#end up missing some because you can find them in the riddle shack or just do a different one instead and its fine. very cool | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

junowritings · 3 years

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how about before being isekai'ed to NRC mc was a vigilante? like a mix of daredevil and batman or like deadpool and red hood? imagining mc using martial arts or macgyvering unassuming everyday objects into weapons to defeat overblots instead of magic seem cool, the funniest scenario, mc using a wooden spoon, a slipper or even if you watched icarly a butter sock to hit and defeat an opponent would be hilarious

Honestly I love the idea of this scenario! Part of me always kind of wished with the overblots is that the MC would get involved somehow - I know it’d be dangerous, but who doesn’t love going a lil feral at some overblot monsters lmao ------

It’s like something straight out of a comic book. Sure, the same thing could be said about your situation - a self-made vigilante fighting to protect those close to you from idiots who think they’re smart enough to cause anything other than trouble - but getting straight up isekai’ed into another universe full of magic and fairy tale rewrites really takes the cake of weird situations you’ve gotten roped into. Guys in masks? You’ve seen them in abundance back home, so while the ‘extravagant’ nature of the headmaster is weird, it doesn’t really phase you. Being surrounded by a bunch of confused boys with vividly bright hair (and do some of those guys have razor teeth? You really don’t wanna find out if they do) and having a talking cat ranting your ear off about becoming the greatest wizard of all time...that’s around the time you figure out this isn’t just some elaborate kidnapping plot.

Being shacked up in this new world isn’t as bad a deal as you thought it would be, though going from physical fights every other week to just having to worry about classes was...an experience, to say the least, and takes a bit of getting used to in terms of putting your guard down. It isn’t long during your stay at Night Raven college that you start garnering attention too, and not just because of the circumstances surrounding your enrollment. Your way of dealing with things is a lot more physical than many of them used to; when Ace had first come to Ramshackle after being collared by Riddle, instead of asking what it was or what he’d done, you’d instead just sat him down and spent the better part of half an hour picking the lock. Granted, it wasn’t enough to crack Riddle’s magic, but Ace is pretty sure he heard something click open while you fiddled with the keyhole - and that was just a speck of some of your skills.

The physical prowess and litheness that comes from your ‘profession’ were valuable assets back in your homeworld, and while you’re not there anymore you’re still able to make use of them in this world, or you try to, at least. It makes for a hell of an entertaining sight during Ashton’s classes - you’ve just about knocked everyone in your class on their ass at least once (both intentionally and unintentionally). It’s been useful getting to lessons too, though you’ve spooked more than a few of your fellow classmates when they’ve caught you scaling the side of the building to skip the stairs and make it to class on time. You’ll never forget the shriek Ace let out when you dove through the window, skidded across the floor, and slid seamlessly into your seat right before the professor came through the door. Things like that have earned you more than a few skeptical looks, but it’s also led to more than a few people coming up to you to ask how you do it.

Just because you’re in a school setting doesn’t mean you slack off on your training. If anything, it means you have to train all the more to make sure you’re not growing rusty - you’re not about to get left in the dust just because all of these guys have wands and this ‘unique magic’ business at their disposal. That being said the lack of a fighting partner makes things difficult; when you first get settled into Ramshackle you find plenty of furniture beyond repair that you’ve been able to use, and with everything being such a cluttered mess it makes for the perfect obstacle course as you fight to clean it all up. But you’re missing your training buddies, and as much as Grim gets on your case about you being his subordinate, you’re not about to get expelled for fighting your magical feline housemate...not just yet, anyway. You do look around for some sparring partners though, and you find some pretty damn good ones in the process. Deuce is one of the first, being quite the fighter in the past, but given that it’s a skill he hasn’t actively trained it doesn’t take long for you to - quite literally - sweep his feet out from under him. Jack’s fairy competent too thanks to all of the muscle, so sparring with those two at once has given you something to bond over after school. As you got to know more students, you found a pretty good training buddy in Rook - you guess being a hunter has its perks, and isn’t that far off from being a vigilante, but it gives you one hell of a lesson to avoid getting on his bad side.

They’ve seen you make impromptu weapons out of things before - you just about took Floyd’s head off with a spatula when he’d rushed through the door unannounced, and Grim keeps finding the ends of the kitchen’s wooden utensils sharpened to a point when he sneaks down for late night snacks. You’re guessing old habits die hard, and it's tricky business completely stopping some of your more bizarre daily tasks.

Looks like those same skills come in handy when the overblots happen however! It’s not as though anyone gives you a crash course on magic overuse and overblotting, so when you see Riddle transform and watch that huge, tank of a thing start forming up behind him you have what you’d like to call, a reasonable reaction. The boys are preparing to fight their overblotted friend when a tea cake stand comes sailing overhead and nails the being behind Riddle directly in the face - or pot, you guess.

The thing is at least physical, which means you can hit it, and your friends are too preoccupied with Riddle to stop you from barging into the fray with just about every impromptu weapon you can get your hands on. Plates, cups, shoes, amongst other things shower the air as you close the distance, and at one point you end up hoisting up one of the garden chairs and swinging it up at the jar head until you have enough momentum to let go. The sound of shattering glass has you letting out a triumphant holler as you backtrack to avoid the spew of ink that spatters across the floor, cracks fanning out across the inkpot‘s surface as its hands fly up to its broken ‘face’ and it howls as though appalled by your audacity.

Whether that actually has a hand in finishing the fight or not, it isn’t long after that the overblot incident passes and Riddle collapses; however, that’s not before you get a couple more hits in, just about bringing the overblot to its knees by the time it finally dissipates for good. Once the Heartslabyul dorm leader is back on his feet and led away to rest and recover somewhere less demolished, that’s when the attention is focused back on you.

There’s more than a few comments about you getting involved in the fight when you have no magic - some comments are admonishing, telling you to be more careful and to not be so reckless; others however are more than a little intrigued by the turnout. Ace just about knocks you over when he claps his hands onto your shoulders and demands to know how the hell you learned to move like that, and Grim is more than a little puffed up bragging about how of course his lackey would be so useful. It catches you off guard - you’re so used to just doing this in your day-to-day life that having someone admonish or praise you is...nice, in a way. It reminds you of when you first took up the vigilante mantle, and you find yourself brimming with excitement at the thought. If they think what you did then was neat, just wait till you tell them about all of your escapades in your home world! You’ve got enough to keep em hooked for days.

#coffee-or-hot-cocoa #twst #twisted wonderland imagines #twisted wonderland #twst imagines #imagines #headcanons #twisted wonderland headcanon #twst headcanons #twst deuce #twst ace #deuce spade #ace trappola #grim #twst grim #riddle rosehearts #twst riddle #request #ask

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boneswriteswords · 4 years

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The Lost Boys - Reincarnated Mate

A/N:This was a selfish thing. Its unbeta’d because we die like men here. I hate my writing like always and I struggled but I tried my best.

I head canon that no two vampire mate-bonds are the same and that they exist even if they aren’t vampires. They just can’t be sensed outside of the vampirism. I gave each boy a different way that they sense the mate-bond and their mate based loosely off soulmate AUS that I am obsessed with.

Enjoy.

~~~~

David:

It was early in the night when he felt it. The pull - the tight and incessant pull from inside him - was active for the first time in ages, jerking him from his phantom state of being.

David fled the cave, following the pull, allowing it wash over him. The moon winked at him as he made his way to the boardwalk. If he had a heart, it would be thumping. He could feel his boys following him, their concern palpable, but he paid them no mind, determined to wrap his arms around you again.

He remembers the last time he saw you, before Max decided you weren’t welcome in the family. He had fed from you, his teeth sinking in your neck as he thrust inside of you, your blood the strongest aphrodisiac. You had arched so prettily, squeezing around his cock like a vice as he drank you down. He had licked at your wound, sliding his arms under your back to pull you that much closer as he dragged his lips up to meet yours.

David hadn’t been able to stop himself, murmuring words of love into your mouth. The mortifying ordeal of being known had long passed. He threatened forever. You were his. He was yours. Mates, meant to be, tied in this life and the next, and he would turn you. Twisted wedding vows that dripped like honey.

You had kissed along his face and promised that you loved him, wanted him always.

David shivered as he remembered how you drank from him. How he sliced his arms and chest to give you his blood and how you didn’t waste a drop. You had smiled like the sun was coming out from behind your eyes, his blood on your lips and dripping down your neck and he remembers how he had never seen something so beautiful. His mate. His.

He had planned to take you hunting the following night to complete your transformation. He bundled you up in the room where he and his brothers slept and then fell into the sun-sleep with a smile.

You were gone when he woke up. He felt hollow, the mate-bond fizzling under his skin. He knew you were dead. Paul had found your body and Dwayne had held him down when Max came by to scold him for falling in love with his food. He remembers starving, unable to hunt through his grief. Marko spent months bringing food back to their dwelling, dripping the blood over his mouth so he could be sustained. Time passed. He had gotten stronger. He had overcome. He missed you every single night, a soul deep tiredness that he couldn’t shake settling on the slope of his shoulders. He had waited for a sign that it wasn’t over. That you would be back. Max had once said that reincarnation happened sometimes, especially with the supernatural so he had never lost the hope that you and he would be together again.

And seeing you on the boardwalk, looking more stunning than he remembers, he feels like he’s come home.

Almost as if you can feel the pull too, you turned to him as he approached and smiled at him.

He couldn’t help but smile back.

~~~~

Marko:

Marko would forever be grateful to David. He had brought him into the life, had found him frozen in the alley between nameless streets clutching a bottle of medicine he had swiped, and had given him a chance to survive. He gave him a taste of a life that was beyond starvation and fighting for territory.

David had offered the same for you, once he felt you along the lines of Marko’s thoughts. The power residing inside you and Marko was strong and he knew that Max would be annoyed. Max didn’t like when David made friends.

Especially if those friends were a bonded pair that would not be influenced by him.

But you had been too weak to drink. In the pitiful, run-down shack you and Marko called home, David watched as his new brother pleaded with you.

“See baby doll? We were always meant to be. We need to go back and show them that they were wrong about us. You can’t leave me now. Please don’t leave me now.” Marko had begged as he held you to him, the cold of your skin matching his in the most frightening of ways. “You’re my mate. Please.”

Smiling sadly, you had whispered that you loved him and succumbed to the cold and illness that ravaged your malnourished body. Even the strongest of vampire blood wouldn’t have been able to save you.

David arranged for you to have a proper burial and Marko spent the next few decades rampaging to dull the pain. Time doesn’t heal wounds, it just lessens the impact of them. He could never properly thank David for the surprising amount of respect he paid to you but he did his best.

