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ham1lton · 2 days

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TEN THINGS F1 DRIVER Y/N L/N CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT — GQ.

— part of my maneater series.

Y/N (throwing her hat in the air with one hand and catching it in the other without looking): see? told you i could do it! not my only party trick.

Y/N: hi gq! i’m y/n l/n, formula one driver and i’m here to show you my ten essentials.

NUMBER ONE: IPAD

Y/N: first, has to be my ipad. this was my first big purchase and seeing my bank account being drained of that money almost caused a heart attack. but this bad boy helps me to organise my life, stops me from being bored on flights, keeps me in contact with my family and lets me write my notes. so yeah, thanks apple. also you guys should sponsor me.

NUMBER TWO: NOISE CANCELLING HEADPHONES

Y/N: i never used to travel a lot. when i was younger, my family couldn’t afford it so flying around a lot was a big shock to my system. obviously as in f1, drivers are required to fly to different races and it means i had to get over my fear of flying. these help a lot with that. these plus a spotify playlist made by my angsty teenage self will make me forget about the fact i’m flying. these are my favourite ones, i have multiple pairs just in case.

NUMBER TWO AND A HALF: MUSIC.

Y/N: i guess this sort of goes off the second one? but music. i keep trying to bribe the engineers to build a blue tooth radio in the car but to no avail. spotify has been my biggest supporter all of these years. i know i’m sponsored by them now but i have been using my account for almost seven years now? so my algorithm is perfection. it truly has helped me so much. i listen to music on the way to races, on the way back from races, in my house, outside my house, cleaning, cooking and even when i’m in the shower. yes, i’m a shower singer. once i get in there, i’m beyoncé!

OFF SCREEN VOICE: what was the last song you listened to?

Y/N: one second, let me see. it was the twilight soundtrack in particular decode by paramore. told you i was an angsty teen!

NUMBER THREE: EMERGENCY BAG

Y/N: okay this sounds bad, it’s not as much an emergency bag as in like medical supplies but more so like extra toothbrush, toothpaste, menstrual products, lotion and other stuff like that. i always carry this with me anywhere in case my suitcase goes missing. it has helped me and my friends out so many times so it’s definitely an essential for me.

NUMBER FOUR: HER CAMERAS.

Y/N: i picked up photography relatively recently and this was the starter camera that the guy in the shop recommended. so this is that camera. for this one, i vlog, which you guys might have seen and this is the camera i use for those videos. i actually don’t record my videos, one of my friends or family or colleagues or whoever will film and i will be in front of the camera. it’s my favourite part when i ask the camera person to reveal themselves and they do their own little introduction. i obviously provide the camera for it. which is this beauty right here.

OFF SCREEN VOICE: who has been your favourite person to film you?

Y/N: i have had a lot of people film me. my most recent being rihanna for my recent holiday vlog! so many people to the point that i genuinely don’t think i could choose a favourite. i mean, i’ve had my sister do it a lot so i guess i can choose her. she knows my angles best!

NUMBER FIVE: LIPGLOSS

Y/N: when i won my first championship and i kissed the camera, the amount of calls from makeup companies my manager received was actually obscene. i think i got so many comments on social media asking what makeup i use and how it stays on throughout the race! to be honest, i don’t always wear makeup but in the original video, i was wearing this fenty gloss. it’s in the shade fu$$y. so, yeah, at least no one can call me a gatekeeper! i always keep it on me. i feel a little more ready to face the world with lipgloss. now, i have my own fenty collection! so check that out.

NUMBER SIX: HER LUCKY SHOES.

Y/N: okay i know i say i’m not necessarily a superstitious person but these shoes have been with me from f3 until now. every race i’ve worn these, i’ve won. so i like having them around. i think they bring luck. i can’t wear them any longer as they’ve worn through the soles now. really annoying but we power through.

NUMBER SEVEN: WINGSTOP BLACK CARD

Y/N: i was really craving wingstop one night. so me and my sister were in london? i think and i vlogged our hunt for wingstop and they reached out to me to give me a black card. i know, isn’t it gorgeous? i was so happy. too bad i have to cut down on what i eat thanks to my nutritionist, but my siblings and friends love this thing.

NUMBER EIGHT: SKINCARE ROUTINE

Y/N: okay, so i’m trying to get more consistent with my skincare but it’s not necessarily working the way i want it to. however, i still stick to the basics. sunscreen, cleanser and moisturiser. i really like keeping my skincare on check as there is this unsaid rule that women have to wear makeup in their jobs and if i keep my skin looking good then i can skirt that rule. i love this cream in particular, it’s moisturising but very light on the skin. best of both worlds.

NUMBER NINE: NECKLACE

Y/N: this was given to me as a gift from my family when i turned eighteen. it was a necklace that i’d had my eye on for a very, very long time. they saved up for so long to buy it for me and it’s become my signature piece. i wear it around my neck constantly. it’s weird having it off my neck to show you.

(she fastens it around her neck quickly)

Y/N: now i feel normal again.

NUMBER TEN: MY PADDOCK PASS

Y/N: i am so bad with keeping my paddock pass on me. for people who don’t know what this is, this allows me access to the garage and things like that. i usually keep it around my neck because if its in my pocket or my bag i’ll forget. my assistant sometimes carries mine. i’m not going to show you my picture because it’s awful. i had woke up really early after no sleep and one of the staff had made me take the picture. now i am forced to wear this monstrosity at work. i keep it hidden as much as i can. last time, lando saw it and laughed so hard he cried so yeah.

author’s note: this was hard as i wanted to keep it as vague as possible so that you can relate it to your own maneater! i’m still taking questions/asks/requests so please send some in!

#jayde’s works ☆#maneater ꕤ #formula one x reader #f1 smau #f1 imagine #formula 1 x reader #f1 x reader #formula 1 imagine #f1 fanfic #formula one imagine #f1 texts #formula one smau #formula 1 #formula one

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mysterycitrus · 3 days

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Quick question about how you decide what comics to care about? When it comes to characterization?

I know there’s comics that are generally considered ooc and no one really incorporates them into their characterizations. (Eg: I skimmed All Star Batman and Robin for fun. I now understand why people call him Crazy Steve, and I’m obviously not going to be taking this particular iteration of Batman and Robin into account when characterizing them.) But other than these really obvious instances, how do you deal with it? Like, I know fans of pre-N52 comics avoided a lot of stuff during that time? But now that we’re in Rebirth? I know that characterization in comic fandoms is always a bit thorny because of comic books as a medium, with all those different writers, timeline resets, etc… But you seem to have a really good handle on that, cause whenever I read any of your stuff and then read a comic, I’m usually like, yeah, same person here. Which I think is a feat! So, do you sort on vibes? Writers? Another metric? Case by case? TLDR: How do you deal when a character canonically says/does something that makes you go, “he would not fucking say that?”

Love your blog! And your writing!!!! Thank you!!!!!

ahh, crazy steve. what a guy (derogatory)

hmmmmmm for me personally if im writing a character i generally identify a “core” comic, regardless of retcons or conflicting characterisation, and then go off that. im reading a lot of bart allen atm so i focused on mark waid and todd dezago and completely ignored everything geoff johns has done with the character. for dick, scott snyder and judd winick are kinda the benchpoint for me, and then i kinda pick and choose (from wolfman, dixon, higgins, etc) what i think fits with that character. jason is easy cause he’s only had two comics worth anyone’s time. weirdly, some of roys best comics are written by devin grayson. so on and so forth.

wrt “he wouldn’t fucking say that” disease of which i am a chronic sufferer, I look back on dick (as an example) and his legacy characterisation, and whether or not it would make sense. not all legacy characterisation is good, mind!! but it’s generally easier to get a good benchmark if u go off a period when writers weren’t terminally on twitter. a lot of it is case by case, and i just map that in my brain

idk like SO much of it is just vibes and trying to create some internal consistency. like u said — there is so much conflicting characterisation and plotting and events that it can be very difficult so u just kinda have to trust ur own intuition. when i first posted persephone and got positive feedback for how i wrote dick I was kinda surprised — cause how i write him tends to clash with his popular depiction in both fandom and many modern comics. ig my real advice if ur writing (or reading) about these characters is to not fear complexity, and be conscious of exactly how racist most comic writers are.

