#i did very well in high school but i had some similar struggles in college

[lilaccoffin]

Had some thoughts today...about their relationship...

Mostly how Chai's envy towards Vanilla gradually culminates into their falling out.

Like, they both have a lot of similarities and differences that contribute to Chai deciding to ghost Vani, both being dudes struggling with inferiority complexes in different ways. Chai handles his by gassing himself up to be the coolest dude ever because no one can call you a loser if you don't act like one, right? And his slacker attitude going hand in hand with his fear of rejection. If you don't try and put your best into stuff or do anything, it won't sting as much if someone tells you you sucked or rejects you, right?

For Vanilla, he copes with these feelings of inferiority by working his ass off to prove himself, masking his autistic behaviors and being as by-the-book as much as possible. Sure, he isn't always 100% compliant, I mean, he's lying to his parents about his major so that he can do what he actually wants to do, but for the most part, he's the type of guy who thinks doing things like they're instructed to be done will reward him. This results in all of his anxiety and stress in school. He basically overexerts himself where Chai does not.

I've boiled down three things that Chai's envious of and it's Vanilla's friend group in college, school stuff, and finally, the band that came to talk to their class.

1: The Friends...

At the start of the game, Chai tells Peppermint he's better off by himself and in general you get this air that Chai is a loner. (Using Lonely Boy as the opening song of the game is also uh...y'know, a huge indicator.) A lot of the fan base (me included) headcanon that Chai had a really hard time making friends growing up. He was the weird kid, and some (if not most) of the teasing also came from a place of ableism. I know a lot of us also headcanon Chai to have ADHD and that paired with him not being able to fully use his right arm gave bullies a lot of material. I remember someone (edit: FOUND THEIR POST, psychangels said this and it's a really good post btw) mentioning Chai dealing with pity/fake friends too and I can definitely see that and how it contributes to him being cautious of new "friends." Vanilla was pretty lucky to even get as close to Chai as he did. The shared love of music and having classes together were probably the main reasons their friendship worked for as long as it did (not very long, but not very short). Well, Chai wasn't Vanilla's only friend, even if it seemed like it at times with how often Vanilla wanted to be around him. He has a group of gothic pals who care about him a lot, most of them being people he met in middle school that he was happy to be able to go to high school and now uni with. Chai tends to just observe them from a distance because Vanilla's friends don't really like him very much over some of his crappy behavior towards Vani, and he sees how close and happy they are. Makes him wish he had that, but he tries his best to ignore it since years of bullying have made it really uncomfortable for him to accept genuine connection or kindness. It's already tough when Vanilla is so nice to him, a friend group full of that? Makes him nervous to even think about it. Though Vani and his friends aren't the type to fake anything, he's still weary.

2: School...

So, yeah, Chai isn't getting the best grades whereas Vanilla is getting straight A's. Again, Vanilla works his little ass off to get the grades his parents want him to have and Chai doesn't put that much effort into his work. To him, half-assing it also diminishes the sting of rejection if his professors don't like any of his genuine work, so getting Cs and Ds are good enough. Even with music focused classes Chai tends to take it easy. I can see him being the kind of guy to ask why they need to study the other stuff that has nothing to do with how to make music? Still, his slacker persona tends to aggravate a lot of his professors and they tend to exhibit some pretty nasty behavior towards Chai for it. Since Vanilla is hardworking and contributes to class discussions a lot, they're a lot more generous to him and have definitely cracked jokes about Vanilla's work vs Chai's. Vanilla would just nervously laugh while Chai rolled his eyes. God, actually, I don't doubt professors would make mean jokes often about those two. Probably begging Vanilla not to let Chai influence him. Vanilla didn't exactly do much about those jokes except wave/nervously laugh them off. He should have stood up to them and told them to stop making fun of Chai but, well, that kind of thing doesn't come easy to him (looks at him lying to his parents instead of putting his foot down with them about himself and his life and also how they would aaalways compare him and his older brother, which, yeah it bothered Vanilla to have their professors do the EXACT same thing with him and Chai, but...again, not REALLY great about confrontation during this time). Yeah, the way professors treat Vanilla compared to how they treat Chai also made Chai envious of Vani. Especially when it was something Vanilla could have helped to some degree if he told these people to shut up, but it's not like Chai expected him to stand up for him, either. Why would he? Why would anyone?

3: Last, the visit from the band...

Okay so, I've gone to community and uni, and it's not unheard of for a professor to have people agree to come in and talk to their students about stuff regarding the subjects they're studying. I've had professors who know some pretty neat people invite them to talk to us, so I imagine one of Chai and Vanilla's professors have done the same. I've written this scenario out before, but to TL:DR it, a band that actually went to their university and met in their classes agreed to come on down and talk to them all about the industry and how they do their thing. They went the full mile and brought their instruments and shared a short excerpt of a song with them, too. The band ended up being a band both Chai and Vanilla liked as well, so it was a pretty sick class that day! Vanilla gushes to Chai about how rad and inspiring it was and Chai offhandedly tells him he should share that new song he wrote with them and see what they think, not thinking Vanilla would actually go and do that, despite how he always considers Chai's suggestions. The band ends up really liking it and asking Vanilla if they could play a bit of it to hear it out loud, which makes him nearly faint (it's a good thing most of the class had left by then and it was just him, Chai, their professor, and the band, who was just about to put their stuff away to go). Chai's happy for Vanilla, but then he thinks back to the time he met his favorite band and how they received him...blowing him off completely (took some inspo from kennyswurvegurl's post here for the visual 'cause, damn, it hit hard). It led Chai into a bit of a spiral afterwards, wondering if maybe he really didn't have a future in all of this because of the cruelty he's faced from so many people. Seeing Vanilla flourish was every bit as painful as it was great. Sure, he tried to fall back into his cocky behavior to not think about it so much, but it was getting tougher with each snarky remark from a professor, each glare from Vani's friend group, and Vani himself being so hyped around him, the fake him.

It all just gets worse when Vanilla runs by the idea of starting a band together after Uni. In Vanilla's mind, it was a great way for them to fulfill their respective dreams of being rock stars and filling in for each other on the roles they couldn't do (Vanilla wants to sing but can't because of his monotone voice and Chai can't play guitar because of his arm.Sso in Vani's head, them doing each thing would be fine, right?). Chai just gets upset at the idea, feeling like he's being pitied all over again and that he's only going to achieve his dream by bumming off of Mr. straight A's? Nah. He rejects the offer, and after a week he drops out of college. It...super sucks for Vanilla because he thought the world of Chai. Sure, his friends get him to take off the damn rose tinted glasses after they tell him Chai wasn't really that great of a friend, but he still feels awful about Chai ghosting him and his own faults in their friendship.

#doodlies #hi fi rush #vanilla #oc x canon #KINDA...? it's their crumble fumble... #oh my god this got so long.. #this always happens with me idk why I'm always shocked FDJSLF #thank u to anyone who reads <3 #vanichai makes me ill...

[poohsources]

HELLO EVERYONE! as the year is slowly but surely coming to its end, and i'm now home for the holidays, i thought it was finally time to make another one of these. partially to give a little update on what's been going on in my life and partially as some sort of retrospect for this past year and a look into my plans for next year.

looking back, it's been quite an eventful year — especially when compared to the weird covid years we had to deal with previously. the biggest change was probably my dropping out of college to start a dual studies program in law. i did like my college program just fine ( until i didn't anymore ) but i really feel like law is my thing. and apparently everyone else in my circle of family and friends thinks so as well because i seem a hell of a lot happier than i did before. kinda unfortunate it took me seven years since quitting high school to figure that bit out, but hey, at least i got there in the end. it's been quite time-consuming, and i feel like in those past five months, i've already learned more than i did in all my years of college, but it's fun. i also finally got some new friends my age again. it's also strange to think back that just one year ago i was still struggling financially and just generally dealing with some bad mental health stuff.

i'm actually happy now.

in terms of tumblr and roleplaying, i gotta be honest that i have been sidelining it a lot over the last months. sure, i'm still around but it's not my primary focus, and i'm learning that it's okay not to be online all the time. it's okay to take breaks and focus on other things because as much as i love this blog, the community and tumblr, there are some more important things now. still, i am and always will be eternally grateful to every single person who supports me - whether it is by liking or reblogging posts, sending asks or messages, following me or using any of my stuff. it means so freaking much to me, and i always feel so proud whenever i randomly see my own stuff pop up on my dash because mutuals use it. thank you all so very much! in a similar vein, i honestly still cannot fathom that i almost managed to double the follower count this past year. i'm probably not gonna reach the goal i've kinda been looking at until the end of the year but that's okay. i am so incredibly grateful for everyone here anyway. no matter what.

as for next year - i'm not too sure what i'm gonna do. of course. i'm gonna keep posting memes, and templates and whatever other stuff i feel like doing, but i think my activity is gonna keep on being spotty. i'm also still tempted to do commissions one day ( and we're totally gonna ignore that i've been saying this for over a year now, okay? ) but with the amount of time i don't have, i'm not sure i'm gonna be able to deliver on that. if i do finally build the courage and self-esteem to do that, it will be like an occasional thing that might take some time. however, one thing i do wanna do more of is gifs. i'm not sure what kind of gifs, but i enjoy making them and it's been way too long since i did them so i'm gonna see how i'm gonna incorporate that. or if anyone has any specific gifs they want, always feel free to shoot me an ask or a message. maybe also some aesthetic-y stuff? after all do love making pinterest boards for characters.

maybe i'll also do a blog reveal once i finally set up my multi that i've been planning to work on for months now. since i'm gonna scrap my current main blog ( which i haven't really been active on in a while now anyway ) i'm kinda thinking of coming back to writing and who knows, maybe i'm gonna reveal it here in case anyone would like to write with me.

anyway, this was a lot of rambling, and if you've made it this far, i once again wanna thank you. i know i do this a lot but i really do appreciate you all being here so much, and even after two years of having this silly little blog, it still feels unreal to me that so many people here enjoy what i do.

much love and happy holidays, pooh 🧡

#pooh speaks. #pooh's (ir)regular updates. #long post tw

[phantomrose96]

Hi! First of all, thanks for always answering asks in such a friendly and kind manner. Please feel free to skip this if it's too personal, but I was curious: When and how did you discover software engineering and writing fiction as your interests? Do you see any similarities/interaction between them? And finally, do you have any other topics you're really into (whether or not you've gotten a chance to put the time into them yet), or would you say these are kinda the "big two" for you?

yeah np (❁´◡`❁) it's nice interacting with people who are interested in what I have going on

Ah so writing fiction came first. Think I had a very classic case of "read so many books in middle school" and I kinda wanted to try my hand at writing. My parents were encouraging and believed I had some talent, but I struggled to write anything more than a few pages long. I'd get too hung up on trying to perfect every sentence. I took a swing at fanfic when I was a freshman in high school, and that helped a lot because there are so many footholds already in place for you. Ended up writing something 80,000 words long as a 14 year old.

Since then I mostly have stuck with fanfic as just a fun hobby, but I do like the idea of getting more serious about original work if and when I have the time. In a lot of ways ABoT feels like original work and has helped put me in a position to really consider what it takes to craft something totally original. (Oh, I did have a pretty long-form piece of original work I worked on in high school, but it's not the sort of thing I'd salvage for a true original work project.)

Software was its totally own, other thing. I actually took AP Computer Science my senior year of high school (very first time the class was offered) and the whole course was... kind of a huge mess. Made me think I didn't like software. I went into college knowing I wanted to do something in STEM, but I liked my high school science and math courses pretty evenly so it was a matter of settling on something I saw a career for. So I went into college thinking I was pursuing a biomedical engineering degree.

My college's engineering track consisted of certain core engineering courses we all took, and then split into specialization courses once you'd knocked out the core requirements. Some of those courses were grad-level and needed professor sign-off to sign up for the course. So I was sitting in the engineering building, late sophomore year, waiting for some prof to come back to let me sign off for biomedical-something-or-other, and I was reflecting "hey if I wanna change my major, now's kind of my last chance huh."

So I pulled up the engineering department's webpage on my laptop, which had a bunch of sample schedules which showed the 4 years of courses that, say, a mechanical engineer might take, vs a chemical engineer, vs a civil engineer, etc etc. I went through the mechanical and the chemical and all that going "nah, nah" until I got to the computer engineer sample track and I read through all the courses going "damn if I had time in my schedule I'd love to take that class."

And I finally went "hey wait." Luckily the core engineering classes had contained a course in C, which I very much enjoyed, as well as a lot of courses that made us mess around in Matlab, which is...I guess loosely a coding language, mostly for processing data. And tinkering around in Matlab had been My Thing throughout college, and I really liked that C course. And I realized pretty much all of the college projects which I'd gone above and beyond for my own enjoyment had been, in some capacity, programming projects. And I went "Hey Wait" again and left the building to go reevaluate my future.

Which was a really good decision ultimately! I really like my job as a software engineer and I can absolutely see myself doing it long term.

