#ok i stop ranting now. look at my art boy

[halo-lll-odst]

some doodles i did of helmetless chief. some of these are based on a convo i had with @telek1net1c-system abt chief possibly ripping out his own implants in a fit of frustration

and yes i gave him top scars in the one where he's lying down . you cant fucking stop me

[blippymilk]

Brozone (+ Poppy & Viva) x Touch Starved Fem! Reader

Ok the request is that the reader is a touch starved, easily flustered, insecure yet passionate female. Her hair can change based on how she’s feeling. She likes to rant and info dump a lot. She likes drawing herself and her loved ones, and gives small gifts as a form of affection or to make them feel better. There will be a friend and s/o version.

(I’m also really sorry if this is not to the liking of the request, I kind of struggled while making this 😭)

John Dory:

Friend:

- As your friend he’s a little concerned for you

- Like he knows your fine but sometime he worries 😭

- But nothing JD can’t handle

- Genuinely enjoys your little gifts but he never makes it obvious at first

“Hey JD look I made you a little gift.” :)

“Oh that’s sweet. Can you put it on my desk? I’ll look at it later.”

- One day him and his brothers were rough housing around while you Poppy, and Viva stood by cheering them on. Bruce gets a little too rough with him and knocks something out of his jacket, it was your gift

- This man stops everything

- Like everything

- Like everyone’s frozen in place no matter what stance they’re in

- And picks it up and places it gently back in the pockets inside his jacket then lectures the boys about how he could’ve gotten his belongings crushed 😭

S/O:

- Still worries about you even after being together

- Sometimes the way your emotions change with your hair startles him

- And that’s mostly because your emotions can change rapidly

- But he also finds it really funny

- So prepare for his scare attacks

- Your hair gets so spiky, and you get so mad

“Oh come on I was only playing around babe. Tell you what, I’ll find a better way to mess with your hair.”

- And he did, which was by flustering you with comments that boost your confidence

- Your face turns red and your hair poofs up then falls around your head

- You’re always muttering a lot just like Viva and Poppy and JD finds it hilarious that him, Branch, and Clay are in the same boat (not saying Clay and Viva are not dating jus to clarify 😭)

Floyd:

Friend:

- Loves having a friend that’s the complete opposite of him

- He’ll listen to you rant all day

- With feedback on every question and statement

- Also finds your hair amusing but won’t abuse it’s power on purpose like John 😭

- Shocked by your passion to draw

“Is that me and you?”

“You know it.”

“I love it.” 🥹

S/O:

- Absolutely head over heels for you

- Still would be into listening to you rant but he’s helping you calm down a bit more

- Now your drawings had a more romantic reference behind them and he loved them even more

- No matter where he goes he always has one of your pictures on him

- He carries it around and values it like cash

- And absolutely none of his (little) brothers are getting their hands on it (yes he’s aware that they’re all adults now)

Spruce Bruce

Friend:

- He’s an expert on hair so he’s not too shocked or anything

- I mean look at that fluff on his head

- Seeing as Bruce could handle so many kids in the movie I believe he could deal with a ranting partner just fine

- He knows how to avoid frustration with you

S/O:

- Finds everything you do cute (c’mon it’s Bruce)

- He loves your arts & crafts

- Probably more than you

- Just like John he likes to you see you flustered with that big frizz on your head

- Your hair is constantly poofy because this man never stopsssss

“Hey (____) did it hurt when you fell?”

“Huh?”

“When you fell. From heaven?”

“Bruce you’re litteraly gonna kill me and my hair…”

- Definitely helps you get the knots out afterward 😭

Clay:

Friends:

- He hangs around Viva so the rambling is nothing new to him

- Always tries to hide you from Viva because he knows you two would be a unstoppable force ( plus poppyyyyy?!?)

- Hates when you feel insecure in any kind of way possible

- So just like you leave him little sketches, he leaves little notes of affirmations for you to read

- And makes you read them

- Outloud

“I am so pretty, beautiful, smart, talente- Clay do I have to keep-”

“Keep going.”

“Ok but-”

- Extremely intense eye contact

sighhhhhhhh “I am talented, I am kind, I am loyal…”

S/O:

- One of the most respectful boyfriends in the world

- Eventually gives in and let’s you and Viva mingle (possibly a bad descion!!??)

- Astonished by what your hair is capable of (can’t show his excitement tho cause he’s not a fun boy anymore right?)

- He is a words of affection (and physical touch sjejkemsjks) kinda guy so as your boyfriend he’s all you could ask for

- So now your attached to this man like glue and it’s kind of his fault

- Has to pry you off sometime but he will never stop loving you the same

“I love youuuuuu.”

“I love youuuuuu too.”

Branch:

Friend:

- Just like Clay he’s friends with Poppy so he’s used to the talking behavior (no Boppy in thissss 😔)

- You guys didn’t exactly hit it off at first either

- You met him during his “no color” era so that makes most of the sense

- ntgl when he first finds out about your hair he’s thrown off

- And the other trolls had so much fun with it that he considered you a distraction from the bergens soooo he wasn’t too fond of you

- And it takes a while but eventually you both become inseparable

“You hated me for no reason, and now I’m your favorite.”

“Yeah yeah.”

S/O:

- He’s growing as in character development

- So now instead of getting upset he uses your hair to read you

- He never really knows when he’s doing anything right or wrong as far as the relationship so he depends on your hair to know which path to take

- Your info dumping soothes him, wether he likes it or not

- He plays it off subtly but he knows how to fluster you and he takes pride in that (*AHEM* SINGING)

Poppy:

Friend:

- Doesn’t even realize that you’re rambling cause she’s doing it too

- You both are a special duo that at one point drove Branch up a tree (no pun intended)

- As much as the trolls like you, they don’t realize how actually dangerous you two could be together 😭

- And you can imagine the fear on Branch’s face when he finds out Viva and Poppy are sisters

S/O:

- Everyone knows Poppy is a scrapbooking master so when she begins to receive little arts and crafts from you she’s in love

- Like she’s bouncing off the wall excited

- Literally (it’s Poppy)

- She’s superrr touchy-feely so your living your best life

- Your hair is so fun and amusing to her

- Like JD she might try to scare you a couple times to see your hair spike up for fun but cuddles you after

“I’m sorry sweetieeee you know I can’t help it. Your hair is just so fun!”

“Poppyyyy you say that everytimeeee!”

Viva:

Friends:

- Basically Poppy’s doppelgänger so what can you expect?!

- Always rambling but somehow always manages to do it more than you

- She might just be you plus Poppy times five

- Clay tried to help you hide your hair for the sake of you and Viva

- Unfortunately she popped up out of nowhere startling you both and causing your hair to go erratic

“So so sorry guys I didn’t mean to…OMG YOUR HAIR!”

S/O:

- Everything you could ask for from a girlfriend

- Like she literally could not have given you anymore

- She loves your art works

- She loves to hear you talk and join in with you

- She loves the touchy-feely type

- She literally can’t find a single flaw in you whatsoever

[rachelcommitscrimes]

im gonna rant abt how much i hate the ghost eyes fandom (as a former fan) bc im just kinda mad rn

so uhh yeah major TW for s3lf h4rm, romanticizing mental illness, su1c1de, sadomasochism, infantilization, and rlly just anything related to that

(also sorry if this looks weird idk how to separate stuff on tumblr)

also DO NOT harass the creator or anyone mentioned here, you’re no better than them if you do that

——————————————————————————

ok so i read ghost eyes like 2 years ago but i stopped reading about the point where they were on that field trip. i still think it’s a nice comic and i’m sure the author is a cool person, also the art style is awesome. but the fandom is so fucking gross that i’m surprised more people haven’t talked about it. 

for some backstory on this, i used have REALLY bad depression and was cutting myself regularly (i’m much better now, i have medication, therapy, and i’m almost a year clean) i also stopped reading due to the comic severely damaging my mental health and i’m very glad i did. i was younger and immature and thought i could handle such content. this led to me becoming extremely obsessed with the comic to an unhealthy level, and getting severely attached to one of the characters (rudy) because i could relate to him at that time. i seriously thought that i WAS him sometimes.

i understand now that i should NOT have ignored the label and what i did was definitely wrong and if the creator is reading this i deeply apologize. i’m in a much better place now and i’m just glad that i was able to get the help i needed.

ok now to the angry part

if you don’t know what ghost eyes is, it’s a webcomic about a severely traumatized boy attending school for the first time and meeting a bunch of other severely traumatized kids. this comic has a crap ton of triggering/sensitive/disturbing topics (which is not a bad thing as long as you do it right) and like i said before, the creator has kindly put a warning before the comic starts stating that you SHOULD NOT romanticize/idolize/sexualize/kin any of the characters, do not read unless you can handle such topics, and so forth. now i know i should have definitely put the comic down before and not gotten obsessed over it, but i knew damn well enough that it was messed up to romanticize/sexualize any of the characters/things that happened in the book.

there are several scenes in which a character is self harming or harming someone else, and the comments will say shit like “nooo my poor bean” “awww baby don’t do that” or my personal favorite “protect the smol bean.” first of all, the characters are like 16-17, second of all, i cannot even tell you how fucked up it is that people see someone ruining their lives and putting themselves in danger and think it’s “cute” or “anxiety smol bean uwu” THERES LITERALLY A SCENE WHERE SOMEONE IS GETTING STABBED AND PPL ARE DRAWING THIS MF IN A MAID DRESS.

another reason i despise these fans is that they see an abusive relationship and start making ships/kinning them. as someone who has gone through pretty much everything rudy has gone through, i cant tell you how irritating it is to see people shipping him with his abuser or calling him a “cutie patootie masochist boi uwu” cause lemme tell you what-it doesnt feel good to have to put your health in danger and ruin your relationships with others just so you can get off somehow. ITS NOT FUN. the whole point of rudy’s character is to not romanticize someones fucked up mental health.

i could spend hours talking about this group of immature brats, but i’m tired and it’s a school night and i have a test tomorrow. i might add on if i feel like i need to but overall i really hope those immature fans grow up and realize their mistakes like i did, or get the help they need.

[quietbluejay]

Fulgrim 6

oh boy back to the remembrancers, Ostian is going to visit Serena her studio is a mess, she's a mess as uh you might have guessed ostian: it smells like something died in here he starts looking around and she starts crying and pleads for him to leave oh no i hope this isn't going where i think it is ostian is attempting to comfort her and stage an intervention, but, well, it's not working

he GOT OUT OF IT ALIVE i thought he was a goner for sure his whole rant is…it feels a bit weird i mean i guess it make sense? but it doesn't seem like it fits back to Eldrad so they were shadowing the EC the whole time all the worlds are Eldar maiden worlds, and when they saw they were just leaving them be, they left them alone, but they would have attacked otherwise okay that's the restraint Eldrad was talking about earlier they talk a bit about arrogance and destiny and eldrad perhaps by virtue of being not written about much here, is definitely coming off as one of the better characters in the book whether he's being written as the Eldrad is another thing fulgrim: so what's the real issue anyways eldrad fills in fulgrim about how horus got stabbed by a spicy knife and is dying eldrad: let's hope he does

your dearest friend Ferrus: am i a joke to you

fulgrim bluescreens a bit then his spicy knife pipes up to say that Eldrad is just trying to sow division but also like that's not an unreasonable opinion to have? i know the primarch future is shrouded or whatever but i thought farseers and especially the farseer would have a better plan than this Eldrad: it's the gods of chaos!! Fulgrim: what are you talking about??? Eldrad: ohhhhh shit Eldrad: ohhhhhhh shit im connecting the dots Eldrad: yeah, so, there's evil things in the warp Fulgrim: well if they're evil Horus simply will fight them Eldrad: facepalm Eldrad: i'm trying to help you!!! Fulgrim draws his sword Eldrad: OHHHHH SHITTTTT everyone, roll initiative Eldrad: welp i tried Eldrad teleports out but Fulgrim kills the Wraithlord and smashes his soulstone also blah blah enjoying getting injured blah blah typical stuff Eldrad: well I've learned MY lesson I'm never helping a human ever again in my life lol

wait did that embed work

so the Craftworld attacked, Lucius fought a bunch of Howling Banshees and is gonna steal a sword from a corpse Saul: hey remember how Eidolon got on your case when you started using megarachnid fang as a sword? annnd Fulgrim and co run back to the ship because the entire craftworld is coming after them and even Fulgrim isn't that arrogant as to think he and like 5 dudes can solo a craftworld especially after they killed all his bodyguards oh the Avatar of Khaine has shown up and Fulgrim's ride isn't back yet sadly i know how this is probably going to go

dramatic Fulgrim: finally, a worthy opponent i sdjkfhlsdfh in the middle of the fight with the avatar, fulgrim throws his sword in the air and then punches the avatar in the face okay wasn't expecting that you've got to be kidding me i know he's a primarch but

AND THEN HE STRANGLES IT WHAT ITS MADE OUT OF LAVA IT DOESNT NEED TO BREATHE so yeah fulgrim strangled the avatar and then it exploded, he went flying and got caught by the EC who are finally there with the ship fulgrim gets a sneak peek at the birth of slaanesh but also he needs the precious part of his mind is yelling at him not to pick up the sword again but it loses

the eldar get out of dodge and fulgrim orders all of the planets to be virus bombed

okay hahaha it's now Fulgrim's turn to be bothered by the administratum

yeah because primarchs are all giant children who can squish you ormond: ok the art is weird but i've never been an art guy

Ormond: uhhhhhhhhhhh Ormond: hello? anyone there? the music stops

o….k…. the mental image of fulgrim's skin is now

the whole place is a mess if not quite as bad as serena's room it also smells like rotting meat again, if not quite as bad as serena's room fulgrim smiles and looms over Ormond

yeah it's serena's painting i've said it before but im just laughing my entire way through this like ormond: i am disgusted i am appalled WHY IS IT SMELLY so! news Magnus defied Nikaea Fulgrim: im having a heart attack from being not surprised

ormond: idk the other news is that there's something fishy going on with horus

oh this is the auretium technocracy, which the first 3 books skipped over it was a teamup with angron

PFFFFFFFFFF

but actually, it was the sons of horus

im just wheezing the whole way through tbh it keeps going

like why am i here just to suffer

this book is a comedy suddenly fulgrim is not angry ormond: anyways the council wants you to make sure horus is respecting the rules of the crusade

why hello there military scifi i never thought i'd be meeting you here well at least this book isn't actually taking this view anyways ormond is weirded out by this ormond: uhhh okay what do you want me to tell the council fulgrim: i'll go "check up" on horus ormond: ok byeeeeeeeee

also as he's leaving fulgrim starts arguing again we find out it's because he was arguing with the painting oh is this the painting he gets trapped in later? ew gross we return to "remembrancers getting jumpscared by astartes" this time it's serena and lucius lucius: what are you going to do with that knife serena: eep she just killed a guy and he's next to her also like given how her uh, shall we say, hygiene has been rapidly going downhill how is she consistently luring dudes back to her studio lucius: thats a dead man serena: yes. i killed him

the the what first off girl he's a space marine second off, the what

she's worried she's going to get in trouble for killing him so she…starts crying? because i guess men will suddenly forget about the body in the room if a woman starts crying? she claims the guy tried to rape her lucius, being actually somewhat decent at this point in time, is shocked and concerned and 100% takes her side im surprised i know it's probably just the general writing issues but he does a better job of trying to comfort her than at least 75% of the space marine characters i've ever run across would have managed and then she starts self-harming right in front of him man lucius is having a weird day ahh she's how lucius starts cutting his face anyways that was a really weird scene she's basically like "this is how i remember the pain" and then somehow gets slaanesh empowered and divines that lucius has a lot of negative feelings about his nose and she uses her power to get lucius to cut his own face so he won't forget about loken okay i know there's actual mind control/influence going on here but that was still bizarre MOVING ON

Fulgrim is thinking on what Eldrad said the sword has changed tacks and is going "what if it IS right"

why is there so much showingg not telling also like blar turning against the Emperor is a bridge too far though even for Fulgrim in this state there's this whole argument between him and the sword it ends with fulgrim realizing he's afraid of failure like it's some deep revelation

haha so fulgrim is now about to meet with Horus, we had a 2 month timeskip and he isn't wearing the sword oh that's a twist

fulgrim is still acting weird even without the sword lmao like bro seriously? but then right in the nick of time Eidolon shows up with the sword so he orders everyone not to fire time for Fulgrim to visit Horus