#so sweet!!! but yeah comics can be whack #never fear conflicting characterisation !!! pick ur own adventure!!#Dick grayson #nightwing #dc comics #Batman #the ask and the answer

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nin-carab-nidh-madt · 3 days

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I have thought on Jadzia Dax from Star Trek Deep Space 9.

I'm currently rewatching the show (midway season 2), probably my 4th watch through over 8 years? My first time with slightly more youtube-essay-driven media analysis skills. I'm enjoying picking up on a lot more things than I used to but there's one thing that bugs me above all else.

Jadzia Dax doesn't really have a strongly defined character that shines through.

I've spent a while thinking about it. Obviously as a science officer its a little harder to tell stories the audience can understand and relate to compared to Odo's murder investigating or Sisko's exasperated diplomacy, but her stories have issues greater than that.

Both the stories centred on Dax, in season 1 where she stands trial for a crime supposedly committed by a former host, and in season 2 where someone tries to steal her symbiont, are about things that happen to Dax. Not the things Dax does. She is neither the perspective character through which we can see the world of Star Trek, with her own unique views and feelings, nor is she the one actively moving the plot forwards. She's either the victim who sacrifices herselr or quite literally refuses to do anything. Unfortunately this is quite a common failing of writing that's easy to fall into, writing about a character instead of the character making decisions that drive the plot. Its one that sci fi writing at the time seemed to do quite often with a lot (but not all) female characters. Ivanova and Talia from Babylon 5 fall victim to this too, especially in early seasons. In contrast, Major Kira, and even Ezri Dax later on have stronger characterisation and are the centre of their own stories.

I doubt this was intentional, its clear through the successes of writing other characters in the show that the writers, actors, and showrunners are trying to make everyone alive and meaningful, so what went wrong?

Looking at Jadzia Dax's character, I think what's clearly missing is a strong drive for her character. No real desires or vulnerabilities. No questions either. To provide constrasting examples:

Odo (who gets almost too much screen time in season 1) is clearly driven by a sense of justice no matter whatever starfleet rules say. He's in constant conflict with Quark, ever vigilant, somewhat isolated from other people. No one ever asks "Why does Odo do what he does?" His motivations are clear, and they even tie it up with an extra motive that's very plot relevant: the mystery of where he comes from. All things a single episode writer can use and explore.

Major Kira has her own conflict with starfleet, her desire to do right by her own people, to get justice for Bajor, and always stand up for the underdog which creates really good stories as she struggles with her own values and constantly has to make choices that affect the story.

Bashir wants acclaim, accomplishment, romance, and also for everyone to like him. Quark wants profit without putting himself at risk. O'Brien wants to just do his job and go home to his family. Sisko wants to hold everything together with the responsibility of peace and reason on his shoulders while singlehandedly raising his son. Jake wants community, friends, and freedom in his life. Funnily enough Ezri Dax has far better drive. Trying to figure out what she wants in life, handling this enormous change and overwhelming personality, and her own lack of confidence that she's useful to anyone sometimes. She grows and changes more over the course of a season than we ever see in early seasons Jadzia.

What does Jadzia Dax want?

I think in attempting to make a wise 300 year old person who's seen everything, they accidentally wrote themselves into a corner. Jadzia has no strong motivations to do much at all. She does fine as a secondary character, and I love how her friendship with Sisko plays out on screen, but beyond being surprisingly enlightened about a lot of things as the result of age and experience there's no drive there.

And so no drive or motivation, and no stories told from her perspective. We have ourselves a problem.

I thought for a while if I could find a solution to the issue rather than just offer criticism. I originally tried writing an outline for an episode. Jadzia would be a fantastic protagonist for any wacky sci fi short story concept that required a scientist to explore, such as time travel paradoxes, simulations, weird space anomolies that do "plot relevant thing" that she would be perfectly posed to actually explore instead of "technobabble and tap console" until the problem is solved.

Then I decided that all we really needed to have a framework any writer could use is to establish a strong character motivation for her. Here's my shot at it.

Jadzia Dax, in harmony with seven lifetimes of experience, is an extremely competent twenty seven year old woman. She can almost certainly do the job of anyone on the station better than they can. Fix a computer? Better than O'Brien can. First aid? She's there and solved the issue before Julian can get there. Solve a murder? A past host was an invesigator of course she can to Odo's chagrin. She has better ideas of what Sisko can do to bring the Bajorans towards the federation. Hell she's the best representative of federation values on that station and could constantly be presenting that of the story.

Dax struggles to hold herself back when she sees her friends failing at what she can solve the problem for them. She tries not to, that's what her training tells her to do. But out here on the edge of Federation space where there's constantly lives on the line? She finds herself interfering in other people's work more and more often. She just doesn't want it do be done wrong. She pushes herself hard to do too many jobs. She doesn't sleep or eat enough while telling everyone else to take care of themselves better. After a while people start relying on her. It turns from her helping to her having those responsibilities. Pilot. Diplomat. Linguist. Researcher. Mechanic. Leader. So much emotional support for her friends because everything they're suffering she's been through herself. It becomes too much for her and you could make the core of one story her just crashing. Learning how to balance her experience with giving room to other to shine through and solve their own problems, which they're very capable of doing. There's plenty more detail to elaborate on but I think this gives a core drive and conflict that lasts a character a couple of seasons at least to explore and grow through.

I happily invite thoughts as to whether my original observations are astute, or wether you think there aren't any problems with how Jadzia's passivity plays out in the show. If you think there are problems, do you think my perscribed solution helps fix them? How would you go about it?

#star trek #star trek ds9 #ds9 #jadzia dax #babylon 5 #writing

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autisticaradiamegido · 3 months

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day 39

a redraw from a couple years back that was originally a redraw from 2014 so thats a FULL DECADE OF PROGRESS, BABEY!!

#day 39 #year 5 #terezi pyrope #homestuck #the thing about the image description project. and going through the backlog.#is that it really incentivizes me to do a lot of redraws because then i can reuse large portions of the descriptions for Old Art #making minor tweaks to account for the differences #as opposed to writing. just so much alt text #heres the thing about writing image descriptions for my OWN art: it makes me think way more about like.#what parts of the piece are vital and which parts aren't #because obviously you wanna give as complete a description as possible #but you also dont want to take up a whole bunch of a persons time rattling on about shit they dont care about. like.#idk! it's an interesting exercise and im still getting a handle on that balance i think #once again let me know if im not hitting the mark

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orcelito · 10 months

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ok. i finally finished trigun 98.

that. Sure Was Something. it's rly interesting to see how the end of 98 compares to what nightow did in trimax. there are some similarities of course, but overall it felt really... simplified in comparison.

my final verdict is that Yeah trimax is still my fav trigun iteration, but by itself trigun 98 is a pretty emotionally fulfilling anime