As for other hobbies I've got a handful of other things. I do a lot of running after being an extremely bad runner most of my life. I'm actually doing a city-sponsored half marathon on Sunday! I do kind of a lot of biking when the weather is nice. I've been cooking vegan for myself for the last like 6-ish months as just something that's been interesting to try my hand at. I pet-sit for friends quite a bit! I really like pets and I'm hoping to get a dog or a cat of my own someday. I want to get good at plants, which has been tough in my current apartment but I'm really hoping to get better at that once I move into my new condo that has much much better lighting and even some balcony space. I'm also an amateur knitter and I've knitted little tiny dog sweaters for dogs I've pet-sat. And I did a whole lot of tutoring and TA'ing back in school which I do miss. I've had fewer opportunities for that kind of thing as an adult, but I've been thinking lately about looking into volunteer opportunities with schools around here.

#ask #leaguehysteria

[maya-matlin]

Happy holidays! I would love to read your thoughts on how Lucas, Jughead, Jess Mariano and Dan Humphrey are all similar and also different? Like they definitely have the indie introverted Holden Caufield hipster thing lol, but they all have some differences too! And I am sooo with you on hating when Riverdale made Jughead this allegedly badass gang leader lol, but that whole show was on crack :)

Thank you so much! Happy holidays to you too! ❄️🎄❄️🎄 Oh wow, okay. I never thought to think about the similarities and differences of these characters, but I'll try.

Obviously, all four of these guys are intellectual and eventually became published authors. They're all presented to us as outsiders and underdogs of sorts. This is the least believable in the case of Lucas, but it is what it is. Lucas, Jughead, Jess and Dan are supposed to be the "poor" characters of their respective shows, but it's actually hilarious to think about what that means based on the way each show is written. Dan is poor, but he lives in a big loft apartment with his family and is able to attend a prestigious private school. While he isn't originally one of the elite, he's given opportunities and connections that none of the other three could ever dream of. Lucas is supposed to be poor, but this is more told to us than shown. His mother was able to buy a house based solely on what she made from a cafe that wasn't supposed to be particularly successful. Keith set up a college fund for Lucas prior to his death, meaning Lucas never had to struggle to pay for university. During the adult years, Lucas is supposedly still poor because he published only one book and works as a high school basketball coach. But the moments where he's called poor are basically played for laughs, and he later lives with both of his fiancees in a presumably fully paid off home. Jess and especially Jughead were probably legitimately poor. We don't find out very much about Jess's life prior to moving to Stars Hollow, but I'm pretty sure it's implied things were pretty bleak with Liz and that she was an addict with a revolving door of bad boyfriends. His dad abandoned them, never contributing financially or emotionally to raising Jess. Jughead grew up in a trailer park on the disadvantaged side of Riverdale. He was homeless multiple times. His father struggled to hold down a job. Depending on the show's current narrative, his dad, his mom, both, or neither, were criminals at any given time.

None of these characters came from successful marriages or relationships. Lucas and Jess were abandoned by their fathers. Although, Lucas had a much closer relationship with Karen (and Keith) than Jess did with Liz. Dan's parents divorced when he was a teenager. Jughead's parents had a very on again/off again marriage with him mainly having his dad around during seasons 1-the pre-time jump episodes of season 5. Then, his entire family just fucked off somewhere, because Skeet Ulrich understandably wanted out. 3/4 of these guys (Dan, Lucas, Jughead) have righteous indignation, feeling the need to call out hypocrisy and unfair treatment. Jess isn't this guy, preferring to judge silently unless this relates to someone he genuinely cares about such as Rory or Luke. All of the guys have a strong connection and affection for their first love interest. Lucas and Dan fell for Peyton and Serena based on superficial reasons and felt as though they knew them based on minimal interaction. Jess fell for Rory at first sight, though he at least got to know her first. Jughead.. well, Riverdale doesn't tell us much of anything about when Jughead first fell for Betty or what their relationship was like prior to season 1. Based on the way the writers were so obsessed with Betty and Archie being childhood friends and that symbolizing something over stuff that actually took place during the show's present, you'd think Betty and Jughead never spoke until they started writing for the Blue and Gold together. But anyways, the Dan/Serena, Lucas/Peyton, Jess/Rory and Jughead/Betty connections all lingered into adulthood. Though unlike Jess and Jughead who still seemed to be pining for their first loves, Dan and Lucas were happily falling in love with these girls' best friends (Jughead and Veronica do not count because that happened in the bizarre 50's and by that point the show had stopped caring about developing relationships) and seemed content to have a revolving door of love interests as Peyton and Serena were the ones mainly doing the pining. I guess they're all insecure? Is Dan insecure? If he is and felt weird about his initial financial situation (even though his father was a literal rockstar), I don't think it was that big of a deal and followed him through life the way it did Jughead, Jess and Lucas. Also, Jughead and Jess are not cheaters. Lucas and Dan are, with Lucas Eugene Scott being THE cheater. Out of all these guys, Jess is the only one I'd describe as a bad boy. Lucas and Dan were both pretty straitlaced. Jughead isn't a bad boy. He's just a nerd in a leather jacket. And YES. Serpent King Jughead was the fucking worst. Cole Sprouse couldn't pull that off, and his character improved so much once they sent him to Stonewall Prep and then when his life basically fell apart after high school. That sounded bad, but anything was an improvement as far as Jughead plots went after they glorified Jughead being a teenage gang leader. In the end, both Lucas and Dan were romantics who wanted to settle down with someone. If they couldn't have Brooke and Blair, Peyton and Serena would do. Jess legitimately never seemed to let Rory go. Jughead is complicated because Riverdale, but it was always implied he loved Betty far more than he did Tabitha and that his feelings for Betty prior to season 7 remained a mostly unspoken thing because of the weirdness both in real life and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa having no idea what he wanted to do.

#Anonymous

[eddyxftz]

ꕀ ᐝ 𖠳 theo james, cis man, he&him 𖠳 ᐝ ꕀ ‷ heads up ; if you hear MY LIFE by BILLY JOEL blaring, it’s most likely EDWARD FITZGERALD making their way down the shore ! they’re 36 years old and celebrate their birthday on 01/01 - i knew they were a CAPRICORN ! especially since they’re very CHARMING and IMPULSIVE. they are from PORT ST. LUCIE, FL, staying in DOWNTOWN and are currently working as a TOUR GUIDE, here at the cape. they always did remind me of long boozy boat rides, late night beach trips, and buying a round for the entire bar |||| tw: death

Stats

Full Name: Edward Alexander Thomas Fitzgerald

Nickname(s): Eddy, Fitz.

Age/Date Of Birth: Thirty Six/1st January

Gender/Pronouns: Cis Man, He/him

Height: 6''

Sexuality: Bisexul

Occupation: Tour Guide

Parents: Alexander & Maria Fitzgerald

Siblings: Alex(39), Margot(26), Phillip(21)

Personality:

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Positive Traits: Confident, Modest, Generous.

Negative Traits: Impulsive, Impatient, Argumentative.

Hobbies: Sailing, Drinking & Jogging.

Likes: Boats, Classic Movies, Breakfast Food, 70s Music.

Dislikes: Flying, Rude Customers, Show Offs, Loud People.

Biography:

Edward was born into a wealthy family. His father was the owner of one of the biggest publishing empires in America, a role that had been handed down in the Fitzgerald family for generations.

His family was rich but Edward had always had a very different relationship with money than them. He never made any insanely large purchases, and never told people about his wealth.

Edward always had a very strained relationship with the other members of his immediate family, especially his father. His dad was extremely boastful about his wealth and careless with money. Something that never sat right with Eddy.

Edward always had a much closer bond with his Grandfather, who seemed to have a similar mindset to Eddy, and often told him about how much he regretted spoiling Edward's father as a child.

He spent many summers with his grandparents, choosing to visit them rather than go on lavish holidays with his family.

Edward and his grandfather bonded over their shared love of sailing, and the two would spend hours on his grandad's yacht.

In high school he was popular, well liked by everybody around him, but he was constantly at war with himself about whether people liked him for him, or for how much money his family had.

Eddy went to college to study History, mostly to keep his parents off his back since he still had no clue what he wanted to do in life.

As soon as he graduated he moved to Florida to try and distance himself from his family name and his father's watchful eyes.

When he was around twenty four his grandfather gifted him with his old yacht as an early birthday present and to spite Edward's father who had always wanted it to sell.

Edward loved it and spent months fixing it up and repairing it until it was truly sea worthy again. After he had had some fun sailing around the coast and partying with a few close friends on it, he decided he'd put it to some use and began giving boat tours to local tourists.

A few months into his tour guide gid he met Chayce. Eddy had never been much of a relationship guy since he always struggle to trust people so easily, but Chayce was different. It started off as hook ups and developed into a relationship quite quickly. They dated for a few a year or two and everything was going great, until Eddy had to leave.

His grandfather had gotten sick so Eddy decided to go and take care of him, considering all that man had done for him. Him and Chayce tried to make it work long distance, but eventually Edward decided it was best to break things off.

It wasn't an easy decision for Edward and it did take it's toll, but he knew deep down it was the right choice to make.

After almost four years of caring for his grandfather he unfortunately passed away. Leaving almost his entire fortune exclusively to Edward.

Edward's family was not happy about this at all, especially his father but it was what Eddy's grandfather wanted and there was no way he'd disrespect his grandfather's wishes.

Eddy was practically shunned by his father not long after all of this, and though he had never had much of a relationship or a liking for the man, it did hurt a little how quickly his siblings and even his mother followed suit.

He decided to not dwell on it for too long though and sailed his grandfathers boat around the east coast until he ended up in Cape May.

He now gives guided boat tours to tourists based on a few quick facts he got from google, but it's really Eddy's charm and charisma that keep customers coming back for more.

Other Stuff/Random Shit:

Edward lives in an apartment in Downtown that he shares with Leon Amos. He could easily afford one of the pricier houses in Cape May but likes to keep his living arrangements more simple and modest, and he loves having a room mate.

He hasn't spoken to any of his family members since his grandfathers funeral, but often debates reaching out to his siblings though he's unsure he'd even get a response.

He's extremely generous and giving, especially when he's drunk and has been known to pay an entire bar's tab when he's in a good enough mood.

His music tastes is very 60's & 70's orientated. He loves anything Billy Joel, Presley or Fleetwood Mac related and is known for blasting music off of his boat late at night.

He doesn't just use his boat for tours, he sometimes rents it out to locals who just want a trip around the Cape and anybody who wants to party and doesn't mind paying the damage.

He isn't the greatest driver and has crashed the boat several times in the last couple of months, but will never let anybody else drive it, ever, no matter what.

tbc

Wanted Connections

Regular Customers

Ex(Hook Ups, Dates, FWB)

Best Friend

ANYTHING.

#cape.intro

[fight4me]

Okay I'm leaving this here now while I'm thinking about it, since I just finished reading your new fic and I'm curious:

Have you got any particular or random headcanons on Maru?

Yes! I actually have more Maru headcannons than I thought. And I probably have a few more that I forgot.

●Is California born and raised.

●I believe his mom is Japanese/American and named Mary and his dad is an American named Dean.

●A little bit about those two: they met in college, Mary was in a nursing program and Dean was working on his business degree. They got married super young while still in college, and pretty soon after that had Maru. Mary put her schooling on hold for the time being, and pursued it again when Maru was old enough for pre-k. Meanwhile Dean got a desk job at an office- everything he thought he wanted. Until one day he realized he hated it- and that the windows were dirty. He left that day and started his own window washing business.

●Mary finished up school by the time Maru was six and started working at a hospital.

●He had a childhood best friend who sadly had to move away to be closer to her Abuela around this time. She was really into astronomy and space and wanted to be an astronaut. Before she moved away she taught Maru about the stars and taught him some basic Spanish. Eventually she did become an astronaut. The two stayed lifelong pen-pals.

●Maru got named after his mom. 'Maru' is kind of similar sounding to 'Mary', plus it's a nod to his Japanese heritage.

●He was a very active child. His parents kinda had a hard time keeping up with him. *also keep in mind his parents are very young parents* but nevertheless, they took it in stride.

●If it turned on, he was taking it apart. Small kitchen appliances were his most frequent victims, especially toasters. But he could put it back together. *usually*

●Loves poptarts. Cinnamon and blueberry are his favorites.

●As far as appearances go, Maru is a carbon copy of his dad. Splitting image.

●One day after school he witnessed his dad be rescued by a helicopter. Dean's window washing equipment falled and essentially... he was hanging on for dear life. However, Maru saw a well orchestrated rescue, from the roles the rescue vehicles on the ground played to the ones in the air. Ever since then he had a respect for helicopters and that was what eventually led him to work with them.

●In middle school he brought an extra apple in his lunch to the meanest ground-vehicle in school for one reason: His dad knew how to weld and that was a skill Maru wanted.

●His parents had another kid when he was in high school. A sister named Imogene. She looks a lot like Maru, but thankfully, for the sanity of Maru's parents, is a lot more chill.

●When he met Nick, he picked up on a lot more Spanish. But he didn't let anyone know he knew some. Sometimes Nick would go off script and say something off the wall in Spanish and Maru would be struggling not to burst out laughing. Nowadays at Piston Peak, secretly knowing Spanish helps him keep tabs on Backout.

●For living in apartments all his life, up until the point of Piston Peak, he adapted to nature very quickly. He's actually pretty in tune with nature. (Not Windlifter level in-tune, but, still.)

