#the harry potter movies are a crime against humanity

[creativepromptsforwriting]

Hello, hope you are having a great day.

I'm currently trying to write a novel about the supernatural world with different creatures (not only vampires and werewolves, but they are also part of it). However, I'm currently struggling about how to introduce (I don't know if this is the correct word lol) them to the human world.

I mean, they have their own "world". You could say that is a whole country where they all live and with their own government policies and stuff like that, but they are also part of the human world (similar to any movie about supernatural creatures).

However, I'm struggling to know if humans should know about them (as if it is something normal) or if it should be like any other supernatural movie where only a few of them know that they exist while the others think that the accidents that happened were caused by animals and not by people with fangs.

This is an important thing in my story because unlike most of the supernatural creatures in my story, there is a particular creature that does not get along well with other creatures and they do not respect any law (they just kill people, and do not care if they are in the territory of others), so they are just causing chaos in the city and do not care if the police or the people starts to suspect that something else is happening in their city which can risk the lives of other supernatural creatures.

Along with that, there is a war involving only supernatural creatures that are starting to affect the human world due to that particular creature.

But I don't know how to do it, do you have any recommendations or perhaps ideas about how to write them [humans] feeling intrigued that something else is happening? How can I write a scene where the police or military or any other is starting to realize that something supernatural is happening in the city?

It is totally okay if you can't answer this, to be honest, I'm really bad at explaining things lol, and sorry for my English! It is not my first language so I'm still learning hehe. Thank you in advance.

Never apologize for your English, you're doing great! Coming from a non-English-native myself 😅

It feels to me like you have actually already made up your mind regarding your question about the humans knowing or not knowing but suspecting. For your story to work how you described it it would be the humans not knowing but starting to see things happening that can't be naturally explained.

I think this is something that happened in Harry Potter as well, where magical crimes were being committed against Muggles.

The question is: Do you want a specific group of people to investigate these occurrences and them finding out about the supernatural word but keep it a secret or do you want everyone to know and realizing that there are not only supernatural creatures but they are also involved in a war?

If you want it to be the first option than your story has to involve this group much more heavily. If you want the story to be simply about the creatures and not have to spend a lot of time writing about the humans then I would suggest the option of everyone finding out and dealing with it in a more general kidn of way through their governments etc.

I hope this helps!

- Jana

#anon ask #story help #story advice #writing #ask

[of-twilight-and-moonshadow]

Dark Angel Interview: Emery

For my Dark Angel of the Bullet Club series.

I had previously asked for 'interview' questions for Emery, and I eventually got around to answering them. I'll do the same for Phoenix when I get a moment.

Tag List: @katries @summertimefun1982 @blxxckheart (If you want added to the tag list, let me know)

Food / Drinks She loves a wide variety of foods, only thanks to exploring so much with Kenny and the Bucks during her travels. Stir-fry is amazing, wontons, and some sushi. Just depends on her mood. Italian foods are probably her favorite overall- pasta, pizza and gelato. Seafood is amazing—but only crab, shrimp, and lobster. Emery doesn’t like much of anything else (Squid? Ew. Clams? Double ew.) Spanish cuisine is also really good; authentic is even better. She don’t really like super spicy foods though, it upsets her stomach; and she absolutely refuse to eat mushrooms or anything slimy.

Drink wise, mostly water or flavored water. Occasionally, she’ll drink sweet tea and some juices. Hot cocoa and coffee are amazing; Emery will never turn down stopping at Starbucks. Alcohol, she don’t really drink too much. She don’t like beers or wines—there’ve been a few fruity drinks she’s found that she likes, but only ever drinks 1-2 of them, and even then, there are months, sometimes almost a year in between drinking. She just doesn’t have the urge to drink a lot of alcohol.

Animals Emery absolutely loves dogs and cats! They’re her all-time favorites. There’s a lot of animals she likes; horses, dolphins, monkeys, turtles, birds—the list could go on.

The list of what Emery don’t like is much shorter and simpler. She could live without spiders, especially the larger ones. Mosquitos are highly annoying. Emery also suffers from ophidiophobia – irrational fear of snakes. She’s not been a fan of them for as long as she can remember. Bad experience as a kid.

Favorite Games This is a broad category, so let’s break it into chunks.

Video Games: Elder Scrolls are a big favorite of hers- mostly Skyrim and Elder Scrolls Online. Raft. Sims franchise. Resident Evil franchise. Mortal Kombat is always a favorite of hers. Racing games, wrestling games—she’ll try just about any of them.

Board/Card Games: Poker, Apples to Apples/Cards Against Humanity, Monopoly, Clue – you name it, she will play it! Emery LOVES game night.