#speculation nation #fanny watches trigun #trigun spoilers/#tagging preemptively #there's a lot for me to sort out. creative choices they took and such #i want to supplement my writing with details that appeared in 98 that didnt appear in trimax & dont conflict with them #such as the thing with wolfwood being 7 years old when he killed his own guardian. presumably his father #in trimax we see him say he was 'born in a ditch' but it says Nothing about his childhood #but if we were to merge the bit from 98 with what we know from trimax... wolfwood aged 7 kills his father and then lands in the orphanage #already jaded but happy there. wanting to just take care of the other children.#that's. compelling to me. and ive basically adopted that into my personal interpretation of his backstory #since we didnt get much of that from him. aside from the general details.#the thing with the guns was interesting. though it obviously conflicted with the manga's thing of the angel arm #vash's desperation to not be alone was Heartbreaking. & the fact that he followed knives around for almost fifteen Years...#even with his feelings of betrayal. and knives still took care of him during that time too (like covering him with a blanket when he #fell asleep out on the ledge)#there are SO many interesting details. and im definitely going to have to go through this anime some more to sort it out #but ive finally finished my first watch! and im pretty excited about that :')

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russeliarat · 1 year

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In regards to Cia in a lot of the LU fanon space (aka fics and headcanons), I feel like she's being portrayed far worse than she actually is in Hyrule Warriors. I do think that Wars would have a lot of trauma regarding her considering she's the whole reason a war was started in his name. I do also think that starting said war is pretty bad. But I don't think she really deserves the black-and-white viewpoint most people have of her, it undermines the (attempted - it was a bad and rushed attempt but an intentional attempt nonetheless) redemption of her character arc. I say this as someone who owns the game and has combed through it for hours to attempt to rewrite that bullshit game.

But I think a lot of people are missing the part where Cia actually had control over her one-sided love for centuries as she only watched each hero and never interacted, but it was when Ganondorf came in and corrupted her that she started the war. She was under Ganondorf's influence throughout most of the game, even when she defected from him and attempted to gain the Triforce. She eventually made attempts to redeem herself after becoming free of Ganondorf due to Lana. There's also an element that Cia herself was exploited for Ganondorf's own power fantasies, it was likely that he manipulated or even told her to go to such extremes as making a war to get the Triforce and just used Cia's quiet yearning as a motive.

As dogshit as Hyrule Warriors is as a game and story, I think the idea that Lana is this perfect good is a great foil to Cia's unwavering evil, both forced to these extremes because of Ganondorf, who then regained their humanity once Cia finally broke free of him, though is more subtle in Lana is actually expressed kinda well compared to the rest of the wonkiness of the game. I think there's something to be said about Cia treatment as a antagonist compared to others like say Shadow, the way they're treated as being redeemed villains who were manipulated by Ganondorf for his own gains is vastly different across the fandom. Idk if there's a reason but it feels so distinct and I can't answer why.

This isn't to say that I don't think Wars would have a lot of issues surrounding what happened, its quite obvious he would have a lot of relationship problems on top of everything going on about the war. Its more a ramble about how people portray Cia post-HW/during LU. I myself don't understand how it happened, but as a DLC that was added for free in the Definitive Edition, Cia was revived and re-evilised, so yes she is technically alive still. I don't blame people for thinking she's some mega evil seductress that wants to capture the hearts of all the Chain, she seems very one-sided as a character at first without either getting the game and playing through yourself or skimming every website about the game (which is surprisingly few compared to its Age of Calamity counterpart - which also has its issues) and analysing the very misleading text in wiki pages and reviews. But no, she's not portrayed as a rapist (wtf literally where in the game is it even implied) nor is her character shown to be a pedophile (each hero she has been shown to fawn over are very explicitly the adult heroes).

I'm fine with headcanons, but the kind of stuff I see passed around in LU fanon is basically character assassination. It's kind of sad to see Cia just absolutely obliterated. I'm fine with some of the tamer headcanons, but some of the aforementioned like her being a rapist or a pedophile is so gross to me (and yes I've seen both multiple times in many more words to try to soften the blow of the writer/headcanoner's implications). I don't really like her character myself but I feel like I've analysed her and reworked her and picked apart her character too much to even consider humouring these kinds of ideas. Saying things like she's hypersexual or playing into her seductress image and appearance is fine because it's almost canon, I'll even agree with people calling her a stalker because she definitely was one during the war, but saying anything close to her committing anything more extreme is just not it for me.

#obviously there are exceptions #if you hc wars to be a rape victim to allow yourself your own healing then i won't contest that #that's a different story because it's used explicitly for healing from trauma and i've even done similar things before for the same reasons #what i don't get is people just casually throwing out the 'cia is a pedo/rapist' ideas for no reason than they want to #i'm just frustrated because i see it more often than wild hate #but maybe that's something more personal bc i don't really see a lot of wild hate anyway #there's a lot of issues with how cia is portrayed in the fandom by ppl writing post-hw fics #maybe i'll write my own hcs for cia with like reasons why to clear the air #this is such a niche topic ngl #but it's pissed me off so much bc to talk ab wars' trauma means to talk ab cia #linked universe #lu #lu wars #lu cia #is that even a tag?#putting it just in case

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waywardsalt · 1 year

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i have planned to write a pseudo-essay or some kind of detailed look at linebeck in phantom hourglass and how he can be interpreted as autistic but thats not going very well right now so here are some autistic linebeck headcanons

He has low empathy and as such has a hard time responding very well to emotional situations, but he can take advantage of his lower empathy in situations where empathy could make things harder, like tending to wounds or rationally handling emotionally-charged situations

His coat is a comfort object and he made it specifically to act as a very slight accommodation; it’s heavy and barely lets any light through it, and he can keep all kinds of little things in pockets sewn into the inner lining, but larger objects do make it more uncomfortable to wear at times. It’s mostly good to carry around things to fidget or stim with and can be helpful in trying to recover from overwhelming sensory experiences

He doesn’t usually stim in public, but taps his fingers on tables quickly and tends to rhythmically snap his fingers when excited, and on his ship is more vocal and more willing to stim, even if around others. One of his main stims that he’ll do for no particular reason is that he’ll hold his arm or back of his wrist/hand up to his nose and mouth for the smell.

He masks frequently to please people. His default mask is that arrogant and brave front he puts up for islanders and other he may come across. Usually, if that mask doesn’t work, he tends to double-down because it usually works and, in his experience, dropping the mask has usually gone badly (non masking he’s rude and blunt but more outwardly excited about adventure and his ship and all of that, i consider it where overseas in the game is when he usually isn’t masking. this shifts his arc to be about him learning to stop masking and feel comfortable being himself)

His special interests could include stuff related to treasure hunting but it could really range from stuff about adventuring or the ocean or engineering (relating to his ship) to stuff not at all touched in the game like music. He really enjoys music, listening to it, playing it, and writing it. He also enjoys and is fascinated by shellfish.

When busy or otherwise occupied, he doesn't usually notice when he's hungry. He doesn't have as much of a problem noticing thirst or exhaustion, but feeling hunger is a problem for him, and often leads to him going a long time without eating. On the other hand, he doesn't mind eating the same thing repeatedly and is perfectly fine with blander foods, so handling food supplies for when he'll be overseas for a long time is easy for him.

He knows he's autistic, he's known for a pretty long time, and he has books on it; he also knows that Link is autistic, but doesn't say anything about it and instead waits until someone else tells him. Until (and after, I suppose) Link actually learns that he's autistic Linebeck just makes sure to keep note of what accommodations he might need and if there are any textures or tastes or smells he can't stand. He doesn't have much of a problem helping out during sensory overloads, even soon after meeting him. It's more out of understanding how it feels to not have your needs met and a sort of solidarity rather than actual friendship.

