#by the way; adding to this: I don't want to stir drama neither; so if someone comes to me ; I assure you I will keep it private

[generouskittentidalwave]

Watching the She-ra reboot after 5-6 years

Hey remember that show in 2018 that came out on Netflix during Tumblr's Twitter era and stirred up enough toxicity to turn you into Dave the Skeleton in the highschool science classroom?

Well BUCKLE IN for a RIDE cause I recently watched that show for the first time after avoiding it for YEARS, after seeing the fans and the haters be so devoted to either the fans praising it like a godsent deity or haters devoting their whole life to finding something wrong with every aspect of the show that it makes you wonder if they realized that they've become the Catra that they sought to destroy, I decided to avoid even touching the show and went about my life in other fandoms.

Well years have passed and like a Hallmark movie time abruptly went on and the drama soon faded, the tides have settled, the war has ended, and neither side remains the same. The fans have grown up, matured and enjoy the show as it is and the haters have lost all that sweet sustenance back in 2019 and have went the ways of the DoDo. With everything finally settled, I joined in on the rush of new fans recently that started rewatching the series and wanted to display my thoughts as well as a first time watcher ^^

I went in well aware of all the criticisms in mind, and having seen the original She-ra, and I just gotta say that my worrisome thoughts on watching it was completely washed away from the start of the show. I was worried of Adora being that one marysue character that is from the bad guys side but is actually a good a guy with the personality of white bread and with flaws of just being "a little bit QuiRkY" but she completely shooed away those fears. She is a well balanced character with a unique and well done backstory, her character breaking away from the steriotypical chosen ones and her having flaws that don't take away her being a good person but instead have their own charm and relatability that makes her very fun and down to earth. She is so golden retriever coded and I love it. What I like most though is that she wasn't "random main character comes in to lead everyone to victory out of nowhere" , instead of making her the unsaid leader, they made her the main character who is the muscle of the group and part of the heart and has to learn overtime and understand their ways instead of making her the leader. It makes way for her to pave and earn her way as being the main character instead of it being given by default by making her the leader and I love that break away. And that break away also helps to counter the fears I heard about the white savior trope by making Adora the way she was and making Glimmer and Glimmer's mom the queen the actual leaders of the rebellion that they helped start.

Love the best friends squad, I love Glimmer's growth and her bond with Adora, I like how she went downhill and built herself back up again as a person as it was very realistic with her being so young and having to replace her mom as queen. Bow is my spirit animal, period, but I really want to know more about his huge family. I imagine that because they are all historians they must go to the academy or similar academies that Bow was meant to go to and I can see why they wouldn't question him not being there as 12 siblings is A LOT to keep track of. Swiftwind is great but he shall always be known as Horsie and the queen's sacrifice hurts everytime I see it, I love how she owned up to her own flaws. Shadowweaver messed up being a mother figure 3 times, she needs parenting classes fr, 'nough said. I love all the princesses but Mermista is my personal favorite. Also why is aunt cast named Castaspella, I can't even say it without dying of laughter 💀🖐️

Now I know some of you are sitting at your computer with 5 monsters in hand and sweat anxiously dripping from your forehead as you dramatically hover over the keys just WAITING to write a five page essay response if I even dare to utter the name Catra and her relationship with Adora. So, I'ma give you my opinion.

Honestly, their romance was the end goal since the beginning and the story made that clear and honestly I like Catra's growth as a character from her knowing she has anger issues and actively working on it to better herself, helping to save others and helping to save Adora in the end. Her realizing that pushing others away to protect herself only harms her and everyone around her in the end and her realistically taking it slow and steady to better herself as a person for herself and for Adora is something a really like. Yes their relationship was hella toxic, especially in the middle (but I do like how Adora recognized that and punched Catra when they were in the portal). The build up was great, the middle ground of her doubling down was great, and I think her growth at the end was great and that the two are happy and not in a toxic relationship with eachother anymore at the end. I think what truly makes it odd is although the redemption was great the time constraints made it so they couldn't flesh it out to help answer and address the past actions that were caused by her, they did so great with her slowly becoming better and better, and so it wouldn't have come off as bad as it did if they had just a bit more time to address everything with that instead of being forced to dive right into it which definitely left a- well- less than good impression to it's audience. But they tried their best with what they could do and honestly for a show as surprisingly dark as this I'm just glad they aren't in a toxic relationship anymore and are happy in the end and that Catra got redeemed. It definitely wasn't trying to romanize abuse, however it came off as such due to constraints and them rushing the ending which gave plenty of ammo to people who already hated the show to have a reason to hate it more. In my opinion if you don't like it that's valid, if you do like it that's valid, me personally I'm not a romance person so I couldn't care enough either way.

Now to address some things I know some people are waiting for, but in speed run fashion. Mara's She-ra design was the fault of the designers not agreeing on what they wanted her to look like, I was expecting her to have brown flowing hair not blonde, I get the stripping of individuality message they tried to go with, it just needed better designers and better execution but that's as deep as it goes. It's not that they are racist, they are more along the lines of "you need a more organized team cause her design changes every five seconds like wtf" kind of situation. I'm glad they didn't automatically forgive Hordak or accept him but I'm glad he was changed enough to not be a killer that's mass murdering people anymore and as long no one is dying by his hands anymore and people don't automatically forgive him then that's fine by me, whatever keeps others from dying a horrible unnecessary death.

