#ginny nerds out on narrative

[ginnymoonbeam]

Was chatting with friends about The Eighth Sense and what we expect from the ending, which got me onto a broader ramble about genre and expectations. For me, a key defining feature of BL is that whether the ending is "good" or "bad" depends on whether a couple is happily together at the end of the story. (Going forward, I'm going to use up/down instead of good/bad or happy/sad to describe endings: in brief, an up ending fulfills hopes while a down ending realizes fears. I like these terms better because they don't imply value or a specific emotional state in the audience - they go purely to story structure.)

For a BL, an up ending requires that the characters be together at the end. Other queer stories don't, necessarily - a queer coming-of-age story might have a romance that changes the protagonist but ultimately ends, and the story may still have an up ending. A BL can also have a down ending (which makes it different from genre romance, where it has to have an up ending or it isn't a romance.) 180 Degrees Longitude Passes Through Us is a queer story that isn't a BL, because from pretty early in the story it was clear that an up or down ending was not going to hinge on whether In and Wang got together. (Whether the ending of 180 Degrees is up or down or neither is a question for another day.)

Back to The Eighth Sense. Here are some examples of primary genres The Eighth Sense isn't, although it takes elements from them and they could have been the primary genre with some shifts in narrative emphasis. It isn't a coming-of-age story centering Jihyun. If it were, we would know more by now about where he comes from, what has held him back thus far from expressing himself/living boldly/being the adult he's becoming. We would have had more intense ups and downs around those questions, and we would be set up with some key symbolic trials for him to pass at the climax of the story.

It isn't a trauma recovery story centering Jaewon - although that's a very strong secondary genre. If it were the primary genre, we would be leaning much more heavily on Jaewon's POV, or that of other characters witnessing him. As it is, Jihyun and Jaewon are given about equal POV time, and I can't recall a single other character whose perspective we enter at all. (That right there is a big clue that we're in a romance.)

The relationship between them affects Jaewon's mental health, and Jaewon's mental health affects the relationship, but you can tell which one is primary by which came first. We got signs of Jaewon's struggles very early, but we weren't grounded in them - they were hints and mysteries, not a starting point. We were grounded, from the first meeting, in the mutual attraction between Jaewon and Jihyun. We knew exactly what that was about, and we started assessing other pieces of the story in light of how they might impact the growth of the relationship, rather than assessing the budding relationship in light of how it might hurt or help either character.

All of which is to say: The Eighth Sense is structurally a BL, and I don't see any way to an up ending that doesn't include Jaewon and Jihyun at least beginning to come together (again.) And I do think we're set up for an up ending, because the story is at a down point now at the 3/4 mark. So I for one am going into tomorrow's episodes fully optimistic.

#the eighth sense #bl drama #ginny nerds out on narrative

[danpuff-ao3]

@broomsticks, leftsideisdown, Jackie, whatever you know this fabulous human as, we can all agree on "wow what a rockstar." In fact, I got so caught up in compiling some excellent fic of hers, that I nearly forgot "but wait! There's more!"

Listen, her pinned post on Tumblr alone is incredible. Look at that organization! So easy to find anything you could want to peruse on a given day! Then...the meta?? The STATS? Okay the stats meta blows my mind because I'm nerdy enough to like stat talk but allergic enough to math to have 0 comprehension of numbers. Which boils down to "please don't make me touch a number, but I'd sure love to watch you play with them!" Like...what a nerd! I say, with the utmost respect and admiration. I'm geeking out over her geeking out, I swear. But ALSO...recs!!!!! All of that on top of being a prolific and varied creator, which is rad as hell! Her brain? I love it.

But also...what a sweet and supportive human! Also, did I mention cool? Very cool. I always love seeing what new thing she's chatting about, creating, or reblogging. One of my favorite people to follow, I swear!

So now...let's get into the goods!

Fics

the dark side of the moon

Luna/Bellatrix. Rated: T. Words: 200. Implied past Pandora/Bellatrix. Implied/referenced character death. HP Shipuary 2023. Kinkuary 2023. Femslash Fuckery 2023.

Luna grew up knowing two Bellas.

flowers kiss and miss

Lily/Narcissa. Rated: T. Words: 1,400. 14 drabbles. Non-linear narrative. Fluff. Romance. Angst. Secret relationship. Implied character death. Implied necromancy. Ambiguous/open ending.

She thinks mermaids are red-haired. She thinks they sing. She thinks they’re beautiful.

For Everything a Season

Dolores/Marge. Rated: G. Words: 300. Crack treated seriously. Romance. Christmas.

There were many, many reasons why they would not work. 

She bred bulldogs, for Merlin’s sake. She broke at least one teacup a week, she snored like a herd of stampeding hippogriffs, and she never cleaned her hair out from the shower drain. 

Oh, and she was a Muggle.

Hers

Cho/Fleur. Rated: T. Words: 700. POV First Person.

At the Yule Ball, a test of loyalty.

Sealed with a kiss

Bellatrix/Pandora. Rated: T. Words: 200. Secret admirer. Getting together. Hogwarts era.

Pandora's secret admirer is not one to be messed with.

Whatever You Want

Hermione/Minerva. Rated: M. Words: 200. Student/teacher. Dom/sub.

Hermione just wishes to please!

which one of us will survive the other

Lily/Petunia. Implied Petunia/Vernon. Implied Lily/James. Rated: M. Words: 1,292. Sibling incest. Dub-con. Infidelity. Canon character death. Halloween '81.

Petunia’s wanted magic her whole life. Then again, she’s always wanted what she couldn’t have. What she shouldn’t want.

One night, all her dreams come true.

Meta (Stats)

What was the HP fandom on AO3 writing in 2022?

more miscellaneous stats for HP fics updated in 2022 

wolfstar fandom survey results (part 3 includes astrology, so how could I not include it??)

hp character overrepresentation in fanon vs canon: more random-ass stats!!

atyd fic popularity stats

Recs

femslash fic recs: ginny + infidelity

HP fic rec list: underrated gems of 2022

a wormtail week works rec list

strange little girls: a rarepair (mostly femslash) HP fic rec list

also Mutuals March???? Incredible!!!!

for an explanation about Mutuals March, or to figure out why i wrote you a thing, please check out this post.

#mutuals march #broomsticks #leftsideisdown #jackie #fic recs #meta recs #rec recs

[cc-tinslebee]

I wonder if all of Ginny Danburry’s scenes were cut from the final cut of Dead Poets Society because they decided not to include her alleged relationship with Neil? I don’t really mind the second decision, but cutting those scenes out entirely makes less and less sense to me.

Ginny existing in itself kind of ties a lot of things together, at least in terms of Knox/Chris/Chet’s plot. Chris references her enough times that it gives the audience the illusion that she should be important. But also Ginny’s in Midsummer. Chris probably goes to the play to support her, and Knox “We’ll sit in the back! *proceeds to sit in full view of everyone” Overstreet convinces her to go as his date. Wouldn’t it make sense if Chet was also at Midsummer to support his sister…? From there, we can either get a full Knox-Chet confrontation after the play or a shot of Chet looking upset at seeing them together, but ultimately giving up to close that arc.

But talking about deleted scenes strictly, the ones I’ve seen from the Laser Disc video on YouTube that appear to have contributed to Neil/Ginny’s development also have their worth outside of that narrative.

1. When Knox meets the Danburrys, probably the most relevant information we get is that Ginny is thinking about auditioning for A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Henley Hall. That serves as ZERO use to Knox as a character, but it is foreshadowing for the audience, so when Neil brings the flyer to Todd, it’s like “ohhh, that was mentioned before, wasn’t it?”

(also, lmaoo that deleted scene did Knox NO favours in terms of sympathising for him, because 1. dude definitely missed the mark on “fanon Romeo, lovesick archetype” and full-on went “canon Romeo, creep vibes, 2. it shows that Chris actually likes Chet/he’s not so bad)

2. The infamous dock scene, where Todd helps Neil rehearse for his role. I only dare to claim this might’ve “furthered Ginny/Neil’s plot” in the eyes of the creators because Neil starts singing her praises, calling her “incredible,” and when Todd proceeds to ask what she looks like, Neil is quickly like, “never mind, you’re not meeting her—” (which, great anderperry moment, but the writers probably intended the jealous to go the other way.) But anyway, like!! That scene just further shows the audience how close Neil and Todd were!! How much they meant to each other that Todd would help Neil with his lines and Neil could ease Todd into letting go, doing silly things like shouting lines into the lake and just prancing around all carefree. Not to mention the dock! Like, that moment right there is no doubt WHY Todd ran to the dock, screaming his name, when Neil died. That parallel is essential.