When David walked into the cave, telling him that he spotted you on the boardwalk, Marko knew that he’d be thanking him for a long time.

He could hear his brothers hollering as he transformed, unable to stop himself. He needed to find you before you disappeared. People came and went through Santa Carla daily, he couldn’t let you slip away now. Not when he finally had a chance to give you everything you deserved.

And oh. You were still so lovely. Even more so now, eyes devoid of the hardships you endured to be with him and a layer of fat hiding your bones. Emotion bubbled to the surface as you turned to look at him, as if you could feel him close by. There was a look of confusion, then apprehension, then joy and Marko knew you remembered him. His newly revived thrum jumped under his skin.

Oh yeah, he’d be thanking David for eternity.

~~~~

Paul:

Paul relives the day you drowned on the nights where he can’t be bothered to drink the memories away. The day was bright - sunny, the kind of days he loved. You had been radiant. You always were but on that particular day, you were even more so.

He remembers that he took you to the beach to celebrate your anniversary. You had stuck with him for 3 years, something people had joked as being a miracle, proof that God existed, and you loved the beach. He was indifferent but you had agreed to let him pick dinner if you spent the day at the beach.

Compromise.

You had been in the cutest little swim outfit, the space between your shoulder blades riddled with suggestion as he smoothed sunscreen across your skin. He could admit that he spent a little too long rubbing it into your skin. Its not like he could stop himself. Paul desired you above everything else, an addiction, and he would be damned before he’d restrained himself.

He doesn’t remember how it happened - between the drugs and alcohol he consumed nightly and his own unwillingness to remember - but he knows you were pulled under a riptide. You disappeared for long minutes. There had been screaming and people diving in to pull you out. He hadn’t been able to find you in the waves.

But another girl had and she pulled you to shore with the help of her group of friends. A flurry of motion, a rush as CPR was performed, as an ambulance was called, as medics pronounced you dead.

You had been concussed when you went under. A brain bleed. You died in the water.

When he was turned - a decision made to escape the cotton candy skies you loved, Max told him that he should feel something - a pull, a thrum, some sort of guidance - and it would lead him to his mate. Paul told him that he didn’t have one anymore

His was dead. He wasn’t sure how he knew it was you but everything inside of him felt it.

He was prepared to spend an eternity with the throbbing in his chest.

At least, he was until he heard your voice. It was an echo inside his head, compelling and soft, and he followed it, pushing through throngs of people. He could feel his brothers watching him, smirking with all-knowing grins and eyes glinting with mischief but he paid them no mind. All his emotions got together to overreact at the possibility of you and he was determined to see where it had come from.

The sound faded and he tried to focus, tried to concentrate to bring it back to him. The vibrations trickled to a stop, replaced with the harsh, cacophonous sounds of large gatherings of people. It felt like a hand clasping his throat and squeezing. He growled in irritation, ignoring the taste of his own broken heart and deciding that he’d take his frustrations out on the next group of victims he and his brothers herded to the beach.

So he turned around to head back.

And ran right into you.

It took everything inside of him to not fall into your arms and weep but, from the tears gathering in your eyes, you wouldn’t have minded it too much.

~~~~

Dwayne:

A whiff of your perfume was enough to stop him in his tracks, his body tensing as he scanned the boardwalk. It was faint but he’d know it anywhere. Without a word, he nodded to David and walked away from his brothers. The wind was almost nonexistent but it was enough for him to follow the scent.

It was a unique smell, one that you had crafted yourself. He watched you make in your kitchen enough times to know it by heart. You had told him that the formulas for other perfumes were too synthetic for you to handle. They blistered your skin or gave you migraines. It was cheaper to make your own instead of spending countless dollars buying store-brand perfumes that you weren’t sure were going to work for you.

You also like to be ecological. Use all of it or use nothing at all.

Down the line, you ended up making him his own scent too and he still has an untouched bottle of it hidden in one of the cave’s alcoves. The bottle he has open is used sparingly, only on the nights where the edges of his memories of you shift like clouds of smoke.

He knows he can make more - it was incredibly simple to make - but these were the last bottles you had made for him and he knew he’d never be able to replicate the importance of it. It had been those bottles that made him realize he loved you.

He never had a chance to tell you how important it was to him. You had died before he could. Dwayne had wanted to kill the animal that gored you but he knew you wouldn’t have wanted that. You had gone out of your way to free the creature from the traps poachers had set up and you would not have wanted the animal punished for attacking.

“They don’t know any better,” he could hear you say, “If they get caught, they are likely hurt. They won’t know if you are a friend or a foe. They’re going to lash out. I keep tranqs on me but sometimes that isn’t enough to subdue them.”

The regret settled like acid in his stomach. Your mother had given him a scarf you made because she knew he’d want something to remember you buy. It had your scent on it and he can admit that he spent endless nights breathing it in.

The smell had long since faded but he had sewed the scarf into the lining of his jacket to keep it close to him.

He didn’t think he’d ever smell it again.

The more he walked, the more potent the smell got. It wafted around him, embracing him tightly, and the anticipation of what that could mean thrummed inside his chest.

And just like that, he turned his head and he found you, sitting on a bench. Waiting. He pauses, taking you in, alive and beautiful and whole.

Something causes you to jolt and you turn to look at him. You meet his eyes.

A pause.

A smile spreads across your face as you launch yourself at him. He meets you halfway.

~~~~

End

~~~~

#the lost boys #the lost boys imagine #lost boys dwayne #lost boys marko #lost boys david #lost boys paul #the lost boys 1987 #My writing

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forgedirons · 3 years

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* so like. yeah. it me, cc. i can’t read, spell, or write – & yet i joined this anyway because i am are in love with you all. anyway.

❛ 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐬 › 𝐈𝐒𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐔 .

the communication's chair of the yale's elite, they're twenty-two and a senior undergrad student majoring in print journalism. they are as vigilant as they are importunate.

blackmail :

(i). despite claiming to be a journalist that holds the truth over everything, she's being paid off by an embezzling official & keeping the funds for her own personal spending.

(ii). she won her current internship by sabotaging her competitors with “strategic investigating”, which she then used against them by creating a gossip buzz under an anonymous pseudonym.

(iii). death tw: claims that her parents passed away her freshman year of undergrad and uses it as a way to avoid talking about how they’re in prison ( & how it’s her testimony that landed them there ).

❛ 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 › 𝐀𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒 .

you wear sorrow well, grief is not a compliment – nor is it to be romanticized. your heart’s always been broken & you doubt it was ever whole to begin with. behind closed eyes, maroon rose petals fall onto a fresh blanket of white snow; your fingers are pricked by the thorns while you open your eyes to the flickering lamp in your room. cloaked in shadows, red string is strung across a board, connecting clues that nobody else but you seems to see. you are meant for so much more than this run down shack, you’ve always told yourself this – you wonder if anyone else is listening ( but, you’ve always been alone; your words have always bounced back onto your own skin ).

❛ 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 › 𝐅𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐒 .

✧ * core

↠ full name . isabeau hwang . ↠ nickname(s) / alias(es) / title(s) . ( off brand ) nancy drew, isa, is, beau . ↠ age / dob . twenty - two / march, 19 . ↠ hometown . ? idk? kansas somewhere . ↠ current location . yale idk what city it’s in don’t @ me . ↠ ethnicity . korean . ↠ nationality . american . ↠ gender . cis gender woman . ↠ pronouns . she / her . ↠ orientation . bisexual , grayromantic . ↠ occupation . undergraduate student . ↠ face claim . kim sojung ( sowon ) .

✧ * countenance

↠ height . five feet, eight inches ( 172 cm ) ↠ build . slim, well toned but tall – slim / athletic. ↠ tattoos . be good, on the inside of her left middle finger. also, this. ↠ piercings . ears . ↠ scars . a couple, none too prominent . ↠ hair . kept long & though she seems to sport a different color every year since arriving on campus, she’s recently dyed it back to a natural shade of black. it’s always in place & always styled neatly, whether it’s pulled back or curled ( to pretentiously imperfectly perfection ) . ↠ eyes . dark brown & often inquisitive, like she’s trying to solve a riddle that nobody else is in on except herself. half of the time, they’re hidden behind gold - rimmed glasses that look a little too expensive for someone of her background, but she otherwise wears contacts. has really bad vision, though, & is a blind bitch . ↠ clothing style . best described as business casual, semi-formal, professional but make it chic. lots of skirts, lots of turtlenecks, long coats & expensive fabrics that all coordinate to make her look either like she just walked out of a dark academia novel or a meeting with the president of the school where she did nothing but argue. very rarely seen in sweats or anything “bummy” – maybe she cares too much about her image. ↠ usual expression . resting bitch face – but promote it. she just looks unapproachable in general, her usual expression is something between disgust & apathy, it makes her look like she’s consistently looking at her surroundings & being very displeased with everything around her ( it’s because she made the face too much as a kid, now it’s stuck that way ) . ↠ speech . elegant & well - thought out. everything she says sounds like it’s rehearsed & practiced, like she wakes up in the morning & writes a script for her entire day. she very obviously thinks before she speaks, always, & tries to sound like she looks, but catch her without anyone around & she speaks a lot like the trailer trash she really is . ↠ distinguishing features . intense eyes that make her look like she always knows someone’s secret, the slight lopsided grin – she might be smirking or maybe she just knows something you don’t, finely shaped eyebrows idk dude

✧ * ruminations

↠ ( + ) positive . vigilant , heedful , aspiring ↠ ( - ) negative . importunate , reckless , impetuous ↠ moral alignment . true neutral - neutral evil ↠ likes . her designated corner of the library – especially late at night when she can sigh super loudly without anyone glaring at her, iced americanos but only on rainy days & only on rainy days where she wears her glasses, the feeling & the smell of solid cash, putting together the pieces of a puzzle that she’s been working on for a long time ( investigations or not ), stargazing but only on beaches & only during the wintertime . ↠ dislikes . any other journalist ever, any pop beverages ( because she also doesn’t like to burp ), the smell of chlorine or gasoline or freshly cut grass, being touched by strangers in any sort of instance, waking up before ten in the morning ( staying up until 10 am however, different story ), know it all TA’s, professors who can’t debate her for more than fifteen minutes ↠ quirks . always has a small, moleskin notebook on her person that she’ll pull out to write little notes in, has amazing penmanship, speaking of – only ever writes in pen & never uses anything else to write, squints & digs her front teeth into her tongue when she’s really focusing on something . ↠ hobbies . disappearing for long periods of time just to resurface & act like nothing happened ( solving mysteries, like nancy drew ), being the first to let her opinion be heard by anyone who happens to be nearby, starting fights & finishing them by cheating.

