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#this took longer than i meant it to lol. i got really into the examples
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DRAWING BACKGROUNDS: TIPS AND TRICKS
So many people are afraid of drawing backgrounds and I think it's a shame, so here's some tips and tricks, because I'm not perfect at it myself but I think the hardest part is really just knowing where to start.
First off: Perspective
Yeah, yeah, that's the scary word. But I promise you, once you're familiar with the basics, backgrounds are a LOT less intimidating. Don't get discouraged if WHEN you have trouble with it. Even professional artists struggle with it. I promise you, screwing it up is good and normal. That's how you learn after all!
Now I'm not going to go into detail on how to do it here, because honestly there are a thousand and one free resources online and in libraries that can explain it far better than I ever could in a singular broad-strokes tumblr post. But I AM at least telling you you should familiarize yourself with these basics:
Important Terms: Horizon Line: A horizontal line across your canvas, showing your viewer's eye level and providing a location for most of your vanishing points. Vanishing Point: Integral to drawing in perspective. The sides of a 3D object get smaller as they become farther away from the viewer in space. This point is where the parallel lines of a side eventually meet.
The Basic Types of Perspective: One Point Perspective: Good for drawing things that you're looking at straight on. Two Point Perspective: Good for drawing things at an angle. Three Point Perspective: Good for drawing things the viewer is looking up or down at, especially at an extreme angle.
[Click images for ALT descriptions]
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And if you're comfortable with these and serious about improving your skills for use in storytelling, I also might suggest looking up:
4 Point Perspective: Great for extra wide or tall shots and for camera tilts if you're doing an animation or animatic. I think some other names for this in animation include "banana pan" and "warp pan."
5 Point Perspective: Fish-eye lens. Good for all your angsty anime boy slipping into madness needs!
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Some perspective tips I wish someone had told me earlier:
Objects' relation to the horizon line is constant. A super helpful tip to remember when placing a character or object in space is that they will always (assuming they aren't changing in size or moving up or down) have the same relation to the horizon line no matter how far or close they are. If your horizon line is at shoulder height for your focus character in the foreground, any character of the same height in the background will still line up with the horizon line at the shoulders.
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How to pick the distance between your vanishing points: 2 pt perspective uses 2 vanishing points, 3 pt uses 3, etc, etc, but how close should they be? Well, first of all, for anything that isn't one point perspective, one or more points will usually be off the canvas. Super annoying, I know, but the closer your vanishing points are, the more warped your drawing will become. Second, a helpful thing to know is that choosing the distance between your points is basically the illustration equivalent of picking your camera lens! Photography buffs will know that wider (shorter focal length) lenses show more space and make the distance between foreground and background more dramatic, while longer focal length/telephoto lenses are flatter, and more focused and intimate. The same is true of vanishing points that are closer (shorter focal length) or farther apart (longer focal length).
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2 point/3 point/etc doesn't actually mean you're limited to that many points total on your page. this one confused me a lot when I was getting started, lol. A lot of examples will show you drawings of nice, neat cities or something, in which all the buildings are facing the same way in order to demonstrate perspective drawing. But in real life, buildings don't all face the same direction. They're at all sorts of different angles. So how do I do that??? Answer: Just because you're drawing in 2 point perspective or whatever doesn't mean you... have to actually keep your 2 points in the same spot. You can move them around, just keep them the same distance apart, so you're not screwing up your camera lens.
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Other Tips:
Use reference! The instant you try to draw a house, you're going to forget every house you've ever seen. That's just how it goes. Buildings are complicated. Do yourself a favor and collect a few reference images first, buddy!
Consider details (like architectural style, amenities, and materials) Your building will look more like a building when you keep in mind that buildings have gutters and door knobs and light switches and paneling and stuff, and aren't just boxes with roofs on them. Again: reference! You will forget electrical sockets and baseboards exist immediately. Art brains are dumb.
Use details and texture to fill in negative space Giant stretches of blank space tend to be boring and distracting. Put a few suggestions of wood grain or something on that wall back there, bud, just don't overdo it.
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Line weight Darker, thicker lines draw more attention, look heavier, and look closer to the viewer than lighter, thinner lines do. Take advantage of this to draw the viewer's attention to your focal points, de-emphasize less important details, and imply depth. It's up to you to decide how you want to use this and what your style is, especially once you start getting into combining or replacing it with shading, values, and color, but a helpful rule of thumb is to try reserving your thickest lines for focal foreground characters and use thinner lines on backgrounds, especially details in the far distance.
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Perspective guides If you're drawing digitally, take full advantage of any perspective tools you have access to! A lot of art programs lately have begun adding perspective guide features that let you set up vanishing points and then literally guide your hand as you draw so you stay in perspective. Some of these include Procreate, Clip Studio Paint, and Adobe Fresco. (still sadly none in Photoshop as far as I'm aware, what the heck, Adobe!). Check through the settings of yours to see if it gives you any perspective guides or other similarly useful tools. They're 100% worth it! And for god's sake, if you've got any skew or perspective warp tools, draw your complicated shapes flat and then warp them instead of spending an hour on it! Don't make my mistakes!
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chaos0pikachu · 2 months
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Trends in BL (Sorta): Genre Trends
So I've seen a few posts discussing trends in BL and I wanted to talk about that from a different angle. Specifically discussing what trends are, how they're formed, and to not remove BL from the rest of their countries own media.
The latter is something I see a lot when discussing BL this kind've ~separation of church and state~ but it's BL and Country's General Media. As though BL lives in a separate bubble outside of all other media and thus never influenced by the media being made in its country of origin nor the countries they share direct borders or trade with. Or all influence began and ended with seme/uke dynamics imported from Japan and nothing beyond that (no, Pit Babe was more than likely not inspired by Supernatural) and it's been static ever since.
All of that is, untrue, but also a really limited way of viewing international media. These countries are places with their own history, culture, politics, and of course, media arts. BL is a part of all of that. Which also effects the trends and potential trends we'll see in BL individually (as it's going to change country to country with some crossover).
I think a way of identifying trends in BL and also the root of those trends is by looking at the media of the country of origin their surrounding countries, and what BLs have unprecedented success and what has the industry learned from them?
So I'm gonna break this down by: genre, technical and business trend(s) in 3 part posts. In this post I'm just going to talk about genre trends in Thai and Korean BL as that's what I'm most familiar with.
Basically this post got hella long, I'm not in college anymore, and my motivation was tied to the length of my Jennifer Hudson Best Of playlist. So I had to split it up, es lo que es.
[This will not be a comprehensive list of like all BL trends ever respect to y'all who do but I do not and will not watch every BL in existence, bendicion]
To start we gotta talk first about how trends in media tend to work and also what we mean by "trends". Because there's genre trends, technical trends, and business trends.
Here's a good article breaking down various aspects of all three. When we talk "trends" in film it's not as simplistic as "office romances" or "cross country remakes" of which, one is a genre trend and the latter a business trend.
Some examples of what I mean:
Shared Universe (genre trend)
3d boom (technical trend, trended a few times in the industry, first in the 1950s until the 1960s and then again in the early 2000s until the mid 00s thanks to James Cameron)
Remakes/Reboots (business trend, this is a business based decision b/c the risk threshold for a pre-established work is lower than for an original work that may or may not have financial data backing it)
Trends in media, whether they are genre, business, technical or a combination, tend to take time to build up, and also tend last much longer than a singular year (generally for as long as something is profitable).
Example: it took time for the Shared Universe genre trend to gain traction.
Batman v Superman (2016) wasn't released until five years after Avengers (2012). Following this, The Mummy (2017) starring Tom Cruise was meant to kickstart Universal's The Dark Universe was released six years after Avengers. Before that Dracula Untold (2014) was supposed to be reworked to also start The Dark Universe (both these films flopped so no Dark Universe, rip).
Since the Avengers release, we have the shared universes of: Monsterverse (which combines Godzilla and Kong franchises together, technically started in 2014, officially started in 2017 with Kong Skull Island), and the Sony Spiderverse (Venom, Spider-man, Madam Web, Mobius lol) and The Conjuring Universe (Annabelle, La Llorona, The Conjuring, The Nun).
It's been almost 12 years since Avengers was released (fuckin'a) and we're only now starting to see some minor diminishing returns (Disney had a horrid year financially last year) for this genre trend, and not even across the board.
I want to iterate that Avengers did not 'invent' the idea of a cross-franchise shared universe. Things like Xena and Hercules, or Hanna Barbara cartoons existed long before the Avengers. However the Avengers kickstarted a genre trend in film. Just because a piece of media started a trend does not mean it invented the genre or technical innovation (James Cameron didn't "invent" 3D but he did revolutionize it with Avatar and I suffered through many 3D horror movies because of it).
[I point this out because sometimes ppl be getting testy when ppl say kinnporsche influenced the increase in mafia/crime BLs with well, um, actually history trapped/manner of death came first - yes, yes we know this. And Bi No Isu came out before all of them so everybody drink some tea and relax, everybody's faves are pretty okay😘]
Okay to let's get to what ppl actually wanna talk about, BL.
(Some) Genre trend(s) in Thailand and Korea:
In Thai BL genre trends I'm noticing are: horror, supernatural, paranormal, action crime, and magic/magical realism. A lot of these crossover, horror shows typically are also paranormal - Ghost House Ghost House (2022), After Sundown (2023) - supernatural shows tend to cross over with magical realism like time travel, or other soft magic elements - Time (2024), I Feel You Linger in the Air (2023), Cherry Magic (2023).
For the horror, supernatural/paranormal genre trend, this isn't at all surprising if you look at Thailand's recent film output from 2020 to 2023: The Medium, The Whole Truth, Ghost Lab, Haunted Tales, Cracked, Death Whisperer, Home for Rent, The Maid, Waning Moon, School Tales, and others, are all horror, paranormal, or supernatural films of some sort.
The horror genre trend especially has been around Thailand for a while, as far back as 2018 with the smash success of Girl from Nowhere which only gained a larger following when it hit Netflix in 2021. I'd almost argue the horror genre trend really picked up with Girl From Nowhere as now one of the main acquisitions of Thai series and film on Netflix are of the horror genre.
That larger media trend is now trickling down into BL with series like: Shadow (2023), After Sundown (2023), Dead Friend Forever (2023) and upcoming projects like Vampire Project.
While supernatural/paranormal series like Ghost House Ghost House (2022), 1000 Years Old (2024), I Feel You Linger in the Air (2023), Two Worlds (2024), Golden Blood (2024?) are increasing. OMG! Vampire (TBD?) will at least be supernatural but we can't say with certainty if OMGV will be horror or not as we only have a poster.
I imagine with the success of Dead Friend Forever, and I Feel You Linger in the Air we'll see the trend of horror and supernatural/paranormal series (I know some have already been announced) continued.
Then there's the genre trend towards more action and crime focused series; which more than often crossover but not all~ the time.
In terms of the increase in crime based Thai BLs I'd argue it was a joint combo of Kinnporsche's (2022) wild skyrocketed success, and the success of Manner of Death (2020). Alongside the influence of rise of crime and thrillers from Korean media (The Gangster, the Cop and the Devil (2019) and Unstoppable (2018))
Manner of Death I'd argue influenced projects like Never Let Me Go (2022), Unforgotten Night (2022), and Big Dragon (2022) if only because of their release times and taking into account the time it takes for a production to film and be edited down.
Whilst all these series came out after Kinnporsche - NLMG released a trailer in Nov, Big Dragon in Oct, and Unforgotten Night in Jun, while Kinnporsche dropped their trailer in Apr - they're series releases are so close to Kinnporsche that I don't feel confident in saying Kinnporsche 100% influenced their acquisition. Ngl it's hard not to see influences of KPTS in at least Big Dragon & Unforgotten Night if only in terms of technical film making, so there could~ be influence but I can't say that definitively. I'm gonna attribute these to Manner of Death since it came out two years prior to these other series.
Meanwhile series both released and unreleased My Gangster Oppa (2023), Red Peafowl (TBD?), Chains of Heart (2023), Kidnap (TBD?), are def riding the crime genre trend that Kinnporsche started and I'd argue series like Pit Babe (2023), Playboyy (2023) were acquired for production in part because of the crime elements included in their respective series.
Meanwhile series like Law of Attraction (2023) (crime/action) and The Sign (2023) (crime/action/supernatural) are combining crime, action and supernatural elements together.
I've said before Kinnporsche takes a lot of cues from Korean and Hong Kong crime films like Jet Li's The Enforcer, and Fist of Legend, Donnie Yen's Flash Point, Raging Fire, and Kung Fu Jungle, Han Dong-wook's The Worst of Evil, Kim Jin-Min's My Name, along with Japanese manga like Bi No Isu and KeixYaku.
Meanwhile The Sign is def taking cues from Chinese costume dramas like Ashes of Love, Fairy and Devil, White Snake (and it's many adaptions), Guardian, & Ying Yang Master Dream of Eternity. Alongside Hong Kong and Korean cop and romance shows like Tale of the Nine-Tailed, Hotel Del Luna, Director Who Buys Me Dinner, First Love, Again.
[I think the only reason Thailand or Korea hasn't jumped on the full fantasy train and pulled an Untamed is because of budget. The Sign has done very well for Idol Factory so I could see more studios trying to go in that fantasy direction if they can get the funding for it.]
Meanwhile shows like Time (2024), Two Worlds (2024), and Cherry Magic (2023) are leaning more into a combination of magical realism and a supernatural. Which is something that's been popular in Korea (Mr. Queen (2020), The King Eternal Monarch (2020)) in the past and obviously Japan (Cherry Magic (2020).
This, again, isn't a fully comprehensive list. I'm sure there's shows I've missed, and there's going to be evergreen genres that are always produced - university, high school, office all with a general romcom flavor - because they're cheap, easy, low risk and for the most part reliable.
That's not an insult to shows like Cherry Magic TH, or Middleman's Love or Cooking Crush or whatever.
Cooking Crush is just going to cost way less than The Sign it's simply a fact. Likewise Middleman's Love cost less than The Next Prince (TBD?) and was less risk as an office romcom. What helps offset the risk of something like The Next Prince is casting Zee and NuNew in the lead roles.
youtube
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[watch these two trailers and tell me they cost the same]
Think of it of like, the 50 cop procedural dramas networks are always churning out; they do so because they're cheap, easy, low risk, and reliable.
Gmmtv made Cherry Magic not for the art of it all but because it was low risk and low cost to produce with a high value return. I imagine that's also why gmmtv cast Tay and New because while I don't know who the hell they are, lots of folks in BL fandom do because of Dark Blue Kiss and the reuniting of a well liked costars will also help offset financial risk for the project. Studios will often only greenlight a project if "a name" is attached to said project.
Anyways, Korea's turn.
The data for Korea is less because Korea comes out with fewer series than Thailand. Like currently Thailand has 9 ongoing BLs in 2024 while Korea has 1 (oh City Boy Log you lonely thing you).
For Korean BLs I'm still seeing mostly evergreen genre trends: the workplace (The New Employee, Oh! My Assistant, Roommates of Ponngduck 304,), high school/university (Light On Me, Cherry Blossoms After Winter, Semantic Error, Love Class, Love for Love's Sake) and Joseon (Nobleman Ryu's Wedding, Tinted With You, Director Who Buys Me Dinner) romances - which make sense, a lot of these were the trends of romance kdramas in the early to mid-00s.
What I am hoping, is we'll start seeing the acquisition of KBLs that are closer to what's currently trending in Korea: revenge (Revenge of Others, The Glory, Marry My Husband, Perfect Marriage Revenge), thrillers (My Name, Midnight, Somebody, Celebrity, Mask Girl), more class based social commentary (Devil Judge, Golden Spoon, Vigilante, Kingdom), and an increase in both sex and violence (Somebody, A Shop for Killers).
I could totally see more revenge based KBLs in the coming years since revenge and thriller shows can be combined pretty easily and you don't need a huge budget for either. You can also set them in evergreen settings like the workplace (Marry My Husband) or high school/uni (Revenge of Others).
KBLs have mostly stuck with evergreen settings with a couple outliers like Kissable Lips (2022), Once Again (2022) for example. I enjoyed Love for Love's Sake but it stuck in that evergreen space of school based romance, with magical realism. Again, not surprising given KBLs are just following trends of romance kdramas of the past.
Whilst not a bad~~~ thing, it can be a bit stale and hopefully with a bit more budget/investment we'll see the acquisition of series that are more in line with what's trending with Korean audiences currently.
There's other things I'd like to see develop into trends for KBLs but they're mostly technical and business trends.
That's all I got in the tank, this post took me almost six hours to write b/c of all the sourcing and research I'm freaking peeked.
See y'all next time ✌️
Check out other posts in the series:
Film Making? In My BL? - The Sign ep01 Edition | Aspect Ratio in Love for Love's Sake | Cinematography in My BL - Our Skyy2 vs kinnporsche, 2gether vs semantic error, 1000 Stars vs The Sign | How The Sign Uses CGI | Is BL Being Overly Influenced by Modern Western Romance Tropes?
[like these posts? drop me a couple pennies on ko-fi]
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industrialisland · 1 year
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writing process
Tagged by @red-sky-in-mourning
do you write in order?
man I wish. I usually start in order, at least. I write until I hit a block and then skip to a part that I feel more excited about, whatever it takes to keep myself writing. I’ve gotten up in the middle of the night to jot down some random collection of sentences that I might use later. Tying those scenes together later is definitely something I struggle with. This is why I don’t post fic til I’ve got it completed.
The nice thing about co-writing Home Sweet Home with my sister is that I’m forced to write with some structure- no skipping ahead, because what she writes is based off what I write, and vice-versa, and I have to be timely about it because she’s waiting on me. Being given an open-ended prompt is really helpful. Writing on my own gives me too many options and maybe too much leeway as far as getting it done timely.
how fully formed does your writing come out the first try?
Fairly. I’m a big reader and I’ve always had a good grasp on writing, and I edit as I go. And I like to re-read my work so I catch little errors and things that don’t make sense. My beta reader complains she has nothing to do, lol. I’d like to be good at outlines but I’m just not.
how many drafts do you go through?
I don’t write in drafts. Occasionally if a scene isn’t working/is too long/is sort of what I’m looking for but not quite, I’ll rewrite it, but I don’t rewrite the entire story. For example, in my original first draft of everything broken, Stede punches Ed in the face immediately upon arriving back on the Revenge. Changing that to a kiss meant a lot of softening of their interactions. There was a much longer interlude of Stede’s thought process in getting back to Ed that just wasn’t flowing, so I had to rewrite to keep the important bits and make everything more succinct. I also did some POV switching- originally the entire fic was from Ed’s POV, but making it switch back between both of their POVs rounded it out so much better.
tell me about your process.
I clear out time to write and I use Write or Die to set myself a word goal. Some days it’s just barely scraping by, other days I don’t even notice that the timer has stopped, the key is to make it a habit. I use Spotify to find some chill/focus music, no TV, especially not the source material because that gives me the creeps, like I’m perverting it somehow, lol. I have to be really excited about an idea to write, though, I always have this weird lingering embarrassment about starting a new fic for no real reason!
It takes me a long time, though. I’m in awe of the people who can write a novel length fic in less than a month. Both of my fics took me ~3 months each.