That’s just a little theory of mine, though. I understand probably none of that would’ve mattered to the average viewer, I’m just a huge film nerd and I’ve been thinking about Ms. Ginny Danburry often <3

#dead poets society #ginny danburry #neil perry #neil and todd #todd and neil #dps fandom #knox overstreet #todd anderson #chet danburry #chris noel #noelburry #anderperry

[hillnerd]

Hi, I was reading an ask you answered on shipping and you mentioned that people don’t like the weasleys due to classism, which I’ve never thought of but definitely makes sense. Have you made any posts that expand on this? I’d be interested to read more

You know, I believe I haven’t made any long posts regarding this issue. Time to remedy that, eh?

I suppose it’s important to define what classism is and how it instructs our views on things in the first place.

It’s defined as: “prejudice against or in favor of people belonging to a particular social class.”

Classism is very much built into our social fabric, and almost always has. The social classes of Western society (which are the ones I’m dealing with as this is an HP post) have been highly structured for thousands of years. The names and qualifications may have altered over time, but in general there are always about 4-5 social classes.  Elite, Middle, Working, Poor being the general layout, with overlaps and extra subsets within each class.

On some level we are taught that ‘money doesn’t mean everything’- but that is constantly undermined by the continuance of the classist messages put forth in media and advertisements. We are bombarded by images of success meaning accumulated wealth. Every time there’s another holiday businesses can exploit for profit, they will trot out advertisements for cars, jewelry, toys, homes etc. And we’re supposed to buy into that mindset- to find objects to display our very worth, and convey worth to others. It’s ‘sexy’ to be ‘successful’ in these ways.

In fandoms there are certain tropes people gravitate to- and the rich man with nothing but time on his hands to shower his lover in riches? That is a highly beloved trope. Mournful giant mansions are ever so much more ‘interesting’ than a working class farmhouse.

Which brings us round to the Weasleys. They are very coded as working class/lower middle class, as well as ‘normal’ when it comes to looks, and red haired (which between their great numbers and red hair read as Irish Catholic to many audiences.) The father is tall, skinny and balding, the bother is short overweight and overworked. This is not the vision of ‘sexy and succesful’ we are told are the height of accomplishment. They aren’t glamourous, wealthy, or traditionally good looking. We know the Weasley kids all must deal with the reality of coming from a poor family. The twins bemoan the price of books in CoS, and we see Percy angry about his father’s lack of reputation- but the only child we see consistently dealing with the consequences of this poverty is Ron.

The consequences of being poor, and from a large family, are evident in many ways- and from the get go Ron is the only one we get to see them with.

The ‘look’ of wealth:

He’s in scruffy hand me downs, doesn’t have extra money to spend on things like sweets, has a fat old rat as a pet, and a wand that’s not even his own. This is all well and good when you’re eleven- but as he grows up, in some ways he’s expected to ‘be cooler’ ‘be sexier’ ‘be more together’- so when he’s still gangly, freckled, in crap clothes with a silly owl- well it’s not the sexy picture of wealth and success.

The confidence of wealth that comes with curating your life:

The confidence of wealth is something people expect others to exude as well. If you can’t be wealthy, then you’re supposed to at least be incredibly confident and self assured. The luxury of choice is denied Ron. He’s unable to have choices about anything, because it’s either except what you’re given, or go without (jumpers, sandwiches, pets, broken wands, dress robes, brooms etc). Ron is unable to curate his life at all. He can’t pick and choose much- and this comes across as ‘childish’ or ‘lazy’ to some. He is unable to be self actualized due to his wealth status (And the fact that he’s a teenage boy), and this is further compounded by the fact that he’s from a large family where all paths of selfactualization he could take, have already been taken- thus undermining anything he hopes to accomplish for himself until he’s out of school, minimum.

Classism as a means of bullying:

Ron is the only Weasley to be consistently mocked and belittled for his wealth status throughout the series. When we first meet Ron, Immediately his class is thrown in his face by Malfoy- and this is continued- coming to a head with the ‘Weasley is our King’ song, where he is sung at about how poor he is.

The emotional consequences of poverty are written off:

The poor are allowed to be poor as long as they never complain. But the moment they do, there tends to be a view of this as not only weak, but ‘ungrateful.’ How dare they not be happy to have what they have? How dare they not dociley and silently improve their status so we don’t have to hear them complain anymore?

Workingclass stereotypes at play:

Working class stereotypes are very much at play, especially when it comes to how people perceive Ron. Uncultured, stupid, lazy, violent, wife beaters etc. You see fandom littered with this view of him. And then it also likes to paint the Weasley women as the shrewish, provoking nag.

In some ways the Weasleys do fit into these stereotypes- the Weasleys are ready for a physical fight many times in the books, Mrs Weasley can be the nagging wife/mother stereotype, none of the youngest Weasleys are seen as erudite library lovers and instead are more sporty, and many of the Weasleys aren’t particularly motivated about school.

Rough and tumble is quickly painted as problematic and dangerous. Jovial and sporty is quickly painted as uncultured and lacking in intellectual pursuits. Lovingly protective is quickly painted as controlling and harmful. Being laid back about certain goals suddenly makes them lazy.

The thing is, when these same features come from other characters, they are not generally seen in that way.

Draco and his family are a prime example of that. The framing of these two families by fandom is tied to closely with class distinctions:

They are constantly threatening violence, both with fists (even if they are hired thugs) and wands- yet they aren’t painted as particularly prone towards violence.

Draco is never shown as particularly intelligent or learned- yet is portrayed that way by fandom despite his lack of accomplishments. His barbs aren’t even very intelligent- they’re just mean and sarcastic.

The Malfoys actually are controlling and harmful- they’ve abused house elves, threaten people left and right, and are highly influential- but that’s seemingly not as big a crime as Molly Weasley worrying over her children?

Draco is so supremely lazy he goes out of his way to have servants do things for him- including Ron in PoA- he does not earn his way onto te quidditch team- it’s given to him, along with new brooms for everyone. Yet Ron is seen as lazy because he’s not a school nerd, and Draco an erudite because he sarcastically comes up with barbs on the sidelines.

Meanwhile the Weasleys are fighting for justice, all of them are proving their intelligence and grit every book, the Weasleys are so loving and helpful that they take in other people (Harry and Hermione), are the ones making the parties at Gryffindor tower awesome, and are the main caretakers for the whole Order. They earn everything they ever have (with the exception being when Percy is handed a position in ootp  so they can manipulate him) and work hard to achieve everything they do. Ron puts in the time with his sweat and body- but it’s rarely recognized.

Classist tropes heavily enforced in the films

Steve Kloves heavily changed the Weasleys in the movies. He simplified them, made them pretty stupid, lazy, unloyal, and fearful. They are the bravest family in the books, but in the films it’s not really touched on. He loves making them look a joke, though. The films played heavily into classist tropes of dumb/funny poor people basically being kept around to amuse the middle and upper class.

It’s rare the actual merit of the Weasleys was shown, and so it re-enforced the stereoptypes people already had. Basically look up any ‘irish stereotype’ and it is heavily applied to the working class- and it seems this continues with the Weasleys.

Technically, with Arthur’s job, they are considered low middle class in many ways. He has a job that touches on the political, he knows people and has some modicum of influence. They own property. They are the ‘noble poor’ (which is very much set apart from the truly impoverished like Lupin,  problematic poor who are criminals and snatchers, or the slave-class poor of the elves.)

They struggle, though, to balance it all out- and in the films we see little of their merits. They are played for jokes throughout most of the series, and are rather cartoonish.

The actors are all very good- but they were given a script and followed it- and in the script it very much dictates buffoonery and silliness is the rule of the day for the Weasleys the majority of the time. When they are not cartoons, they are to stand idly and cry as they are victimized/put in danger (literally every single film with Ron) much of the fire is taken out of Mr Weasley in is Arthur v Lucius scenes, They just stand around as their home is burnt down. We don’t see any of them fight successfully except Molly Weasley, and few throwaway spells by Ginny and Ron towards the end of the series. Like… They are not shown as intelligent, fearsome, or important to the narrative/Harry much at all, despite their significance in the series. They’re window dressing, but not actual people.

The Malfoys are given more gravitas and reality, by contrast- and they added in moments of humanity and heroism even (such as the deleted scene of Draco tossing Harry his wand.)

Same for Curse Child. Draco’s journey as a father is important to the play- his son is one of the protagonists- meanwhile Ron is basically pure comedy, Ginny is quiet, and Rose is snotty and barely present.

CONCLUSION

Overall the treatment we’ve seen of the Weasleys both in the films, the play, and fandom shows a disdain/ambivalence towards them that seems steeped in the traditions of classism towards the working class. They’ve become a bunch of Punch and Judys, or bystanders, while the rest of the main cast is afforded a bit more dignity and gravitas. Their importance and power are minimized, and their internal struggles are minimized so that when they DO come up they are seen as out of nowhere (sometimes even mean), their cartoonishness is emphasized- and their overall character arcs/journeys are treated as jokes, because that is how the working class is treated in society.  I find it interesting that as JKR became more and more removed from the world of poverty she knew, the more cartoonish moments were added to the Weasleys. :P Just sayin’. She obviously still cares about them, but there is a difference in their treatment from the earlier books to the later in many ways- especially Ron- not even touching on how she let him be portrayed in the films and play.