❛ 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 › 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 .

trigger warnings : death , lots of illegal activity

✧ * ISABEAU.

* she’s born to a wanted pair . with bounties & rewards attached to their mugshots, they bring a baby into the world & decide to bring her along for the ride. named isabeau, her first memory is watching the door while her parents count money on a motel bed behind her. her first word is “fuck!” while she rides in the backseat of a stolen pick up truck, a toddler clutching a stolen baby toy while wearing clothes that definitely don’t belong to her. whether it’s inherited or not, she grasps greed & holds it as her biggest sin. much like her father, in that aspect – there’s nothing more she craves than having more. more money, more lust, more power, more reputation – more, more, more. it sits in her gut like a waning hunger she’ll never get rid of – but, she doesn’t know what to call it for almost her entire life.

she’s not the eldest of the crew. her sister is three years older than her & much more kind than anyone else in the family will ever be. where isabeau takes after their parents ( often described as ruthless, greedy, selfish & reckless ), pippa was her own person through & through. she was soft, & sweet, & she always did what was right. though, she was raised to believe that lying to the police was right, & that stealing in the supermarkets was the right thing to do. growing up, though, isabeau always sort of knew that it was really just her & pippa against the world. their parents, however eccentric, were often absent & left them alone for days on end – only to return with more trouble on their hands.

eventually, they decided to settle in buttcrack nowhere, kansas in the smallest, shittiest trailer park they could find. it was one small trailer that kept the hwang family together; isabeau & pippa sleeping on a couch - turned - bed, their parents on the big one in the back. she gets enrolled in school & is taught to never tell anyone who her parents are or what they do for a living ( which, including robbery, dealing, blackmailing, etc. is a lot ) otherwise she’ll get in a lot of trouble. but isabeau is a curious girl, she watches everything unfold in front of her & always wants to know more ( & more, & more, & more ).

one of the brightest of her class in the small town, she grows to be somewhat of a nancy drew. people of the town know her, they give her their problems & missing cats & disappearing letters & mismatched shoes to solve. isabeau, no matter how troubled, is smart & the townspeople know it. looking back on it, she’ll always remark that they were trying to help her, but she only ever saw it as something to do. her biggest case, finding a missing girl in the seventh grade – her smallest case, finding a coin purse that someone misplaced.

in eighth grade, she starts her own newspaper at school where she publishes stories of her investigations. initially, it’s just something to keep her at school longer ( because, home isn’t really where she wants to be – she’s old enough now to realize home isn’t home ), but she learns how good she is at it. creating pieces, interviewing people, just, plain writing – it’s her thing. her english teacher ( mrs. kenningston ) encourages her & gets her a freelance spot with the town newspaper.

things are great for isabeau in high school. she’s popular, editor of the school newspaper, amateur detective & freelance reporter for the town newspaper. her goal is to get out of town, to get far away from her family & become some sort of lois lane. freshman year, her sister graduates high school & is set to go to ksu – before sophomore year, isabeau’s burying her sister in the graveyard of a town they both hated. a freak accident, the newspaper reports – & for a month, everyone believes it. but, sophomore year starts & isabeau anonymously testifies against her parents in court; their recklessness, along with their shady dealings led to the death of not only pippa, but a group of graduated teenagers in town. the hwang parents go away for life on isabeau’s testimony, & she’s never seen in town again.

by dumb luck, she’s adopted into a middle-class family somewhere in vermont & sent to a very good school that looks very good on her transcripts. she goes into overdrive trying to bury her past, carefully crafting herself a new identity with each year that passes in her high school career. things get buried, people are swayed – isabeau hwang isn’t the same isabeau hwang from that small town in kansas who saved a group of children, she isn’t the isabeau hwang who befriended the unfriendly folks on the outskirts of town that people thought were possessed. isabeau hwang from vermont is a very lucky girl with a troubling past she doesn’t talk about, but manages to graduate top of her class with offers from three ivy league colleges & every other school she applied to. that’s all she offers, that’s all most people know.

at yale, she works even harder to maintain her reputation. she’s the girl who’ll go places, a poor girl who’ll get into yale’s elites, the girl who nobody wants to argue with. on campus, she’s loud, she’s opinionated & she’s ( or, thinks she’s ) powerful. a member of the school newspaper, her pieces are quick to be published & even quicker to gain traction. isabeau, a nosy investigator at heart, chooses to publish stories that grab attention & often expose a thing or two – she gains a small following just because she tends to always know a thing or two about a thing or two.

it’s obvious she had her eye set on the elites from the moment she stepped foot onto campus, & after fighting tooth & nail to gain a reputation ( as an opinionated, over - achieving, pretentious shrew of a person ), she argues her way into the elites. in her own words, it’s much better to have her on their side rather than have her against them ( empty threat, what she gonna do, she have no money really ). at the moment, it looks like she’s really gotten everything she’s dreamed of – but isabeau hwang deals in greed, & all she wants now is more, more, more

#this started out good and then got worse as it went on #so if you read this no you didn't #and if it doesn't make sense yes it does #and if it contradicts no it doesn't

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hillnerd · 5 years

Note

Hello hillnerd! I've read more than one of your interesting analysis, so I was wondering, if/when you'll have the time could you explain why/how Ron's character was mistreated by the movies? We all know what a terrible portrait of Ginny they've done, but I've always felt like they did a worst job with Harry than with Ron. Thank you very much, and if you've already spoken more deeply about, don't you worry about it ^^

Aw thanks so much! I’m glad you find my extra long rants interesting! ;)

So! Ron Weasley is my favorite character in the HP series. I found myself continually getting more and more disappointed with his portrayal as the movie series progressed, and have had lots to say on it over the years, but don’t believe I’ve ever had one semi-cohesive long post about it. Here we go, kids!

I have explored this when I went into classism and how it plays into Ron, and the Weasleys, portrayal in the films. This, I feel, is key to understanding how perverse the changes ended up being in the films. To me it’s not just about the character of Ron not being portrayed accurately, but rather an all-around disdain for poverty/working class people.

I won’t repeat what I said in my other essay- but please do read it to get a fuller picture of my issues with Ron’s portrayal. To sum it up, classist tropes of poor people being stupid, lazy, unloyal, and fearful is what Steve Kloves reduced the Weasleys to.

I also am not a huge fan of the movies, so have not given many of them a lot of rewatches- nor will I for this- so it might get hard for me to remember all issues, and I’m sure I’ll miss a lot of them.

HOW RON WEASLEY WAS RUINED IN THE MOVIES:

When people watch the films they come away from them having some understanding of who the characters are in the books. Harry might come across as more serious in the movies- but his bravery, his dedication, his self-sacrifice, and even at times his sarcasm- are still there. Hermione and her whip-smart intelligence are not just present- they are upped to the point of ridiculous at times- they also went on to make her even more empathetic, friendly and kind than she was in the books (she’s more of a prickly little thing- but they portray her as this sensitive empathic character who never puts a step wrong in the movies… ) and made her more physically capable than in the books too. (punching malfoy, able to physically lift Harry into the air when being swung around on the whomping willow, dueling capabilities etc)

Then there is Ron. Most people come away thinking Ron is a coward, or stupid- at best they find him amusing. The movies seemed to go out of their way to wipe away all of Ron’s positive attributes and replace them with problematic behaviors that were completely antithetical to who Ron was, and even change scenes so that he did the exact opposite actions as well. They robbed him of almost every act of intelligence, kindness, wit, heart and bravery from the books. I’m fine with changes from the book as far as scenes- but I am not ok with them completely altering his character to make him selfish, unkind, cowardly, stupid etc. The movies didn’t just ruin Ron Weasley in them- they created a legacy of suck. I mean, that’s why there are video essays titled ‘is Ron useless’ on youtube where they have to do a breakdown of the character, in the newest HP phone game Ron isn’t featured like Harry and Hermione and is worth less points, in the play he’s portrayed as a dingus who can’t point a wand in the right direction… People fundamentally don’t know Ron, and that’s due to the movies (and their influence - even on how people interpret his character when they read the books, imo.)

Let’s get into it though!

This started with the first film:

the one film that was truest to who Ron was in the books.

The Devil’s Snare

Let’s compare the scenes:

youtube

Now, they had to cut one of Hermione’s feats in order to streamline the journey to the stone. The riddle with the potions would be a lot harder to make interesting in film, so having her shining moment be the Devil’s Snare makes absolute sense.

As it was her one moment of glory, it also made sense for her to get to stay calm. I can’t begrudge that change.

What I DO have issue is, Kloves decided to sacrifice Ron’s character in order to bolster Hermione. He made Ron become completely irrational and panicky, while cool calm Harry and Hermione looked on with amusement and derision.

He could have easily had both the boys unable to keep from wiggling- or had Hermione just crawl off in time like in the book- but no.

This was the beginning of a pattern we continue to see throughout the movies.

They kept feeding the notion that in order to make Harry and Hermione looks cool’/brave- they needed to have Ron cowering beside them- when that is the exact opposite of who he is as a character.

We also have another moment earlier in the book/film that undercuts Ron in order to bolster Harry.

_________________________________________________

Their first quidditch lesson:

BOOK

MOVIE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ix0BhYSZBg

Ron’s been flying a broom since he was a kid. Yet he’s struggling to get the broom to go up while most of the class succeeds, and then it strikes him in the face? Really? Neville is already about to have an accident with the broom and made a lot more sense for this piece of physical comedy- but they did it to Ron…

In this film it’s not that big of a deal- after all he has loads of great moments- but it goes to show that Kloves doesn’t understand Ron’s role in the series for Harry- beyond being his best friend, he’s also a knowledgeable guide to the wizarding world. They almost completely remove this from Ron, and give almost all exposition to Hermione or Hagrid. Ron’s essential function is removed. This is just a tiny example. It gets worse as the films continue.

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THE TROLL

In the book he is very capable and is able to do Wingardium Leviosa to save Hermione WITHOUT her coaching him in the bathroom. But he can’t have his moment without Hermione teaching him in the movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbxMy9T49fM

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Chamber of Secrets

This is it. The film where Ron is firmly established as a coward.

He is moaning, squeeking, shaking, crying, and all around acting a total miserable coward in scene after scene. Again this is the exact opposite of who Ron is as person. In the books he’s this fiery tempered guy who is ready to first fight/duel any ahole who crosses his path- but in the movies, he’s this:

youtube

FOLLOW THE SPIDERS

youtube

In the books he never is falling apart like that, even when facing the spiders- his biggest fear. (He is literally phobic of them, but this is now shown in the films.) Harry is stoic, to the point of ridiculously stoic, during these moments- while Ron practically crying. Now I’m fine with Ron being show afraid in this particular scene- my issue is how it’s played for comedy, how they add in moments of ‘now can we panic,’ and have Harry show about as much emotion as a door knob the whole scene.