Overall, in conclusion, love the show, great depth, great characters, love the humor and amazing magical girl transformations, awesome rep, stronk princess punching things, would most definitely recommend, especially now with all the wave of chaos it's initial release sucked in now evaporated. (Seriously there are full tags and blogs deticated to hating a show about glowing princesses fighting aliens, it's okay to not like a show but come on people there is more to life than that 💀) Enjoy it, have fun, and I hope you have a great day/night! ^^

[matt0044]

So... where are we precisely on Vivziepop?

I don't want to make... assumptions of anybody's specific intent but the recent rumblings of discontent seems to follow certain patterns that I've become... a touch too familiar with.

Thing becomes popular to an unprecedented degree. Fanart, fan edits, maybe even full on fan music videos. Might be because the creator had made a name for themselves or they just got lucky right out the gate. Either or.

Thing grows in popularity in ways listed above and has its praises sung for a variety of reasons. Many of which may pertain to how certain social demographics are portrayed compared to elsewhere or whatever came before.

Thing had continuous installments that built on and craft a narrative for the characters portrayed with revelations galore. Certain aspects are revealed to be more... complicated.

Said aspects intrigue fans by having more than meets the eye while... souring others due to their first impressions, feeling their initial takes were "retconned" at best or "deficated upon" at worst.

This... disenchantment as it were results in alienated fans becoming more critical of the story and characters. Some of this revolves around certain types of characters being scrutinized in how they don't measure up to who the story appears to be focusing on most.

Something like queer representation is called into question when the female cast feels... off in retrospect.

The setting may be established as a less than morally conscious place to be and have the residing characters be hot messes as a result. However, some actions and choices of words may come across as a step too far lest it be a reflection of the writer/creator's beliefs.

This coalition of criticism may be met with pushback from those who dispute much of their points. Sometimes it's well worded and brings up new perspectives. Sometimes... it's largely could be just "Aw, shaddap!" on repeat.

Unfortunately, neither side (oh boy...) has a monopoly on assholes that put their emotions first and pleasantries second. The critical side will cite the stans as the reason why they exist and that "it's okay to be critical of the things you love." But some of the more overzealous members of that side may make you wonder, "So... where's the love?"

These overzealous members in question may often voice their discontent with various blanket statements and take counterpoints to that as being from stans who can’t take criticism. This often exhibits a mentality that because they’re calling out “the bad thing” and “the bad creator,” it’s end of discussion.

The creator may feel prodded to throw their hat into the ring not just over their creation but over what people try to construe them as purely based on their art. Sometimes they can come across as overtly defensive and averse to criticism themselves but with how much bile seem to be slung their way, it's never as clean cut.

Among the detractors who do care and want to approach in good faith, you have outrage merchants and outrage addicts that do in fact only want to stir up drama. Rather than help solve anything at all, the former wants to sell these stories TMZ style while the latter wants something to be angry at to feel in control of... anything. These muddy the waters for whomever might be hoping for a more productive discussion.

Adding fuel to this fire nobody actually asked for at those who have always disliked the creator be it for past works or as of recently due to word of mouth. Because a lot of their art revolving around what point number seven goes over, there's a very Anti-Shipper mentality of hating the "bad thing" on principle. Especially when the work is purposefully incorporating tasteless elements that this circle of "fans" feel should be avoided period.

I could go on and on but the point is that I've seen this dance routine more than a few times before where Popular Thing(TM) needs to be "taken down a peg and nobody can stop trying one up the other before it escalates.

Now more than ever with smaller indie projects like for animation. It's so hard to take certain people at their word at times because they either operate with a limited perspective or are willfully ignoring other points of view to feed their feeling of betrayal.

They comes of as jilted ex-partners who despise that the one that broke their heart's been able to move on. There's a sense of, "If I can't like it anymore, nobody can."

[tenebriiis-archived]

I owe you an apology. Once a couple of people told me a lot of lies about you. I believed them. I don't think you deserved it. This isn't to stir up drama or try to get you to react. This is just a sincere apology for letting others influence me. I just felt I needed to get this off my chest. I'm sorry for believing what I heard and encouraging the people that were talking to me.

{ 🙗 } // Hello Anon. I appreciate the thought of writing this apology. I honestly would prefer you to talk to me directly instead of not knowing who you are. I hope it's understandable, especially with what are you writing that now I even wonder if there was drama related directly with me or what lies are being said about me :c.

I know I have nothing to hide, as I try to be transparent with everyone around me. So whatever thing needs clarification of some sort, I'm here to respond to anything you would wish to know. I honestly would like if someone comes directly at me and tell me if there was drama involving me / what lies are being spread?

I encourage you to step forward even if in a private message or let me know your discord tag through this way or any other media so we could communicate. This only leaves me with a bitter taste now, as I didn't even know people were talking behind my back ... & sets fire to my anxiety as to what is being said or believed?

If anybody wants to clarify anything or ask me something is true or not, I had always been open to communication, so feel free to step towards me & let me know.

[johnsamericano]

𝔖𝔲𝔤𝔞𝔯 ℜ𝔲𝔰𝔥 𝔧.𝔧.𝔥 •3•

I hope this ain't getting shitty. Thank you for reading, sexy people. Send me a message or an ask if you'd like to be added to the tag list.

warnings: hungover jaehyun, age gap, hospitals, nothing too extreme.

sugar rush m.list.

taglist: @thoreeo @trustmahluv @sunny-nyu @nanascupid @silent-potato @painted-hills

~

Yoonoh woke up on a strange bed, the mattress stiffer than the one he had back home. He refused to open his eyes, fearing that the daylight would worsen his headache.

Yoonoh woke up on a strange bed, the mattress stiffer than the one he had back home. He refused to open his eyes, fearing that the daylight would worsen his headache.

