merlinsbudgiesmugglers

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I would love to have an EV (just not a Tesla), but as a renter, there's no guarantee of a power source in my parking spot and most apartment buildings don't have easily accessible power sources in the garages, so it's not feasible until I own a home

please do not go so hard at "Elon is terrible and the Cybertruck is a dumpster fire" (which is true) that you somehow make your way to "electric cars are all ticking time bombs" (which is false, and mostly said by people who want to keep driving combustion engine cars perpetually because they think the climate crisis is made up)

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Quick Start for the Ladies of HP Fest 2024

Welcome to the Ladies of HP Fest! This post is your quick start guide to the fest and how it works.

Themes: Every two weeks, from 28 April 2024 to 31 August 2024, there will be a new theme. You can check the themes and dates on the 2024 Schedule.

Writing/creating: Minimum fic word count for the main fest is 200*; no artwork 'time' amount, but use your best judgment to show something that took effort. The full rule list can be found here, and the FAQ list can be found here.

Posting: When you're done, post the work to the 2024 AO3 collection. It will be unrevealed until the mod reveals it. There is no set reveal schedule; it's a come as you are, come as you go sort of fest, and no set commitment to any week. You can post ahead of time, but the fic won't be revealed until the theme arrives. Please include the theme in your author notes.

If you have questions, ask. Happy creating!

*If you're participating in our monthly minis, the minimum word count is only 100.

#signal boost #ladies of hp fest

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#i don't mind it until people repeatedly get it wrong #like i correct them #and they still get it wrong

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MISS CONGENIALITY | 2000 

bonus:

#can confirm that all i needed was a light jacket today

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you wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me

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The Noble and most Ancient House of Black discord celebrates 25 years of PoA

Prisoner of Azkaban, aka the Book of the Fave, is coming up to its 25-year anniversary.

To celebrate, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black Discord will be holding a small fest.

From the 23rd-25th May, either share in the discord, send me an ask or tag me (and I will reblog) in any Sirius-related stuff you want to share:

PoA microfics

Moodboards

Art

Headcannons

Anything else you want to share to celebrate.

Rules: No character or ship bashing.

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#bridgerton

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the self care industry will sell you face masks and teas and whatnot so i'm here to remind you not to forget the most important self care activity which is masturbation

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in what universe.

#anti-regulus

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James: why don’t you have a bf?

Lily: cause my parents aren’t really cool with that yet

Lily: what about you? Why don’t you have a gf?

James: cause your parents aren’t okay with it, yet

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"why can't they just be friends" not in the homophobic way but in the "their platonic relationship in the source material is far more dynamic and complex than the sanitized personalities they gain as a result of shipping" way

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Padfoot: Grief and the liminal space

This is the second part of my series exploring Harry’s grief for his parents in PoA.

In my last post I discussed how through learning to fight the dementors, Harry was able to confront his repressed grief and emotions.

And in this post I will argue how Padfoot symbolises both the liminal space between life and death and grief and acceptance.

1.0 The Purgatory of Azkaban and the line between life and death.

Within the wizarding universe, Azkaban serves as something that the philosopher Michel Foucault would describe as a Heterotopia. This term is used to

‘.....describe certain cultural, institutional and discursive spaces that are somehow ‘other’: disturbing, intense, incompatible, contradictory or transforming.’ Wikipedia

Within Azkaban this ‘transformation’ forms part of the punishment and the institution is designed to break the will-power of its occupants and transform them to a form of ‘living-death.’

Indeed, the Dementors (who are on the surface a symbol of depression) are imbued with death-imagery. Not only are they cloaked in a manner similar to Western depictions of the Grim Reaper but they are described as having hands that are,

‘... glistening, greyish, slimy-looking and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water …’ PoA

Therefore, the Dementors occupy a space between life and death and so does the punishment they administer which is described as:

‘You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you’ll have no sense of self any more, no memory, no ... anything. There’s no chance at all of recovery. You’ll just – exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone for ever ... lost.’

Even the prison they guard seems to occupy this liminal space between life and death.

Azkaban is set on an island in the North sea and this ‘island-prison’ trope is rooted in Dante’s travels to Purgatory in his poem ‘The Divine Comedy.’

During the poem, Dante traverses the afterlife and dedicates an entire section to his travels in ‘Purgatorio’ or Purgatory (a space between life, damnation and salvation).

Figure one: A visual representation of Dante's purgatory

Dante describes Purgatory as an island and it is often visually depicted as a tower which is very similar to the film depiction of Azkaban.

Within the space, ‘sinners’ are held in seven terraces according to their sin and are ‘held in place’ not just by bars and physical restrictions but by ‘divine punishments’ which are related to their sins. For example, in the tier for Wrath, the souls walk around blinded by acrid smoke which represents the blinding rage of anger.’

Indeed Purgatory operates by overwhelming ‘sinners’ with their ‘sin’ and thus removing their autonomy to leave. As Dante points out, ‘ascending’ through purgatory to paradise is possible but requires sinners to overcome their sin.