If this were the one scene where Ron acts like this, hey I’d let it pass.

Nope. It’s become his entire personality. He is in the same state CONSTANTLY in this film. Dignity? Ron does’t get to have a moment of that. He’s constantly making this face:

When in the car, when near his mum, when being yelled at by the howler, when being yelled at by moaning myrtle, when Harry is injured etc.

If his excessive fear weren’t the only big problem that’d be one thing- but no.

He is also striped of his purpose in being a guide to the wIzarding world.

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MUDBLOOD AND SLUGS

When Hermione is called a Mudblood in the books she has no clue what that means. Ron is the one who, rather eloquently, explains it.

This is instead given to Hagrid and Hermione. While Ron pitifully barfs int he corner only able to add a feeble ‘it’s sickening’ for laughs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpj3krxJtNU

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PRISONER OF AZKABAN

They continue to make Ron a coward, but also erode his friendship with Harry and Hermione, and make him ‘irresponsible’ on top of it.

INSUFFERABLE KNOW-IT-ALL

Ron gets detention from Snape for defending Hermione against him.

In the films he agrees with Snape’s bullying comment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjxZyljxrxE

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SCABBERS

Ron’s concern about Scabber’s health is made into a one-off sort of joke in the films, and for some reason a narrative of ‘Ron keeps losing Scabbers and is an irresponsible pet owner’ is established in the films.

Molly has to chase him with Scabbers and shouts ‘DON’T LOSE HIM!’ and then later the cat/rat fight is reduced to a ‘Ron’s lost Scabbers’ instead of it being a clear case of ‘the rat is dead, most liekyl because of her cat.’

Again we see Ron being shown as inferior (dumb ron unable to keep up with pets), while Hermione is built up ad able to talk down to Ron. (Ronald has lost him again!) (Also, anyone else HATE that they did this with the Ronald bit with Hermione and Ron?) Even Hagrid condescends to Ron when he finds the rat (and Hagrid is shown as quite clueless, but apparently not as clueless as Ron now….)

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There’s a moment added to the films where Harry goes to return the crystal ball to Trelawney and asks if Ron wants to come with him— Ron, a bit rudely, says no. This was used as a way to get Harry alone with Trelawney for the professor to give her prophecy- but why did they have to do it at the expense of Ron?

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THE SHRIEKING SHACK

Ron on multiple occassions in the book goes out of his way to attempt to save Harry. ALL of these are cut.

Ron literally put himself between Harry and danger. Instead in the films he’s stupidly sitting beside the whomping willow,

then he’s just screaming, terrified, as he’s dragged away.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhi1bOuIj0E

Then Ron, with a severely broken leg, stands on it to confront a murderer while Hermione scaredly whispering.

Instead they give this line to HERMIONE, while Ron incoherently whimpers on the ground like a coward.

youtube

They knew Hermione had a TON of ‘moments’ in this film already- why did they need to give one of Ron’s ONLY moments to her???????? She had just punched Malfoy (instead of slapped him), literally had the strength of a grown weight lifter to lift Harry by the shirt into the air as they fought the whomping willow and will go on to the have the time adventure… yet, here we are- She has this line as well.

Ron is robbed of every ounce of dignity and gumption and self-actualization he HAS.

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Then at the end of the time adventure they have Harry and Hermione laughing at Ron as he, again, incoherently babbles and makes this face.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OavYqCjM45k

Oh ahahah! It’s DUMB OLD RON! XD

Everything valuable he brings to his friendship with Harry and Hermione is cut- and replaced with this garbage.

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GOBLET OF FIRE

Again all nuance for Ron’s character is lost- and he’s demonized while Harry and Hermione are lifted up. They also, throughout the movies, have done a pretty crap job of showing Ron’s place in the wizarding world when it comes to wealth and when it comes to how he’s treated and what he goes through. His lack of money is treated as a joke with his robes, and in general is not taken seriously beyond a a few Lucius is a bad guy scenes and the first movie.

HARRY AND RON’S FIGHT

In the books Ron and Harry’s fight leaves Harry devastated- and Ron’s behavior doesn’t come out of nowhere either. They establish that Harry and He had an agreement to go into the tourney together if they could- but it looks like Harry did it without him. [the post by @owlpostagain does a brilliant analysis of it]

Ron does not come into their fight angry- in fact he’s trying (And failing) to be positive for Harry.

Ron brings NO ANGER to this exchange. HARRY DOES, though:

In the books Harry isn’t reasonable when he tries to explain this to Ron- he’s angry and insults Ron. Of course in the films, they make Harry ever so reasonable and Ron just a moody whiny asshole who is purely angry and spiteful in this exchange.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an7WWOY94Qs

The utter misery Harry experiences while he and Ron are on the outs is cut (I mean, at this point, why would he be miserable? Ron is a pretty awful friend in the films.) Best explored in a post I can’t find now- just go and reread how miserable Harry is. (eta: FOUND THE POST!!! Thanks @vivithefolle!)

[This post] by @purpleklimt PERFECTLY sums up all the part in GOF where Harry is desperately missing Ron

He then goes on to attack Ron a SECOND time in the books

They leave out Harry’s part in this fight- and make it solely Ron’s fault in the films.

When they make up in the books Harry is SO relieved he won’t even let Ron apologize. He starts off cold- but immediately turns it around with relief.

But in the movie he’s angry and condescending to Ron (after having a SUPER out of character ‘everyone look at me, who wants me to open the egg!!!’ scene) and continues acting so AFTER they’ve ‘made up’? It’s not a happy reunion. And Ron is acting… really stupid :P For no reason

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s_dukNgLPg

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TRAINING

Ron goes on to help Harry train for the next task in the books, letting him practice hexes on him. Ron does nothing at all to help Harry in the films. Literally nothing.

———

YULE BRAWL

Again Ron is shown as angry- but they have to up the ante don’t they- where he literally makes Hermione have a breakdown in tears saying he’s ‘ruined everything’- when she had a great time at the ball in the books :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bynhxDUqqgU

Where as in the books they are having a fight of equals:

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They also add in a lot of scenes where Hermione is like, a rock for Harry emotionally (which she has never been in the books at all. The closest was in book 7 at the graveyard at xmas.)

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ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

This is the ONLY movie after the 1st one to show Ron’s true friendship for Harry.

It’s not a coincidence that it’s the only film NOT written by Kloves. Here he is defending Harry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktfsgXyRbuc

Ron is a bit of a non-entity in this movie in general, but he’s a good supportive friend, and even has his cleverness pointed out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_p6j28GC3A

I guess they had to when they cut out him being prefect :P

They do a minor bit of Hermione getting Ron’s lines when Harry meets up with them at Grimauld place:

Ron: We told Dumbledore we wanted to tell you what was going on. We did, mate. But he’s really busy now, we’ve only seen him twice since we came here and he didn’t have much time, he just made us swear not to tell you important stuff when we wrote, he said the owls might be intercepted.

Movie:

Harry: You couldn’t have put this in a letter, I suppose. I’ve gone all summer without a scrap of news.Ron: We wanted to tell you, mate. Really, we did. Only –Hermione: Only Dumbledore made us swear that we wouldn’t tell you anything.

But it’s not the worst infraction. It does cut into Ron and Harry’s bond though in order to bolster Harry and Hermione’s. :P

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HALF-BLOOD PRINCE

Steve Kloves is back- and he seems determined to undermine Harry and Ron’s friendship, bolster Harry and Hermione’s, and generally cut out anything but buffoonery from Ron’s stories.

He has Ron kissing Lavender for seemingly no reason, has Ron looking like a moron as he does quidditch (The helmet… ) and just in general doesn’t give Ron any dignity.

When Ron is poisoned- a VERY SERIOUS incident- Ron immediately goes from dying to sitting up to make a joke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK3K8XmZX3Q

The MOST EGREGIOUS one, though, is THE ENDING OF THE MOVIE

First let’s look at what we find in the books

They are a TRIO- Ron and Hermione are equally supporting him- but as usual Ron has the most lines of verbal support in the book- because that’s his role as Harry’s BEST FRIEND.

In the film… I mean… LOOK AT IT!

youtube

Ron is COMPLETELY SILENT. And seated about 20 feet away from them as the ‘grownups’ talk and Hermione pledges her ever loving support to Harry, while Ron, again, IS SILENT! FOR THREE MINUTES!

WTF

I JUST…. WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAT?!!!?!?

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DEATHLY HALLOWS

Ron is actually portrayed ok at times here- They are ALL OVER the place with Ron’s characterization though, and do LITTLE to show the sacrifices he’s making leading up to their journey (and don’t support that narrative much later either.)

At times a bumblerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiTgShhO-JM

But is finally allowed to hold his own when things get serious- but shows a weird sort of serial killer-esque darkness as he confronts the frozen deatheater.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk5I27gTOj0

Again they make him an idiot at the ministryhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxgGMs3tezw

But Ron’s injury for once is treated seriously. :) (no sitting up to make a joke!)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvpgvg_0neQ

The locket scene they do NOT honor Ron’s character, and have him become incredibly cruel compared to how he was in the bookhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZi_9E3ULwI

Again they do what they’ve done with ALL the fights based around Ron (note how they CUT all of Harry&Hermione’s fall-outs?) they make Ron completely randomly unreasonable- and bolster Harry’s perspective as just misunderstood and not at all out of control angry

Don’t get me wrong, Ron was horrid when he was essentially possessed by the locket- but he NEVER went to the low blows Ron of the films did.

They go on in the film to show that without Ron, Harry and Hermione are fine. They are dancing and having a good time without him. And why wouldn’t they? He’s never been the rock of support and common sense he was in the books.

In the books they are hopeless without Ron. Miserable without him. that’s why when he’s back it’s a BIG deal _________________________________________________

♪REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD♪ meh

When reunited, Harry and Ron don’t have a particularly close bond- They destroy theh horcrux- and Ron’s emotional reaction of sobbing after his worst fears are out is cut- because of course all Ron-humanity is cut- and then his bond with Harry where they embrace and Harry comforts him is also cut- because only Harry & Hermione are actually close in these movies….

Movie version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1XUfFnmflU

The clip cuts off but after

All that, and all they say is:

‘Just think, there are only three to go.’

Oh ok! No Ron explaining things, no Harry and Ron bonding- Ron’s not a good friend anyways, right?

Augh.