Places to Live/Visit She’s only ever lived in a few places. Emery was born in Colorado and lived there up until she was 18. After, lived in California for a while before making the long move to Japan. Now, she currently has an apartment in Florida.

Japan was definitely a top-list place, both living and visiting. The country is just so beautiful and the language is mesmerizing. Emery could listen to Kenny speak Japanese for hours and never tire of it. Italy is another place she has been lucky to visit; stayed there for almost four days due to a layover issue. Absolutely remarkable country, super nice people.

She’s wanted to go to England since she was a little girl—and has had a few opportunities to go, but unfortunately, something always comes up and Emery can never go. Maybe one day…

Favorite Music/Movies/TV Shows/Books Another broad topic that we’ll separate.

Music: Very open to different music- classical, pop, rock, etc. The only kind she doesn’t really listen to is screamo and most rap

Movies and TV: Supernatural is her go to; Doctor Who, Sherlock, Avengers, Once Upon a Time, CSI’s, NCIS’s, Criminal Minds, Forensic Files. She loves crime shows, magical/fantasy, and cooking shows. Also American Ninja Warrior. And don’t even get her started on anime.

Books: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter. Anything from James Patterson. And a bucket load of manga.

What does she look for in a guy Great body and a nice d---

Nah, just joking.

Emery is a sucker for blue or green eyes, and ‘long’ hair (something she can run her fingers through). Someone who’s funny/has humor, has a sensitive side, makes her feel safe and loved.

Common interests are always nice, but not exactly necessary. He does have to like animals though. That’s a deal breaker there—and she don’t mean snakes. If that’s the only animal he likes/wants/has then it aint gonna work.

Doesn’t have to be taller than her, but Emery does like being picked up and carried around. Piggyback rides are the best thing ever. She’s naturally cuddly and sometimes clingy, so he’s gotta be able to put up with that.

Don’t even get her started on accents or being multilingual.

Another key thing is, he’s gotta be able to help her through the dark times. When the voices and memories start getting to be too much and she start falling down the ‘rabbit hole’. His being able to help her through it, or stop it from getting bad, is definitely something she looks for.

Does she want a family? A family would be nice, but she’s not completely sold on the idea of childbirth. She saw her mother go through some complications with Emery’s little brother and the possibility she could go through the same thing (or worse) scares her. The idea of having a little body running around with her DNA and the DNA of who she loves though, is very tempting. Perhaps one day, with the right person.

What does she like to do on dates and for fun? It depends on the day and how she’s feeling. Sometimes a simple movie at home with popcorn, snuggled under a blanket together is more than enough for her. Or, another home date would be just playing games together, either video or board games. If it’s venturing outside of the home, then she’s all for going to museums, arcades, swimming (only at pools though- she hates swimming in lakes/rivers because the possibility of a snake slithering around her that she can’t see). Mini golf, walking through a park, window shopping, the zoo, or even going to an animal shelter and volunteering for a few hours. She doesn’t do sporting events too often, but for the right person, she would consider it.

(Unique) Nicknames she has for her boys. Kenny: Ken, Kenbear Nick: Nicky, Nemo, Nii Matt: Mattie, Minion, Nii Kyle: Kye, Kye-Rye Riley/El Phantasmo: Phasmo, Rye Damian: Damo, D, Papi Priest, Mi Hombre (my Man) Adam: AC, A-Bay, Chugathon Hangman: Cowboy, Hangy, AP Wheeler Yuta: Yoots Orange Cassidy: Cass, J (like Orange Juice/OJ—but just a J) Darby: Darbs Jay White: Switchblade, Switch Kofi: Koph/Kof, KK Finn: Finnabon Jeff Hardy: Nero, Jeffie Wardlow: Cerberus (3 headed dog, Greek Myth), Wardaddy

(Unique) Nicknames her boys have for her. Kenny: Ree, Angel, Angelface, Kitten Nick: Ree, sis, Matt: Ree, sis Kyle: Ree, sis Riley/El Phantasmo: Ree, shortie, Damian: Ree, Princess/Princesa Adam: Ree Hangman: Ree, Darlin’ Wheeler Yuta: Ree Orange Cassidy: Ree, R Darby: Ree, Cifer (Lucifer, a fallen angel) Jay White: Ree, Princess Kofi: Ree, lil sis Finn: Ree Jeff Hardy: Ree, Reno (Nero but letters are mixed up) Wardlow: Ree, Puppy,

Who started her main nickname, Ree? Kyle, shortly after he started helping train her back in early months of 2014.

#dark angel of the bullet club #oc #oc emery #original female character #all elite wrestling #imagine #aew #interview #get to know the OC

[alistairian]

Kinda low key annoying seeing cis allies bravely take the position that they can seperate the artist from their artwork and acknowledge rowling's flawed ideology without sacrificing their love the wizard series and I'm just so. tired.