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17, 22 for the writing asks? 🌠
of course!! <3 sorry this took a literal day to answer, i got busy and #17... 🤧 let's just say i like talking about my WIP. also sorry this is like novel length, rivalfic is my baby
22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists.
usually, cough. not very. but with my current WIP (the f1 AU) that couldn't be more different, mostly due to the nature of this fic. i unfortunately had the marvelous idea to write it just before classes started last year, which meant that while i have pretty much the whole of the first part (there will be two, each covering one season of f1) planned, i had little to no time to actually write it down. so i needed meticulous planning, not only to give me a good road map when i did get time to write, but also to motivate me to keep going.
i do a lot of writing on paper before typing it up (thank god im good at touch typing. i learned when i was 8 and have blasted many a coworker out of the water on the occasion that a typing competition is used as an icebreaker.) most of the time, if dialogue or a fake tumblr post or headline comes to mind, i can just add it to a document i have for that purpose. different pages are set up for different races. if you've read every point a pressure point, i don't go into detail for every race. i have just chosen the ones that i think are most important to the story, and will let the fake posts, headlines, and/or classifications speak for the rest.
speaking of the classifications, uh. this is probably the silliest part by far so bear with me and don't laugh.
this past term i finally learned to use a programming language other than html, and obviously with great power comes great responsibility, so i decided to visualize the standings using python. i've already decided the racing characters' classifications and point totals from the beginning and they've been sitting in a google sheet for a while, so this past weekend when finals were finally over, i just downloaded it as a CSV file and read it with the DictReader class in the CSV module and then visualized the data into plots using matplotlib (i'm sorry if my terminology isn't correct i just do things that i learned in class and look up the stuff that was out of the scope of that course lol)
so this is the result (warning for mild spoilers ahead i guess):
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now that i've actually visualized the data i now realize that i may have to tweak some of the classifications (it is entirely possible that i have made ilya and linda score too many points for how high i want caledonian to finish in the constructor's championship) and also ignore the 0.5s on the x-axes i need to figure out if i can even get rid of those. i somewhat tried to model the teams' performances on historical precedent but i feel like i got a little too subjective on the points scoring. linda should probably have scored a bit less than how she is now, and ilya a little bit more. anywhey,,, i dont really know what im doing lol these are kind of just vibes
so yeah! i spend way too much time thinking about this WIP as you can see, it's a wonder ppl have indulged me this far tbh. i promise i think about other things
17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.
bestie not to make an already long reply longer but.
i plan to write two (longfic) parts in this universe, i think i've said this already: one covers therlinda rookie season (every point a pressure point) and the other their sophomore season (every point a surer step).
a lot of the parts of this universe are based on historical precedent, though it takes place in the quasi-present. any timings stated in the fic are directly pulled from real timing sheets specific to a track/race. in my head, the cars look like how they did in 2021: example below. so in essence the rear wing still looks like That, front still looks like that, no covers for the wheels like 2022 spec.
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the calendar is based off the 2018/2019 f1 race calendar, with 21 rounds, and everything takes place in chronological order. mcn's performance difference from part 1 to part 2 is sort of based on a team that's currently on the grid (though doesn't follow its history very closely). but mcn in part 1 is definitely a backmarker team for reasons that i kind of still have to fully set and iron out. (bc i don't have the aerodynamic knowledge for that yet.) i imply that caledonian's performance equivalent/championship rival is alpha tauri, but i consider caledonian to be a true midfield team. the ultimate goal is for both theresa and linda to make it to bigger teams; ferrari and alpine (renault) specifically. this is in a universe where the title battle is between ferrari and alpine.
that being said, the two central conflicts in the every point a pressure point universe are not based on anyone in particular in the present, or any historic rivalry between competitors; it was literally borne out of me lying awake on vacation last year going from 'wow why do i approach theresa & douglas / linda & herc so similarly' to 'maybe they have parallels somewhere' to 'what if they were racers' to 'what if they hated each other and then banged' to 'what if this was intergenerational' to 'what if i wrote a fic about this' to 'god i know nothing about any of this, time to research'
i'm a relatively new fan to f1, so i don't think any of my opinions would be very welcome; i'm not looking to make any big statements about the sport either or moralize. i'm a firm believer of shutting the fuck up if you don't know enough about a specific thing/topic/issue and don't have the capacity at the moment to learn more about it. there are others whom i really respect who do have the time to go through and learn about the minutiae of the (MANY) issues of this sport but i do not have the time to do it, ergo, i leave the big statement-making to those good folks. yea, i mean, some of the characters' opinions are a little bit my own, but i don't really think they're that seismic: i think generally people would agree with it.
that being said, i think there's a really big takeaway (other than pleasure/enjoyment) that i want for anyone who reads through either of the two parts of this story; what i want to say, if you want to put it that way, is that life's too short to be petty, really. more than anything, we need each other, even those diametrically opposed. not everything is worth vitriol. as i said: i don't vocalize my opinions about the sport so often. i'm not vaguing anyone, really. i just believe very firmly that we need one another to survive. there's not enough room in our very full lives for hostility. also, like, heal your wounds before it's too late. it affects more people than you think.
yea not to get really too deep about any of this haha but as i said above rivalfic is kind of my baby and i really enjoy writing it; i know people find it weird and the universe comes totally out of left field and i feel like i'm diverging really far from the source material but then again theresa and linda never interacted in canon anyway so sorry tito juan 😩
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yoonpobs · 3 years
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bad boy good thing v.
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pairing: jeon jungkook x oc
genre: angst, smut, fluff, miscommunication (we hate her lol), pining
warnings: smut, jungkook is really an asshole, the angst hurts a lot tbh, unhealthy relationships (?)
words: 2, 435
summary: a series of drabbles where you're confused and jungkook's confusing
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a glimpse into the past
“Yes. I’ve literally just stepped foot into my apartment.” Jungkook huffs with his phone between his ears and his shoulders as he attempts to multitask, hands moving a box of the dining table.
But Jimin is persistent and he’s yapping his ear off, something about dropping by in a few but Jungkook is barely paying attention, not when the existential crisis of no longer being a high school student that could hide under an institution with a false sense of security. College was different. He was on his own, even with the presence of his friends; and Jungkook was both terrified and excited.
He’d always dream of the start of his college life. Jungkook was a bit of a dreamer, and he aimed to live out the best life possible; all while trying to juggle his academics and do some extracurriculars on the side. When he told Taehyung about his ambitions, his friend just blinked and him and offered a snort; with an almost taunting pat on his shoulder.
You’ll see.
Jungkook didn’t know what he meant then, and he can only wait to find out.
“Do you need help moving in? Tae and I just finished a lecture and we’ve got the rest of the day off.” Jimin asks over the phone, and while Jungkook wants to start off his journey being independent; there were boxes of his belongings that looked way too unappealing to deal with alone.
“You’d to that?” Jungkook sighs, eyebrows furrowing when he searches for the box that goes into his bedroom.
“Come on, Kook.” Jimin whines, “You think your own hyungs won’t help you out?” His jibe is lighthearted, which only makes Jungkook roll his eyes at his friends' words.
“I know.” Jungkook affirms, “Just college life, you know? Thought you’d be busy having your third existential crisis of the week to help out.”
Jimin snorts over the line, “Try this day, kid.”
Jungkook chuckles, and mumbles something under his breath before puffing; grabbing his phone with his hand as he thinks of a question he’s meant to ask for a while, ever since he stepped foot onto campus and his accommodation.
“Is ____ with you?” Jungkook asks.
Jungkook did so some growing in the time after you’d graduated, and he supposes that he relied a little too much on you as well as Jimin and Taehyung growing up in high school. Because once the three of you graduated, Jungkook was essentially left to fend for himself when you no longer were able to pick him up with a call away or help him out with difficult math problems when you had college to worry about.
It was horrible at first, purely because Jungkook missed you and your kindness. Sure, phone calls and texts worked—but your presence was always more than what words could ever offer, and Jungkook found himself searching for other methods to survive the next two years in high school without you there looking over him.
His football teammates had always been just his football teammates until he was forced to fraternise with them on a deeper level, and he realised that they weren’t too bad. They were fun and full of life, definitely the type of people that he found himself having fun with. He’s always been surrounded with people that were older than him, you, Jimin and Taehyung for example—and having peers his age to hang out with was a pandora box he never knew he’d ever get used to.
Take Eunwoo for example. Jungkook was petrified of him because there was no way a sixteen-year-old could look that could, and if he looked like that before puberty finished its course—then what the hell was he going to look like after?
But he was a nice guy, a fun person to hang out with and he definitely taught Jungkook some things he’d never dare ask Jimin or Taehyung. Things about women and men; the interrelationships that could be navigated with enough practice.
And enter Yuna, the first girl he’s ever had the ability to get to know in his life besides you. It was the typical cheerleader-meets-footballer trope that Jungkook would always scoff at, but according to Eunwoo “it’s only right that the same type of people minded together.”
Jungkook furrowed his brows when Eunwoo clasped him on his back when he told him that with a wink, suggestive eyes when he exposed a not-so-secret that Yuna had on Jungkook after one of their football games during his senior year.
But Jungkook thought otherwise, probably because he remembered you telling him that people were fundamentally different and social interactions with different walks of life only made life more beautiful and worth living. Seeing the diversity in cultures and experiences opens up our hearts to a world that doesn’t exist for us—it keeps us humble.
Jungkook blindly agreed then, likely entranced with you in general to consider the weight of your words. But Eunwoo was like a constant reminder, and he was older then—a little more subdued enough to pay attention to the words of his friend.
And when Jungkook continued his high school life, it seemed like more and more people seemed to pay attention to him. It wasn’t like he was unpopular before, he definitely caught the eyes of many—but it was different then. It was like Jungkook was his own person and people thought he was cool enough to approach.
So when Yuna shyly asked him out for a date, Jungkook said yes even though he still thought of you.
And when Eunwoo slapped a pack of condoms into his palm while his other football teammates hollered, Jungkook took the leap of faith and lost his virginity the same night.
So, yeah. Jungkook did some growing up—and he hopes that it’ll be enough for you to see him as a man.
“—she’s always doing so much that she barely has time for us and I get that she’s always been an overachiever but we miss her, you know?” Jimin complains, and Jungkook just about returns back from his flashback.
“Sorry, what did you say?” Jungkook says sheepishly.
“Were you not listening to me rant for the past five minutes?” Jimin exasperates and Jungkook hears some shuffling and a chuckle, possibly coming from Taehyung, on the other end of the line.
“You do have the tendency to go off tangent, Jimin,” Jungkook mutters.
Jimin scoffs, “It’s called paying attention to the details you brat. But anyway, to sum it up for you since you wanna be annoying—_____ isn’t with us. She’s got this student council thing and a meeting with a bunch of ambassadors visiting the campus in the evening.”
Jungkook blinks, taking a moment to process the information. He smiles fondly to himself, realising that you always did fine on your own—and he supposes it’s always been that way. You were quiet and never imposing, but you still did your best.
“Oh.” Jungkook says, “Will I be able to see her soon?”
Jimin snorts on the other end.
“Why are you asking me? You have her number right?” Jimin retorts, “Though it may be difficult reaching her cause she takes like five business days to reply if you aren’t work-related.”
Jungkook chuckles while he fiddles with his thumb. He can see you working hard, eyebrows furrowed as you type out emails and organise events like the efficient woman you were.
He’s seen pictures of you on social media, courtesy of Jimin and Taehyung who’d post stories of your pouts when they’d drag you out for some social time, according to their captions. And God, did you grow up even more beautiful than you were in high school.
Jungkook saw you as the girl he admired in high school and it was mostly his puppy-loved up brain thinking of you like this super smart and out of his reach senior that he wanted to respect. But now that Jungkook was … older. He still thinks you’re admirable and smart, but he can’t lie and say he didn’t notice other things.
Like how certain tops flatter your collarbones so nicely that he wonders what it’s like to sink his teeth into them. Or how you’ve experimented with tennis skirts that look like easy access for a territory Jungkook’s used as one of many of his spank bank materials. Even the way your eyes innocently glance up in pictures makes Jungkook’s brain hazy.
Jungkook was older, and so were you. The two of you were in college and it was different. You weren’t just his high school senior and he wasn’t just the little kid that worshipped you. It was free game and Jungkook wanted to make to most out of it.
“I will.” Jungkook nods with a declaration and a sense of determination in his chest. “What time does she finish?”
A brief moment of silence until Jimin responds, snorting to himself.
“She usually gets off her meetings at—10 pm?” Jimin ponders out loud. “You’re really going to wait for her?”
Jungkook wants to add he’s been doing that all this while, but keeps it to himself.
“Just can’t wait to see her.” He shrugs casually.
“You still have that schoolboy crush on her?” Jimin teases. But Jungkook doesn’t flush this time. He’s had his handful of experiences to navigate his way with feelings and desire.
“Not a crush.” Jungkook rolls his eyes. But he wasn’t going to admit that to Jimin or Taehyung just yet. “Is it bad to want to see an old friend?”
“Whatever you say, Jungkook.” Jimin sing-songs. “But I will warn you; _____ isn’t the type.”
At this, Jungkook furrows his eyebrows.
“What?”
Jimin sighs, “Whatever it is you’re thinking … stop.” And his words oddly set off an uneasy feeling in Jungkook’s chest that he doesn’t like. “You know _____. She’s not the kind of person that dates or fucks around. I don’t think she’s even looked at any guy on campus ever since we were enrolled two years ago.”
Jungkook rolls his eyes, feeling slightly ashamed that he’s been caught so early on. But along with growing up, Jungkook’s grown quite a bit of an ego too.
“What makes you think I want to fuck her? What if I really just miss her?” Jungkook snaps.
“Kook, I love you and you’re my best friend but I’ve seen your Instagram stories and escapades. I have no problem with you being sexually active or whatever—you do you, as long as it’s consensual and within respectable boundaries. I know you think college is like this unobstructed territory where you can just fuck around with people but _____ really isn’t like that. I’ve been there and I’m telling you to drop it.”
Jungkook clenches his jaw, “You’ve wanted to fuck her?” Jungkook accuses.
He can practically hear and feel Jimin’s eye roll over the phone.
“No, you idiot.” Jimin sighs, “I’ve had the same intentions as you with other women. While they may be receiving and comfortable with that, _____ won’t be. I hear and recognise your tone and I’m warning you against it.”
Jungkook purses his lips, wanting to defend himself further. But he realises, who is Jimin to tell him what to do with his life? He isn’t a kid anymore.
“You’re reaching.” Jungkook tells Jimin, “You don’t have to worry okay? I just miss ____ and I want to see her before orientation on Friday. Is that a crime?”
“Again, I don’t know what you really want so I won’t project anymore. But I’m telling you, ______ is _____. You don’t think dudes have tried with her before?”
Somehow the revelation of the fact that you did have two years to mingle around with other people and potentially get with men (or women) that weren’t him causes a different type of dread to fill his stomach, an ugly emotion of jealousy. One that he’s never felt before and he doesn’t like it at all.
“God, I haven’t even seen you yet and you’re already micromanaging my entire life.” Jungkook scowls.
“The double standard is real.” Jimin scoffs, “You used to follow _____ around like a lost puppy when we knew each other first? I feel betrayed, man.” Jimin is joking but the reminder makes Jungkook still.
"That's ... different." Jungkook protests.
Jimin snorts as if he doesn't believe his friend.
"Oh, it is different all right. You, my friend, are whipped." He snickers, "Too bad the two of you are basically polar opposites, huh?"
Jungkook freezes on the other end when Jimin casually lets it slip the thought that somewhat plagues his mind, too.
"We're not that different." Jungkook defends himself.
"Says you Mr Athlete all throughout high school. I bet you ten bucks that you were already recruited by one of the football dudes here."
Jungkook scowls because Jimin was spot on.
"Okay. I do sports and she doesn't. That's it." Jungkook snaps.
Jimin clicks his tongue, "You're all for the attention, dude. _____ always keeps it on the down-low while you do your best when people are cheering you on. It's like the spotlight follows you wherever you go and she does her best avoiding it."
Jimin clenches his jaw because while Jimin's words were lighthearted, and he knew better than to ever put you down because the three of you were all good friends—the fact that someone as close to the two of you as Jimin; was laying out the obvious makes Jungkook doubt himself a lot more.
"Oh, and you're the best at psychoanalysing people right?" Jungkook sneers.
Jimin snickers on the other end but Jungkook can't find it in himself to laugh.
"Relax. I'm joking, all right?" Jimin reassures his friend. "You don't even like her that way, right? That's what you said anyway."
Right. He didn't. That's what he told Jimin.
"Right," Jungkook says stiffly.
"If the two of you ever ended up together, though ..." It's as if Jimin was the one dead-set on pushing for it as Jungkook wishes for him to drop it. "Nah. It wouldn't happen. It probably wouldn't work out either."
Jungkook forces a dry chuckle before muttering a lame excuse and hanging up.
He loved Jimin, the guy was a good friend on an average day and an absolute sweetheart on better ones. And Jungkook knew that Jimin meant no malice when he spoke of the potential relationship between you and Jungkook because, well ... Jungkook has always been the younger guy. And that would be weird, wouldn't it?
But Jungkook knows he's done some growing up. And he'll prove it—in whatever way possible.
Jimin doesn’t need to know.
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willsimpforanyone · 3 years
Note
Hey there hope ur having an amazing day/night :D
-> Angel!Reader saving Wanda by taking their wings out for the first time since the avengers knew them and jumping off a building to get to Wanda.
Wanda X Reader obviously :)
ooo very cool request!
side note i adore getting asks it makes me feel like a real blog lol
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Really, I shouldn't have been there.
I'd only technically joined the Avengers about three weeks ago, I wasn't meant to be going on missions and things. Heck, I hadn't revealed half of my skills yet- I allowed people to think I was stronger, more agile, and more... perceptive than the average human. No need to let them know I could see auras just yet.
And up until the mission, there had been no need for them to know about my wings.
An angel's wings are a precious part of themselves, and I wasn't quite ready to show them to these people. I'd heard tales of wings being cut off, plucked, crushed, even ripped off to be experimented on- and while I didn't think the Avengers would do that, it was natural for me to be hesitant.
There was only one person, I believed, who I could trust. Her name was Wanda, Sokovian by nationality, red aura twisting around her like vines. It wasn't a threatening red, but it was powerful, angry and gentle at the same time. I was drawn to her, first out of curiosity, then out of a need for companionship, then, if I dare, romantic interest. She was kind where others were hesitant, a friend where others were just my trainers.
It was she who recommended me for this mission, as they needed to infiltrate a building; some would go from the roof down, the others would walk straight in through the entrance under the guise of a business deal. I was suggested to accompany the latter group as I was a 'good judge of character' and would know if we were about to be double-crossed. In reality, I could spot a liar from the subtle changes in their auras, but I kept that to myself.
How we ended up in a fistfight with every bodyguard in the building is somewhat of a mystery, but I believed it had something to do with knowing the second I walked into the building that we were in trouble and being ignored.
Wanda and I were directed to the roof where Captain America and a few others were having some trouble with the overwhelming number of people attacking them. I barely had time to blink before Wanda grabbed my hand, dragged me outside, swept me up into her arms and launched us at the sky. I squeaked in surprise and swung my arms round her neck. She laughed slightly, winking as we flew up to the roof, and deposited me into the fight.