Where Ron comes in saving the day and bringing them tons of knowledge (the taboo, snatchers, potter watch) film Ron comes back bringing nothing (because Ron in the films NEVER is smart or bringing anything to the table. The TWO TIMES in the WHOLE FILM SERIES he does, it’s commented on like ‘wtf?!’ from Hermione….), and his presence doesn’t seem to particularly change anything for Harry and Hermione either. They were fine without him and Hermione is laughing and smiling LESS with Ron around, so is Harry.

Anyways! Then there is Hermione’s torture. Ron in the books is going mad with grief for her- He on MULTIPLE OCCASSIONS defends her and even says for them to take him instead. in the movies he reacts with a worried look and silence, then when he’s down in the basement seems less worried about Hermione than he was about anything in all those other movies he was freaking out in:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twHLFlqZ8T8

Look at how sedate he is. Jesus.

In the books he’s shouting her name and desperate for her.

But in the movies… BLECH

At least they still let him save her. (I’m surprised they let that stay.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2zNRrOXbPY

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I only saw Deathly Hallows part 2 when it first came out- and haven’t seen it since because i really didn’t like it. The final fight sequence sucks so hard :P

But anyways- what I remember- Ron essentially does nothing and contributes nothing until he gets him and Hermione into the chamber of secrets and they randomly kiss.

ROOM OF REQUIREMENT

He is portrayed as plain old SILLY in the Room of Requirement:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZiGbypAnFU

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MY FRIEND IS ABOUT TO GO DIE.

He gives a lame ‘what? Are you mad’ then as Harry goes off to die, Hermione gives Harry a big old hug- (neither character would let Harry do this- but Ron just STANDING there??? THE FUCK?) and Ron just stand there silently. Again, why is kloves so afraid of having these boys touch? Show affection????? (honestly I think all the times Ron shows anything like friendship in the films it’s usually silent moments that are improvised by Rupert.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg1LLVWZyg8

Like you’re telling me THIS BOY

Is gonna just stand there while Harry goes to die???

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And then hermione almost seems embarrassed to be interested in him

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19 YEARS LATER

Then in the final scene of the book, where Ron had tons of lines (the most besides Harry and Albus) he’s just this potbellied silent dude.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEKA6rmVfW8

Like…. I can’t.

I HATE what the movies did to Ron. (don’t get me STARTED on Ginny.)

At every place they could they silenced him, took away his moments, made him a buffoon, made him a coward, made him a rotten friend, removed all his best traits- and left him to be mostly… THIS

He’s a selfish cowardly lump who is just around to keep the AUDIENCE entertained. Honestly you could cut Ron from the movie series and almost nothing would have to be changed- that’s how little they let him inform the narrative.

#isidar-mithrim #ron weasley #meta #ron weasley defense squad

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ginathethundergoddess · 6 years

Text

The Last Jedi, or SOMEONE REALLY SHOULD HAVE EXPLAINED HOW ANAKIN FELL TO LUKE IN A WAY THAT WASN'T SPOKEN IN RIDDLES.

Spoilers ahead but also some meta. I don't know how to add a line break/cut on mobile.

I loved the last Jedi but some stuff about luke's character bothered me. He felt ooc from what his character arc ended with in ROTJ. Granted this is a man haunted by failures and the death of legit everything he worked for, but I even then it felt out of character for Luke Skywalker, the Jedi who brought anakin back from the dark side, to believe that killing his nephew was the only thing he could do to stop his fall. That's not the man who almost died because he believed his father had good left in him, even after all the crimes Vader committed.

So here's my theory: back when sidious was manipulating anakin, the Jedi council missed HUGE signs that something was up with Anakin. They knew there was sith involved, but didn't suspect it was palpatine. (Despite the FLASHING NEON WARNING SIGNS). All they knew was that anakin was a shatter point, a dangerous one (still should have trained him harder and maybe not let him get all cozy with palpatine in ways NO OTHER JEDI WAS REALLY ALLOWED, but I digress.) But not how he played into it. Or how palpatine played into it. This is because palpatine was able to manipulate the force enough to cloud even the foresight of yoda. He was virtually untraceable in the force. This made him able to plant seeds of doubt in anakin's mind that over the course of the clone wars were one by one confirmed.

Seed one: padme would die. Palpatine manipulated anakin's force visions to constantly torment him with visions of padme dying. Anakin's love for her, which was a good thing and could have done wonders for the order, became instead a tool of control. Anakin would do anything for her.

Seed two: the Jedi were corrupt and wanted power, and didn't think him worthy enough to be a Jedi knigt, and that the Jedi were turning from their own code and becoming hypocritical. Palpatine manipulated the way anakin viewed the council and its actions. As more and more death came of the Jedi actions throughout the war, anakin slowly began to have his doubts confirmed. The loss of his padawan, Ahsoka Tano, to the machinations of another padawan who had lost faith made anakin even more wary of the Jedi. Palpatine used the destruction of the war to frame the Jedi order in an even worse light. When Obi-Wan was no longer immediately at Anakin's side to ground him and help him see clearly, Anakin was weak to Palpatine's influence. It came to a head when the council tried using him as a spy on palpatine, because by then Anakin believed palpatine to be a loyal and sympathetic friend who shared his doubts about the order and would listen to his problems. He saw the jedi council's caution as hypocrisy and a power move. This escalated when, upon revealing the identity of the sith lord to them, mace windu did as Jedi usually do with sith and IMMEDIETLY went to confront him. Anakin saw this as betrayal- a peace keeping order that supposedly fought for justice was going to murder a man that had otherwise been a good person and strong leader throughout a bloody and destructive war. There would be no trial, no negotiations. Just straight up slaughter. This confirmed what palpatine had been feeding him about the Jedi order; they wanted power. This is why he was so quick to jump to Palpatine's aid. The jedi had been lured into a position where they looked like the villains.

Seed three: isolation. Because the war was wrapping up by episode 3, the Jedi were spread out. Anakin didn't have his padawan to distract him as she left the order herself. He wasn't always able to see padme, and despite the fact they were unstoppable together, He and Obi-Wan were not put on the same campaigns. The lack of friends around himto bolster his bonds and make him stronger in the light side allowed for palpatine to slip into anakin's mind. He slipped seeds of distrust and doubt about Obi wan and Padme , both of whom were taking stands against palpatine in ways the chancellor manipulated in anakin's mind to look sinister. Obi-Wan was a Jedi loyal to the council; padme was one of the senators most outspoken against the chancellor's draconian laws and regime and the sudden powers he's was wresting that seemed to turn him autocratic. ( mind you that Anakin was a long time soldier in the war and saw all of palpatine's increased powers and official decrees as necessary. The war was bad. )

So though the failure of the jedi to perceive the manipulations of palpatine, both the force influenced ones and ones he manipulated through his actions ad grand chancellor and leader of the Republic army, the jedi had fallen into a trap where their most powerful student felt utterly betrayed by the order that saved him. It didn't help that they had somewhat alienated him during his training, treated him with less respect than he believed he deserved, and many high council members straight up didn't trust him. It also didn't help that by that point in the war the Jedi had become more combative than peace keeping. Mace windu struck first, asked questions later. It seemed a far divide from how Jedi were supposed to do things.

Now, one would think that yoda would have passed this knowledge onto Luke during his training so that Luke didn't make the same mistakes. But luke fell for the same trap as his teachers.

1.) He saw ben's power and aggression and instead of teaching him proper ways to handle it, reprimanded it, which created tension between himself and his nephew that Snokes could easily manipulate from frustration between student and teacher to outright hatred.

2.) He failed to sense Snokes manipulating ben's mind through the force. And even then failed to adequately guard his students from the dark side.

3.) Snokes was able to use ben's frustration and growing resentment to begin to isolate the teen just as palpatine did to anakin. We see ben in his own little shack, with o other students. This is not how Jedi typically function, where every student was together in shared spaces. Luke seemed to contribute to the isolation of Ben, which made him easy prey for snoke.

3.) Snokes planted seeds of doubt into Ben's mind that distanced him further from luke. He no longer saw luke's lessons as helpful or even purposeful. He began to see the training of the Jedi as laughable to those teachings of the sith. The more luke struggled to reign in Ben and teach him, the more hypocrisy Ben saw.

4.) I'm of the opinion Snokes manipulated luke himself. Luke failed to see the struggled Ben was undergoing, the torment Snokes was putting him through. Instead he saw a teenager falling deeper and deeper into the darkness. He began to believe that Ben could not be saved. This is out of character for luke, who we saw struggle with the dark side and draw anakin back to the light. I feel like, as with mace windu, whose mind was clouded and who could not sense the deeper machinations of sidious, only that there was a sith and they needed to be disposed of, luke was lured into believing the only way to stop Ben's descent before it reached critical mass was to destroy him. That sort of thinking is dark side thinking l. The nagging doubts in luke's mind that told him killing was the only answer? That's the dark side. That's fear taking control and manipulating him. Only, luke realized too late that he was falling dangerously close to the dark side. He realized it only when he went to slay his nephew while he slept, stopping at the last minute with a "Holy shit wtf am I doing?"

5.) Unfortunately he still walked right into the trap because at that moment Snokes pulled the strings. Luke never got the chance to explain because Ben woke up to find his uncle standing over him with his lightsaber. In that moment all the lies and manipulations and doubts snokes had been feeding him were confirmed. He defended himself against his attacker and betrayed by someone who was supposed to guide and protect him, fell to the dark side.

So yeah. Luke fell to the same trap the Jedi Order did. Let's hope rey doesn't do the same. Like, yoda confirming that everything Rey needs is inside her ND also she took the Jedi texts, things that CLEARLY no one has read in a damn long time, might actually help prevent this from happening again. I like how yoda is like "we were meant to pass on our successes, and our greatest failures." And honestly I think Rey will be able to actually learn something from Luke's failure. I'm not sure if she will be able to destroy Kylo Ren by bringing Ben Organa-Solo back to the light side (or to the light side for the first time ever). It was kind of clear Kylo Ren, now turned loose without Snokes pulling his strings, is now completely chaotic. He truly is the dark side made manifest; driven by passionate hate and lust for revenge, out of control and hell bent on destroying everything to dominate it all. But at least Rey will know the true extent of what a sith lord can do, and how deep manipulation goes. At least now she knows personally that the dark side is tempting, it promises answers, but what it delivers really conclusions she could have drawn for herself and eventual ruin. She fell for 2.5 seconds, and found that the dark side did not answer her questions, did not give her what she wanted, and only left her with the conclusion she had already known, but didn't want to admit to herself.