“Wake up, sunshine.” He groaned, all the memories from the past night hitting him like a truck. “Come on, I made breakfast.”

His eyelids finally fluttered open, frown softening at the sight of you in a messy bun and your cute pajamas.

“How come you look so fresh?” The dark circles under his eyes had deepened in the span of a few hours. Thank God he didn't have to work that day.

“I always look fresh.” You seemed to be more comfortable around him. Perhaps it was because you had to tuck him in last night. “Up.”

You tugged both of his limp hands, forcing him to sit up.

“What did you cook? It smells nice.” He scrunched up his nose like a little kid.

“Eggs, bacon, and hash browns.” Fast as lightning, he got up from bed. On his way to the kitchen, he noticed the blanket hanging from the edge of your sofa. Disappointment pinched his heart.

“Why didn't you sleep with me? You would've been more comfortable.”

You set two plates on the small table, pulling the pan out of the stove to serve them.

“You spread yourself all over the bed as soon as I laid you down.” You lied successfully. You didn’t have the heart to tell him you weren’t that comfortable yet.

You let the pan down on the kitchen counter, taking a seat in front of him.

“Do you still want to visit my father?” Sparkling orbs stared at him timidly, fearing his answer would be negative.

“I mean…” You hummed, trying not to give it as much importance. “I do want to go!” He quickly corrected himself, frantically shaking his hands. “It’s just that I don't want to meet your father like this.” He pointed at his bed hair, which had only become messier since he woke up.

“You’re acting like he's gonna see you.” There was a slight bitterness in your tone, along with a fake grin.

“Alright, let's do this instead...” Yoonoh sat up straight, clearing his throat as if he were about to give a speech. “We’ll have breakfast, you'll shower quickly, and then we’ll drive to my house so I can fix myself. How does that sound?”

“So I'm finally gonna see your mansion? How exciting.” You kicked his leg teasingly under the table, his cheeks inevitably dipping as he tried to suppress a smile. “I bet you have some peacocks in your backyard.”

“And there's also a dolphin in my pool.” He let out a hearty laugh, extending his arm over the table to grab your hand.

His house was most definitely not what you expected.

It was about the size of the one you grew up in, the decoration inside minimalistic. There were no expensive paintings framed with pure gold, only pictures of him and his family. There was a small backyard you could access through the French door in the kitchen. Half of it was occupied by a greenhouse.

“I had to donate the peacocks to the zoo.” He whispered as you looked through the glass door, squeezing your shoulders with his slim fingers.

“What a shame.” Hesitantly, he wrapped both of his limbs around your torso, letting his chin rest stop of your head. Your heartbeat was thumping loudly against your chest. Yoonoh surely felt it but decided not to comment on it.

“There’s a Tv in my room in case you want to watch something while I shower.” A hint of mischief adorned his honey-like voice. “Or you can come in and watch me instead.”

“Stop!” Your elbow connected with his ribs out of pure panic, making him bend in pain with his hands covering the injured spot.

“It was a joke...” He whispered, teeth gritting together.

I made him mad, you thought. Should you escape or face the consequences of his anger? All thoughts erased from your mind as he grabbed your calves, lifting you over his shoulder.

“Put me down!” You hit his back with closed fists, unable to see the expression on his face. “Yoonoh!”

He went up the stairs, proceeding to enter his room and throw you on his bed. Thousands of dirty scenarios crossed your mind before he threw himself on top of you, crushing your bones under his muscular body.

“My...ribs...”

“Oh, sorry, what is that?” To make matters worse, his fingers tickled your sides, provoking a fit of desperate giggles to escape your mouth. “I’m not hearing an apology.”

“Sorry! Sorry!” His hands finally stopped, giving you time to breathe. Nonetheless, he remained laid on your chest, using his forearms to lift his weight. “Aren’t you gonna shower?”

“I like you.”

The confession was so sudden, so raw it took you some time to finally react. But you had no words to give him an answer, instead, you combed your fingers through his long hair, massaging his scalp while waiting for him to speak up again.

“I never thought I'd be feeling more than friendly affection for you. Our agreement doesn't include love, after all. But I've started feeling like a teenager all over again. I can't help but get excited whenever you call me. Do you know how sweet your voice sounds through the phone?” He sighed, discouraged at your lack of response. “I guess you're not there yet.”

Instead of verbally answering, you planted a sweet kiss on his head, right where small, grey hairs had started growing.

“I’m not good with words.”

“That’s alright.” He snuck his hands under your back, holding you tightly as a sudden need to nurture you took over him. The mature image he had of you faded in less than a second, leaving behind a young, troubled woman. “I’ll shower quickly so we can go see your pops. I bet we’ll get along just fine, maybe even go golfing when he wakes up.”

“I forgot you're almost the same age. Creepy.” He smiled, though uneasiness started steering in his guts.

“Does that bother you?” He asked without giving it a second thought.

“I don't know yet.”

(...)

The man with high cheekbones and bruised skin laid limp on the hospital bed. Yoonoh had been working on his case for about a month, yet, it only started feeling real the moment he entered the room.

“This is my dad.” All emotions had escaped your eyes as if your soul wasn't there anymore. Only an empty shell.

“You look so much like him.” he was afraid touching you wouldn't be the right thing to do, so instead, he said: “He seems like a suitable golf buddy.”

Tension finally loosened its grip around his body as you snorted, pigment returning to your cheeks. Finally, he wrapped his hand around yours.

“He will wake up, y/n.”

“He’s taking his sweet time.” You glanced back at the laying figure, skinnier with every day he spent asleep. “I want someone to pay for taking away the last person that loved me.”

