• Because Minerva McGonagall isn’t gonna let an eleven year old kid beat her at sudden death chess and get away with it.
• Ron is a really good president just ‘cos all he expects from members is that they try. You can be horrible at chess (Harry) or extremely good at it (Dean Thomas and his deft hands), and it doesn’t matter in the end because Ron’ll clap you on the back anyway and say, “Good game, mate.”
• Meetings are held in the library because Madam Pince has always had a softness for wizard chess and trusts Minerva when she promises that no one will [probably] get blown up. (Seamus Finnigan whistles innocently somewhere in the background.)
• The library is actually the perfect place for it. The atmosphere is charming. Books are floating around their heads all the time—some leaning down curiously to watch, others being plucked lovingly from the air by Hermione. The usual quiet is exchanged for whispered exclamations and barely stifled sniggers, and just this once, Madam Pince doesn’t mind. Oh, and the light coming in through the colored windows shines on the pieces in a really beautiful way, I tell ya—reds, blues, and golds flickering off kings and queens like badges of honor. (Everyone kinda loves it.)
• THE GOOD: (i.) Dean Thomas: Vice President. His games are works of art. Dean Thomas is a work of art. (ii.) Justin Finch-Fletchley: He used to play chess all of the time with his muggle grandpa. It took him a little bit to get used to all the moving pieces, though. (iii.) Susan Bones: She learned precision from her aunt and applies it nicely to the chessboard. (iv.) Astoria Greengrass: Boredom and a desire to do something interesting has bred a mean chess player out of little Miss Greengrass. (v.) Cho Chang: Cho doesn’t get to attend all of the meetings because of Quidditch, but she’ll pop in occasionally and make fools out of anyone who dares to cross her. #RavenclawPride
• THE OKAY?: (i.) Hermione Granger: Hermione’s not bad per say. She’d be better if she would stop overthinking every, single move. (ii.) Michael Corner: He’s a bit of a sore loser. (iii.) Neville Longbottom: He’s actually a pretty decent player—just needs a bit of polishing around the edges. Neville likes the patience of chess, how he can sit and think a little while before he has to make a move. (iv.) George Weasley: In many of his and Fred’s wonderful schemes, he’s been responsible for the finer details of the prank, the complexities and the nuances. His attention to detail makes him a player to contend with.
The UGLY:
(i.) Harry Potter: Harry J is constantly distracted by everything and everyone in his tragic life to be any good at chess, but he wouldn’t miss a meeting for the world. Ron gets this big, stupid grin on his face when he’s playing that’s worth every second of it. (ii.) Draco Malfoy: “Did you see the way Potter moved his chess piece? It wasn’t very graceful, was it? I’m much better than Potter. Besides, chess is for inferior people. LIKE POTTER. Have I mentioned that I’m better than Potter?” “Oi, Draco, you lost.” “Oh.” (iii.) Daphne Greengrass: She only joined because her sister made her. Most of the time, she just sits in the corner and reads a wizard comic. Nerd. (iv.) Ernie Macmillan: Brags ceaselessly when he wins. Threatens to quit when he loses. Finally acts on his words when Astoria creams him with many pawns to spare.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: (i.) Seamus Finnigan: Did not blow a single person up. (ii.) Fred Weasley: Isn’t really interested in the chess part, but enjoys alternating between cheering his brothers on and pranking them. (iii.) Hannah Abbott: Her weary apologies for Ernie’s pompous behavior should be duly noted. (iv.) Luna Lovegood/Dobby: Their collaborative banners for the club are lovely.
• In light of Dumbledore’s Army, the Hogwarts Chess Club is later renamed Dumbledore’s Pawns. Too on the nose?
• Over the course of the club, there are certain match ups that everyone gets really hyped over: Dean vs. Ron, Draco vs. Harry (even though both of them are horrible at it), Astoria vs. Ron, etc. But no game is more anticipated than the occasional one that Minnie McGee and Ron play. It’s epic. The pieces are all but broken by the time they finish up. At the end of Ron’s sixth year, the record is in his favor, but only just.