#star wars #The last Jedi #spoilers for the last jedi #meta #Luke Skywalker #Anakin Skywalker #Palpatine #Mace Windu #Jedi nonesense #Luke should have seen this coming but didnt know the warning signs and allowed fear to manipulate him #The Clone Wars #Darth Vader

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crossroadsdimension · 7 years

Link

All right, so I am on a biiiit of a roll with this one.

Mostly because I cannot resist getting to the fun bits.

Chapter under the cut if you’re too lazy to go to AO3!

Chapter 5 -- Revelations

If Ford had been thinking clearly, he would have been trying to get a different song stuck in his head to slow down the siren’s enchantment, which had only sped up over the course of the day, considering how close Addi was in relation to his present position.

But he wasn’t thinking.

Vaguely, he knew that he had other things he could be doing, he knew that he was something else, but the enchantment the siren had bound him with had woven into his mind so tightly that the only thing he could think about was the song.

He had to get to Addi. He had to get someone to unlock the basement door from the outside so that he could get out of the house and get to the lake.

The song told him what he needed and his mind could do nothing but agree.

“Let me out! Please!” Ford had been pounding on the door for so long his knuckles were scraped and bleeding slowly. “I need to get out! Please!”

There wasn’t an answer. Vaguely, he remembered getting a promise out of Soos and Dipper to not let him out no matter what, but that only made the song in his head swell in strength and he started pulling at the door even harder, grabbing the handle and slamming his shoulder into the door.

“Grunkle Ford!” yelled a voice on the other side, causing Ford to pause. “It’s Mabel! Are you okay?”

Ford sniffled. He leaned against the door. “Need to get out.”

“Grunkle Ford, you know we can’t do that. We don’t want to lose you.”

Ford felt a pang in his heart at Mabel’s voice, but then the song swelled again. “Mabel, please.”

“Everything’s gonna be okay, Grunkle Ford. I promise. I think we’re getting through to her! You’re gonna be okay!”

Ford didn’t answer. He leaned against the locked door behind him and slid down to the floor as the song in his head continued to pound against the sides of his head, trying and trying and trying to get him out of the basement and out of the house. He tucked his knees up against his chest and buried his face in them, losing himself in the song.

As if he wasn’t lost enough in it already.

On the other side of the door, Mabel pulled back from the entrance to the basement, worried. “...do you think Grunkle Ford’s gonna be okay?”

“He will be, pumpkin,” Stan replied. “We just...we just gotta hope that maybe another couple’a days and Addi’ll come to her senses an’ let him go.”

“Can I have a crack at her tomorrow?” Wendy asked from the cash register. “I’d love to see the look on her face when I show her axe-throwing.” She grinned a little too widely for it to be nice. “Maybe I can show her some little trick-shots that Dr. Pines and I were working on before you went out on your boat trip at the end of last summer -- I know he would like to know how far I progressed.”

“So long as you aren’t hitting her, I think that’d be fine,” Dipper spoke up from the floor. He’d made a nest of books there, and was frowning at one. “I don’t want to know what could happen if we got rid of the source without taking care of the problem in Grunkle Ford’s head. I mean, forcing it isn’t going to be a good thing, either -- he’s always gonna be drawn to going into the sea at least a little….”

“Keep working, Dipper,” Stan said. “If Mabel’s plan to bring that sea witch over to our side doesn’t work, we’re gonna have to go for a plan B.”

“I know.” Dipper made a face. “I just... I don’t want Grunkle Ford to--”

“Hey.” Stan knelt down in front of his nephew. “I think Ford’ll be okay if we do this as Plan B. He’ll understand.”

Dipper looked at his grunkle with a nervous expression, then nodded. “Okay. But I don’t know if we have much longer -- Grunkle Ford’s been….” His eyes trailed to the door. “He’s not himself.”

“...yeah.” Stan looked over at the vending machine. “I just hope that we can get this figured out before he breaks something.” He rose to his feet and patted Dipper through his hat. “Come on; let’s get dinner going and send something down to Ford before he hurts himself.”

“I’ll take you to Addi tomorrow,” Mabel said to Wendy.

“Looking forward to it.”

Time Break

It was about midnight when Ford dug his way out of the basement and scrambled out from under the porch. Despite the repairs made from that summer which hardly anyone spoke of, there was still some parts of the ground that had given way.

And now that he was out in the open, he could reach the siren whose song was intertwined with his mind.

Ford started humming the siren’s song softly as he walked away from the Mystery Shack without looking back. The night outside of his head was quiet, and if there were any creatures in his path, they skittered away as he went past, hiding in the trees.

At some point -- he wasn’t really paying attention as to when -- his voice dipped into a harmony with the song in his mind. It must have sounded off to those who couldn’t hear the melody, but Ford wasn’t thinking of others’ opinions.

His only focus was on the song and the siren it had come from.

It didn’t feel like it took him long to reach the lake. The moonlight reflecting off the calm water’s surface only made Addi’s own presence, draped over a rock with a proper merfolk tail, even more noticeable. The light gleamed off her scales as Ford drew closer, eyes clearly glazed and entranced as he continued to hum his quiet harmony.

Addi noticed him break through the trees and approach, and a relieved smile broke across her face and she motioned for Ford to come closer. “I knew you would find me.”

Ford approached and knelt next to the rock at the edge of the shore that Addi had chosen as a perch. She slipped her fingers in through his hair, and he leaned into it instantly. “Couldn’t stay away.”

“I know.” Addi giggled quietly. “I’m glad you came. I missed you.”

The song in Ford’s head said he felt the same way; he made a quiet noise and closed his eyes as Addi kept working her fingers through his curls.

Addi smiled at Ford’s response, but then her gaze moved to the yarn-and-shells “acquaintance bracelet” that was still wrapped around her wrist. She’d taken off the “shirt” as soon as Mabel and Stan had left -- it felt so liberating to be out of it -- but she hadn’t removed the bracelet and for the life of her she couldn’t figure out why.

“Well, if you let him go we can consider it water under the bridge.”

Addi frowned, then shook her head. No; Ford was her pet; he needed her to keep an eye on him and make sure he was safe.

“Dr. Pines makes the best gnome repellent in town!”

“He’s one of those science-y people -- and the only one that does that kind of thing around here.”

Addi frowned as the voices from the daylight hours bounced around in her head. “Ford, pet?”

Ford looked up, expression glazed and blank.

“Are you a scientist?”

Ford blinked. “Why? Do you want me to be?”

“No, I -- I just -- before. Before I found you.”

Ford frowned, confused. “That doesn’t matter, does it?”

Addi wasn’t sure how to answer that. She remembered how people had talked of Ford in the diner, when she had been eating the pancakes. Mentioned that he knew “what lived in the woods and how to deal with them,” how he was the brother of a hero, how they were willing to protect the Pines and how they were willing to protect others...something about a “never mind all that act”....

Addi looked at the bracelet again as Ford continued to look at her with a confused expression. “Something about this...doesn’t feel right.”

Ford blinked, his expression changing to worried confusion. “What?”

Addi looked at Ford. “Knowing the people that you’ve known...I can’t help but wonder if I made a mistake.” She looked down at the bracelet on her wrist, played with it with one hand.

Ford blinked again. He still looked confused, but there was something else in his eyes now -- a faint recognition.

The enchantment was meant to be strong enough to break off any and all connections to the world above the waves. Addi considered that for a moment.

“Your niece and your brother have said that you lived on your own for thirty years,” Addi said. “That’s a long time to be on the run, and alone.”

Ford’s eyes sparked.

“Knowing that, I don’t know if I can say that you need me to care for you.” Addi pulled her hand away from Ford’s head. “I...I’ve been lonely, for so long. I suppose, after a while I thought that you humans were simply something to keep company. The first ones resisted, of course, but after a while I learned how to keep them in check.” Addi looked Ford over. “Now that...that I’m here, and not where I was...I’m not sure if I need such things anymore.”

With every word Addi spoke, the song at the back of Ford’s mind was starting to struggle to keep up its volume, to hold back the memories that were trickling back into place: the portal, his brother, his family, the very creatures he had run from and survived against.

Ford winced, putting a hand to his forehead as he attempted to stave off the headache. “Nngh.”

Addi looked at him with a guarded expression for a moment, then sighed. “You need to sleep. Being awake for this won’t help.”

That was the only warning she gave him before she started singing softly.

Ford turned his head to look at her sharply at the sound, blinking in pain-riddled confusion. Before he could have a chance to voice anything, however, his eyes grew heavy, and he flopped to the ground. In seconds, he was breathing deeply in sleep.

Addi sang for a few more seconds after Ford had collapsed, then let the song fade. She looked at him for a moment, then quietly shook her head and dove off the rock into the water.

Time Break

When Ford woke up the next morning, it took him a moment to realize he wasn’t on the boat, nor was he barricaded into the basement. He quickly scrambled up to his feet and looked around at the shore of the lake, a confused expression on his face.

It felt like there was something missing from his mind.

He scratched the back of his head, frowning. “Did I forget something…?”

He paused, blinking. His voice felt strange. He rubbed at his neck; his throat didn’t feel sore, nothing felt out of place, but…

“What happened?”

“Grunkle Ford! Grunkle Ford!”

Ford turned sharply at the sound of the voices and barely managed to keep his footing as Dipper and Mabel rammed into him, holding him tightly in a group hug.

“How’d you get out of the basement without unlocking the door?” Dipper demanded.

Ford’s brow furrowed. “I...think I dug my way out? From under the porch?”

Dipper’s eyes widened at that, and he let out a groan. “Of course. The hole I made when I was going after my 38-sided die!”

“Are you okay, Grunkle Ford?” Mabel asked worriedly as Stan came out of the trees, still in his undershirt and boxers.

“I...I’m not sure. It feels like I’ve...forgotten something.” Ford looked around. “But I’m not sure what.”

“Forgotten something?” Stan came over. “Maybe it’s that the sea witch dragged you out here? Seriously, Ford, we’re gonna have to lock you up in the bunker this time if you keep finding ways out. I bet that song in your head is making you forget things.”

“Stanley, there are no doubt other ways out of the bunker now that I could find easily in my sleep; you can’t--” Ford stopped short, blinking in surprise as Dipper and Mabel yawned. “Wait. The song.”

“Yeah; the song is makin’ you forget,” Stan said impatiently. A yawn tried to slip past him, and he fought against it for a moment but it still managed to get out. “Come on, you, let’s get back to the house. Probably gotta get you to sleep a bit or--”

“Stanley, I can’t hear the song anymore.”

Stan stopped short and blinked in surprise. “What.”

“Sh-she did it?” Dipper asked, a hopeful spark in his eyes. “She lifted the spell?”