Slightly more chaotic headcannons that are most likely humanized:

●He enjoys it when Patch plays Taylor Swift's song Best Day. Especially if it's in autumn. "Cause now I know how the leaves change in the fall." Reminds him of the serenity of the park. However...

●He doesn't exactly enjoy Taylor's newer stuff. It makes his age start showing. It annoys him, he starts yelling and throwing tools. The smokejumpers have figured out exactly to push his buttons. In random situations they'll ask him, "why?" then answer, "Because she's dead!" and proceed to mock him by singing Look What You Made Me Do. (I think this scenario would also be hilarious if they were in their WoC forms.)

●Humanized Maru has broken his nose several times. Just doing stuff around the shop. He always goes to Cabbie to have him reset it. (Why does Cabbie know how to deal with broken noses? I have no idea.) As a result of having broke his nose several times his face looks a little... strange at times. But he's Maru and we all still love him for it :)

Whoa so... that was a lot. I hope I didn't bore anyone to death.

#Maru planes fire and rescue #Nick Loopin Lopez #Piston Peak #Windlifter #Smokejumpers #Cabbie

[monachopsis-11]

So I’ve decided the best place to start is with how I realized I’m autistic. I honestly hadn’t ever had any exposure to anyone on the spectrum so I had no clue what Autism even was and I’d barely heard it mentioned either. So I’d been doing research online for years about different mental disorders and all kinds of other things trying to self diagnose but I could never find anything with more than a few symptoms I related to. Anyway you could imagine my surprise when I was reading Lady Midnight and relating to Ty Blackthorn intensely. Now I don’t actually have all of the more stereotypical behaviors that he has but it was the first time I’d ever related to a characters behaviors. I’ve always been a huge reader, I read my first magic treehouse book in kindergarten and never stopped and most of my special interests have been books/movies/tv shows/characters. So I’ve definitely found a lot of characters who I related to emotionally because of struggles they were going through that mimicked the things I experienced but with Ty I could actually relate to what he was doing. I don’t remember all of the examples but I remember him organizing his books by color, asking about things other characters said that didn’t make sense to me either, having sensory issues, and wearing headphones. Now this is just off the top of my head but I know there were more as well however in the book the characters are part of a government that doesn’t acknowledge mental health/neurodiversity etc. so the other characters don’t know Ty is autistic. Then all the sudden I’m reading a half a page interaction where another character who grew up in the human world and has basic knowledge of things says:

So I went “huh autistic? This could be worth researching.” And proceeded to create a 37 page Google doc with everything I read that seemed important color coded according to how much each symptom/experience related to me. From there I proceeded to obsess over it for weeks to the point where I felt like I had made it up because suddenly I was realizing all these things that I didn’t think about before like how much eye contact sucks and how stimming can be really soothing whereas in the past I just did eye contact because other people were doing it and I only really stimmed when I was really excited (like jumping up and down flapping my hands etc.) From there I decided to ignore it because I felt like I was making it up or at least exaggerating massively so I tried to focus my attention elsewhere. Elsewhere meaning 4 college courses (Photography, English 1A, English S, Women’s Studies), 2 high school classes (Integrated Math 2), and 4 AP tests (English Literature and Composition, English Language and Composition, European History, and Psychology) without taking any of the corresponding AP classes I might add. So as far as distractions go very effective and very stressful. Finally after deciding that I was ready to think about things I proceeded to do more research, this time about autistic peoples experiences and after realizing how much of a spectrum things are and how sensory issues can change over time etc. I was finally able to accept that I was autistic and look into resources for therapy and hopefully a diagnosis at some point. So while this is obviously the short version of the story it covers the main points which I thought I’d share. Feel free to leave comments/questions as I’d love to talk with anyone who has had similar experiences.

FYI not my image so credit goes to whoever it belongs to 😊

#autistic experiences #self diagnosed autism #autistic women #actually autistic #late diagnosed autistic #ty blackthorn #dark artifices

[mak--taylor]

Things I Wish I Knew Before Going Into University/College

1. You don't need to have everything figured out.

You probably just decided what your next step is going to be, whether that is continuing onto university, heading into the job market, or taking a gap year, and it feels like you have to have everything figured out. That's wonderful, but it's important to have an open mind and be accepting of change. Things may not go as you planned, or they will go swimmingly well.

2. Grades don't matter... to an extent.

Sure, if you have great grades, you have wider options: scholarships, employment, funding, grad school, etc. But truthfully, most scholarships and internship offers are based on a 3.0 GPA. Some of the stricter ones have a 3.5 GPA requirement. Unless you're set on going to graduate school (in which case, definitely try to get a high GPA), you will likely be fine with a 3.0 GPA (this is the case especially if your major is STEM; if your major is non-STEM, maybe shoot for a 3.5 GPA). When I graduated undergrad and got my first "real" full-time job, they never even asked me what my GPA was or required a transcript. I say this to hopefully relieve some pressure off you. A few "Bs" (or "C"s tbh) won't kill you.

3. Your responsibilities (may) change.

I'm going to preface this by saying that each person has their own individual experience when it comes to responsibilities. I am going to speak very generally here. Moving on from high school brings on many more unexpected responsibilities, at least in my experience/experiences from friends. Through high school, the focus is generally set on getting through the coursework and maintaining extracurriculars. However, once I hit college, I found myself needing to balance coursework, work, household things (I lived at home and commuted to university, but there were still expectations), as well as trying to build up experience in whatever field of interest. It IS a lot, and trying to figure out the right work-life balance is key to having a successful college career.

4. Time management is KEY

I think almost anyone who's gone into university can attest to this. Tying back to my previous point, more and more things get added on as you progress through your career as a student/individual. With that, it is important to not lose track of things, and find a proper balance. I found that one of the main things I struggled with going into uni was time management. I was always able to scrape by last minute in high school with assignments and tests, but realized that was not feasible once I started college. I realized sooner than later that I needed to find a way to keep myself in check.

I found that maintaining a planner as well as having a calendar with important dates was vital for me to keep track of things. I had to-do lists, whiteboards with lists, physical planners, all of the things, and even though it seems like overkill, I needed the visual reminders.

5. Find a mentor (upperclassmen/professor/teacher)

I did NOT realize how much I needed this as I started freshman year. I went in kind of just expecting to be able to get by, which I did during my the first semester of freshman year. However, it was a challenge trying to interact with upperclassmen since they all just seemed so unreachable and b u s y. It took my until the end of my freshman year and into the beginning of my sophomore year to finally find people that I felt could give me guidance in both smaller things like class selections or just life advice. I personally found some of my more approachable TAs to be very helpful, as well as my professors in my smaller classes. If your university offers mentoring programs or similar opportunities, take advantage of those- you may never know what can come out of it!

6. Get involved!

This is something that I found to be difficult as a commuter. Many of my colleges clubs and events were hosted later in the evenings, and I just did not want to spend 2 extra hours on campus after a long day of classes and then have to drive home. However, I do wish I had taken more advantage of the clubs on campus. There are SO many different ones that cater to a plethora of interests. I feel like I would have had the opportunity to build a community around each of my different interests, and been able to keep up with them. And, if there is not a club that caters to your interest, then start one! I did that with a group of friends, and that was one of the best choices I made. I was able to pursue something that I was truly passionate about, while being able to hang out with a wonderful group of people. you don't want to always be in your dorm, watching Netflix, when you're not in class. Sure, sometimes you need to wind down but you don't want your entire undergraduate experience to be summed up with "netflix." I promise you: you will not remember the shows you binged your sophomore year of college, but you WILL remember that awesome overnight camping trip you took at Yosemite.

7. Network.

I used to cringe when people would network in undergrad because I thought they were being so "extra" and so "fake." And now I'm understanding that the mantra "fake it til you make it" is really accurate... It doesn't matter how you personally feel about networking, but the reality is that most people get their jobs through networking (and those who network tend to have a "leg up"). If you want to be successful, I'd argue that networking is a key strategy you should implement, to some extent. The more professional experiences you have earlier on, the easier it is to get better opportunities later on: your success builds upon itself. And you don't have to be super fake about it either; the people who are the best networkers tend to be the most genuine.

8. Have a small group of close, quality friends and work on strengthening those friendships.

It's better to have 3 quality best friends, instead of 10 friends that you're not really all that close to. Quality over quantity, for sure. Although you should focus on quality, I still think it's good to be socially connected with your classmates and acquaintances/friends through Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, etc: after all, this is just good networking + who knows who may become your next close friend when you move to a new state! In college, it's easy to hang out with friends but after college, it's much more difficult to keep these friendships up.

9. Take care of yourself.

College is busy, it's stressful- there's really no sugarcoating it. Through high school, I was never really focused on mental health and trying to make sure that I was not about to combust. However, after finishing three years of college, I can assure you that being able to maintain your mental AND physical wellbeing is extremely important. Not only does it make you feel good, it does impact your performance as a student. Make time for yourself. Yes, school is important, but so are you. Find room in your schedule for your hobbies- paint something, go on walks, hang out with friends- whatever brings you joy. Make sure you are eating ALL your meals, getting 7-9 hours of sleep (try to, at least), exercising, and taking care of your mental health. It is important, don't forget about that.

This means both mentally (most college campuses offer free, or reduced cost, therapy sessions! take advantage of this! once you're in the "real world", these sessions are $$$) and physically (eat the right type of food! exercise!).

Ultimately, college is what you make of it. It's a period where you can explore your passions and find who you are. But also at the same time, it's also meant to help advance your (future) career. You can definitely find the right balance between your professional and personal goals!!

Stay safe everyone <3

#school #education #love #student #students #teacher #learning #kids #college #memes #study #schoollife #backtoschool #children #instagram #teachers #university #instagood #fun #friends #art #covid #follow #meme #like #teaching #schoolmemes #india #motivation #teachersofinstagram

[bisluthq]

I generally just infodump about Taylor Swift in my submission, but I actually need some advice (or literally just to vent).

So, about a month ago I moved from Grade 10 (high school) to Grade 11 (college) and obviously it's been an adjustment period, but I'm starting to get used to things.

The problem is, like a week after I expressed to my best friend that I'd felt like our friend group (including her) were sort of just tolerating my presence, she texted me this LONG text basically saying that she's been trying to find the right way to say things, and that she really cares about me, doesn't want to hurt my feelings, how I haven't done anything wrong, but she's going through some shit and is really struggling mentally at the moment, and basically needs some space, and feels like she can't be there for me in the way I deserve.

I cried when I saw it, but I understood (and still do understand) where she was coming from, and was very supportive of what she'd said in my follow up messages. But since then, every time I've seen her at school she's been with out other friend, even though she said she'd expressed this to other people.

Me, her, and the other friend all share a maths class, and they've stopped sitting with me. The first time it happened, she texted me that night and was like, "fuck were you here today? I'm so sorry."

And to be quite honest, I'm upset, but I sort of feel like I shouldn't be. She's done everything "right", and done her best to make it clear I haven't done anything, but it still feels a little targeted, especially since when I told her about feeling ignored she was like, "I really think for your sake you need to get out more/talk to more people" but even that was phrased as nicely as possible.

It's all just a mind-fuck, and I don't what to do. I've just been hanging out with some other people I'm a little less close to and it’s been great, but she's my best friend and I hate not talking to her, even if I get why.

I think transition periods (middle to secondary; secondary to college; college to uni; uni to workplaces) often come with these sorts of complicated friend situations and it absolutely does suck. I think you’re justified in feeling a bit ticked off and it is - imho - a little bit personal (which is okay). By the sound of it, she wants to craft a bit of a new identity and strike outside her established comfort zone and you’d prefer to stay close and keep the status quo. That’s an impasse. I’d recommend trying to make some new friends and getting out your comfort zone too. You and her might reconnect in time, or maybe you’re growing in separate directions. That’s definitely sad but it’s a part of life. I’d focus on making new friends at college and your extramurals/part-time job. Be proactive. The people you like from college but aren’t close to - why not invite them to do something together? You aren’t close now but you might become close and it’s a chance to spread your wings and make new friends (which seems to be what she wants to do too). Neither of you are at fault - this is a really hard but normal thing to go through.

I had a similar situation actually partway into uni so not even during a life transition but basically a friend told me a similar thing. It was right after my ex and I broke up and I was sorta leaning on being very sociable and she and I had been friends since school and anyway I kept asking her if she wants to hang out and eventually she said to me that she feels we’re growing apart and should take some space from each other. Her and I actually went on to do the same postgrad course and we’ve hung out again but we’ve never been THAT close and yes it hurt a lot (her message was ruder than your friend’s btw) but eh she was probably right like we were growing in different directions and the close friendship was running its natural course. Didn’t make it hurt less but I wish her well and I’m glad I did manage to make a bunch of new friends at uni - many of whom are lifelong friends - which I probably wouldn’t have done if she hadn’t sorta given me that push and carried on focusing on like her and our other school friend and mutual friends with my ex.

allow yourself to hurt and mourn a bit but also go out and be sociable and make new friends imo!

[dirtylittlesaint]

fall 2022 semester - ???