• (Quite a few Weasleys have come and gone in Minerva’s time at Hogwarts—many of them extremely gifted and well liked by her—but for this, for his prowess at a game that she loves, she will always have a particular fondness for Ron.)
• Other teachers stop in to play, too. Flitwick and Pince have a delightful rivalry. Snape has never beaten Minerva McGonagall for all his sneering. Lupin is okay, but his main contribution to the club is giving chocolate to unsuspecting members. (Where does he get his supply??? Does it just randomly appear up his sleeve?????) Dumbledore himself once popped in, won against Ron and Minerva alike with a twinkle in his eye, and then Apparated out of the library just because he knew Miss Granger’s mouth would fall open.
• You have to admit, that man has style.
• Just Hogwarts chess club, y’all.
• I think Ron would love it just as much as his Chocolate Frog card. (Okay, maybe a little less.)
Okay but I kind of feel like Luna would be in the top five players, at least. Here’s why.
A lot of what makes a player good at chess is knowing your openings and knowing your lines. I think Luna would know hundreds of obscure variants, generally considered inferior and therefore neglected to the point that, at the school-age level, most players wouldn’t know how to play against them. It’s a long time before you get past “Queen’s gambit is bad” to “Here is why nobody plays Queen’s gambit, this specific response to it leaves you hopelessly devastated by move 20″ to “well actually it turns out if you both play the best lines, Queen’s gambit is a bit of a toss-up” and Luna would play things like Nimzo-Indian that the chess world has largely moved past but that only McG and Dumbledore (and maybe Snape) really know how to play against. Ron doesn’t actually know the lines, but can usually play her to a hard fought draw or a very narrow victory or loss just by his good instincts for the game.
In short, Luna’s the player that the older students watch her and think “what is she doing, she’s so awful, ow do you people keep losing to her” and the teachers are thinking “here is a dangerous person who is going to get a lot of mileage out of making people underrate her” and Luna’s thinking “no, that move isn’t pretty enough, because the Knight doesn’t get to dance with the Queen.”
So what if Roman gave one, or multiple roses, for every time one of the sides felt bad, sick, or was upset with him?
Which rose would he choose for each trait? Also, how would each trait feel about receiving a rose from him in the first place?
What do you all think?
Logan keeps them in the corner of his work desk until they die, and then he throws them out. When he’s working and gets to a mental block, he looks at them and sometimes smells them for inspiration.
Patton wears a bunch in his hair like a crown, and presses some others into his journal. He takes several selfies in his crown of roses, as well as walk around the house wearing it. Usually it’s Princey who compliments him, though Logan admires his crafting skills.
Virgil keeps them on his bedside table. When he’s in one of his moods where he wants to stay under the covers in his bed for a solid week, he looks at these roses as a reminder of beauty in the world, and as a reminder of the prince that gives him a reason to get up every morning (to make fun of, obviously. it’s not like virgil cares about roman, or anything..). Virgil also keeps them after they’re dead, because he thinks black dead roses are cool.
As for colors, Roman loves looking into the symbolic meanings of the roses, mainly so Logan won’t say anything if given a color that symbolically means I Love You. Roman gives Logan a bouquet of pink roses, symbolizing grace and gentleness, almost as a reminder for Logan to remember that the others are emotions, and they should be treated gently.
For Patton, he is given three colors; White, symbolizing purity, yellow, symbolizing joy and friendship, and orange symbolizing desire and enthusiasm. He is given enough to make a flower crown.
When it comes to Virgil, Roman doesn’t want to seem too extra, because he knows how much Virgil doesn’t like attention, nor does he like having a lot of clutter around him. Typically, he gives Virgil a single black rose, mainly because of Virgil’s aesthetic, but also because it symbolizes anarchy. Virgil does say, “I fight the man,” in the video Growing Up.