The last person that loved you. Would Yoonoh be able to fill that spot? Not yet, probably. He couldn't modify the depth of his feelings, but he could surely give you the vengeance you longed.

“Do you trust me?” With your eyes still glued to your father, you nodded. “Then I can assure you we’ll win the case.”

“I know we will.”

He sat silently with you, holding your hand without saying a word. The smell of alcohol and the beeping noise of machines made him nauseous. He hated hospitals. You noticed the change in his demeanor, his hand becoming cold while holding yours with strength.

“Do you wanna go?”

“No!” He smiled through the pain, scooting his chair closer to lay your hand on his lap.

He wouldn't agree to get his ass off the plastic chair. You had to tell him you were hungry for him to finally stand up, still clutching your hand like your father did when you were still a kid. His parental behavior caused several emotions to stir inside your guts, so mixed up you couldn't quite put a finger on any of them.

“What do you want to eat?” The tension finally left his body once out of the building.

“Soup.” You smiled while swiping your thumb on top of his knuckles. “I know a place, but to be honest, it isn't good. So we can go to the store and get the ingredients to- but you can't cook.”

“I’m up for a cooking lesson if you are.” He wanted to see your pretty smile again. Maybe making a fool of himself would help. “Let’s hit the road.”

“Wow, so cool.”

“I know.”

(...)

“Can you grab that can of chicken broth?” You pointed at the high shelf, letting go of Yoonoh’s hand to allow him to move freely

“I have a better idea.” He dragged you by the arm so you were standing in front of him, trapped between his body and the shelf. “I’ll lift you so you can reach it.” Matching his words, his hands grasped your waist, ready to carry you.

“Stop!” You slapped his hands repeatedly between giggles. Ignoring your complaints, he started lifting you. “Yoonoh!”

“Yoonoh?” A feminine voice had him placing you back on your feet in less than a second.

“Seryeong, I didn't expect to see you here.” His hands remained seated on the curve of your waist.

“Neither did I. I was surprised when Sungchan told me you'd left early yesterday.” She seemed a bit older than you but still younger than the man behind you.

“I had some matters to take care of.” She eyed you from head to toes with a smug grin plastered on her lips. Just by the look of her clothes, you could tell she was as wealthy as Yoonoh. You feared the scene would turn into a tv worthy drama.

“I’ll go get the chicken breast.” You tried escaping his grip, only to be pulled closer to his warmth.

“No need to. It's already inside the cart.”

Why am I so dumb?

“Does your father know about your little girlfriend?” She asked without hesitation.

“I guess.”

“And why didn't he tell me anything?” She cocked an eyebrow, his hands finally loosening around your body and allowing you to move from your position.

“Look, this is something you should talk about with him. Now, if you excuse us...” With a hand on your shoulder, he began pushing the cart to the next aisle, the chicken broth long forgotten.

“Is this some kind of arranged marriage situation?”

“Something like that.” His hands were tense while holding the cart, knuckles turning white from the strength used. “Before you start asking, I'm not really in the mood and I don't want to direct my bad mood toward you. Let's talk about something else, alright?”

Who was that woman that had the power to turn him into a literal raging ball of fire with just a few words?

[twoidiotwriters1]

Written In The Stars CXVI (Harry Potter xF!Oc)

A/N: I promise I have this shit handled there won’t be more drama than needed I PROMISE -Danny

Words: 3,545

Series’ Masterlist

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Listen to: ‘Want You Back’ -by 5sos

Chapter Fourteen: A Distraction.

"You see the numerals around the edge of the coins?" Hermione explained quickly as she handed a coin to each student. 

"On real Galleons, that's just a serial number referring to the goblin who cast the coin. On these fake coins, though, the numbers will change to reflect the time and date of the next meeting. The coins will grow hot when the date changes, so if you're carrying them in a pocket you'll be able to feel them. We take one each, and when Harry and Mel set the date of the next meeting they'll change the numbers on their coin, and because we've put a Protean Charm on them, they'll all change to mimic theirs."

"Took the majority of our weekend to make 'em, but I think we did a decent job," Mel smiled proudly.

After a couple of seconds where no one said anything, Hermione added anxiously:

"Well — when Mel told me about this I thought it was a good idea– I mean, even if Umbridge asked us to turn out our pockets, there's nothing fishy about carrying a Galleon, is there? But... well, if you don't want to use them..."

"You can do a Protean Charm?" said Terry Boot.

"Yes," said Hermione. "I mean, Mel and I just learned so they could be a bit faulty, but we're quite sure they'll work just fine..."

"But that's... that's N.E.W.T. standard, that is," he said weakly.

"Oh," said Hermione, trying to sound modest. "Oh... well... yes, I suppose it is..."

"Well, I'm not having lessons with my uncle for nothing," Mel laughed. "I'm a natural talent, and Hermione is a fast learner. You can trust us."

"How come you're not in Ravenclaw?" Terry asked in shock. "With brains like yours?"

"Well, the Sorting Hat did seriously consider putting me in Ravenclaw during my Sorting," said Hermione with joy, "but it decided on Gryffindor in the end."

"And when the hat sorted me, I was definitely not Ravenclaw-worthy," Mel said, deep in thought. "I wonder if it would change its mind now that I'm older..."

"So does that mean we're using the Galleons?" Hermione insisted.

There was a general agreement and everyone dispersed, Mel went back to the bookshelves and put a bit of order before leaving.

"You're a brilliant teacher," said a voice behind her.

Mel turned around to see Fred standing there, his arms crossed.