“It appears so.” Ford rubbed at his neck again. “Although, my voice feels strange.”

“It does sound more sing-y than it normally does.” Mabel yawned again. “It sounds really nice, Grunkle Ford.”

Stan snorted as Ford looked down at Mabel with surprise and an expression of concern. “Probably an after-effect of whatever that sea witch did to ya. Come on; let’s get back to the house. I’m gonna make us some Stancakes.”

“I’ll get right on looking up what sirens can do to people,” Dipper added. “I think I might have seen something about something like this in one of the books we’ve got back in the Shack.” He slipped out of the group hug with Ford and Mabel and started to run back to the house. Stan quickly followed after him.

Ford looked down at Mabel, who looked back up at him rather sleepily. He smiled a little and knelt down before scooping up his niece and carrying her back to the Shack.

At some point along the way, he found himself humming something familiar, and before Ford could catch up to Stan and Dipper at the house, Mabel had long since fallen asleep in his arms.

If he had looked back as he’d left the lake, he would have noticed a rather amused glint of a certain siren’s eyes watching from the surface of the lake.

“Well, it seems this won’t be the last time we see each other.”

#gravity falls #cross' fanfiction #alluring enchantments #pines family #adeline marks #siren!addi #ford's not getting away from this completely normally #he's got a little something extra now #and now comes the Voice Shenanigans #this is gonna be fun #:3

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bi-apps · 4 years

Text

Accepted - Remus Lupin

whatwouldfrogsdo

submitted: Remus Lupin Application

OOC Information:

Name/Age/Timezone- Steph / 26 / GMT

Activity Level- A solid 7. I’m not currently self-isolating and work in a grocery store so don’t see myself out of work even as COVID-19 carries on but everything else in my life has been cancelled so I should be on most days.

Ships/Anti-Ships- None in particular, though I prefer to play Remus as a closeted gay and generally reluctant to get into a ship at all. He plays his secrets off each other, using not being ready to come out of the closet as a reason to break things off with prospective partners just before the Full Moon. In terms of keeping things canon with his future marriage to Dora, I see that as being more a case of him having lost everyone by then and probably it being a more queer platonic relationship, however Marauder era RPs rarely end up covering that, especially where Andromeda and Ted are characters in the RP.

Did you read the rules? Yes!

IC Information:

Character Name- Remus Lupin

Age/Birthdate- 19; 10th March 1960

Faceclaim- Charlie Heaton, Tom Holland, Charlie Rowe.

Occupation- Unemployed. (( Remus has already had multiple jobs since leaving Hogwarts but none last long. He was a dish washer at the Leaky Cauldron for all of two weeks before they asked him to work a Full Moon and fired him when he couldn’t give a good enough reason not to. The manager of the Magical Menagerie was suspicious of him wanting a lowly shop job despite his six NEWTs and thought she was doing Remus a favour when she gave him a pile of applications for the Ministry of Magic and let him go. Remus stopped turning up to his cleaning job in Knockturn Alley when the owner of the lot started dropping hints that they knew what he was. His longest job so far has been as a receptionist in a Muggle office but after his second period of sick leave without a doctor’s note within his two month probationary period they had no choice but to let him go. ))

Blood Status- Half-blood (Half-blood father and Muggle mother)

Positive traits: + selfless: Remus would do anything for his friends no matter the cost to him. + compassionate: Possibly an odd trait for somebody known as a prankster, Remus sees the good in those around him and empathises with them. He would take the side of an underdog over the easier but less righteous choice. His compassionate nature also helps him to forgive people when they have done wrong. + astute: While Remus generally has to work at being book smart, his sharp perception of the world comes naturally. He can think quickly and intuitively to turn a situation to his advantage, whether that is in finding loopholes for the next marauder prank, in assessing a situation that might be about to turn sour or in identifying somebody who needs a word of encouragement.

Negative traits: - people pleaser: Remus has a tendency to look the other way when the other Marauders are breaking rules. He might not participate if he doesn’t really agree with what they are doing, particularly in the past when James and Sirius would bully others at Hogwarts, but he certainly didn’t do anything to stop or stand up to his friends, because as the first people who showed him real friendship, he doesn’t want to lose that by disappointing them and spoiling their fun. - self-deprecating: Remus hates everything that reminds him of his lycanthropy, especially the parts of his personality which are shaped by his condition. Though the support of his friends has helped him come to terms with his fate, Remus is still prone to some doubt and shame over the werewolf part of him, especially when his friends aren’t around. - vengeful: While Remus will forgive somebody for one wrong if they show contrition, if somebody earns his anger then they should beware. On the wrong side of him, Remus is a force to be reckoned with.

Patronus- Wolf. He has successfully managed a corporeal patronus and is now teaching himself how to hide the form of his patronus as he hates any reminders of the wolf.

Boggart- The Full Moon. This is representative of Remus’ fear of what he becomes each month, his dread of each upcoming Full Moon and the way each that has passed leaves scars mental as well as physical.

Key Points-

CHILDHOOD: From the night he was bitten, Remus grew up in isolation units and hospital wards and the confining four walls of his bedroom. His life would forever be shaped by that monthly pattern and a fear of others finding out. His home-schooling involved not just basic numeracy and literacy but also Astronomy and muggle physics and an extensive education into what it meant to be a werewolf. His father taught him about all the magical creatures he encountered at work and his Healer taught him about home remedies and the properties of various herbs, because a side effect of his condition was a childhood riddled with illness and a struggle to make ends meet. His parents poured every last Galleon that they owned into searching for a cure or moving to another town after their latest neighbours started to suspect something was amiss with the family, only a few spare coins each month for each of their vices (Italian coffee and books; cigarettes and music records; chocolate frogs and colouring pencils). In between other lessons, Lyall Lupin did everything he could to ensure Remus would be prepared for a nomadic adulthood — a life on the streets, friendless and penniless — deaf to Hope’s pleas that they try and help him get back to some notion of a normal life.

HOGWARTS: Having been pulled out of muggle primary school when he was bitten, it never occured to Remus that Hogwarts might ever be an option for him. He was so excited when Professor Dumbledore visited the family personally to discuss the possibility that he barely noticed his parents’ worried exchanges and fears. It was only after Professor Dumbledore had left and Remus started to compare the next year’s Full Moons to his new school calendar that it dawned on him just how complicated this would be. Yes, Dumbledore had promised him special provisions, but what of his dormmates? What of that very first weekend of his first year when he would have to feign a very different illness to explain away his disappearance so early in the term? It was his mother who suggested that he could say she had a chronic illness and that he was visiting her whenever there was a Full Moon but he had not known James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew for long before he realised they would not buy that as a reason for skipping classes or being absent from the dorm every month like clockwork. Remus, glad to finally have friends and terrified he would lose them if they found out the truth, made up different and increasingly more elaborate stories but he wasn’t a good enough liar to hide from his best friends and soon they had a bond closer than Remus could have ever hope for. He had a pack.

BETRAYAL: Everything seemed to go wrong at once. A betrayal from his best of friends — his only friends — revealing the secret his life had been devoted to keeping for the purpose of a cheap and fatal prank. Remus felt convinced all three of them were in on it because they always were. He avoided and argued and was the most miserable he had been since starting Hogwarts. It was during this period of low that he had a careers meeting that highlighted how dim his prospects after Hogwarts would be and Remus was reminded of what his father had tried to impress on him all these years — that werewolves weren’t supposed to have the sort of life he had been playing at, with education and friends and happiness. The next Full Moon was during the Easter holidays and unable to bear sitting in the Shrieking Shack alone, he went home. He asked his parents why him. Unable to fob him off with any more half-truths or excuses, his father finally opened up about Greyback. Remus had to hear how his father had once held the same prejudices about werewolves as the rest of the wizarding world and make his own conclusion that maybe he still did. After all, he had almost stopped Remus from living his life after the bite, no matter how much he claimed it was for Remus’ own good. The resulting argument was brutal but soon cut short by hacking coughs and Lyall turning on his wife and snapping at her to stop smoking those damn things. Her hand was shaking as she ignored him and tried to light the cigarette anyway. Remus noticed for the first time that she looked very ill, so ill that his using her as an excuse all those months appeared to be coming back to bite him.

MARAUDERS: They had been his first ever friends and when Remus returned to school he knew he could avoid them no longer. He needed them. Life would be much too lonely without them and, besides, he had grown too used to their being by his side during transformations. He missed them so deeply that he melted when he saw them again. Barely had he stepped into the carriage on the Hogwarts Express did forgiveness fill his heart. He reminded himself of what he had always believed: that he wasn’t good enough for them. That he was nothing more than a monster and at least he should be grateful that they still wanted his friendship. He was indebted to them. How could he keep pushing them away when they equalled the happiest moments of his life so far? Even with that awful Incident, none of them were a part of the worst moments of his life. So, he let them fall back together and patch up the cracks in their friendship with jokes and pranks and throwing themselves towards war, knowing that it didn’t matter to him how they felt. They could pity him and fear him and be prepared to brush him away without a second thought again. He would die for them anyway.

THE ORDER: Despite good grades, a stellar reference from his Head of House and three years in the role of Prefect, Remus was not surprised to find it hard to find or hold down a job after school. Employers wizarding and muggle alike did not look kindly on him taking sick leave less than a month after being hired and inevitably after the second month he was circling ads in the newspaper again. Sometimes it didn’t even take that long, as Remus found himself prioritising the Order of the Phoenix more and more, slipping seamlessly into the role he now knew he had been raised for: the Order’s spy amongst the werewolves.

Changes/Extra Info- No changes, and I think I’ve included any extra info I might want to give elsewhere but as I’ve played variations on Remus’ character for years I have tons of headcanons so if there’s anything extra/different you want to know or clarify just shoot me a message!

Para Sample

(scars cw; minor body mutilation cw; non-deliberate self-harm cw)

It had been three days. Three days since the moon was full. Three days since Remus had only barely avoided becoming a murderer. Three days since Snape had found out his secret. Three days since Remus had spoken.

He had been avoiding nearly everybody, curled up in his bed in the corner of the Hospital Wing, the curtains drawn around him as Madam Pomfrey shooed any visitors away with claims of his having dragon pox. Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall had both visited to talk about The Incident and ask how he was recovering but even then Remus had stared at the ceiling and acted like he couldn’t hear them. When they had suggested he get back to lessons and try to find a normal routine, his eyes had snapped to Madam Pomfrey, who had insisted that his injuries from the particularly difficult night and the mental strain from the trauma meant she wouldn’t be discharging him from her care just yet.