#classism #harry potter #meta #weasleys #malfoys #analysis #my wriitng #hillnerd writes #Anonymous

[upthehillask]

i’d love to hear your cursed child opinions!

Oh boy, well now you’ve unleashed me :D lol I don’t know if you’re interested more in what I loved or in what I’d critique, so I’ll go for both I guess? And you can read whichever you like :) But tbh you won’t hear anything new from me that you haven’t heard other fans talk about. Anyways, here are my thoughts on the actual play: [Spoiler alert I guess!]

Things I loved:

- THE MAGIC!!! The effects were EVERYTHING. The time warp, the telephone booth, the floo, the underwater, the dementors, the writings on the walls, and so much more… Really cool!!! And I loved the whole vibe and aesthetic of the play too, it felt authentic and fitting! THE SWISHY CLOAKS!! I want them!!

- The scenes I especially enjoyed were Harry’s nightmares, glimpses into his past and scenes from the books in general. I think they executed those quite well, made me really soft! Especially the scenes of little Harry in his cupboard and also him in the graveyard. Gripped my heart. Oh, I also loved that they finally showed Cedric in the end, he was so perfect!!

- Draco. Yes yes yes to dad Draco. Still bitchy, pretentious, and petty, trying so hard to play cool and tough, but a pained softie deep inside—we STAN. The relationship between him and his son I CRI EVRITIEM!!! Draco in the alternative timeline letting Scorpius do what he believes in, Draco in the real timeline hugging his son, I LIVE. And oh my god that scene where Draco walked in to Harry crying.. GOD. Yes emotions, yes vulnerability, yes bonding, yes yes yes. (Though I still can’t get over the ponytail. Would’ve been more than fine if Lucius hadn’t been portrayed with long hair lol)

- I loved Albus!! He’s a good Slytherin boy! That’s all I have to say. He’s a good friend and son who tries his best. I liked him a lot, more so now after watching the play. He really did remind me of Harry in a lot of ways. (Also, unpopular opinion, but I always loved Albus Severus’ name and I always will, fight me.)

- And just all the dad-son relationships, parenthood themes, friendship between the boys, related conflicts… Loved all of them. Touching, inspiring, couldn’t get enough!

- McGonagall was fcking ON POINT. Fcking QUEEN. Get it girl. Show em how to understand and respect children 👏👏👏

- I really loved Snape too! It was nice to finally see him being his self that only Dumbledore got to see in the books. I loved his demeanor too. I know actors change, but the one I saw portrayed Snape in a way that felt more canon. As much as I love Alan Rickman, he was a bit too graceful and sophisticated for canon Snape. In the play, however, Snape was kind of more rough, more rash, less pulled together in a way that he spoke and moved. It’s subtle but I lived for that. Also he was finally short. Yes.

- I feel like I have to mention Harry too. I actually quite liked him, so I’m gonna put him under this list as well. Yeah, that one scene where he threatened McGonagall into strict surveillance of his son is a bit much, errr 😅😅😅 But overall, I like the idea of him struggling as a father, making mistakes and learning from them. He’s a good egg.

- Ron and Hermione, my babies!! I had issues with Ron’s characterization, but I did mostly enjoy the portrayal of their relationship. I liked that their roles within the play were mostly to be together or to find their ways to each other. Since so many fans are against their ship, I was really excited to see them. And I just loved Hermione in general. They got her characterization almost on-point too, I think. I just love her 🥰

- In general, I enjoyed a lot of the dialogue. I liked all those strong, emotional one-liners that make you gasp. Harry saying things, Albus saying things, Scorpius, Draco, Ginny, others… There were good examples of lines they’d say that perfectly articulated everything that they embodied or felt or were dealing with. Well done there.

Okayyy I’m sure there’s more I could think of, definitely, but I’ll stop here since this is already a lot 😁

Things I questioned:

- So the one single biggest thing that I am the most critical of has to do with the plot itself, and it’s about Cedric turning into a Death Eater. I’m sorry but I just can’t. I could write a whole essay on how this makes no canonical sense (and I probably will if you ask me lmaoo), but to sum it up, Cedric eventually turning bitter and evil because he was publicly humiliated directly contradicts his canon character development. Cedric’s humility, kindness, and fairness are the core qualities around which Cedric’s personality was developed in the books. He almost explicitly places popularity, glory, and reputation second, and that’s critical, because if failure and humiliation were to affect him so drastically, his primary core values needed to be broken down and changed beforehand, but they never weren’t. So presenting the Triwizard incident as the turning point for him does not make any sense, and as a result the rest of the narrative falls apart. This is a plot hole and hasty writing.

- Yeah, Bellatrix having a child is still kinda weird 🙃🙃 I just hate that because in the books Bellatrix played the archetype of this anti-mother, the antithesis of motherhood and motherly love. I feel like having her voluntarily bring a child into this world destroys that symbolism. It makes me unsatisfied.

- I had some issues with the very beginning and the whole “montage” of events leading up to the fourth year. I found it overwhelming and disorienting, even though I’ve already read the script and knew what’s going on. Still, I felt like I was hit by a train, watching all the fast-paced scenes, cliché chaotic small talk going on, years going by… It felt messy for some reason. I feel like I need to watch it again in order to fully catch up and process everything I saw, and that’s not a good sign. But I didn’t hate it, I just wish we were more eased into the story.

- Scorpius. Now listen. When I read the script, Scorpius was my favorite character. I LOVED him, this awkward nerd who loves his dad and best friend with all his heart. The way I grew to imagine him was quite not how he was portrayed in the play. I know the dialogue and everything’s all the same, but idk, Scorpius in the play was way more hyper, bolder than I pictured, and worst of all, he was going out of his way to be this wannabe player. He seemed so all over the place, even acting a bit arrogant sometimes, celebrating moments of over-confidence, chasing after girls, trying to be everything BUT himself. But that honestly might just be my takeaway alone. There’s nothing actually wrong with his character, I just found myself slightly disappointed with him in the play specifically. I wish I could see the play again to actually analyze things more thoroughly to explain why I feel this way, but I can’t. I still like Scorpius, but a different version of him. (tho damn did I love those skinny pants on him lmao 👌👌)

- Moaning Myrtle. Like, I laughed, it was funny, but it just wasn’t very tasteful lol and I was left feeling a bit uncomfortable from the idea of this young murdered girl writhing and thirsting over literally everyone. The play really blew that out of proportion and idk it’s kinda awkward when I think about it 😅 And in general, there was just so much thirsting… with Rose, Polly Chapman, Delphi… Not to mention Albus kissing his AUNT… Like damn chill JK please 😂 Weird cliches and teenage hormones aren’t the only source of comedy okay?? 😂😂😂 Also, speaking of Myrtle, I kinda wish there was something mentioned about Draco having had been friends with her in sixth year. Idk it would’ve been nice to see that relationship somehow reminisced since we didn’t really get to see it :) 

- Craig Bowker Jr... If he was supposed to be a parallel to Cedric, both being the spare, why did he get literally zero attention?? We don’t really know who he is, we don’t see anyone hurting because of his death, he’s killed with such apathy. We don’t even see his parent grieving, like we saw Amos (who also happen to be an integral part to the plot of CC!). The whole parallel is so incomplete. Poor Craig and his unsymbolic death..

- Ok I am obviously elaborating way too much so let me just quickly summarize the rest of things I don’t actually hate but might wanna rant about: RON IS NOT A JOKSTER—GEORGE IS. RON IS A FIGHTER. HE IS ALSO HARRY’S BEST FRIEND, NOT HERMIONE, BUT HE WAS MADE USELESS AND UNNEEDED, WHICH IS HIS ACTUAL WORST FEAR, SO WHO THE FUCK DARED. ROSE IS MORE THAN A BITCHY ROMANTIC INTEREST AND A BAD FRIEND. WHERE THE HELL IS HUGO. GINNY’S EVEN COOLER THAN SHE WAS PORTRAYED, I PROMISE. THE SURPRISE SECOND TIME TURNER ERRRR LOUSY PLOT DEVICE I’M SORRY. LACKLUSTER PLOT IN GENERAL, THE ONLY ACTUAL TWIST IS DELPHI’S REVEAL—NOT ENOUGH, JKR KNOWS BETTER THAN THIS, THE BOOKS WERE FULL OF TWISTS AND TURNS (but that’s kinda okay with me because the relationships between characters in CC really made the whole story worth it).