Like the number of, idk, influencers or celebs or whatever who've come forward to say this are just completely and utterly missing the point. If you already bought all the books and want to reread them or read them to your children nobody cares. If you want to continue watching an hp movie marathon every year nobody cares. If you got a tattoo and don't want to remove or cover it nobody cares. Like what's the point of telling everyone they can still like the most popular book series on earth? harry potter fans haven't become some sort of minority facing discrimination and its obnoxious to act like thats the case. It feels like christians who think they're being oppressed because people started critisizing their reach and influence in politics and lawmaking. In fact its eerily similar.

Nobody's removing your rights to practice your wizard worshipping ideology, that's not a real thing that's happening, but unfortunately your wizard pope is, for real, actively campainging against human rights and is spearheading a movement which intends to eradicate an entire subset of people who actually are a small minority group fighting for equal opportunities and access to healthcare and legal safety from discrimination. People's lives are on the line, this isn't about rude twitter trolls and hurt feelings.

Like genuinely the best thing you could do as an ally is to just not talk about it. You're not unique in having been influenced by this book series, we don't need a million thinkpieces about how your feelings are valid and the people trying to make you feel guilty about it are just big meanies who don't understand the bigger picture. Its condescending.

Idk. Could you imagine how powerful it would be if as many cis peope took a firm stance to support and uplift trans voices instead of playing victim and loudly reassuring one another that they can't be charged guilty for thought crime and book reading?

#i won't touch on the antisemitism cuz that's not my lane and jk's politics are explicitly transphobic #like I could basically promise that if you're not constantly tweeting that u like harry potter nobody will give you shit for it #you can buy and play a game without publicly announcing it to hundreds/thousands of strangers! its easy! nobody will care!

[anthonybialy]

Indicative of Vindictive

We will all get along once those who want to exist in a different way are destroyed.  It’s figurative, sort of.  Vindictiveness as a guiding principle is not the reflection of kindness practitioners think they’re flaunting.  The utter lack of forgiveness inherent to the most loving humans makes perfect sense.  Just ask them.  Liberals are never wrong about what they claim, as that’d make them delusional frauds.

Bloodthirsty predators who remorselessly look for violators of groupthink to demonize think Christians are cruel hypocrites.  The fact that itself is hypocrisy may amuse you, but don’t giggle unless you want to be sentenced, as well.

The party of compassion seeks souls to consume.  The fetish of taking down violators of pushy doctrine fuels hunters for what’s next, namely more hunting.  The cycle self-sustains as long as there are violators.  Don’t fret, as standard-creators work tirelessly to create new standards.  Make sure your tweets don’t presume the genders of dogs.

In an era where muggers run cities that would look too decayed for Batman movies, don’t commit the worst crime possible, namely being impolite in texts. Nasty remarks in private conversations are of course unacceptable and also not a justification for permanent banishment.  If nothing else, consider the precedent personally.  If you’ve never said anything boorish in conversation with inside references that could be misunderstood to outsiders, congratulations on unabashed lying.

Struggle sessions are the only entertainment some comrades get.  We’re all in this together except for those who’ve been ostracized.  Self-appointed legal practitioners are supposed to pretend not to enjoy it, which is why they didn’t go the traditional route and attend law school.  All that reading is so bourgeoisie.

Glee at tearing down those deemed offensive brings tremendous joy, which is why unofficial prosecutors are constantly on the sharklike prowl for defendants.  It’s not just that their ideology requires always seeking offense: the constantly bothered actually embrace victimhood.  Please keep thinking people are the gender they were born and that masking children harmed them without stopping the virus, as they need targets of animosity to engage in order to feel love.

Forget a trial.  And the sentence is always life.  The trial process has been streamlined for efficiency.  Social justice lunatics who think our court system is rigged against anyone they deem oppressed don’t believe in anything extraneous like the accused presenting a defense.  Fiends who text something off-color can’t just feel bad for crossing a line: they must be kept from being employed ever again.  Finding work while Joe Biden is president becomes merely even more unlikely.

Measured responses are for haters.  It’s not to excuse crummy thoughts by accusing everyone else of committing the same offenses to note punishment should be proportionate.  Claiming extralegal judges are too harsh is of course an offense worthy of permanent ostracizing.  Democrats who think arresting actual criminals constitutes cruel oppression don’t accept appeals from monstrously regressive offenders who still buy Harry Potter Lego sets for children.

People at their worst moments shouldn’t be allowed to avoid gloating, according to the accepting.  These modern times sure feature the epitome of love.  Preserving inarticulate ranting for eternity is not supposedly how social media works. Posts designed to be as impermanent as gossamer are carved in stone on the cliff overlooking the city.  Getting one’s worst tweets tattooed is the logical punishment.  Find an artist who’s skilled at applying scarlet letters.