Lucius is coming with them and Fulgrim's disturbed by his facial self-harm scars normal people collect rocks, i collect primarch descriptions

fulgrim sees "four heroic specimens" and susses out that they're the mournival i guess he never met any of them in all the years he and horus were travelling together? this discussion between fulgrim and horus is kind of like pulling teeth to me blah blah blah war is cruel the crueller it is the faster it's over (actual lines) as silly as this whole thing is at least it's not actually trying to argue that these things are true coughs and thinks of other media fulgrim: oh yeah magnus did something and russ is going to drag him back horus: ??? magnus??? they go to talk in private and also erebus is there

OILY SWEAT AGAIN MCNEILL ANSWER ME THIS WHY IS EVERYONES SWEAT OILY NO MATTER WHICH BOOK i guess maybe fulgrim is slowly growing oil glands so he can sweat oil and wow that's cursed i want to think about this again precisely never

also lmao

literally. everyone. hates. erebus. he just has rancid vibes!

they all dance around Horus' injury and Horus really tries to downplay it

this also just…feels really weird i realize this was written way before Betrayer so this is the OG interpretation of Angron but it just feels weird Fulgrim is starting to be sus that maybe Horus IS going to go traitor conversation turns to Magnus, and Erebus pipes up Fulgrim's not a fan

fulgrim i cannot believe it but you going full Chaos actually made you a likeable character mcneill why these phrasings okay it's not as bad as russ' tongue spear

there are much better ways this could have been put

I can't help of that cat meme

wait the emperor: im just going to chill for a bit horus: father is cruel? father is unyielding? oh! oh! jail for father! jail for ten thousand years Fulgrim starts crying help i can't stop laughing

this is because, as we have seen, Fulgrim is very stupid okay why are you all getting upset about the lectitio divinitas and shocked that people are worshipping the emperor as a god when literally a few pages ago you were thinking about lorgar and how the word bearers were icky because they worshipped the emperor AS A GOD again i wonder does anyone edit these books

this entire conversation has been WILD and not in a good way i've spared you about 5 pages of this the daemon also can't seem to make up its mind what it wants lol re betraying the emperor or going after horus it's also time for Horus to have a tantrum uh what the

WHAT did i just read

okay im moving along Solomon is fighting orks they're expecting Julius and co as reinforcements since they're being overcome, but no dice they end up getting saved by Saul and Lucius

cmon man really like yeah lucius is arrogant but he honestly hasn't been nowhere near antagonistic enough to deserve this amount of pettiness and he did in fact help save you here especially since Solomon is supposed to be one of the few remaining sensible EC

[dailydegurechaff]

Hand over your YS fic/fic recs

I feel like I may end up disappointing u anon, chances are probably high that my recommendations list won't be all that different from any of the many other lists out there;; but also. if you're asking, well... I will take whatever excuse to just start chattering, whether it be about others' fics or my own. This is probably going to be a long post, I’m so sorry ^^; For everyone’s sake, I’ll put it under a cut

OK SO, this list is literally all over the place, these aren’t really in any particular order and I confess that for a few of them I actually read them a while ago/I don’t remember some very well. I just went through my Ao3 history and pulled the links for the ones I remembered enjoying. I’m gonna try my best to not spoil them and keep it brief so I don’t rant on and on. ALSO. Probably most of these are unfinished, sorry about that rip ;;

We Are Each Our Own Devil by victoria_kay Alright, this one first and foremost. This one literally lives rent free in my head. Do NOT let me get started on this one I am capable of talking about it for paragraphs upon paragraphs. It was the first YS fic I read, it also happens to be the first instance of me ever using Ao3's download button. I have to say, I usually prefer genfic over romance but this is one of my exceptions bc the writing is That Good. Tanya & Lergen are easily top favorite characters for me and here they are!! Interacting!!! We love to see it. Slowly watching them grow and sdfghjdfgh. I've read this fic in full more than once and now that I have it downloaded I frequently go back and reread some of my favorite parts. god. ok ok. time to move on.

A Young Girl's Guerrilla War by Ragnarthesemigreen Long fic, Code Geass crossover. I literally did not remember most of Code Geass when i read it, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this fic. I marathoned this fic over the course of like a week maybe(?) over a month or so ago so specific details are a bit lost but i remember loving it. I wanna reread it again soon.

A Young Woman's Political Record by jacobk You cannot have a Youjo Senki fic rec list without this one. I don’t actually use spacebattles, but I finally went on there recently to see what the hype was about. This is another one I marathoned over the course of a few days simply bc i could not stop reading, so suffice to say it did live up to my expectations.

A Young Girl's Weaponization of the Mythos by Zahariel_Scholar AAA I love mythos aus so much. I made fan art for this one actually. It’s great writing, the author switches it up between epistolary style writing and character POVs which is really fun structurally. It’s an ongoing fic so its nice to have something to tune into on a regular basis

War Record of Young Girl and Boy by Fey_Storyteller An OC/Self Insert fic!! I know these kinds of things aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I love them. A retelling of YS featuring Tanya with a fellow isekai-er (? That is not a word. I cannot think of the correct word. Whatever) ALSO. It features art too!

Crushing on a Devil by TanJaded Yet ANOTHER one I marathoned. Again, usually I stick to genfic, but this is one of my exceptions. Mark my words, this one is getting fan art one day, I swear by it. I have sketches laying around in my files SOMEWHERE I just need to get to finding and finishing them.

TanJaded actually has lots of good fics!! I confess I haven’t read all of them but I will list a few more off the top of my head that I specifically remember liking. By no means is this it tho, check out their full ficography

The Dangers of Magical Combat by TanJaded We love some angst

Deliver My Heart (and not just my Mail) by TanJaded this one was just so cute <3 ;u;

Not Televised by TanJaded The ~vibes~ on this one. Impeccable. Im looking forward to where this one might go

Mage×Family by SwissChocolatess Spy×Family Crossover. Tanya is adopted alongside Anya into the Forger family

The Meditations of a Young Woman by FallQM A Legend of Korra Crossover

A Young Woman's Alchemy by CheshireTwilight A Full Metal Alchemist Crossover

Tanya Degurechaff and the Philosopher Stone by Half_Baked_Cat (demonbunny3po) A Harry Potter Crossover

(edit: removed a fic from here bc the latest update seems a bit... well it makes me dubious about where its gonna go from this point forward so I dont think its something I want to recommend anymore)

Tanya's Wings (and all that they imply) by Anonymous Hydra!Tanya au. It’s so cute, angry little baby dragon Tanya omg ;; I wanna make fanart for this one eventually, I’ll get there one day.

The Pixie of the Hidden Leaf by Dakion Naruto Crossover. Actually, I don’t know anything about Naruto (theres a guy with a frog, right? Dattebayo?), but despite this I’m having fun reading this one. Another one that’s currently updating so its fun to tune in

Rising Heroine Tanya by BrettFire A BNHA Crossover

Stuffiness by Winter (ImmortalBlackWinter) Very short, but still highly recommended. I really do love some painful endings ;;

I Have A Bet by psw262 Another short one that I liked

Tanya's Free Time by ForeverEvanescent Cute Tanya :,)

The Uniform Crisis by Kat_Ivu More cute Tanya

As you can see I've sort of given up on the commentary sorry; It's getting late, I have work tmrw and shit to do tonight, I gotta get a move on with this lol. I havent even drawn tomorrow's post yet ack. So, this is, by far, not an exhaustive list, I would love to elaborate more and put in more links but maybe another time

As for my own fics, I have a bunch of them kinda half-written but unfortunately I haven’t actually finished or posted any of them yet;;; orz. I do kinda want to talk about them anyway tho bc you did ask and, well, I'm not gonna just not take the opportunity to talk abt my things, but I’ll try to keep it brief and restrained to the stuff thats most likely to be posted some day

Tanya’s Peculiar Behaviors This isn’t really one fic, but more like a group of one-shots. Basically I try to see how much out of character I can get away with while still remaining relatively plausible/canon-adjacent. I have three sort of half-written one-shots right now, some very quick summaries of each: -- The one where I try to justify Tanya carrying around a stuffed animal; This was a bit inspired by Tanya's Free Time in the recs above -- The one where Tanya has a breakdown after the Brest Naval Base thing; Lergen accidentally catches her crying and is like oh god oh fuck what the hell is wrong with her -- and lastly the one where Tanya uses the type 95 just a bit too much and oops now she’s broken

Untitled/The one where I lock them in a room together Tanya von Degurechaff and Erich von Lergen accidentally get locked in a room together and are forced to have a civil chat to pass the time. Also, Tanya screws up an orb-less communication spell to call for help, and now Lergen can hear what she’s thinking, so that’s less than ideal.

Untitled/The one I’m jokingly calling Child Soldier × Family You could sort of call it a Spy × Family AU? But honestly I think I’d call it more ‘inspired by’ than a proper crossover. Basically, they lose the war, and for spying reasons, Tanya gets adopted and has to go to school to make friends to get intel on their families. Key differences from SxF though: Tanya’s technically the spy and there isn’t any fake-marriage aspect to the story comparable to Loid and Yor’s relationship. Perhaps my favorite part of it, Lergen takes Loid’s role as Father Figure bc both of them share the character trait “frequently gets stomach aches due to the stressful little girl they have to deal with” lmao

This is Heaven and Hell Tanya manages to usurp Being X and takes control of the universe/Being X’s power. If you’ve seen Madoka Magica, the vibes I was aiming for with this one are comparable to the end of the Rebellion movie. Tanya rewrites the universe, everyone’s memories are a little janky, she’s struggling with her newfound status as Literally God, etc. I intended it to be kind of angsty but literally everything I touch somehow becomes a comedy so this thing may get broken into two different versions the funny one and the hopefully more serious one.

To Those Without Power, Sin was Charged That fallen Angel!Tanya au I posted about before. Basically: Tanya is one of the many angels in charge of judging souls for their next reincarnation/eligibility for the afterlife. When they one day express that they don’t believe faith should be a necessary factor in those judgements, they’re cast down to Earth as punishment. Another one where I cant decide whether to go the serious route or the comedy route.

There are quite a few more drafts but those things are either A) probably unlikely to get finished or B) never seeing the light of day if I can help it purely for the reason they’re self indulgent cringe :,)

Alright finally, if you got this far reading through this post: hello. thanks for coming along for the ride of touring my Tanya-addled brain, I hope u got something out of it

Having read through this post and you have any fic recs for me, I will gladly take them, I am always looking for stuff to read.

thank u, bye <3

[auquaticmoonlight]

Huh? I did nothing else. I sent those 2 asks as well as me saying ill stop due to you not being in the mood for my jokes is there someone else?

ok ima go on a rant rq and over analyze shit

Look, you know for a fucking fact you didn’t send just 2 asks. There isn’t like 5 different horny anons. There is either one or two. That’s it.

Likely, it’s @infinitrix behind this. Sorry for tagging you if it isn’t, but if it is then I don’t really have much against you. But I’m still pissed

Infinitrix likes every single one of my posts. All of them. Mf doesn’t even know what grass looks like. He’s always online when the horny anons are, liked the posts with the characters they’re down bad for, and probably is one of my few straight mutuals. As the anon described once (I don’t have the post, so there is probably more) they are a teenage boy dealing with hormones and stuff. Infinitrix follows this description

plus mf you sent me a dm once that proved you were down bad for girasol you ain’t slick

Now, I don’t want to just make this a rant of my mutual who has a chance of not being the culprit so let’s assume it isn’t him. This would be even worse.

If it wasn’t him, that implies that the anon looked at the post, didn’t interact with it, and had the intention of clogging up my blog and inbox with their horny shenanigans before I stopped them. This means that the post had 2 fucking notes (when the asks started) and by not giving the post any recognition it ensured it’d not get any more

And if it was infinitrix (the pieces do fit due to him liking the post along with my mutual) then liking the post was the same as scrolling by. Basically same thing as before

I said you’re allowed to simp for my adult ocs, sure. But that doesn’t mean you don’t give the post any recognition and anonymously clog up my blog with your horniness

That means reblog and like the art, and comment “She’s kinda fine” or something idfc

And you literally go to every single fucking feminine oc I have and want to simp for them.

I didn’t make my characters so they can be sexually appealing to you. I made them so people can want to know more about them and enjoy their personality and dynamic with others.

Let me say it again.

I didn’t make my characters so they can be sexually appealing to you.

[greyghoulclub]

Harringrove Flip it Reverse it prompt 5 - trope subversion: meet cute

written for @harringrove-flip-reverse-it

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46146094

Billy antis DNI.

The new guy at work was an asshole. He was only a secretary but walked around like he owned the place. Steve isn’t 100% sure why he was hired. He looked better suited to be working in a gym or as a nightclub bouncer, so why take the job in a kindergarten? 

Steve was also sure of another thing, the guy hated him. When he wasn’t working or flirting with the moms who were dropping off their kids while they went to work, he was glaring at Steve. At least six times a day (Robin counted) Steve had a set of blue eyes trying to laser a hole in the back of his head. Steve had no idea what the hell this guy’s problem was. 

“God he’s so fucking annoying,” Steve grumbled to Robin over coffee before the kids game in for the day. 

“Who? California nightmare barbie?” Robin sipped at her coffee that Steve was sure was half vanilla creamer.

“Yes! The guy is so obsessed with me! What do I have to do to get him to leave me alone to do my job?” Steve accented his mini-rant with plenty of hand gestures, spilling a little coffee on his already-stained apron. 

“I might have an idea of why,” Robin raised an eyebrow at Steve, willing him to get what she was trying to say without saying it, but Steve had already got himself into a staring match with New Guy by the coffee machine in the office. 

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” he huffed while waiting for his cup to fill. It was one of those you get from roadside attractions, that said “Greetings from San Diego”. New Guy seemed even more irritable than usual, with dark circles under his eyes and 5 o’clock stubble. 

“What is your problem man?” Steve braced himself for anything New Guy would throw at him, but it didn’t happen. He said something about having to sign the kids in now, so he and Buckley better be ready for the ankle-biters. 

Robin did not miss the longing look that New Guy threw over his shoulder at Steve. She didn’t get how Steve couldn’t see that New Guy was head over heels for him. Steve had already gone into the playroom to greet the gaggle of 3 year old coming in, she figured she should join him. 

“Hi, Mr Steve! Hi Miss Robin!” Alejandro, a sweet little boy who loved three things, transformers, fruit roll-ups, and nap time, in that order, he ran into the playroom to greet them once all the kids were signed in.

“Hey, Alejandro, did you have a nice birthday yesterday?” Steve got an Optimus Prime figure shoved in his face when he bent down to Alejandro’s level. Steve got the full run-down of how cool the Transformers are and how Optimus Prime is the coolest one. 

While Steve was talking to the kids and helping them into aprons for arts and crafts time, Robin went out into the foyer to speak to New Guy. He was sitting at the front desk, typing into the attendance register.  Robin leaned against his desk until he looked up. 

He sighed, “What do you want Buckley?” He sounded annoyed like she had interrupted him doing something important. 

“Ok, first of all, it’s Robin, and second of all Baywatch-”

“Billy.”

“Yeah, ok, Billy. As I was saying I know you’re head over heels for Steve. And he’s as oblivious to your affections as a brick wall, and I know you’re emotionally constipated so you might just have to suck it up and tell him you like him,” she ended her speech by slapping her hand on Billy’s desk. 

Billy looked like Robin had just slapped his grandma, “I do not have a crush on Harrington,” he folded his arms and glared back at Robin. 

“And I smell buuuuuuullshit. I’ve seen how you look at Steve, and as much as I want him to get laid so he stops complaining to me about his latest failed date, he is my best friend and if you hurt him I can and will slash all of your tires.”

Billy laughed, a harsh guffaw, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Harrington hates me, I’m fairly sure he’d punch my lights out if he had the chance.” There was a hint of dejection in his tone that didn’t suit the loud, brash, and confident Billy that Robin knew. She was starting to suspect that it was an act. 

“Here’s an idea, talk to him instead of either glaring at him or making goo-goo eyes,” Robin watched with amusement as Billy flustered at the crossroads she had caught him in. The man was speedrunning through the five stages of grief. 

“I don’t make goo-goo eyes,” was all Billy could come up with but there was no bite to his words. He was fiddling with that pendant he always wore, one of those that Robin saw surfers wear all the time. She remembered overhearing Billy talking about surfing in California while he was flirting with one of the moms who dropped their kids off while they worked in the offices nearby. 

Billy was going to say something but Robin didn’t hear what it was before she was called away to help Steve with the kids. God, she hoped that Billy could get over himself to ask Steve out or she may have to take drastic action for her own sanity. 

“What were you and off-brand Axl Rose talking about?” Steve asked when Robin wasn’t helping the kids with the hot glue gun. 

