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#Hi! I'm participating in Art Fight this year!

writing-in-the-impala · 7 months

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Secret Smokes

Pairing: Teacher! Remus Lupin x Reader

Series Summary: When the reader bumps into the new DADA professor on the bridge in Hogwarts she begins to build a friendship with him all thanks to their shared feeling of not belonging and love for muggle cigarettes. Their friendship blooms while they both fight internal battles deciding what is wrong and what is right leading to a lot of fluff, angst, flirting and a rollercoaster of emotions.

Warnings: Swearing, Drinking, teacher-student relationship (but like it’s all legal chill), SLOWburn we’re in for a long ride

Word Count: Just over 1k

A/N:

This story takes place in a AU where Harry's parents are still alive so Remus Lupin still has all his friends and there is no war however that doesn't make him any less angsty. Everything else is pretty much the same as the canon universe! Enjoy!

MASTERLIST | SERIES MASTER LIST | Part 1, Next Chapter

The wizarding world and the muggle world have always felt like two completely different worlds, maybe that's why Witches and Wizards who are muggle-born become outcasts. It's hard adjusting to a school but adjusting to a whole world at 11 is even harder. Even in your last year of Hogwarts you still didn't feel like you belonged, each summer going back to the muggle life that you have always known, working a summer job at a coffee shop and hanging out with muggles rather than wizards. You had friends in Hogwarts of course, some closer than others and even though it helped you feel more at home you knew that after Hogwarts you'd end up working a muggle job.

Maybe that's why entering your last year at Hogwarts didn't seem as intimidating because at the end of the day it didn't really matter what results you got in your N.E.W.T.S. Still in its own way you knew you'll miss the castle and the life you've lived in it. So your final train ride to Hogwarts felt a bit bittersweet. One thing didn't change, once again a new Defence against the dark arts teacher got introduced, this time one called Remus Lupin. He looked a lot kinder and nicer than the last one.

Your first week went by extremely quickly, quidditch practice hadn't started yet so you had more time to just hang out with your friends. All your lessons were easy so far as everyone was settling to being back. The new profesor was quickly becoming everyone's favourite due to his friendly nature, he seemed to befriend every student something no other profesor really did. You didn't really get to interact with him too much one-to-one during lessons as whenever he had free time the girls with a crush on him would jump onto the opportunity. You didn't really care about DADA as you wouldn't need it in the muggle world but you did understand why everyone was developing a crush, you had your own brewing for him.

It didn't take long for you to get home sick, homesick for the muggle world. Nothing really felt right to you, not even the food it just never tasted as good as what your mother would make, you missed your parents terribly it was a lot harder sending them owls than sending owls to wizard families, they didn't really grasp the concept. The twins could see that you were getting down again, they knew this happened every year after summer, and they've always tried to help lift your spirit. "Y/N we were thinking it was a good time to plan the first prank of the year what do you say?" Fred said. "Y/N is in her last year, she can't be participating in your silly games." Percy answered for you. "Who invited him?" George snapped back.

"Percy might be right I can't get in as much trouble as I did last year I don't want to get suspended, I'm on thin ice with old Minnie after the last prank we pulled before summer." You admitted, maybe you didn't care about your exam results but you didn't want to get suspended. The debate continued and you ended up agreeing to planning a prank that you may or may not help with. After dinner you decided to take a quick detour to the covered bridge, at the end of your fifth year you discovered it was empty in the evenings as it didn't lead to anywhere people would go at that time of night, it instantly became somewhere you would go for peace, and once you discovered smoking, it also got added to the list of secret smoking spots.

When you approached the middle of the bridge you saw a figure standing smoking a cigarette, you felt a bit gutted someone was using your spot but also excited at the idea of someone being so alike you. You approached them and they quickly put out the cigarette. "Don't worry man, I'm not a teacher I won't snitch." You claimed as you walked up to them before you could make out who it was.

"I know but I am." The figure replied, you were now close enough to make out that it was Professor Lupin. He was no longer leaning over the edge but standing straight with his hands in his pockets.

"I won't snitch if you won't?" You said pulling out your own packet of cigarettes. And his face turned to a gentle smile.

"I really shouldn't-" He protested. "Oh come on, you're new. This is normal." You preached. "Yeah Minerva and I do this all the time but don't tell her I told you." This got a laugh out of him.

"I may have believed you up until that point Y/N. But that's where you've lost me." He remembered your name and for some reason it made your heart skip for a second, he had so many students that he's met in one week and he still managed to memorise yours.

"Come on I'll give you a smoke if you don't tell anyone?" You reached out the pack to him "Camels?" He questioned while taking one. "You know them?" You took one out the packed for yourself before putting it away. "They're muggle smokes." He stated nonchalant, there wasn't any hate in those words which was rare around these halls. "I like them." You pulled out a lighter to light your cigarette while he snapped his fingers and it was instantly lit. "How did you do that? You instantly snapped back . "Do what?" He smiled while holding the cigarette in his mouth, he was attractive in the moon light. "Light it with a snap." You replicated his previous action. "It's a simple arson spell, just a small flame. I used wand less magic." He explained "If it's wand less why did you snap your fingers? Surely you could've just done it." You pressed. "Yes. You've got me there." He admitted. "So you were just trying to impress me?" Slipped out before you realised how those words could sound flirty, you barely knew the man. Truthfully if he wasn't your profesor and this was an interaction with a student you would be developing a stupid crush on them.

"You could say that." He said, with half a smile on his lips. "I'm the new profesor who you've just caught spending the evening by himself smoking, I don't want you to tell everyone I'm boring now I seem impressive."

"Or insecure." You shot back and he bit his lip and shook his head in disbelief at your words. He decided not to reply, instead went back to leaning over the bridge looking out into the darkness and smoking his cigarette and silence fell upon you both.

"I like the camel ones, just because the camel is cute." You broke the silence after a while, you felt bad for calling him insecure and wanted to kill the awkwardness. He laughed at your comment. "You know smokings bad for you? Even if the camel is cute." He said flicking the butt of his cigarette into the darkness. "I know." You quietly replied.

He checked his watch before standing up straight"Curfew has already started so don't stay out here too long as Snape is the one on duty today." He began to walk away. "Professor-" He turned around at your words. "This didn't happen right?" You questioned nervously. "What are camels?" He replied with a wink. "Have a good evening Y/N."

"You too Professor."

NEXT CHAPTER

#remus lupin x reader #student x teacher #teacher! Remus Lupin #professor lupin x reader #hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry #remus lupin #the maruaders #harry potter #remus love you #secret smokes

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seleneprince · 2 months

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If Severus had been a girl, her story would have been mostly the same as canon, except that the Marauders maybe wouldn't have been so harsh with their bullying because "she wasn't a threat to James' crush on Lily" and "she's just a girl, girls are fragile". However, she would have still been in love with her and James knew that, so he still despised her, thinking she was holding Lily back from him.

Now unto my personal headcanons (because they fit and they make me happy):

- Fem! Severus wouldn't have shared a room with Mulciber and Avery, so she would have befriended her female roommates instead. I believe the fanaticism for the Death Eaters cult was more prominent in boys than girls, because society expected them to stay at home and raise more purebloods than participate in battles. However, she would've still hung out with them because they shared the same interest for Dark Arts.

-Her roommates would be Dorcas Meadow, Pandora Rosier (Evan Rosier's cousin) and Theresa Flint (the last one is an oc of mine)

- She would be a tomboy for the first few years, having her hair cut short and wear the male uniform instead of the female one. Partly because she's used to wearing boy clothes and partly to avoid embarrassing pranks from the Marauders. Due to this, she's often mistaken for a boy and fits in better with her male classmates.

- She knows wizards are more respected that witches, so she strives to imitate a masculine appearance to earn that (at first). It's not a case of "I'm not like other girls". She wants to survive.

- She's been infatuated with Lily since they met, but this crush wears off as Snape sees Lily's selfishness and hypocrisy. By the time their friendship is over, Snape is already disillusioned with her but still tries to hold into their old bond out of emotional attachment rather than love.

- She faced her own prejudice and hardships in Slytherin for being a poor half-blood, with a disgraced pureblood mother. She only earned her place when she showed off her talent and bested a few of her housemates. Basically, she had to win fights, physical and magical, against her own housemates until they deemed she deserved to be in Slytherin.

-In canon, Lucius took Snape under his wing and treated him like a brother in Hogwarts. In this, it's Narcissa who sees the potential in Snape and practically adopts her, and Lucius follows her example. Thanks to the older girl, Snape experiences nice clothes and good school tools for the first time. Narcissa is quite her sugar mommyl, but Snape is also her pet project.

- She's a bit of "one of the boys", although they're not really friends until fourth year. The boys were Mulciber, Avery, Wilkes and Rosier. They accepted her because they didn't really consider her a girl and they begrudgingly respected her skills. It was a mutual understanding that they used each other for their own benefits, Snape helping them with her intellect and spells while they helped her into getting assimilated with the other Slytherins. As they grew and got to know Snape beyond her blood status, they became protective of her and started to cherish her truly as a friend (althought Rosier took it to another level)

-Which brings us to my next headcanon. In my au, Rosier and Snape had a nice connection on first year when they sat together during History of Magic. He's one of the few that was welcoming of Snape since the start and always treated her like an equal. She's very fond of him because of it, and they grow to be very close friends.

-Regulus still looked up to her when they were students. He didn't trust her at first, because of her blood status and all, but seeing she had Narcissa's favour, he decided to look past it. And after witnessing her talent, he decided he wanted to learn more about her, so he began to follow her around to know her better. Snape was annoyed initially, but she eventually appreciated his company.

-She showed some genuine kindness to Barty Crouch Jr on his first year at Hogwarts, and the boy latched unto her like an eager puppy since then. That's how he befriended Regulus, with both of them following her around so often.

-They were both her little brothers, her precious babies, who couldn't do nothing wrong even if they tried. She was patient and permissive with them in a way she definitely wasn't with her other friends.

-She's the brain of the group, so she's usually saving their asses from the consequences of their actions (Mulciber, Avery and Wilkers) and helping them with their schemes (Dorcas, Rosier and Narcissa).

-In her desire to remain in Lily's life and have the girl's love, Snape repressed herself and kept her Slytherin friends at arms' length, which caused many arguments. When she and Lily had that fallout, Snape fully embraced her identity and, in return, her housemates embraced her too, as if they had been waiting for her.

-She was a natural Occlumens, unconsciously developing her ability while she learnt to mask her feelings and thoughts, product of the abuse and harassment she went throught.

-Her boggart used to be her father, Tobias Snape, but after "the prank", it became a werewolf instead.

-After what happened in the Shrieking Sack, she inmersed herself in researchs about lycanthropy and possible cures in order to forget her fear.

-When she experimented with potions, she tried them first on small animals, mostly rats and birds. Then bigger animals, like owls and cats. And lately, in the final phase of testing, she tried them on herself. Only her friends knew about this practise, since Snape made them promise to not tell a soul, since she didn't trust the Hogwarts staff to be understanding about it.

-When something goes wrong on the final test, she heals in the privacy of her bed while her friends take care of her, lying to the teachers that she's sick. They dread this practise of hers, since they can't stand seeing her in pain, but also had mad respect for her because of it.

-She was a control freak, obsessively cleaning and arranging her stuff with systems only she understands. She always knew when someone touched her things, just by seeing them moved the slighest bit to the different position she left them. Her housemates knew better than disrupt her order.

-Her talent with potions surpassed even Slughorn himself, but he preferred to praise Lily because her looks and attitude fit more in his club. He came to regret that decision years later, but Snape knows how to keep grudges.

-She considered Mulciber, Avery, Dorcas, Pandora, Rosier, Regulus and Barty her closest friends within Slytherin. The rest were just acquaintances. She was also close to Aurora Sinistra, from Ravenclaw, and Charity Burbage, from Hufflepuff.

-She and Charity danced around the lines separating friendship from romance for a while, but Snape wasn't ready for that step and Charity moved on. They remained good friends.

-She was a raging bisexual, because obviously.

-She didn't support the Death Eaters' beliefs, but she really looked up to the figure of Lord Voldemort. A poor half-blood like her, who paved his way to the top of the hierarchy with his charms, wit and power, making all the pureblood families submit to him. He was everything she aspired to be, everything she wanted to have. However, she soon realized her vision didn't exactly match reality...

And that's all. I have more but I wrote too much already. I'm on a hyperfixation, so I'll definitely write more about her in the future.

Feel free to tell me your own ideas or headcanons. I'll love to discuss them.

Tagging @love-the-purple-cat because she's also a fem! Snape stan. She has an amazing au, so go and check her!

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roach-works · 1 month

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Hi!!!! I recently read When the Wolf Comes Home and I loved the premise the where the fic was heading. I know it hasn't been updated since 2017 so I was wondering if there was any intention of finishing it? I know it's possible you've moved on from that fandom and that is totally fine! If you are, would it be possible to share where you wanted to take the fic? Thank you, I absolutely loved your writing!!!

im a little stuck on that one because yeah i do sometimes noodle a little more on it and i had a pretty solid plot for the first year, after which i was going to be Very Firmly Done because so many rewrites attempt to take on the whole seven year span and founder on the complexity. but the problem is im really ambivalent and undecided on how much i want to participate in harry potter fandom at this late date, with JKR going mask-off nazi sympathizer. it's a weird situation where you can't argue for death of the author when the author is annoyingly alive and arguing that you should be dead.

im deeply reluctant to denounce people still participating in a fandom that i myself found incredibly fun and rewarding for, yknow, several decades of my life, and i don't think i'm better than them, just fortunate to be more interested in other projects.

but ambivalence towards the fandom and deep resentment towards the creator aren't really a productive headspace to actually write in, and i also don't want to finally work through my own doubts, finish another chapter, and then get my head torn off by people who are certain that i'm supporting JKR's toxic fuckwittery.

all in all it's easier and more rewarding to play with other fandoms and work on my many original projects.

where the fic was going:

as far as i remember, in When The Wolf Comes Home, draco was going to get his dad to hire lupin as his defense against the dark arts tutor and rent out the shrieking shack for the man to work out of, thus circumventing the curse on the DADA position and giving draco a werewolf mentor and independent bolt-hole.

quirrelmort was going to continue trying to figure out how to use or dispose of draco on his way to get the philosopher stone, a side-plot draco knew almost nothing about. draco would continue to try to maneuver harry into quirrel's way and snape out of his way, with indifferent success. harry and ron, lacking any voice of reason to temper their enthusiastic partnership of 'baby griffindors looking cool in front of their first real friend ever', would continue to believe that draco, the saddest wet puppy, was an evil monster and the cause of all their misfortunes. draco would continue to be the most mentally and emotionally unstable kid in the castle, taking all the heat off neville, who would end up looking fairly cool and collected by comparison. rita skeeter would feature somewhere in there, hired by narcissa to write little puff pieces on how tragic and brave draco was being about going to school with such a tragic disability.

remus lupin would end up with a full schedule tutoring DADA students about to take their NEWTs and OWLs and make a bunch of money. with lucius as his patron and PR agent, he would be accepted in hogsmeade as a dashing and heroic warlock who had been off having reams of secret agent adventures as dumbledore's key man in the muggle world. remus would not really know what to do with this but eat as much as possible and smile gamely when lucius showed him off to people.

eventually towards the end of the year quirrel would get rid of draco by orchestrating a fight between ron and draco where ron cut his fist on draco's teeth. this would count as a bite and draco would get thrown in azkaban and belatedly realize that he had completely and totally forgotten about sirius black's whole Saddest Wet Dog situation. sirius would do his best to take care of his tiny insane werepuppy cousin until the malfoys and longbottoms and weasleys combined to lever draco back out, using ron's ashamed testimony. draco would immediately turn around and reveal scabbers. the malfoys would end up looking like champions of truth and justice and the weasleys would, unfortunately, have to just stand there and smile gamely for the cameras.

while all this was happening harry would go after quirrel with hermione and neville and take him down. dumbledore would show up at the end, when voldemort was defeated and sirius was exonerated and several deep family feuds had been laid aside, to dispense twinkling paternal wisdom.

draco would kick him in the fork.

THE END.

#time traveling baby werewolves #writing #fic

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ro-is-struggling · 1 year

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Can I pretty please request 6 with sirius black and perhaps slytherin! Reader?

Hi beautiful💜 Thank you so much for participating in the celebration and I'm sorry it took me so long to post your request!

This is so long for no reason I’m sorry!! I got soooo carried away I didn’t realize I wrote a fucking novel until it was to late lol But I really enjoyed wrtiring this one even tho it took forever and it was a pain in the ass to edit lol, I had a lot of fun so I hope you like it too

Dating 101 || Sirius Black x Slytherin!Reader

Summary: You and Sirius are not the best of friends, but you end up going to him in desperate need of help to get the attention of the guy you've liked for years but don't seem to be able to talk to. He agrees to help you and for the next few weeks you spend time together, getting to know each other better as he teaches you everything he knows about the dating world. The more time you spend together, the more you realize that Sirius is not the arrogant jerk you thought he was, which leads to confused feelings and doubts about who is the one who truly owns your heart.

Warnings: slow burn, rivals to lovers, attempt at humor, reader being awkward, fluff, a little angst kinda

English is not my first language

Word count: 16.700

This fic is part of my 600 followers celeration

You couldn't believe what you were about to do, your brain screaming at you to stop. You felt sick at the thought of turning to Sirius for help, but you truly had no other choice. You had avoided this as much as you could, but your situation couldn't go on like this, not if you wanted to get your crush to look at you at some point. You weren't a big fan of Sirius —you found that he could be annoying and arrogant at times—, but you couldn't deny that he knew all about the dating world. He was confident and was able to get the attention of anyone he wanted just by giving them a smile. You couldn't understand how he did it —how could anyone be so charming?—, but you couldn't argue with the hard evidence. Sirius was a master at the art of dating and you needed his help.