This is similar to how Azkaban holds it’s prisoners trapped within their own minds and is ‘tiered’ according to sin.

Figure two: Visual depiction of Azkaban

Within this space of ‘living-death’ Sirius Black (one of the most guarded prisoners), is able to ground himself in the world of the living and fight the effects of the Dementor-induced Purgatory by shifting into the space of Padfoot’s mind,

‘so when it all became . . . too much ... I could transform in my cell . . . become a dog. ...” PoA

So despite the Black dog being a symbol of death, Padfoot becomes Sirius’s means of clinging to the world of the living during his time in Azkaban.

As within the folk-lore of many cultures (but for this purpose mainly the UK), Black dogs symbolise death and even the nick- name ‘Padfoot’ is defined as,

‘A large dog, variously said to be a ghost, spirit, or monster, supposed to guard graves and to terrify travelers.’

Indeed even when ‘free’ from Azkaban Sirius continues to hold the duality of life and death as although free from the Purgatory of Azkaban he spends the remainder of his life a hunted man existing (not fully living) on the edges of wizarding society.

2.0 Padfoot, the grim and reconciling with grief.

As readers the first time we encounter Padfoot is when Harry flees the Dursleys after having used accidental magic.

In my previous analysis, I spoke about Harry’s repressed grief towards his parents being brought to the surface by the dementors.

Here I will argue that his first step on the path of confronting his grief, occurs here where he has his first angry outbursts at the Dursleys despite their years of abuse.

Within this scene it is interesting to note that Marge is speaking in dog-breeding terms before Harry loses control of his magic,

‘...It’s one of the basic rules of breeding,” she said. “You see it all the time with dogs. If there’s something wrong with the bitch, there’ll be something wrong with the pup. — ” PoA

And when Harry flees the house in anger rooted in repressed grief, he sees Padfoot for the first time.

Symbolically leaving the space of his care-givers who don’t care for him and coming face-to-face with someone who he will agree to live with by the end of the book (agreeing to become Padfoot’s pup).

Also having begun the journey of confronting his grief which will ultimately culminate in his acceptance that the memory of his father lives within him ( and occupy the liminal space between grief and acceptance).

And while Harry’s grief is still repressed, Padfoot appears several times as a symbol of death instead of embodying his duality.

‘’Oh, I wouldn’t read that if I were you,” said the manager lightly, looking to see what Harry was staring at. “You’ll start seeing death omens everywhere. It’s enough to frighten anyone to death.”

But Harry continued to stare at the front cover of the book; it showed a black dog large as a bear, with gleaming eyes. It looked oddly familiar. …’ PoA

He appears again during the chapter ‘Grim Defeat,’ right before Harry falls from his broom,

‘....the silhouette of an enormous shaggy black dog, clearly imprinted against the sky, motionless in the topmost, empty row of seats…’ PoA

And it is while in the hospital-wing recovering from the fall that Harry realises that the screams he is hearing belong to his dying mother (see my previous meta about this).

The final time Padfoot is seen in PoA is during the chapter ‘The dementor’s kiss,’ Where Harry and Hermione hear,

‘....they heard a yelping, a whining: a dog in pain. …’

They follow the sound and find,

‘The yelping stopped abruptly. As they reached the lakeshore, they saw why — Sirius had turned back into a man.’

At this moment Padfoot is unable to keep Sirius grounded in the world of the living and instead he is,

‘He was crouched on all fours, his hands over his head.’

This is symbolic of prayer and could be seen as an attempt by Sirius to ‘pray for his soul’ so as to not be dragged into the purgatory of being administered with the Kiss.

This version of Harry is unable to save them and without access to Padfoot (which he had used to protect them from Lupin’s werewolf form), Sirius is also unable to save them.

And at this point, Harry has accepted Sirius as his godfather and thus is no longer scared by the Death-omen of Padfoot, so subconsciously as accepted the duality of life and death which Padfoot represents.

So when Padfoot disappears, the future version of Harry is able to rescue them by tapping into his own duality of grief and acceptance and conjuring Prongs.

Indeed, the journey’s of Harry’s grief within this book can be best summarised by the following quote:

“You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don’t recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble? Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you have need of him. How else could you produce that particular Patronus? Prongs rode again last night.”

#excellent metas #the best sirius takes in fandom

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something we agreed we like about uncle vernon is that despite like, personally suffering at the hands of wizards pretty significantly (dudley’s tail, marge), vernon is like, always ready to fuck with wizards? like he is SO SCARED of them but he’s always ready to fight? please take this moment to imagine uncle vernon meeting voldemort

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yeah sex is cool I guess

but have you ever had someone leave a comment with a paragraph-long review of your fanfic containing genuine praise, thorough criticism, and an in-depth analysis of all the lore hints you dropped that you spent ages intricately crafting