I am at one of the top colleges in my country, and most of my classmates were generally the cream of the crop from their high schools. I’m still astounded by how many of these people do badly in class because they don’t put much effort into what they’re doing.

For example, we had a lab report for my chem class the other day, and I was with a friend as she was working on it (I was doing other homework). She was so confused and didn’t know how to do it so she called up her lab partner to help on a specific aspect of it. I started working on the lab today and the reason why my friend was struggling was entirely because she did not read the lab summary that was given to us before the experiment. Like … it tells you right there. Very, very obviously.

Additionally, some of my friends just didn’t turn in their homework for our engineering intro class because their code environment wasn’t working, but they didn’t even do basic troubleshooting. They just gave up, even though it’s so easy to google “[insert error code]” or “how to fix [insert code environment name] [insert problem]”. Like, they barely even tried. They just expected their friends or teachers to just hand them the solution. That’s … not how it works?

I’m so confused. Professors get horrible reviews sometimes only because the students don’t do the work. Students complain “my professor is so bad, we didn’t cover this in class” or “why was that on the test, it was so hard” when a) the professor went through those problems in class, they just weren’t paying attention, b) the professor said they didn’t have time to cover the material so it was on [insert page number here] in the class textbook that these kids refuse to read, and c) the test was similar in difficulty to the homework problems, they just didn’t study and decided to go to a concert the night before the test! No wonder professors get annoyed at the students! I’m starting to not trust Rate My Professor anymore!

am i just a bitch complaining about this? but it's so… baffling. i thought college kids would be smarter but apparently not? maybe just my friends are kinda stupid. not to say i'm not either. but it's so aggravating to see people struggle when the answer is right in front of them.

and yes, i did suggest these solutions (nicely) to them, but they disregarded me and made excuses for why googling wouldn't work or blah blah blah.

so tired of this defeatist attitude surrounding me. they're good people, they're just a little dense sometimes. a little entitled. oh well, i guess that's what i should have expected going to a college like this.

i have hope there are people out there who are fun and responsible but why are they so hard to find???

#rant #vent #i hate to sound mean or that i'm bitching about this #cuz i feel like i am #but i feel like troubleshooting and perseverance is a basic skill that most ppl would know especially to get into a college like this #i need to stop caring about how other ppl fuck up their lives but like #come on #ig they'll figure it out #or not #it's not my business i need to chill #my writing

[the-broken-biologist]

Sept. 10

Had a housewarming today for some friends. Went to high school with one, met the other in college, they started dating some time later, and now they own a house together.

When I got there (accidentally early, I forgot I had already calculated drive time into my calendar event), we took some time to introduce Clover to their pet dog. The two of them both got super excited, had zoomies all around the house, and got along super well! Clover was a little aloof after a while- despite being similar ages, Clover doesn’t like to play as much. She would start just walking away when he tried to play after a while.

Had an amazing time at the housewarming in general. They had a super comfy plush rocker and I could just chill in that as much as I wanted! Heck, I practically napped at one point towards the end of the night. That chair is single handedly responsible for me being physically able to stay as long as I did.

And I’m so glad for that! It was nice catching up to those friends, and their other friends invited (4 ish people I think? Unless I’m forgetting someone) were super cool and nice to get to know as well.

I considered staying the night. It was late, I was tired, and I had taken some medicine for anxiety when I got there and I wasn’t sure that had completely worn off yet with how slowly my body runs stuff. But it was also 8+ hours later and I hadn’t told my girlfriend anything about staying over and had her car. And none of us had phone signal so I couldn’t even message her.

I actually got a call almost as soon as I was within signal again of her checking in. I kept it super brief though- normally I love talking to people while driving, and I always love talking to her, but it was late night and storming pretty heavy so I was struggling to drive already.

Got back and she fell asleep within minutes. I don’t know for sure she was waiting up for me, but she did fall asleep (sitting up on the couch next to me) very quickly. I got her lying down, snuggled in next to her, and fell asleep pretty damn fast myself.

I know this doesn’t fit so well with the journal/log style of my posts, but gods I fucking love her so so incredibly much. I don’t know where I’d be without her.

#personal log

[justtryingtoliveright]

Thursday 18th August 2022

Dear Blog,

I have so many mixed feelings about today. It was our results day so I got to discover what I got after 2 years of hard work. I’m very in the middle as there’s 2 subjects where I’m kind of disappointed but the others I did better than I thought I would. The A levels I did were biology, chemistry, maths and further maths and my results were:

Biology: C

Chemistry: D

Maths: B

Further Maths: D

Further maths and chemistry I wasn’t even expecting to pass so the result was somewhat of a miracle. Biology and maths I honestly thought would be the other way around, but in both subjects I’m slightly disappointed. I had some confidence with both subjects and was hoping for better results. I revised a lot for all of my subjects and I don’t know why I’m disappointed, as it could have been much worse, but I just am a little.

I just feel a bit like I’ve let everyone down. I joined the college was average GCSE grade 8, though this was teacher predicted grades. This meant I was expected to be in the range of As and A*s at A level, just because of those grades. During A level years and covid was also the time where my mental health really crumbled and I think that probably doesn’t help but I really tried my best to reach their expectations. For the last 5-6 months of my studies I was incredibly burnt out and nothing really went in. It meant I started pacing myself but I think the burn out really came at the worst possible time. I feel like I’ve let everyone down.

A couple of people from college told me their grades too and they really surprised me. People who consistently got incredibly high grades all the way through our A level years and were always incredibly determined to do well got the same kind of grades as I did, a person who didn’t revise in the evenings due to wanting to prevent myself getting too stressed out. I was shocked to hear that their grades were so similar to my own, and especially when one of them, who was the most hardworking of all of us, was denied her place by the university she really wanted to attend. She’s now thankfully sorted it out but she was honestly the last person I thought would be in that position.

I’m also concerned about a couple of my friends. One friend (my closest friend) I haven’t heard from for ages and I don’t think they came this morning. I wasn’t there particularly long but I didn’t see them at all. I’m very concerned about how they are. Another friend I saw when they came in with all of their family. They were my closest friend last year and we were very close. I was by myself the whole time I was there and called their name. They saw me but completely ignored me, as did all of their family, many of which I’ve spoken to at this point. The same friend also did something peculiar before that hurt my feelings a bit if I’m being honest. We had an event on in college and were sat at tables in our sports hall. I came in with them and another person. We sat down in a row as we came in. It just happened that they were in the middle of the row we sat in. After we’d all sat down she got up and went to the other person’s other side. The whole time I felt entirely left out, which was the first time I’d felt it since I’d been at college. I’d struggled with school and feeling like I didn’t belong to my group, didn’t deserved them, feeling like I wasn’t wanted and feeling completely different, and thought I wouldn’t have to feel that again. I have struggled all my life with not fitting in and I thought I finally had a group that I fit into. Clearly I was wrong. I know this is dramatic given the tiny scale of the situation but when you have felt like a complete outcast for so long, even with friends that are more supportive than you could imagine, it’s so easy to feel that way again, even with the tiniest things.

I’m just glad the day is over if I’m honest. It’s been stressful and its not something I need to put too much of my brain too now. I had work straight after, which was boring if I’m being honest. My main role is on the tills but it was super quiet. I did annoy quite a few people though, as we had to stop accepting donations due to reaching capacity, and when people have walked for ages with a big box of donations, they’re usually not happy when you turn them away. The person I was working with is incredibly funny though, and because most of the people I work with are 40+, we have some fun conversations. Oh well, day off tomorrow with nothing to worry about.

Thanks all xx

[ill-be-istj-if-no-one-else-is]

Hello! I'm trying to type my little sister who's recently emerged from a hard time with some unexpected personal development. We're all pretty smart in our family, but when she was about four years old, she just... sort of taught herself how to read? She says she followed the letters with her eyes when we read her stories, and over time a system of observed patterns emerged in her mind and she just knew how reading works. Throughout her childhood, that's how things continued: whatever she (*1)

set her mind to, she'd be really good at it really quickly - but it never worked if she wasn't truly interested in it and saw the long-term benefits of investing in a skill. For example, as the oldest sister I was always very responsible and in tune with my siblings' feelings, whereas she's had to learn that there can be benefits to 'fitting in' and being accommodating. Her teenage years were, I think, very hard for her, as social connections at school drew back from her and I moved away (*2)

from home to attend college. She retreated into her own mind and suddenly fell from overachiever status to barely passing classes, sometimes she'd even skip going at all - not because she didn't care, but because something must have really stressed her so severely as to make her abandon her 'natural' values of learning and being good at things, even those that mattered to her outside of school (the piano, e.g.). Then, after barely graduating high school, she's had a couple of years of what (*3)

I can only describe as radical self development. She's lively, open to her family members and has few, but really strong bonds with good friends. She's kind of obsessed with giving her life meaning through the pursuit of her artistic visions, and understanding how the universe truly works. Her ultimate goal is to go into astrophysics, and she's rigorous about exercising and taking long walks, and actively seeks out people to talk about her wild visions and concepts so as not to fall into (*4)

self isolation, which she says she despises because it made her waste so much time. So while I'm definitely happy she's so open and reflected these days, I'm worried something similar is actually happening: she's currently forced to go through some really taxing college classes that do not interest her very much, but are mandatory for her further pursuit into physics. She missed a lot of stuff at high school, but won't just take her time to revise some of those basic concepts, instead (*5)

beating herself up about not being at least as good as everyone else. This has been going on for about half a year now. I'm afraid the combination with this psychological aspect has led to some atypical avoidance behaviour: she spends a lot of time procrastinating by researching completely unrelated topics, spending hours cooking or cleaning or just doing, well, nothing really. This is uncharacteristic for her and I'm really worried she will fall into some kind of hole again. She has (*6)

made a plan to pass those not so fun classes on her way to greater things, but she just won't get her act in order and sit down and do it! Perhaps MBTI could offer some insight: is she looping or in the grip, and is there anyway this concerned sister can help? I'm anxious to see her thrive again, and she just doesn't seem like herself by living from moment to the next without any overarching structure. Thank you!!

-------

Hi anon, there is a lot here, much of which is not useful for MBTI, so I would recommend you read through the FAQ in full. For example, childhood behavior is in my opinion not very useful (what you provided is more just a sign of intelligence).

I also, and this is not coming from an MBTI standpoint, advise you to scale back considerably in your efforts. You can (and should) talk to your sister. You can (and should) express your concerns and offer to help in whatever way you can. And to be fair I don’t know your sister and she might be receptive to you taking an unsolicited hands on approach. She might also think you’re overbearing and overstepping and wishes you’d let her figure her shit out in peace on her own (I sure would, especially at that age, and probably would have said as much too), which is why I advise talking to her, asking her what she needs, and if she says she’s fine and she’s not immediately endangering herself and others you say “okay, I’m here for you if you need me” and mind your own business.

That was all somewhat harsh but I say this from two positions, both as the eldest sister of four and as a physics major who had some similar issues to your sister: your behavior is not universal older sibling behavior and may be unwelcome, and while I do regret in a general way not going back and fixing some basics I fucked up while I was depressed, I still graduated with an undergraduate degree and passable GPA and have done fairly well for myself since. My graduate program included people who outright failed out of college the first time around and had to retake everything at a state school. She’ll be fine, and it is typically my opinion that someone will grow more as a person by letting them figure their own shit out and learn how to ask for help than from someone coming in and doing what they think is the right response.

Which brings me to the next point, namely her high school behavior could be just withdrawing under stress. It could also be depression or something that looks like it (bipolar type II, for example), and that’s something that is life-long and chronic. This isn’t uncharacteristic; she’s done it before in high school, she’s doing something , and the best action you can take is gently bringing that up and recommending she perhaps work on addressing this pattern, in whatever form that ends up taking.

What I’m trying to get at is MBTI is a pseudoscience that I really like and which I think can be useful, but if you actually want to help someone, ask them what they need. If you suspect they’re lying and in danger (that they’re suicidal or self-harming or dealing with addiction) then you should intervene but otherwise you can’t help someone who doesn’t want it. Make it clear you care about them and are worried and then let them handle it how they wish to handle it.

With all that in mind there’s not much to use here when it comes to typing. She sounds like a very intelligent person who for whatever reason has had periods when she was very unmotivated and undisciplined. The feelings of being behind or frustrated are pretty common for college students, particularly if she’s at a competitive college and has always been pretty bright and not prone to studying super hard. Not liking the boring prerequisites may be type related but it’s also just a matter of maturity, to push through dull obligations.

If you want to type her, the most important thing is getting a solid baseline of behavior, and I think because she’s been in such a state of flux over the past few years that will be very difficult. If you want to help her, express your concern to her, feel free to give advice, and listen to what she says, even if you don’t like it.

#mbti #i may have projected a lot on this one since i relate pretty hard to the sister #i did very well in high school but i had some similar struggles in college #and if someone were trying to be this hands on to me i'd have HATED it #Anonymous

[1kook]

card swiped (4)

→ jeon jungkook x (f) reader

→ “I’ve known Jungkook was a virgin since he first tried to tell me he wasn’t,” you tell him, arms crossed over your chest. “I’m pretty sure everyone knows.” GENRE romance (romcom?), eventual smut, teensy angst WARNING mentions of a hand job, talk of virginity OTHER college crushes, volleyball player!jk, student council president!oc, idiots to lovers, besties to lovers, childhood friends au RATING m (18+) bc brief sex ment WC 1.6k

NOTES (!) sorry for taking so long to update </3 school be kicking my ass. anyway here they are! an idiot couple. lmk what u think!!