You felt a bit silly going to him for help with something like this. You weren't necessarily friends, more like frenemies. You usually argued and competed for points for your respective houses-Sirius for Gryffindor, you for Slytherin-you were both very good students and found your fights stimulating, but you also knew how to work together when necessary. You didn't hate each other, it was just that your personalities clashed easily and you both had a predilection for annoying the other to the point of madness.

"I need your help with something, Black." You announced when you found him at the Gryffindor table in the Great Dining Hall. He was with his friends, laughing as they plotted who knows what, but you didn't care. You needed to talk to him and you needed to do it now. "Can we talk... in private?" You added as you noticed James, Peter and Remus' curious glances at you.

Sirius looked at you with a raised eyebrow, noticing a hint of discomfort in your action. You were fidgeting, your fingers lightly tapping the edges of the book you held in your hands as you moved your feet constantly, shifting your body weight from one to the other every couple of seconds. Something was bothering you and for some reason you had gone to him of all people. Sirius didn't need to ask you any more questions to follow you into the hallway, too intrigued by what you had to say.

“What’s up, Y/LN?” He asked you when he saw the doubt in your expression, opening and closing your mouth a couple of times without making a sound. He had to admit that your behavior kept poking his curiosity to the point that he was willing to say yes to anything you asked as long as you told him something.

"I need your help," you mumbled as you searched for the right words to explain your situation. Your brain was screaming at you to shut your mouth, sure that Sirius would do nothing but make fun of you, but you had no other options left so that was a risk you would have to take.

"You said that already," he pointed out. "What do you need my help for?"

"I need you to help me get a guy's attention. I know you're really good at this stuff and I thought maybe you could help me out." You spoke quickly, the words running over each other and making the sentence almost unintelligible. It took Sirius a few seconds to understand what you had said, but when he did a cocky smile formed on his face.

“Really?” You regretted asking for his help as soon as you heard the amused tone in his voice. He was definitely enjoying this, it wasn't every day that you were so vulnerable in front of him. He would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy listening to you compliment his abilities in the love department. For the first time you were admitting that he was better than you at something without putting up a fight.

"Forget it." You turned to walk away convinced that you had made a mistake in trusting someone like Sirius with your problem. You barely made it two steps before you felt his hand close around your arm to stop you.

"Nonono wait! I wanna help." He was quick to say before you got too far away. "What's your problem?" You remained silent for a moment, watching his face to make sure he wasn't messing with you. You weren't in the mood to put up with his teasing and this topic was too sensitive for you. If he wasn't willing to genuinely give you his help then you would have to leave.

However, you found nothing in his expression that made you suspect that he had bad intentions, so you told him your situation. You told him how much you liked this Oliver guy and how incredibly stupid you became whenever he was around. You had a crush on him for the past two years and even though you were from the same house and shared almost every class, you had never been able to exchange more than two words with him. And it was always embarrassing. All he had to do was look in your direction and you completely lost your cognitive abilities, becoming a nervous mess who couldn't utter more than two words without stuttering.

After all this time you had almost gotten used to making a fool of yourself in front of Oliver, it was a constant part of your day to day life so you had stopped worrying about it the way you used to. You held out hope that you could get better with time, gather the confidence and courage to face your feelings and have a normal conversation with him at least once. However, all your hopes were shattered after the embarrassing moment you experienced this morning.

The Potions class had dragged on a bit so by the time you were finally able to leave the classroom everyone was running late for their next classes. Everybody rushed through the halls and in the confusion of people Oliver bumped into you, causing your books to fall to the floor. Like the gentleman he was, he bent down with you to pick them up and your fingers brushed as he handed them back to you, causing the skin on your hand to tingle. He smiled at you and apologized for hitting you, but your brain, overwhelmed by the contact and proximity, wouldn't allow you to do anything but mumble incoherently. When you noticed the confusion on his face you knew it was time to run, so you grabbed your books and ran down the hallway, bumping into a couple of students on the way.

“Wow! You suck!” Sirius laughed at your misery. He had a hard time imagining you as someone so shy and awkward given that with him you were Miss I-Know-It-All. Sirius always saw you as a confident and self-assured girl, ready to take the world by storm if it got in the way of your goals.

"I know!" you admitted with a tone of frustration, hiding your face in your hands. You didn't see the point in lying to Sirius, your pride was already crushed from the moment you decided to go to him. "That's why I need your help!"

"Okay, I'll help you, but what's in it for me?" The way he was looking at you, with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile on his face, made you suspicious of his intentions. What was he getting at? " What's in it for me if I help you, something that, let me remind you, I have absolutely no need to do?"

"My eternal gratitude?"

"Oh, it has to be something better than that! You're asking for a lot here, do you have any idea of how much work it's gonna take me to fix your awkwardness?" You knew he was joking for the most part and you were aware that there was a lot of truth behind his words —you were pretty much a lost case—, but it still hurt a little to hear him say that. You weren't used to taking his words without putting up a fight, but you knew that wouldn't get you anywhere. It was time to swallow your pride and listen to Sirius no matter how ridiculous and annoying it sounded.

"Then what do you want?" You asked him, letting out a frustrated sigh, crossing your arms in front of your chest in a defiant stance. You had no time for his games and you were pretty much willing to do anything for his help. "Name your price."

Sirius took a moment to think, but there was something in his expression that suggested to you that he already knew exactly what he wanted from you.

"Fine I'll do it, but only if you help me with my Herbology assignment." He stated after a few seconds of silence. You looked at him in surprise, doubting for a moment if you had heard correctly. For some reason you were expecting something more terrible, like him using you to make a prank against your own house or having you as a servant for a week, you know, something that felt more like a punishment than anything else.

"Really? That's it?" It was a reflex caused by surprise that you couldn't help but blurt out. You were more than happy with his terms, helping him in Herbology was something you could do with ease.

"No, now that I think about it I also want you to declare to everyone that I'm better than you in everything, but we can work on that."

And there was the Sirius you knew. You shook your head in disapproval, but couldn't contain the giggle that escaped your lips. He was an idiot, but a funny idiot.

"Fine! We have a deal?" You asked, holding out your hand for him to shake. He looked at you for a moment before taking your hand, closing his fingers over it in a firm grip.

"We have a deal."

Sirius refused to tell you what he had planned for his first lesson —his words, not yours. No matter how hard you pressed him for a clue, he kept his mouth shut. He told you it was best that you didn't know more than the day and time he wanted to meet with you to discuss your situation, so you had to spend the week between the stress of homework and exams and the nerves Sirius aroused in you with all the secrecy.

But finally, after so much suffering and uncertainty, Saturday came. You usually took advantage of the weekend to do your homework or spend time with your friends, but not this time. From the moment you woke up you spent the day counting down the hours until you could meet Sirius. You weren't even surprised that he took his role comically seriously, walking around you while talking as if he was a teacher and you were his only student. He even made exaggerated gestures, mixing several of your teachers into one personality. He only needed a board to write nonsense on and the character would be complete. You didn't mind that he found a way to joke in the middle of it all, you figured that was better than literally anything else he could come up with.

"Today's lesson is about confidence." Sirius announced firmly, looking down at you as if you were an innocent little girl and he was an experienced adult who had all the answers to your questions. And in a way he was, so you closed your mouth and listened to what he had to say. "If you want to ask this guy out then first you have to be able to be able to talk to him. And for that you have to be confident in yourself and your abilities. That's really the most important part of all. Confidence can get you far in life."

You knew very well that what he said was true, but it was much easier said than done. You were a confident girl in general, sure of your ideas and unafraid to communicate them. In any other area of life you had no problem making yourself heard, but when it came to love your brain stopped working. It was the one thing your brain couldn't master, the one thing that didn't seem to make sense and therefore was impossible to study. The world and everything you knew about it stopped making sense when Oliver got close to you. Your brain would fry when he smiled, overwhelmed by the perfection of his face, and suddenly forget how to function properly, making your strong and special personality get lost in a bunch of incoherent babbling.

“That’s easier said than done,” you complained, letting out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but everytime Oliver looks at me I get all stupid and suddenly I forget how to speak.”

“You’re insecure because you lack experience in the matter, that’s completely normal.” You frowned at the confidence in Sirius' voice, but after contemplating his words for a few seconds you realized he was right. How he had been able to figure it out so quickly, you didn't know.

“That… actually makes sense. What do you think I should do?”

“Easy! You need to practice.” He said as if it were obvious, dropping down next to you.

“Practice?”

“Yep, right here, right now. Show me what you’ve got.”

“S-show you what I’ve got?” you repeated in a whisper, unsure how to proceed. You didn't have any lines if that's what he meant. You didn't usually walk around school thinking about which boy's attention you wanted to attract that day, so you didn't have a list of stupid, cheesy icebreaker phrases like you knew he had.

"Just pretend that I'm him. You have me sitting next to you, what's your line?" Sirius' eyes were glued to yours, looking at you expectantly. It made you nervous, so naturally, you made nothing but a fool of yourself when you opened your mouth.

"Hey there... you..." you hesitantly mumble, cringing at yourself. You wanted to slap yourself for being so pathetic. What was wrong with you? You were so much better than this, why was it impossible for you to sound like a normal person when it came to a guy? "I'm sorry, this isn't working. I'm not usually the one that initiates the conversations. Also when I look at you I just see you, so this is dumb."

You hid your face in your hands to avoid meeting Sirius' mocking gaze. You knew he was probably getting a kick out of your suffering and stupidity, although you were thankful he didn't make it so obvious. You wanted to run out of there, hide under your sheets and never be noticed again by any other human being. There was no hope for you, you were convinced of it. You were too pathetic and you would die alone because of it.

"Fine, let's try a different approach." Sirius sounded too optimistic for someone who had seen you make a fool of yourself like that. "You see that guy over there," he said, forcing you to take your hands away from your face so you could see the boy he was pointing at. When you nodded, he continued. "I want you to get over there and flirt with him."

You let out a long laugh that died as soon as you noticed the seriousness on Sirius' face. "Wait, seriously?" He nodded with a smile and you felt your stomach start to twist with nerves.

"Look, talking to Oliver scares you, right? The only way to get over it is to face it right here, right now. So I want you to go there and talk to that guy."

"And say what?" You panicked, your voice a couple of notes higher than normal. You didn't even know the guy Sirius wanted you to flirt with, which guaranteed not only that things would go horribly wrong but also that you would be humiliated in front of a complete stranger. Great! That was exactly what you needed at that moment. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I can barely talk to you. what am I supposed to say to this guy?”

“I don’t know, use a dumb line like…” Sirius took a few seconds to think, though you wished he had never opened his mouth again. "Hey, I could tell from across the room we might be into each other, now that I'm here I know it, your move." The exaggeratedly feminine voice he made as he recited the worst line you'd ever heard in your life did nothing to ease your urge to hit him. There was no way you were going to say that to a complete stranger. No, you refused.

"I'm sorry, have you met me? I couldn't get through three words of that."

"Fine! Walk over there and say hey there."

"Hey there?" You tried to protest, but he cut you off, pushing you to get up.

"C'mon, up, up!" you resisted his pushes, but Sirius was much stronger than you and eventually won you over.

You took several deep breaths before you decided to take the first step towards that mysterious boy who was so calmly reading a book sitting on a bench in the hallway overlooking the courtyard. You walked as slowly as possible without looking weird, turning every two seconds to look at Sirius hoping he would take pity on you and let you go back to your place. However, he just smiled at you, giving you the thumbs up in a gesture of encouragement and making you hate him just a little bit.

You sat on the unoccupied end of the bench, making yourself as small as possible to try to go unnoticed. It didn't make much sense since you were supposed to talk to him, but first you needed a moment to calm your nerves.

C'mon, you can do this!' the voice of bravery in your mind tried to encourage you. 'It's just a guy! The sooner you talk to him, the sooner you can get this over with.'

You tried to summon your inner Sirius and, letting out a sigh, you turned to look at the boy who was still concentrating on the book in his hands. "Hey there!" Your voice sounded smaller and more pathetic than you meant it to, but it managed to get the boy's attention.

"Hi," he said, slightly confused. A few seconds of awkward silence ensued as your brain struggled to function, thinking of the best way to continue the conversation.

"What are you reading there?" Without saying anything, the boy closed the book in his hands to show you the cover, giving you time to read the title. It was an old book from the library on the history of the magical world. "Ah, I see. Homework or pleasure?" You didn't know why you were so interested in the book he was reading, it didn't even matter for what you were supposed to be doing, but at least it was a topic of conversation. It was either that or a deep uncomfortable silence until one of you got tired and left.

"I'm doing some research for an essay," he explained as if it were obvious. What teenager would spend a weekend reading a history book for pleasure?

“Oh, about what? Cause I’m really good at History and I-”

“I’m sorry but I’m kinda busy,” he interrupted you before you could continue with your ramblings that were going nowhere. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Oh no, sorry!" you were quick to apologize, feeling the blood from all over your body pooling in your cheeks. Embarrassed, you turned your gaze away from the boy looking for anything else to focus on so you wouldn't have to face your humiliation. Your eyes met Sirius, who gave you a smile. On his lips you read words of encouragement, so you took another deep breath and returned your attention to the boy sitting next to you. "Actually... I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go out with me sometime?"

An awkward silence formed and lasted a few seconds. The boy's eyes locked on you, but you couldn't hold his gaze as you waited for an answer. Your eyes searched Sirius once again for comfort and that's when you heard the laughter.

"That was good! Did Sirius put you up to this?" the boy laughed, humiliating you a little more with each chuckle. Of course he thought it was a joke!

"You got me!" you blurted out with a fake laugh, throwing your hands up in the air in defeat. "He dared me to come over and talk to you. I'm sorry to have bothered you."

The boy said something else, but you didn't hear him since you were already running back to Sirius. You felt humiliated and dejected. Not only had you made a fool of yourself, but it had all been for nothing. That experience hadn't taught you anything you didn't already know —that you were awkward and weird and that you would die alone because of your lack of flirting skills.

"See, that wasn't so bad!" Sirius encouraged you as you sat back down next to him. "You got him to laugh!"

"That was humiliating and I hate you."

"Well too bad because now I want you to talk to fifteen guys."

"What? No, forget it!" Sirius was crazy if he thought you were willing to do that again. You'd been humiliated enough for one day, you wanted to go to sleep now.

"Oh my sweet, innocent little bug." Sirius said in an almost condescending tone, putting his arm around your shoulders and pulling you close to him. You scrunched up your nose at the strange nickname he had chosen for you, trying to decide if you hated it or thought it was funny. "Confidence takes work. You can't just talk to one guy and expect everything to magically change. You need to work for it, take a few hits, learn that a negative response it's not the end of the world and it doesn't define who you are or your value as a person."

"It's easy for you to say! All you have to do is smile and every girl in school throw themselves at you."

"That's because I already put in the work, silly." He bumped your nose with his finger and you rolled your eyes, pushing him to break free from his embrace. Suddenly you weren't in the mood for his bullshit. "So now I want you to do the same. Go get them!"

Letting out a grunt, you got up and set off down the corridors of Hogwarts in search of boys who were isolated enough to give you some privacy while you made a fool of yourself —the last thing you wanted was to be the laughing stock of the whole school. And as you walked along you couldn't help but think that maybe asking Sirius for help hadn't been as great an idea as you had initially thought.

“How exactly do you kill two mandrakes in a row?” Was your answer when Sirius told you the reason why he needed your help in Herbology. As part of the practical exam for the OWLs, Sirius had to tend a mandrake plant until it was fully ripe and then present it to the professor. It was not an easy task —mandrakes, like humans, were complicated beings—, but not impossible either. Sirius was a very skilled wizard and you believed that someone like him would have no problem with such a task. But apparently you were wrong, because according to what he had told you it was the second time the plant withered and died before it developed squeaky roots similar to a very ugly human baby.

"I don't know! That's why I'm asking for your help." He shrugged, opening the greenhouse door and stepping aside to let you pass. You found his response suspicious, it was hard to believe that someone like Sirius couldn't take care of a simple mandrake, but you didn't say anything about it. Instead, you let him lead you over to where his pot rested. "What am I doing wrong?"

“Well, have you been watering it enough?” was your first question when you noticed that the soil in the pot looked a little dry. You motioned for him to hand you the watering can and you took it upon yourself to hydrate the poor plant. "You need to check on it regularly. Mandrakes are very similar to us, they need love and attention to grow strong and healthy."

"I'm not going to treat this thing like it's my baby or something." Sirius complained, leaning back on the table as he watched you analyzing the state of the plant. He had to admit that the light reflected off the greenhouse in a unique way, giving you a different aura. You were glowing in a special way that Saturday morning and he couldn't help but wonder what was causing it.

"You'll have to do it if you want to pass the exam." Your voice snapped him out of his thoughts, bringing him back to reality. "But don't worry, I'll help you. We'll co-parent this thing." You both shared a laugh at how ridiculous that sounded, but Sirius would be lying if he said that the idea of spending more time with you disgusted him. He didn't quite know what was happening to him, but lately he didn't find you as annoying and insufferable as usual. Maybe it was because you weren't looking to argue with him every five minutes, or the fact that he had gotten to know a different side of you, but he found himself enjoying the time you spent together. It was fun to joke with you without starting a war.