Careful not to kill anyone- I was still an angel, just an aggressive one- I assisted my fellow Avengers in their endeavours. I took down five, six, seven people and they kept coming, surging forward like they genuinely thought they could get one up on several of the most powerful people on Earth. It was almost cute, despite the sickly, corrupted yellow state of their auras.
There were just... so many of them. This couldn't be natural, and I began to realise that these people were not entirely human. The darkish yellow of their auras wasn't normal; perhaps they were clones?
I whipped my head around, searching for Wanda to tell her my theory. I found her by the edge of the building, using her magic to push people- if they were people- away from her. I zigzagged my way over to her, and was within two metres of her when I saw the butt of a gun smack her on the back of her head.
I froze. She hadn't noticed anyone behind her. Neither had I. Time seemed to slow as Wanda crumpled like paper.
She lost her balance.
She was unconcious.
And she fell over the edge of the building.
Every thought about the people-clones, about not killing them, about withholding my power was doused with this powerful protective instinct. It took a split second to unfurl my wings and hurl myself over the edge with the witch.
I shot like an arrow towards her, matching her descent speed and catching her in my arms, holding her the way she had held me a little while ago. I swooped up into the sky, determined to get her as far away from harm as possible. Sparing a glance over my shoulder, I saw that the rest of the people-clones- reminder to myself, talk to someone about that theory- were almost completely dealt with, and I felt no guilt landing on a roof a few blocks away.
I was gentle in laying Wanda down, careful to keep her head on my lap and not on the gravel surface of the roof. After a few seconds, her eyes fluttered open. The adrenaline from the fight must've still been in her system as she bolted straight upright, narrowly missing my face, but immediately clutched her head, crying out in pain.
I moved so I was crouched at her side. "You got hit on the back of the head, I suggest you don't make any sudden movements." I reached out and placed a reassuring hand on her knee. "The others have dealt with the threat, I suggest we get back to the compound as soon as possible."
She didn't respond, staring at something over my shoulder. For a moment, I considered severe concussion before I realised I still had my wings out. I smiled gently at her. "Would you like to touch them?"
Eyes wide and childlike- concussion perhaps a factor- Wanda nodded. I sat cross-legged by her side and stretched a wing towards her. She was so careful, touching the feathers so lightly as if she thought them porcelain, fearful of breaking them. I shivered when she ran her hand down the top, stopping when she reached just above my shoulderblade.
"Wha- when..." Wanda curled her legs under her, sitting on her calves to reach up to my wings.
"I've always had them." I shrugged. "I apologise if this appears a betrayal of your trust- but an angel's wings are personal. They exist partly in the astral dimension, appearing only when the angel wishes them to. For example," I poked her cheek. "-when someone they care about is in danger."
Wanda laughed, and I smiled. She stood up, and held out a hand to help me off the roof. "Well, they're beautiful. As much as I would like to admire them longer, however, we should get back to the compound."
As if on queue, the pocket radio Wanda had crackled to life. "Wanda? Where are you? Are you okay?"
Wanda pressed a button, and spoke into the radio. "Yeah, I'm okay," she met my eyes again, and winked. "I was saved by an angel."
From the muffled radio, we gathered that everyone was okay, they were heading back to the compound to regroup- the mission hadn't been what you would call a success, but they'd got what they needed. I rolled my eyes when my name came up, preparing for reprimands for not being involved enough, but to my surprise, Captain America said I did a good job. Wanda grinned at me. "You have no idea, Cap."
I held out my hand as she put away the radio. "Shall I carry you? Or are you alright on your own?"
Wanda took my hand and tugged me closer. My wings instinctively curled around our bodies slightly, protectively. She wrapped her arms around my neck. "You know, I think I need you to carry me."
I swept her off her feet, a grin manifesting on my lips. "Only for the sake of your health, right?"
She nodded sagely. "Of course, I did get seriously bumped on the head after all."
I moved my head slightly closer to hers. "I think I can help with that."
"Oh yeah?"
"Oh yeah." I caught her lips in a kiss, holding her close. I could feel her lips curve into a smile as she kissed back, one hand moving up to cradle the back of my head. She was fire and magic and warm and soft and oh god I never wanted to stop kissing her. I laughed internally- I, a holy being, was enchanted by a witch. I'd never been so glad to have fallen.
We broke apart, the witch in my arms gasping for breath. "So," she panted. "...home?"
I grinned wickedly, and shot up into the sky. And if anyone worked out it was just so she'd hold onto me tighter, it was none of their business.
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i'm not joking when i said this was one of my favourite requests to write- the reader is gender neutral, of course, but it feels gay so i'm very very on board
thank you so much for this request!! i am prepared to do a part 2- it feels like it might be leading to a smut but that's up to you!
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thejustmaiden · 3 years
Text
So out of nowhere I was tagged and quoted by a SR shipper for a blog of mine posted in August of last year. Talk about throwback but, hey, gotta appreciate that level of snooping. 😉
Back in the day I actually used to encourage discourse amongst Inuyasha fans- both shippers and antis alike- but I've since realized that it's a lost cause. But for you, @feministmetalgreymon , I'll grant this exception. Just 'cause it's been a while so why the hell not. haha
I want to assure you, however, that nothing you say will ever convince me that Sesshomaru and Rin are meant to be together romantically or that the story intended it so. Nor will you find any validation here. You can ship them for all I care, but please for all that is good and holy while I have your attention try- I mean really try- to understand why it is so many of us Inuyasha fans are so against this pairing in the first place (newsflash: it's not about ship wars), and why we believe a romance between the two of them is completely and utterly out of character.
For those of you interested in reading this, the blog of mine in question that the above shipper mentions in their counter-argument is here for reference. It's titled "Jaken = Rin's Dad?" I'm going to try and keep this short, but I'm also making no such promises. After all, I'm not exactly known for my brevity. haha Now let's get crackin'!
Like you, feministmetalgreymon, did for your recent blog here where you took screenshots of mine to address certain parts, I will be doing the same and dissecting yours accordingly.
[Snippet 1]
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I worked with kids for many years as a teacher, and many people in my family have too or still do. Two of them happen to be just over 5 feet which is quite short for the average adult woman living here. I've also worked alongside many a women of short stature, and never did I hear any of them complaining of issues with their students having difficulty differentiating them from their own peers just because they were short as well. I'm sorry but that's just ridiculous. Kids are quite smart and pick up on a lot more than you seem to give them credit for. Height is not the only characteristic they look at to determine who's an adult and who's not, and it's foolish to suggest otherwise. So unless you're a babysitter who's still in their teens and/or who has very childlike features or behavior then I'm afraid what you're getting at is total hogwash. This is just another example of how you shippers offer nothing of real substance to your reasoning, it's only ever cherry-picking or strawmanning from you guys. Stop deflecting from the real issues please, because this certainly isn't one and only winds up being a complete waste of time for all parties involved.
[Snippet 2]
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Okay, calm down now. I wasn't insinuating that relationships between parents and children can't change over time in terms of how they get along. Of course that's possible, as all families experience their fair share of estrangement and abuse. What I was speaking about was in reference to the overall dynamic between the two. Because a bad mother or father can still be viewed as a parental figure to their child even if say they're not in said child's life anymore. Since Sesshomaru and Rin share a healthy bond- and just a friendly reminder that in my blog I even said that he doesn't have to necessarily be labeled her father but that a romantic relationship later would still be inappropriate- I didn't deem it necessary to address what you brought up. Plus, it kinda, umm, misses the point?? Please, let's stay on topic. And it's not captured in the screenshot, but stop acting like there isn't a small part of them that idolizes their parents at some point during childhood. Just like you mention later on how it's normal for kids to have innocent crushes on adults that they eventually grow out of? Well, guess what, the same concept applies here. Kids eventually learn that their parents are far from perfect and make mistakes too. Rin is so damn young in the OG series though that we never even get to see her reach that maturity level.
[Snippet 3]
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LOL! Alright, okay, so the "unbreakable bond" bit you're mentioning was actually me quoting you sessrinners. Did you not catch that? I literally spelled it out. *sigh* The whole point I was making is that shippers like yourself make hypocritical and contradictory statements all.the.goddamn.time. One moment you guys claim that Sesshomaru and Rin were essentially strangers and meant very little to each other, only to say in the same breath a few seconds later that they were destined to be together and their bond is like no other. I agree, their bond is special, but why must that mean they're going to fall in love?
That is the root of the matter here. Too many animes/mangas have romanticized this older adult man & young girl growing up falling in love trope that it's become way too normalized and widely accepted across the world- and yes, in some cultures more than others. Sadly, you lack the awareness to recognize how this all works. You know how we know that? When we see that you shippers are so desensitized to sexualized images of girls in the media that you share posts like this one below which *subtly* imply a future romance although one half of that pairing is still just a child in the pic and then try and pass it off as cute. That's like super fucking problematic and it scares me that you can't see that (or deny you do). 🤢
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After all that's said and done, Sesshomaru leaving Rin in the village with Kaede is to me the strongest indicator more than pretty much anything else he's done for Rin that proves he is her adoptive father. It's so funny to me how you somehow see the exact opposite though. 🤔 What I think is happening is that you got yourself on some squeaky clean ass shipper goggles fresh out of your little echo chamber. Because I hate to tell you, but what you're fantasizing is what you want to see and not what's actually there on screen or was written into the story. I'm strictly talking about Inuyasha and the manga of course. [For the TL; DR version skip to the last paragraph.]
Parents looking after their kids is what parents are supposed to do. A good parent will do anything to keep their child safe and ensure they are cared for, so what he did for her by leaving her there was in her best interests clearly. Besides, as a babysitter, you more than most people should understand that parents aren't always able to be there for their kids so sometimes others gotta step in to help. Haven't you heard of the saying, "it takes a village to raise a child?" Which in Rin's case is literally true! 😂 Sometimes kids are even sent off to stay with grandparents and that's who raises them instead. Or maybe they have to temporarily live with an aunt or uncle because their single parent's job requires they work out of town 4-5 days of the week so they're hardly home. But that doesn't mean that the parents care or love their kids any less, and it's foolish to assume that Sesshomaru must have thought very little of Rin simply due to the fact that he made the decision to leave her in the village. Come on, y'all are acting like he abandoned her there!!
It's just given the circumstances Sesshomaru finally came to learn that Rin traveling with him was no longer safe. I also like to think it's because he wished for her to live a more normal life and to learn how to fully trust humans again. Plus, continuing to travel with him as young as she was would have proven dangerous and unwise. Now for you to know all this and still manage to turn his past actions towards her while she was just a child into a romantic gesture is what boggles my mind. Regardless of how you look at it, from my perspective or your own, Sesshomaru is in the wrong. Either he's a father figure who impregnates his daughter at the young age of approximately 14. OR he's this man she used to travel with who maybe isn't a father to her but who nonetheless basically rapes her since kids her age can't consent to sex with an adult. Idk about you but it sounds to me like nobody here wins with either scenario we're given. In other words, you should be just as mad as we are. If only one side didn't choose to forsake their morals they know we both have in common for the sake of a ship. Welp. 🤷‍♀️
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I agree, incest is disgusting but that's not the only problem we have with this pairing. A romantic bond forming between Sesshomaru and Rin would also constitute as grooming.
You realize that over the years he visited her in the village that he brought her gifts too and essentially watched her grow up right before his very eyes, right? I mean, I know you do, but I really shouldn't have to explain further why pursuing a romantic/sexual relationship with each other is plain and simple wrong. And before you say it's not because he didn't have any malintent, please understand that considering their history and power dynamic up to then that yes this is still considered grooming even if Rin supposedly "wanted it" or "made the first move." Whether you consider him her father or not, as the adult who took on a role resembling that of a caretaker in her early life- a critical developmental time for a child- Sesshomaru is obligated to turn down any advances by Rin and most definitely should not initiate any himself. As the first close adult figure she's had in her life since her parents died, it's unfathomable to imagine how Sesshomaru could go through with taking advantage of this young girl who was under his care and supervision since they met. To think he could be capable of betraying that trust sickens me to the core.
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This. Now THIS is how a parent/guardian or a similar adult caretaker (babysitter, teacher, etc.) talks to a child. And, in turn, this is how some young children talk to adults. You'd be insane and delusional to deny it! We see it in our everyday lives, do we not? From where else do you think our stories draw most of their inspiration? Yes, obviously these fictional universes have aspects of fantasy that don't exist in the real world, but so how then do you suppose we're able to relate to them? The reason for that being is because these stories are written by people for people, so naturally there are going to be real life aspects embedded throughout. Sure, a little escapism doesn't hurt as we don't need to take everything so seriously, but ultimately we all need to recognize that the messages in the stories we tell matter. Most stories possess a combination of both light and dark themes, but when it specifically comes to the latter we gotta be careful with how we tackle this in children's media since kids are far more impressionable.
So if at the center of a story we have two of the main protagonists whose mom is basically their same age and to top it off she knew their dad when she was just a girl and who just so happened to help raise her, wouldn't you say that's beyond fucked up or at the very least so fucking weird? Like why would we think it's even remotely okay for our children to watch this garbage?? Really think about it. Try and be objective for once and think about how it would sound explaining this storyline to an outsider who's never watched IY or HNY. Well, antis have tried this before many times and we always get the same reaction: Ewww!
Like I said earlier, if you wanna ship it then fine, but 1) please stop seeking our approval or trying to change our minds - your ship wish came true didn't it, so why do you need us to validate it? 2) even though it's not canon, respect that we don't support this sequel portraying pedophilia in a positive light. It's harmful af to not only allow but glorify the continuation of sexualized images of young girls everywhere. And I shouldn't have to say this, but just because this trope is popular as you say does not make it right. Lolicon themes in the media have been an issue forever and it needs to stop. Yes, even some people in Japan or "the East" would agree. Shocker!
We're pissed off and rightfully so because Yashahime's TV rating is 14, not to mention it airs at the prime time kids in Japan watch TV after getting home from school. That's Towa and Setsuna's age, true, but if Rin being the mom when she's like only a year older than them (please don't argue w/ me about the math- antis have so far been right every time with it) is straight-up disgusting and not something we should be supporting or endorsing. Rin's a whole ass child!! Please don't start with the "but times were different then so her having kids at 15 is acceptable" argument either, because we've already debunked that and every other single excuse you guys throw at us. Besides, how or why would you expect young viewers to know these historical "facts" anyway, especially if as you suggest fiction doesn't affect reality so what does it matter? Yet here we are, arguing over a fictional show in real life almost a year and a half into the "Sesshomaru fucks?" sequel being announced. My ass, your ass, hell all our asses fiction doesn't affect reality!
Look, I do apologize if the tone of this blog came off as snippy or condescending at times. I do not wish you any ill will, it's just I'm not really sure what you expected to get out of all this besides maybe getting on my nerves perhaps. haha A lot of you shippers have been desperately scrambling to interact with us, lurking in our tags, jumping onto our posts screaming canon and getting so defensive even though you sought us out first. We've been sticking to our tags, so how about you stay in your lane too. By the way since we're on the topic, have you seen Twitter or Reddit?! SR shippers there are the actual worst and many Inuyasha fans (not just antis) have complained of not feeling welcomed to engage in fandom spaces anymore. Shippers swarm them and scare them off simply because fans don't like your ship and refuse to accept it. It's pathetic, really. No one should ever be bullied or harassed just because they don't like something you might. We're all fans of Inuyasha, aren't we? So let's act like it. Yashahime on the other hand, you guys are welcome to that pungent heap of trash. Fans have a right to criticize it too, but if you like it then good for you, so keep on liking it and don't mind us.
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I'm almost done, but real quick back to Jaken! Let's not forget about how the official Yashahime website- which came out after my blog, mind you- described Jaken. This translation isn't the best one available but it's the only version a fellow anti friend could track down. They do recall a better one done by a native Japanese speaker who was also an anti, and that member confirmed that Jaken is indeed called Rin's babysitter. So you see, I was right in my interpretation. In the original post I did compare Jaken to a brother, but after talking to others (some comments can be found under said post) I did acknowledge that he's more of a reluctant babysitter who's not related. And if he's not at least a brother to Rin, then he's definitely not her father.
At the end of the day, the creator Rumiko Takahashi has the final word. Which is guess what? Hogosha. 💖 Probably should've just started out with that and saved us all the trouble, huh? Good day/night to you.
Papamaru bids you adieu now. 🤞
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plant-flwrs · 4 years
Text
house unity // fred weasley
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masterlist!
a/n: this story has taken me so long and i feel like i’ve poured my blood, sweat, and tears into it. i love it a lot and you can really tell what i was watching/ doing in each sections lol. for example, the dramatic ending is courtesy of the heart wrenching sylvia plath poems i was reading earlier today lol :’) also i made the reader a ravenclaw because im a ravenclaw and i felt like it hehe. n e way! hope you all like it and pls leave feedback if you have any! like, rb, follow <3
summary: Fred Weasley and you have a bit of a love hate relationship, however, on Fred’s behalf its more love than hate. Dating a Ravenclaw would be a great stride in house unity, wouldn’t it?
(disclaimer: when i describe the differences in the twins i mean the actors! especially since she who shall not be named did not give us much about their physical differences >:/ i found the info from fandom.com so it may be wrong, but i went with it. also, i made up a few things for this story, like the annual Christmas ball)
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You wished you could enjoy some things as easily as your peers could.
You didn’t like most sweets from Honeydukes, you didn’t care for Quidditch, but you especially hated the Weasley twin’s pranks.
In your first year, just weeks after arriving at Hogwarts, you had met Fred and George. You had been unable to answer the riddle to enter the Ravenclaw common room, so you decided to take a walk around the grounds.
You just turned the corner to the courtyard, when a hard snowball hit you square in the face. The sheer force of it made you stumble backyards, and you barely had time to wipe the snow off your face before another one hit you hard in the back. You were unable to keep your balance and tumbled forwards. Your hands braced your fall and scraped against the rough stone harshly. Your palms stained the snow red as they began to bleed. You barely had time to nurse them before another snowball, this time the size of a Quaffle, plummeted onto your head. It pushed you face-first into the snow, and you recovered quicker, not wanting to stay there for any longer. You whirled around, looking for anyone who could have seen who did that. You saw two boys with flaming red hair running away, and you followed them.
You caught them just before they entered the castle, all three of you winded. They were twins.
“Did you see who did that? Was it you?” you had pried, and both of them looked giddy.
“What’d you mean?” the shorter of the two answered immaturely.
The other looked down at your hands and robes, seeing blood still flowing from your palms, and your stained tights. He glanced at his brother, who was still laughing about it all and shoved his shoulder.
“You git,” he mumbled to his brother, “she’s bleeding,” he took your hands in his and tried to wipe some of the blood off, only for it to stain the sleeves of his sweater.
“Oh, gross!” the shorter one exclaimed, backing away from the two of you.
“How did you two do that?” you asked, pulling your hands away from the kinder one.
“Bewitched ‘em,” the short one said arrogantly before his brother could stop him.
“You bewitched them to attack me?” you felt tears stinging your eyes and hoped the taller one wouldn’t notice that too.
“Well, we didn’t mean ‘em to go after you,” the kind one said quickly, trying to rub the blood out of his shirt.
“Yeah, but it was still a laugh,” the shorter one said, nudging his brother’s shoulder good spiritedly.
“Shut up, Fred,” he mumbled, obviously annoyed, “we’re sorry about your hands, we didn’t mean for it to happen, honest.”
