps. His rosewhip basically crumbled to dust before it could hit Karasu due to a miniature bomb that the black-haired man had already placed. Knowing that Kurama would resort to his signature attack.

Even the transformation into his Youko form only briefly gave Kurama the upper hand in this fight.

Karasu was strong, incredibly strong. Kurama was already bleeding profusely on his legs and arms from the bombs that hit his flesh. The transformation into his demon form had already reached its limits. Now everything seemed to be over for the redhead when he went down and his robe was already completely bathed in red blood.

It was a horrible sight, almost worse than Bakken's back then. Kurama stopped moving when Karasu tried to put an end to it.

With the very last of his strength, Kurama was able to mobilize his last reserves and thus also make his Reiki to zero when he conjured up a large, gray plant. Shortly afterwards he sagged dead and his friends, as well as you, cried out in agony.

"KURAMA!"

Karasu stopped. Not because he thought his opponent was dead, but because something had pierced his chest. Everyone stared in disbelief at the three vines of the plant that Kurama had conjured up with his last strength. They seemed to suck out Karasus blood.

"What is happening?" Kuwabara asked in disbelief.

"The plant sucks out its blood. Like a vampire." You explained and looked a little more composed again. Apparently you knew this technique. Since dated Kurama, the others weren't surprised.

Before the crowd could properly process what had happened, Karasu fell to the ground. His skin was pale from massive blood loss and his eyes were blank and torn. He was dead.

But what about Kurama?

Kurama opened his eyes. The bleeding wounds had closed again as if by a miracle and he straightened up slightly wobbly. Did the vampire plant fed him with the blood of his victim to save his life? It was the only logical explanation.

Tears now ran down your cheeks. No tears of sadness, tears of infinite joy. He was alive. Kurama had kept his promise and survived this fight.

Without hesitation for a second, after Juri made him the winner, you ran onto the battlefield and threw Kurama to the ground in a stormy embrace. The Redhead was unprepared for the impact and lost balance when you buried your face in the crook of his neck.

"Idiot. Idiot idiot idiot." You repeated several times, still sobbing slightly. This kitsune almost seemed to enjoy causing you so much grief by letting himself be beaten up in every fight.

Kurama smiled gently and caressed your back soothingly.

"Ssh. Everything is fine.", He whispered and heard only briefly loud sobs before you pulled away from him and stared at him.

"DO. THAT. NEVER. AGAIN." You warned and if Kurama wasn't grinning at you so sweetly, your anger would also come across convincingly. Instead, you just sighed softly and patted him gently on the shoulder. "But you also have to keep your promise," you added.

"Don't worry, I will." Kurama chuckled and turned to Yusuke with a hand sign. You blinked perplexed when Yusuke grinned and threw a small velvet box to him. Out of the corner of your eye you could see that it was a box with a beautifully decorated rose on the lid.

"Kurama .."

Kurama got on one knee and took your hand in his.

"I should do this formally and properly, don't you think?" He laughed and you suddenly realized something.

"... You already planned everything in advance, right ...?" You wanted to know.

Kurama gave a small laugh and kissed your palm lovingly before looking intensely into your eyes.

"Quite possible. No, but .. I've never met a woman like you in my life - and that applies to my human and demonic life - and I never expected to lose my heart to someone who makes me as happy as you. "

"Kurama .."

Kurama smirked when you didn't let him finish and cleared his throat to continue.

"Originally I wanted to stay in the human world because my mother and my friends were so close to my heart. But now there is another reason why I don't want to leave this world anymore. I want you by my side until the end of my days and ... start a family with you. In the human world. That is why I ask you, here and now, [First Name] [Last Name], do you want to be my wife and eternal mate? ", He asked and opened the box. Inside it was the most beautiful diamond ring you ever saw. Its sides were adorned with two beautiful jewels, a shiny [gem with your eye color] and a shimmering emerald. It was more than obvious that these jewels symbolized the eye colors of the both of you.

"Yes .. Yes, I want Kurama. Of course I want that!" You said overjoyed and let a smiling Kurama put the ring on your finger before he pulled you to him and kissed you passionately.

"U-Unbelievable! A marriage proposal during the final of the Dark Tournament! I've never seen anything like it!"Koto announced, she sat in the crowd as the second announcer and looked dreamily at the engaged couple.

You smiled and looked at the ring.

"So beautiful. But something's missing," you mumbled.

"Huh?", Kurama asked and you turned to him and grinned slightly.

"A topaz." You answered with a smile.

Now Kurama was the one whose eyes widened and he even blushed a little.

A topaz as golden as Youko Kurama's eyes. His demon form.

Now he was more certain than ever. He would never let you go again. He swore to himself.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Hogwarts Mystery Survey!

I was tagged by...well, a few people actually! Sorry, I know it took me a while to get to this, as it always does with tagged posts. Nevertheless! This was created by the epic @carewyncromwell So go check out her blog!

I shall now signal @missnight0wl​ @electricslytherindog​ @nostalgiaslithersin​ @ladyluckqueen​ and @treebels​ Unless you’ve already done this, of course. But otherwise square up! Y’all have been tagged :)

Let’s do this! 

Favourite Gryffindor: 

Oh, I’m not going to make many friends with this choice...

But my favorite Gryffindor is Patricia Rakepick. Look, even if she turns out to be completely evil with no plot twists about her loyalties...at least they gave us a genuinely evil Gryffindor, right? I’m sorry, I just...really want to believe we don’t know the whole story. Because Year 5 gave us so many great moments with Rakepick, as well as her bond with MC. The Potterverse has never had a character quite like Rakepick before, but she’s just as interesting as Snape or Dumbledore. She’s infinitely complex and it’s such a waste if she amounts to nothing more than the Cabal’s lackey. Honorable mentions: Jae Kim. He is such a mood. 

Least Favourite Gryffindor: 

Did you think we were done talking about Rakepick? Oh no, because right now she is my least favorite Gryffindor too, for reasons that are much more obvious and don’t really need to be explained. She’s done terrible things, and she needs to pay for her crimes...and on a personal level, she broke my heart. I don’t want this to be how her story ends. I don’t want to hate her, but with what she’s done, what else am I supposed to think? 

Favourite Hufflepuff: 

You can tell that the Haywood sisters were the main project for Hufflepuff, and while I find both of them to be quite interesting, I just have a real soft spot for Beatrice. I love the way she went from being a tiny Penny to being anything but. I love how she went from being little more than a plot device in Year 5 to forcibly carving her own identity in Year 6. I like the parallels between her and MC and Jacob. Both sisters are interesting, so you can consider Penny an honorable mention, I just like Bea more. 

Least Favourite Hufflepuff: 

Sorry to any of his fans, but...it’s got to be Diego. I will fully admit that we do not know enough about him right now to judge fairly, but that is, in some ways, the problem. When I first saw him in Year 5, he gave me the impression of being a total sleaze who would be weird toward the other students (particularly the females) because he was into them. And while the scenes he eventually gets haven’t really given credence to that...they haven’t disproved it either.