Alright enough :’D I’m not actually upset, just exaggerating haha Because overall, I liked the play. I wanna see it again. And I wanna analyze it more, too. I’m so excited I finally got to watch it. It’s far from flawless, but I’m still happy with it overall and want to approach it positively! Sure, I’ll rant when it’s ranting time, but I do love it (:

#the cursed child #cursed child spoilers #Q&A #Anonymous #upthehillask

[thefudge]

Harry Potter question, do you or did you ever ship Hermione x Tom. Hermione x Snape. Hermione x Lucius. ? (I'm a Hermione fan lol)

aaaah this is a tough one, but super interesting (and i like her too!)

so here we go 

(after the cut cuz this got looooong)

in short, i dabbled in all of them to various degrees 

hermione/tom - in theory, i should like this pairing a lot, but i have a lot of issues with the way they are written together; aka they’re either portrayed as incredibly beautiful genius sex gods, or hermione is weak and constantly thwarted by tom’s sexy moves. there is some good fic out there that explores what it would actually be like if these two had to butt heads, but it’s hard for me to find this dynamic written the way i feel it, which is very solipsistic of me i know lol. it’s also a tough ship to get right, imo. because tom/voldemort has no reason to be that impressed with hermione. yes, she is brilliant and cunning, but i think tom is faaar more fascinated by emotions than intellect, ironically. he has a slew of talented wizards and witches around him, but he doesn’t care a fig about them. meanwhile, he’s constantly cursing harry’s resilience and humanity because he craves it. he’s more drawn to folks who thrive on unconditional love. it’s reaaaally hilarious when u think about it. but i don’t hate it? i just think it’s a tough ship to get right. i was into it in high school, but i shipped tom/ginny more because ginny has no business impressing him ahahahah

hermione/snape - once upon a long-ass time i was definitely taken with this ship because it used to be the It Ship in the olden days. if you were around circa 2003-2004 on livejournal and ffnet and schnoogle? HOO MAN, this was where you found the BEST angst and smut, hands down. i think we all had a snamione phase, it’s like part of growing up. the older i got, tho, i just…got bored with it, which is super sad! i think maybe it’s the fact that you can’t take this pairing into many directions. it’s mostly about hermione “healing” snape and giving him a second chance to repair the damage with lily. oh, and snape also empowers her intellectually. mmmkay. that’s nice. yawn. i mean! it’s great! but….yawn? listen, hermione is brilliant, but can we quit it with making everything about her intellect? 90% of snamione fics are about him helping her win the nobel prize or some shit like that, i swear to god, you got fics with titles like “Euclidean geometry and the arithmancy algorithm” or whatever, and it’s mostly these two nerding out and saving the world with their massive intellect. and that’s rly cool! i’m so glad there’s a space for that!  but….can we…take a break from all that studying? my 15 yo self felt like i should be doing homework when i read about how hermione was breaking her back trying to prove to snape how goddamn proficient she was, sweating and toiling over her cauldron. it’s almost like saying “if you don’t exhaust yourself intellectually, you’re not worthy of snape”. and that was a real bummer. also, in a lot of those fics hermione and snape were super shitty to the poor idiots who did not understand their super complicated invented algebra. a lot of needless ron bashing too. ANYWAY. this ship will always have a place in my heart but it’s too stagnant for me and doesn’t take me anywhere new. (i do remember a great old fic where hermione developed an eating disorder because she was exhausting herself intellectually, trying to be absolutely perfect, and snape actually helped her return to her goddamn senses and made her take a break, lol that was one of my faves tbh)

hermione/lucius - ha okay, ironically the ship i like the most in this line-up. back in the day, fanfic for this pairing was kiiiind of cringey since it involved a super angsty lucius who had to torture a slave!hermione and get her to accept voldemort as her lord and saviour… eh. it was messy and little of it was actually nuanced and good, sorry folks. but!! this ship has matured together with its dedicated writers and it has weirdly become one of the more nuanced hermione pairings out there. i think once the dust settled on this series, big ships like dramione and snamione dried up a little bit, while the smaller ones flourished. so i’ve seen rly cool takes on lucius malfoy post-series as an older guy who fucked up his life and his family and has to reckon with that, especially since he was never committed to the cause like bella, but his pride would never let him ask help from the order. lumione (?) is also a slightly more relaxed ship cuz u dont have lucius making her work on quadratic equations for fuck’s sake (lookin at u, severus) and he also wouldnt overwhelm her with his sexy evil plans (lookin at u, tom). like he wouldn’t expect sooo fucking much of her, you know?  though ofc there would be sniping and antagonism and blood prejudice etc so there’s a lot to unpack. but fanon-wise? yeah, this ship wins lol 

in general, the more i look back, the more i think that all of these ships just put too much fucking pressure on hermione to be this be-all and end-all of the harry potter universe, especially in terms of brains. as someone who was constantly insecure about intellectual prowess growing up, to have to read hundreds of fanfics where she was constantly humiliated and put to the test by these “brilliant” men felt really disheartening to me. i enjoyed some of it, but a lot of hermione fics left me exhausted. hermione had to do so much emotional and intellectual labor just to be allowed to touch a mediocre dick? SPARE ME lol. 

and i realized a lot of the girls/women writing those stories were “hermione’s” too, or obviously identified as such (me included). and they must have believed that they too could only be worthy of a dude’s attention if they became the next marie curie. it’s like “if i work hard enough, i’ll be the equal of the pretty, bubbly girl”. cuz this is the really whack, misogynist, self-defeatist narrative a lot of us were raised on. and it showed in the goddamn hermione fics where she can only squeeze a tiny bit of pleasure if she works herself to the bone.

fuck that. 

so yeah, this kind of makes me ambivalent about many of these big ol’ ships and whether, if we want them to move forward, we should change our optic about what hermione represents to a lot of us 

lol sorry this got away from me  

#hp meta #hermione granger #my stuff #hp

[divagonzo]

I’ve seen you mention that the later HP movies showed the female characters (especially Hermione) through the male gaze. Could you please elaborate? I’m afraid I’m so used to sexism that it just went over my head, but I really want to learn

‘ello Nonnie. I’ll be glad to answer you, in-depth, and with information, so you can make your own decisions.

I’m throwing a cut-line in here, because I have aces who follow me and this discussion might be uncomfortable for them (and I don’t wish to re-hash this issue with @headcanonsandmore since I needed to tend him after we were finished talking about it since it is a sensitive subject, especially for a young man still learning and growing in his feminism.

Lastly, these are the first ones I thought of - and I’ve not watched the films in, oh, 4 years?

So, TL;DR: Yates gladly controlled how the films were shot and used cinematography to make the male gaze focus pretty extensively on Eyebrows. (I’m not using her name so this doesn’t hit the tag.)

So, First of all, link (so you can have it tabbed for references)

Secondly, Link here to explain Fibonacci’s Golden Spiral (which is a mathematical term used to explain how spirals work - but is also used in filmography for drawing the viewer to a particular point on the screen.)

Rule of Thirds

Now, let’s look at a visual (and I apologize for this but it needs to be shown as a demonstration)

Here is the first example of such, nonnie. The way the lighting works, and how the image is framed in the actual scene (in movie making parlance, it's called The Golden spiral)

Using Fibonacci's formula, the way the eyes are drawn to a particular point on the screen is where the particular item to have focus drawn to, visually. In this case, Yates put Hermione (and her cleavage) in that focus point, so you would intuitively notice it above anything else - including the protagonist in the shot.

If we use the above information given, this is the frame I mention as being distinctly for the male gaze. Using the cinematography Rule of Thirds, the way the scene is set, the focus of this one image is.... right on her cleavage. The way the lighting is set, the lesser focus on Harry (where he’s slightly fuzzy) and the background is slightly out of focus... but her boobs? Perfectly in focus.

Now, let’s look at another. A pivotal scene (and of which was beaten to death Friday in the discussion) - The torment scene in DH:

Using the same frame rules as above, let's look at this bit. Applying such here as well.... what is the focal point of this frame? Yep - her breasts, once again. It's not the silver dagger at her throat. It's not Bellatrix being malicious. It's not the ominous foreboding of the scene. Nope. We're supposed to stare at her breasts.

How about we throwback, when the first insidious views started happening. How about we flashback to... Goblet of Fire!

It seems that it’s becoming a pattern, doesn't it? I guarantee you that it's not random happenstance. It's intentional, by the cinematographer, and director (and probably the producer, too.)

And lastly, let’s look at the landing at Shaftesbury Avenue, after they escaped the Death Eaters from Bill & Fleur’s wedding:

I won’t even bring up when it’s Hermione wearing a dress that Bellatrix would wear, and it shows her in said dress. It’s like screaming in Filmspeak, Look at my chest, please! (This film clip on YT shows part of it.)

Now, onto the discussion of the power fantasy issue:

There is a tremendous genre trope of where a woman is built up in the narrative, only to have her broken completely, where a man can come in and rescue her. It’s a corrupted version of the Damsel in Distress, taken to include a male power fantasy, where he can rebuild her into what he wants. (Me, on Friday.)