Fred watched you silently as you swallowed hard, only able to nod at them, accepting the boys’ apology. You turned on your heal and went to the infirmary, hoping Madam Pomfrey could mend your cuts. You had wiped your tears all the way there.
In your third year, you had been told there would be a Christmas ball. You had been stuffed in a large room with the Gryffindors, and you bumped shoulder to shoulder with a boy who had long dreadlocks.
Professor McGonagall and Flitwick stood in the center of the room, a large record player was next to them.
“As some of you may know, there is an annual Christmas Ball here at Hogwarts,” Professor McGonagall explained, looking sharply at the Gryffindors.
“Professor McGonagall and I have a tradition,” Flitwick said, casting a glance at the Ravenclaws, “of holding a class on how to dance properly at these events.”
“Think of it as charity,” McGonagall said devilishly, “we wouldn’t want you to embarrass yourselves.”
Flitwick stifled a laugh and moved his wand to turn on the music. Loud, old-sounding music blared from the ancient device and you looked confused at your teachers.
“Everyone, pair up!”
An awkward haze fell over the room of third years. None of you knew how to talk to the opposite sex, let alone dance with them. You turned to look around you, accidentally making eye contact with the Gryffindor boy with dreads. His eyes widened when they saw yours, and his friends behind you noticed. You looked at his friends, only to see Fred and George Weasley. You rolled your eyes at the two, but their friend was jolted forwards.
He bumped into you, Fred having pushed him lightly on the back.
“Go on Lee!” Fred shouted, laughing loudly.
People were moving to the center of the room in pairs, and Lee looked at you nervously. He held his hand out to you.
“Want to dance?” He asked you shyly.
You took his hand with worry, nervous about the wicked grin the twins had. That grin always worried you.
You let Lee lead you out to the floor, falling in line with everyone else. You both watched McGonagall looking around for a partner for her to demonstrate with.
Fred’s obnoxious laugh cut through the room, and her eyes landed on him.
“Perfect! Mr. Weasley, come be my partner.”
He groaned and moved forwards, his brother laughing loudly. Beside you, Lee had a wide smile.
“Place your hand on my waist,” she said flatly.
“Your what?” he repeated, his eyes going wide.
“My waist, don’t be daft,” she replied, moving his hand to the right place.
It seemed everyone’s cheeks had gone red due to stifled laughter. Lee bumped into you as he doubled over, not trying to contain himself.
In your fifth year, you were made a prefect.
You were hesitant to accept the position, feeling a bit tied down by the prat status that came with the responsibility.
Wearing your slightly dusted badge, you had never polished it like you saw Percy doing every second of his life, you led a group of Ravenclaw first years up the stairs.
“Right this way,” you shouted over their heads, making sure no one got lost.
“Who had the sense to make you a prefect?” Fred taunted, coming up from behind you and flicking your ear.
You moved to swat his hand away, but he had already jumped back.
“Shove off, Fred,” you shot him a glare and turned back to the children, “the stairs can get a bit confusing, so watch your step!”
Fred watched you admirably, noticing the way your voice changed to a sweet sound when you spoke to anyone but him.
“Yeah, watch the stairs!” Fred shouted, pulling you by your elbow onto a new staircase.
The steps moved away from the first years, taking you and Fred to the opposite corridor you wanted to go down. You looked down and realized how close you were to the edge. Without thinking, you grabbed onto Fred’s robes, pulling him closer to you. He tilted forward and nearly lost his balance, which would have sent you both down. He flung his hand out and firmly held onto the railing, suspending the both of you over the edge for a moment before he pulled you back up. You were close to his chest, still holding onto him until the stairs stopped moving. You hadn’t meant to close your eyes, but when you finally opened them you saw your group of first-years looking at you from the other staircase, seeming absolutely terrified.
You leaped from Fred’s embrace, sending him stumbling back a bit. You marched up the stairs to loop back to the first years and heard Fred calling after you.
“Going so soon?” you heard his laugh echoing off the walls of the room.
For most of your life, your interactions with Fred Weasley were that simple. Maybe once a year you two would spit some insults at the other, and be on your way, not to speak to each other until next year.
However, when you walked into your Transfiguration class, late by a few minutes due to your prefect duties, you felt a punch in the gut when you saw flaming red hair.
The punch in the gut was increased tenfold when you saw that the only empty seat was next to the flaming red hair.
Breathing deeply and sending a fake smile his way, you sat uncomfortably next to Fred.
It would have been difficult to tell them apart, but your observant eye had always been able to. Besides a few odd growth spurts they were prone to, George usually came out the taller of the two. Fred also had a small scar on his left eyebrow.
“Oh hello, prefect,” Fred said lazily, drawing back in his chair and folding his hands behind his head.
The bottom of his shirt rose a little and you willed your eyes to not look at the toned bit of stomach that peeked through.
“Weasley,” you said, pulling your textbook out of your bag.
“Looking forward to your new prat duties?”
“More than I’m looking forward to sitting with you,” you pushed your hair behind your ear and out of your eyes, Fred stared at the side of your face.
“Always so charming,” he finally drawled, leaning forwards and tugging his sweater down.
Something about Fred always made you want the last word, the last laugh.
“Only for you, Fred.”
In professor McGonagall’s opinion, Fred Weasley had the littlest appreciation for time of all the students she had taught.
He wasted his time in the common room, in the Great Hall, and in the hallways.
Even during her Transfiguration class.
He was happy to spend his time with what he thought was shamelessly flirting with you, and McGonagall was happy to embarrass him while he did it.
“Mister Weasley?”
Fred turned to look at McGonagall’s severe face. Before he could say any excuse, insisting that you were talking too, she waved her wand at his desk. His book flew open to the right page, and a force that was not his own was pushing his head into the book. His hair fell in front of his face, and you could tell he was fighting against the spell McGonagall was using.
Fred seemed to be tamed by McGonagall after that and didn’t bother you for the rest of the class. On the way out, he held the door open for you. He called out to you in the hallway.
“Good luck with that weird rash, Y/n!” you felt your cheeks burn furiously as laughs sounded off in the hallway. You turned to see Fred watching you walk away, and lifted both of your middle fingers in the air to him.
“So classy!” he called back.
“Shove! OFF!” you yelled, shouting over the now deafening laughter in the hallway.
You were already dreading the upcoming months.
You were right to, for class with Fred did not get any easier.
You traded your thin tights for thicker ones and your light dress shirt for a heavy sweater. Your blue scarf was wrapped tightly around your neck, and you didn’t bother to pin your prefect badge on it these days.
“Miss, y/l/n, you must remember your badge,” McGonagall said as you came into class.
You looked down at your scarf, patting your robes until you felt the metal. Lifting up your scarf and showing the professor the badge underneath it, you gave her a reassuring smile.
She nodded approvingly and waved her hand, you moved to your seat.
Before you could put your things down, Fred was looking at you. You could hear the gears turning in his head, thinking of something presumably rude to say to you.
“Weasley,” you said first, hoping this would inspire him to stop looking at you.
He blinked at you, before smiling and turning back to his textbook.
“Today, we’re going to be learning a vanishing spell,” McGonagall started.
You had already turned to the page before she told it to you, you had read through the entire textbook over the summer.
You heard Fred scoff next to you, but ignored him.
Looking down at the directions in the book, you had remembered your successful attempt at making one of your father’s shoes disappear. He had been so proud of you, he didn’t care that he only had one brown Oxford instead of two.
“How did you do that?” Fred asked, watching as you easily made the rat in front of you vanish.
“Practice,” you said absently, turning your head to look back into the textbook.
Fred began to try the spell himself, his focus on the goblet he had taken from the great hall. He did the right wand movements, but his pronunciation was all wrong. You watched as the spell rebounded off the goblet and hit his tie, making the bottom half of it vanish. His hand flew to his chest, his mouth curved in a disbelieving grin when he didn’t feel the point of his tie.
“Well, bloody hell, that could have been much worse,” he gasped out, pushing his hair off his face and leaning back in his chair.
You couldn’t help the small nervous laugh that escaped your lips, but you were able to stifle it quickly. Fred had noticed your smile and glanced at you, happy to amuse you.
The two of you sat in silence for a bit, Fred regaining his composure after nearly vanishing himself. You pretended to read your book, but you had already read the page dozens of times. You wanted an excuse to not talk to Fred.
“Ever going to turn the page?” Fred asked from beside you, and you became very aware of his eyes on the side of your face.
“I’m absorbing the information,” you replied flatly, keeping your head in the book to hide your blush.
He laughed, sitting straight in his seat. He seemed to be attempting the spell again. You bit your lip as you watched him practice, wondering if you should correct him so he doesn’t hurt himself.
He had just begun to say the spell when you placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Wait!” he glanced at you and your hand on his shoulder, smirking at you.
“Yes, darling?”
You rolled your eyes and felt the urge to gag. Your face crinkled in disgust and Fred smiled.
“Your pronunciation is wrong.”
“Well go on then,” he said, urging you to continue.
“Evanesco,” you said simply, but Fred’s eyes wrinkled in confusion.
“That’s what I’m saying,” he said, turning back to the goblet but lowering his wand, “Evenesco.”
He had replaced the ‘a’ with an ‘e’ sound, but he hadn’t heard it, you supposed.
“It’s ev-an-es-co,” you said slowly, placing your pronunciation on the ‘an’, “you’re saying ev-en-es-co.”
His eyebrows raised, finally understanding. He repeated it to you slowly, and you nodded your head when he said it right.
He smiled confidently, casting the spell on his goblet. The goblet turned foggy, and Fred could wave his hand through it like it was a ghost.
He sighed heavily, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.
“This is miserable,” he groaned.
You waved your wand and said the verbal part of the spell, finishing off the goblet. It completely disappeared and Fred let out another groan, rolling his head back in annoyance.
“You’re miserable,” he said to you teasingly.
You looked at him through your lashes, your brows furrowed, “Whatever, Fred,” your face grimaced in annoyance, “I’m just trying to help, your welcome, by the way.”
You pulled your bag onto your lap and began to pack up your books.
Fred let out a sigh like he was going to say something. You turned to him, but he merely shook his head.
“Forget it,” he said, seeming to be at a loss of words.
You stood from your seat the second McGonagall dismissed class, leaving Fred at your shared desk.
“She’s totally into me!”
“She hates your guts, mate,” George said, pulling his lips into a thin-lined sympathy smile.
Fred scoffed and shook his head, his long hair falling over his forehead.
“You don’t get it,” he pressed, determined to make George see.
“She looks like she wants to throw herself into the Forbidden Forest every time she sees you,” George replied, determined to stop his brother from future heartbreak.
“Whatever, just you watch,” Fred said, tossing his Quidditch broom from hand to hand and looking at the massive stands above them, empty for the practice, “in a few weeks she’ll be in one of those seats, cheering me on.”
“He’s lost it,” Harry mumbled to George as he walked past, baffled by Fred’s dazed look.
George nodded hastily, following Harry away from his lovesick brother.
Fred was not often detoured by anyone’s cautionary guidance, so the endless warnings from George slid off his ego like melted butter.
Fred had spent so much time in the last Quidditch match with his eyes glued to the Ravenclaw student section, looking for you, that he had barely hit any bludgers the entire game. Oliver had some tasteful words for him in the changing rooms, but it was no worse than his mother’s screaming.
You were not at the Quidditch match, you never were. You had always used the advantage of the empty castle to go to the kitchens. The elves were the only ones left there, and you liked talking with them. Some times Luna would join you.
It seemed you and Fred were going opposite directions while searching for each other at the same time.
No matter how many cookies Dobby shoved towards you and Luna, you could not get Fred out of your head.
You thought about his arms wrapped around you on the stairs, you thought about the way he could always make your cheeks burn, and you thought of the way his eyes poured into your face like it was the only thing he’d ever seen. You hated him. He was rude, arrogant, and annoying. He ran around your head constantly.
McGonagall had some choice words for Fred that night after the match. The sulking from the loss had been toned down, but the hushed sounds of Oliver’s feet pounding against the floor in his bedroom could be heard all the way from the common room.
“Where is Wood?” she burst through the portrait hole, still in her robes she wore to the match.
“He’s upstairs, why?” Harry replied, looking nervous.
“I need to have a word with him,” she cast a glance at Fred, “and his methods of training his beaters.”
Fred and George both shot from where they sat on the couch.
“What?” George yelled.
“Don’t take that tone with me, Mister Weasley,” she squinted at them, “whichever one of you was looking around at the Rave-” she stopped before she could finish her sentence as if she had an epiphany.
Her pursed lips twisted into an evil looking smile.
“You know, Mister Weasley,” she took a step towards the boys and spoke to them only, “dating a Ravenclaw would show great strides in house unity,” Fred’s eyes bulged out of his head and George was already turning pink with laughter, “perhaps then you could focus on Quidditch again.”
George was nearly purple due to lack of air, and Harry’s mouth was agape in shock as McGonagall whisked her robes and swiftly climbed back out of the portrait hole.
“What is she on about?” Harry asked George.
Fred flopped onto the couch and covered his face with his hands. His life was over. If McGonagall could catch onto something like that, couldn’t you? You hadn’t started to flirt back, and Fred was beginning to wonder if George was right about your feelings towards him.
Soon enough, George was spouting everything McGonagall had said before he could catch his breath. He told anyone in the common room how much you hated Fred, and how much he desperately fancied you. Fred figured there was no use to stop him, because once again, if McGonagall could catch on, couldn’t everyone else?
Sunday morning was always rough for you. You pulled your heavy quilt closer to your cold cheeks, hoping for the sun to go back down and the weekend to restart. It never did.
You slipped on a pair of jeans and a tight turtle neck. Still feeling the cold air of the castle seeping through, you pulled on a sweater over the turtle neck. You tugged on some wool socks and pulled the fabric of the shirt as high up your neck as it would go.
You and Luna had plans to go to Hagrid’s hut today, he had promised her some magical flower seeds he had found in his garden. You liked to spend time with Luna, she was an easing presence and you always knew how to talk to her, even if most people didn’t.
You clutched an old muggle novel to your chest, hoping to trap some of your body heat. The hallways were surprisingly crowded for a Sunday morning, and you glanced at your watch, seeing breakfast had just ended.
You noticed that a lot of students with red ties were looking at you oddly. They would see you and smile widely, as if you were a new friend to them. You kept your head down until you met Luna in front of the great hall.
“Did you hear the news?” she asked before she even greeted you.
“What?”
“I just saw Harry, he said McGonagall told Fred to ask you out.”
You laughed, expecting her to do so as well. She didn’t and her face stayed stoic. She began to walk outside.
You were locked into place for a second before you jumped into line with her.
“What?” you repeated.
“Harry told me-” she began, but you waved your hands, cutting her off.
“No, I heard you, but what do you mean? What did McGonagall say?”
Luna had to have finally gone loony.
“He told me that after they lost Quidditch yesterday, she came in looking for Fred, she said he was quite distracted during the match,” she said, looking dreamily at you, “and she said something about how dating a Ravenclaw would be great for house unity,” Luna finished, toying with the tote bag at her side.
“Why did Harry think the Ravenclaw had to be me?” you asked, thinking there was a huge misunderstanding.
“Oh, well,” she said like she had forgotten a large part of the story, “after George heard what McGonagall said, he lost it. Harry said he laughed so hard he cried,” Luna giggled to herself while imagining the sight, “and he told everyone in the common room that Fred fancied you.”
Your face turned bright red with anger and embarrassment. The entire Gryffindor house had been laughing all night because George said Fred fancied you.
You were about to burst into protests, insist that it’s not true, but a gaggle of second years wearing red ties all pointed at you, talking among themselves.
You stepped towards them, making sure your prefect badge was visible. You watched their eyes flash down to the blue pin, and back up at your face, eyes wide. They scurried off and you fell back into place with Luna.
“That was rude of them,” Luna said, looping her arm with yours.
“Yeah,” you said quietly under your breath, your mind cloudy with thoughts.
You and Luna walked quietly out to Hagrid’s. You glanced up and saw the last person you had wanted to see.
Fred and George stood at the point where the path diverged to the Quidditch pitch and Hagrid’s hut, throwing a little flame-like ball to each other, bouncing it off their arms, feet, and chests. A small group of some younger kids had huddled around them, ‘ooing’ and ‘awing’ at each pass.
Fred had a large smile on his face, and the sight of it made your stomach churn with nerves.
You ducked your head down, hoping you and Luna would pass without a problem. You would not.
“Hi Fred,” Luna lifted a hand to wave at him, and the small light fell onto the ground as Fred saw you, “hi George.”
George smiled evilly at the sight of his brother nervously looking anywhere but you.
“Fun looking game your playing,” Luna said, trying to stop to talk, but you dragged her along.
“See you later Luna, Y/n!” George called out to the two of you, the laughter obvious in his voice.
“Why didn’t you want to talk to them? You could have asked Fred about what Harry said,” Luna asked you soothingly, looking at you curiously.
“I don’t know,” you sighed, feeling very overwhelmed, “it’s weird. I don’t even know what happened but the thought of it is so weird,” you paused, trying to grasp the words, “I mean, Fred can’t like me. We detest each other, its fun.”
“Well, do you like him?” she had asked the one question you were avoiding.
Fred had always been a thorn in your side. Ever since you met him he was rude. He never apologized for anything, he laughed, poked, and prodded at you for his own amusement. Yet, whenever you saw his soft-looking hair, you swallowed hard. When he inched closer to you, even just to whisper something rude, you felt your chest tighten. He looked at you, and you could swear he actually cared about what you were saying. Maybe detest was a little strong, perhaps just annoyed.
Granted, he was a teenage boy, and you are a teenage girl, mixed messages are bound to be sent. You thought you had been clear with your messages to Fred, though. “Leave me alone,” nothing bitter, nothing kind, just the wish to be left alone. Of course, Fred did not read your message that way. The enticing message he got was more along the lines of: “I’m going to pretend I want you to leave me alone, but please, don’t. Chase me through the hallways, confess undying love for me, kiss me passionately”. Now, it is entirely possible that Fred’s interpretation was a little clouded by his own wants and wishes, but this did not stop him.
The talk of the castle, for at least the following school week, was you and Fred.
You had never been whispered about, pointed at, or thought of like this. Fred seemed to be enjoying it.
In class Monday, Fred pretended nothing had happened. He swung his arm over the back of your chair and waited for the look of disgust to flash across your face, which it did, and he chuckled to himself.
Soon enough, the whispers and pointing had subsided, and they were replaced by odd looks as if they were disbelieving of something.
Luna found you in the courtyard sitting under a tree and skipped over to you.
“You hadn’t told me Fred asked you out,” she wiggled her eyebrows, “officially.”
Once again, you laughed, but she did not. She sat in front of you, crossing her legs.
“Oh my-” you trailed off, lifting your head to look at Luna, “what’s happened now?”
“Hermione told me that Fred has been raving to everyone about how you’re dating.”
Your eyes were wild with disbelief. You couldn’t have even comprehended what was going on at this school these days.
“Well, no one’s told me that we’re dating,” you said, your voice riddled with annoyance.
In perfect timing, Fred, George, and Lee bounded from the school and out to the courtyard. They were laughing and shoving each other, looking to be having a great time.
You stood from the ground, dusting off your pants and walking over to the three with fury.
“Fred!” you called out to him, and he stopped and turned to you.