Favourite Ravenclaw: 

Let me tell  you a fairy tale, everyone: Once upon a time there was a fascinating and compelling character, a queen of pranks, who had a curious history with the girl who was the game’s antagonist at the time. She had a great bond with MC and a cool backstory...but the developers soon forgot she existed, and removed her from the dating quests even though she had already been there for the first two. This is the story of the underrated flower. The tale of the toad-keeper. This is the story of Tulip Karasu.

Least Favourite Ravenclaw:

Probably Andre. For similar reasons to why I don’t like Diego that much, I just don’t think his character was handled very well. Don’t get me wrong, he had a promising start....but then they didn’t do anything with him. Furthermore, his personality just isn’t my favorite. He strikes me as being a little self-absorbed and not especially nice to other people, at least from the vibes that I get.

Favourite Slytherin: 

Let me tell you a fairy tale, everyone. About the toad-keeper’s true love, the song of the shadows...Merula Snyde. Okay, okay, no more fairy tales. But in all seriousness, she’s a a real contender for being my favorite character in the game. Right up there with Rakepick. I just find Merula to have so many layers to her character, she has so much history influencing her actions. And yeah, she’s frustrating as all hell, but that’s part of it. And while she may be an acquired taste, I know I’m not alone in thinking that she can be positively adorable.  She’s a character that I hope reaches her full potential, a character I just wish I could rescue and get her the therapy she needs.

Least Favourite Slytherin: 

This one is genuinely tough for me. None of the Slytherin characters in this game are badly written, and none of them are that unlikable. Do I pick Ismelda, for her stunt with the Love Potion? Well, even in spite of that, I find myself hoping she can learn from her mistakes. Do I pick Barnaby, because as sweet as he is, he’s normally kind of one-note? Well, even in spite of that, I always love it when he’s onscreen. Could go for Felix, but he’s actually my favorite Prefect, and choosing a Prefect for a least favorite would feel way too easy anyhow. No, let’s go with Liz. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Liz. But she’s extremely under-utilized and we just don’t know that much about her. 

Favourite Quidditch Character: 

This one, on the other hand, doesn’t require any pondering at all. It’s Orion. I can’t even begin to describe how much I love this lonely sage. He deserves the world. He deserves a hug from his Quidditch family. Every time he’s onscreen, passing on his wisdom, I just get a big goofy smile on my face. He’s basically all the best parts of Dumbledore, and he’s a better big brother to MC than Jacob could ever be. Also, his hair is fantastic and I can’t wait until I get him to LV 10 because I want it. 

Least Favourite Quidditch Character:

This one is purely a matter of choosing someone by process of elimination. It’s not Orion, of course, and if you’ve been on my blog for a while then you know I do not hate Skye Parkin at all, so it isn’t her. I also quite like Murphy, so...the only character left, who we still don’t know that much about, is Erika Rath. In this case, “least favorite” is a default term. I like Erika and I will gladly defend her...just, not as much as the team trio.

Favourite Teacher: 

My immediate answer is Flitwick. Even though McGonagall is one of my favorite characters overall, from the original books...when it comes to HPHM, she hasn’t been as involved. Flitwick on the other hand, has gotten fantastic development as a character and some genuinely great moments of bonding with MC. He was one of the nicest surprises about this game. There are so many little things - like him realizing, without MC needing to say anything, that they are going to keep pursuing Beatrice’s rescue no matter what he says. Another moment I love comes in Year Three, when he’s the only Head of House to show any sympathy to MC about banning them from Hogsmeade. Unlike the other Heads, you really get the sense that Flitwick doesn’t want to do so, that he’s being overruled by Dumbledore. An honorable mention could go to Rakepick, but....eh. 

Least Favourite Teacher: 

I’m gonna get a bit out of the ordinary for this one. Sure, I could say Snape, but in this game he’s miles beyond his usual quality. He’s much more tolerable and even pretty funny sometimes. Sprout is kinda boring to me, I suppose, but she’s not that bad. I don’t know if Dumbledore technically counts, and Filch certainly wouldn’t. Rakepick, despite everything she did, was technically a good teacher. No, for my least favorite teacher, I’m gonna go with Madam Hooch. I’ve never liked her. Not just in this game, either. One moment she says “I don’t believe you, but I don’t have any proof you’re lying.” and then five seconds later, “Don’t ever let me catch you in a lie again.” I’m sorry, what do you mean again? Not believing someone is not the same thing as “catching” them in a lie, you arrogant bludger. 

Favourite Non-Teacher Adult: 

Both in the books and in the game, it is Hagrid and it will always be Hagrid. He is the biggest cinnamon roll and I would gladly eat his rock cakes no matter what they do to my teeth. Friends are more important than teeth! Just let MC take a break from all this Cursed Vault nonsense and go off to the Reserve with Hagrid to pet some nifflers.

Least Favourite Non-Teacher Adult: 

Folks, here’s a fairy tale about-no, we’re not doing that again. It’s Dumbledore. The punch line is Dumbledore. Setting aside all of the terrible things that he does in the books...HPHM sees him constantly rewarding MC’s dangerous behavior and once again stuffing the ballot for the House Cup...only to abruptly change his tune at the end of Year Four and give MC a year’s worth of detentions for doing what he previously encouraged, and only MC gets these detentions, not their friends. The very next year, he sanctions Rakepick’s apprentice team and they continue where MC left off. Not to mention that post Portrait-Vault, Dumbledore appoints himself as MC’s makeshift therapist and keeps talking like he understands MC’s feelings, like he knows what’s best for them. The game fucking forces you to tell him about your feelings, and god damn it where is the option to say “None of your business.” Like UGH. 

Rate Rowan on a scale of 1-10, 1 being “Why are we even friends?” and 10 being “BFFs for Life!”: 

100,000,000. What’s that you say? I went well over the cap? Nonsense. I simply gave Rowan a score as high as they deserve. I know we are all appreciating them a lot more now, for obvious reasons...but I can recall back in the day when most people didn’t spare them a second glance. (Though to be fair, MC didn’t either, some of the time.) Not me though. I was always loyal, thank you very much. I always knew this adorkable cinnamon roll who would have taken a bullet for MC (and...pretty much did.) deserved more love. They deserved the world.

Rate Jacob on a scale of 1-10, 1 being “You’re dead to me” and 10 being “Love you forever, big bro!!”:

A solid 5. I believe that’s the only score I can fairly give, because there’s still so much of Jacob that is uncertain and hasn’t been explored. But the character we released from the Portrait, assuming it is the real Jacob...has been kind of an asshole since he got back. On the other hand, he was sealed in a Portrait for five years. Five times longer than even Beatrice was. That has to mess a person up, right? So perhaps I should be more forgiving. I honestly don’t know. 