You spent the next hour talking about mandrakes and you gave Sirius a couple of tips on how to keep it alive. You ended up setting up a schedule for him, marking the times when he had to visit to water it and when to move it to get the exact amount of sunlight it needed to grow strong. If he followed your advice, the mandrake would reach its squeaky baby stage in a couple of weeks. You promised to help him dig it up and repot it as it grew, but assured him that the daily care would fall to him so you could make sure he was learning something —after all, you didn't want to help him pass his OWL Herbology exam by cheating.

You parted ways when lunchtime arrived, each of you going to the table of your respective houses to eat with your friends. However, Sirius approached you again a couple of hours later while you were waiting with the other students to go on the Hogsmeade trip.

"Ready for your next lesson?" he said as he put his arm around your shoulders. It took you by surprise since in all the time you had shared in the morning he hadn't mentioned anything about having your next lesson.

"Already?" you asked, remembering that it had only been a week since your disastrous first lesson. Well, it hadn't been so bad after all. Sure, you had spent the afternoon humiliating yourself, talking nonsense to the first guy who crossed your path, but in the end you had managed to get a positive response from one. The small victory had made you feel good, but you still needed some more time to recover.

"Well, you were really helpful this morning so I wanted to do something in return."

"Is it going to take long? Cause I wanted to go out with the girls."

"Just give me an hour, then you're free to go." You looked at him with hesitation in your eyes, the ghost of their last encounter haunting you. If his next lesson was going to be as terrible as the first you weren't sure you were ready, you needed time to prepare your mind for the humiliation. "C'mon, you're going to like this one." Sirius insisted with a smile and you ended up giving in to his charms.

This time you kept your questions to yourself about what you'd do to yourself, knowing that Sirius wasn't going to give you a clue. You walked around Hogsmeade by his side, making casual small talk and laughing at his jokes as if you were lifelong best friends. However when you arrived at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop you couldn't help but ask him what were you doing there.

"The second lesson is going to be about the date itself and how to create the proper atmosphere." Sirius explained as he led you to one of the overly decorated tables. "If you want the date to end with you guys making out, you have to think ahead." You wrinkled your nose at his choice of words, but didn't mention anything about it.

"What do you in your infinite wisdom advise me to do?" you joked as you settled back in your seat. You stayed silent for a moment as you were served your tea, before returning to your conversation.

"Close proximity is very important if you want to create an intimate moment." Sirius declared as he took a sip of his tea. "No one is making out if they're three feet apart, so no matter where you have the date, you have to make sure you're close to each other." You listened to him speak attentively, trying hard to retain the information he was giving you as if you were studying for an exam.

“Being close, got it.” You repeated nodding your head, making a mental list of his advice that you hoped you wouldn't forget by the time you returned to school.

"If you come here for your date, you have to make sure you don't sit across from each other. Instead, move your chair a little closer to his, like this." Sirius slid his chair until it was almost next to yours so you were nestled against one side of the round table full of corny decorations. You could feel the warmth his body radiated caressing your skin. It made you nervous, though you didn't quite know why. You supposed it was because you weren't used to being so close to a guy —especially him— in a place that looked so romantic.

"See, this is better for flirting, accidental touching and making out." His voice had turned into a soft whisper, leaning toward you so he could speak in your ear. His breath collided against your neck with each word that left his lips, giving you goosebumps. The blood rushed to your cheeks from embarrassment, making your face feel on fire.

When you dared to look up, your eyes met Sirius's deep gray eyes admiring your face. It was the first time you were so close to him, you could clearly note every detail of his face, every glint in his cold gray orbs. Suddenly you understood all the girls at Hogwarts who sighed lovingly every time they saw him passing through the school halls. He had a singular beauty that came completely naturally to him, effortlessly. It was hard to look away from his perfect features and captivating eyes, even though you felt small and self-conscious under his intense gaze.

Sirius' eyes trailed down your face, lingering over your lips for a fraction of a second. It was almost imperceptible, but you noticed it, just as you noticed the arrogant little smile that formed at the corner of his lips. The air caught in your throat as you felt the room grow smaller, trapping you with him, forcing you to be close to him. And when his fingers brushed the exposed skin of your knee you couldn't help but let out a shriek of surprise, jumping in your seat to get away from him.

Sirius laughed as you struggled to compose yourself, breathing deeply to calm the wild pounding of your heart, repeating in your mind that the tingling you felt in your knee was just the product of your imagination and meant nothing. "It's not funny, you jerk!" you complained, tapping him on the shoulder to shut him up.

"You say that 'cause you didn't see your face." He laughed and you rolled your eyes. He was an idiot.

"If you don't stop laughing I'll leave and I won't help you with your little Herbology project." You threatened him and that seemed to get his attention.

“Okay, okay!” Sirius exclaimed, raising his hands in the air in surrender. He moved away from you again and that allowed you to breathe easier as you regained your personal space. "So, moving on... How do you set the tone at the date? Lighting matters, okay? The darker it is, the better. It creates a more intimate atmosphere."

"Close proximity, lighting, okay." You repeated, adding more details to your mental list. "What else?"

"Body language! Is he leaning in? Is he sitting close?" Sirius moved closer to you again, exemplifying his words with his actions. Your heart rate spiked once again as you felt the warmth of his body envelop you once more. His hand brushed yours on the table, forcing your gaze back to them. You felt the strange urge to entwine your fingers with his, wondering what it would feel like to hold his hand, but you held back, trying to focus on his words to distract yourself.

"And then it's all about interaction." He continued, as if he didn't know the effect his closeness had on you. "Is he trying to impress you? Does he say complimentary things to you? If yes, chances are he's going to make his move."

"Wow, I had no idea guys like you even thought about this kind of stuff." you said in a sarcastic tone, hoping it would help ease the tension you felt in the air.

"Well, that's because you're mean and you always think the worst of people." he joked and you laughed. He was kind of right. "But it's okay, I forgive you." Sirius put his arm around your shoulders again, pulling you against his body as you laughed and shook your head.

The tension in the air was beginning to dissipate, allowing you to have a good time together without feeling awkward and weird. You shared a couple more laughs before your date was interrupted by the voice of your best friend, who had seen you and Sirius from the store window as she walked through Hogsmeade and couldn't believe her eyes. As far as she knew you hated each other, so why were you hugging while drinking tea at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, a place frequented by couples?

You jumped on your feet at the mention of your name, struggling to think of an excuse that would justify you and Sirius being there. Despite the fact that she was your best friend, you hadn't told her about your little plan to get Oliver's attention. Not only was it humiliating to need help in order to get a date, but it was even more humiliating to have to go to the guy you argued with the most in all of Hogwarts for advice. It wasn't a decision you were proud of and you thought it was better if no one knew about it.

In the end it was Sirius who saved you, telling your friend that you were there with him to honor your part of a bet you had lost. It wasn't the first time you two had bet when arguing about something and most of the time it was the humiliation of the other that was at stake, so your friend bought the lie without asking many questions.

Before leaving Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop to follow your friend, you made sure to thank Sirius for saving you. He smiled at you, downplaying it, though you could swear there was a glint of sadness in his eyes as he looked back at you. You wanted to ask him if everything was alright, finding the sudden change in his mood strange, but before you could open your mouth you were interrupted by your friend's voice hurrying you to leave.

In the end you could only give Sirius an apologetic smile before following your friend and disappearing out the door. But for the rest of the day you continued to think about the events of that afternoon, wondering why you felt so strange when Sirius was around and why you almost wished you could have stayed with him in the tea store for a while longer.

By the time the third lesson came around you were already having doubts about everything. Did it make any sense? Was anything Sirius was telling you really going to do you any good? Did you even want to go out with Oliver?

Wait, what?

Of course you wanted to go out with him! He had been your crush for years and you had done nothing but fantasize about talking to him, admiring him from a distance hoping that he would reciprocate your feelings. He was the only guy you had ever cared about all this time, so of course you wanted to go out with him. You didn't understand where that stupid question had come from.

And then, as if the universe was giving you an answer, you felt the weight of Sirius' arm on your shoulders. As you looked up you met his charming smile, the one that once seemed arrogant and made you roll your eyes in annoyance, but now awakened a strange but comforting warmth inside you. Could it be that he was the reason behind your confusion?

"Ready for your next lesson, dove?" He spoke with his characteristic cheerful and nonchalant tone of voice. He was so casual that you almost missed the new nickname he had decided to use with you on that beautiful Friday afternoon.

"I'm 'dove' now?" you asked, looking at him with a confused frown. It was a little strange, but you'd be lying if you said the nickname didn't awaken something in you, something you couldn't describe or put into words, but it made you feel good.

"Yes, because you're sweet and innocent like a dove." Sirius explained as if it were obvious, shrugging it off. It was clear that it wasn't a big deal to him, just a nickname he found amusing, but you on the other hand were a completely different story. You grew nervous all of a sudden and felt the heat of embarrassment on your cheeks. Never before had a boy used affectionate nicknames like that with you so you didn't really know how to react. So you didn't say anything, you just looked away and cleared your throat, pretending your heart wasn't beating at a dangerously fast pace.

"Don't you think it's a little late for a lesson?" you spoke after a few seconds of silence, watching the sun begin to set on the horizon.

"I tend to work better at night." He winked at you and you nudged him in the ribs, though you couldn't contain a slight chuckle that escaped your lips.

"Fine, what are you going to teach me today?"

For the next few minutes you and Sirius talked about the importance of your date outfit, not so much to impress Oliver, but to make you feel comfortable and confident and thus increase your chances of success on the date. He talked about how everybody has that one piece of clothing that is special and makes them feel like the best version of themselves. For him it was his leather jacket, it was the first piece of clothing he had chosen and bought for himself to piss off his parents who only wanted to see him wear old-fashioned and uncomfortable tunics. It represented his rebellious spirit, his freedom, and so he wore it all the time. It was a reminder of who he was, of everything he had to fight against in order to express his true self, and that's why it made him feel comfortable and confident every time he wore it.

You didn't have anything remotely like that. You felt quite comfortable and liberated when you were alone in your room curled up in your bed wearing your pajamas while reading a book, but you doubted you could wear something like that on a date. You had never been very interested in fashion and accessories, you found that world too overwhelming. You didn't even think you had a favorite style, just a pile of clothes in your closet that you wore hoping they would match.

"We have to change that!" was the answer Sirius gave you when you explained your situation. "Meet me in the third floor corridor after dinner, the one with the statue of the one-eyed witch."

"What?" you asked him with confusion. You hated his cryptic answers, why was it so hard for him to be direct and tell you what was on his mind? "What for?"

“Just trust me on this.”

You had to admit that Sirius wasn't inspiring much trust in you at the moment. Why on earth did he want to meet you so late and why couldn't you do whatever it was he had in mind right now? Why was it so important that it was at night? And what was the deal with the third floor hallway? What was he up to?

None of your questions got an answer because before you could ask them he got up and left, leaving you alone and confused.

You spent the next few hours debating whether it was wise to listen to Sirius or not. Wandering around the castle after dinner was forbidden and while you had broken that rule a couple of times, you never felt right when you did. It gave you too much anxiety and you didn't enjoy sneaking through the corridors looking over your shoulder every second. You weren't exactly a fan of that kind of adrenaline.

That said, you couldn't deny that the idea of wandering around Hogwarts at night with Sirius sounded tempting. He was the king of breaking the rules, so you were sure he had his fair share of tricks to avoid getting caught. Usually you hated the impunity with which he carried himself, walking the halls of the school as if he owned it, unbothered about the consequences of his actions. But now that you knew him a little better you couldn't help but feel a little excited at the idea of being his partner in crime.

Maybe there was some sense in his madness. Maybe he really was funny and you had spent all this time hating him for it because he annoyed you as a person. Since you had started this experiment with him you had done nothing but learn to see the world through his eyes. Every minute you spent together helped you to understand a little better his thoughts and the reasons why he did what he did. You had learned to like him, so why not give him a chance now? Maybe you would finally understand the reason behind his rebelliousness.

So, when you finished dinner you found a way to sneak up to the third floor undetected. You got there first, which gave your brain time to rethink the decision it had made as you paced back and forth nervously. However, when Sirius appeared a couple of minutes later apologizing for the delay all your doubts and fears disappeared.

"I had to make a quick stop to get some things." He explained, pointing to the crumpled piece of fabric he had hanging from one arm and the scrap of parchment he was holding in his hand.

"Are you finally going to tell me what the hell are we doing here?" You asked, crossing your arms. "If this is a prank I swear to Merlin-"

“I would never, dove.” Sirius interrupted you, awakening that strange warmth inside you once again by using the affectionate nickname. "I'm a man of my word and I intend to honor our agreement. But first I need to ask you something."

You furrowed your brow in confusion, but nodded your head without a second thought. "Sure, what is it?"

"You have to promise me that all this is going to stay between us. You can't tell anyone about what we're about to do." The secrecy seemed strange to you but it also peaked your curiosity. Why was it so important to him that no one knew what you were going to do? What did he have planned?

There was only one way to find out.

"I promise," you assured him, waiting for him to explain what was going on.

"Great!" Sirius smiled and then pulled out his wand. He approached the statue of the one-eyed witch and touched it with the tip of his wand, uttering the word 'Dissendium'. Then an entrance to a dark tunnel opened up, a secret passageway inside the castle that you had no idea where it led to. If you weren't confused before, you definitely were now. What on earth was Sirius up to and why did it involve a secret tunnel?

"H-How did you do that?" You asked, dumbfounded. You needed to know how Sirius knew not only that there was a secret passage in the castle, but also how to open it. "How did you know?"

"I didn't spend all these years wandering around the castle for nothing." Was the answer he gave you, winking at you before entering the secret passage. "C'mon, let's go!"

Cautiously, you followed Sirius into the tunnel, pulling out your wand to light the way as the statue returned to its original position and the light at the entrance disappeared. You kept close to him as you walked, scanning your surroundings as you tried to guess where the passageway would lead you. It seemed to have no end. No matter how far you walked, you seemed no closer to getting to the other side. The lack of lighting didn't help much, it just added a creepy vibe that gave you goosebumps. Was Sirius planning to kill you?

"Where are you taking me?" you asked him after a few minutes of silence. You felt like you had been walking forever and still hadn't reached your destination.

"You'll see."

"Are you going to kill me and leave my body abandoned here?" you joked and he let out a laugh.

"Why would I want to kill you?"

You shrugged. "To avoid confronting the fact that I'm better than you at everything."

"At everything?" He repeated, looking at you with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure about that? Because last time I checked I'm not the one desperate for dating advice."

“Shut up!” You said, hitting him on the shoulder.

“Besides, you still have to admit to everyone that I’m better than you, remember?” He reminded you of his words the day you came to him for help. At the time you didn't think he was serious, but now you weren't so sure.

"You wish." You muttered under your breath, rolling your eyes. Being friends was one thing, but indulging him by admitting that he was better than you was something you weren't willing to do.

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

“That's what I thought.”

You continued walking as you laughed and joked with each other, chatting to distract yourselves from the long time you seemed to need to get to the end of that damned tunnel. As it turned out, the secret passageway connected Hogwarts to the cellar of Honeydukes. Sirius led you through the now deserted store carefully, but not before wrapping you both in the crumpled piece of cloth he had slung over his arm. He put it over your shoulders first and when you questioned him about it he pointed towards your body which had now disappeared.

Suddenly the success of his pranks and the gift he seemed to have for wandering around the castle without being caught made sense. He had an invisibility cloak! He was a fraud! Anyone could accomplish the extraordinary things he did if they had such a wonderful and convenient object as an invisibility cloak.

You were about to let out a sarcastic comment about it, but the air caught in your throat when you felt Sirius wrap his arms around your body, pulling you close to him. His warmth enveloped you as he stretched the cloth to cover your body as well, making sure you were both protected by the magical fabric to make sure you weren't discovered.

Walking through the streets of Hogsmeade under the limited space provided by the cloak was uncomfortable, especially when you felt Sirius' warm breath against your ear. You had to constantly remind yourself to breathe, but not too fast because then he would notice the effect his closeness had on you. You hoped he didn't already know, although the way he wrapped his arm around your waist made you think otherwise. Damn, he was good! Just a brush of his fingers on your skin and you were already sighing like half the girls at school.

"What are we doing here?" You asked as you noticed that you had stopped at a clothing store.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sirius spoke without looking at you, pulling out his wand and muttering a simple incantation to unlock the door. "We're going to find your perfect outfit."

"Couldn't we have done that when the store was open, you know, in the daylight?" you pointed out, hurrying into the store before anyone on the street could see you. You were pretty sure what you were doing was illegal. Not only had you two snuck out of the school using a secret passageway, but you had also broken into a store and were about to rummage through the inventory of clothing without permission from its owners.

You should be terrified, for all you knew you could be expelled from Hogwarts if you were discovered —not to mention the lecture your parents would give you at home. However, there was something about Sirius that filled you with a sense of security. For some reason in your mind nothing bad could happen to you if he was by your side.

"Yeah but we would have to wait for the next trip to Hogsmeade." He responded, justifying his actions with the excuse that the normal —and legal— way would take too long. "Besides, it's more fun this way." Sirius smiled at you and you shook your head, but you couldn't help but think he was kind of right.

"So we're going to rob these people?"

"No! We can pay for what we take, don't worry." He assured you, though it sounded too casual for your liking. You were breaking into a store and he was acting like he was going through the clothes in his closet. It made you wonder how many times he had done something similar in the past.

"Now get over here and start choosing clothes!"