"Arranging books isn't that hard... neither is reading them, you know?" She teased.

"I prefer to use my time on more enjoyable things," He shrugged, the boy got closer and picked up a few books to help her. "Like working on my products... talking to pretty girls..."

"What do you want?" She snorted.

"What, I'm nice and suddenly you assume I need something?"

She stared at him knowingly, raising a brow.

"Okay, fine," He sighed. "Some of us talked and decided I was the bloke that had to come and ask you..."

"Ask what?"

"Well, you see, we're confused," He continued carefully. "...About your love life."

"I don't see how that's any of your business."

"Oh, it's not, believe me," Fred raised a brow. "But my friends are cowards and I'm your friend, so they pushed me to ask you. Because they're really invested in your life, and they want to know–"

"If I'm available?" Mel ended. "Sorry to be the one who tells them this, but I like people who aren't afraid of me."

"They're not afraid of you," The boy hesitated, "not in the way you think."

"I'm their teacher, I can't date them," She replied casually.

"Don't try to give that excuse," Fred responded right away. "Harry's been all over Cho and she's his student as well!"

"Yeah, but I'm not Harry."

Fred stayed quiet for a moment before trying again.

"I don't know why would he choose her over you, though."

"Fred," She warned him. "Not now..."

"No, really," He continued. "I don't know what happened, but you seemed to be having the best time and then the third task came and–"

"Exactly," She dropped a book on the table with a loud thud. "You don't know. No one does and I would appreciate it if everyone could just stop trying to know..."

"We worry about you," He frowned. "You're not the same. Harry's not the same, we know something really awful happened if You-Know-Who's trying to kill you. But you don't have to go through it alone."

"You want to help me?" She turned around, walking up to him and poking his chest with her finger. "Stay out of it. Don't ask. That'll help me more than dating one of your friends."

"I'm not trying to set you up with anyone, I'm just trying to understand!"

"Understand what?" Mel asked in frustration. "I have friends, people listen to me– They invite me places, some even want to date me! I've never been better!"

"You have," He pushed her hand away. "Last year, after Harry pulled you out of the lake–"

"Honestly, to hell with Harry," She scowled. "I don't need him. He doesn't need me. We found common ground while planning these lessons and that's really all the interaction we require. I still care about him and I will help him if he asks nicely, but I don't–"

"Mel–"

"I'm fine!" She raised her voice. "I'm so busy– the lessons and the D.A.– and Umbridge being a pain, and that nagging headache that comes and goes every time this bloody boy gets in trouble–"

"Mel..."

"So what if he wants to date Cho?" She started to pick up more books and setting them in random places. "I'm no one to stop him. We never dated! I can't have feelings for him!"

"But you do."

"Of course I do, Fred!" Mel blurted out. "I'm in love with him!"

The girl closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She wasn't going to cry a second time because of a boy, let alone in front of someone else.

"Hey," Fred stirred into acting and hugged her gently. "I get it... No, I don't. But I don't judge you."

"Why not?" She said hoarsely. "I'm an idiot. He rejected me months ago and I can't let it go."

He shrugged.

"Listen, I'm no expert at romance, but you obviously need time to figure things out. I'll make sure my friends won't annoy you, don't worry, you'll be left alone if that's what you want."

"Not alone," She held onto him in worry. "I don't want to be left alone– just... it'd be nice if they can give me space."

"Whatever suits you, Lady," He agreed. "You know, I'm not used to being the comforting bloke. I'm more the funny type."

"Growing up means you learn how to be both," She said softly. "I think you're great."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere with me," He raised a brow.

"I'd never heard such a blatant lie."

Ron sat down next to her with an air of despair. She put an empty bowl in front of the boy.

"I must've been mental to do this," He mumbled. "Mental."

"Don't be thick," said Harry, sitting on his other side and handing him the cereal. "You're going to be fine. It's normal to be nervous."

"I'm rubbish. I'm lousy. I can't play to save my life. What was I thinking?"

"Ron, when we trained together you were wonderful!" Mel frowned. "Don't let their sneers get to you, you've worked hard!"

"Get a grip," said Harry. "Look at that save you made with your foot the other day, even Fred and George said it was brilliant —"

"That was an accident!" He said, turning an ugly shade of green. "I didn't mean to do it — I slipped off my broom when none of you were looking and I was trying to get back on and I kicked the Quaffle by accident."

"Well," Harry glanced at her in a silent plea, "a few more accidents like that and the game's in the bag, isn't it?"

"Certainly!" Mel agreed, knowing that even the slightest argument could mess with Ron's spirits.

"How're you feeling?" Ginny asked her brother as soon as she and Hermione sat down.

"He's just nervous," Harry replied quickly.

"Well, that's a good sign, I never feel you perform as well in exams if you're not a bit nervous," said Hermione heartily.

"Definitely helps you be more cautious," Mel nodded, softly rubbing Ron's back.

"Hello," Luna walked up to them, she was wearing a massive Lion head as a hat, which she pointed casually. "I'm supporting Gryffindor. Look what it does..."  She tapped it with her wand. The lion roared so loudly a few students chocked on their food.

"Wicked!" Mel said.

"It's good, isn't it? I wanted to have it chewing up a serpent to represent Slytherin, you know, but there wasn't time. Anyway... good luck, Ronald!"

"Isn't she lovely, Ron?" Mel beamed. "She came to wish you good luck, wasn't that nice?"

"Wonderful," Ron said dryly.

Angelina, Katie, and Alicia appeared behind them.

"When you're ready," Angelina said, "we're going to go straight down to the pitch, check out conditions and change."