#loz #legend of zelda #phantom hourglass #linebeck #OBVIOUSLY he experiences some nasty rsd and he's a bitch about it that's like. basically canon so i didnt mention it #a lot of linebeck’s autism is based and referenced off of my own with some extra additions #which is why i have an easier time writing him as autistic than link #kindness is a choice and having low or no empathy does not in any way make someone heartless but linebeck does abuse his own low empathy #to be a mean bitch with minimal emotional consequences #i think linebeck would call link a dipshit to his face and then not feel bad about it for like a few weeks until he starts caring abt him #linebeck stimming by smelling his arm is actually my main stim. its probably why i sit all fucked up bc i sometimes do it w/ my legs lol #the masking bit does kinda fuck some stuff up but i personally enjoy that take on him #one of his comfort objects is an old orange cat plushie named copernicus and if you know what that is specifically from thank you im sorry #linebeck being way into music has no canon backup i just like the idea of him playing piano and composing some form of his own theme #piano is a mad sensory experience btw i dont yet know how to really play it but when i did keyboard in pit it was a fantastic feeling #bangin' out the tunes. it was a really good sort of stim if i was feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of the new tech and music too #salty talks #not entirely an autism headcanon but he thinks gender is a sham and less identifies as a man and more specifically considers #his gender identity to be 'real man of the sea' which is initially kinda silly but kind of a fucking gender move tbh #i dont think he's explicitly trans or nb he's just having fun fucking with his own gender and doing whatever he feels like doing #he isnt a man but he is a man. kind of like how im a dude but also not. yeah.#these were initally going to be call 'quick' headcanons but you can see why i uh. didn't end up going with that

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noisytenant · 5 months

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sorry, i think this might come across mean, but it is simply how i feel.

almost always i genuinely enjoy writing alt text and im glad im in the habit of doing it. but also, the idea of having someone else describe my images instead of me is so viscerally repulsive. I wonder if we could use this to get more people to write alt text. if you dont wanna write alt text then someone else decides how your post looks to people using screen readers (or people with slow internet). shudder !

and i want to be clear. the people who add image descriptions are incredibly kind and doing a great service often for little to no recognition or appreciation. And a lot of them are good at it. But it isnt about the quality of the description--they could be the best damn writer in the world, they could knock my piddly description into smithereens--if someone else ever became the voice to describe my art, or my face in a memey selfie, or literally anything i posted for public viewing, i would explode. i was born a control freak and i will die a control freak. ONLY I DECIDE MY NARRATIVE ‼‼‼

#indexed post #It would be noble to say that making my work accessible is the only reason i do it...#But this is admittedly also a factor #And as usual I recommend the “alt text as poetry” workshop which informs how i approach alt text. i want to make a summary sometime #also bc like we live in an instant gratification timeline #lots of times i share something privately on discord or on a locked acct where i know nobody needs the descs #so i can be like yayy everyone like my picture like 2 mins after i post it and get 100000 notes #and then after like an hour or the next day if its late i write the alt text which almost always takes like 2-5mins tops #and post it publicly and then im like yaayyyy ayyaya yayayyayayayyayyyay ayayayayyay #but yeah i think like as a sighted person writing alt text is its own expressive form that grants you extended control over your art #so even if you dont personally know or feel the impact of alt text on others #You can come to appreciate it for self-serving reasons HAHA.#the optics of this are obviously not as good but personally i think the pragmatic results outweigh the purity of the sentiment imo #and curb cut effect etc.#anyways. just my musing for the night

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taexual · 6 months

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bruh, i am apply for MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice and have got some offers too. if you don't mind sharing, why did you hate taking criminology?

it just wasn't for me! it's an underdeveloped discipline in my country, so no one really knows what a "criminologist" is, and i don't care enough to prove myself. i'd rather do something else anyway

but if it's something you have a genuine interest in, then by all means, do pursue it! it's tough, but if you have motivation, you can absolutely excel in this field 💜

#ask #99liners #it depends on the person a lot #like how much you care and how much effort you want to put into it #it was grad school in particular for me that made me realise that huh i really do fucking hate this!#but i have issues #so i couldn't drop out #and i suffered just for the sake of getting through it #and not bc i actually wanted to do this #but if you are interested #and if you know how to manage your time #and the uni you're considering does actually offer a decent program #then this can be a whole different experience for you!!#i had some good moments & experiences too so it wasn't just pain all the time #but it was tough and i made it harder for myself with my own expectations for my results #and the fact that i hated it lmao #another thing to consider is that grad school for me was very research-oriented #meaning they wanted us to write papers & participate in a lot of research projects #instead of being more practical?#and obviously the theoretical concept leads you more towards studying for a phd later on #instead of finding a Normal Job like Everyone Else #so take that into consideration when you're applying for sure!! just think what you'd like to do with this degree #and if grad school would help you get to that point

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yellowocaballero · 2 years

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Hey now that Good Luck Jake! is completed I can share the fucking Matt Murdock backstory that I mentioned really really want to establish. I mentioned some joke headcanons/elements of the AU (there are very little differences.) here but I can go into detail without spoiling now.

The Marvel Universe is weird and insane things constantly happen and there's entire magic civilizations. Although the superhero thing and the insane quantity of apocalypses is mostly new, a lot of stuff that is bonkers to us is probably normal to them even before superhero stuff starts happening.

Therefore, I think there's a ninja industrial complex.

Matt is a victim of this ninja industrial complex.

Recruited as part of an urban outreach program serving/exploiting underprivileged youth (turning them into ninjas), he was recruited by Stick and joined ninja ROTC. Although he was a real whiz kid in the business and showed a lot of potential for career mobility, Matt wanted to escape this ninja-to-cultist pipeline.

Matt believes in choices! As a young kid he was railroaded into academics and as a teenager he's railroaded into the ninja thing. Everybody who raised him instilled in him a very strong passion for justice, righteousness, and ethics, but as he gets older he begins to believe that there's a better way than vanquishing rival ninja clans. He's insanely morally aggressive because he was raised highly moralistically with an intense sense of right and wrong, but he believes that God showed him his own path into crusading for right and wrong. Since he was fifteen, his life dream was to become an ordinary person. A law abiding member of society. Someone who does the right thing without murder and fights for the weak instead of against the strong.

A lawyer.

Matt really really wants to be Just A Dude. He begs Stick to let him go to law school ("Ninjahood isn't my dream, Dad, it's yours!"). He is aggressively normal. He insists that he is normal. Yes he's a ninja but he's just some guy and ninjas have exploitive business practices anyway. Ignore all the batshit stuff I do I am a normal member of your study group. He is a man without fear because he has no idea what is normal in society or not.

The ninja thing is common knowledge, so Matt does more 'hide his extra-sensory superpowers' than 'pretend to be ordinarily and 100% blind'. This isn't weird because there are a lot of blind kung fu masters. Matt insists that blind kung fu masters are a dime a dozen. Foggy thinks that Matt is objectively the coolest person alive but that they don't teach you social skills at ninja school.

Of course, this never raises any suspicions about him being Daredevil. Daredevil is, obviously, a boxer.

If you were to ask him about any of this he'd just go 'can't help being a Libra' and backflip away.