Once you stopped thinking about the weirdness of the situation you started to have a little fun. Sirius helped you sort through the clothes, passing you items he wanted you to try on. Some were serious and some were just to joke around with you. You had to admit that even though you normally hated shopping, the activity became infinitely more fun if Sirius was with you.

You lost count of the time you spent inside that store, making a mess of the clothes that had been neatly folded and arranged on hangers and shelves prior to your arrival. You tried on every style and aesthetic the store had to offer, modeling each outfit for the watchful eye of Sirius, who always found something nice to say about everything you wore.

"You suck at this!" you complained with a chuckle after he complimented the color palette of a ridiculously extravagant outfit you had put on for the sole purpose of making him laugh. "You're not helping me decide at all! Give me your real opinions."

"I am! I swear!" Sirius defended himself, raising his hands in the air. "It's just that everything looks good on you, dove."

You let out an incredulous laugh, rolling your eyes to hide the true effect his words had on you. You knew he didn't mean it, but you couldn't control the rapid beating of your heart every time he blurted out a line like that.

"I'm sure you tell that to all the girls in school."

"Never! You're the only one, dove."

Shaking your head, you disappeared into the dressing room once more. You didn't want to give him the chance to continue his meaningless flirting. You didn't quite understand why he was doing it. You knew he didn't love you —not in that way at least—, so why was it so easy for him to throw those kinds of comments around like it was nothing? Was he trying to boost your confidence? Or maybe it was because he was so used to jokingly flirting with everyone that he couldn't help but do it with you too. You honestly didn't know, it was hard to read him on that aspect.

Part of you wished he would stop because even though you knew he was just joking, you found it impossible not to feel things when he would tell you how pretty you were or call you affectionate nicknames. He was getting your hopes up for nothing, making you believe that someone like him could like someone like you. It was tiring to have to constantly remind your heart not to believe anything that came out of Sirius' mouth.

You tried to keep your doubts from ruining the nice moment you were sharing, shaking the thoughts out of your head and working on putting on your next outfit. Only, when you emerged from the dressing room to show Sirius, you found that he too was wearing an outfit he had taken from the pile of messy clothes. But it wasn't just any outfit, it was one that you had discarded after wearing it for a few minutes and ruling that it looked odd on you. And the worst part was that Sirius seemed to look better in it than you.

"What are you wearing?" you asked him, chuckling as he modeled for you.

"Am I a pretty girl?" Sirius said, looking at you through his eyelashes. He did a couple of exaggerated poses while pretending to be a high fashion model, eliciting from you one of the loudest and most genuine laughs you've ever had. But you had to admit that he did look good considering the clothes weren't the right size or cut for him.

"Yes, very pretty." You complimented him as you caught your breath, rummaging through the pile of clothes for another outfit for him. "Here, try this one."

Everything spiraled out of control then. You momentarily forgot that you were trespassing in a store late at night as you played dress up with Sirius like two little kids. It had been a long time since you had felt so free and relaxed and a part of you couldn't believe that Sirius was the one who had awakened that chill side of you. Usually he would do the opposite —annoy you and stress you out to the point of insanity—, but since you had started this little experiment together he kept surprising you.

Now that you knew each other a little better, he made you laugh and for some reason he inspired reassurance and trust. All your fears that he would make fun of you or take advantage of the situation to humiliate you were behind you. He wasn't that kind of guy, no matter how immature and silly he usually seemed. Honestly, you loved this new relationship you had, where you still maintained a certain level of healthy rivalry combined with lots of laughter and inside jokes. Even if things with Oliver didn't turn out the way you wanted them to, you were still happy because at least he had left you with a new friendship.

What you weren't happy about, however, was fixing up the store after the mess you had made. Even with magic it took quite a while to put everything back in its place, but somehow Sirius found a way to make that tedious activity fun too.

But your jokes were interrupted when you came across something that caught your eye. As you were rearranging the clothes on one of the shelves you found a dress. It was black and had long sleeves made of the most beautiful lace you had ever seen, with detailed patterns that added a special delicacy to the piece. It was truly beautiful and you didn't know how you hadn't seen it before.

"You should try it on." Sirius' voice alerted you, snapping you out of your thoughts.

"No, it's okay. We should just go, it's getting late." You put the dress back in its place, stepping away from that rack to rearrange the last remaining pile of disarranged clothes. That dress was beautiful, almost too beautiful for someone like you. You didn't think you could pull it off, so you preferred not to go near it. You didn't want to destroy your self-esteem if it turned out that the dress looked bad on you.

By the time you got back to school it was so late that everyone in the castle was asleep. It wasn't difficult for you to navigate the halls of Hogwarts undetected since Sirius had one of the best inventions in the history of magic: a map that told him the exact location of all the students and teachers within the school grounds. He didn't want to give you many details about it other than that it was a project he had done with the help of his friends and you didn't press him for more. Now you understood why he had made you promise not to tell anyone about tonight. Apparently he had more than one magical artifact that was best kept secret.

"Thank you for this," you said when you reached the entrance to your common room. Sirius had insisted on accompanying you to make sure you arrived safely before heading to the Gryffindor tower. "I had a great time."

"Me too," he admitted with a smile. He had really enjoyed spending time with you. He found that he really liked the relaxed and fun version of you that he had met tonight and wanted to see more of you. "I hope that after this you will realize how beautiful you look when you are more relaxed. Laughter suits you, you should do it more often."

You remained silent for a few seconds, not knowing what to say. That familiar feeling of warmth ran through you at his words, your whole body buzzing with joy. A smile formed on your face, a genuine sign of how much you appreciated his kindness.

"Goodnight, Sirius." You gave him a kiss on the cheek before turning and disappearing behind the doors of the Slytherin common room.

Sirius stood in place for a few seconds, staring at the spot where you had just been seconds before as he felt a tingling on the skin of his cheek where you had kissed him. Your scent still lingered in the air entering his system through his nostrils and clouding his thoughts with images of your smile.

"Goodnight, dove." he murmured to the air, bringing his hand to his cheek.

He knew then that he was screwed.

You noticed something was wrong with Sirius the moment you saw him walk through the greenhouse doors. You were meeting to change the mandrake pot as you had promised him you would. It was a relatively simple process if you took the proper precautions and a job best done in silence —you wouldn't be able to hear each other anyway because of the earmuffs protecting you—, but even for that he was too quiet. He lacked his characteristic sparkle, that mischievous twinkle you always noticed in his eyes. His smile had been replaced by a frown and he was distracted. He seemed to be worried or upset about something that he couldn't stop thinking about.

You tried to ignore him, unsure of what to do. You wanted to ask him what was wrong, but you didn't want to pressure him to talk if he wasn't ready or just didn't want to. Maybe he was trying to forget whatever was bothering him and your questions would only remind him of it. But eventually curiosity got the better of you and you decided it didn't hurt to ask.

"Okay, what's going on with you?" you finally spoke up, putting aside your gloves and the earmuffs you had worn to protect yourself from the mandrake's screams once the job was done. "You seem... off today."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I... I just have a lot in my mind." Sirius said, letting out a frustrated sigh. He leaned back against the counter, shoulders slumped in a pose that showcased his mood perfectly. He was staring at the floor, as if lost in thought, and you were suddenly curious as to what was so important to have him in such a state. You'd never seen Sirius so quiet or so serious before in the years you'd known each other.

"Do you want to talk about it?" you offered, giving him the option to use you as a shoulder to cry on, a friendly ear to vent to.

"It's my family, as always." He let out a bitter laugh, lifting his head so he could look you in the eye as he spoke. You could see the pain reflected in his expression and felt the urge to hug him. You knew about his family and how troubled they were. He had never fit in with them and had ended up being kicked out of his home by his own mother. It was a sad story and you had always felt sorry for him.

“I had a fight with my brother last night and I can’t seem to let it go… They're filling his head with those horrible ideas and there's nothing I can do about it. He doesn’t want to listen to me.”

You knew exactly what he was referring to, you had seen the people Regulus was hanging out with and sadly you shared the same concerns as his brother. Many of your peers in Slytherin were being caught up in dangerous hate speech and you completely understood Sirius' frustration about it. It hadn't yet touched you as closely as it did him - none of your friends shared those kinds of ideas - but you could imagine how painful it was for him to see his brother involved in something so horrible.

"Oh Sirius, I'm sorry." You didn't quite know what to say, there were no words that could ease his sadness or concern. You could only support him at that moment, hoping that your understanding would be enough to make him feel a little better.

Without even realizing it, your hand slid across the table to rest on Sirius'. It was a desperate attempt on your part to show him that you were there for him, something you did without thinking. Sirius's eyes lingered on your joined hands for a few seconds, staring at them as if he found it hard to believe what he was seeing. It made you feel a little self-conscious and you considered moving your hand, but before you could do so he moved his so that he could intertwine his fingers with yours. This time it was you who looked down at your hands as you felt him give you a light squeeze. It was such an innocent act, something so common, but it still awakened that special tingling inside you. It was the first time you were holding hands and it felt... good, comforting.

When you looked up you were met with his sweet smile. Sirius didn't need to utter words for you to understand that he was thanking you for your support, it was written all over his face. You had to fight the urge to hug him, thinking it might be too close and personal. You had a strange relationship - you weren't enemies but you weren't technically friends either - so it was hard sometimes to realize when something was too much.

Then an idea formed in your mind. Images of your special place flashed before your eyes like a movie and you decided it was an appropriate time to show Sirius that he wasn't the only one who had extensive knowledge of the Hogwarts grounds.

"C'mon, I want to show you something." You told him, pulling his hand entwined with yours to guide him out of the greenhouse.

You didn't have to go far to get to your special secret spot, just walk down the hill until you reached the edge of the lake. There was a large tree that provided plenty of shade and between its huge roots was a comfortable hole that you liked to sit in. It was the most beautiful and peaceful place you knew in the whole school. You liked to go there when you felt overwhelmed or stressed, sitting under the shade of the tree and just think for a long time, the world always seemed better after that. You were convinced that there wasn't a single problem that couldn't be solved with a meditation session in your special place.

"Welcome to my special place!" you announced with a smile when you arrived at your destination. "Come, sit here with me." You settled into your usual spot at the foot of the big tree and patted the free space next to you inviting Sirius to join you. He stared at you for a moment, but finally sat down next to you.

"How did you find this place?" Sirius was amazed at the beauty of the scenery around him. He obviously knew this place existed, but he had never paid attention to how beautiful and peaceful it was. There were no other students laughing and running around, just him, you and nature.

"You're not the only one with extensive knowledge about the castle, Black."

"So, what happens here?" He forced himself to look away from the landscape to return his gaze to you only to find that you were staring off into the horizon. The sunlight reflecting off the water of the lake illuminated the whole place in a different, more magical way, especially your profile. It gave you an ethereal aura that took his breath away for a moment.

"We sit here and we think." You replied without taking your eyes off the birds flying through the trees on the other side of the lake. "I always come here when I'm sad or stressed out. There's something about this place that makes all my problems go away."

You sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the scenery, letting the tranquility of nature bring you inner peace. Sirius tried to push the negative thoughts from his mind, concentrating on the birds singing and the sound of the water, hoping that would be enough to make the frustration and anger that was overtaking him disappear. It wasn't working out so well, but he didn't have the heart to tell you that your special magical place wasn't as powerful as you thought it was.

Well, that was until he turned his head so he could look at you. You were completely lost in thought, gazing forward with no idea of the way Sirius was looking at you. You seemed so happy, so relaxed, that he couldn't help but feel a warm feeling spreading inside him. He found comfort in you, in the special sparkle in your eyes, in the way you cared for him despite your shared history. For Sirius, the healing magic was not in where you were, but in you.

"Things are going to get better." You broke the silence, turning to look at him. His eyes were glued to yours and you discovered that the dark patch of sadness that covered his signature cheerful glow had dimmed a bit.

"How do you know?" Sirius' voice was low, almost a whisper that you were able to hear above the noises of nature thanks to the short distance separating you.

"I have to believe that they will. We all have to." Sirius wasn't so sure about it, he didn't have your blind optimism, but for a moment as he lost himself in the depths of your eyes he found hope. Everything seemed simple as long as you kept your eyes on him. He could face anything if you were by his side to guide his path, to hold his hand and remind him that everything would be alright. He found peace in you, something that both calmed and scared him. He was much more screwed up than he originally thought.

The more time you spent staring into each other's eyes in silence, the more the tension in the air increased. Sirius was suddenly aware of how close he was to you. He could feel the warmth of your body against his side, the touch of your leg against his and the smell of your perfume that assaulted his nose every time he took a breath. He only had to extend his hand a few inches to touch you, or lean in just a little to brush his lips against yours. Those beautiful lips of yours that tempted him since the first time he had laid his eyes on you. The same ones he had fantasized about kissing many times in the past, even when all that came out of them were insults and ironic laughter dedicated to him.

Sirius leaned towards you without even realizing what he was doing, lost in thought, mesmerized by the sight of your lips. He felt your breath against his face, mingling with his, and the touch of your nose against his. And then your lips met in a kiss that took you both by surprise. He captured your upper lip between his, reaching out his hand to grab the back of your head and pull you closer to him. You surrendered to the expert movement of his lips without putting up a fight, letting him guide you as you melted into the kiss.

Multicolored fireworks exploded behind your eyes, the butterflies in your stomach going crazy as you struggled to keep up with Sirius. It wasn't your first kiss, but it was the first time you felt wave after wave of electricity coursing through your body from one. You felt like you were flying, completely lost in the intensity of the moment. It was a special kind of high you never wanted to come down from. Sirius' lips just felt right on yours, caressing you with such passion and delicacy at the same time. It left you breathless and desperate for more. So much more.

But the kiss was cut short as quickly as it began when Sirius suddenly pulled away from you, leaving you confused and a little stupid.

"I-I'm... I'm sorry, I-" he struggled to come up with an excuse as he realized what he had done, feeling awkward and somewhat embarrassed that he had let himself get carried away by his impulses.

"Nono, it's okay, I..." you tried to intervene as well, fighting the fog that clouded your mind to try to form a coherent sentence.

"You know what? That was practice!" Sirius blurted out without thinking, making you frown.

"Practice for what?"

"J-just f-for the next step of the plan... in case you hadn't made out with anyone in a while." Sirius didn't sound confident in what he was saying and if you were in different circumstances you might have realized that was a lame excuse he'd made up on the spot. But your mind was still a bit affected by the kiss and you couldn't think straight, so you didn't notice.

"Is that what it felt like? That I hadn't made out with anyone in a while or whatever?" You tried to sound casual so as not to let him know how much you cared about his answer. To you that had been the best kiss of your life and it hurt a little to think that it had meant nothing to him. It made sense though, Sirius had a lot of practice and a lot of girls to compare you to. He'd probably had millions of better kisses.

"Well, I'm more of a tongue guy myself." Sirius joked, trying to ease the tension in the air.

"You don't say. I think I felt it poking at my throat." You played along and you both burst out laughing. The sweet melody of Sirius' laughter traveled through the air to your ears, entering your system and filling your insides with joy. All you wanted was to hear him laugh, to make him happy so that he would forget his problems at least for a moment. Everything stopped mattering to you as you watched the characteristic happy glow return to his eyes, concentrating all your efforts on keeping him distracted for as long as possible.

"Are you giving me kissing advice, dove?" he looked at you with a raised eyebrow, as if he couldn't believe the words that had come out of your mouth. No one had ever criticized his kissing technique.

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

“Dove, c’mon.” Sirius said, making a funny face, and you nudged him playfully.

"You need it!" You assured him with a chuckle.

“That’s how people kiss.”

“Yeah in porn maybe.” You said rolling your eyes, exaggerating things to sound more dramatic. "You know what? I'm going to be the one giving you a lesson for once. This is how girls like to be kissed." Sirius looked at you cautiously, but let you guide him into the position you wanted, intrigued by whatever it was you had in mind. You moved too, and soon you found yourselves sitting across from each other. "Close your eyes." you instructed him and he obeyed without question. "Now lean in, slowly. Let the tension build."

Your eyes were focused on admiring the beauty of his face as Sirius moved closer and closer to you. He was the definition of masculine beauty with the sharp angles on his cheeks and those enticing lips that called out to you. His long hair framed his face perfectly, looking so silky and soft that you couldn't contain the urge to touch it. You brushed aside a couple of rebel locks that fell over his face, delicately tucking them behind his ear before letting your hand slide down to his cheek. You felt him lean a little into your touch and had to bite your lip to avoid kissing him at that moment.

The distance that separated you was shortening with every second. You could feel his breath mingling with yours, all you had to do was lean forward and you would once again be enveloped in the warmth of his body, feeling the soft caresses of his mouth on yours. You took one last look at his lips and prepared to make contact with him. Only it wasn't your lips on his, but your tongue licking his left cheek.

"Oh no you didn't!" Sirius exclaimed with a mixture of surprise and horror, bringing his hand to his face to wipe your saliva off his cheek. You let out a laugh and he couldn't help but laugh along with you. "You are a phenomenal kisser!" He joked and you gave a small nod, accepting his compliment.

“Thank you. That’s how we like it!”

“I’m taking your word for it. You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”

“Never! Trust me, girls love to be kissed like that.” Sirius shook his head, as if he still couldn't believe what you had done, but he laughed with you. You had taken him by surprise and he had to admit that a part of him was a little disappointed at not feeling your lips on his again, but he couldn't deny that he was having fun.

"Are you feeling a little better?" You asked him when the laughter died down.