“Nothing you need to worry about dingus. Turns out he’s not just glares and Mötley Crüe, who would of thought.”

Robin very carefully gauged Steve’s reaction, there was some weird sort of hope in his eyes, at least Robin thought it was hope. Did Steve like Billy too? Robin wasn’t sure when her workday had turned into a rom-com movie and she was the best friend character who tries to get her stick-in-the-mud friend to take a risk and ask out the bad boy he’d been admiring from afar. Not that Steve was a stick in the mud but it had been a while since he had a date. 

Robin didn’t have time to think more about it because Alejandro and Joshua had started arguing over who got to use the red glitter and she really didn’t feel like finding glitter in her clothes three months from now. She also didn’t miss Billy watching Steve from the reception room. 

********

The rest of the day went as well as it could’ve done. There were a couple spats over nap time spots and a scraped knee on the playground. Steve had swooped in with jokes to distract Vicky while Robin cleaned her knee and put a Spongebob bandaid on it. 

“You must have been really brave,” Billy was cooing over Vicky while he was signing her out. Vicky was still a little sniffly from her fall and hugged her mom’s leg, but mumbled a yeah, and wiped some tears away. 

“I’m sure it’s all going to be alright Vicky,” her mom lifted her up onto her hip and slung her backpack over her shoulder. “We’ll see you tomorrow,” she called over her shoulder.  

Billy made a point to speak with all the kids and their parents, asking them about their day and listening attentively as the kids spoke about what they had done during their time at kindergarten. It was actually kinda sweet, how Billy genuinely cared about what the kids had to say. 

Robin nudged Steve from where he was standing staring at Billy with big puppy dog eyes. Steve looked like he just got a static shock when Robin told him to go over and speak to Billy. His face flushed and he started to make excuses for why he wasn’t going to do it. 

“Steve,” Robin poked Steve’s shoulder to get his attention, “Steven, look,” she pointed to Billy, who was walking over to them. Steve hadn’t noticed while he was having his slight freak out. 

Billy looked just as awkward as Steve was, his open shirt revealed that he was blushing down to his chest. He was fiddling with his pendant again, must be a nervous habit Robin thought. Billy looked like he either wanted to be taken out by a sniper or to light himself on fire.

“What do you want Billy?” Steve sounded like he had resigned himself to being annoyed by Billy now. 

“I was, uh, I was…” Billy trailed off, chewing on his bottom lip before taking a deep breath and saying, “I want to take you out. For dinner. I, uh, would like to take you out on a date if- if that’s ok with you.” Robin wasn’t sure that Billy’s face could get any redder than it was now. But Steve’s face was a strong contender. 

“You want to take me out on a date?” Steve was absolutely dumbstruck. Billy Hargrove, asking him out on a date? Steve pinched himself to make sure this wasn’t a dream or something. 

“Yeah… there’s this Italian place on Queen’s street that does great carbonara if you’d like to go?” 

“It’s a date Billy,” and Steve grabbed Billy’s hand to walk out of the building.

[rotnow]

RANDOM FACTS OF MY KJ OC

*smoothly strolls in with sunglasses* hi, lets forget that I didn’t post on this account for a long time ok? Ok

#1 : The Artist and The Journalist

- As mentioned before in I think its the story of how hachi met emily(?) she and Viridian have beef of sorts. I have dug up some secrets on why they are like that! Apparently they have different views on what is beautiful in art. When Emily came to paris to interview Viridian, the blonde artist wasted no time into showing off his beautiful artwork to her expecting Emily to react to it like everyone has with the words “beautiful”-

Emily : eh

Viridian : …..I’m sorry?

Emily : I mean its okay but-

- oh boy that was just the beginning of the spiral these two would take. Obviously confused (and upset), Viridian asks at Emily’s answer to which she replies that it isn’t her style of art. That lead to her showing Viridian the ugliest piece of art he has ever seen in his life.

Viridian : What is that.

Emily : What do you mean? Its a cat

Viridian : Its a cat?!

Emily : Obviously!!

-In the end, Emily finished her interview with Viridian and left paris with this meeting burned in her mind. The same could be said for Viridian.

- Basically : Emily = Ugly art, Viridian = Beautiful art

-Oppisites in friendship 🤗❤️

-Or maybe Emily just really has a poor taste in art. Can you imagine her failing art class

Bonus :

-One time Joker decided to show Emily his art skills when she was visiting the sky joker (I WILL TALK MORE ABOUT THIS I SWEAR-). Hachi, who was holding his giggles because of how hilarious the girl’s reaction will be once she sees Joker’s skill, sat next to Emily on the couch as the two of them waiting for Joker to show his amazing artwork.

-Once finished, Joker revealed his artwork with a “ta-da!” And instantly Hachi laughed at how silly the painting was much to the phantom theif’s annoyence.

Joker : oi, Hachi! Stop laughing!!

Hachi : pfft-AHAHAHAH! I’m sorry but its so funny pfft-

Joker : I worked hard on this! (He really didn’t) Anyway Emily what do you think?

-Emily could only smile blankly at the drawing right in front of her. It wasn’t bad…it was..okay?

Emily : oh yeah It looks great you know I like that chicken-

Joker : Its supposed to be a dog.

-Hachi’s laughter only increased at this, someone please let him breathe. Meanwhile, Joker huffs and puffs as he aggressively points at his painting to redeem himself stating why the dog looks like a chicken to Emily who was squinting her eyes trying to understand Joker’s drawing.

-Sure Emily likes ugly art but she can classfiy Joker’s art in another catergory.

#2 : Friends steal from friends, right?

-No because I was just thinking about this randomly on a roadtrip today

- Just because Emily is on friendly terms with a phantom theif does not mean she is protected by his antics of stealing. Really, she should have just seen this coming when her uncle frantically called her at 8am stating that Kaitou Joker has sended in an advance notice to his mansion.

- Ring! Ring! Ring! Our fav boy Hachi politely answered the phone only to be yelled at by a journalist. Emily was NOT happy that Joker was stealing from her family. She demanded Hachi to call Joker, “its just a small talk” she stated not wanting her favourite ninja to be involved in this.

-Hachi sighed at this and turned to the smirking Joker who was expecting this call.

Hachi : I told you she would get mad..

Joker : She isn’t really *He takes the phone into his hand* hello-

Emily : WHY ARE YOU STEALING FROM MY UNCLE

Joker : hey I haven’t done that yet

Emily : WHY ARE YOU GOING TO STEAL FROM MY UNCLE

-Stay strong, Joker. He has been standing there with the phone for about an hour listening to Emily rant and demand him to call off the heist. But come on, we all know this sneaky phantom would not do that and is going to go through with it.

——————————————————————————

Hmm thats all I got for now, I apologize that I havent posted in a while I just finished with exams hehe so now I’m free! ‼️

I hope you have a very nice day/night! Till we meet again!

-Huhu

[the1975attheirverybest]

Just a few weeks ago deuxmoi were pushing the narrative that one of his exes were at his show and that they had an argument afterwards. Now this girl: no one knows who she is but someone came up with a name and the poor girl deactivated. Deuxmoi said she was a fan but someone convinced everyone that she's not. I don't know and I don't care but it's frustrating because I'd hate it if I was Matty or the girl. It's disrespectful. If people know the girls are likely just flings, why do they care so much? Not that it would be okay to harass a girlfriend but it's even stupider to care so much about a fling. Leave them alone (not @ anyone here, I'm just ranting. I'm against the gossip sites and people who aren't even fans being incredibly disrespectful)

Matty said in one of the australian shows that he usually doesn't comment on rumors about him and he lets people have their fun and I'm honestly starting to think it was a bit directed at these people. It has gotten out of hand lately. It's cool to hate Matty and it's cool to ignore that he's a human. Like you said, people in the fandom love Matty and we care about his music/art, his sobriety and happiness. It's always been like this. This whole appearing on gossip pages and having blind items constantly posted is not coming from within the fandom. And it's always shit that's written in a way that makes him look kinda bad? His reputation has already been tarnished on twitter, you can't even say you like Matty Healy without being cancelled, now that people have turned against him they suddenly find him having sex with consenting adults "gross". Funny that the internet didn't think it was gross a few months ago when they went viral on social media. Seriously, I just wish people would leave him alone and the gossip sites can burn in hell

Just let my guy fuck in peace ffs lmao

I admire him for not letting this stuff get to him and I'm so glad he's been looking pretty, happy and so soft lately 🥺 but I'm ready to fight all these people

Oh, yeah, you are absolutely right! I think these gossip sites operate the way that tabloid magazines used to (and to an extent kind of still do) in the 90s and shit. Basically, what happens is, they see a celebrity rise to fame, and they capitalize on it. Like you said, everyone was on the band a few months ago cuz thanks tiktok. Then, enough out of context Matty stuff was shared ok tiktok that people flipped and the new trend is to hate him now. So, in order to push their stuff out and gain clicks, these sites think “oh, so hating Matty is in now. Let’s post a bunch of stuff that confirms this bias. We get people going about it!”

And, like I said a couple of days ago, I know that some girlie on tiktok is friends with someone who organized the msg after party stuff etc. this girl was NOT a fan before hand. But she saw an opportunity. Her friend is connected to the 1975 and the 1975 are a big deal rn so she jumped on it. Knew where they’d be, took pics with them, etc. it’s all really gross and it really might have slowly built up and gotten to Matty. Hence his deactivation and stuff. Sadly, we can’t stop it. I’ve seen it happen with other celebs I liked. Once the non-fans start chiming it, shit gets out of hand.

He’s being smart about it with disengaging from social media. And at least the boys are all together and have each other to lean on for support. It’s be harder if it was just one of them doing it all alone. Bless them all 🥹 WE WILL PROTECT THEM AT ALL COSTS!!!

[onmykneesforhotdilfs]

Tilt

Bloom smiled as a butler offered her a crystal glass filled with, what she assumed was, very expensive champagne. She nodded gratefully as she took a sip, and then promptly had to physically stop herself from spitting it right back out. Either the champagne wasn’t as good as she expected or officials of Isis simply decided to serve something from the supermarket, while hoping that no one would notice. Then again, Bloom mused, it might just be that my taste buds are so used to the $10 wine so everything fancier just tastes like crap.

She shook her head and crossed her arms underneath the bustier of her skintone, off the shoulder gown with baby blue flowers scattered across the top and sporadically across the skirt as well. The nude color made her appear more tan than she actually was and while the dress was indeed very beautiful, it was just as uncomfortable. Bloom winced as shifting weight from one stiletto clad foot to another sent white hot signal of pain when one of the wires supporting her bustier stabbed her in the ribs. She bit the inside of her cheek to in order to stop herself from simply burning the fabric.

A cheerful laugh of her best friend snapped her out of her trance. Stella emerged from the mass of bodies on the dancefloor, her asymmetrical off shoulder gown highlighting every curve on her body perfectly. Long purple sleeve blended with yellow in a way Bloom didn’t even deem possible considering how different two colors are. Her other arm, that was completely sleeveless, sported some golden jewelry and floor length gown swept the floor elegantly with Stella’s every step. She was holding the same glass, filled with same champagne as Bloom, with her well manicured fingers. As soon as Stella was within arm’s reach, she grabbed Bloom’s elbow and leaned close to her, smile completely disappeared from her face.

“This stuff is absolutely disgusting.” Stella spoke through gritted teeth.

“Oh really?” Bloom asked as smirk slowly rose on her lips. “And here I thought you preferred this,” she lifted a fancy glass into the air, “over my cheap wine.”

“Anything is better than this, for the lack of a better word, crap.” Stella scoffed. “This would’ve never happened on Solaria.” She tilted the glass once again to take a sip in hope it somehow started tasting better but ended up disappointed. Bloom almost laughed at Stella’s expression. “But then again, should I have expected anything more from a planet Diaspro came from?”

Bloom almost winced at the mention of a woman that had the ability to mess up her relationship with Sky like no other. The latest stunt she pulled, thanks to Valtor, only made Bloom more angry at everybody that turned a blind eye to her actions simply because she is a princess. It was only then that the thought occurred to her, that Diaspro might be here and that she might ruin their mission. She glanced nervously around the hall, panicking more the longer she couldn’t find her.

Stella, recognizing Bloom’s ‘two breaths away from having a panic attack' look on her face, was quick to put a calming hand on her shoulder. Bloom recoiled slightly but Stella gripped the flesh lightly in order to ground her. She leaned closer to whisper in Bloom’s ear. “Relax, she’s not here. Apparently her parents don’t allow her to go to events where his highness, prince Sky of Eraklyon, might be present.”

Sarcasm was obvious in Stella’s voice but it served the purpose of calming Bloom to the point where she actually start thinking lucidly again.

Bloom took a deep breath as her shoulders slouched slightly forward. “Thank you.” She whispered to Stella. Then, the actual sentences Stella was saying caught up to her and her eyebrows touched her hairline in obvious amusement. “Still angry at Sky I see?”

Stella snorted and wrinkled her nose at the mention of Sky’s name. “If you were smarter, you’d be angry too.”

“Hey!” Bloom yelped angrily but settled down quickly as she looked away. “I am angry at him.”

“Apparently not enough.” Stella gripped the glass so hard her knuckles turned white. “I mean, what’s up with him suddenly becoming a poster boy and actually listening to what his daddy says?”

“Well, technically, Sky’s meeting with Diaspro or her parents might cause interplanetary scandal between Eraklyon and Isis.” Bloom spoke in Techna's voice.

Stella’s lip twitched. “Still, interplanetary scandal or a potential threat of one never actually stopped him from going against orders before. So my question still remains.”

“Any sign of Valtor?” Bloom asked, hoping to divert the route of conversation.

“I just spoke to Techna. He hasn’t been detected and Amplificarum is still safely locked in the vault.”

“He’ll show up eventually.” Bloom nodded absentmindedly. “He always does.”

“See this, this right here,” Stella pointed to the marble floor and Bloom lowered her gaze to the direction her finger was indicating but furrowed her brows when she found nothing. “This is why Sky should be here.” Bloom’s lips shaped into a thin line whe she realized what she was talking about as Stella continued to rant. “Isn’t he concerned that Valtor might attack and something might happen to you?”

Bloom gasped. “I’m not some… damsel in distress that needs saving Stella!” She scoffed. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.

“C’mon Bloom, don’t give me that.”

“Well what do you want me to say Stell? That I’m angry? Disappointed? Fine. I’m disappointed that Sky chose to follow the order from his father when I wanted him to come with me. He most certainly could've found another solution but he did nothing. Instead he left me to face, potentially Diaspro and Valtor alone. There! Was that enough? Are you happy now?” Bloom’s cheeks were red by the time she finished her rant as her chest continued rising up and down in order to return much needed oxygen into her lungs, her exhaustion more due to stress than the actual rant.

Stella smiled and patted Bloom on the shoulder. “There you go. Now was that so hard to say?”

“What?”

“Nevermind that, anyway, be sure to tell him that next time, ok?”

Bloom rolled her eyes but a smile threatened to spread on her face. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Mhm, that’s why you love me so much.” Stella spoke with an obvious pride evident in her voice.

“Yeah, let’s just say you’re lucky I do.” Bloom shook her head and grabbed Stella’s elbow as she spotted a familiar short brown hair emerging from the crowd. “There’s Brandon.” She turned to Stella and pointed to where she saw him. “Go bother him for a while.”

Stella pouted and stuck her tongue out playfully at Bloom but strutted off towards her boyfriend, leaving Bloom alone.

With Stella gone, all of Bloom’s physical discomfort came rushing back and hitting her like a rogue train. Her feet ached, her head started hurting from the tight updo and she was pretty sure the wire that poked her in the ribs has punctured her skin. She felt the tender area with her opposite hand as much as she dared and exhaled short puff of air when she found nothing. She wanted to sit down or maybe even lay down and then not move for a few days.

She shook her head and took a sip of her disgusting drink in order to wake herself up. She looked around the dancefloor, automatically finding Stella and Brandon as they swayed to the rhythm. Techna and Timmy were huddled in the corner probably discussing something about technology. Musa and Riven were also in the corner, be it on the opposite side from Techna, which greatly surprised Bloom because Musa was more often than not first on the dancefloor alongside Layla (though club suited them more, but the two always found a way to fit in anywhere), but right now dancefloor seemed like the last place Musa wanted to be. Instead, fairy of music was busy glaring daggers at her boyfriend that seemed to pay little to no attention to them.