Rate MC and your similarities on a scale of 1-10, 1 being “MC is nothing like me” to 10 being “MC is ttly a self-insert lol”: 

Is this just like, MC in general? Or our own personal MCs? Because with Gail...I’d have to say, maybe a 4. She does inherit some of my qualities but she’s primarily inspired from one of my friends. Luca, though? Luca is easily a 9. After all, when I first created them, I used a file that was once my “personal” file. So it was that they inherited a lot of them-self from me.

Favourite Side Quest: 

You’re all going to think that I’m weird, but my favorite quest, at least right now, is the Comet TLSQ. I like it for a lot of the reasons that people hate it. I think that it’s an interesting and amusing story. How can I not love a quest that ends with a whole field of cruppies? Beyond that, if was during this quest that I really grew to love the Quidditch characters as a team. And, yes, this quest only made me enjoy Skye as a character all the more. What can I say, I just had a big smile on my face during the whole ordeal, especially when the three Quidditch characters were together. Honorable mentions: The Frog Choir TLSQ. I’m a major Tulula shipper, enough said.

Least Favourite Side Quest:

The one that immediately comes to my mind is the Knighthood TLSQ. I’m sorry but the whole thing just felt incredibly pointless. Why does MC even want to be a knight? Couldn’t they be doing something better with their time, like pursuing the next vault, doing some homework, practicing Quidditch, playing Gobstones with friends or....basically anything else? Sir Cadogan is funny in small doses but he gets old really quickly. He has that in common with Lockhart. Oh, and Penny is shoe-horned in. Again. Big surprise. 

Your Ideal Ending for Patricia Rakepick: 

-Sigh- Okay, you all know what’s coming. I don’t really want Rakepick to die. I don’t want her to go to Azkaban. I’m convinced that she probably will die no matter what, but that isn’t what I want. First and foremost, I want her to be a double agent. Working for Dumbledore or otherwise. I want Rowan’s death to have been staged - not just because it would absolve her of the crime, but also because it would mean Rowan comes back...and that the forest scene would actually make sense. There’s no explaining away her torturing Merula, other than her stalling for time, which isn’t an excuse but it would be enough to return her to being the “ruthless good” that she was before. I want her to sacrifice her own life for MC and Merula, but she need not necessarily die in the process. She could be saved. On the other hand, a death might be more poignant. But if not that, she could go on the run. I mean, she did cast an Unforgivable on a child. I’m not sure even Dumbledore’s protection could get her out of paying for that. Either way, I want her to blindside R the same way she blind-sided us in the Portrait Vault. 

I made it to the end! And somehow, I managed to praise Beatrice, Merula, and Skye...along with bashing Dumbledore...and insisting that Rakepick is secretly good, all in one post! This is like...the ultimate trailer for my blog. 

[juniperwindsong]

Dragonology 101 (9/10)

Summary: These feelings will fade, Felix assures himself, they have to. It's not as if they have any other choice. Juniper Windsong is no more viable a prospect than Dragonology is a career.

A few notes on the dialogue: Underlined dialogue is taken directly from the Farewell, My Prefect questline. A * at the end of dialogue means I've changed up the wording to make it sound more natural, but maintained the integrity of the line from the quest. Anything else is my own interpretation/addition.

-

One evening in April, a group of Slytherins holds an informal conference in the common room to discuss the issue on the mind of the entire house: the strange behaviour of their senior prefect, Felix Rosier. While uncharacteristically absent most of the first term, Felix has spent the second term breathing down everyone's necks like a vulture. He has little patience for anything he deems too frivolous (such as exploding snap or over-loud laughter), and none at all for attempts at outright rule breaking (a boy caught with dungbombs was given a weeks worth of detentions).

The general opinion of the older Slytherins, who know Felix from years previous, is that he must have had a secret dalliance that ended rather badly. It would explain the negligence of his house through the fall and his uncharacteristically vitriol spirits this spring. A lively debate ensues over the identity of this secret girlfriend or boyfriend (a consensus never being reached on this finer point), and it's an embarrassingly long time before anyone realizes that the prefect in question has entered the common room.

After docking twenty-five points from his own house for malicious gossip and sending everyone to bed, Felix sits on the sofa brooding until well after midnight. If they only knew how close to the mark that rumour really comes.

-

Felix continues to miss Sparky with a fierceness he did not know he possessed. The new term has allowed him to fall back into his old routines, and he has no end of classwork and NEWT revision to occupy his time, but he cannot put himself back together again exactly the way he was. Being a senior prefect and top of his class hold no satisfaction for him anymore. Nothing Felix has ever done sets his heart aflame the way the dragon did, and he understands now that dedication and passion are not quite the same thing.

Almost equal to the loss of his dragon is the loss of his fledgling friendship with Juniper Windsong. There's no denying that in one term Juniper has become the closest friend Felix has ever had. No one else, at Hogwarts or at home, knows him so well, and he feels certain his malaise this term would be easier to bear if he only had her to talk to again. 

But Felix has seen Juniper only a handful of times since January. His scattered attempts to engage her in conversation always end with Juniper being dragged away by Murphy McNully to talk Quidditch strategy, or Bill Weasley to discuss the cursed vaults, or that Ravenclaw troublemaker Tulip Karasu for Merlin knows what reasons. She has no end of friends of her own to revise with so Felix cannot even use schoolwork as an excuse to spend time with her. He reflects bitterly that while the dragon may have been his defining adventure at Hogwarts, it hasn't been much more than a side story for Juniper.

The perfect excuse finds Felix in the end when Professor Snape asks him to submit recommendations for next year's Slytherin prefect. He takes an evening off from revising to look over the house roster, but no name immediately stands out. One of Felix's greatest pet peeves is students who vie for the position of prefect merely to use the bathroom without paying a bit of attention to the duties that go along with it. He runs his quill down the list, assessing the leadership capabilities of each person and finding himself extremely disappointed. Having ticked off only a couple of names for further consideration, he comes to the end and sees at the very bottom: Windsong, Juniper.

Felix sits up a little straighter in his chair. Windsong. A prefect. Now there's an idea...

Her absolute unconcern with rules would, admittedly, be an issue. But perhaps not so much as he would have thought three years ago. After all, Felix himself has broken nearly as many rules as she has this year, and he still considers himself an excellent prefect, doesn't he? More important than mindless rule following, he now believes, is loyalty to one's house, dedication to one's responsibilities, and a genuine concern for one's fellow students: all attributes Juniper has in spades. It doesn't hurt that she's also been the top points earner for Slytherin three years in a row now.

Of course, Juniper is only a third year. She won't be up for the position until next spring. But that doesn't mean Felix can't recommend her. And, perhaps... prep her a little for the role? A plan begins to form in Felix's head and he feels more animated than he has in months.

Felix sends Juniper an owl on the last Saturday of the Easter break asking her to meet him in the common room at her earliest convenience. Nearly all the other students will be in Hogsmeade or the library that day, he reasons, so they should be able to steal a bit of privacy. Except that her earliest convenience turns out to be just before dinner, when everyone has arrived back from their outings and there isn't a free corner in the whole common room.