"Yeah, a little." He answered honestly. You had really managed to do in a couple of minutes something that even his best friends hadn't been able to do in hours: make him forget. You had an ability to get through to him that no one else had and it was nice to see you using it for good for once —instead of using it to get on his nerves like you used to.

"Thank you, dove." You could tell by the tone of his voice that Sirius was genuinely grateful to you. Apparently your nonsense had managed to help him a little and that made you happy. It was nice to be able to give him back some of the positive energy he brought to your days since you had started your arrangement.

"Don't mention it." You shrugged, downplaying it. "Just know that I'm always here for you if you ever need to talk. And this place is yours too now if you ever need it." You rested your hand on his again and Sirius felt that tingling under his skin again as his insides filled with that warm feeling at your words of support.

Oh, he was completely screwed.

You couldn't get that kiss out of your mind. Ever since that day at the lake Sirius was all you could think about. You caught yourself looking at him when you thought he didn't see you, remembering that kiss, what you had felt as he held you, the warmth of his body enveloping you and the softness of his lips on yours. You wanted to feel it again, to experience again the sensation of pure ecstasy that took over you the moment your lips collided. His kiss had made you feel alive in a special way. You had never felt anything like it before, an electricity so intense that it coursed through your whole body, awakening every cell inside you with the simplest of touches. It was pure magic, something out of the most perfect romance novel, no one could blame you for wanting to feel it again.

But then you remembered how you had gotten into that situation in the first place. You had come to him for help in getting another boy's attention and that's what Sirius had done all along. All those cute little moments that awakened butterflies in your stomach every time you remembered them weren't real. You were fooling yourself, seeing things that weren't there. He wasn't spending time with you because he loved you, he wasn't interested in you —at least not in that way—, he was just holding up his end of the bargain. Sure, you had improved your relationship considerably since all this had started, but you had to keep in mind that if it wasn't for your proposal you would still be fighting every chance you got.

Sirius wasn't in love with you and you weren't in love with him. You were just confused because you weren't used to getting that kind of attention from a guy —especially not from a guy like Sirius. Your heart belonged to Oliver, it had for the past three years and that wasn't going to change because of a silly kiss that hadn't meant anything anyway. You had to focus on what was important, what you had worked so hard to get: the date with Oliver. Once you finally managed to get it your mind would be able to focus on that and then you'd realize that your feelings for Sirius were just temporary.

So that's exactly what you did. You mustered all your courage, remembering every lesson you'd learned over the past few weeks, and looked for the perfect opportunity to talk to Oliver. The moment presented itself in Potions class. By sheer luck you ended up being paired up to work on a project together and you took advantage of the opportunity to start a conversation with him.

For the first time in three years you were able to form coherent sentences in front of him, alternating between comments about the project you were working on and casual small talk. The nerves and fear that usually overcame you when he was around were gone, allowing your personality to surface. You spent the entire class chatting and laughing as if you were lifelong friends. As it turned out, Oliver was a really nice guy and really easy to talk to when you didn't overthink every single thing you were going to say to him. You thought Sirius would be proud of you if he could see you acting so relaxed and free.

That's when you realized that he could probably see you since Gryffindor and Slytherin shared a Potions class, so you looked up to find him among the groups of students. Your eyes found him at the back of the room, sitting next to James as they worked on their potion. Your eyes met for a moment and you gave him a victorious smile, a silent way of letting him know that things between you and Oliver were going well. You thought that after all the time he had spent preparing you for this moment he would be happy to know that his efforts had paid off. You expected him to smile back or even give you a thumbs up in support, but he simply looked away and turned his attention back to the brew he was preparing with his friend.

You frowned, puzzled by his attitude. Was he angry with you? Had you done something to upset him? He couldn't possibly be mad at you because you were talking to Oliver, could he? That was ridiculous! He was probably in a bad mood about something else that had nothing to do with you. It was most likely about his brother, maybe they were fighting again and that's why he was acting strange. You had to stop obsessing about Sirius and focus on what really mattered.

You tried to ignore your concerns about Sirius at least until the class was over, returning your attention to Oliver and the story he was telling you. You worked and laughed for the rest of the lesson, turning in a perfect potion at the end of the hour. And as you gathered your things and prepared to leave the room you realized you had to make your move. It was now or never. So you summoned all your courage and asked Oliver if he'd like to go out with you sometime.

For some reason you fully expected him to refuse. That voice inside your head that loved to overthink everything you did and imagine the most catastrophic and improbable scenarios kept telling you that it was too fast. You had only shared one successful conversation and you were already asking him out on a date. It had been a mistake and you had to take it back immediately!

But that voice in your mind was muted when Oliver accepted your offer with a smile.

You stood in your place for a moment, watching Oliver leave the room with the rest of your classmates as your brain tried to process what had just happened. You had spent so much time imagining that moment that now it didn't feel real. A part of you thought it was an overly realistic dream that you were going to wake up from at any moment, though the illusion was shattered when your eyes met Sirius' as he left the room. It was only for a second, but it was enough to leave a bitter taste in your mouth.

Why did his presence affect you so much?

"Ann, you're not going to believe this!" You exclaimed in excitement when you found your friend in the crowd of students walking through the halls to their respective classes. You pushed her to the side to get a little more privacy, waiting for a group of second year students to pass by to give her the big news. "I got the date!" you said, emphasizing the word 'the' so she understood what you meant.

"With Sirius? I thought you guys were already dating." Your best friend's response took you by surprise. Why would she think you and Sirius were dating?

"What? No! Sirius and I are not dating. Why would you think that?"

"Oh." She murmured, genuinely surprised. "It's just you guys are spending so much time together lately and look so happy all the time that I just assumed you were dating and were keeping it a secret." She shrugged. "Plus there's that one time I found you two at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop."

“That didn’t mean anything. He was just helping me get a date with Oliver.”

“Oliver? You still like that guy?”

“What’s wrong with him? I thought you liked him.”

“I do! He’s a nice guy, but…” Ann trailed off, like she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. You looked at her with a raised eyebrow, crossing your arms over your chest waiting for her to say whatever was on her mind.

"But what?" You pressed her, noticing she wasn't going to speak.

"I just think Sirius it's better for you, that's all." You scrunched up your nose at her words. How could Sirius be better for you when just a couple of weeks ago you weren't able to hold a conversation without fighting like little kids? It was ridiculous, and honestly you were starting to get tired of the universe continuing to insert him in the middle of everything. Oliver was the guy you wanted, not Sirius, was that so hard to understand?

“That’s ridiculous! Plus, Sirius doesn’t even like me like that. We are just now starting to get along, I’m not even sure if he even considers me his friend.”

“You’re joking, right?” Ann looked at you as if she couldn't believe the words coming out of your mouth, something that only added to your confusion. "Have you seen the way he looks at you? That guy is head over heels for you." You let out a laugh that echoed throughout the hallway, but died down when you saw the serious expression on your friend's face. She couldn't be serious, could she? There was no way Sirius had feelings for you.

"That's a good one!" You patted her shoulder, congratulating her as if she had told the funniest joke you'd ever heard.

"I'm being serious, dummy! I've seen you two together and there's no way he doesn't have feelings for you."

"Then you're seeing things!" you exclaimed before turning around and starting to walk to your next class. You no longer wanted to hear what your friend had to say. You had gotten the date you had been dreaming of all this time, why couldn't she just be happy for you? Why did she have to make everything so complicated?

"And do you know what else I think?" She insisted, walking up behind you and raising her voice a little to make sure you heard her. "I think you have feelings for him too but you're too stubborn to admit it."

You decided to ignore her, but her words echoed in your mind for the rest of the day. Could she be right? Could you be in love with Sirius? It sounded ridiculous, something completely impossible. But then you remembered that kiss you had shared by the lake shore. You remembered the tension in the air, the softness of his lips on yours, the way he had held you close to him and the waves of electricity coursing through your body. You weren't sure if you were in love with him, but you couldn't deny that there was a spark between you that was much stronger and intriguing than your relationship with Oliver. Maybe you were too stubborn or too scared to call it for what it was, but it was evident that it was there and apparently everyone could tell. Everyone but the two of you.

You felt like your head was going to explode from so much overthinking and questioning what you were feeling. It was driving you crazy and you weren't even able to come to a conclusion. Every time you were close to finding the answers you were looking for a new voice would pop up in your mind and ruin all your progress with its comments. You were so wrapped up in denial that it was impossible for you to understand how you truly felt.

So you decided to stop worrying about it. If you had learned anything in the last few weeks, it was that everything was so much easier when you turned your brain off for a while, relaxed and let things flow. You had time to figure out your feelings and think about what to do about them. Right now all you had to do was celebrate because your plan had worked. You had gotten that date with Oliver and that was all that mattered.

In the spirit of your new decision you didn't worry about what hidden message could be behind the strange note you got from Sirius asking you to meet him at your special place. You two hadn't spoken in the last few days. The last contact you'd had with him was in Potions class when he practically ignored you. The cryptic message he had left for you inside one of your books made you curious, wondering the reasons behind his interest in meeting you at your special place. However, you tried not to think too much about it, limiting yourself to showing up at the right place and time to hear from his own mouth whatever it was he wanted instead of driving you crazy imagining the worst.

"Hey!" you greeted Sirius awkwardly, feeling a strange tension in the air that took you back to the events of the last time you had been there. He was sitting in the exact same spot as that time, waiting for you to occupy the empty space next to him. "I got your message. Why did you want to meet here?"

"Oh I just wanted to talk to you. We haven't done that in a while." He gave you a smile, but you noticed it wasn't reflected in his eyes. You wondered if maybe that was because the situation with his brother had gotten worse. Maybe that was the reason he wanted to talk to you, after all, you had promised him that you would be there for him when he needed you.

You took a seat in the empty slot next to him, hoping that the conversation would focus on his family once again. However, the next words out of his mouth took you by surprise.

"I saw you talking to Oliver the other day." You froze, your brain short-circuiting as you tried to think of how to respond.

"Y-yeah, I was... I was talking to him." You responded awkwardly. Why was it so weird for you to talk about Oliver with Sirius now? You didn't seem to have a problem with it just a couple of days ago. What had changed? "It went pretty well. I got a date." You smiled, but your smile didn't show in your eyes either.

"That's great, dove! I'm really happy for you." He almost sounded sincere, but you had heard the real joy in his voice too many times in the last few weeks to recognize when he was faking it. His voice was low and quiet, as if he struggled to utter those words. Your friend's voice echoed in your mind and for a moment you wondered if she might be right.

"I have something for you." Sirius' voice snapped you out of your thoughts. He turned for a moment and it was then that you noticed the package resting on one of the large tree roots. "Let's say it's a graduation gift." He added, handing you the package.

You carefully unwrapped the gift, discovering a black piece of fabric inside. But it wasn't just any piece of fabric, when you held it in your hands you realized it was a dress. It was that dress you liked so much but hadn't had the courage to try on when Sirius took you shopping. You froze in place, your eyes traveling from the delicate piece of clothing in your hands to Sirius' face, who was looking at you expectantly.

"I saw the way you were looking at it at the store so I went back and I bought it for you. I don't know why you didn't try it on at the time, but I'm sure it'll look great on you."

You were speechless, your brain unable to put into words how much that small gesture meant to you. He had noticed. He had seen the sparkle in your eyes as you admired that dress in the store. He looked at you when you didn't notice and paid attention to every detail. That thought alone made your heart race. He cared about you, it wasn't a product of your imagination or your heart getting confused. Sirius truly cared for you.

"Sirius, I... You didn't have to..." you struggled to say, trying to find the words to describe what you felt. You didn't know why such a simple gift moved you so much. You supposed it was the principle of the thing, the thought behind it. That dress was a perfect summary of your relationship, a delicate and intricate piece of fabric that you refused to try on out of fear. And just like that dress, you too were afraid to try things out with Sirius. Both were unfamiliar territory for you so you preferred to avoid them rather than face them.

But Sirius seemed to have a different idea.

"Of course I did! I just knew you would look beautiful in it and I need it for you to have it." Sirius sounded so convinced that for a moment you felt confident, forgetting your fears about the dress. He looked at you with such adoration that there was no way you could feel any different. He gave you all the confidence you needed. Everything was so much easier when Sirius was by your side holding your hand and saying exactly what you needed to hear. He was good for you.

“Maybe you can wear it to your date.”He couldn't hold your gaze when he said that, averting his eyes to the lake that reflected the beautiful orange colors of the sunset in its waters. The idea of wearing that dress in front of anyone but him felt wrong. That outfit was your little secret, your special gift - just like that place was.

It was then that you understood what you had to do. It was time to put denial and fear aside and face reality. You had feelings for Sirius and that wasn't going to change because you forced yourself to be with someone else. It wasn't fair to Oliver or Sirius, and it definitely wasn't fair to you. Even if things didn't turn out the way you hoped, you deserved to explore your feelings for him without fear.

"I don't know. To be honest, I don't know if I want to go out with Oliver anymore."

Sirius returned his gaze to your face, a frown drawn into his expression. "What do you mean? Wasn't that all that you wanted?"

"I used to, yes. But lately I've been thinking about this other guy... he's a real charmer, I can't seem to get him out of my head. It's a tough situation because I used to hate him, but I had the opportunity to get to know him better and I think I'm falling for him." Sirius looked at you with his eyes full of doubt for a moment, refusing to listen to what his heart thought you were saying. But then you smiled at him and he understood your hint.

"I think I know who you're talking about. Is he by any chance the most handsome guy in Gryffindor?" The characteristic cheerful twinkle returned to his eyes as well as a mischievous grin that got a chuckle out of you.

"Maybe." You played dumb. "He's also a huge dork, but I kind of love him for it." This time it was Sirius that let out a chuckle, throwing his head back as his body shook with laughter.

"Well, then you're in luck because this handsome dork is also in love with you."

You shared a meaningful look that was stronger than anything you could say to each other at that moment. And then, just like that other day at the lake, Sirius leaned toward you and pressed his lips to yours. It was a much longer kiss than the first one you shared, one that you both could enjoy in the moment given that it wasn't the product of an impulsive decision. You both wanted it, you longed for it from the moment you parted after your first kiss.

Sirius' hands framed your face, pulling you closer to him. He needed to feel you against his body, to feel your warmth enveloping him. He had missed the feel of your lips on his, caressing his mouth so delicately. He had spent every second since that kiss cursing himself, fearing that he might never feel you so close to him again. His world had crumbled when he saw you talking to Oliver in Potions class, thinking he had pushed the girl he liked into the arms of another guy. He hated to think that anyone but him could have the chance to caress your lips. They were made just for him to kiss, no one else could touch them.

But now that he had you back in his arms all his concerns disappeared, fading away thanks to the intoxicating mixture of your perfume and the sensation of your lips on his, moving so gracefully together that he couldn't help but think that you were meant to be together.

"Since we're being honest, I have a confession to make." Sirius spoke as you broke apart, struggling to catch his breath. "I never needed help with Herbology, I just needed an excuse to spend more time with you."

"What?" you exclaimed in surprise. You didn't see that one coming. "Then whose plant was that?"

"It was Peter's. He sucks at Herbology." Sirius admitted and you let out a chuckle as you shook your head, unable to believe what you were hearing.

But your laughter died down as a realization hit you. "Wait a minute. You liked me before all this?" Sirius just nodded, as if such a revelation wasn't important.. "So why were you being such a jerk to me?"

"It was fun, it's very easy to get on your nerves." He shrugged. "Plus, you look adorable when you're angry."

#sirius black x reader #sirius black x female reader #sirius black fluff #sirius black angst #sirius black x fem reader #sirius black #sirius black x reader fluff #sirius black x reader angst #ro's 600 followers celebration

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lexosaurus · 10 months

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Hi uhh i have a question i was scrolling at ao3 and i keep seeing pompous pep fiction a lot but i thought it was illegal because there is at least 20 year age gap im getting confused

AO3 is a creative writing/fanfiction archive that allows anything that's legal under US creative writing law. There are some limitations, like scripting out an episode of DP would not be allowed because that's copyright infringement, and posting something disguised as a fic that's not actually one (say, posting your headcanons list or your grandma's cookie recipe) isn't allowed because that's not a transformative work. But otherwise, people are allowed to post any fictional content that they so wish so long as it's tagged properly.

The tags are an awesome feature of the site and are why many people, myself included, choose to use AO3 as their main fanfiction domain. It allows you to opt in or opt out of any tag that you do or don't want to see. For example, I read/write a ton of gore, so I often filter in tags like "Dissection" (using the sidebar) so I can only see those types of fics. But there are tons of people who get squicked out by gore/dissection, so they might prefer to filter those tags out. Maybe they just wanna read a good smut fic, so they'd filter in that tag, while for me, I'm not so interested in that content, so I almost always filter it out before I browse.

I know this seems a bit long winded of me, but what I'm trying to get at is that because fanfiction is fictional, that means that ships and tags that you or I might argue are morally gray or even morally unethical are totally allowed on the site (aka no real children were harmed in the making of said fic, so not illegal). This includes Pompous Pep, which is Danny/Vlad. And if you don't want to see that, as many people probably don't, then the site makes it extremely easy to filter that stuff out! Woo!

The DP Phandom is a really really old phandom and we've had a history of "true vs anti" ship wars back in the 00's, which while a bit different than the kinds of shipping wars you see in other fandoms today, they still happened and were incredibly destructive within our spaces. People were fighting, there was lots of bullying, angry cliques, and overall moral policing "you can't sit with us" behavior to people who frankly didn't deserve it. There's not a lot of creatives left from that era, and the ones that did come back don't have a lot of positive things to say about it.