Bloom rolled her eyes at the two of them (not that her and Sky were any better) and focused on finding Layla that also, surprisingly, decided to go solo on this mission. She found her talking to some Isis official that she probably knew due to her status. With Layla’s position in mind, bloom turned to finding the last couple but Flora and Helia were nowhere to be found so Bloom assumed they were probably taking a stroll in the garden.

With those in mind, Bloom once again diverted her eyes from the dancefloor and looked at the champagne bubbling in her glass as her thoughts ran over the information she remembered about Amplificarum.

Apparently, the green stone, by physical appearance almost indistinguishable from emerald, had the power to magnify any spells or beams aimed at something. Or someone, Bloom thought. It was most commonly used for protection spells and it generally wasn’t meant for offensive spellwork. Bloom somehow had doubts Valtor will use it for protection spells. The sheer thought of chaos that could potentially happen if such artifact ever fell into Valtor’s, or anyone’s wrong hands, made Bloom shudder all over and grip her champagne glass bit tighter. That can never be allowed to happen. It’s why you’re here. There’s no way he will be able to slip in and out undetected with eleven pairs of eyes looking for him.

Bloom couldn’t deny that Valtor is the most powerful, and quite frankly the most cunning, villain they ever had the pleasure of meeting. What irked her to the point of madness, however, was the fact that Valtor always seemed to be one step ahead of them.

The battles are like chess game. Daphne’s voice sounded in her head. In order to defeat your opponent you have to figure out their strategy. You have to master the art of reading their moves and find a way to turn the odds in your favor.

It was not hard to guess who played certain roles in this game though. She was an amateur, an amateur that was loosing valuable chess pieces battle after battle whereas Valtor was a professional that suffered minor losses here and there but still had the most prized figurines in the game. It didn’t take a professional chess player to see that the odds were most definitely not in Bloom’s favor.

He’ll slip sooner or later. Bloom thought with a smile. Even Valtor can make a mistake. And it takes only a second, a slip of concentration, a lapse in judgment and the board will tilt in our direction. Even an amateur can get lucky and stometimes, the pawn can be the most powerful piece capable of settling the final score, so don’t sell yourself short.

Bloom was so distracted by her mental pep talk that she failed to notice one of the guests approach.

“This stuff they’re serving us,” Bloom jumped as a deep melodic voice rang out next to her. “it’s not something I expected from Isis royal court.”

The stranger came to stand almost arm to arm with her, but she also noticed she was almost two heads shorter than him.

“In a good, or a bad way?” Bloom asked with a frown. The stranger has short brown hair styled to a perfection, not even a hair out of place. From what she could see from the side without being too obvious, she noticed he had perfectly straight nose and an overall boyish appearance.

The stranger lifted one of his eyebrows curiously. “Have you tried that?” He pointed to her glass.

“Yes.”

“And how does it taste?”

“Like a hair conditioner.”

He nodded approvingly. “Interesting comparison. Not inaccurate though. Well Miss, I think you just answered your own question.”

Despite all odds, Bloom found herself smiling at stranger’s antics and clever quips. “I am sorry but I don’t think I got your name.”

“That’s because I didn’t give it to you.”

Okay, rude.

“Well,” she forced out, “would you be so kind to give me your name then?” Bloom really hoped her smile was more convincing than her words.

“There’s no need, Bloom. You already know my name.” Bloom’s smile vanished as the man finally turned to face her, the unique icy colored eyes she only saw on one particular individual looking straight into her wider-than-dinnerplates blue ones. She felt a bead of sweat roll down the thin column of her neck and disappear into her cleavage.

Bloom gulped.

Valtor smirked.

“You!” was the only thing that came out of her mouth.

He shook his head, his eyebrows set in a frown as he let out a disappointed huff. “That is not my name princess. You might wish to try again.”

“What are you doing here, Valtor?” Bloom managed through gritted teeth.

“Oh so you do remember.” Valtor smirked like the cat who got all the cream. “Good. Otherwise I would have to remind you and I really don’t want to spoil anyone’s evening.”

“As if you need me, or anyone, for that!” Bloom whisper-yelled as her eyes darted desperately across the room, trying to locate her team.

“Now now,” Valtor cooed, “it is not polite to look away from the person you’re having a conversation with, Bloom. Someone should’ve taught you proper manners.”

Bloom gasped as she felt the dragon fire raging in her chest, the effect much more intense than she’s ever experienced before. She swayed slightly on her feet and she raised her unoccupied arm to clutch lightly at her chest. The world was spinning in front of her eyes and just as she feared she might topple over, one of Valtor’s large hands grasped her bicep and the forest fire that burned in her turned into smoldering ashes.

Bloom leaned slightly on her side, Valtor’s arm acting like an anchor as she fought to regain her breath.

“What,” she rasped out, her voice hoarse like she just inhaled smoke, “was that?”

“Just a reminder that you should not antagonize me.” Valtor’s voice was cold and sharp and it made her swallow down a snarky response.

“Is that how you snuck past Techna and me?” The pain was gone but her legs still felt wobbly and she was forced to hold onto Valtor in order to remain standing. “A cloaking spell?”

“If the shoe fits…” he trailed off as Bloom stood up to her full height but despite the heels she wore, Valtor noted with a slight amusement, only managed to reach his shoulders. The glare princess of Domino sent him would make a lesser man run to his mom but it only made Valtor grin. Bloom ripped her arm from his grasp and he had to bite his lip to stifle a chuckle that threatened to escape as Bloom stumbled slightly when he willingly let her go.

Bloom mumbled something that even his heighten senses couldn’t pick up. “I apologize darling, I didn’t quite catch that. Would you mind repeating it?”

“I said that if you turn around and bend over, I’ll show you where my shoe fits.”

Valtor was in stupor for a minute, but then a surprised chuckle broke through his lips and his shoulders started shaking from the laughter he tried, and was slowly failing at, keeping contained. “Oh, and she bites.”

Valtor continued laughing sporadically, stopping for a few moments only to start up again. The lines around his eyes crinkled and Bloom found herself fascinated by how melodic and pleasant his laugh sounded. The thought only lasted for a few seconds before Bloom stomped on it with a part of her brain that was still capable of making rational thoughts. Get it together, Bloom.

“If you’re quite done,” Bloom spoke, her cheeks red from rather unorthodox behavior she exhibited few minutes ago, “how about you tell me what are you doing here, finally?”

“I think you know why I’m here.”

“Forget it, you’re not getting it!” She turned to face him fully, her eyes boring a hole into the side of his head.

Valtor lifted his eyebrows as if to say ‘Really?’, mockery clear in his eyes. “Are you going to stop me?”

Bloom nodded. “I am.”

Valtor shook his head, smile on his face, amused by her confident tone. She thinks she’s a match for me. Silly girl. He was just about to tell her as much when the music that played as more of a background noise, suddenly became louder, loud to the point it drowned out all the chatter in the room.

Bloom almost jumped out of her skin when the orchestra started playing, loudly. She flinched, however, when she once again felt Valtor’s huge hand on her body. This time his palm was not in a direct contact with her skin but the unusual placement of the said appendage caused her to panic. His hand landed on the small of her back and it was quite persistently pushing her forward, straight onto the dancefloor between other couples.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She hissed through clenched teeth, sparks flaring at her fingertips, beginnings of an offensive spell already forming on her vocal cords.

“We are dancing.” His calm voice only made her more angry and she started struggling against the force pushing her forward.

“I don’t want to dance. Let me go.”

He stopped just short of the line separating area designed for dancing and bowed down theatrically while offering his hand to her. “May I have this dance, Miss?”

Few people closest to them turned around at the sound of his voice and Bloom had to bite her tongue to resist the urge to claw his eyes out. “No, you can’t!” She huffed out quietly instead, her neck and cheeks turning red from anger. “I told you, I don’t want to dance and I most certainly do not want to dance with the likes of you!"

“You wound me princess, truly. I don’t bite… not unless you want me to, of course.”

Bloom’s nostrils flared and flames began to dance in her eyes. What insolence.

“Let’s make a deal, princess of Domino.” He interrupted her just as smoke was about to start coming out of her ears. “You let me have this dance, and I’ll tell you everything you wish to know and I promise to tell the truth.”

“Why should I trust you?” She raised her eyebrows but it was obvious she was interested.

“You shouldn’t.” He tilted his head to the side as smile stretched across his lips. “But that never stopped you before.”

Sea blue met the arctic ice. A spark erupted and the coldness of his gaze melted away. “I give you my word.” His hand was still hovering in the air, his palm opened in invitation as he tilted his head in the direction of the dancefloor.

Bloom weighed her options. For as far as she knew, this could be another one of Valtor’s tricks to gain the information from her instead of vice versa. But the burning questions only he had the answers to kept pressing on the part of her brain that was telling her how much of a madness this was. Bloom sighed. Her hand rose hesitantly and slowly took hold of Valtor’s.

“One dance. That’s all you get.”

“That’s all I’ll need.”

He gripped Bloom’s fingers bit tighter as he lead her into the classic pose with his unoccupied hand placed on her lower back, lower than socially accepted when dancing with someone you do not know, but still in the safe zone that didn’t ask for Bloom to knee him in the balls. His other hand loosened around her fingers and now gently supported her palm. Instead of placing her other arm on Valtor’s shoulder, Bloom gripped one side of her skirt so she could move freely and to minimize contact. He looked down , searching her face, but Bloom turned her head in the opposite direction.

Valtor was never the one to blatantly display his emotions but Bloom’s refusal to look him in the eyes was one thing that almost made him boil. He didn’t know why the daughter of those that defeated him had such effect on him and he didn’t like it. He hated not knowing what was running through her head, especially in the place where he was in an obvious disadvantage concerning numbers of the two opposing teams. During his careful observation, he counted eleven of them, and there was only one of him. Not like any of them actually pose any threat, he mused. The only one that is able to even remotely challenge me is the one I’m dancing with and from this proximity she can be easily taken care of. He studied her posture, how her eyes avoided his at all cost, how her back stood stiff like someone stuck a pole to her spine, how tightly she gripped her skirt as he moved with her elegantly. It was obvious she was not enjoying this. Well then, let’s make you even more uncomfortable.

Without warning, Valtor pulled Bloom closer to his body, upper body completely pressed against hers, one of his legs between both of hers as her head snapped up to look at his cheeky smile. Fire was blazing in her eyes but Valtor didn’t care. He thrived on her reactions. Bloom squeezed the hand that was holding hers in warning but Valtor only gripped the flesh of her hip in response. Devils were dancing in his eyes but to Bloom they looked alive for the first time. Gone was the icy look capable of making even the best trained soldier hesitate before rushing into the battle against him.

He’s genuinely amused by this. She thought. If only be wasn’t having fun at my expense, I might’ve let it slide. Valtor twirled her around other dancing couples, his graceful steps never flattering, and it occurred to Bloom for the first time that she actually didn’t step on his toes even once.

“How are you doing this?” She asked him as he swung her away from himself, only to bring her in again, her back to his front, both of his hands gripping her hips. In her peripheral vision, she saw him rise his eyebrow. “I’ve never been good at dancing.”

Valtor smirked. “Perhaps you’ve never had a good enough partner.”

Judging by the tone of his voice, he was mocking Sky openly so Bloom miscalculated and stepped with the heel of her foot onto his polished shoe. She heard him grunt as, what she assumed was a curse, left his mouth. She smiled. If you play with fire, you’re gonna get burned.

“What happened to my parents?” Her next question made him quirk an eyebrow and she saw his eyes widen for a second before he regained his bearings.

“What did Faragonda tell you?” He answered her questions with one of his own and that made her irrationally angry for some reason.

“I asked you first.” She bit her tongue before insults started spewing out of her mouth. She realized long ago that snarky comments only made him more angry so she wasn’t willing to risk her one chance. “Answer me.”

“Do you think you are in position to demand anything, heiress of the lost kingdom?” Anger was starting to creep up in his voice as he dipped her low and snapped her back up harsher than necessary.

Bloom gasped as she suddenly found herself in an almost horizontal position. “You promised.”

Valtor assumed their previous position, except this time he lowered his head so his breath would graze her neck when he spoke. He sighed and goosebumps rose on Bloom’s skin as his hot breath washed over her collarbones and sternum.

“The truth is, I do not know what happened to your parents. I was imprisoned before the final battle. As far as I’m aware, ancient witches were the last to see them.”

Bloom swallowed. “That’s not Faragonda’s version.”

Valtor laughed, though his laugh was somehow bitter. “And you, as a good fairy, believe everything that your headmistress says don’t you?”

“And who am I supposed to trust? You?”

“Have you ever wondered why,” he repositioned her hand slightly as he side stepped to avoid the couple that was directly on a collision course with them. The sudden movement made the lock of Bloom’s hair wiggle out of her bun. “your headmistress send bunch of barely legal girls to suicide missions against the powerful enemies such as myself?”

“Because she trusts us?”

“Because she has an underlying motive.” He continued when Bloom scoffed. “Think about it. Can you honestly tell me your headmistress provides you with all the available information before she sends you off into battles?”

His question made her think of all the times Faragonda withheld the valuable information because she deemed it necessary and she bit her lip as realization hit her. “That doesn’t make her evil.”

“I never said it made her evil.” Smirk once again climbed on her face. “She’s cunning alright, but not cunning enough to be considered evil.”

“What’s her underlying motive according to your expertise?”

He shrugged carelessly. “Everybody needs someone to do their dirty work.”

“Like you have Trix?” Bloom raised her eyebrows in question.

“Don’t remind me.” He groaned. “Those three are as incompetent as they get.”

They danced in surprisingly comfortable silence for a few seconds, Valtor’s capable hands leading them. “You never answered my question.” Bloom said.

“What question?”

“How are you doing this?” She tilted her head slightly to their intertwined hands.

The edge of Valtor’s lips turned upwards. “You know how I’m doing it.”

Bloom frowned in confusion. “No, I actually really don’t.”

“Yes you do.” She was about to open her mouth to protest and to ask him what the hell he’s playing at, but he was faster than her. “You just have to let yourself feel it.”

Bloom’s shoulders tensed as the feeling of her native fire burning spread across her whole body. Okay, this is new.

“Pretty impressive, don’t you think?”

Bloom locked eyes with Valtor as he bent slightly in the knees, his hands gripped her hips tightly and her hands automatically came to rest on his broad shoulders, as he lifted her up and then, with care she didn’t know he was capable of, lowered her back to the ground. There was something hypnotic about his eyes and Bloom found herself unable to look away as she fought to regain her breath once her feet touched the ground again.

Whatever moment they shared was interrupted by a horrendous sound of alarm blaring and all the lights going off at the same time as explosion sounded somewhere above them. Valtor smirked as Bloom recoiled from him as if he burned her. Her hands lit on fire as people started screaming around her and moving away from them.

Valtor could hear Bloom’s friends calling her name as they pushed through the crowd of panicked guests.

“This was your plan all along, wasn’t it!?” Anger was obvious in her eyes and Valtor found himself fascinated as the fiery glow from her hands reflected in her irises. What he would do to have her on his side.

He shook himself out of his stupor as he snapped his fingers, letting his disguise slip off. Short brown hair and boyish look was replaced by long strawberry blond hair and his face morphed back into high cheekbones and sharp jaw. “I would love to continue our conversation,” he raised his arm and shot blindly towards the ceiling, blowing a huge hole into it. “however, I believe that my time has run out.”

Distant flashes lit up and Winx finally emerged from the crowd, sparkly outfits and huge wings on point. Bloom was the only one that remained in her normal attire, her hands showing no sign of burning out anytime soon, as she kept shooting daggers at Valtor with her eyes.

“It’s a shame I wasn’t able to answer more of your questions, Bloom. But I don’t think this is our last meeting.” Valtor grinned, thirty two pearly white teeth on display. “Besides,” he drawled as Icy flew from the direction of the vault Amplificarum was locked in, green gem standing out against the pale skin of her hand. “you know where to find me.”

“Solar energy!” Stella’s arm shot up, spell hurtling straight towards Valtor, but he didn’t even bat an eyelash as his hand rose to absorb the spell.

“Stop in the name of the law!” Armed soldiers and specialists started breaking through, their weapons and swords drawn and ready for a fight.

Valtor’s laugh echoed in the room as he shot off towards the hole in the ceiling, his mouth reciting the spell Bloom was quite familiar with. “Have the taste of your own medicine, princess of Solaria.”

Bloom barely had time to put up a shield as Stella’s own amplified spell was hurled back to them, painting the whole room in white hot glow, forcing everyone to close their eyes so they don’t go blind.

When Bloom finally gathered enough strength to open her eyes, Valtor was nowhere to be seen and people, specialists, guards and her team were slowly climbing back on their feet. Remnants of Stella’s spell still lingered in the air, making the room uncomfortably bright and forcing Bloom to squint.