Felix is more than a little put out at having been kept waiting all day, and he regards Juniper superciliously as she picks her way through the crowd to the back of the room where he's been forced to stand.

"Well, well, the curse-breaking Slytherin finally comes to see me."

Juniper has the decency to look a little sheepish.

"Sorry, couldn't get away," she says vaguely. "What's up? Your letter said it was a personal matter*."

Felix clears his throat, aware of the eyes of the surrounding students on him as he speaks. "When we first met, I had just become a prefect. Now I'm a seventh-year, and come June I will leave Hogwarts forever. "

The corners of Juniper's lips twitch, and Felix can tell she's having a time of it keeping a straight face through his ceremonial little speech.

"Don't worry. I won't let you down. I'll make sure Slytherin crushes Gryffindor at every opportunity," she quips through stifled giggles.

A fourth year at the table next to them gives a little cheer at this and Felix scowls. For once, he would rather the entire house wasn't listening to what he has to say. He glances sideways at the eavesdropping students before continuing.

"I know you will. It pains me to admit it," Felix sighs heavily for effect," but you are the finest student in Slytherin. After myself of course." A fair bit of laughter and a few scattered cries of "What?!" and "Since bloody when?" erupt from the students around them, and Felix has to raise his voice to be heard. "I want to teach you a few things. Skills that will prepare you to be a leader of the house."

Juniper cocks her head, ignoring the minor uproar around them. "Like what sort of skills?"

Felix lifts an eyebrow mysteriously. "Meet me on the training grounds after dinner. It's time to begin our final lesson."

-

Juniper strides purposefully across the grounds as Felix finishes setting up the dueling dummies. He's surprised to see she's wearing her Quidditch robes and carrying her broomstick.

"Skye wants to try and squeeze in extra chaser trainings every night until the cup match,” she explains upon seeing his expression. "So I can't stay long." Juniper takes in the dummies lined up on the field ahead of them. "What's all this about, then?" she asks curiously.

They're alone, finally. Felix has been waiting for this moment all term, but now that it's here he isn't sure what to say. It's been months since they've talked, really talked. Felix knows they used to chat easily, he just can't remember how they went about it. He falls back on formality.

"I want to teach you the freezing charm, Immobulus."

Juniper's eyes widen in recognition.

"Immobulus has served me well - especially when it comes to helping Slytherin win at Quidditch." Felix winks. "Just don't tell Madam Hooch."

"As if Slytherin needs to resort to such tactics to win at Quidditch!" scoffs Juniper indignantly.

Felix smirks. It's true. They're favoured to win the cup for the first time in years, due in large part to her. "Pick a dummy and I'll talk you through how the spell works."

Felix spends the next hour correcting her stance, her wand movement, her pronunciation, while Juniper, as always, asks too many questions. As they discuss the minutiae of the spell, he's relieved to find them slipping back into their old banter like a favorite jumper and for the first time since before Christmas, he feels truly relaxed. Standing just behind Juniper to monitor her arm raise, Felix recognizes the scent of lavender and something else that hangs around her. He's smelled it often enough before, but for some reason it seems exceptionally pleasant now. Probably because it reminds him of their nights spent with the dragon, he decides.

Juniper is uncharacteristically slow to master the spell. Felix is forced to repeat his instructions and demonstrations more than once, and in spite of her caveat that she cannot stay long, Juniper takes her time perfecting her movements. Felix wonders if she's missed spending time with him as much as he has with her. Finally, as the light begins to fade, she throws a perfect freezing charm at the middle dummy making it go entirely rigid.

"Well done!" Felix compliments her, clapping her on the shoulder. The contact makes his hand tingle slightly; he isn't sure why, but he removes it quickly just the same. "If you ever want to trip a Gryffindor, use Immobulus on his shoes."

"Or a dragon?" jokes Juniper, looking at him sideways.

Felix smiles wistfully at the memory. "I'd recommend starting with something a bit smaller."

Juniper tucks her wand away and faces him. "Well, thank you for teaching me." she says in mock solemnity.

There's a brief pause in which Felix wonders how long he can press her to stay, when they hear a whistle from the direction of the castle. He turns to see Skye Parkin tapping her foot impatiently and pointing to her broomstick.

Juniper sighs. "I've got to dash."

"Wait," Felix blurts out before she can disappear. "We're still not done." She looks at him quizzically and Felix casts around for something else he can show her.

"There's a potion that Snape hardly ever teaches but you should know it all the same. Meet me Monday night in the potions classroom."

Juniper's brow furrows a little, but she nods. "Alright."

"Windsong! C'mon!" yells Skye, and Juniper sprints toward her without a backward glance.

-

Felix is already seated at a cauldron, potion book and ingredients laid out in front of him when Juniper bursts into the dungeon, late and wearing her Quidditch gear.

"There you are," he sniffs disapprovingly.

"Sorry!" Juniper pants, out of breath, flinging herself onto the stool next to Felix. Her face is red and sweaty and she's still carrying her broomstick.

She must have run directly from the Quidditch pitch, Felix realizes, and he feels a brief pang of guilt for monopolizing her limited time. But the thought of talking to Juniper again has carried Felix through the intermittent days in exceptionally high spirits and he can't bear to disappoint himself now by sending her back to the common room. So he gets right to the point.

"I'm going to show you how to brew a potion that Snape would never teach you." Juniper looks up interested, as he continues. "It's called Babbling Beverage."

She emits a snort of derisive laughter, then taps a finger to her cheek in feigned thoughtfulness. "Let me guess. Drinking it makes you babble."

"With a mind that sharp you'll be head girl one day," Felix comments dryly. " Yes, drinking babbling beverage makes you talk uncontrollable nonsense."

Juniper cocks her head to the side. "This seems like a particularly pointless potion."

"Really?" Felix lifts an eyebrow. "You can't think of anything to do with it*?"

Juniper shrugs. "I don't know. Use it to get out of class*?" Her face lights up as a thought strikes her. "I could trick a teacher into drinking it. If they couldn't talk the class would be cancelled*!"

Felix's eyes widen a little, and he smiles, impressed. "You are wicked, Juniper Windsong."

Juniper nods her head in a sarcastic acknowledgement of his faux praise.

"Grab your cauldron and I'll show you how it's done."

Felix reads off ingredients and instructions while Juniper pours over her cauldron. He's picked the most finicky, overly complicated potion he's ever heard of that can be completed in one sitting. Partly, to make their lesson last as long as possible, and partly because he's interested to see how she'll react. Prefect duties are often tedious, and Juniper, while patient and focused with things that matter to her, tends to balk when forced to spend too much time working on anything she considers unimportant.

Felix is therefore rather proud when she sees the potion through, though not without a good bit of complaining and mild cursing. Its just after midnight when Juniper finally pushes away from the table and runs her hands through her hair, now soaked flat to her head with perspiration.