In stories told, this is usually an example of manpain - when a woman who is with a man (albeit wife or lover) is killed/hurt/removed from the narrative - to give him reason/anger/justification for what he does from that point forward. Like the completely unnecessary trope of Kill your Lesbians, there are considerably better ways to have a male character feel pain without killing the woman. There are better ways to advance the plot without giving moral judgment on a woman and removing her permanently from the story.

(the Finest example is how Anakin Skywalker gets to live after losing 4 limbs and 3rd degree burns on 95% of his body - but Padme dies shortly after childbirth and he goes ballistic once in the Vader suit.)

From the first movie onward, Hermione is given more and more, including receiving lines from Ron, and Harry and Ginny, too. Uncle Steve built her up to this paragon of impossible virtue - someone that few can truly relate to - and when the scene at Malfoy Manor comes up, instead of focusing on Ron going apeshit in the dungeon, trying to rescue her and failing, Kloves writes the scene that we see - Hermione being tortured (which is akin to some hard kink p*rn items which I won’t get into here) and, in book canon, at least, she’s close to dying, from being tortured and had a chandelier dropped on her head. The movies? To keep it from an R/15 rating most of the scene was cut (but some is shown in BTS, including HBC giving pre and post-care after the scene, when others directing and leading should have seen to it.)

Ethically, they failed. Morally? Uncle Steve wanted the manic pixie dream girl (whom he wanted to have a romantic ship with the lead when the books say otherwise) and then, because of such, shows us this... this torture p*rn to break her, to debase her, using a woman in the stead.

In short, the sexism is the visual shots used for the viewer (including older men, at the time, who were watching her since she was over 18 then) as well as the ethical failures on-set by the men in question who coddled her to this point then asked her to go through something so mentally harmful and visually disturbing - and expected her to bounce back up, shake it off, and say “Next Scene”.

Had you asked that of a man using method acting, they’d have broke and let him process what happened and then give time to recompose themselves? But a woman, and a young one at that? She’s expected to troop onward like it never happened.

HTH and I’ll be glad to answer more later today. Now I need to get back to editing The Nerd’s work.

#Anonymous

[juniper-and-lamplight]

2019 Femslash February Recs

It’s Femslash February! Which means it’s time for some RECS. Here you’ll find multifandom femslash fics, as well as a few not-quite-femslash fics that focus on female characters. My femslash reading is all over the place, and this list follows suit: some recs are new, some are collected from earlier rec posts; all are in alphabetical order by fandom, at least. Recs below the cut, and please remember to show your love with kudos and comments! 

Code Name Verity Wind, Sand, Devotion - montparnasse, read by fire_juggler - 6k, 53min, T, Maddie/Julie "Empty spaces want for filling, and Maddie Brodatt is overflowing." A gorgeous, sensitive pod of a hauntingly lovely fic.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency A Moment of Clarity - electricteatime | @kieren-fucking-walker - 7k, G, Farah/Tina “Farah is saved from answering when Tricia promptly throws up on her own shoes. She would be more annoyed, but in the moment she finds herself too preoccupied to care. Girls with girls. There’s a thought." If you believe that Farah Adrienne Black deserves ALL the love and acceptance, from herself and from others, then you absolutely must read this fic.

real and okay and beautiful - embraidery | @blueandnoah - 2.8k, G, Farah/Tina/Amanda (but mostly just friendship) "Mona's feeling down in the dumps (body insecurities) and her friends try to help her feel better about it all!" Do you love awesome women supporting each other and feeling free? If so, read this!

Keep the Home Fires Burning - @flightinflame - 16k, M, Farah/Tina, AU "Bergsberg is a small town off the beaten track. For Project Vesta, a Blackwing runaway, it offers a fresh start and the chance of a friend in the town's sheriff." A painful, cathartic fic that gives Tina’s character some real attention, and gives Farah and Tina the happiness they deserve.

pray for the thunder and the rain - inkyfishes - 7k, T, Farah/Amanda "A Farah-centric slice of a possible future. Everything has gone wrong. Everything is broken. Farah works through her anxiety whilst beginning their lives on the run. Her place in the universe is, as yet, undecided." An excellent and all-too-brief glimpse into Farah’s psyche, with a steady undercurrent of Faranda.

i was born in a summer storm (i live there still) - janeseyre - 10k, G, Farah & Todd & Dirk "Farah confronts the vestiges of her past as she, Dirk, and Todd travel east to visit her mother. It turns out Farah isn’t as over her father’s death as she thought she was." A deeper look into Farah’s families, both biological and chosen; full of lovely little smile moments and Farah getting the closure she deserves.

Never Played It Cool - @lavellington - 1.8k, T, Farah/Amanda "Dude," Amanda says, squeezing her tight while her hair tickles Farah's face. "It's so good to see you." "You too," Farah says, meaning it, and when they break apart Amanda's hands linger on her shoulders for a second longer than they have to, and that's nice. That's enough to feed her borderline pathetic crush for a week, at least.” Short, sweet, a tiny bit steamy, and beautifully in-character.

Hold Her Fast - Lynds | @gold-from-straw - 11.9k, T, Farah/Amanda, AU "Farah Black is the new girl in Amanda's school, and she's captivating. Everyone has a story about her. Amanda just can't quite figure out why her entire being is so totally aware of her, why her skin prickles when she's around, why Farah looks more real than anyone else she's ever known." I’m not typically into high school AUs, but this one is funny, moving, angsty, and gloriously DEFIANT.

Firearms Proficiency 101 - @nekosmuse - 3k, T, Farah/Amanda "I can't believe you took me to your private shooting range on our first date. That is so punk." Do you enjoy awkward Faranda? ME TOO. Especially stuff like Farah saying: "I... I am... into you as well." These nerds <3

you will soothe my worried looks - orphan_account - 2k, T, Farah/Amanda “Farah sees a therapist. It's a strange journey, but not one she needs to take alone." I would read many thousands more words of Farah in therapy, honestly.

there's cell reception on this widow's walk - strix_alba - 2k, T, Farah/Tina "In which Tina sort-of-kind-of asks Farah to stay with her in Bergsberg, and Farah kind-of-sort-of wants to say yes." Clumsy flirting, Farina styles! Tina mentally describes the Jacket Team as a “bunch of hot, uptight weirdos,” which is p e r f e c t.

Coincidental - tastewithouttalent - 3.7k, M, Farah/Tina "It turns out that blue is a ridiculously good color against the dark of Farah’s skin, and also that that shirt fits her better than any shirt has any right to fit anyone, and also apparently Tina has more of a uniform kink than she realized she did." You just have to love a babbling, awkwardly-crushing Tina.

(Note: this rec list isn't meant to be About Me, buuuuut if you’re into DGHDA femslash, I’ve written a few Farina fics you might enjoy.)

Ghostbusters (2016) Celebrate the Me Yet To Come - Vera (Vera_DragonMuse), read by @revolutionaryjo - 6k, 37min, M, Jillian/Erin "She is deeply strange and strangely deep. She looks in the void and the void blinks first. This is how Jillian Holtzman makes herself." Holtzmann is such a fantastically odd character, it's so enjoyable to dig into her past and her passions.

i don't wanna give you up (i don't wanna let you love somebody else but me) - @notcaycepollard, read by RevolutionaryJo - 3k, 20min, E, Jillian/Erin "Erin Gilbert is not the second or even the fifth straight girl Jillian’s ever fallen for, and it’s kind of getting to be a problem, except when she sees Dr Erin Gilbert, she thinks, maybe, this woman might be a statistical outlier." Closely observed, funny, hot, and the narrative voice is perfect.

Gilmore Girls Suggestions (And Mallomars) - Mosca | @moscarific, 3.3k, T, Rory/Paris "Identity, chocolate, mother-daughter relations, and the importance of voting: scenes from the first 90 days." Hands down, this is a more plausible (and enjoyable) romance than any of the ones that actually occurred in canon.

Harry Potter Library Solicitation - @gracerene09 - 1k, G, Cho/Hermione "It's not as if it's unusual for a solicitor to spend so much time in the Law Library of the Ministry of Magic. Hermione has a lot of cases to prepare for, after all. It certainly has nothing to do with how helpful and interesting and surprisingly funny their newest librarian is." As a librarian, I'm verrrry picky about librarian fics, but this was adorable.

The violets and the bloodroot - @lbmisscharlie - 908 words, G, Hermione/Luna "Luna strokes the underside of one tentacle; the plant hums. Hermione’s skin feels warm, her breath humid. The Room of Requirement offers up many things." Short, but vivid and memorable.