"We'll be there in a bit," Harry replied. "Ron's just got to have some breakfast."

But no matter how hard Mel and Harry tried to convince him to eat, he refused every attempt. Mel got up to follow the boys outside, Hermione did as well and pulled Harry aside for a second.

"Don't let Ron see what's on those Slytherins' badges," she whispered.

Mel knew what she was talking about, those badges with 'Weasley is our king' written on them. She'd tried to hex them while no one was looking, but one warning look of Hermione was enough to stop her.

"Good luck, Ron," Hermione put one hand on her friend's shoulder and kissed his cheek. "And you, Harry —"

Mel had to hide her smile after seeing the boy's reaction to Hermione's gesture. Then, as fast as the pleasant feeling appeared, it also came the realization that there was one tradition that she could not do.

She walked quietly next to Ron, praying that Harry was too distracted with his friend to even remember the missing element. She got to the changing rooms and gave Ron a tight hug, whispering soft words of comfort that she knew her friend was not listening.

"Lady!" Fred and George were coming from the castle, and a huge relief washed over her. "Came to wish us good luck?"

Harry froze, she saw him turn and silently cursed the twins, the boy seemed to have forgotten about the tradition, but at the mention he immediately backtracked. Mel ran up to the twins pretending she hadn't seen him.

"I actually came to wish Ron good luck, this being his first game and all," She smiled. "But I guess it'd be better if I wish you all good luck, you need all the good wishes you can get."

"That we do," George frowned, looking at Ron over her shoulder. "How's he doing?"

"If I'm honest, terribly," Mel said grimly. "Please don't mess with him today, all right?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," He sighed. "Thank you for your good wishes, Lady."

"No problem," She said brightly.

Mel hugged both -having to stand on her tiptoes but not as much as before- when it was Fred's turn, he held onto her a bit longer to whisper in her ear.

"Wasn't this your tradition with Harry? The good luck hugs?"

"I can't do it!" Mel said, holding onto Fred tighter. "What should I do?"

"Well, you could be a twat and leave after I break the hug," He offered. "Or you could stop being silly and just wish him good luck as well. You don't have to hug him or anything..."

She gulped.

"Fine. Thank you."

Fred stepped back, his usual playful grin appearing.

"Hey, if I remember correctly the hug always comes with a kiss– Where's ours?"

"Win the game and you might get it," She snickered.

Fred and George walked past -not without ruffling her hair first- and left her at Harry's mercy. True to Fred's words, he approached her.

"You know..." He started. "I'm glad you came to wish us good luck and... er–"

"Of course," Mel said. "Ron's one of my best friends."

Harry lowered his gaze.

"Yeah, I know that..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "See you..."

Harry looked up, those gloomy eyes finding hers.

"Good luck," She said, nodding shortly and leaving before her urge for physical contact could convince her to do something stupid.

Weasley cannot save a thing,

He cannot block a single ring,

That's why Slytherins all sing:

Weasley is our King.

Weasley was born in a bin, He always lets the Quaffle in,

Weasley will make sure we win,

Weasley is our King.

"Hermione I beg you," Mel groaned. "One hex, let me do it once and I promise I'll be quiet for the rest of the game."

"I can't, Mel. If you do it I'll have to take points from you."

"But listen to them!"

"I know! But it's best if we just ignore it–"

"Not for Ron it isn't!" Mel huffed.

Weasley is our King, Weasley is our King, He always lets the Quaffle in, Weasley is our King.

"Tell me, nutty," Pansy pushed her way through the crowd. "How does it feel to know you're about to lose to Crabbe and Goyle?"

"Who said we're losing?" Mel asked without looking at her, her knuckles white from the effort of keeping a neutral attitude.

"— and Pucey's dodged Alicia again, and he's heading straight for goal, stop it, Ron!"

The crowd on her side groaned and swore under their breath. Pansy laughed happily.

"Are you going to comfort your boyfriend after the game is over? I can picture him all grumpy and mean– and you still melt around him as if he were the cutest kitten!"

"You're one to talk," Mel rolled her eyes. "Harry's not my boyfriend. When your friends care about you that's what you do, you comfort them. But of course you wouldn't know, you have no real friends..."

"You call that group of admirers your friends?" Pansy sneered. "As if they actually cared about you, they just talk to you because they're brainless!"

"Is that why you're talking to me, then? Leave me alone. I want to watch the game."

"Pansy, we should move," She heard Daphne Greengrass's voice. "We're surrounded..."

Pansy pushed Mel's shoulder as she walked past, which wasn't any better, cause now she had no excuse to not pay attention to the tragedy happening in front of her.

Poor Ron couldn't catch a break and Mel felt something growing around her, her anxiety and anger were building up as the Slytherin sang louder. Mel breathed in and out several times, she looked down to the part of the railing she was holding and saw her hands were leaving a dark stain on it.

Suddenly, Harry dived down to catch the snitch, Malfoy following suit. Her mood lifted instantly, if she could trust in something, that was Harry's quidditch skills. In a matter of seconds, Harry stabilized his broom, the snitch safely guarded inside his palm.

Mel was in the middle of letting out a relieved sigh when a bludger hit Harry right at the base of his back, the impact pushed him out of his broom and Mel's stomach dropped even though he had been merely four or five feet away from the ground.

"Is he all right?!" Mel leaned over the railing and Hermione was quick to hold her back.

She heard Parvati and Lavender giggling behind her.

"Oh, there it is," Lavender laughed.

"You had us worried, Mel! Ever since the year started we were wondering whether if you had moved on from your little crush..."