A look of fear flashed on his face, but he covered it with something else, was it admiration? Love?
You clenched your jaw and narrowed your eyes, stepping close to him. He tilted his head down to look at you, a small smile on his lips.
Around you, George, Lee, and Luna stood with their arms crossed, watching intently.
Your bodies were almost touching, and your finger stabbed into his chest.
“Who do you think you are?” you said in a hushed tone through gritted teeth.
Once again, Fred’s face fell for a moment, before he wrapped his arms around your waist in some sort of embrace. You squirmed from his touch and backed away from him.
“Who do you think you are?” you repeated, this time louder. George and Lee flinched from behind you.
“What do you mean, sweetheart?” he asked sweetly.
Your face twisted with confusion, what is he on about?
“What?”
He continued, stepping closer to you.
“Are you feeling okay?” he asked earnestly, moving to rub his hand on your arm.
He was trying to flip the script, make you feel crazy.
“Fred, you’ve lost it, really,” you replied, walking back to the tree to gather your books.
“Maybe when you’ve regained consciousness,” you walked back up to him, keeping your distance, “or the effects of whatever potion you took start to wear off, please try to explain what is going on.”
You walked away from them, leaving Fred with a wicked smile.
“Alright, see you later!” he called out to you.
You turned your head to look at him, your hair blew in front of your face but Fred could see your puzzled expression. His smirk grew wider and he turned to George, Lee, and Luna. They looked awfully concerned.
“Oh,” he placed his hands on his hips, “isn’t she great?”
You had gotten to Transfiguration early, your prefect duties switched for the week. You crossed your legs and placed a book on them, reading discretely while McGonagall was still in her office.
Just as she began to address the class, Fred strolled in, hands in his pockets. He slipped into the seat next to you and you bookmarked your page. You scooted your chair in and slipped the worn book into your bag, listening to McGonagall begin her lecture. Monday’s were often boring lecture days in Transfiguration.
You heard the screech of Fred’s chair on the floor, and in the corner of your eye saw him moving closer to you. He rested his elbow on the desk and placed his chin in his palm. He leaned close to you.
“Hello,” he whispered, and you could hear the smile in his voice.
You ignored him, dipping your quill into your ink in case McGonagall said something note-worthy.
“What’s ‘a matter,” he paused as if he was thinking of the most annoying thing to say to you, “darling?”
You audibly gagged, and his smile widened.
“What do you want?” you caved, asking him.
“Oh nothing,” he leaned back in his chair, still whispering to you, “just for you to be my girlfriend.”
You went rigid. Your face suddenly got very warm. You lost grip of your quill and it toppled over your ink, sending dark liquid across the desk and onto your white sleeve. You cursed loudly out of reflex and it caught McGonagall’s attention.
“Excuse me, Miss Y/l/n?”
Everyone turned to look at you and Fred in the back of the room, some people smirking. Fred stayed leaned back in his chair, watching you.
“I’m sorry Professor,” you stumbled out, wiping both the ink and your sleeve at the same time, making both things worse, “I just-”
Fred pulled his wand out from beside you and did a simple cleaning spell, you supposed. The ink receded back into its bottle and the stain on your sleeve disappeared. McGonagall watched him intently.
“Very resourceful Weasley, Miss Y/l/n, please don’t disrupt my class again,” she said curtly, returning to the lesson.
You heard a few snickers from your classmates, your face still a deep shade of red. You swallowed hard as you felt your heart beating in your ears.
Fred leaned forward again so his mouth was aligned with your ear.
“What do you say?” he whispered.
“What are you talking about Fred? Why are you doing all this?” you asked, straining to keep your desperate voice in a whisper.
“I’m only having some fun,” he replied as if he hadn’t been making your life a living hell for the past weeks.
You shot him a pleading look, and when he saw your flushed cheeks and watery eyes, his face softened.
“Hey,” he placed a hand on your knee, a knot formed in your throat and shivers went down your arms, “I didn’t mean to-” he trailed off and your jaw clenched. You returned your gaze to the front of the class.
“Listen, I’ve just been,” he paused, searching for the words, “I’ve been playing a sort of prank. On everyone but us.”
His tone was soft and playful as if he were letting you in on a secret. You supposed he was.
You raised your eyebrows, pressing him to continue.
“Well, George basically told everyone in our house that I fancy you, so I wanted to have some fun with it, switch it on them.”
You pressed your eyebrows together, still looking to the front of the room while Fred was inches away from your ear.
“I’ve told everyone we’re dating,” he said plainly, “house unity and all, as McGonagall said.”
“So that was true? What Harry told Luna?” you said before you could stop yourself, happy to finally get answers.
“Well, I don’t know exactly what Harry said, but I’m sure he didn’t leave anything out.”
“Why did George tell everyone that? That you,” you trailed off, feeling the words choking in your mouth, “that you fancy me?”
“Because I do,” he said quickly, and just as quickly moved on, “so what do you say? Want to be my girlfriend-” he paused, realizing what he had just said, “well, my girlfriend of sorts, not like my real girlfriend, because I’m sure you wouldn’t want to, and-” he stopped himself.
This time it was his turn for his cheeks to burn and his eyes to awkwardly avoid yours.
“Why do all this? Seems a lot for a joke that no one but us will laugh at,” you said, trying to ignore his confession.
“I’m willing to go to the ends of the Earth for a joke, my dear.”
Fred was dreadfully serious when saying that, and this became clear within hours.
Walking past the Dungeons and up the many stairs to your common room, you heard Fred call out to you.
“Wait up!” he was breaking away from a large group of Gryffindors, and all of them watched him with a keen eye,
“What, Fred?”
“Hey, that's not a very girlfriend-y tone,” he wrapped his arm easily around you.
You were sure it was meant to be sweet, but it felt a bit imprisoning.
“I never agreed to this,” you didn’t shake off his arm, but you felt inclined to. You were aware of the many eyes pouring into your back.
“I thought we had? Oh,” his arm left your shoulder, and you felt a little colder, “well then I suppose I could leave it all be, go back on my word, humiliate myself.”
His tone was a playful one, and you couldn’t help the bashful smile that reached your cheeks. You knew you had no obligation to Fred, but the whispers and gossip had seemed to subside during this new joke of his. You stopped at the landing, and the group of Gryffindors walked past you, staring at you both. Fred waved them off and nodded his head towards you, smiling.
“Why should I?” you clutched some textbooks to your chest, feeling grateful for the wall it put between you and Fred. He looked down at you, his hair falling into his forehead.
“Well,” he stuffed his hands in his pockets, inching closer to you, “as I said, I just think it could be a bit of fun.”
“Fun for you. What’s in it for me?”
“What? Besides utter fame and popularity from being associated with me?”
“Oh shove off, Fred,” you rolled your eyes at him, but once again could not help the smile that spread across your face.
“See? I’m growing on you already.”
“I’m still seeing no benefit for me.”
“Well, I do see where your coming from, but I’d like to raise another point,” he slipped a hand from his pants and waved it casually while talking, “I will indeed pretend like we are dating even if you don’t.”
“So essentially, you would just be flirting with me while I hurl insults at you?”
He nodded enthusiastically.
“Is that the image you want, Fred?” you teased.
You moved to lean against the wall behind you, and Fred trailed after you.
“Any image is a good one,” he winked dramatically at you.
You shrunk away from him and gagged, sending him into a fit of laughter.
“I hate it already.”
“So you’ll do it?” he asked.
You breathed in, looking at him seriously. His hazel eyes were dark in this light, his hair had gone a deeper red in the lack of warm weather and sunshine. He towered over you slightly, and you looked at him through your lashes.
Shrugging your shoulders, you agreed weakly.
Fred saw the error of his thinking almost immediately. Walking through the hallways with you, he felt his heart soar higher and higher each time you laughed. When you would loosen up, or walk a little closer to him. He was being awfully unfair to himself, making himself think that you had something, some sort of relationship. It was like dangling a treat in front of a dog and wanking it away right when the dog drooled.
He saw the flaming house, and still walked in, looking for a place to sleep.
“Why, hello,” Fred drawled, coming up from behind you in the hall.
You felt his hand snake around your waist, and he pulled you. Your feet twisted from under you and you twirled, turning to face him. Your hair had skewed into your face, and he watched your delicate hand reach up to brush it away.
You looked dazed as if you had a lot on your mind. He smiled down at you and you did your best to reciprocate it.
“Are you alright?” he asked, dropping his hand from your hip.
“Yeah, just-” you took a deep breath in, “just got a lot of homework, been a bit busy with my prefect stuff.”
This was not what was bothering you. You felt a lot of inner conflicts these days, an endless moody and angsty monologue sounding off in your head day and night. You felt odd. You felt odd for agreeing to Fred’s stupid plan. You felt odd for toying with him and yourself. You had disliked him just last month, and now you let him wrap his arm around your shoulder, let him hold your waist. You felt like a traitor to yourself, letting him win you over with a few charming looks. You felt even worse when you thought of Fred’s confession. He had said he fancied you, and the idea of pretending to date him didn’t alarm you for some reason. You hated the feeling of toying with his emotions or allowing him to live out some sort of fantasy. Everything about it made you feel awful.
You didn’t feel as awful, though, when Fred would call out a comment from across the dining hall that would make your cheeks burn and all the other girls swoon. You didn’t feel as awful when he would sit in silence with you by the black lake, keeping you company among the chilling wind. You didn’t feel as awful when he slipped little notes into your bag when you left Transfiguration.
You had enough, one too many genuine looks of admiration. You needed to tell Fred how you felt.
You caught him on his way back from Quidditch practice. He was trailing near the end of the group, huddled with George and Harry. He had some dirt on his forehead, and his cheeks were tinted pink. He smelled of grass and sweat.
You pulled your cardigan tighter around you, wishing you had brought your scarf. Your hair whipped in the wind around you, and you rocked on your feet.
You began walking to him, and when he saw you he smiled widely.
“Hey!” he called out, walking faster to meet you.
“Hi,” you said nervously.
“I’ll meet you guys back in the common room,” he told George and Harry, who glanced over their shoulders at the two of you.
It was dusk and he looked strikingly handsome. You felt like you were seeing him as a different person. He wasn’t the boy who bewitched snowballs to attack you, he wasn’t the boy who laughed at your scraped hands. He wasn’t the boy who shoved Lee at you, and he wasn’t the boy who awkwardly danced with McGonagall. He was the boy who held you in his arms, stopping you from falling over the stairs. He was the boy who looked at you like you were the only thing that mattered in the world, he was the boy who held you above anything else.
Your mouth was agape as you looked at him, he stood awkwardly waiting for you to say something. You looked at the ground, licking your lips and feeling them dry as soon as the cold air grazed them again.
“I wanted to talk to you,” you said quietly, hoping your voice would fade into the wind and carry you away.
“What’s up?” he looked down at you nervously.
“Fred, I-” he cut you off, placing a hand on your arm.
“You can’t do this anymore?” he looked deeply at you but you couldn’t meet his eyes.
You didn’t want to have this talk anymore, you felt content, suddenly, in pretending. You could both pretend to love each other until it wasn’t pretending. The lines would blur and soon, his kisses would come easily and his hands would have their place on you. You would touch his soft hair and know his eyes only looked at you. But you had already said the words, or rather, he did.
“I just,” you kicked the dirt beneath you, hoping he would finish your sentence again, he didn’t.
“I don’t think its fair,” you looked up at him finally and felt surprised to feel tears in your eyes, you blinked, forcing them to subside, “to either of us.”
You heard him gulp, and his eyes moved to look at the castle behind you. The candles had been lit and the stone glowed from the inside.
“I get it,” he said, removing his hand from your arm.
You looked down at where his hand had been and felt a tear drip down your cheek.
“Fred-”
He shook his head, pulling his mouth into a line. You stopped talking, feeling the words stuck in your heart.
You really wished you hadn’t said anything. You wished you could pretend again.
He walked past you, leaving you in the dusk. You hadn’t meant to, but a sob escaped your mouth. You heard his feet shuffle for a moment, and stop. He walked back to you.
He had finally been able to fall asleep among the fire, and it seemed you had come to join him at some point. He didn’t know when, but looking at you now, it seemed you had been burning for a while.
“What’s got you so torn up about this?” he said gently, stopping a few paces away from you, “Didn’t fall in love with me, did ya?”
A laugh fell from your lips at the same time another sob did. Your shoulders hunched over more, and Fred’s heart hurt him. He walked to you, placing a hand on your shoulder. You turned to face him, and you both moved at the same time. He pulled you close into his chest and your cheek pressed against him. He smelled, he was dirty, and he was tired, but he still held you tighter than you had ever been held before.
You pulled away from him after a while, coming to terms with yourself in the moment of affection. You wiped your tears from your face with your sleeve, taking a few deep breaths.
“I think,” you hiccuped, feeling it hard to speak, “I think that the pretending was too hard.”
Fred felt guilt wash over him. He felt guilty for himself, because you had said exactly what he was feeling. He couldn’t stand to pretend, to keep himself from gripping your hand, or from kissing you any chance he got. He wanted it all to be real, he wanted this wall between you to crumble into a genuine relationship. He felt guilty for making you feel this way. He felt guilty for pressuring you into this allusion of intimacy. He hadn’t stopped to consider if this would be negative for you, only insisting it would all work out for the best.
As he watched your uneven breathing and swollen nose and eyes, he knew this was not the best.
He breathed hard, forcing himself not to cry as he looked at you. George was supposed to be the sensitive one, but Fred had always been a sympathetic crier.
“Me too,” he replied, his voice sounding far, far away.
You looked at him, feeling terrified. The cold air was moving through you liked you were transparent. Tears kept flowing down your face, and no matter how fast you dried them, you only cried more. Your head felt miles away from your body, so you stepped closer to him, hoping to step closer to yourself too.
“I don’t think I want to pretend,” you croaked out.
He blinked at you, and you saw a single tear fall down his cheek. He didn’t move to brush it away, and it moved slowly. It left a clean mark on his dirt-stained face.
You took a step towards him, covering your hand with your sleeve. You cupped the back of his neck with one hand and brought your sleeved hand to his cheek. You wiped the tear and the dirt away, but your hand didn’t move. You peaked your fingers from your sleeve and they grazed his face. His eyes fluttered closed and your throat tightened as more tears poured from your eyes. Your vision was blurry as you traced his face, moving over his nose, eyebrows, and lips. You stopped to cup his cheek, and he leaned into your palm. You felt the wetness of more tears fall onto your hand, and you bit your lips, holding in a wretched noise.
“Fred?”
His eyes fluttered open, and you realized his hands had found their way onto your waist, he held you tightly.
“Do you want to pretend?” you asked him.
He moved his head from your cheek and kept his wet eyes locked with yours.
“I want you,” his voice was hoarse and sad, but that was all you needed to hear.
You buried your face into the crook of his neck and he wrapped his arms around you tightly.
The dusk had turned into the night, and you pulled away from Fred. You looked up at him and swallowed away the tears that remained. You began to walk past him and up to the castle. He followed you quickly.
You were scared. You had safety in pretending, knowing this was all something for fun. But as you looked at Fred now, you saw something deeper. You saw the threat of genuine love and connection, the threat of heartbreak.
Neither of you wanted to go without the other tonight, you had decided. You wordlessly followed him to his common room, and he slipped his hand into yours. You had both ducked into a prefect bathroom on the way there, looking at yourselves and covering your swollen eyes.
He said the password to a portrait of a large lady, and she looked suspiciously at you both.
“Are you two alright? You’ve just about missed curfew,” she said, her voice booming through the staircase.
“Yeah, we’re alright, just tired from practice, is all,” Fred reassured her, and the door swung open. He walked in first, and you followed.
You relished in the warmth of the spacious room, feeling drawn to the fireplace. You walked over to it and sat on a large couch. The room was relatively empty, a few kids hunched over books.
Fred sat next to you, still in his Quidditch robes. He grabbed your legs with his hand and guided them to rest on one of his legs, hanging over it. This angled your body to him, and he moved his arm to wrap around you.
“When did you realize?” he asked, his face lit by the fire.
“Just then, when you walked up to me after your practice.”
His chest moved with a chuckle and you moved your head to looked up at him.
“Well that's a little embarrassing for me,” he said, pushing a piece of your hair out of your face while you gazed up at him, “I've known since I met you.”
“Shut up, no you didn’t,” you said lightly, assuming he was trying to be some sort of romantic and inflating the truth.
“I did,” he said seriously, “I teased you for so long for a reason.”
“Because you’re an idiot?”
“Yes.”
You both laughed, pulling each other closer.
“And because I liked you.”
You rolled your eyes, sinking deeper into him. You felt yourself getting tired and you peered up at him. His eyes were half-closed and his face was drooping.
“Fred, you’re tired, why don’t you go to bed,” you began to move off of him, but he pulled you back.
“Only if you make me a deal,” he said mischievously.
“What?”
“I’ll go upstairs and take a quick shower, but only if you come with me,” he replied.
“I am not showering with you, pervert,” you smacked his arm and stood from the couch, blushing furiously.
He smiled and grabbed your hand, turning it to kiss your palm. You shivered at his touch.
“No, just come lay with me,” he looked up at you, suddenly serious, “I want to be with you tonight.”
Your heart sank to your stomach and you bit your lip. You couldn’t speak, so you nodded your head slowly.
Fred fished his wand from his robes and waved it towards the stairs, performing the counterspell for the stairs. You followed him up to his room, where he put his finger to his lips, signaling for you to be quiet. When he cracked open the door, it was dark and the curtains for the beds had been drawn. He crept over to a chest at the foot of his bed and looked at you before turning to its contents. He pulled out two large pajama pants, both plaid, and two heavy sweaters. He tossed one of each on his bed and took the others with him.
“Here, you can sleep in these,” he whispered to you, and it felt like you would blush forever.
He smiled softly at you before closing the curtains for you, leaving you to change.
“Oi, mate,” you heard someone’s annoyed and hoarse voice, “what took you so long? Practice ended an hour ago.”
“I was talking with Y/n,” you heard the bathroom door open, “I’ll talk to you about it tomorrow, I’m gonna shower. And don’t wake me up for breakfast tomorrow, I want to sleep in.”
You smiled to yourself, holding the soft sweater in your hands. It had a large ‘F’ on it, and you traced your fingers over it. You slid out of your jeans and folded them, placing them on the floor by the trunk. You slid on the pants he gave you and silently laughed as they easily ran past your feet and dragged on the floor. You folded them at the waist, and they were still too long. You had just slipped on the sweater when Fred slid open the curtain. He watched you fold your shirt and place it with your jeans. His eyes trailed from his sweater to the way his pants covered your feet. He smiled widely and drew you closer to him by grabbing your hips.
You looked up at him, your chests pressed together. He brought one hand up to your jaw, tilting it up to align with his face. His lips parted and so did yours, the air between you becoming a mixture of your breaths. His was minty, he must have just brushed his teeth.
His thumb grazed your bottom lip, and he finally closed the space between you. His neck craned down to you, but when you stood on your toes he was able to stand straight. You pressed as close to him as you could, and so did he. His lips were warm against your cold ones. He felt the many places that had been chapped and bitten, running his tongue over them slowly. You sighed and ran your chilled hands up his sweater, feeling him shiver beneath you. Your fingertips grazed the muscles on his back, tracing every line you could feel.
You pulled away first, sinking down to stand flat on your feet and rest your forehead on his chest.