So yeah, maybe some people on AO3 write things that might squick you out, but from experience we've found it to be far more beneficial to just do our own things. Write the content you wanna write, read the content you wanna read, interact with the people you wanna interact with, and block/mute/filter out/whatever the rest. It's honestly not worth your mental health or sanity to try to police fics/art in here. We're too old, most of us got jobs, bills to pay, maybe even kids to feed, and it's honestly not worth our time. Besides, it's much more fun to participate in phandom events and nerd out with other creatives about silly AUs and tropes and geek out over art styles and colors than it is to worry about that stuff!

#danny phantom #discourse #gosh i never thought i'd need to use this tag not ironically!#akjsnfksjfndkjgn sorry guys!#we all come from different places but if there's one thing we have in common #it's that we're all just here for a good time!#also ngl i know i spelled discourse correctly here but it still looks wrong

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d3rpydoods · 2 years

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God, this dragged out since school started and the artistic motivation was SUCKED out of my body. Anyway-

Some extra lore for the AU i'm not making since a couple of people asked about Mac's role. I thought about these three outcomes as intersting concepts that could all work - quick disclaimer though these three versions of Mac are all separate entities and have nothing to do with each other (ok the third COULD be a possible outcome of the first but i'll leave it to you guys for interpretation)

Boxer!Mac (left)

Another pro boxer trying to get to the top

Wukong's rival (to no one's surprise)

They always compete, in and out of the ring

they have equal amounts of wins and losses IN the ring though so they're always waiting for the next opportunity to whoop each other's asses

Also bragging rights

Lots of banter but still on decent terms

Even helps train MK when Pigsy or Wukong can't

Teaches Bai He self-defense

Kickboxer!Mac (middle)

Not even in the same martial art as Wukong but the competition's still going strong

They're at the top of their respective sport

They always banter over which martial art is the superior one

"What's wrong, Peaches? Scared I might kick your face in?"

"Bold of you to think you'd get THAT far, Plum, I'd finish you off in one punch!"

They still train together, and even though it's against the official rules in both cases they use their tails as well (it's just for shits n gigs tho, to up the challenge)

Sometimes it looks more like babies fighting in a playpen than actual professionals duking it out in the ring

Those videos are MK's most priced posessions

Former Boxer!Mac (ANGST)

Mac used to be a boxer

He and Wukong only managed to meet in the ring for the championship belt twice, the first time it was a tie and the second one resulted in his current state

During this fight, it was clear to Wukong that Mac was gonna win and out of desperation Wukong broke the rules, used his tail, tripped Mac so he fell and landed with his full weight on his foot and injured his leg

This resulted in Wukong getting severe penalties - not only would he pay for the damages/compensation but he was also banned from participating in boxing for years + his reputation was destroyed

Mac, on the other hand, was rushed to the hospital where he'd spent at least a couple of weeks healing

He didn't take it well when the doctors told him he'd no longer be able to step into the ring

And it took multiple doctors to hold him back when Wukong showed up to check up on him and apologize

Yeah, he didn't take it well

They haven't talked since

He talks to MK though + Bai He helps him out wherever she can

MK wish they'd reconcile

Wukong wish they'd reconcile

Should've thought of that earlier huh

"Reconcile? It's too late for that, MK, he made up his mind when he broke the rules - I guess our friendship wasn't worth more than a belt and a fancy title"

#tadaaaaaaa #my questionable creations #lmk #lego monkie kid #six eared macaque #sun wukong #liu er mihou #lmk macaque #monkey king #lmk sun wukong #lmk mk #lmk bai he

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y2kas13 · 2 months

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Part two…

I think I may have perceived the Neil druckmann situation to be a little different than you did. Neil druckmann is from Israel and witnessed this brutality and genocide first hand, since Palestine and Israel have been fighting for many years! He said witnessing this caused a deep anger in him that he harnessed when writing tlou2…

I thought he was using art to make a comment on the situation. Like, he wanted to show that constant fighting over land and religion never leads to anything good. Literally, they showed that the constant fighting between the scars and WLF lead to the demise of both groups. As Shakespeare said, art holds a mirror to reality. Through art, we can make intentional choices that will evoke certain feelings in people. Because of all of the vengeance and violence they participated in, Abby and Ellie both lost everything. Could it be that this theme was missed by you? Art is meant to evoke visceral responses, so it kinda seems like he did his job with that. Also, he supplied financial support to both the Palestine and Israelis, so I’m not entirely sure how it was concluded that he hates Palestine. (I think what is happening oversees is absolutely disgusting, but I don’t see how Naughty Dog is perpetuating the war. Also, you never know what someone has been through or seen, so you really can’t condemn people for compartmentalizing in order to make it through. That is how/why some people are able to temporarily put the bad shit to the back of their mind for a few hours while they click some buttons on a controller.) What is the goal with not buying remastered tlou2? I want to help, but I don’t see how not purchasing a video game will make anything better. I want to understand. Remastered was auto-downloaded to my ps5, since I had it in my wishlist for a while. They already have my money for it, so might as well play it? They can’t benefit anymore from me playing it I don’t think…

while I can agree in the game you see how both side's actions are harmful to one another this isn't the case in real life. In Tlou its clear cut that no side is truly "evil" just the product of violence that isn't their own until they take on the violence but that's not the case in real life with Palestine and Isreal which is where I believe you are misconstruing what I'm trying to say. Palestine didn't do anything to Israel at least not in the same capacity as what Israel has done to them.

Tlou and Palestine/Israeli conflict are different in the sense that there is clear right and wrong, now am I going to sit here and say Palestine is completely 100% innocent no. But in this conflict yes. The people of Palestine shouldn't have to suffer because another nation wants to selfishly take what not there's and kill them to get it.

I am not claiming he hates Palestine but I don't think its fair for him to act like its some their both bad and good on both sides Israelis can walk free in their streets while Palestinians wonder if they will be shot down in there own to "be made an example of". it's not a fair nor accurate representation of the truth.

Not purchasing Tlou 2 shows that using real-world suffering for your profit and gain and not even doing them justice and being fair isn't right nor will be tolerated.

If you truly "want to help" and understand don't argue with me in my asks listing to the dozens of real Palestinians begging you to do what you can and if that means not buying a game then so be it. don't you think they want to be able to sit back and a play game.

I hope this cleared up for you and others why people like me are putting the pressure to not buy and boycott the game.

#ellie williams #ellie x fem reader #ellie williams x reader #abby anderson #abby anderson x reader #free gaza #palestine #the last of us #free palestine #gaza genocide

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gentlebeardsbarngrill · 2 months

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Hi 👋

Since you said it's ok to reach out, please don't mind me dumping my thoughts on the cancellation news :

OFMD and it's fandom, even though I'm very much a lurker, is so important to me. The last few years have been really chaotic and not in a good way. My life has turned out very different from what I've imagined and I've had to give up many of the things that brought me joy.

The doses of serotonin I got from OFMD and its fandom, even by just scrolling tumblr a few mins, made all the difference to keep me going. Now I'm sad and a bit fearful that life is going to be that little bit harder, and that I've lost something to look forwards to.

I'm sad for the cast and crew and the fandom too. And depressed thinking about the future of art. I have a hard time imagining a positive future, both on a global and personal level, and I fear corporate bullshit is ruining human creativity and storytelling.

I am grateful though to cast, crew and fandom. We really got something so special with OFMD. I feel a bit guilty for not having the time and energy to contribute much, and I was hoping that if season 3 had happened, I would by then have had more to give.

Thanks for everything you do for the fandom 💕

Hi friend! Ooo I love your icon btw. Yes please! My dms and asks are always open (sometimes I'm a bit late getting back to them because of time differences and crazy work situations but I do try to get back to you within 24 hrs, especially now!)

Can I just say, I really appreciate you sharing this with me and the crew? I know it's really hard to talk about these kinds of things, especially when you're already feeling upset, and I am so honored you felt safe enough to share it.

First, and foremost, I totally get that guilty feeling, like you didn't have time to do enough. But you know what? You did plenty. You were here lurking, and participating in the background. Not all of us have enough spoons to do crazy things every day to support our show, and that is 100% okay. The fact that you kept yourself going is exactly what needed to happen, and I'm so glad you found some solace in the OFMD fandom. The most important thing is you are here with us, and you're getting something good out of this wonderful community.

The situation seems dire right now, I know. It's so hard because it feels like "Well maybe if we just did x more" it would be enough, but the hard truth of it is, it wouldn't. You are right, the corporate greed out there is ruining human creativity and storytelling. However-- I think this is a wonderful opportunity for us to keep fighting the good fight for exactly those things.

Every piece of art... or fic... or cosplay, or drink or any creation really, inspired by the show has the power to fuel creativity in others. We are creative creatures, and I know I, like you, had given up for a long time many of the things that brought me joy. This community, this fandom, this show, is fueled by creativity, and love and joy and inclusivity, and that is a beautiful thing, and that is certainly not gone. Even if we don't get an s3 now or ever-- that spark, that inspiration is still there in all of us. They can't take away the way that show made us feel.

You feelings on worrying life is going to be a bit worse are absolutely valid hon. I spent all yesterday afternoon crying my damn eyes out because I felt like I finally had something I could continue to support and fight for, and that I may have had some semblance of control over and it was taken away. Your grief and fear are so damn valid. I'm also feeling very strongly about "I have a hard time imagining a positive future, both on a global and personal level". I'm lucky to be a part of a community where when I expressed those same concerns people gave me some great ways to help cope and put my energy into. @celluloidbroomcloset passed on this nugget: "So I've got friends who are, like, Activists with a capital A, and from what they've said a good place to direct efforts when you feel helpless is at local levels. Can be politics, homeless advocacy, queer orgs, environmental, etc. or other orgs within your area, etc. Because a lot of change can happen more easily at the local level and you can engage with people more readily in those spaces and make a difference. It breaks down the bigger issues into something more manageable with real, visible outcomes." Please know friend, you're not alone in these fears, we're all feeling them right now, and I'm really happy you felt like you could reach out and talk about them. If you wanna talk more please feel free to DM me. Thank you for all your kind words to the community and the cast & crew too, I know they need it just as much as we do at the moment. You are a super human <3 Take care and get some rest, and when you feel up for it, please come back to us and keep loving the things in this fandom :) We're all still here.

#asks #asks love #rita-toille #ofmd

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summmeister · 4 months

Text

A Look Over the Art I Made in 2023

2023 has come and gone, with a sizeable improvement on my art skills. Once again, I am VERY proud of the work I managed to accomplish this year. I'll be going over some of the highlights month by month in this post, being sure to point out anything of note.

JANUARY

Starting off the year, I made some new artwork of Skweeb! I consider this fairly outdated now, but it did start a few trends with the character, mainly how I draw shine on him. His eyes bulge outwards, they're not holes! I also drew @akfamilyhome's character, Leddy.

FEBRUARY

This was a BIG month for me! I tried a lot of new things, and most of them worked out! This month also contains what I consider to be one of my best drawings this year, a celebration of Hollow Knight's 6th anniversary. Other highlights include a dashing tribute to Dangeresque and an entirely new reference sheet for Skweeb!

MARCH

March was not a particularly noteworthy month. These are the only two drawings from it! That said, I am quite happy getting any drawings out this month at all! As you'll see later on, this wasn't actually my most dry month.

APRIL

A VERY full month! I can't even fit everything I wanted to! Lots of Skweeb here, some Lucy too! Also a fitting send-off to Courtney (very sad Dead End got cancelled). Tried some big things here, like with the parody Album art, but for the most part I was just doing what I was good at: simple character full-bodies.

MAY

VERY dry month for art. This is the only piece from May! I participated in @some-fool-fp's aRtPG collab this month. Skweeb joins the party!!!!! Made my own custom logo for him, too.

I had a LOT of college work this month. I was working on a game!!! I got the highest grade possible on it, very proud of that. If you would like to play it, you can do so here. Just a warning though, it's very short and VERY jank at times.

JUNE

Another big month!! Some proper reference of Winslow, another Jevil drawing, and my FAVORITE piece of Skweeb art to date!!! The pose and the shading is just so good on it, I love it.

JULY

...Well this is awkward.

Art Fight was this month, and with all of my effort going towards that, I kinda... didn't draw any of my own art this month. Whoops.

Let's press fast forward, shall we?

AUGUST

A NEW OC WAS CREATED THIS MONTH!!!! Meet Chao. He helps out at the circus. He babby. I put a TON of effort into getting his design just right and ensuring he had the proper referencing before working on anything else. I love this 'lil guy.

Also some of my favorite art from this year!!! Inspired by Lemon Demon's "One Weird Tip", I made some art that takes place on a ficticous desktop! Getting the shapes and text right was hard, but I am so glad I put the time and effort in.

SEPTEMBER

Always Watching.

WOW, I am so so proud of what I accomplished with this CoTL piece. Everything from the pose to the composition and the use of colour is just PERFECT. This is up there in my favourite pieces of art from this year.

Skweeb and Jack Frost are here too... wait, it's not December yet!

OCTOBER

A certain someone turned 2 this month! My baby boy, now 2 years old... how time flies...

It was halloween this month too... but Skweeb isn't dressing up this year. It's Lucy in his place! Got some nice Jax art here too, I love that asshole.

NOVEMBER

I was never the most content with my previous Jevil artwork. I never felt like I was giving it my all, which is why I'm happy to say that this month, I did!

I also took a second shot at drawing Jax; this time, featuring Pomni! I used thinner lines and taught myself how to draw hands a whole lot better, I think it helped, haha.

Lastly, (part of) my piece for @hillelart's 10th Anniversary FNAF collab! The full thing is staying secret for now. Keep an eye out for January 15th!

DECEMBER

Finally, we arrive at December.

Funnily enough, I didn't actually draw for half the month. But when I got back into it, I got BACK in. I'm very proud of both of these pieces, and the shading and blending I used in them! This certainly feels like a new era of my art, and I'm looking forward to continuing it!

And that's it. You made it to the end! Most people just together a simple image for their art recap, and while that certainly works just fine, I like to go into the nitty gritty, write down my entire year in art, y'know?

I'm not sure if this year contains as much progress as 2022, but it certainly contains a BOATLOAD of progress! Look back at the start of the post and compare it to the end of the post, the difference is insane!

Lastly, I've got just one more thing to show, once again, redrawing my first ever piece to mark off yet another year. I hope you like it, you'll only have to wait another 365 days for the next one!

Bring on 2024!

#digital art #digital illustration #summs-art #art #artists on tumblr #artwork #digital artist #original character #skweeb #summs-thoughts #cult of the lamb #the amazing digital circus #five nights at freddy's security breach #jevil #lemon demon #clown oc #sam and max #hollow knight

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yuurivoice · 1 year

Text

Just wanted to say that even though I do avoid exploring any tags related to me, I do absolutely recognize and appreciate a ton of you who regularly post awesome art, headcanons, and memes.

A lot of that is thanks to people sharing those fun, awesome things! Reblogs where I end up seeing them on mutuals blogs and stuff helps, so share and gas each other up!

There are people in this community that have been here for years, who have seen this entire corner of the internet shift and grow for better or worse. The OGs who have been around before I ever made this blog know how far the community has come, how much it's stayed the same, and how much it has changed. And I've grown along with it. My aspirations and hopes and creativity has evolved so much from just doing silly little posts as an anime twink to having a full blown web series.

Despite that growth, I am still just a guy trying to tell his stories and make some voices while doing it. I have a small team around me, and without them this would be even more difficult than it already is. We're not corporate, we're independent artists and freelancers and creatives just trying to do cool stuff, and are lucky enough that something worked.

I've failed so much over the course of my life. You see the results of things, and for the most part are incredibly kind and supportive. Thousands upon thousands have appreciated my work in one way or another, and that's a dream come true for me. I never bothered wanting anything more in my life than to share stories with people. I didn't have a bucket list, or many aspirations. I was at a dead end and ready to just give up. That mentality and the time spent going in circles did a lot of damage over time.

But you found me, whether it was 6 years ago or a week ago, and whatever support and vibes you've sent my way have mattered. I won't ever lose sight of that.

I wanted to say that because I know I am not as ingrained into my own community as an active participant and that may make me seem distant, or stuck up, or something. It's not for any sort of disdain or lack of appreciation though, it's just me, and trying to keep my head clear.

You don't get an instruction manual when you're suddenly a niche internet micro celebrity. They don't tell you about scrolling through fan art at 3am and then seeing the nastiest, most mean spirited, bad faith takes about your work you've ever seen. Shit is weird, man. And it's not for me, because I give way too much of a shit about my art, and that's a flaw. My skin has gotten thicker over the years, but what happens on days when your mental health is in the shitter? Weeks where I've been fighting my demons and losing can't afford me the grace to step on a weird internet landmine brought on by the symptoms of being a creative trying and failing and succeeding all at once in a world where everyone on the internet has an opinion they want to shout into the void.

And people can do that! It's my responsibility to look after myself and set those boundaries for my own comfort, not anyone's fault for just doing their thing on the internet, ya know? Once you put yourself out there, you have to accept that people are gonna people. Same irl, shit, I've been a fat kid my whole life, I'm certainly no stranger to people being obscenely rude for no reason other than they like the sound of their own voice.

I just wanted y'all to know that even though we're well beyond the "little internet family" vibes that some creators foster, I'm not up in some ivory tower (ha, said the thing) looking down like a curmudgeon. I am rooting especially hard for all the fellow creatives out there on their own journeys, wanting to share their passion and dreams with the world as well. I want you to win, and succeed, and find fulfillment with whatever drives you to make things.