“He did it again.” Stella spoke next to her and Bloom nodded absentmindedly as Stella continued looking around. “He used a heightened version of my spell… it’s a miracle no one’s been hurt.”

Bloom shook her head. “I don’t think he meant to hurt anyone Stell. He obviously needed a distraction to get away.”

“He doesn’t want unnecessary pain and destruction… you told me that’s what he said to you on Andros.”

Bloom nodded. “I think he managed to fulfill his promise, for once.”

Bloom looked up where Valtor made his exit and couldn’t help but to think that the chessboard once again tilted in his favor.

[lochsides]

Yellow Metal - cathartic Review

Here’s something I did not expect to be reviewing this week but when Zayn drops a 24 minute rap track, you fall in line. I had to listen to it a couple times through before I could even begin to make sense of my thoughts because my brain sort of malfunctioned. I have never been prouder to be a Zayn fan. He’s such a nuanced songwriter and there is so much to unpack here.

I think this is the most unfiltered version of Zayn that we have ever been exposed to (and possibly will ever be). I am grateful that he said his piece in this because it needed to be said. As a brown woman, I felt so seen by this and I cannot explain what that means to me. Thank you Z, for your unvarnished truth in addressing racism and various forms of discrimination.

I’m doing a short lyrical analysis below the cut, but the TLDR is that this is a fantastic piece of art that deserves to be heard.

I wish he had released this as an EP because that would be easier to review than a single 24 minute song, structurally speaking. So instead, I have picked out some key lyrics, going from top to bottom, that really spoke to me and decided to study the song that way. His lyricism is hard-hitting in this track. It is beyond anything he has ever released before.

“The planet bleeds, the damaged trees. It’s never leaving until we ascend so fuck the fence.” — I have not seen this lyric being talked about in the fandom, because the lyrics that follow this steal the show, rightly so, but I wanted to give this line a moment because it’s important too. To me, this lyric speaks to where Zayn is at with his relationship with the physical world. He’s out on the farm (about which he even goes to say “tell you what I like, farm life and the tractor”) and I believe he’s happy in his space and he feels connected to nature (also see River Road). So it is a poignant and slightly jaded, but valid perspective that he shares on climate change. It’s never leaving until we ascend. The damage human beings have done to the planet won’t be undone until there are no humans left to do damage. It’s a single sentence that says so much about the depth of the climate crisis. I’m doing my PhD on urban air quality so this is something I care really deeply about and I resonated with.

“And until they stop killing colour, it’s fuck the feds.” — Yeah, agreed Zayn. The systemic racism that he calls out here is echoed throughout the song, in equal parts anger and boldness. I love that he isn’t glossing over it with metaphors, which he could easily do and it would be beautiful in a totally different way, but this makes it harder for racists to overlook. There is so much power in calling it like it is.

“Never lose me to fentanyl, scared when I take a Benadryl, keeping it green in general.” — It frustrates me to no end to see Zayn painted as this drug-addicted lazy musician that doesn’t care about his work, because we know how untrue that is. This narrative is tired and simply boring too, and I won’t get into the racist connotations of it when you consider it against his white colleagues who smoke as much as him but that isn’t one of their defining traits in the media.

“I’m racking up excuses while I’m slacking off on work … it was hard work that got me heard” — I love the juxtaposition in this verse. The public/media perception on his career is that Zayn doesn’t put in effort or that he doesn’t want it. This obviously stems from his leaving the band. It goes back to what I was saying before about narrative, when in reality, as Zayn has said on various occasions, he fights to make his own choices. And that doesn’t have to look the way everyone else expects it to (“I beg you, don’t include me. I might write it on my shirt”), he has his own struggles that have helped forge his path, but it is his path that he paved, himself. He works hard to be heard. He has to. It reminds me of something my parents used to tell me when I was younger about being immigrants: you have to work 10 times harder for the same opportunities just because of the colour of your skin or your name on the cv. It’s a harsh truth to grow up with but it was my reality, as it is for most POC.

“This life doesn’t give you no armour, a lot of myself can harm you. I swear on what’s good, that I’m here ‘til they take me. I pray that I’m wrinkled, at least over 80…” — There is something about the simplicity of these lyrics are the messaging that I love. He isn’t trying too hard to sound poetic but he still manages it perfectly.

“All I've been achieving, clocking miles in this region, moving like a legion. Promise that I made to myself, an allegiance. Do you still believe I’m a fool for ever leaving? Staring at the ceiling, can never put a cap on achieving. I’m just here for the rap, then I’m leaving. // I’ve had about enough of being my own enemy. It’s time I grew up, a long way from 17. Always went against the grain, struggles in my life. Got some things to say when I stand up on the mike.” — This is the only 1D-related lyric I’ll make reference to because this song is about so much more than that. That said though, we cannot overlook Zayn’s experiences in the band because that is part of his story. The tongue-in-cheek of “I’m just here for the rap, then I’m leaving” is hilarious to me. The line about not wanting to be his own enemy anymore and growing up from 17 reminds me of that quote Taylor (Swift) mentioned in Miss Americana about celebrities getting stuck at the age they got famous. I think this verse is similar to that. None of them ever wanted to be in the band and I don’t care what anyone says, Zayn leaving and proving success outside the band gave the rest of them the courage to follow their own solo careers. Sure there was drama surrounding the split but he did it for himself, to tell his stories the way he is now. Whatever else you have to say about him, you cannot deny his authenticity.

“I ain’t dropping this for fame, I need this time, like therapy, it’s just to keep me sane.” — I think this line tells us 2 things, the first being that this song was not leaked. Z knew what he was doing and his twitter likes tell us as much. He didn’t release it for any sort of attention, otherwise it would be widely available on streaming platforms and for purchase. Which leads to my second point, he released this song to get everything he talks about on the track off his chest. Its referenced in other lyrics too, like “now you see where I come from, the world don’t.” This was for whoever cared to listen, not the world. It’s inaccessible for a reason. I love that he threw those lyrics in. It makes the song feel more like a private conversation or listening to a friend rant. It creates a different form of intimacy between himself and his fans.

“Lessons that I’ve learned, I’ve tried teaching to myself. What I’ve learnt from certain people is that they’re better than myself. So I surround myself with real ones, and you feel the plastic melt.” — This one is for anyone that buys into conspiracy theories surrounding Zayn’s personal life. He surrounds himself with real people, real friendships, real connections. I have never bought into the bullshit that he has zero autonomy over his personal life. I love the use of plastic melting as a metaphor for ridding his life of fakeness.

“Feeling trapped. This industry is a cage.” — Zayn is obviously not the first person to say it. Many artists talk about how suffocating the industry is ( which he further comments on in the sung portion: “I don’t wanna be, I don’t wanna be, a part of this, no, I don’t wanna be, I don’t wanna be, a part of this”). Fame is such a wild and unnatural concept and the exploitation and politics of the music industry only feed further into it. The industry being a cage makes me think of zoos and how celebrities are animals on display, when they should be free in the wild. I also really like the musical interlude following this part.

“Nobody’s speaking the truth, I’m offended by the State. Look at the state of the news, I’ve decided the argument, reciting my views.” — Zayn toes the line between keeping to himself and speaking out on important issues, sometimes not very well. I am his biggest cheerleader, but I’m not up his ass. There have been many occasions where he could’ve done better. But I cannot fault him for being offended by the State because same, Z, same. I love that he took this song as an opportunity to real speak out, no punches pulled.

“See I’ve been facing the racists from back when I were a kiddie. Born up in 93’. Living in Bradford City, they kicked me out of the school. Said they had a problem with me hitting the kids that would call me p***, still sit in the classroom, chilling. I’m angry now that I’m older cause I see they treat us different. Got me thinking I’m the problem ‘cause they never dealt with these issues.” — See what I meant about no punches pulled. He said that! He said it like that too. There is so much in this verse that I relate to, it hits a little too deep. I grew up as a brown in predominantly white communities where the colour of my skin was the reason I was outcasted. We know when that’s happening, clear as day. The lyric “got me thinking that I’m the problem cause they never dealt with these issues” says it all. I have many racial traumas that I’m dealing with as an adult because the adults around me when I was a child didn’t deal with racism in the classroom. They do treat us different!

“20 years later, I’m still in the same boat. Tryna treat me like my grandpa, say I came up off the boat. Came to tell you what I stand for. Man I think you’re shit, a joke. How can I be civil when they got me by the throat? // Pushing my feelings down, you ain’t got it like them. ‘Boy your skin is so light.’ Ok motherfucker, take my name up on a flight. Try to convince immigration that your bloodline’s half white.” — Zayn talking his shit is my new favourite art form. How can I be civil when they got me by the throat? Something that I will always be enraged by is that POC are expected to de-escalate situations of racism. We have to push our feelings down, as Zayn says in the verse, because the institution is against us. All of the institutions are against us. The fact that he takes it a step farther to say that his name makes him a target for racism, even though he is half-white just nails his point home. Also, can we please quit the whole ‘Zayn is white-passing’ bullshit. He alludes to it again later in the song (“asian in my face, but still my race you can’t define”). Its not a compliment to erase someone identity in favour of white-washing them.

“My name ain’t on the list unless they label it ethnic.” — Oh, the amount of times we have heard that age old (v. racist) saying ‘{celebrity of colour} is the new [insert white celebrity here]’ as if POC aren’t allowed to succeed in their own right. It is wild to me that Zayn has to deal with this given his level of success.

“Start to understand why they think that I’m threatening. I move in certain ways, couldn’t slow me with ketamine.” — There is a subtle nod to racism (and Islamaphobia) in this line, because of course the brown man is a threat, but I like the way Z turns it around. I also like the rhyme scheme.

“Raised on the benefit for whose benefit? They’ll never learn shit, man, if the shoe fits.” — Okay I might be reaching here, but this is just my interpretation. We all know the benefit system in the UK sucks. Being raised on benefit implies a lack of money growing up, but the benefits aren’t really all that beneficial to the families that rely upon them.

“Dealing with the hurt, they should know cause they don’t deserve it, it hit deep cause I hit the nerve.” — Well, okay then, just call me out. It’s fine. I seriously feel like he’s talking to me directly with this line. I imagine a lot of us do. Its one of those lyrics that are a bit too honest but that why we love them.

“Cathartic, I’m an artist. Trying to put my heart in” // “Freedom fighter, Yellow Metal is my name.” — So do we have an alternate persona for Zayn now? Alright, I’m down. I think these two lines are tied together, because both are mentioned in the song title. (I think of the song as cathartic, by Yellow Metal, aka Zayn, or Yellow Metal as the name of the EP if this was officially released). The lyrics that accompany both title lyrics, along with the subject matter of the song as a whole, suggest that his heart is in standing up against injustices. I said it earlier, this is the most unvarnished version of Z that we have ever been exposed to. Almost like the complete picture to the puzzle pieces we’ve been putting together over the years.

“They’re tryna kill us with disease.” — Why did this line scream out ‘COVID-19 outbreaks in developing countries’ to me? Again, I might be reaching, but there is a disparity between how COVID is treated amongst minorities, along with many other diseases, and not to mention rich, primarily white countries hoarding vaccine supplies while places like India (and my beautiful Bangladesh and I’m sure Pakistan too) suffer needlessly.

“Started something sick and on my mind is what’s next. Just became a dad so now I’m taking all the cheques. Better know I’m staying and paying like it’s debt. Imma get it done, if it’s taking all my breath, sweat, and down I ain’t messing around ’til I’m the best.” — I think this lyric shows off Zayn’s sentimental side more than it does his ambitious side, because we know he’s in this for the long haul. Others may doubt that but his fans never have. But hearing him talk openly about being a father on a song is something else. It’s like Khai added this whole other layer of meaning and purpose to his life and it’s beautiful to watch. I’ve been here since the X-Factor auditions guys!! It makes me so emotional to witness him like this.

“Aint many of me around, p***, I’m just different. Certain stages to this level aint here because fame is to the devil, fuck a label, imma do this from the ghetto.” — God, we’ve been waiting for a fuck the label moment in this house, haven’t we? I won’t get into my theories on his label or his team, but none of us deny the fact that they should be doing more for him than they are. He has the potential to be the biggest thing with the right team and promo because he has a built-in fan base that would go the mile for him. Obviously, there’s also his aversion to promo to contend with and that’s his decision. Even without it, he could shatter every ceiling. Another thing I want to mention about this verse is the nod to the complete lack of South Asian representation in contemporary Western media.

“Don’t know what’s worse: the way that you live your life or the way that you write a verse.” — I’m just putting this in here because it made giggle. Also going to take this space to say how much I love his energy in this song. He knows he’s the shit, as he should!

“Can’t be louder … so free Gaza on my banner.” // “They’re hating on Palestine ways.” — I love that Zayn has always supported this movement, years ago, before being ‘woke’ was a thing. But now, he has a daughter that has Palestinian heritage and I’m sure that makes this hit that much deeper for him, personally. The apartheid in Palestine is heart-wrenching. It’s so strange to me to watch it happen, because I never thought I would witness something like this happening in 2021, yet here we are.

“Like vipers, I see the sly ones, the snake that’s called Biden, none of them abiding what they might put in writing. We should be used to it by now, say whatever for the vote and then just choose another route. Say they’d never kill another unless that brother’s skin is brown. I’m just telling you the facts, if you can’t take it, the truth naked, to bare bones and my thoughts lately, spitting politics.” — This verse is straight up savage and I am living for it! I find it hilarious that he called Biden a snake. This verse addresses the truth about politics, that even electing a left-wing leader doesn’t fix the system.

“I’m Tony Stark, still embarking on a dream” // “Gone green like Bruce Banner” // “He taught me like Ra’s Al Ghul. Felt like living in Gotham, the people were rotten.” — And to tie it all off, I wanted to take a goofy moment to mention all the superhero lyrics Z added in this song, really showing his personality because I’m such a nerd when it comes to this stuff and it makes me wish that we were friends so I could annoy him to death about it.

[starlightinhumanform]

wanted to do some worldbuilding for my Friday Night Lights AU. so far, the story has really only focused on Virgil and Roman but the rest of the sides are so special to me in this AU and I wanted to share them!!

Monarch Knights: Roman, Remus, Patton 

All 3 have been best friends since childhood (Roman/Remus [twins] probably Patton’s neighbors)

Partners in crime (except a trio) 

Remus= has crazy ideas; Roman: carries out daring schemes; Patton: gets them out of trouble 

Patton who is the neighborhood’s sweetheart, who has the sweetest smile and big baby blue eyes and who has perfected the art of saying “No ma’am we would never dig a tunnel through your flowerbed” and fooling everyone

Present Patton: A good student, mostly A’s and B’s. Still an absolute sweetheart, still getting the twins out of trouble. Has more volunteer hours logged than any other student at Monarch High. 

Very few see the alternative side to Patton: who blames his parents’ divorce on himself, who works 30 hours week plus school plus volunteering and who prays every night that he can get a scholarship to go to college 

Present Roman: A good kid with a good heart who wants to make a difference in the world. He’s got a great imagination and a love for all things animated. Only problem is his grades, classes— especially math— just don’t click for Roman. It’s not that he’s not smart, he’s just not made for school. He loves football but he doesn’t want to spend his whole life doing it. He knows he wants to go to college, but he has no idea what he wants to do with his life. Even college isn’t a given, that is, if he can’t get his grades up.

Present Remus: An absolutely brilliant kid, could easily get straight A’s if he wanted to. Except he doesn’t want to, he hates school and he hates the whole system. He hates the unnecessary stress it puts on his best friends and he hates how unfair it is and he hates how it’s basically just a tool to train kids to get ground up by the cycle of capitalism. Nevertheless, he often tutors Roman and helps him with his homework because he knows how much it means to his brother. He really shines through art, especially in realistic gore sketches and graffiti. He likes to combine the two to spread his messages in a way that people can’t ignore. 

Westshore High: Virgil, Janus, Logan, Remy (kinda)

Virgil, Janus, and Logan have been friends since middle school. All three of them were weird little outcasts and they just sort of found each other. 

Middle school Janus: Stereotypical “baby gay.” At that point they didn’t know they were nonbinary and thought they were just a really feminine gay boy. Although they cringe looking back on that period of their life, it was really influential in helping them eventually find their true identity. They were outgoing, boisterous, and— despite being incredibly smart— was just a bit too noisy and distracted to ever get good grades. 