#my writing #matt murdock #daredevil #yes i do just think all of this is funny but #I do think it's interesting to trace back Matt's insane moralism as the one similarity between two highly divergent upbringings #and he believes in what they both taught him in different ways #but thru God he's like wait I need to find my own path & what i believe in #and while he obviously psychologically needs to punch people #i think at the end of the day he believes that he does the most good through the legal system #because it's so so so much harder than just punching people #and flipping matt's script as a member of society whose been fucked up #into a fucked up guy who strives to be a member of society yet reliably finds himself falling short #who views law as an ideal instead of a tool #is nifty i think!#if i were to write a matt story id go more into that psychology for tumblr posts i really just need to express the ninja ROTC thing #also lowkey instead of guy whose practically sighted but pretends to be blind #i kinda prefer guy who has his own lvl of blindness and coping mechanisms who exists as himself #himself who is always a blind person no matter what other parts of him there are #with matt murdock typical lvls of keeping a lot of personal details buttoned up #hurts the essential matt traits of intense levels of repression and lying but you could hit those notes in other ways

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designernishiki · 1 year

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anyway. nishiki and majima are both borderline and i could do a whole case study on either of them about it. send tweet

#im pretty flexible about most hcs regarding mental disorders and such but this take is one im like pretty fucking steadfast on #and I could write. an absurd amount about it. cause psychoanalyzing the shit out of characters is literally like. what I do for a living #and I have a weird special interest in abnormal psych and the dsm-5 in my closet and a psychologist for a mother and etc #but yeah so #inquire further at your own risk because I will talk. I will talk a lot #the only issue with majima is that I can’t evaluate his childhood and family life and just. his fundamental years of development in general #which is a pretty big deal when it comes to assessing for any personality disorder #nishiki oh yeah I absolutely can. but yeah we know basically nothing about majimas fundamental years. all I can really do is reverse #engineer so to speak based on how he is as an adult and what causes a person to do the things he does / be the way he is / etc #but of course that’d all be very very loose and hypothetical. FASCINATING to think about to me but obviously would have to be taken with a #huge grain of salt and be considered very very speculative #but I can say for sure that he didn’t have a stable and perfect home life/family life growing up I think that’s pretty safe to assume #anything more detailed than that is way more speculative but. yeah. I don’t think he was just. Normal. up until he was 20 #his identity issues run way too deep for me to accept that concept #anyway I need to shut up #majima #nishiki #rambling

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coffeeandcalligraphy · 1 year

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maybe making this mapo tofu will fix me

#the ancestors are ROOTING for me lmao #but also!!! food as a way to explore diaspora!!!#that’s like half my poetry lmao #maybe I’ll make jook too….#one of the most precious things in my life is talking to my grandma about #her dad who was from china & a fabulous chef #& then infusing those details into my own cooking & writing <3 #I’ll never forget the KINDNESS of this woman #who works at my favourite restaurant back home #before I moved away to school I asked her how they make their fried rice and she was like #noooo then you won’t ever come back!#(I’ve been buying there since I was 14 hehe)#and I was like nooooo I’ll never be able to make it as well as u im just moving!#and she ACTUALLY TOLD ME #I wrote a poem about that it meant a lot to me lol like that’s a very #personal & kind thing she did #never been able to recreate it as well as her obviously #so I always always always go back <3

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lavender-femme · 7 months

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got my flu shot and updated covid vaccine today and tell me why I let that woman put the covid shot in my dominant arm. I have so many regrets 😭

#my arm hurts and I feel hot and I just wanna be babied a little bit tbh #someone come cuddle with me while I read and you watch your show and just take care of me a little bit #P L E A S E 😭#i haven’t had a Moderna vaccine at all and I know that lots of people experienced worse side effects with it vs Pfizer so I’m just nervous #and making myself disproportionately anxious about it in the process #but like it was a vaccine clinic at the bookstore and I got a $5 gift card just for getting poked with needles so I had to obviously #also low-key mad the person poked directly into my charizard tattoo instead of taking the time to cautiously inject the vaccine in #a non tattooed portion of my arm #it’s fine #have y’all missed me writing novels in the tags on my own posts?#bc I’ve missed y’all #i’m talking

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rotisseries · 8 months

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‘he is haunted by the specter of the women who came before him’ rin girl trauma is genuinely so good do you want to explain your thoughts

YESSSS!! this got long lmao

ok so some obvious things straight up. he's azula, he's lady macbeth, (which. very interesting because these women could easily be considered masculine figures in their stories but tbh villainy in media always includes some level of the character acting in ways incongruent with expectations of their gender.) he's reaching for a goal that is unachievable and he's losing everything in pursuit of it and when he realizes he's done it all for nothing he loses his mind entirely. out damned spot out

he's not a physically strong or imposing character, he's sly and cunning, traits often given to female villains, also his weapon choice, I said this to hella in an ask gathering cobwebs rn but he uses poison!! poison is his weapon and poison is a woman's weapon, all the way back to like, medea. I actually found this really interesting thing real quick just by taking a quick google search for poison as a woman's weapon:

it's a weapon of intelligence and elegance, it doesn't leave a mess, it's for a death that's clean and pretty (also so often the reality of death by poison is a brutal and choking one, which. ughhh you get me) however women also die more by poison, which is interesting but idrk where to go with that. also in general it's a weapon of betrayal and intimacy of COURSE it would be rin's weapon.

anyway girl trauma time. ok so admittedly some of it is just vibes like I was just sitting around like "hmm the specific way rin is impacted by kiva and lugalia and how he handles it FEELS very Girl Trauma™️" which is obviously not a very academic way of discussing that. and like obviously trauma and trauma responses are not exclusively linked to your gender but he doesn’t feel like a man with mommy issues he feels like a woman with mommy issues you know? he's full of grief, not hatred. also this is coming from me who does not have eldest daughter syndrome and does not know a man with visible mommy issues so. take it with a grain of salt.

anyway he's a middle son who acts like an eldest daughter and I don't just throw that around because I kinda don't love when people say "this man has eldest daughter syndrome" when they just mean parentified like you can just say parentified it isn't always eldest daughter syndrome but rin HAS eldest daughter syndrome and I actually feel like that's a bigger deal here because he's NOT really being parentified like kiva actually does very well with parenting drako so rin doesn't need to step in or anything. no, rin is an eldest daughter because he has to be uniquely aware of kiva's mental state in a way drako just. isn't. drako knows lugalia was awful obviously and that kiva hates her for good reason but drako doesn't really seem aware that it's made kiva. not the perfect mom. rin is bearing the brunt of it all, he doesn't know about lilla obviously but he has to sit with the knowledge that something is holding kiva back from him, he can tell. he's also being permanently held to this standard he'll never meet.

a firstborn in general but especially a firstborn daughter is supposed to be your perfect example, the child always going above and beyond meeting your every expectation which lugalia does to him in the most obvious sense but kiva is also holding him to a standard he can't meet. she's holding him up next to lilla. obviously she's not hoping to replace lilla with him in fact it's the exact opposite but the fact he ISN'T truly her firstborn he CAN'T truly be lilla is something that keeps kiva from loving him properly. he isn't lilla he can't bring back lilla he will never be lilla he will never be kiva's firstborn daughter and the impossibility of this standard is HAUNTING THEM BOTH. very interesting that being the middle child gave him eldest daughter syndrome btw lmao. (also I saw this tiktok (<- bad start) that I sent a screenshot of to hella in ANOTHER ask that's gathering cobwebs but supposedly older children coming out of their mothers leave dna behind in the womb that becomes a part of the next kid can we TALK about the rin+lilla and drako+rin implications of that???)

and then the way he HANDLES his issues. he doesn’t really blame kiva OR lugalia he doesn't even seem fully acknowledging that they've done him wrong he just keeps reaching for these standards he'll never be able to meet. if he can just be the perfect heir he will no longer feel the ghost of lugalia digging her fingers into his shoulder if he can just be the perfect son kiva will love him wholly but this isn't true and it's not his fault but he won't see that because if something isn't wrong with him then it means something was wrong with the women who raised him and if something is wrong with them he's spent his life reaching for something he can't have and if he's spent his life reaching for something he can't have then where does he even go from there? how do you move on? it's all been futile? unacceptable.