Winter Like a Balm - Lomonaaeren - 2k, T, Ginny/Luna "The first winter after Fred's death, Ginny escapes into the Forbidden Forest with Luna and her unicorns." A gentle but deeply felt story about grief and loss that brings Ginny through to the other side, to the terror/joy of allowing herself to feel hopeful again.

Grazed Knees - montparnasse - 5k, T, Luna/Ginny "The war is over, except that it isn't, and Ginny is done fighting, except that she's not." The mood in this one is so evocative, and I love it so much.

Blood Magic and Rebirth (or, The One Where They Are All Feminist Academics) - notcaycepollard - 1k, G "Moon cups, Luna thinks. Moon cups and blood magic. And she remembers the old itch under her skin, and a music box fluttering into a flock of birds, and wonders just how powerful it could be." Not femslash, but this fic is 1000% headcanon for me now.

Trust A Few - @violetclarity - 13.2k, T, Hermione/Pansy "Hermione has a pregnant adopted sister, parents who don’t believe she’s bisexual, and a crush the size of the Great Lake on Pansy Parkinson. Taking Pansy up on her offer to be Hermione’s fake date to her parents’ Christmas dinner could solve at least one of those problems...but it could also make everything worse." Half holiday romcom, half character study of adult Hermione her relationships (both romantic and familial).

Independent Love Song - @writcraft - 6.2k, E, Ginny/Millie "Millicent Bulstrode is a tailor and Ginny is losing her mind over a woman in a tweed blazer and burgundy brogues." I saw the summary and thought “hell yes,” and then I read the fic and upgraded that to a “FUCK YES PLEASE.” I love dapper butch Millie, and just-out but all-in Ginny, and also I would like to own ALL of Millie’s clothes.

His Dark Materials Selected Moments in Introductory Symbology - @kaydeefalls - 5.6k, G, Lyra/OFC "Lyra in Oxford after the Fall, relearning the alethiometer and discovering a life of her own." A poignant yet hopeful follow-up to the original trilogy, with characterization that feels very authentic while still allowing for growth.  

Merlin A Statue Strong Enough for Two - @theladyragnell, read by exmanhater - 39k, 3hrs 30min, E, Elena/Mithian "Elena is a street-level superhero. A visit from an old enemy forces her to step up and see what she might have to do with the Sidhe who invaded and were sent away twenty years ago. Luckily, she has fellow superheroes to back her up, and a new girlfriend in her regular life to make things feel more normal." I admit that I was skeptical going in, but the characterization and world-building in this AU is strong and absorbing.

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Rise and reprove the insolent daylight - lbmisscharlie - 3k, E, Phryne/Mac "Mac takes a breath; Phryne exhales. The trailing skirt of Phryne’s shining dress – starlight and sparkle – brushes the backs of Mac’s hands as she slides them up to Phryne’s knees. Her stockings are soft; her thighs fall open, softly, under Mac’s hands, which clench, just slightly, with the heat that sends to her gut." Lush and laden with sensory details and weighty emotion

Every Day's Most Quiet Need - @tiltedsyllogism - 22k, unrated, Phryne/Mac, Phryne/Jack "Doctor Elizabeth Macmillan does not traffick in regrets...if Mac occasionally longs for a time before her friend became somehow distracted by the stiff shoe that is Inspector Jack Robinson— well, one must always endure some bad with the good." I love everything about this fic, but especially the closely observed characterization, of both individuals and relationships. There's a moment where Mac recognizes that she and Jack share a certain kind of "well-tailored" intensity...I almost shouted "YES THIS" when I read it.

et faisons la grasse matinée - mazily | @ylizam - 1k, M, Phryne/Mac, Phryne/Jack "'I do love you,' Mac says. She's not fond of saying it." Quiet, atmospheric, and sensual.

Sherlock How the mouth changes its shape - breathedout | @havingbeenbreathedout - 132k, E, Sherlock/Johnnie, AU “1955. A hidden London; the clandestine love between women. To Sherlock Holmes, struggling private detective and mistress of disguise, it’s a realm she renounced. To Johnnie Watson, daredevil ambulance driver turned auto mechanic, it’s too familiar.” Not only is this a deliciously plotty mystery with complex characterization, it’s also well-researched historical fiction. (Also recommended: HBBO’s Femslash and sex-writing essays.)

In the palms of the hands, invisible - lbmisscharlie - 3k, E, Sherlock/Jo "'I touch myself here, in this room, stretched out on the sofa, when you’re asleep, or showering, or – or in the kitchen –' Sherlock's breath hitches, almost imperceptibly, when Jo’s hand skitters, startled by the deep, rumbling rush of lust that pools low in her cunt at Sherlock’s words." The voice and characterization in this fic absolutely destroys me. It’s so uncomfortable and fascinating and real.

Diversionary Tactics - ShinySherlock, read by @fffinnagain- 2k, 16min, E, Molly/Irene, AU "Oh. This could be interesting. Irene’s fingers moved to the third button of the dress and paused. 'Shall I just . . . check the rest of you, then? Make sure you’re quite all right?'" A brief, hot, historical PWP, Mollrene style. UNF. Finnagain's performance is very...impassioned--maybe don't listen in public ;)

Supernatural To know what's under the floor - beckaandzac, read by exmanhater - 4k, 21min, G, Charlie/Jo, AU "No one here is like me, Jo thinks, and she knows it’s what every eighteen year old on the planet thinks. And she also knows in her case it’s completely justified. But then she meets Charlie." A college sorta-AU in which Charlie and Jo get something a lot closer to the lives they deserved.

Wonder Woman (2017) be yourself my ally - imperfectcircle - 15k, G, Diana/Etta 'That’s all very flattering,' Etta says when Diana has finally run out of steam, 'but surely you have more qualified candidates than me?' 'You are of the world of men.' Diana looks a little embarrassed. 'But not a man.' Diana and Etta go back to Themyscira." Did you wish for more Themyscira in the Wonder Woman movie? Did you think that Etta Candy was delightful and underutilized? ME TOO! Hence, my love for this fic.

Etta Candy's Last Stand - sanguinity - 2k, T, Diana/Etta "This is the way Etta is going to die: trapped between a bed and Diana Prince’s breasts." Bless Etta Candy and her dorky, romantic heart.

Beyond Belief - thingswithwings - 14k, E, Diana/Peggy, crossover "Diana finds her for the first time in 1947, underneath a rather heavy pile of fallen masonry." An unapologetically sexy crossover fic about camaraderie (and attraction) between two badass women.

Further fic recs | Fic bookmarks

#fic recs #femslash #Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency #Harry Potter #miss fisher's murder mysteries #bbc sherlock #code name verity #ghostbusters #gilmore girls #merlin #supernatural #his dark materials #wonder woman #dghda fic #hp fic #miss fisher's murder mystery fic #bbc sherlock fic #code name verity fic #ghostbusters fic #gilmore girls fic #merlin fic #supernatural fic #His Dark Materials fic #wonder woman fic #my recs #femslash february

[chocochipbiscuit]

Harry Potter for 1 and Luna Lovegood for 3.

001 | Harry Potter

Favorite character: Ginny Weasley! (though I would have said Hermione Granger 10 year ago :P) Even though we’re limited by Harry’s POV in the books, I really love how we get to glimpse this tiny girl who confronted a major villain and near-death experience grow up into someone bold and brash.

Least Favorite character: Oof. This is a hard one, because even though I may dislike a character as a person, I can still love them as a character? I’m going to pick Voldemort, not because he’s the villain, but because he is a very flat character that started out as a cartoonishly evil villain (which WORKED in the first few books!) and later attempts to add depth and interest to him completely failed for me.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): HOT DANG I HAVE SO MANY SHIPS!!!! I love Ginny/Luna, Fleur/Tonks, Remus/Sirius, Hermione/Krum, and Arthur/Molly.

Character I find most attractive: Tonks oh my god. Weird punky colorful Tonks.

Character I would marry: I feel like this relies a lot on headcanons and fanon??? And presuming that younger characters have been appropriately aged??? But probably Tonks. Though Neville also seems like a sweetheart.

Character I would be best friends with: Again, I feel like this would rely a lot on headcanons or fanon...I love Ginny a lot, but Ginny and Luna are canonically friends and I don’t think I’d be comfortable taking ‘best friend’ status away from Luna. Maybe Hermione? Though I also have uncomfortable memories of being a colossal nerd with few people skills, so we might just grate off each other if we went to Hogwarts together.

a random thought: Any ship with Snape is automatically HILARIOUS because you get to do portmanteau ship names starting with ‘Sn.’ Snupin. Snockhart. Snirius. Snucius. Snoldemort.

An unpopular opinion: I am not in HP fandom enough to know if this is actually unpopular, but: I don’t like Ron/Hermione.

My Canon OTP: The only ship I have that is remotely canon is Arthur/Molly!!!!

My Non-canon OTP: Fleur/Tonks!!!