"Yeah, for a moment you fooled us!" Lavender laughed, though it wasn't meant to be mocking. "But hey, if he goes to the hospital wing again we'll make sure to send you breakfast and dinner so you don't famish while you look after him."

Harry was okay after all, and he got up like nothing had happened. After she confirmed this, a wave of annoyance hit her.

Why, even after all those months staying away from him, people kept insisting on calling her Harry's admirer? That was long over! She wouldn't drop everything just to help him. She could've ignored those comments when Fred mentioned them, and she could've let it go when Pansy taunted, but for some reason, hearing her own classmates say it made her blood boil.

She wasn't an extension of Harry, she was her own person! She even regretted telling Fred she was in love. She was not. Definitely not.

She saw the girls in the team holding Fred back, and George being held back by Harry. Her eyes soon found Malfoy, who was saying something to them with a nasty smirk.

"We have a problem," She told Hermione and quickly made her way out of the stands to stop whatever Malfoy was attempting to create.

"Or perhaps," Malfoy was saying as she arrived, "you can remember what your mother's house stank like, Potter, and Weasley's pigsty reminds you of it —"

Harry and George jumped into action, not even caring about pulling out their wands, they went at it with their bare fists.

"Harry! HARRY! GEORGE! NO!"

Mel pushed some people out of the way, but the scandal caught everyone's attention and it was harder to get to them.

"IMPEDIMENTA!" Madame Hooch shouted. Harry and George flew far from Malfoy's reach. "What do you think you're doing? I've never seen behaviour like it — back up to the castle, both of you, and straight to your Head of House's office! Go! Now!"

Malfoy was whimpering on the ground, completely beaten. Fred was being held by the three Gryffindor chasers and he was completely red. Harry and George got up, panting and bleeding, bruised all over. She felt her knuckles tingling, the side of her head was pounding. Harry was hurting.

She walked up to Fred instead.

"It's okay!" She yelled at the girls. "I got this!"

She saw their relieved expressions, everyone knew that the only student the twins would listen to apart from Lee was Mel. They let him go, and he tried to walk up to Malfoy, but Mel stood in his way.

"Calm down!" She held him back. "Your brother's in trouble already, don't do this to Angelina!"

"You didn't hear what he was saying," Fred used a voice she'd never heard before. "That fucking rat–"

"It's over," Mel insisted, trying to ignore the pulsations on her body that she knew belonged to Harry's side of the lifeline. "Look at him! The guy's pulp at this point..."

"Yeah, but he's not dead, so there's a few things I can do..." He tried to get rid of her, but Mel only moved her hands up to cup his face and forced him to look at her.

"You're not doing anything! You'll get punished too!"

"It'll be worth it!" He insisted. "And you can't stop me!"

Mel was angry for several reasons. She was angry because Harry was angry, and she'd been through a roller coaster of emotions that morning. She was vulnerable and having a hard time muting out Harry's feelings. She just couldn't do it.

She was pissed because no matter how far from Harry she'd stand, people kept seeing her as his delusional devotee, it didn't matter how nice she was with the rest of the school, most only talked to her out of pure selfish interest, either popularity or trying to have their way with her.

It was humiliating to see how everyone just continued to compare her to the men in her life. Like she couldn't be relevant on her own. If she didn't have a voice, at least she'd make sure no one would look at her and think she was Harry's.

Mel held Fred's face tighter and pulled him down in a sudden kiss. She heard gasps and whispers all around her, she felt Fred going terribly stiff for a second before abruptly reciprocating. His actions took her by surprise and she yelped, jumping out of reach.

Fred blinked, his arms hovering on the same place where her figure had been seconds before, he didn't know what to do with himself.

"Wha..?" He said, sounding completely lost. "What?"

"You won," She blurted out, looking around and realizing than most of her classmates had seen her. "I said that if you won, I'd kiss you–"

"You said maybe," He interrupted in bewilderment.

"I know what I said!" Mel felt like she could faint out of pure embarrassment. "Maybe I just wanted to kiss you!"

"Well, maybe I should ask you on a date!" He replied defensively.

"I'd say yes, thank you!" The girl pulled her robes up her neck. Then she added in discomfort. "Can we please leave now?"

The boy noticed everyone was looking at them and nodded. They left the field, keeping as much distance between them as possible.

'What have I done?' Mel thought in distress.

Next Chapter —> 

Taglist.

@dee123ksha @vampiregirl1797 @siriuslysirius1107 @stardusthigh @mikariell95 @vernon-dursley @thesuitelifeofafangirl @tomshollandz @kylosleftbuttcheek @reverse-hxlland @bloodorangemoonlight @omiwashere @t-rexs-world​ @sarcasticallywitty15 @21bruhs

[pochapal]

You don't gotta answer this publicly, but what on earth happened/is happening RE: Dogpiling?

this is long but there’s a lot to cover and i don’t know how much information is pre-known going into this.

basically breadtuber sarah z made a 2 hour fandom postmortem video on homestuck. instead of being a genuine look into what made the comic and the fandom so massive and so relevant for so long, she kind of glosses over all that in the first thirty minutes, then spends the rest of the video discussing homestuck’s two major controversies in the least tactful way imaginable. 