so he tries to meet the standards he's being held to. and he's haunted by the women before him. he's haunted by lilla, occupying a space in his mother's heart that he can never have. he's haunted by kiva, her gentleness standing in contrast to his learned pragmatism, her feeling like she's looking into a portait of her mother, horrified at his every action, when he does it all for her anyway. he's haunted by lugalia, crafting him in her image, the perfect heir, hiding everything under a calm and icy exterior. he's haunted by hammari, reaching higher and higher for an impossible goal, wanting, needing, to be good, to be loved, committing greater and greater sins in pursuit of it, until it's gone out of control, and it's too late to quit, because if you quit, what was it all for? you lost everything, and for nothing. and at the end of it all, with a knife in his hand and hair scattered around him, he's once again haunted by lilla, who was the perfect daughter he could never be, without even trying.

he is forever living in the shadows of the women from before him he is constantly shaping and reshaping himself to try and fit to their place in the puzzle he was sculpted in their image and now he continues to sculpt himself and he will NEVER BE FREE of his sister and his mother and her mother and her mother and yeah I just think that's very girl trauma of him

#I feel like there should be more to this I can't explain it but I don't have anything #oh wait he also feels ignored which. middle child syndrome but also very eldest daughter of him #to take on so much burden (like a sacrificial lamb) and feel ignored for it #anyway I think part of this whole thing going on with rin is just. hella's perspective that she's writing tbos from #like. (sorry hella if you see this I don't mean to psychoanalyze you but unfortunately i do follow your personal account too. so)#hella is clearly putting in a lot of her own experience with family trauma which obviously is coming from her pov #as a daughter with an older sister and a mother who was impacted by her mother #so like. of course rin's issues reflect a woman's when he is being written by a woman #but yeah he IS VERY INTERESTING TO ME!! GENDERWISE!!#ask #witch-of-aiaia #hi aiaia!#also like. I think in general when a child is done wrong by their parent of the opposite gender they grow with hatred for that gender #(as your parent is usually your first example of that gender)#whereas when done wrong by a parent of the same gender a child tends to have a lot of grief #(<- that’s again not academic I really should clarify that as someone who is blessedly not traumatized by my parents #most of what I say is coming from an outside perspective through mostly cultural osmosis)#and rin has grief. not hatred

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carewyncromwell · 9 months

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"Everyone’s a writer -- painter -- poet! Everything is avant-garde or chic!

We’ll be in the know before we know it... When you’re in the know, it’s -- Oh, it’s magnifique! To find in Paris what you seek..."

~"Paris Holds the Key (to Your Heart)" from Anastasia (musical)

x~x~x~x

Jacob Cromwell's graduation from Hogwarts truly was an underdog story, to most people's minds. After getting roped into the likes of R, losing his two closest companions to petrification and death respectively, getting expelled, and finally getting trapped in a magical portrait for seven years, it was something of a miracle when he was able to turn it all around with nothing but his astounding intellect and magical talent, graduating with full honors in the spring of 1991. Many presumed that after the trauma he'd undergone, Jacob would settle into life at home with a respectable new career in the Wizarding World -- his sister Carewyn certainly did, taking a much more peaceful job at the Ministry of Magic as a lawyer.

Jacob, however, celebrated his graduation and freedom by traveling the world and doing and learning as much as he could -- and in those travels, he ended up making quite a name for himself, not as "that delinquent Jacob Cromwell," but as a freelance magical researcher. One of those people who took immediate notice of Jacob's brilliance in this regard was a witch who ended up becoming a very good friend of his -- the statuesque Headmistress of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, Olympe Maxime.

It all started when Jacob finally -- after pecking away at it off-and-on for about two years around his travels and random Cursebreaking expeditions -- finished a scholarly essay applying the principles of Muggle chemistry to various Potions ingredients. It was a subject he'd first experimented with in his fifth year at Hogwarts (right in the middle of his Potions OWL, ridiculous as it was), but Jacob had felt more prepared to return to the subject after doing more research and even covertly sitting in on a few Muggle chemistry classes while traveling abroad. Then over the span of the next twenty months, he wrote out a full piece on all of the research he'd done, adding in some theories about a variation of the periodic table possibly being applied to various Potions ingredients and how applying the principles of organic chemistry to Potioneering could spur the invention of new Potions. Jacob sent a copy of his essay to his former professor and friend, Horace Slughorn, and the ex-Potionsmaster reacted with great enthusiasm.

Pleasantries aside, though -- Jacob, my boy, your essay! I spent an absolutely lovely afternoon reading it over a glass of brandy, and I was simply enraptured by it! I hope you don't mind, but I've already sent a snippet of it off to a friend of mine who writes for The Practical Potioneer, to see if he'd be interested in publishing the whole thing in some future edition -- such a thing awaiting your explicit consent, of course.

Jacob enthusiastically gave Slughorn the "go-ahead" to send the rest of his essay along, if his friend expressed interest in publishing it. Later that year, when Jacob came home for Christmas, he was able to surprise his mother and sister with their own first editions of the potioneering magazine containing his essay. Lane was so delighted and proud that she actually ended up bursting into silent tears.

"The Practical Potioneer," she breathed, her wispy voice choked with emotion. "Oh, Jay...I used to read that every month, when I was in school...whenever the Hogwarts library got in a new copy that I could check out...and now..." She brought her hands up to cradle her son's cheeks, "...now my little Blue Jay's gotten published in it!"

Jacob opened his arms in anticipation of the big hug his mother gave him, squeezing her tight. Despite being just as strong of a Legilimens as Carewyn, he'd never been as good at sensing people's emotions as she was -- but in this moment, he was positive: his mother was so, so proud of him. And that feeling filled Jacob up with so much vindication and warmth that he too felt close to tears.

Both Lane and Carewyn would put Jacob's article in positions of honor. Carewyn framed all four pages of Jacob's essay and mounted them on the wall of her office under a print of Hogsmeade village Badeea had painted for her. Lane herself left the magazine with her son's essay out on the side table by her favorite "reading window" for the rest of her life, and she shared it with every single one of the few visitors she invited to her cottage.

x~x~x~x

As fate would have it, a French Potioneer traveling abroad on holiday picked up several Potioneering magazines from the countries he visited, so as to read them on his long train ride home. One of those such magazines ended up being that very edition of The Practical Potioneer, and the French wizard was thoroughly charmed by the theories presented by the British researcher called Jacob Cromwell: so much so that he translated the essay into French and then sent it and the original magazine to the French Wizarding World's main newspaper, Le Cri de la Gargouille. The paper then published the translation of Jacob's essay in their paper in February 1994, specifically as part of their Mode de Vie Magique section -- a section that was, in fact, a favorite of one Olympe Maxime.

About a week after Le Cri de La Gargouille printed Jacob's translated article, Jacob received a letter via owl post that was sealed with a light blue seal marked with a cursive "B" over two crossed wands.