“I’m so glad we didn’t pretend to do that,” Fred laughed out, pulling you close to him.
You smiled and hugged him, before moving to the other side of the small bed. You both slid under the covers silently, thinking that if either of you said something, things would suddenly be awkward.
The lack of bed only made him hold you tighter, and the two of you fell asleep relatively soon.
You were awoken by the sounds of laughter. The curtains were still drawn, and Fred’s arm was still wrapped around you. Your leg was resting on him as he laid on his back, hugging you close to him. Your head lifted from his chest as you squinted your eyes.
“No, he said he wanted to sleep in, mate,” you heard George say. The door opened and you heard footsteps walking towards it.
“You think they finally told each other?” Lee asked George, pulling on a wool hat.
“I hope so, bloody awful letting Fred think he tricked us,” George said before closing the door behind them.
You smiled and let your head sink back onto Fred. He stirred and pulled you closer to him. Through the fabric of his sweater, you swore you could hear the steady rhythm of his heart.
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gb-patch · 3 years
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Ask Answers: April 13th, 2021
And we’re back again with more replies so soon, haha. Thank you for the asks!
Your game literally saved me this hell ass year. Thank you so much for the most perfect piece of art I've ever laid eyes on 😫 ... Do you guys have a rough idea when step 3 DLC will be released? I hope I'm not coming off as rude. I just really really love your game.
I’m sorry for the late reply on this! You might’ve already seen the answer by now, but the Step 3 DLC is coming out on the 16th. We’re almost there :D
This may be a silly question but did Jeremy's parents ever find out that Pran had lied about his age and if so, when/how? :3
Pran came clean to them after a couple of years, when he felt secure enough that it wouldn’t ruin the relationship. The Kings were a little embarrassed, the dad more than the mom, but they’re quite good at brushing past those kind of mistakes so it was all water under the bridge pretty fast.
hi! i know you’ve answered a question about alterations in the our life moments by playing them in different orders, but i was wondering if there was a canon order that the moments for each step happen in? i figure with such a customizable game the “canon” timeline for the moments is whatever order the player completes them in, for example in step 1, i like playing the runaway moment pretty early, since cove trying to run away early in summer makes more sense to me personally. thanks!
Yeah, there’s no canon order we’d insist on. Whatever you like can be the official route for you! And that’s a neat way to look at that event.
What if your character isn’t that into physical contact but still wants to be in a relationship with Cove? Would he be offended if you shy away or something along those lines?
He wouldn’t be. Cove knows how hard that can be and is very understanding. If you set his initiative to low, the game always checks to make sure if you want to be touched or not rather than assuming that you do. And if you do choose that you don’t want to, there’s no stress or drama about it. Cove will just say that’s okay!
Hellu! First off, I want to thank you all for such a wonderful game, it's been the best feel-good game I've ever stumbled upon and I can't express enough how much it has meant to me. Second, I've seen lots of people having trouble with making Cove confess before MC which makes me wonder if people will have the same problem in the dlc when you can propose to him. Is it possible to post a guide for that as well when it no longer could count as a spoiler? Again, thanks for such a beautiful game <3
I’m really happy you had such a nice time with it c:. We’ll answer questions about it on tumblr/in the discord if they come up and, if need be, we’ll find somewhere to upload a guide.
Do we get steam key from buying dlc on itch io?
I’m afraid not. That’d be unfair to those who get it on Steam. Plus, Steam isn’t super cool with giving out thousands of keys to be handed out for free on other sites anymore. They can refuse to give us the keys if they feel we’re trying to take advantage of their system.
hi! so if we reject cove's confession in step 3, can we still have MC and cove get together in step 4?
You can confess to him, yeah. But Cove won’t ever try confessing again if the MC turns him down in Step 3.
What if MC acts like someone Cove doesn't like, like Lizzie or Baxter lol
You can’t do what Lizzie or Baxter does to make Cove dislike them. You can play the game and try, but it doesn’t work out. The MC is just too compatible with Cove if you’re fond/crush/love, haha.
Hi! I absolutely love your game, I love the characters they’re all so amazing, thank you for the game haha
I was wondering if you would get the NSFW DLC no matter what Patreon level you were at, or if you would could get it at any level? :)
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What pateron tier do we need to get the 18+ content for Our Life? It's my new favourite game, keep up the good work!
It will eventually be available at the $5 tier and anything above that! Glad you both like OL ^^
On a scale from 1 (being the worst) to 10, how well do the XOXO jerk squad including JB handle horror?
JB: 8
Everett: 5
Nate: 4
Shiloh: 10
Bae: 10
Jeremy: 8 for non-gore horror, 2 for gory horror
Pran: 9
hello!! i was wondering if any of the boys from the Jerksquad would ever wear a skirt/dress?
None of them wear skirts/dresses out of personal preference. But if there was some kind of reason where they had to do it, none would be that bothered.
How does the jerk squad feel about Christmas? 
Everett: He fucking loves it. That’s the best time of year.
Nate: Commercialized nonsense.
Shiloh: It’s wonderful! So he claims.
Bae: He likes it quite a bit, but only for the joy it brings children/family. He thinks that’s sweet but is too mature to be whipped up into a festive fervor himself.
Jeremy: It’s awful.
Pran: He hates it.
does cove have any pet allergies? yes I know this is a little weirdly specific
He doesn’t! The lucky boy isn’t allergic to any animal.
Very important question: Would Lee and a musical-theatre loving MC run around belting Into The Unknown from Frozen 2? Because I feel that they would 
Probably, haha.
This might seem like a dumb question, so I’m sorry, but with the Derek DLC are we gonna get to hang out with him in person instead of just calling him in step 3? 
The Derek DLC adds events in Step 2 and Step 4. It’s part of his story that you don’t really get to be around him in Step 3. But you don’t need to apologize for wondering!
hello! i'd like to ask if it's possible to play the android version of the game with the dlcs after buying the dlcs from steam. i wasn't expecting my android version to have my dlcs since i bought them from steam, but it had my step 2 dlc for some reason. is this a glitch or does the apk actually detect what dlcs you already have on your pc? if so, how come i don't have the step 1 dlc appearing on android? thanks!
That is some kind of glitch. It isn’t possible for the Android DLCs to be unlocked by having them on PC. Maybe in one of the old builds we accidentally didn’t lock the Step 2 DLC properly. Sorry for the confusion!
Does Derek and Baxter have canon sexualities? Will Derek still flirts with the MC regardless of their gender?
They’re both pansexual and can like the MC regardless of what gender they have.
I was wondering if Miranda had a crush on Cove in Step 3? I'm not sure why, but I got those vibes from her?
She thinks of him only as a friend. Cove isn’t her type, haha.
This is probably a dumb hope, but I hope Cliff find someone he loves after Cove is grown up and everything. Or at the very least he has someone he's very close with after Cove leaves. 
That’s a really sweet thought to have. Cliff stays single, but he’s graysexual and not-particularly romantically inclined. He only dated when he was really young ‘cause that’s what everyone did. Family and friend relationships are more important to him, and he has plenty of that in his life ^^.
Heya! I was curious if there might be a nickname system in N&F? I kind of pull an Elizabeth when I play and choose a different variation of a name like having Rosie in step one and changing it to Rose in step two, then maybe Rosetta in step three for example, but it also feels a little bit odd being scolded using my nickname hehe. That's all I was wondering about, thank you for your time and the wonderful games!
We are hoping to include the option to go by a nickname in Our Life: Now & Forever. But nothing has been programmed yet, so we can’t 100% guarantee it, haha.
Just curious, what would Liz's and Cove's relationship be if MC wasn't around? I feel like they wouldn't get along as well as they do now, especially during the first and second step 
They’d definitely have a lot of friction growing up and they’d likely avoid each other as much as possible. Once they were both older, I imagine they’d be decent neighbor acquaintances. But they still wouldn’t be nearly as close as they are with the MC bringing Cove into things.
What do the customizable eyes look like in the game? Do they look as they are in the creating avatar section? Or do they look different when actually playing the game?
That’s up to you! The doll is just meant to be a general idea. You can apply it to your imagined MC as much or as little as you prefer.
Did Cove go through a "phase" during his adolescence? I don't really wanna headcanon it so I wonder if there's anything (cringy) canon since we missed out on the ages of 14-17 hahaha
Not really, aha. 14-17 Cove is pretty recognizable to his 13 and 18 year old self.
Hello! I'm sorry to bother you, especially with all the messages you get. I was just wondering if the religious wedding venue was exclusive to a church or if there will be different religions of weddings? Also, I love this VN so much, it's so well written and every character is so amazing, thank you for making such a beautiful game.
The church is treated as a historic building rather than anything actively religious, but it’s not the only option like that. There’s a historic synagogue and stuff too! And that’s really nice of you to say <3.
How differently would it play out If MC told their moms about the 20$ deal back when it happened? 
They wouldn’t have been happy and would’ve been far more skeptical of Cliff, aha. But they wouldn’t want to keep Cove away from the MC, so it wouldn’t have been too different in the long run.  
Hello may I ask what Cove's favorite fudge/ice cream flavor would be? Its alright if its not answered 
He appreciates them all, but his top favorites would be the fruit flavored ones and the ones with nuts.
Hi! I really wanted to make mc's house in a game and tried really hard to figure out the floor plan, but I wondered if you have the floor plan of the mc's house so that i can try again with more accuracy?
Thank you a lot for this game, i loved it a lot! (my first play took me 8 hours lol)
I’m really sorry, we don’t have anything like that. But at least you can headcanon that what you did is correct and nothing can prove it wrong, haha.
Hello,I recently started playing lake of voices (I put it off for a long while since I’m usually not very good with horror) and I’m really happy I did!I’m a big fan of your games in general and lake of voices was absolutely great as well.I loved the characters and the dark setting of it,I adored the beautiful art and music and the story was great too,sometimes unsettling and sometimes very sweet.My favorite Route in the game was definitely Lu,I liked his character and was really shocked and distraught by his Route at least two times.I didn’t see the plot twist(s) coming at all!
Besides these ramblings I’ve also wanted to ask if you still remember how to get the lower two CGs on page 5?I seem to always miss them and would appreciate any help.Anyways I hope I wasn’t too much of a bother and I wish the devs a great day!:)
Thank you for all the kind words <3. You get those DLCs by going through the end of the Guide’s character path. You can use the guides on Steam to help you find it/reach the end!
—– —– —– —–
Thank you again for all of these questions :D
We released a new FAQ! It answers common questions and we’ll keep adding more to it. Please check there before sending an ask. FAQ   Also, if you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog
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theyarebothgunshot · 3 years
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[part 1/2]
Hi, I’ve fallen in the cockles dumpster years ago and I don’t know how to reach the surface anymore.
we can say I’m a newbie on your inbox and I just thought we could all tinhat a little bit about one of the things that sold me on cockles to be a real thing: honcon 2017.
Here’s the list of things I can’t find a platonic heterosexual explanation for:
(Funny but useless foreword, a few days before the con a fan tweeted a photo of a rainbow she saw when her flight land in honolulu and said she took it as a sign that was gonna be a gay weekend, and man she was right lol)
1- Misha flew to a hawaii on thursday just like all the other guests who were supposed to be at the con way before J2 did.
We know j2 stopped shooting the same day/the day after because on friday Jensen was spotted by a fan on a plane to honolulu even tho he was expected to be there on sunday.
while Jared preferred spending that bit of free time at home. (Gen posted a few instagram stories of jared and the kids in Texas.) Jensen went straight to misha instead.
Even tho at the previous con j2 talked about how the following weeks were going to be full of work commitments and between work and cons so close to one another they couldn’t see the families as much.
I’m not saying Jensen didn’t miss his wife and kid. He loves them and clearly meant it when he said he missed them so much. That’s why it was surprising seeing him join misha so early. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say it was a planned trip to spend time together.
2- I think it’s positive to say he was there early for Misha and only misha since that night a fan took a picture with them at an hotel bar. She posted it on instagram and said it was just the two of them, then she had to put the account on private since too many people were asking questions.
It’s strange how we only got one photo of that night tho, they’re always super nice with fans when being approached and usually after the first brave soul finds the courage to ask everyone else follow through.
Again I think they clearly wanted to be alone that night. No fans no castmates.
Maybe they were celebrating something?
3- Then the panel happened.
We all remember Jensen showing us how bad his kink for misha’s weird accents have gotten, how cheerful and at ease they were on stage.
Even I could feel the love was in the air and I live on the other side of the ocean!
welcome to the dumpster, nonnie! i love all of this a lot. i *just* got your part two and i am putting it and my reaction under the cut!! 
[part 2/2]
4 - Jensen also bought matching shirts for his friends. One black shirt for him and an identical one for his bro. But misha’s was red cause he knows him well enough to notice he never wears black shirts.
I mean Jensen has a history of showing affection through gifts, (I have a few examples on my mind but no time to write it all down now)
That was a nice thing to do.
5- Least but not last
THE DINNER STORY.
I don’t care if it’s been years I’m still not over how sweet that moment was.
The question was an easy generic one, It took misha less than two minutes to answer.
But then mr. 10 years. same bar, same table. same company. grabs the microphone and procede to share with us one the sweetest memory of Misha he got.
I mean it was so unexpected. Unlike Jared and Misha he’s careful about what he think is appropriate and what’s not.
In my mind it sounded like: “Listen I know it doesn’t answer your question but I’ve just spent a good weekend with this person right here, that I clearly love and care for, and I’m feeling soft, so let me tell you about how I realized I was whipped on him since our very first date”
Again I find it curious Jensen was reminiscing about how they first got together on that particular weekend.
The same one he decided to join misha early just to be with him.
That was one of the moments I realized there’s no way this is a platonic relationship.
Ok this turned out way longer than I expected.
I clearly miss jenmish so much I can’t stop blabber about them.
I’m sorry
Polaroid anon
first of all: don’t be sorry, i truly loved this because i felt like i was seeing the panel again in my minds eye while i was reading your message. 
second of all: you are absolutely right about everything except for calling misha’s shirt red. it was orange, which is misha’s favorite color, which makes it even more special that jensen got that one for him. 
i also think that jensen went there early just for mish, which is just. a lot. it reminds me of another con, where jensen could have gone home already but he waited for misha who had to do something else there the next day, and then two days later they were spotted together i think at the airport. 
i 100% agree that the fact that jensen shared that story about one of their first dinners is very special and rare. especially because in the past, whenever somebody wanted to hear a story from them, they both never knew what to share (probably because of lot of their stories are not suitable to share tbh) and to me it almost felt like he really thought about what he could share and what he would feel comfortable with, after all those times where he just went ‘shit idk what to say’. 
and what he shared just felt so romantic? like. the look on misha’s face when jensen was talking was also so soft, he was clearly thinking back on that moment. a moment they both remembered all those years later. i mean at that point they had known each other for nearly 10 years and they still remembered that one particular night. it made an impression on both of them. it was a date. and then to top it off jensen added that he thought to himself ‘but i think i love him a little bit more too’. wow. 
see, no need to apologize for talking a lot, as i clearly do the same sjfhshf.
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rexeipts · 3 years
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Monday morning rewatch thoughts:
I am in my feels, very angry at this episode.
Annie had little to no story so skipping her this time around.
Ruby & Stan:
- Stanimal trying to get the girls to strike was great, and I want to see him (not Beth) run the strip club so bad. I hope that is the storyline they take us down.
- Ruby and Stan once again are king and queen of communication. These two are such an excellent example of healthy and happy marriage.
- Ruby biting a lime at Stan’s replacement gave me life in the montage
Beth & Dean:
That’s who Beth gets paired with this week. Dean. Not Rio. Because that’s how mad I am at her.
- Dean on the bike ride scene was once again far too long and wasted precious screen time. I forced myself not to fast forward through that scene. And you know what I noticed? Dean literally compares being sexually assaulted in prison to being someone’s wife on a honeymoon and being forced to have a baby put inside you. Because that is how Dean sees his fucking wife and marriage. Literal other convicts sexually assaulting someone in prison is like them thinking you’re their wife on a honey moon. Let that fucking sink in. And no, I don’t think that was intentional characterization by the writers. That is just existing as a metaphor these writers chose to use while trying to continue a Dean redemption arc.
- Dean leaving the hot tub when the other guys were shitting on Beth for being a buzz kill was an attempt at showing “growth”. But it’s not. It’s fucking table stakes. See above mention of non consensual sex being like a wife.
- How Beth does not realize this is another of dean’s idiotic schemes and poor money decisions is beyond me.
- I am relieved only in that Beth looked upset after getting Rio arrested this time. Good. Be upset. You had a choice. I’m so mad at Beth right now. I’m honestly starting to think she deserves Dean.
- Beth, honestly you think Rio would hurt your kids? Then why turn him in? You’re so scared of him then why risk it? Choosing him would have meant protecting your kids if you look at it factually, he threatened your family if you turned him in. Like she’s just dumb at this point? The writers have characterized her as dumb. Did she conveniently forget season 1 when he got out? I mean for real? Do these writers even watch previous seasons?
- Beth being with Dean literally undermines all feminism about the show. I have said that before and will say it again. Dean is a cancer on this show’s fun. Pun intended.
- Beth uses her sweet housewife voice on Nick. Literally everyone but Rio. And she literally flirts with Nick. You’re literally married Beth. Divorce Dean before you flirt with yet another person.
Rio & Nick:
- Baby Rio looked like Rio I thought. Him drawing a boxer was heart breaking. Because he literally wanted that his entire life. The last flashback scene made it seem like he wanted it for money. Nick tells him he doesn’t need boxing because they have a way to get money now, but Rio literally wanted boxing from childhood. And Nick ripped that away from him. Nick gave him no choice. Not because he wanted him to learn a lesson, because he wanted to use him. Rio is Nick’s designated fall guy.
- Rio = good egg, Nick bad, better be fucking FORESHADOWING FOR RIO GETTING SOMETHING NICE FINALLY THIS SEASON. At least the writers told us that pretty openly.
- The champ champ champ now all makes sense
- Who is Rio’s coach and can we please have a cheesy storyline where the coach is the only one to ever be on his side
- What is he having them print for? The girls point it out like why does he need all of that?
- Him telling Beth he does need her? No he doesn’t. That was actually a very sweet line. The way he looked at her, he’s in love with her guys. Like his face said yes I need you because I can’t seem to give you up. He doesn’t need her for money. It’s unfortunate they chose to dirty it up with him threatening her family.
- Rio grows from the ashes. He is the designated fall guy who rises from the ashes to be untouchable. Hence Phoenix I guess. Sure.
- I actually like Nick being in the show. First because I’m mad at Beth. But mostly because he is the only character introducing a new dynamic. He is the only thing that’s not repetitive. The only fresh storyline. And he’s already making her talk about Rio. But also, would it fucking kill either of them to say the man’s damn name? But also I like the actor and think he’s pleasant to look at on screen, sue me.
- Oh look, Nick, another man telling Beth Rio is too dangerous for her when she LITERALLY SHOT HIM. Do you all REALIZE SHE IS NOT A DELICATE FUCKING LAMB.