Most Badass Character: Ginny!!!! I really love how she had her own arc and leadership position in the Hogwarts resistance!!!

Most Epic Villain: Voldemort doesn’t work for me as an epic villain, and while Draco is definitely antagonistic during most of the books, I feel like canon definitely tried to soften him later? So uh. I guess Bellatrix Black? She’s a villain but god I love when she chews the scenery.

Pairing I am not a fan of: Ron/Hermione. (Bonus! I am not a fan of Harry/Ginny either.)

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): Voldemort. There’s just so many Unfortunate Implications around the way the books try to set up parallels between Harry and Voldemort/Tom Riddle, and how ‘oh no he was incapable of love because he was born from this love potion/magical date rape drug’ and the way that Voldemort drains so much of his own narrative tension every time he actually speaks. Like. He works much better as a spooky big bad that others are afraid to talk about, but every time he actually shows up on-page from Book 4 on I’m incredibly more ‘meh’ about him.

Favourite Friendship: Ginny and Luna forever!!!!

Character I most identify with: Hermione. Likes to read, book-smart and not always great at actually dealing with people? (at least before book 4, where I think she was given a massive leap in emotional maturity to help buffer Harry and Ron. And then when we see her doing the secret jinx in Book 5.)

Character I wish I could be: I’m actually happy enough with myself at this point that I don’t think I wish to be any of the characters!

003 | Luna Lovegood:

How I feel about this character: Underrated fave. She’s such a sweetheart and in a weird way I’m glad she doesn’t get more pagetime in the books because I’m perfectly happy with my headcanons for her. :P

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: Ginny/Luna forever!!! I will also accept Luna/Neville and Ginny/Luna/Neville.

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Ginny and Luna’s friendship!

My unpopular opinion about this character: ...I’m not sure how unpopular this actually is? But I think that she and Arthur would have a lot in common, talking about ‘strange’ things that the rest of the wizarding world roll their eyes at. I think she would be fascinated by the strangeness of electricity and quantum physics, and see no reason to dismiss them.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Seeing Luna tutoring another character, or otherwise demonstrating that yes, she is clever in a lot of the more traditionally wizard-approved ways, but she genuinely is also interested in the magical cryptids that no one else believes in! The two are not mutually exclusive!!!

Favorite friendship for this character: I know I keep harping on Ginny and Luna but by gosh I love them!!!!

My crossover ship: I’m in a Dragon Age mood right now, so I gotta say: Luna/Merrill would be absolutely wild.

Thank you for the asks, I had fun! :D

(Questions come from this ask meme!)

#ask meme #meme things #detroitsredwings

[trueishcolours]

My siblings and I accidentally write a Ron/Victor Krum 4th year fix it fic in the group chat

Isabel: guyS

Rewatching goblet of fire

And I have to say

How amazing would it have if

It was a LOT less gendered

And also

If Ron and Krum had got together instead of Krum and Hermione

Thomas: Oh yeah there's so much Gender  

Isabel Ron already basically has a crush on Krum

Would have been great  

Thomas: idk, he's more jealous of him in my opinion  

Isabel: Nah

He has the action figure

He says he's an artist

It's definitely there

Thomas: Tru 

Clare: I mean on a superficial level I liked the Hermione/Krum part because it made me relate that a girl who is usually uninterested in 'feminine' things might still have some anxieties and take some interest now and again, and 'this super hot guy will like You, the Nerd' is standard wish fulfilment, but honestly I could take it or leave it. A grumpy feminist could equally well read it as 'EVEN smort girls like Hermione want to be feminine REALLY uwu'

And that would be a boring analysis but the whole feminine versus not argument is boring and not what we're here for

Anyway

The Krum drama kicks off the Romione subplot and honestly I hate Romione as a ship, to me it feels forced from beginning to end

But Ron/Krum would tie in really nicely to the whole character arc for Ron that JKR started in the first book and then forgot about where he evolves into an amazing intelligent badass without noticing it

Picture: He is dooting along, vaguely bummed because he's nothing special compared to his older bros, then in book four he realises wait he DOES stand out from others because he's gay/bi/whatever but he's not sure he WANTS that because standing out for being a minority is a fucking hassle but by the seventh book he is war hero, chess master and gay icon and vaguely confused about it

Hell, you could even have Hermione go to the ball with Krum, get her girly character development in and have Ron freak out and both of them /assume/ it's about her when it's not

It would just

Be better Thomas: Queer theory saves the day once again

Clare: :D  

Isabel: JUST BASICALLY RON, ALL THE TIME, WITH A BETTER CHARACTER ARC

Thomas: I love this  

Isabel: Honestly decades later I am still just so salty about Ron's lack of development, hell, anti development. I just want everything for him

Clare: Like, not to make it automatically angsty just because it's gay but Ron being Not Straight ties in so well with his typical theme of qualities that he think make him less than Textbook Perfect actually being his great strengths (I read a great analysis that Ron actually achieves all his brothers' goals without trying or noticing)

Ron just utterly stalls as a character in the books

And Harry is a shitty friend to him by the end

She kind of pulled it back with his deathly hallows arc but it was bungled and could have come across as just bashing him

Isabel: HE IS. Ron is so taken for granted.

Clare: God, Ron is SO much less of a dick if his yelling at Hermione in book four is coming out of Sudden Repressed Realisation, not just 'woman I like is doing something I don't like'

Isabel: I watched film 4 last night and just everyone??? Is so horrible to each other??? All the time??? I swear in the books it's so much better handled

Other reasons why bi/gay Ron headcanon is important: - most masculine of the trio/ has a million big brothers so dealing with toxic masculinity/ bucking queer stereotypes in there too - an extra 'fuck you' to the whole pure blood thing which I reckon is really homophobic as it means your bloodline won't get continued or some shit - Krum coaching Ron on Keeping in bad English. Tell me it's not cute. - Ron's a linguist (he learnt parselmouth on like 2 listens)!! Tell me he wouldn't learn Bulgarian?! - just, chaotic bilingual Quidditch talk, all the time, forever?!

Clare: UM your pidgin Quiddich is now my new fave headcanon forever????? You're SO RIGHT Ron is smart, he's just not academic. He would DEFINITELY pick up a language fast if he was using it to talk to his boyfriend/about quiddich

Isabel: EXACTLY

Clare: Plus all the stuff you said about toxic masculinity and purebloodism.

MAKE THE SUBTEXT TEXTUAL, YOU COWARDS

Isabel: #giveRonaBoyfriend2k18

Also not around for the lowkey weirdness of Ron and Harry dating CANONICALLY IDENTICAL AND BORING non white girls to the Yule Ball

I know that you can overdo all this stuff but seriously the fuck

Clare: It is a bit odd and icky   

Isabel: Ok so this is what happens

Krum asks Hermione to the Yule Ball and it's like she gets her cute moment with him

But then instead of spending the whole evening being a whiny bish Ron shows un-JKR-characterisation-characteristic maturity and puts a brave face on it and talks to them both

He's upset but doesn't full on ruin their evenings

And then Hermione after the ball, (gradually realising with slight horror that she and Krum actually have literally nothing in common) kind of keeps... asking... Ron to hang out with them

And at first Ron's like lol no way am I third wheeling

But then the temptation to hang out with his literal idol becomes too strong

And he and Krum start hanging out independently of Hermione

(who's probably in the lib helping Harry study for the second task at this point anyway)

The weather is still too cold for Quidditch

Ron thinks

But somehow Ron ends up playing anyway

IN THE SNOW

WITH VICTOR

HE'S GETTING COACHED BY AN ACTUAL WORLD CUP FINAL SNITCH CATCHING PLAYER AND HE IS NOT CHILL

Clare: Hoooooly fuck this is perfect

(except he actually is because it's like -10 and snowing what the fuck Krum) Ron putting his big boy panties on and dealing during the ball, leading to him actually having an in with Krum via Hermione

I love the dynamic of Hermione just...awkwardly asking her friends to hang with them...just to break the silence...

Isabel: YEAH EXACTLY

And then them all actually having a nice evening

Clare: I mean the point of Krum with her was to get that 'YASSSS I'm dating a hot guy!' moment WHILE ALSO showing how easily it fizzles, so nothing needs to change there

Hermione could even do her 'ugh, quiddich and BOYS' routine

Isabel: Awkward because of course it is awkward what is a teenage party without angst but also, fun

yeah exactly! the slow dawning that fuuuuck, I've just brought another stupid quidditch boi into my life oh god why

Clare: Ron still knows more about the history of the game and all the technical terms than Harry so has more to talk to Krum about

Isabel: And then you know Ron and Krum stumble back into the castle with Ron wearing Krum's hat à la Chad and Ryan, and Skeeter doesn't bat an eyelid because it doesn't fit her trashy narrative

Clare: RIGHT I've got to sleep I'm getting a cold but I love this

Isabel: ok go sleep

OK ONE MORE POINT

we almost certainly get the insanely awkward 'think you're in luurve Ron' or 'lol if you love Krum so much you should date him not Hermione'! moment from either Fred or George or maybe Ginny

And there's just a kind of... missing step moment

Clare: I think all of them would do that

I mean they're pretty mean to Ron anyway, especially about love

Isabel: Exactly they're all horrible but MAYBE this would teach them!!