Monsieur Cromwell, Firstly, I must apologize if this letter reaches you more than once. When seeking out an address for you, I was informed that you currently have no permanent address, and so I had to get creative to find a way to contact you directly. Fortunately it seems that the Owl Office in Paris is most resourceful in locating witches and wizards while they are on holiday abroad. But now, to business. A week or so ago, while reading La Cri de La Gargouille, I came across your essay regarding the application of Non-Magic chemistry to our own Potioneering, and to put it simply, I found it absolutely enthralling. I profess no expertise in Non-Magic science, aside from the psychology books I've read by Non-Magic authors, but your knowledge of the two subjects is clearly thorough, and your conclusions in comparing the two were fascinating. Your application of Non-Magic chemistry to Potioneering is a subject I would like very much to share with my older students, in preparation for their entry into the Wizarding World. And so it is because of this that I cordially invite you to the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic for a high tea on the afternoon of March 1st, at 3 o' clock. Please RSVP as soon as possible -- I hope that since my return address is so prominent, your response should not take long to reach me. Chaleureusement, Olympe Maxime Directice of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic

x~x~x~x

To say Jacob was thrilled at the prospect of visiting the famous Beauxbatons Academy would be an understatement. He was so over the moon at the prospect that he sent letters to Carewyn, Lane, his best friend Olivia Green, Horace Slughorn, Filius Flitwick and Madam Rosmerta about it, before he finally calmed down enough to remember that he hadn't even RSVPed to Madame Maxime's invitation properly.

Salut, Madame Maxime! Mon français n'est pas très bon, mais j'ai pensé que je devais répondre dans votre langue, parce que vous m'avez écrit dans mon langue. Le français est une belle langue aussi -- c'est ma préférée des langues gallo-romantiques. J'aimerais beaucoup te rendre visite! J'ai lu beaucoup de livres sur votre école. Je ne peux pas attendre! À bientôt! Jacob Cromwell

Jacob then had to immediately set about making travel plans to France. First he took a boat from Rebun Island (his current location) to Tokyo; then he took a very long plane ride from Tokyo to Frankfurt, Germany; once he'd gotten his bearings, he then took a train to Paris, where he was able to take the Floo Network from le Place Cachée to the Wizarding village of Lapinfort, by the outskirts of Lourdes. It was in Lapinfort that Jacob was handed a response from his sister Carewyn, which had arrived via owl the previous day.

Dear Jacob, I just got your letter. I can't believe you're actually going to visit Beauxbatons Academy! I know how much you've always wanted to go there, and to know you've been invited there by Madame Maxime herself...I'm so proud of you! I'm not exaggerating when I say I'm rereading your letter as I'm writing this and I can't stop smiling. Truly, though, I hope you get on with Madame Maxime, and that your lecture for her students goes well. I met Maxime once when she accompanied my school friend Penny's penpal Aurelie Dumont on a visit to Hogwarts, and she's a very glamorous woman. But please, Jacob, I'm begging you, don't make ANY comments about her size -- she's even taller than Hagrid, and I get the feeling she's secretly very self-conscious about it. The last thing I want is for you to make a bad first impression!! As the French say, "bonne chance!" Write to me as soon as you get this, and then be sure to also write to me all about your meeting, after it's over -- I want to know everything. Love you, Carewyn

Jacob wrote Carewyn a quick note to let her know of his safe arrival. Then, once he'd finished, he went into town and found a carriage led by flying horses that could take him over the Pyranees mountains and to the famous Beauxbatons Academy of Magic.

It was truly as beautiful of a school as Jacob's books had claimed. Just as Hogwarts was a mysterious, grand stone castle, Beauxbatons was likewise a kind of palace, though one far more ornamental and delicate: a true French chateau, framed by elegant gardens trimmed with fairy lights.

As Jacob disembarked from the carriage, he found himself enchanted by the tiny seashells embedded into the cement paths that led through the gardens. He soon found himself wandering the left of these paths, rather than looking for the entrance properly, and found himself embarking on a quest to locate the center of the hedge maze he'd found himself in. It wasn't until about a half-hour later that he found his way back out and to Beauxbatons' entrance.

When Jacob reached the grand, white front doors, they sparkled with silver sparkles as they opened for him. Clearly the school knew this was a welcome guest, rather than an enemy -- Jacob's eyes lit up at this thought, and only became brighter seeing the school's interior.

The ceilings were even high than Hogwarts's, and shining as bright white as a spring-time sky full of angelic clouds. The halls were framed by large, beautiful, painted marble columns trimmed with gold, as well as countless living portraits trimmed with ornate ivory frames. There were crystal chandeliers decorated with colorful glass flowers and ivy that sparkled with even more fairy lights. Living statues were mounted in displays of honor down the hall, and they all turned their heads to look at Jacob as he passed. Everything was so bright and pristine, and yet not flimsy. There was power here, inside of this ageless, seemingly fragile beauty: the kind found in the Greek Parthenon or the palace of Versailles.

"Ah...Monsieur Cromwell."

Jacob looked up, startled, to find a very foreboding, but beautiful woman dressed all in light blue satin with a white feathered-shawl around her shoulders, approaching him. She was large before she got close, but once she had, she towered over him, nearly as tall as the ceiling.

Like Hagrid, Jacob recalled.

The thought of the friendly gamekeeper, as well as of Carewyn's letter, made Jacob grin from ear to ear.

"...You must be Madame Maxime!"

"Oui," she said lightly. "You are late, Monsieur Cromwell -- I expected you 'alf an 'our ago."

The Directice's dark eyes flitted over the much smaller man, taking in his incredibly informal white t-shirt and jeans with muted disapproval.

Jacob, however, was blissfully unaware of this.

"Oh yeah -- sorry about that!" he said brightly. "I was just exploring your gardens -- fabulous hedge maze you've got, on par with the one at Villandry Castle. I think I found at least one of its treasures in my wanderings -- that is, if you don't count the absolutely beautiful Herbology specimens...nearly got caught in that French Devil's Snare, when trying to examine your color-changing peonies. But at the center of the maze, I found your garden of wood nymphs -- "

Maxime looked very startled. "You found eet?"

"Yeah! Bloody brilliant use of Concealment Charms, though -- took me about ten tries, before I got the order of turns right...but yeah, so I found the garden in the center, and that tree...absolutely stunning! I don't even know what breed it is exactly, maybe a variation of Wiggentree, but it's exquisite! Is it unique? It surely must be -- I've never seen one so big! Anyhow, the wood nymph Queen wasn't so keen on me getting close, but once I showed her I meant no harm, she pointed the way out for me...who knew wood nymphs would be so keen on Whitney Houston? Though really, I don't blame them -- Whitney's got a wicked set of pipes -- obviously I couldn't do her song the same justice she would've, but hey..."

Many a person had found Jacob's talkativeness exhausting to deal with, in the past. Even Jacob's first friend and love Duncan Ashe had frequently had to tell Jacob to shut up now and again, whenever he'd go off the deep end in rambling. Surprisingly, however, Madame Maxime didn't seem the least bit uncomfortable or overwhelmed -- if anything, her expression bloomed into something a bit more intrigued.

"You zaid zat you not only found our garden for ze wood nymphs in less zhan an hour," she said, "but zat you also earned zheir favor? Monsieur Cromwell -- I do not zhink you are aware of quite how rare zat is."

Jacob cocked his eyebrows, smiling fully. "Why, because of your Concealing magic? Ah, well, I am a freelance Cursebreaker, a lot of the time...puzzles are my favorite thing. And magical creatures are always groovy -- you should meet my friend Hagrid, he works at Hogwarts, he's swell with creatures..."

"What I mean is zat conquering zat maze is a test all seventh year students must face 'ere at Beauxbatons, in order to graduate," Maxime said, her smile spreading more fully. "And most only reach ze garden, before 'aving to quickly leave it. Ze wood nymphs are very protective of zheir tree -- which, yes, is a one of a kind specimen: I rescued it on a trip to Greece myself," he eyes twinkled with a bit of mischief.