"Well done!" applauds Felix. "Even Snape would be impressed."

"I doubt that." Juniper yawns. She squeezes her eyes shut and grinds the heels of her hands against them hard, as if to rub away her exhaustion.

"Now for the best part,” announces Felix with relish, unable to suppress a mischievous grin. "The taste test."

Juniper's eyes snap open to stare at him. "Why do I feel like this is the real reason you showed me this potion?" she asks suspiciously.

"I'm not going to apologize. I could use a good laugh."

Juniper heaves a dramatic sigh. "Alright," she concedes, with the air of a martyr. "Consider this your going away present." And before Felix can stop her, she ladles a bit of the potion out of the still steaming cauldron, and gulps it down.

Felix is entirely speechless. He had meant it as a joke, fully expecting her to refuse. It never occurred to him for a second she might actually drink the bloody thing. Juniper smacks her lips, face screwed up at the taste of the potion.

"Well, what do you think?" asks Felix with anticipation. He has never seen this potion in action before, never known anyone foolish enough to drink it, and he has no idea what will happen. An echo of the excitement Felix now associates with dragons creeps through his veins.

Juniper opens her mouth cautiously.

"I think it tastes very- " is all she's able to get out before a stream of nonsense syllables erupt from her mid-sentence. She claps a hand to her mouth, eyes comically wide and laughter explodes from Felix, louder than he knew was possible.

Juniper seems more shocked by his response than her own reaction to the potion, and opens her mouth again, probably to comment on it. But all that comes out is gibberish.

Felix actually pounds the table with his hand, tears leaking from his eyes at the force of his laughter. Distantly he knows it's not even that funny, but a dam has broken somewhere inside him and all the emotion he's kept pent up this term bursts forth behind his hysterical laughter.

Juniper watches him in some concern and tries to speak again, babbling nonsense with an inquisitive inflection at the end.

Felix wipes the corners of his eyes and attempts to pull himself together. "Okay, okay. Stop talking before I pass out from laughing so hard."

Now distinctly pink, Juniper folds her arms crossly and mumbles something else Felix can't understand. His grin is still glued to his face, but his laughter subsides.

"Well I suppose that's it for tonight. Can't do much else with you babbling like a lunatic. " Another chuckle escapes him and Juniper glowers. "Can you meet me in Greenhouse Three tomorrow after dinner*. I have a plant I want to show you."

Juniper shakes her head and points at her Quidditch uniform.

"The next night, then?"

She continues to shake and point.

Felix huffs impatiently. For some reason, the thought of her spending so much time with other people makes him irritable.

"Okay, well when are you free?"

Juniper pulls a timetable out of her bag and consults it. Felix is more than a little surprised to find her so organized. He makes a note of this in the mental file he's compiling of her potential prefect skills.

She taps a space to indicate a morning the day before the last Quidditch match. Felix hesitates. He has a revision session with the other prefects that day that he really shouldn't miss. But a sudden recklessness in him rears its head, as if it's missed throwing his common sense to the wind since the dragon's been gone, and Felix agrees before he can stop himself.

-

In the days leading up to their next scheduled meeting, Juniper occupies Felix's thoughts more than his rational side thinks she should. He finds himself going out of his way to take hallways he knows Juniper frequents in the hopes of receiving a wave and a smile as she passes. A girl with similar coloured hair sits a few rows in front of him in Transfiguration, and he can't stop himself from glancing at the back of her head every few minutes. And something in the Potions classroom one lesson emits a powerful waft of lavender that distracts him so badly his Draught of Living Death is unusable.

Felix tries to assure himself that this is normal. People enjoy having friends and miss them when they're not around, that's all. He has spent the last seven years cultivating accomplishments, not friendships, so it's only to be expected that the newness of the experience excites him. The rational part of his brain finds this theory hard to swallow, but Felix ignores it (he's an expert at that now). Instead, he channels his energy into planning out the details of their next meeting.

-

For once, Juniper is not only on time but actually arrives at Greenhouse Three before Felix. She turns as he walks in and flashes a smile that makes his stomach lurch. Just a typical friendship response? inquires his rational voice. Felix banishes it with a grimace.

"Watch yourself," He says, his greeting a little brusque to cover his sudden self-consciousness. "There's a Snargaluff over there and it could attack you when you least expect."

Felix gestures over Juniper's shoulder and she spins around quickly, taking a step back. He notices with a pleasant shiver how much nearer she is to him now. His rational voice wonders why this observation is relevant.

"Snargaluff?" Juniper asks in some alarm.

"It's a violent plant known for its green pulsating pods," explains Felix automatically, relieved that he prepared what to say in advance since the dialogue in his brain is very distracting. "Sixth years learn to extract them. I'm going to teach you."

"Sounds brilliant," Juniper says enthusiastically as Felix leads her to the back of the greenhouse. He's hyperaware of her shoulder brushing against his slightly as they walk, and the fleeting contact is so distracting he can only nod and agree, "Snargaluff is amazing," then groan inwardly at how inane this sounds.

The plant resting placidly in its pot seems harmless enough. Its long tendrils rustle very slightly as if in a breeze, though the air in the greenhouse is still. But Felix knows better than to be fooled by the Snargaluff's benign appearance.

"But it's wild. It requires cunning to keep it contained." Felix glances at Juniper. "Perfect for a Slytherin."

Juniper tugs on her dragon hide gloves and inspects the plant in front of her, head cocked a little to the side. She reaches a cautious hand toward one of the bulbs and the Snargaluff springs to life in an instant. Its vines writhe and strike like angry snakes, complete with a sinister hissing sound as the bulbs rub together. Juniper draws her hand back quickly.

"So...is there a trick to this I should know?" she asks, keeping her eyes on the angry plant.

"You distract it with one hand, while the other immobilises it," Felix replies with a small smile. "Here let me show you."

Juniper waves her left hand in the air above the Snargaluff, its tendrils stretching so far to reach her the pot almost tips over, while Felix closes his fingers around the back of her right.

"Plants like these need a firm hand," he murmurs as he guides Juniper's hand to the plant's base and shows her exactly where to grasp it to soothe the Snargaluff's frantically waving vines. Immediately, the plant's movements subside to a gentle rustling again, and Juniper can now use her free hand to collect the pods.

Felix steps closer, under the pretense of showing Juniper an easier method of extracting a pod and breathes in her perfume again. It's as strangely exhilarating as it was on the grounds, but he refuses to be baited by the part of his brain that questions this. His decision to remain standing directly behind Juniper while she works is entirely for her protection, and has absolutely nothing to do with how much he enjoys being close to her.