the first one she talks about is the hiveswap development hell fiasco, which on paper is an interesting thing to bring up in relation to a lack of content contributing to fandom decline, but sarah’s primary source for all this is a pseudo-anonymous blog run by giovan_h, someone who is notorious for treating dangerous and baseless accusation as fact and for obsessively stalking current and former whatpumpkin staff members to obtain information for said blog. she supposedly tries to bring a balanced argument on what exactly happened in the three year dark period between hiveswap’s supposed release date and when act 1 actually came out by pitting ipgd’s tumblr post (the one that made the odd gentlemen embezzlement claims vis a vis king’s quest) against giovan’s blog (claiming through anonymous and unverified sources that hussie deliberately dicked around and failed to meet a single deadline, then broke contract terms by using the kickstarter money to commission the odd gentlemen to animate act 7 instead of working on hiveswap. there are a lot of other unsavoury claims about hussie and certain other wp members among these blog posts, but that’s the primary relevant gist). 

neither account can actually be verified (ipgd’s post claims their information is spotty because they’re talking around a pretty strict settlement nda and giovan’s sources and accounts are deliberately vague and unverifiable to “protect various parties from retaliation from hussie/wp”) but sarah ultimately comes down and says that she’s inclined to take giovan’s blog as more truthful for. reasons. this is obviously bad because within minutes of the video dropping several wp team members reveal sarah never once tried to get in contact with them, which has led to attacks on the team members because a lot of zealous people looking for an excuse to keep being mad at homestuck in the wake of hs^2′s semi-permanent hiatus were emboldened by a video essayist treating the ugliest speculation as hard fact. as of right now, the hiveswap kickstarter has released a statement clarifying the development situation as best they can (from what i’ve read it does point to them legally being unable to point to/discuss certain things) which has had all the impact of dropping a match onto an oil spill. the anti homestuck zealots firmly believe every word of that post to be bullshit and are accusing the wp team of covering for hussie and his super heinous evil crimes (keep in mind we are still not privy to the internal workings of wp because why the fuck would we be) so the wp team in turn are putting these people on blast for this dangerous harassment (it doesn’t need to be said that as a professional being publicly accused of covering up fraud is a very bad thing) and then as a counter counter response the angry fans are now accusing the wp staff of abusing their power to direct mass harassment towards specific individuals (this amounting to people getting into wp members’ private discord servers and publicly posting mean things they have said about giovan et al which imo only serves to bolster the stalking claims) and the whole thing went very ugly very fast.

the second controversy that sarah brings up is everything involved in post canon homestuck (epilogues, pesterquest, hs^2). here she reverts to more of a passively pro-fandom stance, asserting time and time again how horrible and evil the epilogues and everything else were because of how they took the characters and stories everyone knows and loves and warped them into something unrecognisably terrible, that post-canon homestuck was universally reviled. in a very bad and awkward placement of information she then segues into a kind of hand-wavey discussion of the intense backlash towards certain post-canon trans interpretations (of vriska, june, and roxy) in a very I Am A Cis Woman So I’m Not Qualified To Make Any Statements Here Other Than Transphobes Fuck Off <3 But Also This Is Indicative Of A Growing Fandom Resentment way, which honestly begs the question of why she needed to include this at all. another bad thing here is how she super glosses over the “controversies” surrounding “the advocates for june egbert” and “the writer for vriska’s pesterquest route” - she is obviously referring to former creative director kate here (she kind of confirms this on twitter by saying she didn’t want to mention kate by name in order to not stir up further drama which uh... yeah) and the inexcusably terrible chain of events which led to every single out trans woman working on homestuck to resign to protect themselves from further mass harassment and dogpiling from the fandom.

she instead, for some reason decides to focus on how post-canon homestuck has been a total commercial and creative failure, that homestuck^2 basically shouldn’t have even happened after the fandom’s distaste for the epilogues and that it was not only controversial but also was a low quality mess everyone agreed sucked. she then goes on to compare the hs^2 team to the wp hiveswap dev team, and passively applies the same giovan-esque assertions to the internal workings of hs^2, kind of but not really implying the reasons given for the shutting down of hs^2 were bullshit. this is super bad for the fact that the post canon homestuck team is the most openly marginalised group of people working for hs is in an official capacity, and we have seen time and time again what drawing undue, speculative negative attention towards these people has done. again, reminder sarah did not reach out to a single person who worked/is working on homestuck for what is essentially a drama video disguised as a fandom postmortem. the upshot here is that her post-canon section served to embolden yet another wp-hostile section of the fanbase - those who adamantly believe that only the fandom itself can create worthwhile homestuck projects, and that all writers are evil people who want their queer fans dead (only a partial exaggeration) and produce spite projects which are driven by the steadfast belief that their work is inherently superior to official content by virtue of their fan status. among this group were a lot of people who latched onto any accusation against a team member as fuel to push them out of “ruining” such a beloved franchise so sarah’s video serves as proof that all the hs^2 writers were morally corrupt monsters ruining a fandom space that was meant for minors and queer people (this is all very anti/anti-anti carousel of bullshit nonsense that i have no time for) and thus they’re confident to once again tear down the remaining public facing staff members, ignoring how all this crusade has done so far is drive a handful of trans women and people of colour off of official homestuck projects for their own safety.

then she ends the video with a “oh btw this video is proudly sponsored by audible <3″ bit and it’s just. beyond unbelievably awfully stupid that she deliberately reignited this aggression which has caused untold material harm on marginalised people (that happened less than a year ago!!!) just for the sake of quick clicks and ad revenue. she consolidated the most dogshit takes as fact within the general fandom consensus, sided with some of the worst people to engage with homestuck, potentially detonated the last shreds of stability of this independent marginalised media project, and wrapped it all up with a sponsorship from an amazon subsidiary company of all fucking things. this is obviously a case of an incredibly short sighted decision to cash in on a very complicated and unwieldy fandom history but still the potential consequences here are unfathomable.