- I am no longer convinced that Rio had a plan all this time, not after rewatching the car scene. It seems like Rio was ready to kill her, mostly because he doesn’t know another choice, and Nick pointed out the obvious. Unless Rio is playing Nick. But truth be told, Rio threatening her family was ooc. And I’m holding on to the fact that he said family, aka Dean Annie Ruby who he has threatened before, and she took it to mean kids. I’m also holding on to the fact that Rio puts on masks. He puts on cold gang banger mask, he tries to manipulate and find new ways to incentivize beth. If you look at it that way, as him trying to get her to choose him rather than a plot of trying to get her to turn him in, it’s heartbreaking. He is so desperate to get her to pick him he literally pulled out his final option. His only remaining incentive that he hasn’t tried on her. EDIT: UNLESS Rio is playing Nick too. Because now? SS trusts Beth. And Nick trusts Rio. Nick thinks Rio and Beth aren’t on the same side. That Beth turned Rio in and Rio’s murderous over it. And Rio can use Beth to take Nick down without Nick seeing them coming. I hope they’re going for that. Because that would be genius. And would really be Rio 100 steps ahead, and would make the whole episode make sense in terms of his characterization.
- The arrest scene was heart breaking. The complete betrayal in his eyes was so sad. As others have stated, choosing to slam him on a table, while yes it is realistic to how he would likely be treated in the real world, was not necessary. He wasn’t resisting and was literally just standing there. Idk why the writers feel the need to be “realistic” in some moments and not in others. Poor choice. But what I did appreciate was him staring at Beth. Like she was forced to face him this time. With his face shoved against a table while she stands there being cuffed gently. She did that. She didn’t see him arrested on tv. She didn’t run away after shooting him. She had to stand there in his gaze looking at the betrayal on his face. Good. I’m sorry but she deserved it. She needs to face the damn consequences of her actions. Sorry I’m upset with her RN.
- At this point I believe Rio is in love with Beth. And it seems the writers are actually pushing metaphors and moments that make us sympathize with Rio and see Nick as the bad guy. I do think Beth will eventually get there/realize her feelings for Rio later this season but it might be too little too late. Time will tell.
Promo/Thoughts going forward:
- I like Phoebe and don’t mind her being around
- Rio and Beth on a bench again is good news to me. On the same bench.
- Idk if it’s a time jump but Rio comes in with a fresh hair cut, new wardrobe, and a tan looking like he just had a hot girl summer and is feeling great, over his ex, and is ready to fuck shit up.
- I want to see Rio remind Beth that she betrayed him personally. I want her to have to face that. It’s not just she betrayed him professionally. I want to see him reject her, I want to see her flirt or bat her lashes at him and him to be like nope sorry. Just for a minute though like just one episode lol. And only because I think it will make her realize her feelings for him.
- Beth and Rio v Nick please. Just give us something fucking new.
- These writers had an amazing path they could have gone down of the housewife partnering with a gang banger. It would have been fun, plenty of comedic gold available, and plenty of options for conflict between them and with external forces. And instead they chose this. I feel sometimes like this show would have been way better if it wasn’t on NBC. This story, this chemistry, belonged with writers who would realize its potential. That’s what I find disappointing.
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watanabes-cum-dump · 3 years
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Trying to guess how strong genshin characters are lore wise pt1
For this part, I’m just doing some of my favourite characters lol 
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Chongyun
I just had to start with best boy Chongyun. Anyways, so, Chongyun is mentioned to be a talented exorcist, however that may speak more to his spiritual strength rather than combat prowess. In his description that he possess abilities superior to most, by most I'm assuming common people, but we don't know how he compares to other vision users. (it might also refer to his congenital positivity, but I think it could refer to his abilities period)
 First of all, he carries a claymore, A GIANT SWORD THAT'S ROUGHLY THE SAME SIZE AS HIM. We don't know which claymore specifically is his trademark weapon (since he doesn't carry a weapon in his splash art) but we can guess that most weapons unless stated otherwise are made out of iron. Physically, Chongyun isn't a joke if he can fight with a sword like that. Chongyun also states that he does not rely too much on his vision, though it's a handy tool. This would leave him to martial arts and thaumaturgy. Which begs the question can non vision users still use some sort of magic? 
Thaumaturgy, in this case Chongyun's charms and talisman in his idle animation, aren't elemental magic. Yeah that seal in his idle animation? That's not cryo magic, Chongyun would have possessed those abilities before getting his vision as an exorcist, so even without a vision I'd advise not to fuck with him.
 As for martial arts, I think this is where it means he's better than most people, though we don't know how he compares to other people who have specialized fighting styles (Kequing and Xingqiu for example) we can assume he's still pretty good as Xingqiu remarks that Chongyun is making good progress.
Swordplay wise I'm not really sure, but he seems to have a fair amount of control over his ridiculously large weapon. Not as controlled as Diluc and Beidou, our adult clymore users, but he jumps quite a bit when striking and seems pretty agile even with his weapon. Again, not as much as Diluc and Beidou but compared to Razor who jumps up a bit on his last strike due to the impact, Chongyun recovers rather quickly and is back on his feet pretty fast. I do think that Chongyun is a bit older, probably seventeen, so yeah. It's really difficult to gauge skill with a claymore vs a sword because they're so heavy and the only "style" we see is variation in between nations.
Random side note but Chongyun can also survive the cold of Dragonspine so even if he isn't as strong as I think combat wise, he's definitely sturdier than a normal human being and would outlive me, A CANADIAN, in Dragonspine no cap.
Overall, Chongyun is a competent fighter, and his unusual resistance to the cold could really come in clutch. 7/10 would not fuck with unless he's high on peppers, if I do decide to fuck with him outside of that, it's because I have a pyro vision.
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Geo daddy Zhongli 
Uh... let’s see he’s a literal god, killed countless other gods even before getting his gnosis, the Tsaritsa negotiated with him presumably because she knew she couldn’t beat him, eldest of the archons.... uh yeah no thanks I am NOT messing with that. 
But I can fuck it- 
Ok in all seriousness since this is meant to be a (semi) serious post, Zhongli is already the eldest of the archons and even as a mortal, still retains a vast amount of knowledge which most likely includes his training. I also think he does martial arts, because of his spear kick and it does suit him as the god of war. 
Zhongli is really fucking good with a polearm, he probably knows multiple styles and might even have mastery over different weapons. He’s also hailed as the god of war so I think he might actually be one of the most powerful characters we’ve seen so far. 
So um, 100/10 would not fuck with unless it’s literal fucking. No amount of outside knowledge could help me beat this fucker even if I got isekaied. (is that how you spell it?)
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Wife Beidou 
Where the fuck do I start??? She killed a giant sea monster before getting her vision, that is so fucking badass! (and hot) Sure it wasn’t easy, but this was something “mighty as a deity” as quoted from her vision story, so even if it took a while that is nothing to scoff at. 
She’s also older than most of the other characters and has more control with her claymore, she’s been fighting for longer and canonically is really tall and buff so do I even need to say anything? 
Step on me Beidou plz
It’s clear that Beidou is very strong, much stronger than the average vision user, since she took out a giant sea monster without a vision and came out alive and not disfigured or dead. 
The rest is kind of vague since not a lot of characters mention her abilities but more so her character. I think that she is very strong in both ways, I hope she’ll have a bigger role and a story quest. 
Also Beidou is a himbo and you cannot convince me otherwise
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hanatiny · 3 years
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Love, just maybe
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requested by anon: Hi! Can you please write a Yeosang fic where he's in a wheelchair and a caretaker is hired to look after him and he falls in love with her? Thank you!!
a/n: in case anyone spots any medical inaccuracies and/or language I shouldn’t be using, please let me know so I can fix that!! thank u, enjoy <3
pairing: Yeosang x caretaker!f!reader
genre: fluff, very slight angst
word count: 2453
warnings: non-idol AU, mentions of disability and wheelchairs, mentions of driving, mentions of car crashes, brief mentions of food, Wooyoung unintentionally becomes the wingman of the year with someone else’s help lol
-----
You were not the slightest bit sure of how to feel about the situation, tapping your fingers against your steering wheel anxiously while you impatiently waited for traffic to clear up.
A man by the name of Jung Wooyoung had contacted you earlier this week, explaining that his friend Yeosang was in need of a caretaker but stubbornly refused to look into hiring one himself.
You had taken the “offer” without much thinking (it was more of a desperate request although Wooyoung would never admit this), especially since Yeosang was supposedly around your age and it’d make bonding with him easier, but now that you sat here in your car you weren’t all that confident anymore.
It seemed you weren’t allowed to dwell on this any longer, however, since you finally saw traffic clear up and were able to continue your way to your destination, namely Yeosang’s house.
You glanced at your duffle bag on the passenger seat, mentally checking if you’ve got everything - since you were a live-in caretaker, it meant you’d be staying for a while - more precisely, until your client decided they no longer required or wanted your assistance. It didn’t take you much longer to pull into the driveway of Yeosang’s house, which turned out to be a small townhouse in the outskirts of the city.
You climbed out of your car after taking a deep breath to calm your nerves
To your surprise, you found an abundance of flowers blooming in the frontyard. You also spotted a set of swings a little further back, curious to find out the reasoning for the presence of both of these things since you knew Yeosang had been a wheelchair user for quite some time and most likely didn’t take care of his garden or constructed those swings himself.
You weren’t any less startled when you rang the doorbell, only for a little girl who you assumed to be around 11 years old to open the door and greet you with a bright smile, “Hi there, ma’am! Are you here to visit uncle Sang?”
You quirked a brow at the words ‘uncle Sang,’ crouching down to be eye level with the girl before nodding at her, “Something like that, yeah. Could you go and get him for me?”
“Mhm! Just give me a minute~” She giggled as she ran off back into the house, returning shortly after with Yeosang following behind her. He was pretty good-looking, you had to admit. His messy blonde hair framed his face perfectly, and you wondered if it was as fluffy as it looked-
“Miss?” It was the girl’s voice that broke you out of your thoughts, her head tilted to the side inquisitively as she looked at you, “Are you okay?”
“Hm~? Yeah I’m fine, don’t worry.” You gave her a smile to reassure her, one she promptly reciprocated before turning to Yeosang when he gently placed his hand on her shoulder.
“It’s getting late, Minji.” He spoke softly, “You should get home, I bet your little brother and your parents wanna hear all about what we did today~”
She whined as he playfully ruffled her hair, nodding at him in understanding, “Fine~ See you tomorrow, uncle Sang! Bye bye, nice lady~!”
You found it adorable how she addressed you before she gave both you and Yeosang each a small hug before skipping off, presumably back to her own house.
Yeosang watched her with a smile until neither of you could see her anymore, the male clearing his throat awkwardly while his eyes inspected the bag in your hand.
He motioned you to follow him after another beat as he carefully pushed his wheelchair backwards and further into the house, stepping inside and closing the door behind yourself afterwards.
“I know why you’re here, since Wooyoung can’t keep his mouth shut,” Yeosang finally spoke, and it was as if the weight of your nervousness physically dropped from your shoulders, “and I imagine that you know why I’m not all too pleased about it.”
There was no disdain whatsoever towards you in his tone, only exasperation about the fact that his best friend had gone against his wishes.
He took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing, “As I’m sure you’re aware, I dislike having other people do things for me. I grew up being independent from others so this... circumstance isn’t exactly a fortunate one. If you can prove within, let’s say... a week that you genuinely care for more than the money that’s in it for you for doing this, I’ll let you stay even longer.”
It was a fair agreement - if Yeosang was to have a caretaker despite being highly apprehensive about the idea, the least he could make clear is that he didn’t want anyone who’d do a half-assed job and only pretend to care about him.
“We’ve got a deal.” You stated firmly in response, placing your bag on the floor next to you and extending a hand for the blonde to shake. He appeared to hesitate for a split second before shaking your hand with a nod, and you could’ve sworn you his lips twitch into the faintest bit of a smile.
“Lovely. Since I know you’ll need the knowledge, I figured I should tell you where all the rooms are.” He gestured for you to follow, watching him manage to turn himself around before picking up your bag again and letting him lead the way for you.
It was a pretty spacious living space for a single person, though given the circumstances, you weren’t particularly surprised about it.
“Let’s see... My bedroom is down the hall, and so is my bathroom. Minji’s room, the guest room you’ll be staying in and the guest bathroom are upstairs. And the kitchen, living room and dining room are, as you can surely tell, all connected.”
“Got it.”
Yeosang cleared his throat, and you subconsciously straightened your posture a little. “Now,” he said, “you should know that I tend to go to sleep really early, so I suppose this is what I will go ahead and do now. You can explore a little more if you want, but you should get rest as well since you officially start working tomorrow.”
“Are you sure you won’t need my help tonight...?” You inquired tentatively, not wanting to overstep any kind of boundary, and Yeosang seemed hesitant to answer before nodding firmly. “Thank you... but I’ll manage.” He finally said, “Good night, Y/n.”
You shouldn’t have been as stunned by his use of your name as you were, yet there you stood, watching him make his way down the hallway before disappearing into his bedroom. You turned on your heel, deciding that exploring could wait in favor of making yourself at home in ‘your’ room.
You skipped up the stairs, your bag swung over your shoulder, and were quick to find the bedroom you’d be staying in. Minji’s room was decorated overly cutely, while yours looked... lived in. You made a mental note to make sure to ask Yeosang about this.
And sure enough, prove yourself like he challenged you to do was exactly what you did.
Finding out the time Yeosang would usually wake up, you made it your goal to always get up before him to cook a healthy breakfast for him and prepare clothes for him to wear. He was initially reluctant to let you help with the latter, although it didn’t take him long to admit that he both needed and appreciated your assistance with things he wasn’t able to do by himself. Yeosang blushed profusely whenever he asked you to help him in bathroom, be it to empty his bladder or to wash himself, but he did catch himself warming up to you faster than he’d like anyone to know.
He admired the care you put into helping him even with arguably straining tasks like changing positions into a chair, for example, even though he was capable of doing so with minimal help. He took to either reading or playing the violin whenever you left the house to run errands like grocery shopping, and he couldn’t help but let his mind drift to you.
He had once been so distracted by his own thoughts that you had caught him playing a gentle piece on his instrument of choice, and he mentally scolded himself for the rest of that day for allowing it to come to such an embarrassment.
You, however, were absolutely endeared. Both by the fact that he was able to play an instrument as beautiful as the violin, and by the observation you’ve made that he seemed to have quite a big soft spot for Minji.
Speaking of the young girl, you grew closer to her as well - she even began calling you “aunt Y/n” after a few visits, and you could’ve sworn that her cuteness had melted you right where you stood.
It didn’t go unnoticed by Yeosang either, and it had him constantly repeating the two words in his head. He refused to admit it aloud, but he knew that what had his mind racing was the thought of a possible relationship with you that’d go beyond simply caring for him.
Similarly, you found yourself thinking about what it might actually be like to care for a child together with the blonde but snapped out of it before you allowed yourself to take your thoughts to a level that exceeded the professional one you should’ve been keeping it at.
It was Yeosang who finally broke the splintering ice between the two of you after approximately three and a half weeks of you living with him while you two were sitting on the terrace that overlooked his garden, enjoying a comfortable evening together, and you couldn’t help but tense a little from his words, “You know,” he began, “I feel like you deserve some answers to the questions I know you have but are too hesitant to ask.”
You felt your cheeks warm, he couldn’t have been any more correct with his observation.
“Let’s see - your room looked so... used, if you will, because it’s the room Wooyoung previously stayed in before he was forced to move away for work and consequently hired you to take care of me. As for Minji, her parents are away a lot so that’s why she comes over almost every day. Wooyoung and her parents constructed those swings for her when she started visiting me more frequently, and Minji’s friends are the ones taking care of the garden together with her. Y’know, since I can’t for obvious reasons.”
You nodded thoughtfully in response, somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of information you were being given but still grateful for Yeosang’s willingness to be this open with you.
“It’s been almost a year since the accident that caused me to be as I am now, in a wheelchair and codependent due to paraplegia. I will be honest, I neither know nor care to find out why that other guy rammed my car with his... I just know that we wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation if he didn’t and I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him for putting me in this situation, in this dilemma of being unable to move or even just feel my lower half.”
“That’s understandable... I can only imagine how much it ruined your life, not to mention the emotional trauma that must’ve come with the accident.” You replied softly, trying to be careful with your words as Yeosang nodded in agreement, “Yeah, I haven’t sat in a car again ever since it happened. And I don’t really like talking about it, admittedly...”
You tilted your head at him in question while he trailed off, “I don’t mean to offend, but if that’s the case... Why are you telling me?”
“I can’t blame you for being confused about it, and I’ll be happy to explain my reasoning behind this. Truth is, I like you. In a more than ‘you care for me so I act nice around you’ way, in a... ‘I want to get closer to you’ kind of way.”
You couldn’t help but quirk an eyebrow at Yeosang’s roundabout way of confessing to you, “Are you saying... you have a crush on me?”
“I- well, yeah. That’s what I’m trying to say.” Yeosang nodded shyly at your tentative question, a hum sounding in your throat in response before he continued, nervously fidgeting with his hands a little. “Listen, I just... I think I could fall in love with you. I want to ask you to permanently move in with me, because I most definitely will never get sick of you. Of course you don’t have to accept, if you don’t want to or just don’t feel the same way...”
He trailed off, not even realizing how distracted he was by the way the light of the setting sun illuminated your face until he heard you giggle softly. Yeosang blushed when he noticed that you had, rather boldly, moved your chair closer to him and were now stroking his hair absentmindedly. He found it pathetic how easily the simple gesture flustered him, not dwelling on it any longer while you spoke, “It’s funny that you bring this up, honestly... Because I happen to feel the exact same way. And maybe, just maybe, I could also see myself falling in love with you in the future. With all of you.”
“All of me?” Yeosang echoed tentatively, “Are you sure..?”
You nodded a little more enthusiastically than intended, although that was presently the least of your concerns, “I’m sure. What kind of person would I be if I rejected you purely because of something that’s out of your control?”
Yeosang felt a grin tug at his lips at the double meaning of your statement, although he found himself fumbling a little over his words. “Touché. So... what now? Is this the part where I ask you to be my girlfriend?”
“It is, and it’s also the part where I answer that question with a ‘yes’~”
Yeosang beamed at you, truly delighted that you were willing to give him a chance to be yours. Little did you know though that, as the two of you continued to talk until late in the night about everything under the sun, there was a certain young girl watching you both from where she sat at her window in the neighboring house with a small dreamy sigh before suddenly jumping up and making a run for it down the stairs.
“Mom, can you give me the phone for a sec? I wanna tell uncle Woo that my matchmaking plan worked~!”
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hello! can you write prongsfoot one where James is injured. Maybe after one of Snape's special hexes. Or maybe a potion which has bad influence on James and it takes a while to recognize it. He frays out day by day (hope i used the right word lol) and finally Sirius is the one who recognizes it more than anyone. so thanks in advance
If you don't that's cool too. and i hope you have a good day
"Are you okay?" Sirius asked, looking concerned. He didn't do that very often. He worried about James pretty damn often-- James knew that for a fact-- but he usually didn't show it. He nudged and teased, and he stared quite a bit, but that could be because they were dating, and not because he was worried. It was pretty even odds, he thought. Right now, Sirius looked out and out concerned for him, and that wasn't normal. It wasn't how they operated.
Even though James felt fine, Sirius looking at him like that made him feel as if there was something wrong with him. "I'm fine," he said, because he was.
"Are you sure?"
"Do I have a reason not to be?"
"You've seemed really tired, lately."