Juniper does an excellent job, as Felix knew she would, gathering the pods from the plant's bulbs decisively. But as she extracts the last, her hand on the stem falters and the newly awoken Snargaluff shoots an angry vine toward her face with lightning speed. Juniper jumps back at the same time Felix grabs her shoulders to pull her away, so that she falls against his chest momentarily before righting herself. The unexpected contact sends lightning through Felix, and his brain becomes strangely fuzzy. He gasps a little at the powerful sensation, but Juniper does not appear to notice.

"The vines of that Snargaluff nearly got me!" she exclaims, glancing reproachfully at the plant.

Felix clears his throat and smooths his hair back unconsciously. "You did well. I'm impressed," he mumbles, then clarifies hastily, "With how quickly you collected those pods."

Juniper beams at Felix and his stomach flips again. "Is that it, then?" she asks, carefully moving the bucket of pods out of reach of the violently thrashing Snargaluff.

Felix makes a supreme effort to clear his head. He doesn't want this to be over, but he can't think of anything else to show her. He stalls.

"Well, you learned to cast Immobulus, you brewed babbling beverage, and you learned how to extract Snargaluff pods." He ticks off their lessons on his fingers, wracking his brain for any excuse to keep her here a bit longer or to see her again later.

"Yes..." agrees Juniper suspiciously. "And thank you for all that. But I still don't understand why you're showing me all these things*."

Yes, why has he done all of this? demands his rational side. His flimsy excuse of determining if she's really prefect material just won't hold water with his better sense anymore. Juniper hasn't proven anything about herself that he didn't already know.

Well, I've missed spending time with her, then, that's reasonable isn't it? We're friends! Felix clings to this argument like a life jacket in which his rationality immediately pokes holes. Being friends doesn't explain the strange visceral reactions her presence is causing in him, sensations he never experienced in all the time they cared for the dragon together.

Juniper is watching him expectantly while his brain battles itself, and he has to say something.

"You haven't...figured it out?" stutters Felix, doing his best to seem enigmatic instead of just as perplexed as she is.

Juniper tries to raise her eyebrows, that ridiculous looking expression that crinkles her forehead. Only now, Felix realizes it's actually adorable. He wonders how he's never noticed this before.

And then something clicks in his brain. Felix understands. His eyes widen involuntarily. Some primal instinct demands that he run, and for once his rational side is more than happy to obey.

"Think on it. Then meet me back in the common room later," says Felix abruptly, already moving past her. He comes dangerously close to the wriggling Snargaluff in his effort not to touch any part of her.

"What? When?" Juniper calls after him, confused.

"I don't know. After dinner,” he babbles without thinking. For the first time that day, Felix's entire brain is focused on the same goal: getting out of the greenhouse and away from her as fast as humanly possible.

-

At the beginning of Felix's fourth year, competition to be the next Slytherin prefect was vicious. It seemed everyone his age was dead set on the position, and perfect grades and a nearly flawless school record would not be enough to guarantee anyone the title. Felix was just beginning to despair that the badge he so longed for would slip through his grasp, when a miracle occurred: the Celestial Ball. 

Almost overnight, hordes of formerly serious students dedicated to their grades and their goals now had eyes only for each other, leaving the path to prefect wide open for someone who could just keep their focus. Felix was more than happy to take advantage of his peers' childish behavior, and he assured himself smugly that he would never allow himself to become distracted by anything quite so ridiculous and fleeting as feelings.

Which makes his newfound fancy for Juniper so much harder to bear.

Safely ensconced in his dormitory, Felix buries himself under all the blankets he can conjure until his outline is barely distinguishable, attempting to hide from his own embarrassment. Why her, he thinks desperately, of all people? She's almost four years younger than he is, and nothing special to look at it. She's rash and reckless and unreasonable, far too many Gryffindor-like traits for any self-respecting Slytherin. Admittedly, she has talent and power, but her academic carelessness and general disregard for order has always driven him mad. Do they have anything in common except their house and a predilection for dragons?

There is no reason, insists the rational voice in his head. It isn't logical. It's a sickness. You catch it from the people you're closest to. This revelation soothes Felix's humiliated ego just a little. It isn't his fault. He's just spent too much time with her this year, that's all. More time than he's spent with any one person.

Felix sits up slowly, disentangling himself from the bedclothes. He takes several deep breaths, willing the horrid fluttering in his stomach to settle so he can come up with a plan. If it's being around her that causes him to feel like this, then that's easily solved. He graduates in a just over a month; all he has to do is stay away her till then. And since finding any time to spend together this semester has been such an arduous task, avoiding her for just a few weeks should be no challenge at all.

There's a familiar wave of grief rising in him, but Felix stifles it, flattening his hair to his head ferociously. These feelings will fade, he assures himself, they have to. It's not as if they have any other choice. Juniper Windsong is no more viable a prospect than Dragonology is a career.

-

Felix seriously considers skiving off his meeting with Juniper as part of his new resolution to keep his distance. She might not even notice, he thinks bitterly; she has so many other friends, she probably won't have the time to come looking for him if he stands her up. But this line of reasoning runs dangerously to the question Felix refuses to ask himself under any circumstances whatsoever: how Juniper might feel about him. There's no good answer, and he wrenches his mind away from the thought forcibly.

In the end, the part of him that still aches from the abrupt loss of Sparky insists on saying some sort of goodbye. Closure will allow his feelings to fade more quickly, he decides, therefore seeing her one last time is a rational decision.

The common room is less crowded than it was the last time they met here. A few scattered fifth and seventh years are using dinner to catch up on revision at the study tables, and both sofas remain vacant, but Felix eschews the available seats. Just looking at the sofa calls to mind all the times they've sat there together this year, everything she's said to him and every emotion he's been forced to confront.

Lost in his memories, Felix is suddenly startled by a tentative hand on his arm. He turns to find Juniper watching him warily.

"Is everything alright?" she ventures cautiously. Her fingers against the exposed skin of his forearm set his nerves on fire, but he steps away purposely, rational side fully in control.

"Oh, Windsong, there you are," comments Felix airily. "I was just looking around the common room. I'm going to miss our den of mischief when I graduate." He executes a perfect smirk and eyebrow raise combo.

Juniper tilts her head a little, bemused, and Felix knows she's trying to see past his affectations. He redoubles his effort to remain aloof.

"And all of Slytherin will miss you," she assures him before pressing on, refusing to be distracted. "But seriously, Felix. What's going on? Why did you give me all those lessons?"

"You still don't know?" Felix allows his smirk to widen. "Come on... surely you have an idea what I want you to do." He can practically see her brain working behind her eyes, trying to pick apart his strange actions over the last few weeks and discern his motives.

"I don't know, earn more house points*?" Juniper shrugs. "Or make up an excuse to give me house points*?" She narrows her eyes at him slyly but he only continues to look inscrutable.

"Something else, then." Her jocularity vanishes, replaced by the focused expression she wears when she's concentrating on something important; a face so familiar to him now.

"You said... you were teaching me leadership skills. You want me to step up and be a leader?" Juniper finally concludes, cocking her head to the side curiously. "Like you?"