Middle school Logan: Much like his older self except still deeply entrenched in his Pokémon fixation. He was usually very quite but once you got him started on one of his interests, he could almost rival Janus’ talking speed. Janus befriended him because they were both little outcasts. Logan liked Janus because their “conversations” mostly consisted of Logan sitting comfortably quiet while Janus chattered and Janus didn’t mind when Logan would start his rants. 

Middle school Virgil: Textbook 13 year old emo who hasn’t quite figured out how to dress themselves yet. He repeatedly got in trouble for writing MCR lyrics on school property in sharpie. He didn’t mind being ostracized by most of his peers because he thought it made him seem more edgy. Unfortunately for him, Janus adopted him, thus creating their little trio. 

Present Logan: Sharp as a knife. As smart as they come— school wise— but blunt and honest to a fault. He has a hard time connecting to people because he’s autistic; he has a hard time understanding what he’s “supposed” to do in social situations and many people think he’s rude. He is fiercely loyal to his best friends, Janus and Virgil, and always wants the best for them. 

Present Janus: Their inability to focus in classrooms has created a deep rooted  resentment to school in general. In the past few years, they have simply stopped trying to do well— something that often results in shouting matches between them and Logan. Logan thinks they should do more with their life, or at least have some sort of plan; Janus is just tired. Their parents are well off but rarely home— and know almost nothing about their only child. Janus feels most at home over at Logan’s, where they and Virgil are always welcome. 

Present Virgil: Still fairly emo, except he’s gained a little bit more of a sense of style. He’s a smart kid, getting C’s and B’s without really trying. If he tried, he could probably get A’s but he doesn’t really see the point of it. As long as his grades are good enough to stay on the football team, they’re good enough for him. Football— and his small but close group of friends— are the only things at school he really cares about. Virgil doesn’t know what his future holds as giving it too much thought sends him into an anxious spiral. For now, he’s happy for things to stay just the way they are. 

General Sanders Sides Taglist: ~ @centimeter-tries-to-communicate @bee-syndrome @fandomfan315 @cas-is-a-hunter @reggieleigh07 @mossdeemo @im-actually-ok @softnic @catolicabuena @queer-disaster106 @lunawolf89 ~

Friday Night Lights Taglist: @lcrnbw @amazing-creepyfloof @badluckkaren @athenashipsthings @chronophobica @icequeenoriginal @delicateherolightscissors @yourneighbourhooddisaster @sonny-ray-of-goth @captain-oats @thiswitchisgay-goodforher @elivampireboy

[finiteuniverse13]

Bravo's Banned List

With the help of @bravo-four-seal-team, @@jayhalsteadfan-2417 and @rebelwrites, we made a list.

A list, posted on various walls throughout the Naval base, the plane and the cage room. About 1/3 of it is typed up, the rest is in hastily written pen. Made by Blackburn to try and corral Bravo. It's doing its best.

Tag: @rebelwrites @chibsytelford @bravo-four-seal-team @velvetcardiganbucky @supervalcsi @abby-splace @itsonautopilot @thegirlwhoisalwayswriting @pinkrockstar19 @softi92 @mrsmarvelous1995 @jayhalsteadfan-2417

Just so you're all aware, this is a 6.5-page document.

0: On the days of Adam and Swanny’s Death, leave the group be to remember them. I will not protect you.

1: Brock Is Not Allowed Coffee. No exceptions.

1.1: Do not leave Metal alone with Brock when Coffee is around.

2: Dick jokes are not required in briefings

3: If a single one of you bastards get between me and my coffee, we will be having issues

5: You made the dog sad; you die.

8: DO NOT GIVE THEM NERF GUNS

9: WHO THE HELL GAVE THEM WATER GUNS

9.1: STICKS DO NOT GIVE THEM STICKS THEY WILL PRETEND THEY ARE GUNS

10: Dirt bikes (don’t ask)

11: ARCHERY IS A BIG NO

12: FISHING. WHY AM I BANNING FISHING

13: Fire. That is all

14: KNIVES. WHY ARE YOU GIVING THEM KNIVES?

15: LADDERS (NEVER AGAIN)

16: PLASTIC CUTLERY ONLY UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES GIVE THEM METAL CUTLERY

16.1: Scratch that, they stab people with the metal cutlery. Let them suffer the consequences of their actions. They can eat with their hands.

17: MEMES ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE MEETING ROOM

18: Horse riding. (METAL IT IS NOT A TACTICAL DISMOUNT ITS CALLED FALLING AND GETTING A CONCUSSION)

19: BOY BANDS (not allowed to be played on the plane)

19.1: GIRL BANDS (for the love of god, they will try and imitate them)

19.2 RAP MUSIC (they think they are the next Eminem and will make your ears bleed)

20: Do not tell Jason he is not allowed to do something. He finds a way to do it

20.1: Apparently Ray will do the exact same without question

21: Do not leave any members of the team with upper brass. (How did you make an Admiral with years of combat CRY!)

22: Clay is under Jason’s protection don’t go after him they will not find your body

22.1: If Clay calls Jason dad just leave it ok

22.2: Actually, check on Jason, he’s been standing staring for the past hour now

23: Hairdryers are banned (HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET YOUR BEARD CAUGHT SONNY)

24: Only Trent is allowed to call Metal by his legal first name. Ensign Williams learnt that one the hard way.

25: Paintball is banned from the base the last time it was extreme and got violent

26: The transformers movies because clay tried to do a stunt it ended badly

27: Thumbtacks apparently

28: Any Marvel movie (Jason you’re not Captain America)

28.1: DC movies are out as well

28.2: Disney Princess movies as well (don’t ask)

30: Do not leave phone unlocked around Sonny, he will not hesitate to change everything

36: DO NOT LET THEM GET SO DRUNK THEY START SINGING. IF I HEAR IN THE NAVY ONE MORE TIME, I WON'T BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR MY ACTIONS

37: IF THERE IS SILENCE DROP EVERYTHING AND START HUNTING AND PANICKING

38: Grenade launchers are not required for every mission Trent

39: WHO GAVE METAL A SWORD

42: Yes, Clay does know an Admiral by name. Don't ask questions you don't want answers to.

45: If Clay starts angrily ranting in a foreign language, don't worry. He's thinking out loud, not plotting to destroy the base

45.1: If Clay is calmly talking in a foreign language just back away slowly

48: SpongeBob is a Bad Idea because they are way too Annoying and make References (I’m looking at you, Clay)

52: Sharpies. When I find whoever gave me this sharpie tattoo sleeve, there will be hell to pay

56: DO NOT LET CLAY HAVE A GRIMM REAPER OUTFIT! THIS IS THE THIRD TIME HES NEARLY GIVEN SONNY AND TRENT A HEART ATTACK AT 3 AM

57: Red paint. I went to check something at 3 am and Clay was painting a satanic ritual on the floor

58: 3 am checks are a bad idea. (I have seen things, people!)

62: Explosives are to be locked away when not on mission Sonny and Clay will try and play catch with a live homewrecker

62.1: I expected Metal as a Master Chief to know better - he falls under the same rule as Clay and Sonny.

63: Don't wake Clay when he is sleeping back away slowly and leave the room

64: If I'm sleeping, back away and leave the room. Interrupt me if they've broken a rule, or if the base is actively being bombed. If not, I don't care.

65: Have multiple phone chargers or they will disappear and you’re not getting them back

68: If you call Clay anything other than a nickname expect to get punched or stabbed or sniped in the ass when least expected

68.1: Metal will stab you. Please remember he has a shovel and lye in his truck (WHY DO YOU HAVE IT)

68.2: Don't try to take the shovel and lye off of Metal

69: NEVER say the number 69 around them they are all immature children and expect tongue in cheek comments

70: NEVER interrupt Sonny when he is eating breakfast, he is grumpy in the morning

72: If they are all asleep make no sound - YOU WAKE THEM THEY ARE YOUR PROBLEM NOT MINE

73: For the love of god, stop giving Clay earth mineral nicknames. This is the third time this week I've watched Sonny empty limestone dust from his pack

75: Do not give them hammers! What is wrong with you people?

79: Do Not talk to Trent unless it’s after 2 coffees

83: For the love of god, don't ask Metal if he ever did nude modelling in art school. He will begin stripping, literally anywhere

91: Cerberus is a good boy and you hurt Brock you die

98: Super Glue (never again)

99: MY COFFEE IS OFF LIMITS WHOEVER PUT SALT IN IT WILL PAY

100: Do not give in to their peer pressure while they are drunk, I will not be doing it again

100.1: WHY AM I HEARING IN THE NAVY AGAIN?!

100.2: Sweet Caroline won't work twice

100.3: WHY ARE YOU SINGING BARBIE

100.4: SONNY, CLAY IS NOT A BARBIE GIRL

103: Don't tell Sonny he looks good in pink because you better believe he will keep wearing it (and probably some girl clothes too) to keep getting compliments

114: I ALREADY WROTE SUPER GLUE WHY DO I NEED TO WRITE IT AGAIN

115: HAIR DYE (Why did you dye Metal and Trent’s hair pink?!)

115.1: Face paint (Sonny, their faces did not need to match their hair)

116: Do NOT touch Clay, Charlie team learnt that, and someone ended up nearly losing a finger. (And it wasn’t because of the dog)

117: If they offer you a drink whilst smirking DO NOT take it

118: Sea shanties – if I hear one more SEA SHANTY while we are FLYING

119: If you hear someone shout incoming, run, it’s not an attack, it is Bravo, someone has done something and they’re coming to tell me

120: Vegemite is not allowed in the base after Jason let Clay eat it

121: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (JASON I DONT CARE IF YOU THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY TO ACT LIKE LEO IT WAS A BAD MOVE)

122: Hawaii 5-0, if I hear one more thing about how we should hang people of the rook of buildings I am going to shoot someone

124: Mortal Kombat (Clay was acting like Scorpion for a month)

130: Itching Powder (looking at you Brock)

131: DO NOT TOUCH JASONS TOMATOES - you will get a bamboo cane jammed into your thigh

134: Capes - YOU ARE NOT SUPERMAN CLAY STOP PRETENDING YOU CAN FLY BY JUMPING OFF THE HOOCHES

134.1: Edna Mode said NO CAPES - I EXPECT NO CAPES WORN BY ANYONE ON MY TEAM

138: Laser Tag is fun until someone gets hurt (Sonny and Clay you know what happened)

138.1: Laser Tag! (Ray needed to go to the hospital guys, come on)

143: Basketball. My nose will never be straight again.

144: Bravo and Ice skates don’t mix (the only person good on them is Jason but no other member of Bravo is allowed on the ice again)

144.1: Same goes for rollerblades

145: Ash Spencer is not allowed to be alone with Clay (Jason punched him last time he was on base)

145.1: Do not leave Jason, Metal or Sonny alone with Ash Spenser, it’s going to end up with a murder charge.

146: Clay is Jason’s adopted kid and needs to be supervised when Jason is away

151: SLIME - FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DONT GIVE THEM SLIME

152: GLITTER WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE

153: SCISSORS - Jase cut a chunk of Clay’s hair in the night now the base is a war zone

153.1: DONT FUCK WITH COVERBOY'S HAIR see point 68 for consequences

154: NAIR (why do you even have it?)

156: Call Of Duty (Clay must be supervised when playing it)

157: Do Not leave Clay unattended with Metal (They are both recovering from the ONE CHIP/DEATH CHIP Challenge)

158: Marshmallows (don’t ask)

163: The Hunger Games (are not a good training exercise)

164: The Olympus Has Fallen movies are not allowed to be mentioned in any given time)

173: If you mention the word ice-cream just run, run for your life

176: If I am sleeping STOP THROWING PAPER AT ME

177: Yelling FOR NARNIA is not an appropriate battle cry

178: The Fast And Furious movies (Clay you are not Brian so stop)

182: Nap time is important if their asleep do something else but if you wake them run like hell

190: Any movies about WAR are BANNED (I need a drink to talk about that one)

200 (From Bravo): Blackburn isn't allowed any more paper

200.1 (From Bravo): or pens

200.2: (Blackburn) Handcuffs. They handcuffed me to my desk and wrote that

200.3 (Blackburn): Bravo will not be allowed to tell their Commanding Officer what to do

202: Who keeps giving them superglue? This is the 8th time we are having to unglue Sonny and Clay’s hands

203: Do not let any of them take point on Briefing EVER

205: Are you serious? Paperclips! Do not give them PAPERCLIPS

206: Leaving anyone unattended with fire is a bad idea - I can still smell burning

210: This is Sparta (Jason don't kick people off the roof)

210.1: JASON I SAID NO KICKING PEOPLE YOU DONT LIKE OFF THE ROOF

213: Ash Spenser is not allowed on base. DEVGRU heard about what kind of dad he is, and now its kill-on-sight

213.1: WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT ASH BEING ON BASE

214: Puppy dog eyes because Clay has been using them on anyone to get out of doing paperwork

215: RAY STOP DOING JASONS PAPERWORK

216: GO TO A HOSPITAL IF INJURED, TRENT HAS A LIFE OUTSIDE OF YOU LOT

217: THE GLEE CAST SOUNDTRACK IS NOT TO BE USED ON THE BASE

218: DO NOT PUT LION KING ON - they will cry like babies and there’s no consoling them over Mufasa

220: If I have to explain why BRAVO will not be joining teaching GREEN TEAM please see rule 1 and understand from that then ask the Green Team Instructor. (Brock terrified them by running the O Course in 30 minutes, all because someone gave him coffee)

220.1: And yes, that is the on the 50-minute-record O course. The time hasn’t been counted since it involved performance-enhancing substances

221: WHO THE HELL INTRODUCED THEM TO FROZEN

221.1 NO I DONT WANT TO BUILD A BLOODY SNOWMAN

221.2: WE WERE DEPLOYED TO SERBIA YOU BASTARDS

222: Gray’s anatomy (That is all)

227: VAPES - YOU DONT SMOKE AND ARE NOT PUFF THE MAGIC FUCKING DRAGON (clay I’m looking at you)

228: HATS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN BRIEFINGS (Sonny you know what you did)

229: MAGIC MIKE AND MAGIC MIKE XXL (still haunts my dreams)

233: I am begging you can you please BE NICE TO THE FLEET ADMIRAL (it's the 3rd time he's left in tears)

234: Chocolate - just run ok

235: Please stop re-enacting the screen from titanic when we are on a boat (I’m looking at you Brock)

235: PIZZA NIGHT IS A FREE FOR ALL AND IF YOU DONT WANT A BROKEN NOSE JUST BACK AWAY

236: Jokes. JOKES ARE BANNED - IF I NEED TO EXPLAIN WHY I WON'T BE HAPPY – NO ITS NOT FINE TO JOKE ABOUT THE FACT YOU HAVE BEEN STABBED CLAY

236.1: STAB WOUNDS ARE NOT ADDITIONAL POCKETS

237: Monopoly got violent last time and Jason got punched

237.1: In fact, any board games turn violent even snakes and ladders

237.2: Board games. Just please stop playing board games

240: Why am I revisiting the nerf guns people? IT WAS A FAMILY BARBECUE! (You lot need to learn to let your kids win!)

241: Brock is banned from Cooking - I do not want food poisoning again

244: WE DO NOT NEED A FLASH MOB EVERY TIME DONT STOP MOVING BY SCLUB 7 COMES ON

246: If they pass out around the fire pit for the love of god move them Clay and Sonny tend to like melting the sole of their boots on the flames even when passed out

251: Plastic cups only (this rule is to stop sonny from smashing them)

254: Why am I needing to revisit Sharpies? They aren’t allowed them, give them Crayola's or crayons

254.1: Scrap that YOU CAN’T EAT THE CRAYONS

256: Clay you are not Spiderman get off the walls

257: WHO GAVE COFFEE TO BROCK!!

257.1: THIS IS RULE ONE ON THE LIST WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU

258: Don't mention Hawaii five 0 just don't

258.1: They will attempt the intro to it, it’s just painful

259: Don't mention Harry Potter because they will all cry over different characters deaths

287: Soup is now banned (Ray. I honestly thought you were the normal one of the team. I am disappointed)

321: If you see Clay and Sonny cuddling just walk away, pretend you didn’t see anything, one of them had a bad day and the other is the only one they will confine in

322: Don't mention the Philippines or India just don't

330: If Metal and Trent are talking, just leave them be. (No one wants to know if Metal is yelling about something stupid Trent did)

331: Popcorn is not allowed on base it ended up in everyone's gear

342: Non-Aerosol Deodorant. (Two of them tried to eat it before realising it wasn't edible)

344: Aerosol Deodorant. (Metal and Sonny used it with lighters. to create a flamethrower)

344.1: Side note LIGHTERS ARE BAD

345: Headphones. DO NOT ASK

346: Rubber bands are not slingshots

FINAL NOTE: FROM BRAVO - BLACKBURN LOVES US REALLY PLEASE IGNORE THE ABOVE LIST ITS ALL LIES

[lupinblacktheone]

"So, I was thinking": a modern college!AU:

Johnny is bored. He has already finished all of his crosswords; all of his friends are busy minding their own business and won't pick up their phones.