That morning, however, he had lost his ally in Poppy Pomfrey. She had sighed down at him and admitted that she couldn’t let him hide there any longer. It had been three days and he was risking falling into a depression if he refused to do anything any longer. Besides, his injuries were little more than shining scars, now, that would bother him no longer except for the reminder of how terrible that night had been. Even the bruise down the right side of his body from where the wolf had thrown itself at a wall in its desperation to reach human blood had faded to yellow and no longer hurt.

“Do you want me to leave a bandage around your wrist?” Pomfrey asked, as Remus reluctantly dressed. He looked down at the scars. The skin was no longer raw but the scars didn’t look as old as they sometimes did after three days of werewolf speed healing. Remus shook his head. It looked bad and somebody would surely jump to the conclusion his extended stay in the hospital was due to something much darker than dragon pox, but as it was he could pull the cuffs of his jumper or robes over the marks. A bandage would only draw attention.

“I wish there was a way to stop you chewing on yourself. The scratches are bad enough but—“ She trailed off with a pained expression and Remus knew she was thinking again of the state of his wrist when she had found him at dawn and how much worse it could have been. She shook her head and pressed a bottle of scar reducing cream into his hands. “Run along to breakfast, now, and I expect not to see you back here at all this weekend.”

“Can’t—“ Remus’ voice came out scratchy from disuse. He swallowed painfully. “Can’t I have breakfast here and go straight to Potions?” Or just skip Potions. He didn’t need to go to Potions, surely. He couldn’t deal with Slughorn on top of Snape and Black and Potter and Pettigrew. He couldn’t deal with the smells and fumes that always threatened to overwhelm him in the dungeons. He couldn’t deal with struggling through his worst subject and unwilling, unable to ask for help.

“Don’t be silly!” Pomfrey, the traitor, said. She handed him his cloak and pushed him towards the door.

He didn’t go to the Great Hall. Instead, his steps turned to the basement. House elves were buzzing with activity in the kitchens but with breakfast open upstairs Remus was the only human there. The elves didn’t seem to mind him weaving between the tables and plating up a breakfast for himself before the platters went up to the Hall.

He wouldn’t have long to run all the way upstairs, get his school bag, and return down to the dungeons before Potions but Remus couldn’t find the motivation to eat any faster. He was dreading seeing the boys who less than a week ago he would have called his best friends.

“Mr Lupin.”

Remus tensed at Professor McGonagall’s voice. It was still too early for them to be hunting him down for being late to Potions, so what—

They changed their minds, Remus concluded. He had been too dangerous. He had nearly hurt some of his fellow classmates and Snape didn’t want to share the castle with him and he had broken Dumbledore’s trust in telling his dormmates how the passageway into the Whomping Willow worked and it had all been a huge mistake. Perhaps Padf—Black had said something, too. About how he had come to his senses and not known how else to break up a friendship with a monster.

“P-Professor?”

“Good morning, Remus. It’s good to see you out of the Hospital Wing.”

Remus glanced around the kitchens in confusion. Her tone was much too kind.

“I— I’m sorry I didn’t go to breakfast upstairs, Professor, but I—“

“As long as you aren’t making a habit of eating here, I think we can let this slide for today. Given the circumstances. In fact, I believe you will be joined by Misses Fawley and Frazer this evening if you still wish to eat away from the rest of your classmates. You won’t ask either of them what their extenuating circumstances are for choosing to eat down here and they will not ask you, either.”

“Oh— okay? So I’m not being expelled?”

“Most certainly not, Mr Lupin. You were in no way at fault for the events of the other evening. Why, even Mr Black will not be expelled.”

Remus flinched. Professor McGonagall noticed — she must have done, because her eyes narrowed and she seemed to consider her next words very carefully before she spoke.

“Remus, whether you choose to forgive Mr Black or not is your decision and yours only. I will neither judge you nor try to tell you what to do. However, I will not be allowing any changes in dormitory arrangements, nor any more hiding in the Hospital Wing instead of returning to your common room while you are healthy. Now, you missed your Careers Advice meeting yesterday and I have told Professor Slughorn that you will be missing Potions this morning to make up for it, so finish your breakfast and meet me in my office.”

Remus stared at the door that closed behind her. He had forgotten all about the careers meetings in the chaos of the week. He had no idea what he was going to say. His dreams were unachievable and his realistic plans non-existent.

She poured him a cup of tea when he arrived at her office and offered him a biscuit despite knowing he had only just had breakfast. Remus nibbled nervously around the edge of his ginger newt. Nobody else had mentioned tea and biscuits for their careers meeting but, admittedly, only a couple had gone to theirs on Monday before Remus fell ill and he hadn’t talked to anybody since.

“This meeting is supposed to be to talk about any career ideas you might have,” Professor McGonagall started and Remus tensed. She stopped in her flow and rested her hands on the table in front of her, observing him with keen eyes. “However, we might have to approach things a little differently with you.”

“You can say I’ve no chance of getting a job, Professor. I’ve made my peace with it.”

“It may be difficult for you to get a stable job, especially in the wizarding world but I believe you have done some Muggle education?”

Remus nodded. “My mam insisted on it. I will be taking my Muggle O Levels this summer, shortly after my O.W.L.s and the end of term but Muggles will still be suspicious of me missing work so regularly and I don’t want to have to use Obliviate or Confundus on my bosses.”

“That’s true,” Professor McGonagall conceded, “But whatever you choose to do, Remus, you can be sure you will have a stellar reference from me.”

Remus frowned. “Professor—”

“Remus Lupin, you are a good student and an even better person. If I had the power to appoint you as my teaching assistant I would do it today but as it is you’ll have to apply through the proper channels when you have your NEWTs.” Her mouth twisted in sadness and Remus knew it was because that wasn’t possible. Even if Professor Dumbledore had let him come to school, how could he hire a teacher who would have to miss so many classes to turn into a dangerous monster? “Any employer who would turn you away just because you’re a werewolf would be missing out.”

It occurred to Remus that Professor McGonagall was the only teacher besides Madame Pomfrey who called him a werewolf. Professor Dumbledore had this habit of talking around the issue or calling it Remus’ lycanthropy, while most of the others avoided talking about it altogether or didn’t know. He preferred it when people just called him a werewolf. His mouth twitched into a smile but it fell when he looked into his still-full cup of tea and realised the meeting was far from over.

“Professor, I know you have to do these meetings with everybody, but I don’t think I can—” He trailed off and blinked against tears.

“I do hope the world will be kinder to you one day, Remus.” She looked up at the clock, then back to him with one of those rare McGonagall smiles. “We still have time so unless you really want to get to Potions—”

“No!” Remus blushed at how quickly his objection came out. “I mean—”

“Actually, the main reason we do Careers Advice in fifth year is to help narrow down NEWT options and whether you believe you’ll be able to secure a job that requires NEWTs or not, it would still be a good idea to think about your subjects. Perhaps we can talk about that?”

She seemed to be enjoying herself far too much. Remus was sure she wouldn’t normally encourage skipping a class. He had never told anybody of his feelings that the Potions master was prejudiced against him but he now suspected McGonagall knew. “Oh. Sure. I hadn’t thought about it at all, yet.”

“Looking over your class marks, you have the choice of any subject you desire. The only subject you would have to work particularly hard at to raise your grade would be Potions. You’re currently only just scraping an Acceptable and you would need an E to be eligible for the NEWT class.”

“I don’t want to take Potions. I’d definitely like to take Transfiguration and Charms and probably Defence Against the Dark Arts.”

Professor McGonagall nodded, looking over the notes in front of her. “All of which you have Outstanding marks and I know Professor Flitwick and I would both be delighted to have you in our classes. Only probably for Defence?”

“The changeover of teachers makes it harder to know. Some years I’ve loved it and others not so much.”

“Understandable. I trust you have kept up with the news of what is happening outside the castle?”

The war. For it was very much a war by now. “Yes, Professor. Defence might be useful, mightn’t it?”

She looked at him with the same prideful glint in her eye as she did when he got a question right in class. “You also have exemplary marks in Astronomy,” she added, looking down. “However—”

“I’m not sure about Astronomy,” Remus admitted. “Sorry, Professor, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“Go on.”

“My parents taught me Astronomy before Hogwarts. I find the lessons easy but that’s because I already know a lot and it’s not useful in the same way as some subjects.”

“It’s probably for the best as the Ministry has a tendency to set the final practical exam on the night of a full moon.”

Remus sighed and nodded. He didn’t want to take Astronomy but hearing how he probably couldn’t because he wouldn’t be able to take the exam only made him feel more frustrated with the conversation about his job prospects fresh in his mind. Which led him to another subject he had been unsure about. “I like Herbology too, but wolfsbane is on the NEWT curriculum.”

“Does it affect you over a distance?”

“I honestly don’t know, Professor.”

Professor McGonagall hummed thoughtfully. “I will talk to Pomona and Poppy but I’m sure we can sort something out. You would be wearing gloves to handle it anyway.”

“I don’t have to be certain of my subjects now, do I, Professor?”

“No, I will confirm your subjects with you on the first day of your sixth year.”

Remus nodded, happy that he could have some time to think about it but not choose there and then. He slipped into silence, sipping his tea and wondering how long he could get away with staying there before he was dismissed.

Much too soon, the teacup was empty and Remus couldn’t avoid his teacher’s expectant gaze any longer.

“How about you go to your dorm before your classmates finish Potions and make sure you are ready to join them for Charms?”

Going back to lessons seemed so difficult but he had to. They had decided to keep him here even after all the risks had been highlighted and Remus was now under even more pressure to excel and show he deserved his place there.

Professor McGonagall must have sensed his reluctance because she added, “I’m sure Mr Potter and Mr Pettigrew will be happy to see you.”

“I don’t want to see them.”

She looked shocked. “Remus, they didn’t do anything. Mr Potter is the reason nobody was hurt.”

“I don’t want to see them,” Remus snapped and he knew his eyes flashed amber. Prongs— Potter was the only one Black listened to so he should have stopped it sooner. Pettigrew always went along with their plans, Remus knew, and if the teachers were convinced he didn’t know anything about it then he must have been hidden in rat form.

And if Prongs was there, you could have hurt him. You could have killed James.

The little voice in his head taunted him but anger was more natural than fear. He shouldn’t worry about Potter. Not now.

“Remus—” He wasn’t used to hearing such sadness and distress in Professor McGonagall’s voice.

“Thank you for the meeting, Professor,” he forced out before he fled the room. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, shouldn’t trust them. His father had warned him of this from such a young age. Don’t trust anybody. Even if they seem friendly, they could one day turn around and shove you into the mud. Werewolves couldn’t have friends, just as they couldn’t have jobs or lives or happiness. Remus should have been more careful.

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