Jacob blinked. Then his face broke out into a bigger smile than ever, his skull-like light blue eyes positively alight with delight.

"So does that make me worthy of touring the hallowed halls of your Academy, Directice?" he asked, raising his eyebrows eagerly.

Maxime beamed. "Quite worthy, Monsieur Cromwell."

"Groovy!" cheered Jacob. "Because I was meaning to ask about your school's architecture -- everything I've read about Beauxbatons states that it was built in the 13th century, but all of the decor and landscaping I've seen since I got here is distinctly Baroque -- more properly, Rococo-inspired, which wasn't popular until the 17th century at the earliest. I would assume Beauxbatons has gone through some structural changes thorough-out the years -- understandable, given the history of war on France's borders, in contrast to the isolated Scottish Highlands where Hogwarts is situated -- but are these original from that period, or was it brought back in a revival, after the fall of Napoleon and the virulent anti-monarchist views held by the common man had calmed enough that such beauty could be celebrated again, rather than solely condemned?"

Maxime indulged Jacob's questions as they walked down the long hall and then up a grand staircase to her office. Once there, she offered Jacob some tea (which Jacob drank to be polite) and a dish of endlessly duplicating chocolate madeleines (which Jacob couldn't stop eating). While drinking their tea, Maxime asked Jacob some questions of her own about the kinds of magical research he'd been working on, which prompted Jacob to go off on a tangent about poisons and antidotes, which in turn got Maxime eagerly talking about the perfumes she mixed herself, using the flowers grown in the Beauxbatons gardens.

"Truly, it iz also not zo different from your non-Magique 'chemistry,'" said Maxime. "Just as with Potions, you zimply need zome zort of essential oil, a proper base, and zhen different 'notes,' to achieve ze desired effect. Combine jojouba oil, lavender, and rose with just a 'int of Lady's Mantle as a top note, and voila! You have a perfume zat not only makes you feel relaxed and beautiful, but makes you both smell and appear even more beautiful, to ze people around you."

Jacob's eyes lit up. "Using Beauty Potion ingredients in perfumes! What a groovy idea! I can't wait to tell my Pip -- she's always liked lavender as a scent..."

Maxime beamed, clearly very pleased by Jacob's enthusiasm. "You can zee why your piece about applying non-Magique chemistry to Potions interested me zo much. I would frankly love to 'ear 'ow you'd explain your theories to my students...if you would be willing to let me 'sit in' on your lecture."

"Of course!" Jacob said at once, without any hesitation. His grin was so big he could hardly contain it. "Mais oui! I'd be honored!"

Maxime and Jacob would go on to talk for another whole hour, long after the tea was gone. It was only then that Maxime brought Jacob downstairs toward the Potions classroom, where a set of seventh years had just filed in, and introduced Jacob to the class before settling in the very back of the room as he started his lecture. Although Jacob went on quite a few long tangents in his lecture, his enthusiasm captivated the French students, so much so that they couldn't even look down too much on the weird Briton with the crazy hair and sloppy clothes. He was so animated and intelligent when he talked that soon all of the students were raising their hands and engaging with him, asking follow-up questions and even challenging his conclusions, which Jacob reacted to with almost more enthusiasm than he did to the questions. By the time Jacob's lecture was through, Maxime's eyes positively radiated with how charmed she was by this tiny, quirky little wizard with the messy curls.

"You will have to visit again, when next you publish anozher zuch work," she said insistently.

"Oh, totally!" said Jacob eagerly. "I'd love to come again sometime. Even just to explore some more -- your school really is smashing! I'd love to see your library next time..."

"Mais oui -- but of course."

Jacob's enthusiasm clearly pleased Maxime greatly. It made her give a slightly-too-hard pat to Jacob's cheek that ended up more feeling like a slap.

"Au revoir, Monsieur Cromwell," said Maxime with a warm smile. "I do 'ope zat you shall visit France again soon."

Jacob blinked. Then he smiled a bit more awkwardly.

"Well, uh...my travels kind of keep me on the move. I don't really know when I'll be anywhere a lot of the time -- I just sort of figure it out as I go along. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to come back sometime, obviously! And until I do, I could always send you letters, if you'd like. I love sending letters," Jacob added with a grin.

Maxime cocked her eyebrows. "You do not zeem to like receiving zhem quite so much, if you do not have a proper return address."

Jacob laughed uncomfortably. "Oh no, it's...not me not liking receiving letters, I just...keep forgetting to file for a proper collection box, with the Owl Office. Pip's always getting on me for that -- she ends up getting most of the letters for me, and she thinks it'd be a lot easier if people just sent them straight to me, rather than her having to figure out where to send stuff to me based on what I tell her of where I'm next going..."

"Your 'Pip' iz right about zat," said Maxime with a cool smile. "I would zuppose she is just too nice to tell you to stop making 'er pick up after you."

Jacob laughed a bit more fully, though still rather uncomfortably.

"Yeah...yeah, I guess you're right..." He smiled a bit more fully. "All right -- when I get a proper collection box, I'll let you know straight away."

"Good," said Maxime. "I would not like to 'ave to zend three of ze same letter again. I am not ze zort of woman who likes to appear desperate."

Jacob laughed again despite himself. "Desperate? I wouldn't have said that. I thought that it just made you determined, honestly. It sounds like just the sort of thing my Pip would do, to make sure she reached me."

"I have met your zister before, Jacob Cromwell, however briefly," said Maxime, her wry smile widening a bit. "Zo I know, both because of 'er and because of your clear esteem for 'er, zat your comparison is a great compliment."

Jacob grinned. "Better believe it is."

Sure enough, with Madame Maxime's prodding, Jacob opened up a collection box with the Owl Office and enchanted it so that his mail could seamlessly appear in a collection tray on the desk inside his portable room in a suitcase. With this, he was able to receive and send letters a lot more quickly and efficiently -- and it was because of this that Jacob received the news of Cedric Diggory's death so quickly from both Carewyn and Maxime and he was so quick to return home to the United Kingdom in the spring of 1995. Jacob would lose touch with Madame Maxime when she went with Hagrid to negotiate with the giants, but they would reestablish contact after her during the War and especially after, when they no longer had to send messages in code.

The two would remain friends for many years to come, sending letters and gifts to each other while Jacob was traveling. One of Jacob's favorite gifts from Olympe Maxime ended up being a custom cologne she brewed for him, made of cocoa beans, leather, Egyptian musk, and Lady's Mantle. It was a scent Jacob wore chiefly on dates, when he really wanted to look and feel his best, and whenever anyone asked him about it, he was always incredibly proud to boast about his talented friend, the stately Directice of Beauxbatons herself.

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #my writing #jacob cromwell #madame maxime #carewyn cromwell #horace slughorn #lane cromwell #yay jacob content!#I kind of felt like exploring jacob's dynamics with certain characters the way I did for carewyn with umbridge #though this one's obviously a much lighter example #another relationship I wouldn't mind exploring is the bill and jacob relationship #because yeaaaaah jacob kind of resents bill even though he knows he's not a bad person and he's his sister's bestie #but bill kind of 'replaced' jacob in carewyn's life to a degree as older brother figure for a while and that stings #and because bill is so like carewyn in a lot of ways there are definitely points where jacob has secretly felt #as though bill was a better 'brother' for her than he was #not that it'd be easy for him to articulate that either because of his own pride or because he's not as smart emotionally as carey is #but yeah anyway I find it funny how much easier it is for jacob to make friends with people who are older than him than his age #rosmerta flitwick slughorn...even mia who I've written about elsewhere ends up seven years older than jacob thanks to the portrait thing

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