[ masterlist ] 

In the past, whenever something had bothered you, the first person you ran to was Jungkook. Low grades, fights with your parents, boy drama— as your best friend and number one confidant, Jungkook was always your first choice. He was always willing to lend you a shoulder to cry on, even if that meant staining his white t-shirts with streaks of your mascara. He was always ready to go beat up a mean boy who had hurt your feelings during lunch, even if he’d miss his favorite special. And he was always down for some good old fashion i hate my parents ranting, even if he adored your parents. He was a great listener, an even better best friend, and had rightfully won you over from a very young age. 

That being said, how were you supposed to talk to Jungkook about something that bothered you when that something was him? 

You could easily tell any of your numerous girl friends, those of which would probably understand your predicament better than Jungkook or any man ever could. But after years of vehemently denying any notion of a romantic relationship between the two of you, you get the feeling your call for help will be met with more unimpressed glares than actual assistance. Besides, as much as you bring up Jungkook, none of them really know Jungkook to truly offer you any worthwhile advice. 

Your next option: Kim Taehyung. Now, Kim Taehyung held a similar background as Jungkook (translation: he also went to the same high school as you). He knows both you and Jungkook—frankly, more than you’d like him to—so he would be able to dissect the issue easily and offer trustworthy advice. The problem with Kim Taehyung, however, is that aside from knowing you at your embarrassingly dorky teenage prime, he doesn’t know how to keep a secret. Anything he knows, Jungkook knows. So if you were to, hypothetically, ask Taehyung for advice on Jungkook, well. Chances are, you’d probably get a rather confused text from Jungkook two minutes later. 

Which leaves you with one option— Park Jimin. There’s a reason Park Jimin isn’t your first option, and that reason presents itself now as you glare at him from across the empty room. For as long as you’ve been in university, Jimin has always lingered around the student council meetings, giving everyone he sees the prettiest, meanest stink-eye. You suspect it’s because he waits around for Min Yoongi, your Vice President (which isn’t an issue; Jungkook also frequents student council meetings while waiting for you), and doesn’t really care for anyone else. Your problem with Jimin doesn’t lie there but rather with the fact he’s adamant on taking up space and not lending so much as a finger to help. 

Today he is sitting with his feet on the table, dirty volleyball bag tossed on the floor. He’s watched you for the last fifteen minutes wrestle with the broken copy machine and hasn’t said a word since. He pretends he doesn’t see you struggling, because if he does, he’d be obligated to help you. 

To summarize, Park Jimin may be the fastest libero your university’s volleyball team has seen in years, but he’s a good-for-nothing bum everywhere else. 

And despite all that, he’s your best choice. There’s no one quite as blunt and honest as Park Jimin. There’s no one in this world who truly doesn’t care enough about anyone’s problems to gossip about them as Park Jimin. You plop down beside him, rumpled papers in hand. Without warning, you jump straight into it. “Jungkook is going to take my virginity,” you announce, like it’s the most casual thing in the world. If any of your fellow student council members heard you, you’re certain you’d shrivel up and die. 

Jimin hums. “That’s nice.” His eyes don’t leave his phone, thumb hovering over his screen. It’s a testament to how much he truly does not care. His extended silence plants a seed of doubt in you— was this the right person to tell? you begin to worry. But after a beat, Jimin’s thumb taps against his screen and he says, “Jungkook is a virgin.” 

You clench your jaw. “I know.” 

The thing about Jimin is, with the right wording, you can get him interested in something. Not interested enough to genuinely care, but interested enough to at least listen and offer his own piece of straightforward advice. His thumb comes to a standstill over his phone, eyes momentarily going blank. It’s a minute gesture, one that’s taken you four years of paying attention to catch. Just as quickly as it appears, it’s gone. “Really,” Jimin sighs, back to, you now realize, playing CandyCrush on his phone. “You’re gonna let a virgin take your virginity.”

Not a question, but you nod anyway. “Yup.” 

There’s sweat building on the back of your neck, nerves at an all time high, but you’re trying to play it off. Just a little bit more and you know you’ll have caught him. Beside you, Jimin’s jaw twitches. 

Finally, after what seems like an eternity of trying to act calm, Jimin clicks his phone off and turns to you. He’s as intimidating as ever, ash blonde hair pushed back today to reveal his forehead and dark eyes. “You’ve known Jungkook was a virgin this whole time?” he asks, has this calculating look in his eyes that makes you feel like you’re being questioned by an officer of the law and not the shortest person on the volleyball team. 

With a practiced air of nonchalance, you shrug. “I have,” you confess, and it’s the truth. 

While you may have been initially fooled that night two years ago, you weren’t that oblivious. Oh, you knew clear as day that Jeon Jungkook was still a virgin, just as well as you knew that he religiously washed his sheets every weekend or that he had a specific color coded system for his underwear drawer. Jungkook was a fool to try and lie to you, not only because you had found out, but because you had found out that very next morning. 

It had been subtle. The night at the party, you had watched on with a throbbing heartache as some pretty girl led Jungkook up a set of stairs, had barely fought off a wave of emotion when he returned twenty minutes later, his hair a rumpled mess. “Did you… ?” you had mumbled, pressed closely against him by the back door. Your eyes had been glassy, from your emotions and from the drunken stupor you had gotten yourself into while he was away, wondering what he was doing. A sense of jealousy you would never admit to had curled around your heart. His hand had landed on your hip then. He smelled like flowers and vanilla, a smell unlike his own. Your heart clenched, hand mindlessly reaching up to cup his jaw, so drunk and heartbroken, you couldn’t stop yourself from trailing your fingers along his pretty cheekbones. 

Jungkook had graced you with a simple nod, and then, “do you wanna leave now?” 

You’d left, stumbling down Greek road on your way back to his dorm. Jungkook had held your hand the whole way, tucked you into his twin bed, and then promptly knocked out on the floor between his and Taehyung’s beds. The latter was nowhere to be found, wouldn’t appear until the next morning when he’d accidentally step on Jungkook’s ankle and wake both of you up. 

Jungkook had yelped, and your eyes had fluttered open. You remember debating rolling over, checking on him like you wanted to, but Taehyung was already there doing just that. So you had laid still instead, listened as the two boys clattered around the room. They chatted mindlessly, about the party and tomorrow’s practice. Taehyung had been bragging about some girl he’d slept with last night. “What about you?” he had asked, and your breath caught in your throat. “Did you and…”—a pause, the distinct ruffle of fabric—“finally?” 

“What— no,” Jungkook had said, and you felt the bed dip as he sat down on the edge beside you.

Taehyung pushed on with a snort. “Well, did you get lucky at all?”

Jungkook groaned, placed one warm hand on your back soothingly. You tried your best to level out your breathing, relaxed your facial expression as you clung to the sound of his voice. “Just a handjob. Some girl I didn’t even know. Does that count?” You could hear your heartbeat in your ears, felt it beneath your fingertips when you fisted the sheets. 

And that curt admission sat in the back of your mind everyday for two years. 

You turn to Jimin. “I’ve known Jungkook was a virgin since he first tried to tell me he wasn’t,” you tell him, arms crossed over your chest. “I’m pretty sure everyone knows.”

Jimin lets out a low whistle. “You’re smarter than I thought,” he grins, this conniving little smile that is a genuine cause for concern. “So you’re letting him think you don’t know?” You nod. Jimin’s smile grows. “My, my. If I had known you were this evil, maybe we would’ve hung out more.” 

You roll your eyes. “I’m not evil,” you insist, flicking him on the nose. Jimin huffs indignantly. “I think what he’s doing is sweet…” you confess, feel your entire body heat up as you recall that wide-eyed look Jungkook had given you just yesterday afternoon, your kiss print fresh on his cheek. “And, well,” you look down at your shoes. “I used to dream about him being my first.” 

Jimin groans. “You two make me sick.”

Copyright © 2021, 1kook on tumblr. absolutely NO reposts allowed.

#networkbangtan #kwritersworldnet #jungkook smut #jungkook fic #jungkook #bts jungkook #jungkook x reader #jungkook x reader smut #jeon jungkook x reader #jeon jungkook x reader smut #bts fic #bts smut #bts #jeon jungkook #jeon jeongguk #jjk #mine

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

How do you think the Cullen's would have turned out if they lived their natural human lives and not forever frozen at an age / the state they were in? For example I think Carlisle would always be kind and tame but perhaps not as idealistic. Rose might grow bitter of the world since even if Royce didn't assault her I can't imagine he would be the loving husband she wanted. Edward, who watched his parents die and was dying himself, might not be as moody and miserable. Who knows about Jasper and Alice and Esme. Emmett would probably stay the same. Bella, if she never met the supernatural, probably would just be a quiet old soul but otherwise not mal adjusted. I can't even guess about Renesmee haha since she has no personality next to being ~inhumanly special.

I mean, sadly, we know the answer: they wouldn't be around very long and would have died miserably. There's no such thing as a natural human life, well, I suppose you can die of old age, but the fate of the Cullens didn't have that in store.

But let's get into it just the same.

Alice

Had James not come across Alice, she likely still would have been turned at some point by her maker, who seems to have been very fond of her. It was just a matter of time. The difference being that, instead of being a newborn completely on her own, her maker would have been there. This is an Alice very unlikely to see Jasper or the Cullens in her future, though who knows, Carlisle and her maker might very well cross paths someday due to the similarity of their work.

But I doubt Alice would ever end up on the diet.

For Alice to remain human, she can never have been sent to that asylum. In which case we have two options a) she's not sent to an asylum b) she's sent to a different asylum.

In the first case, Alice is more than likely murdered by her father. This is what got her sent off in the first place: she was running around town claiming that her father had murdered her mother and now planned to murder her. To shut the hysterical woman up, her father sent her to an insane asylum. Which effectively got her out of his life just as he wished.

If that didn't occur to him, then yes, Alice likely falls gravely ill or has some unfortunate accident that she cannot prevent.

Otherwise, Alice is sent to some other insane asylum, likely still loses all her memories due to electroshock therapy, and probably dies very young due to poor health conditions. The life she does live is utterly miserable.

Bella

Bella dies in a parking lot, she's hit by a truck out of control. Otherwise, Bella dies in Port Angeles, she's raped and her body abandoned in a dumpster. Otherwise, Bella is eaten by a vampire.

And if Bella miraculously survives all of that, I imagine her struggle with depression continues throughout high school and into college. In college, she may meet someone who catches her interest, in which case she becomes completely codependent on them for a sense of validation (as she did Edward and Jacob in canon).

The relationship is a toxic mess, ends in a very messy breakup, and Bella goes through her New Moon phase a bit later. She might finally get therapy and survive this very dangerous phase in her life, at which point, she finally starts the slow recovery from depression.

I imagine Bella will be struggling with depression though for all of her life and, if left untreated, it might very well kill her.

Carlisle

Had Carlisle not been turned this means the vampire likely drained him. Carlisle dies at the head of the mob, this sentences the other Cullens to death as well as now no one will turn them.

Let's say Carlisle wasn't as fast that day. He had a leg cramp, or something. Not being well in front of the others, he's not hit by the vampire first. This increases his chances of death, as the vampire seems to have killed the rest he took a bite of, but he could survive.

Carlisle lives with the haunting guilt that the one time he tracks down a true demon he brought death to his parish. Several died due to his actions, the demon got away, and now there's no sign of it. Carlisle completely and utterly failed.

This is probably the final straw for Carlisle. Demons exist, but they are beyond his capacity to hunt, this is a job for God and not mere mortal men. He stops the demon hunts, stops the witch hunts, and focuses himself strictly on helping the community and preaching.

He lives knowing his father would have continued to be sorely disappointed in everything he does.

Carlisle likely marries within a few years, now that his father is dead and he's the established head of the parish. He may or may not like his wife all that much, but he has a responsibility, and having a wife and children is one of those. I imagine that they either are somewhat fond of each other or quietly tolerate one another.

If Carlisle has a son, the son is trained as a priest, sent to seminary as he was, and set to inherit the parish. If he has only daughters, then it will be her husband who will inherit the parish.

When Carlisle dies he is likely remembered very fondly by the parish for the good he did for the community. No one talks about the demon hunting disaster. He's buried next to his father.

Edward

Edward dies of the Spanish Influenza in 1918.

Had he never caught it, and thus never come across Carlisle, I imagine he lives a somewhat ordinary life. He goes to university somewhere very well established, perhaps even one of the Ivy League schools, I can see him training to become a lawyer. He either joins his father's law firm or, if his father's not a lawyer, some law firm in Chicago where he does quite well for himself.

He probably courts then marries some affluent, well to do, woman who hits all the checkmarks he expects from society. They probably get on quite well.

The market then crashes in 1929, when Edward's only 29 years old, and Edward gets to live through the depression. Edward may be lucky enough to retain his wealthy, however, he very well could not have been. Edward is now unemployed, destitute, and miserable just like the rest of the country.