And in spite of his carefully crafted dispassion, Felix feels warmth spread through his chest the way it always does when she compliments him, when her attention belongs to him fully. He can't bring himself to voice his haughty rejoinder. He wants her to smile at him. To see him in that way only she seems to, where he isn't disappointing or unworthy or unsuitable.

"That's exactly right, Juniper," answers Felix softly. He watches her face light up just a little and he wants more.

"You are a born leader," he tells her in a voice entirely free of sarcasm or humor. "I see the potential in you. You're going to bring pride to our house."

Juniper blinks, so thrown off guard she forgets to hide the expression in her eyes. And for a brief moment, the two Slytherins each see the other without masks. He wonders if the same feeling is spreading through her chest, like a brilliant bubble inflating and inspiring him with confidence.

"And I am awarding Slytherin twenty five house points for all your hard work."

The moment ends, and Juniper laughs, shaking her head at him. "I knew it."

"I'm also going to put in a good word with Dumbledore and Snape," adds Felix. "I'll tell them you would make an excellent prefect."

That stops her laughter in its tracks.

"What?" Juniper cries, so loudly a fifth year near them hisses at her reproachfully. "You're joking, right? A prefect who's broken nearly every single rule at Hogwarts?"

Felix smiles at her. A real smile. "There's more to being a leader than following rules."

Juniper looks at him as though seeing him for the first time. There's so much in her eyes that can't be identified. Felix wishes desperately to know what she's thinking now. Rationality wants to refuse him hope, the hope that maybe he means something special to her as well. That one day, maybe...

"Felix," Juniper intones his name. Her gaze is almost too much for him to bear. "Thank you," is all she can say.

His disciplined rationality is strong, but it's never encountered this, and Felix cannot suppress a tidal wave of desire. He wants her to look at him like that a bit longer. He wants to be standing closer to her when she says his name. He wants her to be seventeen, leaving Hogwarts with him, maybe running off to find dragons together. At the very least he wants to hug her, to feel the tingling sensation that comes with her touch again.

Before he can think about it further, Felix reaches out his hand for her to shake. It's an acceptable compromise. Juniper looks at his hand and then at his face before extending her own and clasping firmly.

Felix knows he will miss her. Knows how badly it will hurt later when he's gone. But she won't be fourteen forever, and if he's learned anything from her its to expect the impossible. The thought of Juniper Windsong is a small ray of sun that breaks through the darkness of his future.

"Good luck with the rest your Hogwarts journey," offers Felix simply. "Hopefully we'll meet again years from now."

He gives her one last smile and lets her hand go.

-

Chapter 10 | Masterpost

[lightningclawedsky-official]

Late Night Ramblings

Going to bed but here are my final thoughts before I pass out

I really wanna get into sculpting- the first thing I wanna do Is make a mask that’s basically Deuce’s Swan Song mask. I know Deuce is a big ass most of the time but I do have a lot of respect for the guy admittedly- he tries his hardest to talk with his fans as much as possible. Lots of his music is good too, and he IS a bit inspiring admittedly, of course, far from ideal, but IMO he really shows that sometimes you gotta grin and bear what people think and say with you and just keep being you, no matter what you did in the past.

Danny’s mask would be fun to sculpt too, but I really wanna do this mask design I spent like 3 hours on lol. Its this 3-part stitched mask, yellow and green. Theres teeth and blood. I like teeth and blood. If I knew how, I’d love to sculpt a spring loaded jaw for the mask too. That’d be awesome, y’know, just opening your mouth and closing it while having some cool mask with it. I don’t know where I’d buy the springs. I also don’t know how to put it together... Fuck I don’t even know where I can buy decent straps for a mask, since I cant really stand the feeling on twine or elastic strings. Supplies is expensive either way- I’d have to buy 4lbs apoxie sculpt to be be safe, some tools, a strap or two, paint, sanding blocks... Its a lot.

I would love to style my hair to be like LightningClaw’s lol. Bright pink/red color, yellow streaks, hair hiding an eye. It’d be cool, but I dont have thick enough hair nor do I have the patience to wait for hair to grow back after I cut it, because I KNOW if I do cut it like LC’s, I’ll probably get bored of it.

Speaking of LC- his old design was a mess lmao. It was basically one of my other characters, Karasu, but with his signature bright ass hair, and then his yellow bangs. What a mess lol. Its also fun to see how far LC has come as a character. Before he was an edgy warriors FOC. The regular insane murderer edition (like 90% of other warriors FOCs lol.) Now he has his own comic that deals with serious issues while also having an adventreous twist with greek gods.

Tattoo’s. Tat’s are rad as fuck man. I want so many tattoos but its like putting a permanent sticker on your body and I’m not sure I can actually commit to that. Though, on the back on my neck, I plan to get LIGHTNINGCLAW written on it. LC means a lot to me and without him I don’t think I’d be where I am now, as a person, artist, and  a writer. Knuckle tats that say SHIT and FUCK would be ideal too lol but I think my family wouldn’t approve of those. t least I’m not doing drugs I guess. Could be worse. Tattoo sleeves are amazing too omg. I just really love tats and wouldn’t mind becoming a tattoo artist, but of course my dad and mom are like “that isn’t where the money is that isnt an ideal job think of the consequences if you mess up on someones body are you willing to commit to tattoos yourself blah blah blah.” Just let me figure things out. Let me try different jobs to see where I end up. I don’t want to follow any roads you two may want me to go to. I’m not going to be a doctor, nor a teacher, nor any overly common jobs. I don’t want to go into the sciences either. Thats not interesting for me. I want to go to a hands on job that I can have fun at.

Hollywood Undead is a good band and I want a new single already. Deuce is a good singer and I want that album already because Bad Attitude is the SHIT. Its awesome. I want Linkin Park to not be pop realllly badly when they drop that album- I didn’t like Heavy in the slighest. I wonder when FOb will release a song tho lol. I like music.

I’m happy to have met and known a lot of people over the years, and so many have stuck with me. I can’t believe I started on wattpad and I’m actually slowly getting somewhere. I can make commissions now, albeit it takes a bit before I can and I do a lot of trades in between, but the more art you do, the more you really get “out there” and really expand your horizons. Even then, just generally being nice to people can get you places because you ahve friendships in those places. Its nice. I’m thankful.

On the flipside, there was some people shos ultimate goal is to ruin my life, it seems. This one kid, his name is Avery, he’s an ass. I don’t get why you gotta talk shit about my back and make my life hell with you “friends” when its more like a posse or a mob. Its because of people like you I felt so lonely most of my years. Whatever rumours you and your shitgang of minions said about me completely stained me as a person and I don’t even know what you said. Say shit to my face so I can punch it back into your mouth you stale fruitcake. If I took a shot everytime someone said I wasn’t like how you or your friends said I was, and that I was actually *gasp* NICE; I’d have fucking alchohol poisoning and need to get my stomach pumped out. Its happened way too much and I swear, when I graduate, I’m gonna meet you somewhere and punch your face so hard your grandchildren (though I doub’t you’ll have any with a personality like yours) will be able to feel it. I don’t know why you think you are entited to treat someone like shit but its all for the wrong reasons you fuckwad.