But just after Accepting Anxiety Part 2, Roman decides that he wants to say something more. Instead of leaving the single black rose just outside Virgil’s door, under the guise of trying to get his Tim Burton posters, on the table, Roman leaves a single yellow rose, symbolizing joy, friendship, and also a new beginning.
I believe this is a good time to bring this back
I love this so much
I didn’t expect this to be making the rounds again.
Owls confirmed to be the creepiest birds ever. LOOK AT THE FUCKING THINGS. If you fail to notice the one on the left fucking SWALLOWING a rat, then you have the dude singing some satanic chant or something next to him, and then you have those two other fucking psychos synchronized to make you feel creeped the fuck out with their soulless dance of FUCKING DOOM.
I really am tempted to reblog this every time it’s on my dash. That description is one of the best things on the internet.
Yeahhhh, I want this on my blog again.
OMG MY FAVORITE TUMBLR POST EVER IT’S FINALLY BACK YAY!
Here, have another of my all-time favorite Tumblr posts.
We were just discussing this again and I had to reblog it again because IT IS MY FAVORITE
I’m permanently traumatized that you introduced me to this over lunch, EGT.
::bows with a flourish::
There’s a gif out there of some people reenacting this that makes me laugh til I puke every damn time.
the thing about millennials who don’t want kids is I feel like a lot of them are deeply On Board for their friends’ kids
like I’m among the minority of my friends in definitely for sure wanting kids someday
but each of my parenthood-eschewing friends has claimed a different role in my future offspring’s life and they seem very excited to play it
so we as a generation may have fewer children
but I feel like they’ll be the most supported and loved children imaginable
As a millennial who doesn’t want children, I am seconding this, because it’s not like we don’t want children to exist in the world! We do! Children can be lovely and amazing and they are literally our future! It’s just So Very Difficult to raise children in our nuclear-family society, especially as a millennial, and you want to do the job RIGHT.
Well, if you can’t do the job right yourself, the least you can do is help a friend raise THEIR child right, help take the burden off their shoulders, and give that kid all the love and attention they can stand.
I’d be damned excited to do that, too.
this generation is so excited and ready to be weird uncle/aunt so-and-so
I hope this generation makes communal families a thing again and this time it won’t be treated like a “taboo hippie thing”
Everybody pause your discussions about white men in androgynous clothing for a second and look at Ranveer Singh, a brown bollywood actor absolutely SMASHING it in these outfits for Vogue India
Hes wearing a whole dress with BANGLES if yall cant tell
@babybastxrd I’m sure everyone over here on birblr will be happy to help you out with your bird and taking care of it!! Just let us know if you ever need any help if you reach your goal!
if your feminism doesn’t include all women, i’m not interested in it
this goes for trans women, women of color, disabled women, neurodivergent women, nonbinary women, queer women, women in poverty, religious minority women, refugee women, and women in and from other countries. If your feminism starts and stops with women who look, act, and exist in a very restricted category, then it isn’t feminism and you aren’t a feminist.
The worst trick a childhood anxiety disorder pulls is, you spend your early years being applauded for being so much more mature than your peers, because you aren’t disruptive, you don’t want any kind of attention, you don’t express yourself, you keep yourself to yourself – this makes you a pleasure to have in class, etc etc – and you start to believe it’s virtue. But you’re actually way behind your peers in normal social development, and who knows if you can ever catch up.
Never heard a truer thing in my life.
holy shit wait you mean being just morbidly terrified of doing anything wrong ISN’T necessarily the same as being “well behaved?!”
Convenient children =/= healthy children
Convenient children do not equal healthy children
One of the psychologists who treated me described me as a “pathologically well-behaved child”
at first, after the contestant minh thu professed her love for the other contestant truc nhu, they walked out of the show together:
but apparently afterwards, the bachelor quoc trung met up with truc nhu and convinced her to remain on the show, which pretty much broke hearts everywhere:
BUT i just found out that minh thu and truc nhu are officially together as a couple!!!
Anxiety-prone-human 