I imagine this is very hard on him, he becomes very bitter and resentful, and as he desperately tires to find work it just gets worse. Edward becomes mired in cynicism.

Then the war hits, Edward is now 41, and he's too old to enlist in the army. He feels a sense of nostalgic bitterness that, once again, he can't go fight the good fight and has to cheer from the sidelines. Nonetheless, the economy starts to recover thanks to the war, Edward recovers with it and things get better.

Edward lives his ordinary human life and, perhaps, lives to sometime in the 1990's.

Emmett

Emmett is eaten by bears.

Had he not happened to be in the mountains that day then, likely, some other unfortunate accident would have befallen him. He's a mountain man, that's a dangerous life.

He gets eaten by bears, eaten by mountain lions, injured somehow and then dies, hit by a tree that he cut down, there are so many possibilities.

If he does live to an older age then he becomes the gruff mountain man stereotype that we all know. I imagine he remains a very friendly, cheerful, man, probably marries some local girl and has a very large family.

Esme

Esme kills herself. With the death of her child, that was the path she chose, and had she not been turned she would have been successful.

However, had her child lived, I imagine her life would have continued on the path it was on. She would have been a single mother, working as a teacher, and raising her child.

They would have been poor, but Esme seemed determined to make this work, and was doing an excellent job at it.

Perhaps, in time, she would meet the right man and remarry. However, I think that would take a lot of time as the whole issue was that she was hung up on the ideal of Dr. Carlisle Cullen who she met when she was sixteen and never saw again.

Regardless, she's far more of a real person grounded in reality than Esme the vampire ever was.

Jasper

Had Jasper not come across Maria, he likely would have died in the war. Many, many, people died in the civil war, and Jasper would be far from alone in that.

If not, he would have returned to the ravaged south, and likely found himself facing unemployment and very difficult times for wherever he came from.

Jasper would likely pull through, we know he has lived through hell in canon and pulled through there, though changed for life by the horrors of the civil war that will now never quite leave him.

Renesmee

Renesmee is never born. Her father is a demon a hundred years older than her mother. There is no chance that Bella becomes pregnant with Edward's human child, let alone his vampire child.

If Bella does become pregnant with a vampire child, she's likely been raped by Joham. Bella dies in confusion and agony, Renesmee is born into this world utterly alone, is picked up by Serena, and becomes yet another sister of Nahuel's.

Renesmee lives the miserable life that all of Nahuel's siblings do.

Rosalie

Rosalie is gang raped to death by Royce and his friends and dies in agony in an alley. Had she not come across Royce that night then likely, after they marry, he at some point rapes her to death and murders her.

The likelihood of Rosalie, with her parent's ambitions and her looks, of not marrying Royce is very small.

Even then, Royce is in town in general, that means all she needed was one bad night. Which, in canon, she had.

However, let's say she lives and Royce wasn't interested in her hand, she marries option number two. As you note, her marriage still likely isn't fulfilling. Rosalie is there to be beautiful and poised, to have tea with the ladies in society, and watch as a governess raises her children.

This is the world she lives in, and she accepts that, but over time she becomes increasingly bitter and resentful of this thing we call life.

TL;DR Remember, there's no escape from the pit of despair we call Twilight

#twilight #twilight meta #twilight headcanon #twilight renaissance #the cullens #alice cullen #carlisle cullen #bella swan #edward cullen #esme cullen #emmett cullen #rosalie hale #jasper whitlock #rensemee cullen #bittemoi

[chudleycanonficfest]

Washing Machine Heart

Day 22, Story #2 is by @rosequartzstarswrites​

Title: Washing Machine Heart Author/Artist: rosequartzstars - @rosequartzstarswrites (Because of Tumblr settings, this is posting from my main blog, but it’s me!) Pairing: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley (and background Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger) Prompt: 5+1 Rating: T (only for some strong language and non-explicit insinuations) Trigger Warning(s) (if any): none apply! 

“I can’t believe I’m going through with this,” huffed Hermione, struggling to keep up the brisk pace Ron was marking on the sidewalk.

“You never believed you’d have to, did you?” Ron said gleefully, seemingly unaware of just how hard his long-legged strides were to keep up with.

“You never told me you were that good at chess!”

“No, more like you never thought anyone could be better than you at anything!”

Despite only having been friends, close friends, with them for a semester, Harry had already become accustomed to the constant bickering between Ron and Hermione, to the point even of endearment. Coming from the Dursleys’, arguments and rebukes were something he was used to, but the undertone of friendship with which Ron and Hermione faced off was a welcome change (and a very entertaining one). Still, he tended to side quietly with Ron, and this particular time was no exception: part of him was delighted at the prospect of seeing Hermione get a tattoo.

This had all started from a ridiculous bet, born of boredom in the lounge of their dorm building. Ron had eyed the communal chessboard, battered and chipped from years of usage, and challenged Hermione to a match.

Hermione had scoffed: “Only if you want to lose, Ron.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Ron had said, exchanging a look with Harry as a sly smile crept onto his lips.

“I’m completely certain.”

“Certain enough to bet?” Ron had prodded her.

The competitiveness that, before becoming friends, was all Harry had known of Hermione had flared up in her eyes. “I’m listening.”

“When you lose—”

“If I lose, and I won't—”

“When you lose,” Ron had reiterated, “you have to get a tattoo of my choosing.”

Hermione had smirked. “Game on.”

In Hermione’s defense, Harry thought, she hadn’t ever considered she might lose. There really was no way of expecting how good Ron had turned out to be at chess, especially since —Harry thought— Hermione had based her certainty on how abysmal his grades were, against her own straight A’s, in their proofs-based mathematics class, which relied entirely on strength of reasoning. But, as it turned out, Ron was actually a master logician, if only somewhat lazy at his math classes, and this he had proved by absolutely obliterating Hermione with the fastest checkmate Harry had ever borne witness to.

And that is how they had come to find themselves out on the streets of their little college town that night, wrapped in their scarves and their winter coats to battle the first of the December chill, walking to a tattoo parlor Ron knew in the area so Hermione could be forever reminded of her loss by a tattoo Ron would choose. And if Harry knew Ron well, and knew how much he relished teasing Hermione, the reminder would be a strong one.

“I didn’t even want a tattoo,” Hermione was mumbling, more to herself than at either of them. “I never wanted one— did you know that you might not be eligible to donate blood if you have a tattoo? I mean, not that it’s impossible, but it’s a factor against you, like your weight and your age. And my family has a history of needing transfusions— oh, God, what if my grandfather needs a donation, like, tomorrow? The three-month period of eligibility won’t have elapsed, and my father can’t donate, and– and–” She froze in the middle of the sidewalk. “Oh, God, have I killed my grandfather?”

“Relax, Hermione,” Ron said, throwing a fraternal arm around her shoulders and squeezing her half in an attempt to get her walking again. “You’re halfway across the country from home. You wouldn’t be able to fly out on such short notice anyway.”

Harry had to stifle a laugh at how Hermione gaped at Ron then, a billion other dire possibilities to worry about racing through her head now. Ron, however, was less successful at keeping down a chuckle. “I’m kidding, Hermione. Besides, a tattoo will make you look badass.”

“I don’t want to look badass!” Hermione squeaked shrilly. “I’ve never been remotely interested in looking badass!”

“Well, interested or not,” Ron said as they came up to a dark brick building with a neon sign reading LOVEGOOD’S flickering above the door, “it seems like you don’t have much of a choice, because we’re here.”

Hermione let out a noise that sounded somewhere between a gasp and a whine as she looked up at the storefront that, to her, was synonymous not only with her doom but apparently that of her grandfather.

“Ron, please?” she said meekly.

Ron, however, looked gleeful and would not be deterred. “A bet’s a bet,” he declared, grabbing her wrist and beginning to march her up the three or so stairs that led up to the door of the tattoo parlor from the sidewalk. Harry lingered behind for an instant, watching the backs of his two friends as they waddled up the stairs, smiling as he listened to Ron debate whether he would make Hermione get a skull or a sailor’s “Mom” arrow-pierced heart, and Hermione pleading shrilly with him not to do either of those things. Watching them, Harry’s smile widened. He was lucky to have them as friends, that much he knew, despite the short time he’d spent knowing them. Why he hadn’t found them his freshman year was beyond him— but now, now that he had these wacky outings and constant bickering to enjoy, he felt overwhelmingly lucky that they had found him.

“Harry, are you coming in or what?” Ron beckoned him. He had stopped on the topmost step and was still gripping Hermione, whose face was a mask of pure, crystallized terror.

“Absolutely,” Harry said, hurrying up the steps with a little hop. “This I’ve got to see.”

Ron pushed open the door to the parlor with a little too much gusto, and Hermione cringed at the metallic sound of the chimes above the door as they tinkled with the announcement of their entrance. The front of the shop, sealing off the rest with a counter that had seen better days, was empty, the backroom separated by a beaded curtain.

“Hellooo?” Ron called into the backroom, marching right up to the counter. “Is anybody here? We bring a very eager customer!”

Hermione began to protest, but just as she did, an employee came out of the backroom to stand behind the counter. Catching a glimpse of her, Harry felt as if the wind had been knocked out of his chest: she was stunning. She was tall and slender, her toned arms visible through the ripped-off sleeves of her vintage Hole tee, with a curtain of straight orange hair pulled back into a long high ponytail. Her bright brown eyes glimmered atop a button-like nose that matched her small, round mouth perfectly, the pale fine face finished by a spattering of freckles. Even before she had spoken a single word, Harry felt the confidence coming off of her in waves, simply by how she propped her elbows up on the counter and eyed their party somewhat playfully. He was frozen to his place with the sight of her, hoping his jaw hadn’t dropped as low as it had felt in the wake of his awe.

Upon seeing her, however, Ron had had exactly the opposite reaction. “Ginny?” he said incredulously.

“What are you doing here?” the woman —Ginny— said without any greeting, returning Ron’s frown.

“I thought you weren’t working today!”

“I’m covering a shift for Demelza, she had a gyn appointment today.”

“Well, if I knew that, I wouldn’t have come in,” grumbled Ron. The tips of his ears were beginning to pink, a sign Harry had learned to recognize as a hint of extreme emotion in his friend.

“Well, you’re here now, so… what can I do for you?” Ginny said. “I mean, you can’t possibly be the one getting inked, Ron. You’re too much of a wimp.”

“Shut up, or I’m telling mom you got your helix pierced. That’ll make for a fun Christmas greeting when we’re back home, I’ll wager.”

Then the similarity became apparent to Harry: the freckles, the aggressive red of their hair, the same glint in their eyes… Ginny was Ron’s sister. Somehow, he didn’t know whether that was something he should feel good or bad about.

“Tattletale,” Ginny said, swatting at him. “And it’s called an industrial piercing. Not that you’d know.” Only then did she seem to remark on the rest of the party.

“Harry Potter,” she said, and Harry gulped as she crossed her muscular arms over her chest and leaned back, surveying him. “Come to get a sixth tattoo?”

“A sixth— how do you know?” Harry said, befuddled. Out of all the opening lines he would’ve expected her to use, this had not been one of them.

“You can credit the rumor mill at school,” Ginny shrugged, still eyeing him with interest. “You’re a topic of interest. Or at least among the soccer teams.”

“Oh, am I?”

“Romilda swore you had a griffin tattooed on your chest, but I told her I’d heard it was a dragon. Much more macho, I thought.”

“Thanks,” Harry said dully. What else was he supposed to say?

“Don’t mention it,” Ginny gave him a conspiratorial wink. “And if I were you, I’d find out who on the boys’ team has been giving you the eye in the shower enough to count your tats. I bet it’s Ron.”

“It’s not!” Ron said angrily, the red from his ears bleeding out onto his cheeks.

“I bet it is,” Ginny mouthed to Harry, giving him another wink. “But it’s not you?”

“Pardon?” said Harry, for whom the ‘it-is-it’s-not’ exchange had grown somewhat confusing.

“For the tattoo?” Ginny said, and Harry felt like an idiot. “It’s not you who’s getting it?”

“No, ah, actually— it’s Hermione,” Harry was knocked back into his senses as he gestured toward Hermione, who had stood, utterly baffled, throughout that whole exchange.

“Hermione Granger?” Ginny said, and Harry was almost glad when she turned her gaze away from him and toward Hermione. “As in, Scamander Fellow Hermione Granger?”

“The one and only,” Ron declared proudly, happy to be back off a topic that bothered him (teasing Ron) and back on a topic that delighted him (teasing Hermione).

“I wouldn’t have chalked you up to the tattoo type,” Ginny said.

“Oh, she’s not,” Ron said, his face lighting up as if Christmas had come early.

Ginny’s eyes darted between the dismal face of Hermione and the cheerful face of Ron, her eyebrows rising as she took it in. “Okay, I’m not going to ask about whatever this is. What am I doing on you?”

“I’m designing it,” Ron said brightly. And if Harry had thought that Hermione’s face couldn’t get more desolated, he’d been wrong.

“Christ, Hermione, what has he got on you?” Ginny said, already opening a drawer on the counter to pull out a sketchpad and a pen.

“I’m such an idiot,” Hermione grumbled.