[jeichanhaka]

Right Here Waiting

Chapter 11

Deep darkness, impenetrable, cloaked all of his sight, no beacon of light shined to guide him in the endless emptiness—he was all alone. Numbly, as though distant, he felt the pain—though maybe it was a trick of his memory, just a mere recollection of the pain he felt overwhelm his body before everything turned dark.

Was this death—a calm realm of shadows in which nothing could be seen or felt? If so—it wasn't all that terrible, in fact it seemed preferable to him, seeing as he done nothing in his life that could warrant reward and an awful lot that would warrant punishment. Not that any judgment would do him justice—the judge never lived his life, so how could he understand? He couldn't—nor would anyone even try to.

You're sure about that? A silent voice vibrated through the vacant surroundings, similar to one he had heard before, but calmer, more mature. There's been someone by you trying to understand you for the longest time—not to judge, just to know.

Hn, there's never been anyone like that.

You just never noticed through all of the distractions. The voice replied, and suddenly he felt as though two arms were pulling him into a tight comforting embrace, but everything remained encased in shadow, so he didn't see them.

Who?

You'll find out soon enough—when you least expect to.

Before he could respond in anyway the arms left and the darkness faded rapidly to gray, growing lighter and lighter until…

"Hiei! Thank god, you're awake!" Yusuke exclaimed staring down at the fire-demon who blinked his eyes as though trying to focus in his confusion.

"What happened?" Hiei asked, sitting up slowly, realizing faintly that he was inside Genkai's temple lying on a bed-mat.

"You collapsed, and wouldn't awaken so I brought you back here."

"Oh…where's Ku-chan?"

"Um…he's here…."

"Where here?"

"In the other room." Yusuke replied, his response triggering Hiei to stand up and hurry out of the room looking for Ku-chan. "Hiei, wait, you should know…."

Upon entering the room Ku-chan was in Hiei froze and stared ahead for a second before rushing forward eyes full of fiery indignation.

"What's the reason for having him leashed and tied up!" Hiei shouted, enraged at the sight of seeing the fox cub with a chain leash hooked to a collar around his neck, with the leash tied around a table leg.

"Hiei, he keeps trying to leave the temple, and while chasing after him might be amusing…" Yusuke looked as though it'd be the last thing he'd find amusing. "We have other things to worry about. I know it's not easy for you to sense auras in your current state, you may want to try." Yusuke finished a grim, agitated look on his face that also betrayed a sliver of fear.

"Hn. You still had no right to tie up Ku-chan—do you know what's it's like to be a captive! It's horrible!" Hiei growled, his red eyes gleaming dangerously enraged, ignoring the impatient urgency in Yusuke's eyes—in his anger he also failed to notice how Ku-chan snarled and growled, struggling to free himself from his confines, devoid of all warmth and compassion.

"Hiei…I…."

"It's terr…ah." Hiei gasped as a spasm of pain pulsated from his heart shooting to his limbs. "Ah…ah…."

"What's wrong?"

Breathing deeply, trying not to wince from the pain that now seemed to be fading, Hiei placed a hand on the table for balance, closing his eyes as a wave of dizziness came and went. Reassurance growing as the pain waned, Hiei sighed untying the leash from the table leg before turning back to a worried Yusuke.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not, what was that about? You looked like you were in pain."

"I'm fine, detective." Hiei growled, annoyed at Yusuke's pestering even though it was done out of worry for the fire-demon—maybe he was being an idiot for not putting more stock to his body's warning signs of pain, but anyone who tried to get the fire-demon to admit his weakness right would be hard put to do so. For the moment Hiei stubbornly determined not to give any credit to his pain or weakness, because they did have other serious concerns to worry about. "Right now we need to find out where Karasu's soul is before he can figure out how to reincarnate…." The fire-demon stopped speaking as Yusuke's expression turned uncomfortable and anxious, as though he knew something dreadful that Hiei didn't. "What is it, detective?"

"It's too late for that."

"Too late?"

"Yes, I…you're lucky you can't sense auras at the moment or you would know…."

"Know what?" Hiei asked hesitantly, hoping that what he thought the detective meant wasn't true but somehow he knew it was.

"Karasu's alive, while I carried you back here I sensed his aura surge up from out of nowhere—I'd hoped it would vanish, but it's only become steadier since."

"And how long has he…?"

"At most fifteen minutes."

At that moment, before either demon could continue speaking, Ku-chan pulled excessively on his leash desperate for Hiei to let go, and apparently anxious to leave the temple. So determined to escape, Ku-chan, not getting anywhere by pulling against the leash, stopped, turned around and bit Hiei's hand, the shock of which caused the fire-demon to drop the leash, terribly surprised.

"What the hell? Ku-chan!" Hiei exclaimed, alarmed by such a display of aggression by the fox cub, holding his bitten hand with his unwounded one. Blood seeped out of the punctures created by the cub's teeth and pain throbbed from the bite—it had neither been a playful one, nor had it been a mildly impatient nip; it was a savage, uncaring attack, shocking both Yusuke and Hiei with its aggression.

"What's gotten into him?"

"Do you think he could've hated the leash that badly?" Yusuke asked stammering in surprise a little, unnerved himself over the bizarre occurrence—the fox cub had never been hostile to anyone like that his whole life—at least never had Yusuke seen him hostile. "He'd been like this for the past fifteen minutes, growling and trying to run into the forest, toward…." Yusuke explained, stepping down on the leash so that Ku-chan couldn't continue running, realizing the significance of his words only as he spoke them, and gasping as he determined where Ku-chan tried to run to. "It couldn't…."

"What? What is it, detective?" Hiei asked wrapping the bandana he wore out of habit around his forehead around his bitten hand.

"Ku-chan keeps trying to run toward where Karasu's aura signal is coming from—and he's been doing so ever since I sensed Karasu's aura surge."

"AH! You think he can sense…?"

"Yes, I'm sure he can—but he can't be a normal cub if he can do that."

"I…he could lead us to exactly where that bastard is—let's let him go and follow." Hiei suggested looking at Yusuke and then stared at Ku-chan who had stopped struggling at Hiei's words—as though he understood every word. Now Ku-chan waited patiently, his cold eyes gleaming with an unreadable emotion, though he kept looking at the leash and then to Hiei and Yusuke.

"Or we could walk him and let him lead the way by his own accord."

"Yes."

Meanwhile at the mansion, inside its gloomy walls, he, the black haired demon, stared straight ahead, a cold, calculating glimmer in his eyes.

"Yes, you better come here—I have some business with you. But…" Suddenly the odd gleam into those stoic eyes turned ruthful, sparkling. "I don't want him to come, too."