Clare: Exactly! It would rip the rug out from under them and they'd be like wait shit

Isabel: We are actually mean to Ron... a lot

Clare: Especially because in this timeline Ron still gets the hassle from his sibs but unlike in the main timeline where he is just butt monkey forever he has the trump card that he's got a boyfriend who's a world famous quiddich player

Like, if you're Fred, George, Ginny or even Molly you can't really come back from that reveal. Ron wins.

Isabel: Krum actually being a laser focussed guy who gives people he cares about 300% of his attention

And middle child syndrome attention starved Ron just soaks it up like a blooming Icelandic kid under a sunlamp

Ron win evertiem

Clare: Yeahhhhhh. Being a prodigy who's trained from such a young age he's got to nail that work life balance and it's like 90% work 10% life but that life is INTENSE, he's seen too many people lose their relationships because they won't switch off their metaphorical phones during dates, he gets one (1) month a year and about three (3) important people and when it is Person Time it is PERSON TIME

Right bed for eal I'm dying

Isabel: BED FOR EEL

UGH ALL I WANT IN MY LIFE IS THE 50K+ SLOW BURN QUEER 4TH YEAR REWRITE

BUT I LEGIT DON'T HAVE TIME TO WRITE IT AND I DON'T TRUST MYSELF TO GET RON POV RIGHT ANYWAY

Clare: Bebs I wish you could write it

The raw chemistry my goodness

I ship it now

Is there going to be 'you are treating me like an idol not a real person please stop' angst at any point?

Isabel: OF COURSE THERE IS

Clare: Also Krum is like 'I knew I could trust you because you are bffs with Harry Potter and you treat him like he's totally normal you must be so mature and cool he is so so lucky to have a friend like you

Or well, Krum insecurity that people only like him because of his celeb status anyway

Which is probably why he went for Hermione in the first place because she didn't give a shit

'WOULD WE EVEN BE TOGETHER IN THE FIRST PLACE IF IT WASN'T FOR QUODDICH?'

'... I love you.'

'Bro I wouldn't care if you were the worst player in the world as long as we both are fans of the sport together.'

'Bro.'

Isabel: BRUH

Also can I just ask...?

What happens in the second task??!!?

It's already messed up enough under that lake, love triangles all over the place

This would just be the final straw that resulted in everyone just shrugging and teaming up

Clare: Holy shit

Krum just doots along, takes Ron and goes

Harry's like...wait what...OK...um I guess Hermione and Ron are equally important to me so I'll just take her kk

Isabel: Krum and Ron appearing on the surface of the lake like 'fuck'

The most dramatic declaration of intent ever

Turning yourself into a shark and rescuing them from the bottom of a lake

Clare: Everybody in the stands is SHOOK

Dumbledore like dang I did not predict this

With their hair soaking wet they are both at maximum hot

Isabel: Rita Skeeter's quill combusts

Clare: Krum doesn't point her out as a beetle in Hermione’s hair he's too busy with Ron

Isabel: Yeah she's like where is my gossip at??? Nothing is happening over in Hermione's hair

But yeah I feel like Dumbledore would be like, oh darn, looks like I'm gonna have to show queer solidarity with Ronald Weasely or something

KRUM AT THE BURROW VERY SERIOUSLY COMPLIMENTING MOLLY ON HER FOOD AND ASKING FOR BRITISH RECIPES AND WINNING HER OVER IN A TRICE

Clare: Would Krum charm Molly straight away though? He's very surly and shy and, in the books, not very handsome. Wouldn't Molly start out yikes who is this quiddich yob my son has taken up with?

Ginny on the other hand. Comes out as bi a couple of years later, tells Ron she only started to realise thanks to his example, apologises for being a dick about his love life

Isabel: Yeah I guess actually

I think Molly can get fierce

Clare: She's probably got a bit of pure blood/homophobic anxiety that she cloaks as objections about THIS PARTICULAR boy

Isabel: Either she loves you and adopts you right away or she is like /pulling shotgun down from the shelf/

EXACTLY

She's like

Blaming herself, oh I should have paid more attention and NOW look what's happened

Poor Ronald, always neglected

And Ron's like... mum... this is great

I am happy

Is not problem

Clare: Ron is like I AM NOT DOING THIS FOR ATTENTION JESUS CHRIST

I mean he's probably enjoying having the attention of a quiddich super star and I bet he'd even enjoy the celebrity status of The Boyfriend a bit (best friends get sidelined but romantic partners are news) but he's not doing it FOR attention

Isabel: Yeah, and I think the suggestion that he is would just make him so mad

First confused and then mad

Oh the ANGST

Clare: Especially since that's Krums biggest anxiety

Isabel: Mr Weasely would be chill. I feel like in this whole equation he is the chillest

Clare: What would Percy say? Would social climbing or doing the done thing win out?

Also the attention thing is a way for parents to make their child's relationship all about them. Oh you want me to LOVE you more! No mum I'm growing away from you this is normal

I think Ron would get jealous around Bill and Charlie because they'd swing in all oh our brother is rebellious and has a cool boyfriend? Well we are cool rebels also welcome to the family Victor

Isabel: Yeah... I think Percy is probably pretending to be chill with it and being a bit smarmy to Krum then says something awkward and homophobic and it's worse than if he'd just said it straight up

Clare: I think a lot of Liberal but still pure blood families would take the line of, 'it's fine that you're gay...because you're the sixth son so your blood line isn't in danger and making a socially advantageous match is probably more important for you anyway! And Ron is like Y I K E S

Isabel: Yeah exactly, well I suppose you have enough sons Molly amirite

What do we think about the Krum family?

Are they just happy that their son is forming human relationships

Clare: Hmm. How do they feel about celebrity? Do they think Ron is Not Good Enough or are they actually quite a normal family and are glad Krum has an ordinary guy to keep him grounded?

Isabel: I kind of don't want Ron to have to deal with random Bulgarian disapproval

I think maybe a quite normal family who had a kid who was a genius and has been at boarding school/ travelling for years and years

Maybe Krum already came out to them so that drama is in the past

Clare: Yeah and when he brings Ron home for dinner they're just delighted that Krum is home at all and that he's happy

Yeah maybe he did

He's probably had a lot of time to introspect because of his image and maybe he's an only child?

Isabel: And Ron speaks accented but ok Bulgarian by this point and they're like !!!

Clare: I think one aspect of the large family thing that WOULD affect Ron is its just that much harder to have a private word with your parents so confiding about yourself, especially when you're not 100% sure, just isn't part of the family culture

And there's no time for introspection when you're jockeying for position with six siblings

So Krum is out to his parents while Ron isn't even out to himself

Plus Krums just that bit older

Isabel: No, when you ask for a word it's all 'yes Ron' a bit exasperated

Clare: Krum’s family are just delighted that Ron speaks Bulgarian and is a normal guy who likes their son for himself

Isabel: Maybe they have some kind of cool engineery job and Ron goes out the back and is like well my dad likes cars I will try and help

Uses his mathsy chessy knowledge

Clare: Re. Homophobia I think it is important that it's not all YOU'RE GOING TO HELL like the Muggle brand but instead is very focused on producing pure blood children. Also with the smallness of the pure blood community I bet there's a lot of, not official arranged marriage, but kind of assumed marriage, like in Pride and Prejudice or what may have happened with Prince William and Kate, like, there's three girls your age who your family's on speaking terms with who aren't your first cousins and it'll massively throw off everybody's plans if you don't marry one of them

Yes Ron helping with engineering

Isabel: Headcanon of the Krums as magical engineers with a side passion for quidditch

Clare: I bet he picks up arithmancy that way. Can't learn it in the classroom, can learn it in the garage. And he comes home from the holiday able to actually help his dad with the car and thenceforth Mr Weasley is on board

Isabel: Yeah exactly... they're a bit 'sigh ok this means you're not gonna marry bertha from the bakery but hell at least it's not a veela'

Clare: Also wizarding society is inherently conservative, they haven't even updated their writing system, so anybody doing anything different is looked askance at unless they can play themselves as a genius eccentric like Dumbledore

Isabel: So yeah then Ron turns out to be WHOLESOME af and Krum’s family are like... ok fine. this is fine. In fact yay!

Ok I have to go do some work but this has been almost as good as having the fic itself

Clare: Maybe I'll put a summary on my tumblr and see if anybody wants to adopt it

#harry potter #ron weasley #victor krum #hermione granger #fanfiction #monstrous conversations