Guess I was in my feelings a little bit and just wanted to say that I do see many of you and am thankful you've allowed me to play some kind of role in entertaining, comforting, or inspiring you. That means the world to me.

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twigg96 · 9 months

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Please do all the fluffy alphabet for Toki!

Hello sweet Anon! Yes I absolutely will! I'm going to highlight a few asks that some other anon's asked. To the anon who asked about Pickles I will be finishing the Alphabet in full so please don't think I missed your ask!!

A - Attractive (what about their partner do they like most?)

The attention. This boy craves validation at every junction of his life. He especially appreciates whenever his partner actively participates and listens whenever he info dumping on them. He can just feel his pupils turning into heart shapes as his partner reciprocates his energy on something he truly is invested in and is excited about. In return for this service he reciprocates in full at all times. He is an excellent listener and will always remember all of the important and little things to make his partner feel heard and loved.

B - Banter (How do they tease each other? Is it always friendly/flirtatious or does it turn nasty?)

Toki's love language is "witty" banter. After being saved by Dethklok loving sarcasm was the first thing he learned to do in English. The only problem is that he doesn't always know when his banter goes beyond picking and teasing and turns to fighting. His partner could blame it on his Autism and the inability to read emotions. They could also blame it on the years of emotional abuse he suffered. Either way he would need indicators from his loved ones telling him when enough was more than enough.

C - Cute (Cuddles, Handholding, Sweet Touches, Caresses, Sneaky Moves)

Toki is a very tactile person. He literally gets days where he craves touch and he could go hours simply clinging to his partner like a lifeline. His face burrowed in their neck arms and legs wrapped tightly around their middle while they comb through his hair and rub his back. Charles and Twinkletits called it "Touch Starved". After finding out about his punishment hole and all the years he spent forcibly separated from his family, Toki could literally use all the TLC in the world now. Hand holding is a must in this relationship. He is almost always holding his partner's hand as long as they allow it. If not then he is definitely clinging to them in some capacity. While laying next to each other in bed, Toki loves to run the tips of his fingers down his partner's arms feeling the little goose bumps rise to meet him. He loves to kiss his their collar bone and wrap his arms around their waist pulling them so impossibly close that it feels like they became one person. Toki will absolutely get frisky during the day and sneak his hand onto his partner's thigh during dinner or a meeting. Massaging their thigh just enough to get them going, creeping higher and higher all the while keeping a perfect innocent poker face.

D - Dates (What kind of dates do they like to take their partners on? Are they creative with their date ideas?)

While Toki is one of the most creative Dethklok member he is certainly not the most romantic by any means. On their first date he took his partner to a trampoline park and dared his partner to do as many backflips as they could before they threw up. He took his partner to the worlds largest theme park to ride all the rides in one day. They took a few art classes together (Not Ghost style) and ended up throwing paint and supplies all over each other.

E - Eat (Do they have similar tastes in food or do they share food at the dinner table? I. E. Swapping the tomatoes on the burger for the pickles on their partner’s chicken sandwich)

Toki is VERY picky with his food. Textures, flavors, and temperatures really fuck with him. If Toki doesn't like something on his plate he will most definitely slide it onto his partner's plate. That doesn't mean he won't steal food from his partner if there is food there that he loves though. He absolutely goes full gremlin mode during dinner time and will eat not only his nuggets and mac and cheese but his partner's too if they don't watch out.

F - Fire (What drives them the most in the relationship?)

The fear of abandonment drives Toki the most in almost all of his relationships. He puts it all on the line while with a partner. He viscerally hates the idea of loosing his partner. The loneliness and pain of loosing someone close to him shakes him to his core. Worse of all he hardly ever knows/understands what he did wrong if a relationships ends. So he tries to fight with all his might every day to hold his partner close. To show them how much he loves them. And to prove to himself that he is loveable.

G - Generosity (How do they show their partner they care?)

Gifts and acts of service are Toki's go to love language. He will go out of his way to make little things for his partner. If he sees things while he's out that reminds him of them he will always pick it up. He may give it to them the next time he sees them or hold on to it himself as a keepsake to think of them. A lot of times though he starts his Christmas shopping early and has a stack of gifts for his partner.

H - Hot Head (Are they quick to anger? Are they spiteful in a fight? Will they say things they don’t mean just to piss their partner off? Or are they easy going?)

The guitarist isn't exactly a hot head per say. A lot can happen before he looses his temper... however once he looses it he goes ballistic. It is dangerous to stay around Toki whenever he looses it even after his time in therapy. Toki has never once gone off on a partner before and he feels horrible thinking about the possibility of it ever happening.

I - Interest (What are some of the interests they may share?)

Arts and Crafts! Toki loves to be artsy and create new things! It's soothing and therapeutic.

Music. He and his partner share a love for all types of weird cool music. Metal is his favorite but he absoslutely loves discovering all types of new bands.

Fashion. Toki loves dressing up and doing make up on his partner. Cutesy fashion is his favorite.

J- Jealousy (Are they the Jealous type? How would they act if they were?)

YES. Omg! Toki never once learned that sharing is caring. He is connected to his partner like velcro and feels Offended if his partner demands to spend time away to hang out with other guys or friends he felt threatened by. He will sabotage his partner's friendships he doesn't like. He will go full psycho if he feels like he's not getting enough attention.

K- Kids (Do they want kids?)

That's complicated... He really does want a family with his partner. He does. But kids scare the fuck out of him. They're so fragile. They break so easily and they try to die all the time. He watched a baby stick their chubby fingers near receptacles enough times to know they all have death wishes. That doesn't mean kids aren't cute and he hates all of them. As a matter of fact if he had a kid with his partner he would love it so much it would never leave his sight... I think he just needs more time to mature first.

L - Likes (Favorite things about relationship and partner)

Toki loves his partner in their entirety. He loves that he gets to do cool things with them every day. His favorite thing about his relationship however would have to be the time spent with them. He loves that each day he gets to wake up and feel this overwhelming sense of belonging. He loves that he knows that someone out there is thinking about him at least once a day because they want too and not just for his music. He loves that this person carves out time in their schedule to be with him either physically or on the phone. He is eternally grateful to his partner for all the time they spend on him and he shows this in his very actions.

M- Marriage (Are they interested in getting married at all?)

YES. OMG! Toki has dreamed of getting married ever since he was a young child. He wanted to have his father officiate it and have a traditional marriage of his culture. However now that he is older he has realized a lot of things. He can wait to find the right person. He doesn't need to follow in his father's footsteps but does want his mother present even if it scares him. He also NEEDs to have his new family there to welcome in the change in his life.

N- No (Pet Peeves in a relationship)

Toki absolutely can not stand a person who is pushy and presses him into doing things he's either not ready for or doesn't want to do.

He can't stand a person who ignores him for long periods of time. The silent game does not go over well for him at all.

His needs are many and vastly important. Physical money and change isn't an option for Toki. He literally can not be in the line of sight of a bicentennial quarter or he goes catatonic. He has diabetes and refuses to take his insulin by himself due to a crippling fear of needles. He needs someone who respects and understands him enough not to judge him for his use of noise canceling headphones and regression after the events of Doom Star. He needs someone who truly is going to love and take care of him through thick and thin.

Toki has a bad habit of pushing people away whenever he's upset. If he does this and his partner doesn't understand and ends up not talking to him for a long period of time he may self destruct.

O - Orange (What color reminds them of their partner?)

Yellow! His partner is just like the sun, a warm beam of light in his life that he apricates more than anything!

P - Proposal (How would they or how did they propose?)

Toki proposes to his partner in the first week they date. It occurs to him after being laughed at and told to quit joking that maybe he should wait... And so he does. He waits with anxious anticipation for the right time... the right day to ask again. And even though he desperately wants to beg on his knees at every chance and opportunity he gets. He patiently waits for his partner to give the first hints and signs that their ready before he ever acts on it again.

Q - Queen (King) (What traits makes them a KING or a QUEEN?)

Toki is the king of funny buisness. He can always make his partner smile even when they don't want to or feel like doing so.

His mind is like a steel trap. He will remember dates and events that seem extremely small to most normal people. For example: On he and his partner's first date they admitted to liking a specific brand of ice cream. He was sure to buy it for them on their birthday nearly a full year later.

He loves like no other in the band. He loves so fully and wholeheartedly. He would never let anything happen to his partners and would protect them with his life if push came to shove.

He will always make his partner feel beautiful/handsome no matter what they are wearing.

Tells them every morning how loved they are.

Will protect them even if it means going fully feral on someone else and loosing his own sanity to save them.

R - Rain (What was the most romantic gesture they have ever done for their partner?)

Toki isn't the most romantic person in all of Dethklok. He shows his love in different ways than most people. He likes to have fun and make memories. However one evening when he took his partner to the peer to ride some rides by the ocean and play some of the carnival games winning his partner a giant plushie of their favorite animal at the strength test game they rode the Farris wheel to the top. Looking out over the reddening sky that bled into the sea making the two merge and become one, Toki crept over to his partner's seat, making their gondola sway and his partner squeal. Wrapping his arms around them he laughed pulling them into his chest as he sat beside them he kissed them deeply telling them all the ways he'd keep them safe. All the reasons he loved them. And why they were the most important person on earth to him.

S- Smooches (Who gave the first kiss? When do they kiss their partner? How often do they kiss their partner?)

The guitarist was for sure the first one to kiss his partner. He is the most impatient person on the face of the planet after all. He kissed them at the end of their second date. Much to his dismay. He wanted a kiss at the end of the first nut his partner just wasn't that kinda person and in all honestly that was really hot to him. It made him wait something he hasn't had to do in such a long time that it drove him mad with desire and want. Now that they are established... Toki kisses them every single chance he has. The gossip mags are plastered with his and his partner's faces making out on the daily despite Charles instructing him to be discreet. Dethklok is constantly cursed with tongues wrestling from Toki and his partner in the halls and rooms of Mordhaus and despite them yelling to get a room it doesn't seem Toki minds at all.

T - Travel (Do they like to travel with their partner? Where do they dream of traveling to?)

Toki doesn't really like to travel all that much. He traveled so much for work and as a part of his tortured childhood in order to escape his himeland. Travel just seemed like work to him. However. With his partner while on vacation, he enjoyed it. He disguised himself during this time and while so far they only ever went to places they could drive to he really like the thrill of seeing places without the feeling of being obligated to preform for any specific reason. One day while in bed he confided in his partner that he would love to visit Japan again on vacation this time so that he could really enjoy the culture and the sites without the fear of fans and work. But for now easing into it with getaways was nice enough.

U- Universal (How Public are they with their affection? Are they very open with PDA? Do they brag about their partner?)

He is extremely open with his PDA. As a matter of fact, his partner would have to set hard boundries on how much PDA they wanted to have.

Believe it or not... Toki doesn't really brag about his relationship all too much. While he is extremely open to show off his partner and make out in public he doesn't really like to bring bedroom talk into his everyday life. He thinks it's rude to kiss and tell and becomes shy when asked about it.

V- Valentines (First holiday together. How did they prepare? How did they celebrate?)

This boi is a prude for how holidays should go. He will make sure that all the bows on the presents are tied just right during Christmas, make sure that everyone is nearby to watch the ball drop on New Years Eve, watch as the cooks make the turkey on Thanksgiving to be sure it comes out Perfect, make personalized baskets on Easter, go out of his way to buy costumes on Halloween and organize a Halloween party, but Valentine's day is one of his favorite especially with his partner.

It was not only the first holiday he spent with his partner but also their first month anniversary. Toki went all out on this day. He bought the extra large stuffies. He bought chocolate. He made dinner and ran a bubble bath for them to share later that night. Valentine's day was their night to share. No one was coming between them.

W- Wicked (What do they do that purposely pushes their partner's buttons?)

Toki has a bad habit of finding his partner's insecurities and because he can't always read emotions correctly he uses them in a joking manner during the most inappropriate times.

Toki will also cut in on his partner's conversations just because he can.

He does this thing called "meow mode" If he feels ignored for too long he goes full cat and starts meowing and roaming around their shared space looking for his partner. When he finds them he will meow louder until he has their attention then purpousfully damage something of his partner's in a manner that is cat like solely to get his partner to pay attention to him. He has so far: cut his partner's hair, smacked his partner's phone out of their hand (once off of a high balcony essentially destroying it), broken seven vases, one photo frame, and pissed in a potted plant.

X- Xylophone (What song fits the relationship?)

Merry Go-Round of Life

Y- Yearning (When do they miss their partner the most? What do they do to placate themselves in the mean time?)

Toki misses his partner the most when he's on the road on a tour. Those times when he can't bring his partner with for whatever reason Charles insists or simply because they have work.

He finds other activities around Mordhaus to do during the time that their apart like DDR or annoying Skwisgaar. Sometimes he even practices if he feels especially productive.

Z- Zipper (Do they let their partner pick their outfits?)

Nah... Toki has a specific taste in clothing and doesn't tend to stray outside of that for any real reason except to tease Skwisgaar.

#thank you for the ask!#i love my mutuals #fluffy alphabet #imagine metalocalypse #metalocalypse headcanons #metalocalypse #dethklok #toki wartooth #skwisgaar skwigelf

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rosecelebi · 3 months

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Now that Fire Emblem Heroes has opened it's yearly Choose Your Legends voting period.... I am kindly asking you to consider sparing a vote (or two!) to two of my favorites in the series: F!Robin and Sigurd!

Why?

Well let's start with Robin,

Robin fans won out last year when their Male counterpart won the male division of CYL 7 alongside Soren and I'm sure many F!Robin fans (myself included) helped him reach that victory by voting, just as we did in previous years with Chrom and A!Tiki. F!Robin has waited for her time to shine and has supported her competition for several years now. It's time for her to receive the Awakening vote love!

If that wasn't enough to sway you, let's look at F!Robin's legacy in FEH.

1. Her base version was a year 1 grail unit with a mediocre (affectionate) refine that takes max investment to work around

2. Her summer alt is a year one seasonal with a bad weapon and book 1 era stats (but she sure is cute!)

3. Her legendary alt isn't even her- it's Grima. Grima took away her chance at being a legendary unit

4. Her Halloween alt is another Grima alt. She didn't even get to participate in Halloween because Grima took the spot :(

5. Her Valentine's alt is adorable but still a seasonal locked unit

6. Her rearmed version is yet another Grima.

HALF of all F!Robin's in FEH are Grima alts. There is no F!Robin available to summon in the normal 4/5 star pool. Getting a brave alt would be a big deal for her and her fans.

Please, spare a vote to the best tactician around, F!Robin!

Now, let's talk about Sigurd

Sigurd comes from FE4, Genealogy of the Holy War, a game I know many of you may not have played yet. That's okay though! I get it! It's a bit old and jank to play and you need to emulate it with a translation patch if you don't understand Japanese. So I'm gonna explain who this man is to you....

Sigurd is the heir to house Chalphy and a descent of the crusader Baldr in Judgral, which makes him kind of a big deal. Throughout his game, he makes allies with many people throughout Judgral in an attempt to unify and fight back against the rising corruption.

Along his journey, he meets Deirdre and the two fall in love and end up having a son together, Seliph. Sigurd is devoted to his family and loves Deirdre more than anything in the world. Sigurd is a family man. Look at this Cipher art if you need more explanation:

(*SPOILERS ahead for FE4, but FEH and Engage already spoiled this so if you somehow don't know what happens to Sigurd, maybe stop reading here*)

Tragedy befalls the couple not long after their son is born... Deirdre is kidnapped and her memories are wiped clean as she is needed for a sinister plot... Her holy blood is needed to help the Loptous cult resurrect their dark God so they use Deirdre as a pawn and marry her off to Arvis.

Sigurd is distraught with his wife gone and searches and searches for her but ultimately must continue through on his plans. He returns to his home and is met by Arvis, the Duke of Velthomer, and the descendant of the imperial family. He welcomes them in as a deceitful trick and declares Sigurd a traitor and calls for his execution. Before he issues the order, Arvis lets Sigurd meet his new wife- Deirdre as a sick and twisted punishment. With that, Arvis calls down Valflame and kills Sigurd and many of his army members.

Sigurd's legacy is carried by his son, Seliph, who will free Judgral from the horrors that the dark cult inflicted many years later.

So that was heavy. But do you understand why he's such a compelling character??? He has such an unfortunate heroes tale, but FEH let's us see him again and be able to reunite him with his love and his son.

Seliph got his own brave alt two years ago in CYL 6 and it feels right for it to be his father's time to step up and shine as a brave hero.

Let's look at Sigurd's legacy in FEH:

1. His base version is a year 1 sword cavalier who's a bit outdated but not unusable by any means with proper skill investment

2. His duo dancer alt is Deirdre is one of the best arts in the game and I won't let anyone convince me otherwise

3. His Legendary alt was a meta threat at one point in time and the art is gorgeous

4. Lastly, this year he got his second seasonal alt, a tea time Butler alt that just cute. He definitely is serving tea for Deirdre and making sure she's happy.

A brave alt just seems perfectly fitting for him at this point!

In conclusion, these are two characters who are ready for their moment to shine in FEH with a brave alt. They've waited for their friends or family members to get there first and now it's (potentially) their time for the brave win. Thank you for reading all this and may the CYL odds be in our favor!

TLDR: Vote for F!Robin and Sigurd in CYL 8!