Classes won't begin until next Monday. Johnny arrived at his dorm last night and he doesn't know when his roommate will be there. All he knows about this person is his name: LaRusso, Daniel.

Wondering about this mysterious boy could set Johnny free from his boredom. Is he a nerd? Or a drama kid? Johnny hopes he won't sing all the time. Of course he likes music (who doesn't?), but musicals... he isn't ready for them yet.

It would be nice to have some common likings with him. Maybe horror movies or breakfast for dinner (well, Johnny is so broke that he eats it for all meals, basically).

Remembering the old times, which weren't good, not at all, tugs at Johnny's heartstrings. He doesn't miss arguing with his parents all the time, but he certainly liked not having to iron his clothes himself. And he misses messing around with Tommy, Jimmy, Bobby and Dutch after school.

Oh, and Karate! Johnny misses it so much that it hurts. He couldn't find a Karate club to join (is this a thing? In Johnny's opinion, it should be. There are clubs for everything in this campus. If he can't find one, he'll form one). Maybe he can practice with Daniel and he could be the second member of the Karate club.

"Hello! I'm Daniel!"

Johnny stares at the boy. He's short, dark-haired and has round brown eyes.

"Johnny", the blond boy gets up, approaches Daniel and shakes his hand. "Can I help you unpacking?"

"Please", Daniel sighs and rubs his neck. "My mother just dropped me off and turned the car around. I barely had time to say goodbye. Can you believe it? I think she wants to rent my room while I'm gone, but I don't think I'll be going home anytime soon. How about you?"

Obviously, the first thing Johnny learns about Daniel is: he's a chatterbox. Second thing: he's from Jersey. He lives with his mother and would love to learn martial arts, but her mother wouldn’t let him because she’s afraid he will get hurt.

"I know Karate", Johnny confesses with a little smile.

***

Sometimes, Johnny regrets having told Daniel about his passion for Karate, because the kid didn't stop begging Johnny for some classes until he finally gave up.

Their dorm is too small and they would destroy it sparring there, so Johnny decides to have the class outside, behind the gym. Daniel said he would meet Johnny there after dinner (and yes, Daniel also has breakfast for all meals, since he is just as broke as Johnny).

December is on the way, so Johnny is wearing as much sweaters as he can (including his Cobra Kai jacket). He leans his back against the red brick wall and puts a cigarette between his lips.

Daniel shows up some minutes later, carrying a heavy messenger bag on his shoulder and wrapped in hoodies and coats (he has lots of cool hoodies; Johnny loves to borrow them and he is using the baseball one right now).

"Ugh", Daniel puts the bag down, massaging his shoulder.

"Are you ok?", Johnny asks with a worried look on his face.

"Perfect. Let's do this."

They get on fighting positions and spar for a while. When they get tired, they walk back to their room, peacefully talking about the day.

"Let me carry this for you", Johnny picks the messenger bag, even though Daniel has already bent to pull it.

He places it over his shoulder and Daniel walks beside him, ranting about his lame Calculus professor.

"I couldn't convince Mrs. Warter to postpone the paper's due date", Johnny complains when Daniel asks about his day. "I'll be lucky if I get a C on it."

"Do you want me to help you?"

Yes, please, he almost answers. Johnny enjoys having Daniel around. They don't have many common likings besides Karate and breakfast food, but he really enjoys staying up late with him, sharing their only desk (Johnny begun to work as a cashier in a store near the campus and Daniel writes other people's assignments for money and they are saving money to improve the place) and laptops on study sessions. Or to spend rare and lazy Sundays in their room, doing crosswords (Daniel bought some magazines and gave to Johnny). Or to share breakfast meals in the middle of the night because they can't sleep.

"Are you free tonight?", he asks, his voice sounds desperate, just as his eyes.

"Is this a study session or a date?", Daniel replies jokingly and raises an eyebrow. "Sure. I can help you."

Johnny opens his laptop and shows Daniel what he's working on.

"I mean, it's not bad, but could use some adjustments here and there. Let's get to work."

Daniel presses the keyboard keys hard with strong movements that emulate a pianist, but with perfectly tied hair. His brain is formulating what should be in the text and getting rid of what shouldn't be read by Johnny's professor.

"I think we're done here", Daniel declares.

"Thanks. I'm gonna buy you a coffee tomorrow, with extra cream."

"Much appreciated", the boy winks and Johnny's heart skips a beat. "So, I was thinking..."

"What a miracle", Johnny teases, smiling to distract Daniel from his blushing ears.

"Anyway, are you going home for Christmas?"

"I don't think so. You?"

"Also no. I don't have enough money for a ticket to Parsipanny."

Daniel looks at Johnny for a moment. His blue eyes are usually shiny, but now... he's more than just sad. Johnny looks depressed and scared.

"Are you alright?", Daniel reaches for Johnny's hand. "You can talk to me. I'm here for you."

Johnny doesn't talk. Instead, he goes for a hug. A big and warm hug. He clings onto Daniel as if he was the only thing keeping him from being blown away.

He doesn't want to cry. However, he can't fight the tears anymore. Daniel holds Johnny, trying to keep him together only with his bare hands. He doesn't try to whisper comfort words in Johnny's ear, he just stays there, providing his roommate all the support he can.

That night, Johnny falls asleep in Daniel's arms. He has never felt this safe before.

The next morning, Johnny rushes to the closest cafe shop to get the nicest cup they have. He drops by the dorm to put the coffee on the desk with a note: To the best roommate ever. Thank you for everything. Love, J.

He sends the paper to Mrs. Warter as soon as he takes a seat in the computer lab for his first class, hoping Daniel's help can save his poor ass from failing Warter's class.

A few hours later, Johnny is waiting for the last class to begin so he can get to work. Not that he likes standing up by a counter telling old people where they can find raisins, plum juice and other things old people buy. But at least, he gets to listen to his music and does little pieces of homework between a client and another.

There is something Johnny can't do at the store: see Daniel. Too bad they don't take many classes together, because every time Johnny sees Daniel entering the classroom, the world changes. It becomes brighter and more beautiful. He knows it's cliché, but Johnny is tired of pretending to be the perfect son, athlete... he just wants to be Johnny.

And Johnny is brave.

"So, I was thinking...", Johnny says when Daniel sits by his side.

"That's unusual", Daniel lets out that amusement air through his nose. "What is it?"

"Do you wanna go out? With... with me?"

That is really unusual. Johnny never was this reticent before. Not even when he noticed he had a crush on Ali Mills.

“Yeah, sure. When?”

“How about Friday? My shift ends at 5:30.”

“Sounds great.”

***

Johnny spends Christmas in his dorm, with Daniel. They curl up on Johnny’s bed, wrapped in Daniel’s hoodies, solving crosswords puzzles and drinking tea while listening to Johnny’s music. Neither of them wants to talk about their families.

Growing up as an only child, Johnny never had to share his things. He wouldn’t even allow Ali to read his poetry (he wrote some about her, tho), or let his friends go through his Spotify playlist. Not because he's embarrassed to like these songs, but because the lyrics describe him so perfectly that he's not comfortable with someone listening to it in front of him.

When he met Daniel and found out they could be good friends (maybe more than that? Johnny certainly hopes so), he felt an urge to take the boy on a journey through his world. First, they shared Karate, then crossword puzzles and went on and on, discovering little things about one another.

“Huh… I couldn’t get you anything for Christmas, so I wrote you a poem. Wanna hear it?”

Daniel doesn’t say anything, just gets closer to him as Johnny clears his throat and searches his notebook for his newest composition. Once he finds it, he puts the paper in front of his eyes (he was brave enough to ask the boy out, but not to have that lovely brown eyes gazing at him while he reads his feelings out.)

“I loved it, Johnny. Now get ready for your present.”

Johnny doesn’t close his eyes when his lips are pressed by Daniel’s mouth. It feels so good that they do it again and again until they fall asleep, holding each other.

***

Graduation is almost here. Most students have moved from the dorms or plan to do it soon. Daniel and Johnny, on the other hand, haven’t mentioned the matter yet. As you can imagine, they don’t want to live with their families again. The only thing Johnny wants is to stay with Daniel and he wonders if Daniel wants the same thing.

“Hey, Danny”, it was supposed to be a nice and quiet study session before the finals, but Johnny can’t hold this down any longer. “I was thinking… do you wanna live with me?”

“Are you kidding me? You’re never getting rid of me, blondie.”

[hiimsociallyawkward]

aithusia

hi bestie @lady-ofmagic-andstars it's been a while. i said i would do this episode last week but i had to wait for the destiny and chicken podcast to come out so here we are. basically, all of my thoughts while watching aithusia.

ugh the opening scene. i actually love it

ok ngl i remember that this guy is the bad guy but he's like 🥵🥵🥵 jeez

ik it's not just on tiktok but that tiktok where it goes 'but momma i'm in love with a criminal'

wow nice key bud

ok him running in the forest is just like you cannot outrun your demons and i thought that was so funny

smh he's so violent but he's so pretty :,)

ok but how old is this guy?? he say it's taken 20 years of his life. why 20? is that because that's when the 'last' dragon died out?? and at what age was he socially concious enough to recognize the implication of what it means to have a dragon? his is so dumb but probably like 15? so this guy is 35ish? idk man thoughts?

ok if he just feel off the cliff instead of being able to pull himself up we would've saved ourselves a lot of trouble i'm just saying druids.

ok this is so pretty. my thoughts are like 25% me singing show tunes, 25% thinking of actual merlin things, 50% thinking about how pretty everything is

merlin is such a light sleeper. idk why that's important but he wakes up ALL the time

✨gaius is the worst ✨

ok colin's eye looked so good in this scene

aLASFLJDFA MERLIN AND HIS SOCKS

stop i literally dress like this

i love his sleep clothes. it's such a vibe

aw merlin saying 'save the dragons is so cute' omg it reminds me of the vsco girls and saving the turtles HAHA

i love how equal merlin and kilgharrah feel here

asjflsjdasjdfl like ik this is the point but i love that merlin's inherited his father gift and he's always going to remember him. not that merlin would forget his father but idek

aw kilgharrah is like 'i beg you' ok now that i think abt it maybe it's slightly manipulative but it's also really not

ok actually i don't know how many time merlin uses this scene but i guess i'm keeping track now. but look how pretty

wow the rising sun 🤪

OH HAHA THIS IS WHERE MERLIN CARTWHEELS??

literally merlin just breaks in everywhere

merlin seems so earnest about wanting to see the dragons. i want to see the dragons too please

omg HAHA the woodworm is this episode??

WHY IS MERLIN STILL SEARCHING AFTER ARTHUR TURNS AROUND WHAT?

this is a side note but i love arthur's key holder thingy it's actually pretty.

stop right now why is merlin using his magic to PANTS arthur

ok i'm pretty sure that agravaine is only in this episode this one time, and yk it's the little victories

i'm actually embarassed for arthur and merlin here. i don't like it at all

HOW DOES MERLIN DO THE HANDSTAND?? that's the one part i like

ok my question is how is he supposed to know where the last piece of the triskeleton is??

SECOND QUESTION WHY IS HE JUST STANDING IN THE VAULT WHEN HE SHOULD BE RUNNING

lasflkajsdljsad omg the betrayal. ouch my heart

these scene are just like. it's actually art

ok how did merlin stay there all night and no one saw him?? literally camelot guards need to step up

omg no not merlin zooming

sklfja;lsdkjfasdlfs amerlin and the cup

i love how long merlin and arthur look at each other before arthur reacts

lsjfa;lksdsl woodworm omg and the fact that arthur believes that merlin is this chaotic is so funny

HAHA THIS SCENE GAIUS LITERALLY YELLING AT MERLIN

i think this is the funniest thing because gaius is like 'don't people about your magic' while YELLING ABOUT MERLIN'S MAGIC

ok that's a good point gaius we don't know what borden's intentions are

alsdjfalsd stop why didn't they wait for merlin :,(. this reminds me of when you're in highschool and you're finishing lunch and as you pack up everyone is leaving you??????

ok but i love that merlin rides in front with arthur. like- of course he does

merlin being observant 😍😍

i want to go horse riding now

STOP I DON'T LIKE THIS

THIS KNIGHT/DINNER GAG IS NOT FUNNY TO ME. NOT IN THE SLIGHTLEST. THERE'S THIS FIC by @a-small-batch-of-dragons. i literally spent like 10 minutes looking for it because i had to include it here

this scene just.. i don't like it. i never have and i never will

like- who decided that putting this scene in here would be good. no thanks

the knights sleeping in a circle and merlin sleeping on the outside. idk bro that made me a little sad

but also. i want a cloak please. i think i'm just going to say i want a cloak every episode

ok i chuckled at the interaction of 'ever herd of the word sorry?' and 'no is it a word you made up?'

dude don't ask why but i love it when people walk through waterfalls

i don't know why arthur looked so stupid when he was doing it though

i love the nature of it all

yes merlin, you start walking toward the castle first

aw i love the knights working together. like, i know they work together- they're knights, but we love to see it

merlin and his sharp eyes again :,))

why are they making camp it's literally not even dark yet 😭😭

oh great another dinner gag. please stop. i dislike this immensely

wow i love that merlin can heal them. i also think it's surprising because merlin sucks at healing things but yk.. ✨plot✨

this looks like the type of building teens would either be convinced is haunted and try to stay the night there or the type of building that all teens would go to to take pics for the #gram

ok is borden dead here or..

yes i'm putting both of these picture here. who's going to stop me

just kidding it's three

ok so not dead

ok this is not meant to be creepy but colin has nice hands

borden is a creep please go away now

merlin use your ✨magic ✨ please

YES. tell him you're the last dragonlord. i stan. YES HIM AND HIS MAGIC

you better run boy

ok how he manages to get out of the castle is astounding

HAHA there was some CGI that fell and i laughed so hard because it looked so fake

LITERALLY. THE PRETTY CASTLE SCENE IS HERE AGAIN. PRETTY CASTLE SCENE COUNTER; 3

omg merlin getting excited about the egg is actually so precious

both of their faces here are SO precious.

oasfasldfjasl idk why but whenever merlin walks across with the eggs i have this feeling he's going to faceplant and drop it for the comedic effect but i'm glad that never happens

bruh 'back where it belongs' like yes that makes sense but also that doesn't make sense

dude

it's been a full moon for like 4 days now..??????

omg i actually love aithusa

tbh, i DO NOT know how to pronounce her name

why is she actually the cutest thing ever.

AW MERLIN CRYING

i love it when merlin cries, but not in a sadistic way yk? it's more the fact that he's allowed to cry

ok i have a few dragon fics that i love but the only one i can think of right now is Returning the Favor by CaffeinatedFlumadiddle it's actually perfect

there are so many more that i love but i can't think of them but also- PLEASE REC YOUR FAVE DRAGON FAMILY DOMESTIC FICS PLEASE AND THANK YOU

anyways. i'll be back tomorrow to rant more about the darkest hr pt 2 so i'll see you then! also let me know if you want me to stop tagging you @lady-ofmagic-andstars because otherwise i will literally tag you in everything :,)

[spicedcinnamoncake]

Clouds  Pairing: George Weasley x Hufflepuff Reader!  Summary: You always found clouds to be peaceful, big puffy balls of fluff just drifting across the sky. George often saw you sketching them from the Quidditch bleachers when the Gryffindor team practiced. Who is the mysterious person with a sketchbook? TW: fluffy 💕  3.6k words

  ‘Dang it!’ You stormed into your dorm and tossed a roll of parchment paper onto your bed. You followed it and buried your face into a pillow. How could you have failed Flitwick’s test? Again? 

  You had spent so many endless nights studying for that test only to fail it. You pressed your face into the pillow and screamed. Life is so unfair. 

  You needed to cool off, let out some steam before you burst. You grabbed the leather notebook from under your pillow and a quill and went outside. The quidditch pitch in particular. 

  The clouds were large and puffy, with faint purple outlines that showed against the china blue sky. You grinned when you saw that the bleachers were empty. You climbed up the stairs to the top and plopped yourself down in a seat in the middle of the row and flipped to a blank page and began to sketch the outlines of the clouds. You immediately felt calmer, watching the clouds drift and feeling the slow motions of your hands as they sketched out the clouds in small delicate strokes made you feel at ease.