"Everyone's tired; it's last minute studying for NEWT's."
Sirius hesitated. Another uncharacteristic thing.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm worried about you," he said. Just like that, he said it. He didn't hide it behind false confidence or pretend that he was thinking about something else. "You've been off lately, and it's like you don't even know that something's going on with you."
"If you already think that something's wrong with me, then why'd you bother asking?"
"I was hoping you'd talk to me, but now I'm not convinced you noticed. I mean, really, studying? We're barely studying, and you're more exhausted than Moony the day after a full moon."
"That's not true," he replied, frowning. "We spend all our time outside of class getting ready."
"No, we spend all of our time thinking that we should be studying, but we end up fooling around and only working for like an hour."
James's frown deepened. What Sirius said was true, so why was he so tired? He knew that everyone was worried about exams, so he'd assumed that that's why he felt this way. But Sirius was right, and they weren't spending near as much time on that as everyone else was. "I dunno. Maybe I'm feeling stressed about it anyways. You know, Wormtail was talking about people can be effected by stress without realising it? That's gotta be what this is."
"Since when do you feel stressed?"
"It happens," James said defensively.
"When?"
"Sixth year comes to mind, a month before winter hols."
Sirius didn't flinch because he didn't do obvious tells like that, but he withdrew.
James chewed on the inside of his cheek, feeling guilty. It was a low blow to bring that up, and he knew it. Unfortunately, it was the only example he could think of for a time when he was stressed, because Sirius was right: he didn't get stressed. That time had been unique, a single spike in an otherwise straight line.
"Nothing like that has happened recently. But fine, you want to wear yourself out because you don't trust me, then that's your business," he said, turning his attention back to his textbook.
"Sirius," James said, pleading.
Sirius didn't so much as twitch an eyelid. He was a lot better at this ignoring thing than James had ever been.
"You know I trust you, but I don't think there's anything wrong. There's nothing for me to be stressing over, so maybe I'm just tired. Nothing else going on."
"People don't get tired for no reason," Sirius said in his usual bored tone. His usual for other people, not James.
But James deserved it, so he wasn't going to get mad about it. Also because it took a hell of a lot to get him mad at Sirius. This didn't even come close to doing it, a fact Sirius was well aware of. "You got tired last year."
"Yeah, and that wasn't for no reason."
"You told me it was for no reason."
"I did not."
"Yes, you did. I'd remember if you told me that something was wrong."
"It was implied."
"You can't imply things to me. We've been over this. You have to say it flat out to my face, in as many words, or I'm not going to get it."
"At the time, I didn't want you to get it. Don't worry, I moved past it by the time we started snogging."
"Dating," James corrected.
"Whatever," he said flippantly, but it was the sort of flippant he usually was, so James figured that they were fine.
*
He'd thought that would be the end of it. After all, Sirius hadn't said anything more about it that day. Evidently, Sirius was biding his time, because two days later, he brought it up again.
"Are you sure you're okay? You look a bit peaky."
"Wow thanks," James said flatly, but the truth was that he wasn't feeling great. Until Sirius had mentioned it initially, he hadn't noticed that anything was wrong. He'd felt tired, yes, but he hadn't noticed that it was every single day until it was brought to his attention. Once that happened though, he felt like he was getting worse. At first, he'd thought it was just a cold, but a cold had never hit him this hard.
Not to mention the nightmares. He hadn't connected them to his exhaustion before. It might seem obvious, but he didn't wake up in the middle of the night from them. Besides, they were less nightmares and more... odd dreams. They weren't frightening. They left him feeling uncomfortable, not necessarily scared. He didn't even remember them when he woke up. Honestly, if Sirius hadn't said that he noticed something was wrong, James wasn't sure he ever would have been aware of them. All the same, he didn't think they were related.
"I dunno. I think it's getting worse."
"What's getting worse?"
"Whatever's making me this tired. I barely got out of bed this morning."
"I noticed." Sirius looked at him, worry clear on his face. Evidently, he thought that if James was admitting something was wrong, it was horrible. Which was a little unfair, in his opinion. "I'll walk you to the Hospital Wing."
"I'm capable of walking there by myself."
"Please?" Sirius said, blinking over at him innocently.
He played so sodding dirty. He knew that James couldn't resist it when he did that.
"Fine, but you don't get to whinge if Madame Pomfrey tells you to leave without me."
"Request denied," he said, grabbing James's hand as they started to walk down the corridor. "I will most certainly whinge about it, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. Besides, maybe she'll just give you a Pepper-Up and then we can be on our way. Go for a quick fly about the pitch before we go to the library, yeah?"
"You're encouraging us going to the library?"
"Maybe I want to snog you in a dark corner," Sirius admitted with a grin.
"We could just snog in our room."
Sirius waved him off. "We always do that. We're graduating soon. Do you really want to look back on this time and realise that we didn't fool around in every possible place in this castle?"
"I don't think it would bother me as much as it bothers you," James teased.
Things continued in that vein as they walked. Teasing and shoving, then talking about what they'd do when they graduated. Most of the walk was spent arguing over what kind of couch they wanted in their flat. Sirius said they should have a yellow couch, James thought it should be red. They hadn't come to an agreement by the time they reached the Hospital Wing.
James explained his persistent exhaustion, and Madame Pomfrey said that it was probably nothing to worry about and blamed the same thing that he had: exams. All the same, she cast a diagnostic spell, "Just to be sure, dear."
Then she frowned.
And that was when James got worried. "What?"
"What is it? What's wrong?" Sirius asked. Since Madame Pomfrey thought it hadn't been anything, she'd let Sirius stay.
"It appears to be a curse, but it's not one that I've ever seen."
James's first thought was to blame Snape. Then he thought that might be unfair. After all, the two of them hadn't crossed wands in over a month; they both had better things to do with their time. Then he remembered that this had been going on for a while, long enough that Snape very well might be the cause.
"How long has this been effecting you?"
"I dunno," James said.
"Six weeks," Sirius answered.
James looked over at him, but he was still looking at Madame Pomfrey.
"You really should've come to me sooner," she said, bustling away to her potions cabinet.
"I was just a bit tired; I didn't think it meant anything," James protested. It's not like he was hopeless. He was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. If this had been a bigger problem, he would've noticed. It's not like he was bleeding from his eyes or summat; it was just a little sleep.
"Much longer of this, and you would've never woken up!"
He blinked at her, hand clenching around Sirius's reflexively.
"My word, you students throwing curses at each other without caring about the consequences! I swear," she said.
James thought it was probably for the best that he not correct her and say that they were thinking about the consequences, but they wouldn't be consequences she approved of them wanting. He kept it to himself, but he knew that Sirius was thinking along the same lines.
"Fortunately," Madame Pomfrey continued, "it seems fixable. Drink this." She pressed a white bottle into his hands. He'd never seen a potion in a white bottle, and he was suspicious to say the least. "Drink," she insisted.
James shot Sirius a look. "If this kills me, say something pleasant at my funeral, yeah?"
"Don't be so bloody dramatic," he said, which was rich, coming from him. "You'll be fine."
"Easy to say when you're not the one drinking a potion of questionable origin." Then, because he didn't want for Madame Pomfrey to glare at him or send Sirius out of the room, he drank it. It tasted like goat's milk. He hated it. "Am I fixed?" he asked her.
"I wouldn't count on it," she said. "That was to prevent it from getting worse. Come back and see me tomorrow after breakfast but before classes start. Curses aren't broken so easily by potions, a fact you should both be well aware of."
They were, but he'd been hopeful. Merlin, it's like she wanted to berate him for getting himself cursed. And, he wanted to add, this time hadn't even been his fault. He'd (mostly) behaved himself all this term, doing nothing to deserve this. Arguably, he deserved it as some sort of back payment for what he'd done over the years, but he'd rather thought that Snape was as tired of it as he was.
James promised to be back in the morning, and they left.
"I can't believe that tosser cursed you. Just wait until I get my hands on him. I'll-"
"You'll do absolutely nothing," James interrupted. "We're only in classes for two more weeks."
"It could've killed you!"
"Didn't, and then we'll never have to see him again. It's a pretty big country."
"Big country, small Wizarding World," Sirius argued. He was getting more upset the more time past, so James did what he usually did when he didn't know how to make him feel better: kissed him.
"I don't want revenge. Let's keep working on our final prank, our NEWT's, and enjoying the rest of our time at Hogwarts. That's all I want." He kissed him again for good measure.
"And getting into my pants doesn't factor into this at all?" Sirius asked, his mood already turning from bad to good.
"Hm? Me?" James said, feigning innocence. "I would never."
"Liar."
"Just be glad that I'm getting back to normal," James said with a grin. Already, he wasn't feeling as tired. He hadn't realised how much it was draining him until it started to alleviate.
"Yeah, you were so hard to deal with. Always lying around, not doing anything exccept looking at me adoringly. However did I survive?"
"It's a miracle, Padfoot, it really is."
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omoi-no-hoka · 4 years
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Do you have any advice for Japanese learners who struggle to overcome the intermediate plateau? You are so knowledgeable about Japanese, I'd love to hear your experiences on how you learn and keep improving! Thank you ^_^
Aww man you’re just too sweet. I’m still in the process of learning too. 💗
That intermediate plateau is the hardest thing to overcome. It’s something that was talked a lot about in some of the second language acquisition courses I took back in uni. Let’s delve further into it, because this is something that all language learners will struggle with, regardless of what language you’re learning.
What is the Intermediate Plateau?
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👆 a visual representation of the plateau lol
When you first start learning a new language, most learners experience quick and satisfying progress. “Oh man, learning the “te” form was way easier than I thought it’d be!” or “Okay, I got this list of verbs down right away!” “Alright, I got this hiragana down!” 
But then you move on to the kanji. The whole kudasaru, yaru, kureru, ageru, sashiageru, morau, itadaku mess, and you start to struggle a bit. But you can still do it! You’re still learning the words and the grammar and it’s challenging, but you can feel your progress and success. 
But then you finish your textbooks (Probably Genki I, Genki II, and An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese), and suddenly those bursts of success become less and less, until you can no longer feel any progress. 
You read manga and you see lots of words you know, but lots more words that you don’t know. You watch anime and you can catch some sentences, but there are still a lot that you wouldn’t have understood without the English subtitles to help you out. 
This feeling of a lack of progress, of a stagnation, is called the “intermediate plateau.”
My Experiences with the Intermediate Plateau
I tackled the Intermediate Plateau twice: with spoken Japanese and written Japanese. 
I’ve been lucky to have very good listening comprehension and an ability to “fill in the gaps.” After finishing Genki I, II, and An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese, I could basically follow most spoken conversations. There were words I didn’t know, but through context I was able to make educated guesses at what they meant. However, I was stuck using simpler words when I spoke, and it was so frustrating to be able to understand the words, yet be unable to recall them and use them when I wanted to. 
Then I graduated and moved to Japan. Oh man, I thought I was such hot stuff. “I studied Japanese for 5 years, and I even studied Classical Japanese. I’m gonna have such an easy time of it here.”
...It took me about three days of living in Japan to realize that I was absolutely illiterate. I couldn’t understand any of the visa application forms or what they were telling me I needed to provide. Misunderstood the times I had to have the garbage put outside because I had never seen the kanji 迄(まで, “until, by”) before. Couldn’t read most billboards. 
Especially with that kanji for “made” 迄. That was what really made me realize that I was at the plateau kanji-wise. You learn the particle まで in your first year. It was something I could use perfectly. But I hadn’t even known that there was a kanji for it until I tried to take out my trash out and found out that I was supposed to have it in the bin BY 9:30, not AFTER 9:30, like I had guessed it meant. :(
To pour salt into the wound, I have been able to read in English since I was 3 years old. I literally cannot remember a time I could not read. It is one of my favorite pastimes and I also do creative writing. This made the fact that I couldn’t read all-the-more frustrating.
How I Overcame the Plateau
I took that frustration and I turned it into fuel. I vowed to learn ALL THE KANJI. I started using the website and app WaniKani obsessively. I’m here to tell you, that app is what made me literate. It is worth every single penny if you already have a good grasp on the language but your kanji is weak, like me. 
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Basically, it teaches you 2,000 kanji and 6,000 reinforcing vocabulary across 60 levels. It doesn’t group the kanji necessarily by JLPT level. Rather, it groups them by radicals and frequency more or less. Each level will introduce 3-4 radicals, and then 10-15 kanji that use those radicals. It quizzes you on their on-yomi and kun-yomi, gives you mnemonics to remember them, and then once you’ve answered them all correctly enough times, it introduces vocabulary that uses those kanji, further reinforcing the readings and increasing your vocabulary. As a former language teacher and studier of second language acquisition, I am here to tell you that this method works. And it’s fun. It doesn’t feel like studying. 
I also started reading Rurouni Kenshin. Even today, it is a challenging read for me. Back then, it would take me days to read just one chapter. But I wrote down every new word in a notebook, and also saved them to my dictionary app, Akebi. 
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To this day, this dictionary is my lifeline. You can make vocabulary lists in there, so I have a list for each book or series I’m reading, along with a list of words I find just everyday in conversation or news or something. It’s got a simple flashcard quiz feature for each list too! Seriously, if you’re an Android user, I highly recommend this app. It’s free!
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Those were my two main study methods. The more kanji I learned how to read, obviously I was able to read better.
The really fascinating thing about kanji is that they’re like Legos. You can stick them together to make any word you want, really. So if you understand each kanji and remember its pronunciation, even if you see/hear a word for the first time, you can put together the meaning piece by piece.
Because I understood more kanji and could recall their readings, I could hear a new word in a conversation and think to myself, “Okay, we’re talking about how Hokkaido doesn’t get as much snow as it used to. This word ‘ondanka’ must be...温 (おん, heat) 暖 (だん, heat) 化 (か, change). Oh! ‘global warming!’” 
So when I overcame the kanji plateau, I simultaneously overcame the spoken plateau. Knowing the kanji gave me the power to hear a new word in a certain context and infer what kanji must be used for that word, and therefore what that word meant. 
My Advice to You
For me, the key to overcoming the plateau in Japanese was studying more kanji. So I recommend that you keep studying kanji and keep reading. But make sure that they are reading materials that you love!! If you’re not interested in what you’re reading, you’ll run out of steam. 
Another really important thing is to be cognizant of the progress you’ve made. For example, maybe you have a Japanese song you’ve been listening to for years, and for the first time today you picked out a new word--one that you just studied the other day. Pat yourself on the back at every victory, no matter how small it may seem! There’s proof of your progress.
Best of luck to you in your studies!
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poetrusicperry · 3 years
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Hey!! Ok so about me ummm i have curly/wavy brown hair, a bit longer than my shoulders, and hazel eyes. My personality, im very talkative but still introverted and i get awkward at events where i dont know a lot of ppl (i still love partying and dancing w friends tho) so i am a fan of my down time that involves either reading, writing, or watching tv. i love talking to people and friends, I’ll always listen if someone needs to vent to me and I love hearing ppl talk about their nerdy sides lol. i also tend to ramble a bit in conversations and im open to sharing a lot of things about myself. I’m also a very honest person who keeps it real with people and is straightforward about how i’m feeling and i like honesty from other ppl as well. I sing in choir and love music, I’m also sort of into theater, I’ve watched a good amount of musicals and LOVE Funny Girl. I read a lot, mostly cheesy romance books like red white and royal blue or to all the boys i loved before. I also love Harry Potter and can talk about that for ages. Feel free to ship me w who you think is best I’ll love anything but if it helps, part of me kins todd bc of his anxiety, i really feel like charlie is my spirit animal at times, i just resonate with his vibe, and i love neil. Thanks!! :)
beth !!!<3 i hope i did justice with this and you like it just as much as the anderperry piece from the other night (; thank you for all you do. here it is:
ship:
going to ship you with the cutest little baby himself, todd anderson. even though you’re very similar in terms of personality, you were juuuust a tad more outgoing than him, which allowed him to open up really well because you showed him how (:
hcs:
neil would love talking theater with you. he’d try to convince you to come tryout for the upcoming play, but when you refused nicely, he took it in stride, just grateful that he was able to geek out with someone about something that meant a lot to him
he’d be so, so supportive of you singing in choir and would always take initiative in planning how he and all the other poets would get to and from your recitals
you and todd would grow together so much in your relationship, moving forward with your social anxieties, and making your bond that much stronger (see: “grow as we go” by ben platt)
you and cameron got on fairly well, mostly he just helped you with any school work you would get confused on (and he always found you cute, but never ever said anything in respect for both you and todd)
consider you and meeks the hugest harry potter geeks in the friend group, charlie giving you guys a hard time about it. but once you lent him your books, he would join the discourse between you and meeks, wanting to know what house he’d be in and talking about hp nonstop
having to encourage todd to trust himself as a person and open up a bit more was a hard task at times, but he’d just watch your example of how honest and comfortable you seemed with yourself, and it got easier as the months went on
sitting in a room with knox, charlie, and neil listening to them rant about how much they didn’t want to follow in their dads’ footsteps, and only giving advice if they asked (they were just thankful that you listened to them)
todd would fully understand and respect your down time/alone time, asking if there was anything you’d need to have a nice afternoon to yourself
even if you didn’t say you needed anything, a new book and a couple of hand-written original poems would find their way onto your desk while you were out (:
charlie always giving you a “hard time” for how you were so quiet in class, but would talk nonstop when it was just you and the poets (“do you want me to not be comfortable around you guys ? because i can make that happen,” you’d say. to which his response [slightly panicked] would be, “no ! of course not, i’m merely making an observation and  commenting”
you and todd finding a nook somewhere on campus where you could just sit and read together, enjoying the silence and each other’s company
you and pitts would most certainly have a show that you would binge together; hours at a time. i mean seriously, to the point where meeks would have to check if you guys were still alive after he’d been in a study group all afternoon on the weekends
todd would also love to play with your hair because it was so pretty (i’m sure a description of your looks was utilized in countless poems of his)
blurb:
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on the night of one of your choir performances, you had left the poets in the midst of an argument about how todd didn’t want pitts to wear his plaid blazer because todd wanted to wear his, claiming it was “his girlfriend’s performance and wanted to look good,” (which he always did in his plaid blazer and black slacks). neil was worried they’d be late, constantly checking his watch, and charlie was running around messing up cameron’s and pitts’ hair for fun.
by the time they had gotten to the performance hall and seated, the lights were dimming. neil was just glad that they got there on time, and todd was so excited to see you doing something you loved. needless to say, you were the star of the show, and todd’s eyes were gleaming as he watched you (later on he’d tell you that he’d never heard something so pretty come out of someone’s mouth ever). when the performance was over, they would cheer so loud, earning dirty looks from all the preppy parents in attendance. you’d be so excited to see the boys, but todd in particular. after you came out of the stage door, they’d all be waiting, todd holding a bouquet of flowers, and the other boys giving you a humongous round of applause (complete with “whoops”/shouts) and congratulating you on doing such a good job.
“you are amazing, beth,” charlie and neil would say, giving you big hugs. the other boys would agree, and you’d turn to todd who held the bouquet out to you, clearly speechless. he kept starting to say something, but could just give you the most humongous hug ever,
“you are everything,” he’d say quietly just so you could hear. he truly didn’t know how to convey just how much you left him in awe, but when you woke up to a poem about it on your desk the next morning, it meant that much more to have him in your life.
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