Ron pored over the sketchpad, shielding the paper from Hermione’s eyes as he sketched. When he was done, he handed it to Ginny with a quick flick of the wrist that, much to Hermione’s dismay, ensured she couldn’t even catch a glimpse of what was on it. Ginny looked over whatever it was Ron had drawn and then looked up at her brother with a frown.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Okay, then,” Ginny shrugged. She lifted the counter to open a gap through which Hermione could walk. “Follow me.”

Looking like a lamb led to the slaughter, Hermione looked up to heaven as if making one last, futile plea before scrunching up her nose and following Ginny through the beaded curtain to the backroom. Because yes, she hated the idea of getting a tattoo, but she hated the idea of letting Ron hold one over her even more.

Ron watched her leave delightedly, relishing in the jangle the beaded curtain made as it swallowed Ginny and Hermione into the backroom. “This is going to be good,” he said, rubbing his palms together. “Oh, this is going to be so good.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a sister?” Harry blurted out all of a sudden. He startled himself as much as Ron when he said it, though he was glad he’d been able to pare down the question from what was actually swirling around in his head: Why didn’t you tell me you had a sister that looked like THAT?

Ron looked at him and shrugged. “I don’t know. It never came up.”

“You told me about every other one of your five brothers, but not the sister.”

“Nope.”

“Not the sister that seems to be about our age.”

“Nope.”

“Not the sister that seems to be about our age and plays soccer.“ And is hot.

"Nope.” Ron paused and frowned. “She’s a year below us, anyway.”

“Oh, then that explains it,” Harry said sarcastically.

“It seemed like more of a second-semester-of-friendship revelation.”

“I see.”

Harry held the silence between them for a few moments more before he allowed the next question out. “She plays soccer?”

“One more of the long line of Weasleys that get athletic scholarships to Hogwarts College. Except for Percy— no, he was a disgrace, he got in on an academic grant.”

“The family disappointment, truly.”

Harry wanted to ask more about Ginny, but he held his tongue. His friendship with Ron was the most precious thing his sophomore year of college had yielded him, and he didn’t want to jeopardize it by prying further or making it seem like he had the hots for his sister. Even though he did. He suffocated that small voice at the back of his mind: he hadn’t even spoken properly to Ginny, just stood there like an idiot and let her quip freely about his tattoos— which, mind him, apparently were fodder for locker talk back at Hogwarts.

The buzz of the needle in the backroom as it started up brought Harry out of his thoughts, just in time to see a shit-eating grin appear on Ron’s face.

“I wish I could see her face right now,” he said gleefully, and Harry let himself stop thinking about Ginny to join Ron in picturing what Hermione Granger must look like seated in a tattoo parlor chair.

“It really wasn’t so bad,” admitted Hermione as they exited the tattoo parlor and went down the little steps back onto the sidewalk.

Despite his pretensions of malice, Ron’s nobility (which had never been in question, even despite his teasing) had shone through and yielded a considerably modest tattoo: a small, capital “R” in his own handwriting. Hermione, who had almost cried with relief after Ginny showed her the design, had chosen to get it on her left thigh, on the side and at the very top, right under her hipbone.

“Why did you get it there?” Harry asked as they resumed their brisk walk back to campus.

“It’s not a place you usually show. That means if a sleeve shifts or an interviewer sees, I don’t know, my ankle or something, they won’t notice it.”

“As if a tiny ‘R’ would disqualify anyone from a job, let alone you,” snorted Ron.

“Professionalism is a virtue, Ronald,” Hermione huffed, though her cheeks had gone red. “Besides, since that part of me is always covered, I’ll save myself from having to explain the story behind it to anyone that spots it.”

“Yeah, except the bloke that eventually undresses you and sees you in your panties. Try explaining what that 'R’ means to him,” said Ron. But Harry suspected Hermione wouldn’t have to: from how Ron’s eyes had widened and his gaze had lingered when Hermione had pulled down the side of her jeans ever so slightly to show them the finished product, exposing a sliver of her underwear, Harry could almost wager that Ron would be the bloke in question.

They walked in animated chatter for the rest of the way, the tattoo forgotten until Ron made a quip about Hermione now having crossed the gateway to joining a biker gang and Hermione going positively beet-red in the face with outrage. Then Harry, his hands in his pockets, simply smirked to himself and resigned himself to their bickering for the rest of the walk, knowing he was no longer needed in their exchange. Instead, he let his mind drift to Ginny. She hadn’t really spoken to him again, merely ducking out from the beaded curtain backroom and instructing Hermione on how to take care of her tattoo, saying only a general goodbye to the three of them as they exited the shop. There had been nothing in Ginny’s manner to suggest that she might be thinking of him as strongly, as irremediably, as he was of her, and yet there he was.

The main quad was mostly deserted, except for a few scattered groups of late-night library frequenters or sneaking couples, as the three of them crossed it to get to their dorm. Ron and Hermione didn’t stop arguing as they climbed the four flights up to their floor (the elevator, as usual, was broken), and only broke it off because Hermione reached her room before the boys reached theirs, slipping inside it and shutting the door before Ron had a chance to get the last word in.

“Well, that went well,” Ron shrugged as he and Harry kept walking down the hall to their room.

“You actually got her to get a tattoo,” Harry said with some admiration as they reached their door.

Ron grinned as he swiped the key card. “I may drive her crazy, but if anyone was going to get her to do something like that, it was going to be me.”

Ron pushed the door open and let them into their dorm room. He closed the door and, without taking off his coat, immediately flopped onto his bed— or, well, what could be seen of the bed under mountains of dirty or otherwise discarded clothes. Away from his mother’s chore-mongering for the first time, Ron had let himself go wild and go to the other extreme, but even Harry had to admit that the army of socks draped over the foot of his bed was beginning to smell a little stale.

“So,” Ron said, propping his head up, “no parties tonight?”

“Well, it’s a Wednesday,” Harry said.

“So what? There’s no party spirit around here?”

“Ron, it’s the last Wednesday before final exams. People are studying.”

“I wasn’t aware I was rooming with Hermione,” Ron grumbled. Harry had to admit she might have gotten to him a little. However, Ron’s irritation was short-lived, a grin appearing on his face again. “Wait, but we’re not people. We’re not studying.”

Harry surveyed the room and, despite his desire to throw in the towel for the night and have fun with Ron, felt a pang of dismay at just how much grosser it would be if they caved and did that (last time they had, they’d had a Pringle-eating contest, with devastating results for their sheets, which still had some crumbs). “No, Ron. We’re doing laundry.”

Ron groaned. “Jeez, now I’m rooming with my mother.”

“Okay, fine, you don’t have to do the laundry. I’ll do it for the both of us.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, go hang out with Dean and Seamus or whatever, see if you can get Hermione to do her second wild-card act of the day and make her stop studying to hang out with the guys.”

“Now I’m a man with a mission,” Ron said, perking up in delight at the prospect of teasing Hermione, or even seeing her once more that night.

“Just shove your clothes in the laundry bag before you go, won’t you? I don’t want to touch your nasty briefs more than I have to.”

Ron obliged, tossing all the clothes on and around his bed into his orange laundry bag and pulling the drawstring to close it. “I’ll update you on the Hermione thing,” he said cheerfully, hurrying out of the room and down the hall to the left to the room they’d left Hermione in.

Harry laughed to himself, wondering how long it was going to take Ron to realize why exactly he always seemed so eager to do anything Hermione-related, as he too threw his dirty clothes into a checkered drawstring laundry bag. Then, he hoisted one sack over each of his shoulders and opened the door using his ankle and leg to let himself out, his hands full with the laundry bags. He stifled a smirk as he passed Hermione’s room and heard the familiar bubbling sound of she and Ron rowing. If Harry knew her at all, he knew however much she might argue she’d be out of that room in an hour tops.

He groaned as he looked down the stairs, and rued the day he had been placed in the dorm with the shittiest elevator on campus. Resigning himself, he began to walk slowly down the poorly-lit stairs to the basement, where the laundry room was. However inconvenient this descent was, Harry was at least comforted with the knowledge that the laundry room would not be crowded, which would be the greater inconvenience once the elevator was fixed.

The basement was even dimmer, the white lights flickering and buzzing with electricity as Harry walked to the laundry room almost at the end of the hall. Sure enough, the laundry room was deserted, oddly quiet with none of the familiar hum and rattle of the machines as they worked. Harry knelt in front of a washing machine and began unloading the contents of the laundry bags into it, cramming them in so they’d fit because he sure as hell wasn’t shelling out quarters for two washers. When he’d made it all fit (which had involved the use of force to jam the door shut), he went to the shelf that held the communal detergent and poured it into the soap compartment. With that done, he dug out eight quarters from his pocket and inserted them into the washer’s slot, pressing the “Start Cycle” button when he heard the clink that let him know his quarters had been accepted. The washer rumbled slowly to life, jets of water trickling out as it began to spin in one direction and then the other, and it was a couple minutes before it was spinning at a hearty pace.

Rising from his crouch (he had always liked to watch the washing machine as it booted up to wash in earnest), Harry took the laundry bags and turned to head back upstairs, already thinking of what he might do to pass the time in the hour he had before he had to switch the clothes to the dryer.

He was so caught up in thinking of this that he didn’t see the person entering the laundry room at the same time as he was exiting, which ended in an awkward clash between them.

“I’m so sorry,” Harry blurted.

“No, it’s fine, I’m sorry too— Harry?”

Only then did Harry realize who he had bumped into, and only because she kept standing there did he believe it. “Ginny?”

She still wore her Hole shirt, but had discarded the ripped jeans, combat boots, and round-the-waist flannel he’d seen at the tattoo parlor. Instead, she wore frayed gray sweatpants and flip-flops, her hair pulled up from the long ponytail into a messy bun. She, however, somehow still managed to look almost unbearably beautiful. What’s happening to me?

“What are you doing here?” he asked, the only thing he could think of right that second. Spotting the laundry basket she was cradling, he added: “No laundry in your dorm?”

“No, yeah, there is one, but it’s always too crowded, it being a freshman dorm and all.” Harry nodded: his first year, he too had done entirely more laundry than he had to, and was thankful by the quarters he saved just by realizing he could wear a pair of pants more than once before they were dirty. “So I use the one here. Much quieter. I know Ron’s ID and password—”

“You do?”

“He gave it to me once so I could pick up his books from the library. And my memory’s great.” She gave him a half smile and looked beyond him at the laundry room. “Doing laundry?”

“No, I just like the ambience down here. The shitty lighting and bleach smell are really my style,” said Harry. Ginny laughed, and Harry felt a rush of pride at what was probably the first witty thing he’d ever said to her. “Need a hand?”

“I’d appreciate one, sure,” Ginny said, again smiling at him. Harry moved so she could walk into the laundry room, and watched her pick one of the washing machines that lined the wall. When she’d settled on one, he crouched down next to her and help her lob the clothes into the maw of the machine.

“Tattoo parlor let out early?” he asked as they placed the clothes inside.

“More like you guys came in really late. You were my last customers— I just cleaned up and closed after you left.”

“And you work there?”

“Sure beats a regular work-study, doesn’t it?” Ginny grinned. She tossed in a Tide pod that was left at the bottom of the basket, closed the door to the machine, and rose to find the quarters needed to activate it. “Oh, shoot, I left my wallet in my other pants—”

“I got you,” said Harry, digging for eight more quarters in his pocket. For once, he was glad of his bad habit of carrying an excess of loose change in his jeans, something Hermione already got on to him about (sometimes, like when she’d gifted him a money purse, not too subtly).

“Thanks,” Ginny said, picking the laundry basket up from the ground.

Harry listened for the telling clink and then pressed the button. The washing machine whirred to a start, but for once, Harry didn’t feel compelled to watch it boot up: instead, he turned to Ginny. “So how did you come to work there?”

“At the tat shop?” Ginny asked, hopping to sit on the top of the washer where her clothes were spinning. “My friend Luna’s dad, Xenophilius—”

“Gesundheit.”

“Shut up,” Ginny said, but the hint of a laugh was (to Harry’s satisfaction) visible on her lips again. “Anyway, Xenophilius owns the place. He set up in a college town because he knows college is the first time kids are truly free to make rash, impulse decisions.”

“Like getting a tattoo?”

“Exactly. And besides, all the college students love his New Age bullshit, they think it’s very 70s, so his shop is always full. He got a big boost after he started placing crystals in the shop windows.”

“He’s in with the kids, then?”

“Don’t tell him that, he’ll be mortified. But he’s great, really. A little eccentric, but great. He knows me from when Luna and I took an art class together in 10th grade, and he’s always complimented my art, so he helped me get my tattoo artist license as soon as I turned 18 and hired me.”

“Is Luna the girl with the shaggy blond hair and the weird glasses?”

“That’s her. Though I’m surprised you didn’t know her by her bottlecap necklaces. That’s usually what people comment on.”

“Does she work there too?”

“Yeah, though not as an inker, she’s useless with a needle. She designs a big chunk of the tattoos, though, both original designs and commissions or requests.”