After about half an hour of sketching, you heard some noises coming from the Quidditch pitch. The Gryffindor team was setting out for practice. You were slightly annoyed that the silence had faded, but other then that you didn’t mind. You had sketched many times while while they teams practiced, and as long as you didn’t get hit in the face with a ball you didn’t mind. 

  The sun was starting to go down, casting beautiful golden rays of light that bounced off the clouds. You pulled out a small pack of colored pencils and began to add some color to the picture. Reds, yellows, oranges, slight shades of purple... 

  “WATCH OUT!’ 

  You whipped your head up and screamed as a bludger was coming right at you. You closed your eyes and prepared for impact, when you heard a bang. 

  ‘You alright?’ 

  Your eyes peeked open. A boy with flaming red hair was hovering on a broom in front of you. The name ‘Weasley’ was plastered on the back of his jersey. 

  You recognized the beater as George Weasley, he had a slightly rounder face then his twin Fred, and was a bit taller too. His brown eyes gazed into yours and you blinked away shyly. You could feel the heat rising to your cheeks. You had had an attraction to the younger Weasley twin for some time now, and the fact that he just saved you like a knight and shining armor made you think that you were dreaming.  

  ‘I-I’m ok I guess. thanks’. You said it all in a rush. George just smiled and held out his hand. ‘George Weasley. You are?’ 

  ‘Y/N Y/L/N.’ you replied, shaking his gloved hand. He held your hand tightly, and your fingers just seemed to click together. 

  ‘I always see you up here. What do you do up here anyways?’ 

‘Just draw.’ you said, showing him the sketch you were working on. 

  ‘Wow, that’s really good! I-’ 

  ‘Ay George! Come back down mate!’ 

  George turned his head back down to the field. Wood was waving him down. He turned back to you and smiled. ‘I got to go, see you around’

  And with that he flew back down. You blinked. What had just happened? Why do you kind of want to throw up? What the heck brain? 

  You began packing up your stuff and put it in your bag. Looking at the finished picture in your sketchbook, you thought of how messed up your face would be if George hadn’t come to your rescue. 

  You smiled at the thought of his smiling eyes and comforting voice. You quickly brushed it off when you realized the sudden blush that was slowly filling up your face. The thought of George occupied your thoughts all throughout the evening, more then usual, like your feelings towards him had just gotten stronger. That is, until your best friend Cedric called your bluff. 

  ‘Y/N, what’s up with you? Your awfully quiet today. Anything wrong?’ Cedric nudged your shoulder, pulling you away from your thoughts. ‘What? oh, I’m fine Cedric. Anyways how was that game against Slytherin?’ You blurted this out all at once trying to change the subject. Besides, you were being silly. You just caught George’s attention, talked to him for about fifteen seconds, and you were already getting butterflies for the boy. Why was this happening? It makes absolutely no sense. 

  ‘Come on Y/N, I know somethings up. Spill.’ You sighed. Cedric looked at you with pleading eyes and you couldn’t say no to him. You drew a deep breath and told him all about your near-death experience and how George had saved you. You ranted about how you have had caught the feels for him in third year but you wanted yo ignore it. Cedric nodded, and chuckled at how red in the face you were. You elbowed him in the chest and proceeded to pick at your food. ‘Come on Y/N, that’s perfectly normal. Don’t stress about it, do something to take your mind off it.’ 

   You sighed and considered his words. ‘Thanks Ced, i needed to here that.’      But the feeling didn’t leave you. You wanted to disappear into the sky and turn into stardust, just floating amongst the stars and planets. 

----------------------------------------------time skip-----------------------------------------------   You clutched the folded paper in your hand, peeking at the drawing you finished yesterday. You had scrawled George’s name across the bottom with a ‘From Y/N’ on the top. You drew a breath and walked over to him in the hall. You two had potions together and you wanted to see if you could catch him before class. You gingerly walked over to him and tapped his shoulder. He was much taller then you, and when he turned around you instantly felt your knees weaken. 

  He smiled at you and brushed his red hair out of his eyes. Your heart fluttered. ‘Hey, your Y/N right? good to see you again.’ He grinned at you. You noticed the significant amount of freckles around his nose and splattering on his cheeks. You snapped out of your daze and cleared your throat. ‘Yeah, that’s me. I uh, just wanted to give you this.’ You shoved the paper into his chest and dashed off. What the heck was that! Rude... You mentally scolded yourself as you entered the potions classroom. 

  George opened the paper and grinned. He ran his fingers over the outline of the beautifully drawn clouds and traced the colored lines. The contrasts of blues yellows and purples all blended beautifully together. He smiled at the name scribbled on top and smirked. 

  ‘Ay Georgie! What have you got there?’ Fred came up from behind George and slapped him on the shoulder. George quickly stuffed the paper into his robe and turned around. ‘Nothing Fred, what’s up with you?’ 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  You couldn’t stop stealing peeks at George during potions. At once point you caught his gaze and held it. His brown eyes staring into your Y/E/C eyes. 

  The weeks had gotten longer and more frustrating as your crush on George Weasley grew stronger. Every single wave or “Hello” in the hallways made your heart flutter. Cedric has been telling you and telling you over and over to just ask him out or something, or else your feelings will just keep eating at you until something bad happens. 

  ‘Fine, if you won’t do something about it then i will.’ Cedric concluded, taking another sip of his pumpkin juice. Your face turned red and you shoved him. ‘Ced, please don’t do anything.’ Your nose scrunched up with embarrassment. ‘There’s nothing you can do to stop me Y/N, i can and i will talk to him for you.’ 

  Merlin. If Cedric did do anything about the matter, you would give him the biggest hug ever after chasing him around Hogwarts with a hippogriff. 

  You needed to cool off and get your mind off of things for a while. Curfew wasn’t for another hour, so you still had time. You grabbed your sketchbook and went back to the quidditch pitch. Nobody had practice around this time, so you decided to lay right in the middle of the sand. 

  You sighed as you opened your book to a blank page. You tried sketching a hippogriff from memory, you had seen them in many books about magical creatures and always found them fascinating.

  You heard footsteps crunching in the sand behind you. Tensing as you turned around, your shoulders went weak as you saw the tall figure hover above you. ‘Mind if i sit here?’ George asked, pointing at the space next to you. 

  ‘S-sure, go ahead’. George grinned and sat down next to you in the sand, causing a small cloud to rise from the ground. He smelled like evergreen, with a hint of cinnamon. His brown eyes shined in the late sun. He peered at your sketch book and you blushed furiously as he looked up to you. ‘wow, that’s really good. Hippogriff right?’ 

  You brushed a lock of hair out of your face and swallowed. ‘y-yeah. They are really amazing creatures.’ 

  ‘i bet,.’ You racked your brain for something clever to say, but all you could come up with was , ‘so what are you doing out here?’ George turned to you and looked down, making eye contact. ‘i was taking a walk. Plus, a little birdie told me you would be out here.’

  Cedric. Dang it Ced. 

  You felt your chest tighten. George started to talk more and you found yourself talking back. You quickly felt comfortable around him, and he seemed to notice. You two talked for what seemed like forever. You showed him how you sketched, and he seemed really interested. 

  ‘I really liked that picture you gave me, your brilliant at art Y/N.’ You felt the heat rise to your cheeks as you smiled. ‘Just a little thank-you gift for saving my face the other day.’  George smiled as you giggled. The bell for curfew rang and you sighed. ‘dang it, time to go already?’ 

  ‘aw, miss me already?’ George poked a finger at your shoulder and smirked. You rolled your eyes and smiled. His cheeks were slightly pinker then before, but you brushed it off. ‘Maybe’. You leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek before gathering up your stuff and skipping out of the quidditch pitch. you looked calm, but your mind was buzzing and your heart was racing like a machine that was given too much horsepower. 

  Had you really just done that? Did you just kiss George Weasley? Well, it wasnt exactly a proper kiss but it was still a KISS. 

  You ran into the hufflepuff common room and pulled Cedric into the hallway and threw your arms around his shoulders. ‘Thankyou thankyou thankyou!!’ 

  Cedric hugged you in return and laughed at how red your cheeks were. ‘Mind if you could set me up with Cho?’ 

  ‘with what you did for me, i’d convince her to date you for all i care. Thanks Ced.’ 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  You and George had been seeing each other a lot more since that day on the Quidditch pitch. He even bothered to walk with you to a few of your classes. It made you feel special. You liked the way he teased you in the halls, not in the annoying way, but in the sweet way. You noticed how sometimes he got flustered when you slid your hand into his or when you playfully punched his shoulder. His cheeks got considerably redder when you were around, and you noticed it. 

  You guys became friends, but Cedric kept calling it “Friends with benefits”.   You always blushed hard when he said that, but you still liked hearing it. You thanked him nearly everyday since he told George about you in the quidditch pitch. You managed to return the favor and got Cedric a date with Cho to Hogsmeade. 

  ‘Speaking of which, she asked me if i wanted to go with her again next weekend’ Cedric said, beaming. You two were by the fire in the Hufflepuff common room trying to get through some herbology homework. Your ears perked up at this news. ‘Dang Diggory, you scored her.’ Cedric laughed and suddenly got flustered. ‘I uh, may have told her that you and George would come with us...’

  You stopped writing, quill hovering above the parchment as you turned your head slowly to Cedric, like a dog looking at it’s prey. 

  Cedric laughed nervously, running a hand through his hair. ‘i may have told her it was going to be like a double date...’ You huffed out of your nose and threw a pillow from the sofa at his head. Everyone looked at you before going back to their own things. 

  ‘Ced what the heck! why would you tell her that!? Oh merlin i’m going to have to ask George myself now aren’t i? What if he says no or i screw up or-’ 

  Cedric pushed a pillow in your face to shut you up. You huffed and resumed writing your parchment. ‘I’ll ask him tomorrow. Hope your happy Diggory. 

  ‘Never better Y/L/N.’ 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------      You took a deep breath as you went up to George. He smiled when he saw you. ‘Hey Y/N, ready to go?’ He was walking you you to potions like he did every morning. You made conversation before dropping the question. 

  ‘Hey, um, George? Would, would you like to go with me to Hogsmeade?  Cedric is going with Cho and he invited us to go with them... if you want to obviously.’ You stammered this out as quickly as possible, blush creeping up onto your cheeks as the redhead looked down at you. He simply grinned and slid his hand into yours, intertwining your fingers in his own. His hands were soft, and held onto yours firmly. You felt safe in his grasp. ‘Of course i’d love to go with you, Y/N.’ 

  Your heart fluttered and you felt relieved. You had been so worried that he would say no or think that you were some sort of weirdo. It’s like a weight had been lifted off your chest. Wait, are you overreacting? Maybe- 

  The day for the Hogsmeade trip finally rolled around, and you woke up with butterflies. You had planned your outfit the night before and got dressed after waking up. You wore a gray T-shirt with your favorite muggle-band name plastered on the front. You slid into your jeans and laced up your boots before grabbing a sweater off your bedpost and going down to the common room to meet Cedric. He looked good in casual clothes, you were so used to either seeing him in his robes or in his quidditch jersey. 

  ‘Dang Ced, you look different’ you smirked, eyeing the nervous look in his eye. ‘so do you Y/N. come on, our dates are waiting.’ he winked and you rolled your eyes, but smiled nonetheless. 

  Cho looked amazing in her cream sweater and pleated skirt. She linked arms with Cedric and they began talking. George looked amazing- all chilled and casual. He had on loose jeans and a T-shirt that had the gryffindor symbol on it. 

  He blushed as you walked over to him. ‘wow. you look amazing’ he took your hand in his own, and you giggled and blushed. Maybe Ced was right about being friends with benefits. 

  The four of you walked behind the rest of the group, laughing and talking about school and lessons. After practically emptying your pockets at Honeydukes, you went to the three broomsticks for butterbeer. You loved how the warm beverage tasted in the crisp autumn air. It Felt so cozy in the three broomsticks, warm drinks, friends, resting your head on Georges shoulder....

  wait what

  You snapped your head up and turned red. ‘Y/N, you alright?’ Cho asked, taking another sip from her mug. you looked up and nodded your head vigorously before looking down at your boots. George squeezed your hand before leaning over and whispering; ‘it’s alright, i don’t mind it.’ 

  You looked up and smiled, resting your head in the crook of his neck. The afternoon wore on and before you knew it it was already time to start heading back to school. You were sad that the day was ending, but you had had such a wonderful time you didn’t dwell on it. 

  Cedric went to go walk Cho to her dorm, and George walked you up to yours. You invited him up into your dorm but he politely declined, saying that he had to go to a meeting for quidditch that Wood was holding in the Gryffindor common room. You didn’t mind, you understood perfectly. 

  ‘well, it was nice spending the day with you, George.’ you said before slipping into the hufflepuff common room. George grabbed your arm before you went all the way in a pulled you back outside, running his hand through his hair nervously. ‘something wrong?’ you asked, eyes widening as he gulped. 

  ‘i was just wondering if you would  meet me in the garden tomorrow before dinner. like, like a date maybe? just you and i?’ he asked, nervously chuckling at the end. he looked down at his boots before you cupped his face and pulled him in for a quick kiss. Just a small, sweet kiss on the lips. Georges eyes widened and kissed you back. You pulled away. ‘sure, its a date.’ you winked and then disappeared into the common room. 

  George was stunned. He stood there for a moment, rubbing his jawline were your delicate hand was moments earlier. He grinned and walked back to his own common room, blushing and smiling. Fred sure was going to have a laugh about this. 

  You dashed up to your room screamed into a pillow. You had no idea what came over you. You just, had the urge to do it. And the fact he kissed you back? You felt like you were on a rollercoaster. up, down, sideways, kiss a boy, up again, a long emotional train. 

  You couldn’t wait until tomorrow afternoon. as soon as your last lesson finished, you’d be at the gardens with George Weasley. Whee! 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next morning at breakfast you were practically bouncing in your seat. Cedric noticed, but didn’t poke any fun at you. He himself had been awfully quiet as well, maybe something happened with Cho? Probably, he was awfully red. 

  You stole a quick glance at George, who was eating by his brothers, Harry and Hermione. George looked up and caught your eye. He winked at you and smiled. Fred followed his eyeline and began to laugh. George elbowed him and you giggled. Couldn’t time go faster? 

  Potions, charms, care of magical creatures, herbology, DADA, 

  Finally; the last lesson ended. You hurriedly packed up your quills and parchment and rushed to your dorm to drop them off. Once you caught sight of yourself in the mirror you stopped dead in your tracks. Sheesh, talk about bad hair. 

  After yanking on your hair for a bit, you dashed down to the stairs and outside. George was sitting on a bench near the shrubs. Once he saw you, he stood up and clutched your hand. ‘Didn’t think you would come’. you grinned and squeezed his hand. ‘wouldn’t miss it.’ You went to sit back down on the bench but George shook his head. ‘this is just the meet up place, not the actual location. That’s a surprise.’ 

  You grinned and let George lead you out of the castle and near the black lake. He put his hands over your eyes and walked behind you, leading you to this mysterious area. It was grassy for one thing, you felt it scratch against your ankles as you walked. ‘You aren’t planning on murdering me are you?’ You asked playfully. He just laughed.

  ‘Almost there, don’t worry.’ George said as he loosed his grip on your eyes. He pulled away, allowing your vision to adjust. you blinked rapidly, adjusting to the soft sunlight. There was a checked picnic blanket spread out in the grass near the black lake. It was simple, sweet, you loved it. You turned around to see George nervously running his fingers through his hair again, which made him look cuter. You smirked and ran over, hooking your arms around his neck, kissing his cheek. You felt his arms wrap around your waist and you buried your face in the crook of his neck. You felt his hands slide under your knees and he picked you up. 

  You laughed and pulled away, looking down at him. George was smiling from ear to ear. He put you down and you guys walked over to the blanket and sat down. ‘I was thinking about how much you told me about clouds, so i found this spot so we could watch them together.’ he said, slipping his hand into yours and squeezing it. You grinned and lay down next to him. The clouds were beautiful. 

  George propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at you. You smiled as he stared into your eyes and brushed a strand of hair out of your face. ‘Y/N, i need to confess something... i really, REALLY like you, and i have wanted to tell you that for so long. would you- would you perhaps want to be my girlfriend?’ 

  George looked so nervous it was cute. You put a hand on his shoulder and kissed his cheek. ‘of course i would, you dummy. i like you too.’ 

  He smiled widely, and leaned in to kiss you, while the clouds drifted above your heads. This, was the most perfect setting you could ever imagine.