#feh #fire emblem #fire emblem heroes #cyl8 #cyl #choose your legends #choose your legends 8 #propaganda #f!robin #sigurd fire emblem #sigurd #sigurd x deirdre #fe awakening #fire emblem awakening #fe4 #fire emblem genealogy of the holy war #please vote for them

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carnal-lnstinct · 1 year

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Hi! I hope I'm in time to request for the Valentine's event! 💜💘💌 with Goku? I don't have a detailed scenario in mind, but I just want to see him in a fwb/no strings attached relationship, and realizing he's in love + the confession! It can have smut if you want or you can just leave it implicit, whatever works for you! Thank you ♥

Goku | love confession

content: ( canon divergent. world tournament champion!goku, established friendship, secret friends with benefits, love confession ) warning: ( M / 18+. MINORS DNI. implied sex )

I just can't say "I don't love you", 'cause I love you. - "Die For You"

No one expected their champion to fall today, but for the first time in years, by ring-out, Goku had lost the final fight in the World Martial Arts Tournament. There was a silence in the crowd before the new champion's name filled the stadium in an uproar of cheers, music and confetti rising over the arena. Once you were able to break out of the shock from it, you quickly rushed out toward the outer area of the ring where Goku had gotten back on his feet. There was a brief smile on his face as he looked into the ring, then as he noticed you approaching an expression of pain took over and he held his hand to his chest. Having congratulated the new champion's side, the announcer approached Goku for a few words on the fight and you couldn't help but notice the instances of his posture correcting itself and the boisterous laugh from his chest that "bothered" him just a few minutes ago as he admitted his defeat with a content demeanor.

As his publicist, you stepped in and ended the brief interview, escorting the supposedly injured Goku from the arena to get him back to his private waiting area. Just before the crowd of media interviewers could bombard the public fighter's waiting area for him.

"Alright, why did you throw the fight?" You immediately began to press for an explanation once the door shut and you locked it behind you. Never mind the partnership offers that were waiting for him to win the tournament again, looking at this as a long-time friend of his quickly set you on alert for the sudden change in your friend. Going back over the fight in your head now, it was like Goku didn't even try to win.

He lives for the Martial Arts Tournament and people love to see him fight and win them. Especially after the battle with Piccolo years ago. Certainly battling foes like his saiyan brother and company, and then the battle on Namek may have taken the difficulty curve out of competing with the average Earthling martial arts fighter, but Goku still never lost his spark of wanting to participate when he could. Even when it became obvious he'll win, the idea of the new competition never failed to deter him. So now that he's exposed his intentions to not win, you needed to know why.

You folded your arms as you stood over him, somewhat cornering him in the small bench he sat on. "What happened?" You further pushed for answers.

"What do you mean? I lost. Fair and square." Goku answered, pleased with his admittance and grinning. You narrowed your eyes at him in clear disbelief but he didn't flinch at it. "He's just that strong! Guess it's time for someone else to be Champion. At least for a while." He shrugs and shifts his gaze to his complimentary food spread that's been waiting for him. He stands up to move around you and makes a beeline for the fresh food. "Looks like I got some training to do for next time!"

Growling to yourself, you followed behind him and surprised him when he turned back around with an apple between his teeth and hands filled with rice and meats. You swatted his chest with the back of your hand and watched his reaction. Nothing. At first confused by it, Goku quickly realizes and starts to feign the pain as he hunched and donned a dramatic expression of agony. Peaking at you through his bangs, he can see you weren't buying it. He pouts having officially blown his cover and lets out a defeated sigh. "Okay, it's true. I did throw the fight." He talks through the apple and goes to set his plates on the table.

"Why?"

"There will be other tournaments to win, (Y/n). I'm sure it'll be okay if I'm not the Champion for a while."

"Goku, I've seen you do things no human on Earth can! And it's not easy to cover up a lot of that for you! I'm supposed to believe you just gave up a fight because you didn't want to be the world martial arts champion anymore?" You huffed. "Hate to break it to you, but with all you've done to defend the world you're the champ whether you like it or not. Throwing a tournament is not gonna change that. Why even compete if you didn't want to win?"

"Well...I know how important it is to your job that I still gotta fight." Goku started, flinging the finished apple core in the trash before sitting at the table. "You work really hard to make sure everything goes well for me and I can keep doing what I want. But if I'm the Champ, then I can't really do what I want. Besides, there are still the androids I need to keep training for." He adds, starting to stuff his mouth. "I can't do that either if I have to keep making appearances at big parties and stuff."

Such was the price of fame that came with being a worldly icon. With the whole world at stake from that looming threat as well, you couldn't really argue with the grand scheme of things right now compared to a single tournament. There wouldn't be another one to look forward to if those wild androids get to have their fun. You'll lie to your boss and the sponsors for him, again. For Goku's sake. You wandered over to him as he cleared his plates, setting up for another helping. "Okay...Well...What was it you wanted to do, Goku?" You asked amicably. He slows his pace as he looked up at you, emptying his stuffed cheeks with a big gulp.

Goku takes your hand into his own, turning around to face you with a gentle smile. "I want... to-"

"-I-It's better for your image if you keep up your prospect as a young bachelor." You quickly interrupt with the mechanical answer you've uttered to yourself time and time again, snatching your hand back from his grasp. "And not be seen dating your agent." You turned away, holding yourself at the surge of emotions that flowed through you. You thought you had managed to redirect his feelings from you already, along with what you felt for him. It was fortunate enough that your professional relationship got away with your friendly history, but you couldn't complicate it further by pushing that boundary. Dallying with clients was forbidden and it could hurt their public appearance, spreading negative whispers of credibility. Even for someone like Goku who has been famous in the tournament scene since he was a kid.

It's been risky already, all the times you've been with him and trying to keep it from even your friends. You can't further damage his reputation than he has today or put your job on the line because you enjoy his attention and sleeping with him.

"But I am not the World Champion anymore," Goku gently argues, frowning. You hear him stand up and you make a move to put distance between you. However, his large arms quickly closed around you, pulling you back against his frame. In his familiar warmth, you couldn't find the will to struggle. "Listen, please. Those rules don't have to apply to me anymore, and I already like being with you. I don't want to hide it any longer. Don't you feel the same?"

Your heart began to race in your chest and you let out a frail sigh, turning in his arms to look up at him. "...Please tell me you didn't give up being the world champion for me." Now looking into each other eyes, his unwavering stare gave truth to your words and you weren't sure if you loved the intentions of the gesture or hated the blatant carelessness of your client. Goku gives you a shameless but proud smile, further proving the lengths he would go through for those he cares deeply for. No risk seemed too great for him and truthfully it was enough to win your heart over. But it didn't change the nature of your professional relationship. Wanting to return his smile, you only frowned and look away.

"I...I-I can't. You're still my client." It pained you to say.

Goku was quick to give a solution. "Then quit. I'll give you my prize money for taking second place so you don't have to work." Your jaw dropped.

"G-Goku! That's still a hundred-thousand zeni!" He only shrugged his shoulders.

"Well I don't need really it. I still have plenty of money from the other tournaments and companies that give it to me." His eyes started to light up as his smile grew. "And as soon as we defeat the androids then I'll be sure to win us more money." He confidently declared, as if he had it all figured out already. A plan he's been carefully leading everyone on with that meant so much more for him than just giving away the role as the World Martial Arts Champion.

"I'm...I'm not taking that kind of money from you, Goku." You stated plainly, wiggling around in his arms to fully face him. With a pensive expression on your face, your shoulders dropped and you lower your gaze from him. You managed to work your hands up to his chest and bit into your lip for a moment trying to contain yourself. The furrow in your brow then softens and a smile starts to grow on your lips. You give a soft laugh. "-But if you tell me that you love me, I'll see things your way." You swear you could feel his entire body vibrate with excitement as his hold on you tightens. Trying to keep your emotions from overflowing with the same euphoria, you shoved your face against the exposed skin of his chest, fingers clinging to the fabric of his gi. "Do you love me, Goku?" Muffled against his top.

Goku nudges your head with his nose and squishes his cheek to yours when you lift your head up. "I do love you, (Y/n)." He confesses proudly, nuzzling you further and almost squishing your body to his own, releasing your repressed emotions with tears starting to build in your eyes. "With all of my heart!" You turned your face to his and pressed your lips together. Goku released your body only to cradle your face in his hands and return the affection, deepening the kiss. You pulled away in a breathless gasp.

"I love you, too." You quickly spouted before he claims your mouth again, wasting no time gathering you up in his arms and carrying you over to the sofa. You reached in your pocket for your work phone and threw it across the room before Goku lays you down on the cushioned seat, fitting his body to yours in its luxurious embrace.

Somewhere between stripping each other and wrapping yourself around him came multiple knocks at the door. Obviously the rush of reporters wanting to get a statement from the former champion on today's events but you both able to tune it out, sinking deeper and deeper into the throws of love.

#*MH4U #goku x reader #son goku x reader #goku imagine #dbz imagine #dbz fics #My writing #lemon #nsft

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blueskygelato · 2 months

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Fancuries FYC, Heck Yeah!

Hi, folks! I hope you all are doing well. I’m InfiStudios, friendly neighborhood jumping spider and fanseries fanatic, and I’m so, so excited for this year’s Fancuries. I always love seeing everyone’s amazing creativity, and because this year is the first where I’m actually participating, I finally have a chance to babble about my own fanseries.

Speaking of my own work, the bulk of it is my Halloween fanseries. They’re an annual tradition for me, and I consider them my main fanseries.

HORRORIFFIC PRETTY CURE

Horroriffic is the first of the Halloween fanseries. Its motifs are classic monsters, light, and Victorian/gaslamp aesthetics, and its core themes are power, connection, and legacy.

It has an info doc that’s very much under construction here if you’d like to read more about it!

HORRORSHOW PRETTY CURE

The second of the Halloween fanseries, Horrorshow has films as its core motif and draws a lot on 1950s aesthetics as well, and its themes are treating others and yourself with kindness. It follows Ethel Bleak, a horribly anxious star student who works part-time at the Caligari Film Library…a job that gets far too interesting when an accident sends the malevolent spirits housed within cursed films on a destructive rampage through the city of Hitchworth. Luckily, there’s a solution to this. Using the power of the three remaining Curses, Ethel and two of her co-workers - annoying, cruel know-it-all Cebe Wood and laid-back, sarcastic Shane Tamboli - can transform into warriors called Pretty Cure and fight back against the monsters.

Its characters have toyhou.se pages here.

MONSTROSITY PRETTY CURE

The third of the Halloween fanseries, Monstrosity’s core motif is monsters under the bed, and its core themes are the bonds between people and the idea of community.

Pellinore Valiente Denton was only six when the tip of Mount Etna exploded, sending a brilliant beam of light into the sky and calling the monsters out of the shadows. She’s lived her whole life in a strange world, a world lit every waking moment by fluorescent lights and constant, thrumming fear. In the midst of all this, her parents have moved back to their hometown of Huerta, TX in order to work on some sort of project, which Pellinore isn’t over the moon about - she’s tired of having to say goodbye to every friend she’s ever made. Fortunately for her, though, she’s about to make another one. Not two days into their stay there, Huerta throws off its sleepy small-town guise. In the middle of a celebration of Dia de los Muertos, the lake the community borders erupts in exactly the same way Mt. Etna did. It showers the community in a strange light, brings a rainstorm that lasts for days on end, and rockets the populace into a new state of terror - terror that turns out to be well-founded, because soon after the town is attacked by a bizarre monster that can walk in the light and resembles a member of the community. Pellinore is terrified, but somehow, she knows she can help fight it. Drawing on her love of magical girls and a new kind of power, she transforms into a warrior known as Cure Weaver.

The only catch? Her powers called a monster to her - Aracan, a cocky smart-aleck who’s Pellinore’s opposite in every way…and also, apparently, her partner as a Pretty Cure. Now, Pellinore finds herself under new pressure - not only must she succeed as a student and make new friends, she must hide Aracan from the populace, deal with the monsters, and unravel the mysteries of Huerta.

Its characters have a work-in-progress toyhou.se page here.

I also draw! I'm a traditional artist (digital art scares me), and I really love it. Here are some examples of my work!

Horroriffic's vampiric team leader, Ifiok/Cure Rise

Her teammate, Cure Whirlpool...

...and Whirlpool's successor, Cure Abyss!

The members of Team Horrorshow! From left to right, Cures Haunting, Abduction, and Verdant

Thank you so much for your time; I so appreciate it! I'm so excited to see what this year's Fancuries have to offer, and I hope you have a lovely day!

#fancuries #fancuries 2024 #fancuries fyc #infi speaks

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tearskillstardust · 5 months

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[ for the "genshin december game" ]

hiiii cherry! i would like to participate in this fun game, please! hopefully the info below is sufficient <3

INFJ. pisces rising, taurus sun, leo moon. i like writing, drawing, cafe hopping, sampling tea and coffee and various kinds of food! my faves in genshin includes zhongli, al haitham, and wriothesley. personality wise, i'm not one to initiate conversation so i can be seen as shy, but i get very talkative and chaotic once i feel comfy with someone! i dislike confrontation, and i'm a big empath by nature. i elaborate myself well in writing, but i'm weak with verbal speaking. i have my goofy moments but i can switch to serious in a blink on an eye. my preferred aesthetic regularly switches between normcore and stealth wealth depending on my mood. lastly, i'd like to participate in event 1, 2, and 3!

please take your time in answering, and i'd like to thank YOU for feeding us with such amazing content!! i hope you'll have a relaxing end of the year!

ps. hydration check! meal check! get your hydration and nutrients! v v important! ✧(•̀ᴗ•́)و

- ✼

1] STELLAR UNION ! ░ you get along the best with ...

ALBEDO !

—albedo would like your company because of your quiet yet vibrant presence. he would love to see your artworks and that would be the first thing about you that would catch his attention. he would genuinely want to be with you because of how serene you are by disposition. he would find you a suitable company for his own quiet nature. he would love how you don't always feel the need to talk and still manage to ascertain your presence. he would share art with you and teach you more about art in detail and want to pursue your own favourite artform too. he would adore your empathetic nature and learn from you about being more sensitive towards other's feelings.

—he wouldn't mind initiating conversation with you. he would like to learn your outlook on things and learn your philosophies. he would adore how you can adjust to situations of crisis and happiness alike. he would want you to understand that there is so much more to life than always being proper and elegant. he would want to spend time with you and be alone with you. if you're ever unable to express yourself in words and get shy, he would hand you a piece of paper and tell you to write it down instead; feeling more than glad to read your small message and respond appropriately to your feelings. he would feel special if you were to show only him your chaotic side, and in return, he would show you his sarcastic and amusing humor. he would enjoy being trusted with your vulnerable side and would make sure to never break it.

KAVEH !

—kaveh has an eye for value, he believes. in his eyes, it does not matter how much someone speaks if their presence is loud enough to catch attention. he would think you are bright and would want to speak to you right after having caught your gaze. he would love your creative yet aloof nature and would want to be close to you. the idea of being trusted by you would make him very happy and he would want to confide in you. as someone immensely loyal and emotional himself, he would strongly believe that you're the best companion he can have.

—he would want to learn from you and teach you. he would like to explore your interests and even though coffee sampling or cafe hopping aren't his interests, he would get into it so that he could share interests with you and speak to you about something other than everyday things. he would enjoy small adventures with you and would want to introduce you to his close friends. he would urge you to be more open and confident. he would stand up for you and fight on your behalf if someone disrespected you, ever. he wouldn't mind your quiet moments, being someone very talkative himself, he would feel taken care of in your presence. he would like to be close with you.

NINGGUANG !

—much like the others here, ningguang has a strong eye for value. she knows it when someone is worthy of admiration, and you would certainly catch her eye. it isn't necessary that you would right away catch her eye, but after a conversation with you, she would certainly think of you once again. she would want to be close with you, and get to know you more in a personal manner. she does not feel the constant need to speak, in fact, she avoids it, so you would be a relaxing presence for her. when she would be tired of having dealt with so many people, she would want to settle down with you over your favourite tea and enjoy the quiet.

—not to say that she wouldn't enjoy listening to your worldview, though, she would share her thoughts with you and admire how you spoke in a calculated manner. your diplomatic and professional nature would be a cherry on the top, career-oriented as she already is. she would like how you can have fun and also know how to be serious. your duality would be interesting in her eyes because she struggles to balance these two things and gets way too serious. she would find you an interesting person because she shares interests with you and would love to recommend her own favorite cafes and coffees to you.

2] ENCLOSED KISS ! ░ please mention the character you'd like to write a letter to you! send in another request without your details but please do use your symbol - ✼

3] ❝DEAR DIARY❞ ! ░ the genshin child who adores you is ...

YAOYAO !

—yaoyao has a zest for life and its components. she can't describe it in words, but she wants to see the world and its various aspects and learn new things, and explore and grow. but the problem is, she wants to do it while holding a firm hand as guidance in this world's abyssal darkness to not wander too far. she would see you as a reliable and trustworthy figure. she would think that in your presence, it is so much easier to learn and be herself. she wouldn't pressurize herself into being poise and would admire your creativity a lot.

—she would want to learn from your peaceful nature and stable mind. she would love being treated with your kindness and your softness would make her feel very safe in your presence. she would think you are an ideal adult figure and would want to learn from your experiences. she would urge you to tell her more stories or talk to her about the randomest of topics. she would find your interest in food sampling yet another reason why she feels so connected to you, and would love to share her own hobbies with you too! she would like to mess around with you and would like how dependable you are. she would want to be guided by you and would love how you never scold her, just gently put her on the right path.

i hope you have an amazing year ahead too! do get your nutrients as well; hopefully, this was good <3

#genshin impact #genshin #genshin x reader #genshin imagines #event #anon <3

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