“That’s awesome,” Harry said. He realized that was the first time through the whole conversation that he had stopped. He’d never hesitated on what to say next: conversation with Ginny had flowed easily, naturally, and he hadn’t had to think too hard to keep it going. Still, he was a little disappointed that it had stopped. Ginny, however, seemed to share in this, because rather than say goodbye and take her leave, she opened up a new topic.

“So how long have you and Ron been friends?”

“Er– since the start of this school year, actually.”

“Really? You’d think from how he talks about you, he’d known you forever.” Harry felt a flush of happiness at hearing that Ron talked about him.

“Well, I got him for a roommate this year, and we just clicked. Then it turned out we had a lot of the same classes. And we’re both on the soccer team, so it just got better from there.”

“It seems strange that you never crossed paths your freshman year.”

Harry shrugged. “I mean, freshman year is weird for everyone. I certainly felt like I was just bouncing from one place to another. I still hang out with a lot of the guys from last year, but my friends have changed. It makes sense— the first year, everyone is trying to meet as many people as possible, as if it’s a race, but by sophomore year you know more of what you want and what you’re looking for. In a way, I’m glad I met Ron now that I’m in a more stable place, now that I know my way around the college and have a better grip on things. I have a feeling he’s a friend I’m gonna keep.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear you’re sticking around the Weasleys,” Ginny said, and Harry felt a tingle run up his spine. Was she… flirting with him? “And Hermione?”

“Oh, Hermione’s great, Ron and I would be dead by now if not for her— I don’t know how I got through a full year without her.”

“But she’s very different from you guys, isn’t she?”

“Well— on the surface, sure, but not in the things that matter. The fact that she went through with the tattoo tonight when she could’ve kicked up a fuss and bailed out tells you all you need to know.”

“So what I’m hearing is that Scamander Fellow Hermione Granger is as much of a bonehead as my brother at heart?”

“Stubborn, is the word I’d use. And only when Ron’s involved, actually.”

Ginny smirked. “Idiots. They haven’t even realized it.”

Harry knew exactly what she meant. “You think it too?”

“Oh, I’d bet on it. Ten bucks says they’re together by the end of the year.”

“Hey, did our visit by the parlor today teach you nothing about bets? They can be dangerous.”

“But I’m betting against you, aren’t I?” The way she said you made Harry’s heart skip a beat. “Fine, not ten bucks. But I’ll bet you a load of laundry, how’s that?”

“Deal,” said Harry, taking Ginny’s extended hand to shake it. The touch of her palm, with its long, slender fingers, sent warmth coursing down from his hand and the length of his arm. They let go and dropped hands, and perhaps it was just wishful thinking, but Harry thought he detected a certain reluctance in Ginny as they did.

Harry leaned against the washer, his propped elbow almost brushing up against her thigh. “How about you? How’s your first year going so far?”

Ginny winced. “As well as you’d expect, I suppose. Lots of people still behave like it’s an extension of high school, and I’m very much over that. But as things go, I’m having a blast. Being on the soccer team certainly helps.”

“Congratulations on that scholarship, by the way.”

“Thank you,” Ginny said, her wide smile revealing a row of perfect, square white teeth. “You’re on a scholarship too, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. My aunt and uncle would’ve never paid a single cent for me to go to college, so it was the only way. But I’m sure they were glad to be rid of me anyway.”

“They sound like lovely people,” Ginny said sarcastically.

“I should introduce them to this Xenophilius sometime. My uncle Vernon would have a stroke just walking into that shop.”

“Well, if you ever swing by, you have an insider contact,” Ginny offered, and Harry loved the implication of something, even something as simple as an 'insider contact’, between just the two of them. “I’d be happy to arrange a meeting, especially for such esteemed patrons.”

“I might take you up on that, if I ever planned on seeing them again,” Harry said. The words came out a bit more harshly than he’d expected, and the second silence in their talk set in, brought on by the darker implications of his family situation. Desperate to break it, Harry cleared his throat and geared up to talk again: “So, do you have any tattoos?”

He was relieved to see the smile, that coy, almost lopsided smile, appear on Ginny’s face again. “Actually, no, not a single one.”

“Do you think you’d ever get one?”

Ginny thought for a second. “I might, if something meaningful enough came around. And only if I was 200% sure. But really, I feel like one tattoo would lead to another, and then I’d never stop and run out of room on my skin. So it’s more of a containment mechanism, really.”

Harry smirked. “Hm. Interesting.”

Ginny broke out onto a full grin as she watched him. “What?” she asked, but when Harry’s smirk only deepened, she shoved him playfully, her touch on his shoulders eliciting the same warm sensation as the handshake. “What, Potter, tell me! Why is it interesting?”

“I mean, since you work at a tattoo shop, and you’re wearing a Hole t-shirt, I just thought you might be the type—”

“The Hole tee? Oh, don’t tell me you’re gonna gatekeep it, like you’re the type of guy who’d be like 'name three songs'—”

“No, not at all. As a matter of fact, I don’t know a lot of music by Hole. I really only know who they are because of that one Fall Out Boy song Courtney Love was featured in—”

Ginny winced. “Not Fall Out Boy, please.”

“Why? What’s wrong with Fall Out Boy?”

“Harry—”

“I know they get a lot of shit, but really, their first albums are pretty good—”

“Harry, you’ve gotta stop right here, or you’re going to make me stop finding you so attractive.”

And just like that, there it was, out in the open. Harry felt stun: he felt his mouth open to offer a witty retort, but no words came out. Because the girlish grin had evaporated from Ginny’s face and turned into a different, more mature look, her eyes smoldering slightly and her mouth slightly pouted.

“What about you?” she asked, her words slower, as if she was choosing each one individually. “If the soccer team gossip is true, I know you have five tattoos.”

“Yeah,” Harry said, his voice having dropped as well. “Yeah, there were a few tat shops around my neighborhood where the rules were pretty lax.”

“What are they?” Ginny asked.

“The tattoos? Well, the first ones I ever got were my mom and dad’s birth and death dates, on my wrist,” Harry said, rolling up the sleeve of his shirt to display two small lines of numbers, in plain black ink, on his forearm.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Ginny said softly.

“Don’t be, I was really small when it happened. But I still wanted to pay them homage. Anyway, I’ll not bore you with my family history right now.”

“But tell me sometime?”

Harry was ecstatic at the implication that Ginny wanted to spend even more time with him. “Yeah,” he said, smiling at her. “Yeah, I will.” He moved on to the second tattoo, shifting the other sleeve up a bit to show Ginny a small black paw print in the center of his wrist. “This was my third one. My godfather was the only person my aunt and uncle would let me see while I was growing up, and even then only because he threatened them. And he had this huge, black shaggy dog, I think it was a Newfoundland, that looked almost like a bear, named Padfoot. I loved that dog, and every time I think of the happiest moments growing up, Padfoot’s in a lot of them. So when he died when I was sixteen, I got this to remember him by. It seems like a tribute to my godfather, too, so I like it doubly.”

He didn’t need encouragement from Ginny to keep going. He raised his left leg and propped it up on the washing machine by where Ginny’s legs hung, rolling his sock down a bit to show a green, line-art tuft of grass snaking above his ankle. “I got this when I got the soccer scholarship to come here. I wanted something to commemorate soccer, seeing as it’s not only, y'know, my passion, but also what got me out of that damn house for good. But I thought something like a soccer ball or a net or even the pitch outline would be too cheesy, so I got a bit of grass, y'know, as in the field…”

“Tasteful,” Ginny nodded her approval, and Harry felt newfound appreciation for that tattoo. “That’s three down, Potter.”

“I’m getting there.” Harry brought his leg down from the washer and turned his back to Ginny, taking his hand up to the nape of his neck and using it to shift the hair there upward to reveal the back of his neck where it turned into his back. “Can you see it?”

“The little lightning bolt?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s the story of that?”

“That was my second one. To be honest, I was a little ink-happy after my first one, so a couple of weeks after I got it I went back and got this.”

“But why a lightning bolt?”

“I don’t know,” Harry admitted, turning back around to face her. “I guess it was just cool.”

“Oh, very,” Ginny said, and the edge in her voice let him know she was teasing him. “That leaves us with one, then. The emblematic chest tattoo.” Again, the playfulness disappeared from her face and was replaced by that strange look, the one Harry couldn’t really decipher but really, really liked. “Tell me, then, Harry— is Romilda Vane right?”

It was only because of the suggestiveness in Ginny’s voice and the permanence of that look on her face that Harry did what he did next. His movements slow, he pulled his shirt off over his head, setting it on the washing machine right by where Ginny sat. He heard Ginny draw in a breath and it hitch in her throat as she saw him, her eyes moving over his bare skin to spot the ink blot that had brought this all on. Curled above his right pec was a small, S-shaped dragon, colored in red and gold.

“I win,” Ginny said, her voice still husky, as she extended her left hand to touch the dragon with her fingertips.

“Are you going to tell Romilda?” Harry said, his own right hand settling lightly on Ginny’s thigh.

“No, actually,” Ginny said, her palm now coming down flat on Harry’s chest. Her other hand had also drifted to him, and she had placed it on Harry’s left side, right below his ribcage, as if to hold the side of his torso. “I think I’d rather keep this moment to myself.”

And then she was leaning in and kissing him, touching her lips to his first with tentative softness that turned into a stronger, more determined fire as the kiss deepened. With both of Ginny’s hands on Harry, and one of Harry’s on Ginny’s thigh and the other supporting the weight of the kiss against the solidity of the washer, they leaned into one another. Harry’s mouth sought out Ginny’s eagerly, overcome by the fiery feeling pooling in his stomach and rising up to his throat through his chest, by the fact that everything he’d thought about on their walk back from Lovegood’s was coming true much sooner (and much better) than he’d expected. He felt Ginny’s tongue nudge at his lips and opened his mouth to let her in, engulfing more of her lips with his as he did so. Ginny kissed passionately, her tongue meeting Harry’s even as her teeth dug lightly into Harry’s lower lip, making him kiss her more deeply. With her this close, he was invaded by the flowery smell of her hair, by the soft feel of her skin, by the low humming sound she made as she kissed him. And everything was coming together, making the fire in his chest grow, and it was a good kind of burn, better than whiskey, better than anything—

The loud ding of the washer as it announced it had concluded its cycle startled them, and they pulled back from the kiss looking a little dazed, that one upbeat chime having been all they needed to bring them reluctantly back into the real world. Still Ginny didn’t take her hands off Harry, and Harry felt less than inclined to move his from her leg.

“I should, uh, switch to the dryer,” he said, the only thing that popped into his mind there.

Ginny tightened her hold around his middle and moved her hand from his chest, wrapping it around his upper back to draw him closer. “Oh, let it wait,” she said, and then she was kissing him again, and Harry was finding that the dryer could wait for hell to freeze for all he cared.

The sleepy sound of the chimes above the door didn’t even make Ginny raise her gaze from her stats study guide, which she’d pulled out to make the best of the not-too-busy lull at Lovegood’s. “We’re almost closed,” she announced to whoever had come in.

“You can’t make room for one last customer?” a familiar voice said, and only then did Ginny perk up immediately.

“Harry!” she said brightly, shutting the stats book as it became all-but-forgotten. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to add one more tattoo to the five I’ve already got,” said Harry. “Think you can give me my sixth?”

Ginny didn’t even need to say yes, just opened up the lift-up counter door and disappeared through the beaded curtain. “Flip the door sign to 'closed’ before you come through, will you?”

Harry obliged and flipped the sign before following Ginny to the backroom. He sat patiently on the tattoo chair as Ginny milled about, getting the supplies ready.

“Y'know, you never did tell me the story behind your dragon tattoo,” Ginny commented as she went through the sterilization procedure for the needles. “Seeing as we were, um, otherwise occupied…”

The memory of the kiss flooded through Harry with the same fire that he’d held in his chest ever since, the flame growing to engulf his whole body just hearing Ginny mention it. “Should I tell you now?”

“I’d like to hear it.”

“I got it as a tribute to my old headmaster back home, Albus Dumbledore. Funny old man, and incredibly cryptic, but he’s the one that first gave me the idea of applying for the scholarship and helped me get all my grades and papers in order so I could make it here. We were very close, and he had this saying that he used to tell me whenever I ended up in his office for getting into trouble— 'never tickle a sleeping dragon’, he’d say.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

Harry laughed briefly and shrugged. “Hell if I know. But it was his catchphrase. So after I graduated, I wanted to get something to commemorate him, so I got the dragon from his favorite saying. He came with me and got it too.”

Ginny turned to him and eyed him quizzically. “Your headmaster got the tattoo along with you?”

“I told you he was a funny old man.”

Ginny pulled a pair of black latex gloves over her hands and rolled a wheeled office chair over to Harry, the needle in hand. “So by what I’m hearing, you only ever get tattoos of things that are extremely meaningful to you, right?”

“That’s right,” said Harry.

“So, Mr. Meaning, what’ll it be this time?”

Harry smiled. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it slightly upward, just enough to uncover his lower trunk. He pointed to a spot on the left side of his torso, right under his ribcage— right where Ginny’s hand had been, where her touch had been burned into his skin. “Right here,” he said. “I’d like a little washing machine.”

#chudleycanonficfest2021 #HP fest #hp canon pairings #canon fest platonic #canon fest romantic #submission #hinny #harry x ginny #side romione