What are they hiding?  Unofficial judges should be asking themselves.  It’s not the defenders but the accusers who are suspiciously obsessed with excluding humans for sins.  Utter vindictiveness is surely healthy, but perhaps accepting apologies would appeal at least for personal incentives.  Mob participants never think others will turn on them. Context is suddenly crucial when you’re the one who didn’t update your pronoun spreadsheet that morning.

There should be no offense in truth.  The fact facts spur outrage sums up humans in general and ironically intolerant Americans specifically.  The existence of absolute standards won’t stop tireless amateur investigators from seeking to violate it.  Their foes stick with biology, which those who profess to be scientific declare to the the apex of cruelty.  The vitriol aimed at defendants who point out our best present understanding is surely a reflection of rational thought.

Destruction of dissent embodies true open-mindedness.  It’s a sure indicator of security when people and principles can’t be challenged.  The refusal to even let the objection exist ensures unity.  Those who claim to believe in science get it philosophy wrong, too.

Daring to note that the federal government’s top scientific agency is still part of the federal government will get objectors excluded.  A federal imprimatur means their proclamations are infallible.  A federal stooge’s inability to be incorrect is central to their religion.  Challenging their pope is a crime that will get you damned.  Ruining your mentions is their issued penance.

Adherents who think charity must be mandated are always on the lookout for theocracy.  Worshiping their own cult is the exception to their condemnation of faith.  Loving thy neighbor is their particular church’s worst heresy.  Doctrine is far more capricious than the average religion.  Demanding compliance despite logical objections is central to all coercion-based beliefs.

There’s not much universal love or any at all.  It’s remarkable how profoundly uncharitable adherents are to anyone who suggests even the slightest disagreement or an off-color joke.  Woke juries specialize in ruling what’s not funny.  The unwillingness to giggle or move forward aligns with a lack of calm thinking.  Noticing patterns is a cruel unofficial crime.

[thegirlwhowrites642]

If HP book!characters met their movie version

Ron: Are we sure we destroyed the locket? Because this looks pretty much like my worst nightmare

Hermione: Oh come on! She is not even human! And her hair looks so good??? How??? It's not fair! I bet I have better grades...

Ginny: *intensely bullying movie!Ginny*

Harry: I am not even mad that he has no personality but why he is so short??? I had to endure four years of Ron calling me a dwarf, I am quite proud of my growth spurt! Wait... why he's got blue eyes and dark brown hair?????

Luna: Ok that I live a bit in my own world but I don't do drugs...

Draco: Well... He is actually a way less horrible version of me... I-I mean... perfect representation. Great job!

Snape: *still busy handing Kloves money to erase 90% of the disgusting stuff he did*

Dean: I look fine as hell! But they could have at least put the actual snogging session scene with Ginny... right? Right?

Dumbledore: Why do I look so different from the third movie on?

James: Let me get this straight... My Hogwarts version is just a random dude with glasses and my post Hogwarts version is a grandpa????????

Lily: Not gonna lie... I'm confused.

Sirius: Why do I look soooo old!!!!!!??????

Charlie: Wait... where's movie!me?

Bonus

Harry: Where are Ginny's warm brown eyes????? And her freckles?????? Why is she so tall! I need to see my wife, this was traumatizing....

#I could have gone on for hours but I had to stop somewhere #A hinny treat at the end because they live in my head 24/7 #hinny #the harry potter movies are a crime against humanity #harry potter #ginny weasley #ron weasley #hermione granger #luna lovegood #dean thomas #draco malfoy #severus snape #james potter #lily evans #sirius black #albus dumbledore #charlie weasley

[renegadepack]

breaking dawn part 2 shouldnt have been made, they couldve fit it all in part 1 if they tried harder.

literally like i remember before the movies were a thing smeyer writing on her blog or whatever that she wasn't sure bd COULD be a movie, partially because of the length. and i guess that's fair, when you consider it's like 750+ pages. but THEN consider that the last like... half of it is preparing for a fight that never. happens., part of that is three of the MOST boring chapters of the fight that never actually happens, and a good chunk of the middle is just... waiting for bella to die. or not die. like. there's so MUCH in that book and so much of it is unnecessary.

so much of each movie is just padding. the venom through her body thing, the fake fight scene, the end credits, the opening credits, and so much more i don't even remember because it's fucking boring. GOD.

drop ur unpopular opinions about twilight in my ask box. go.

#you told me #tuo #breaking dawn #twilight #harry potter has committed many crimes against humanity #but one of the worst is this 'the last book is two movies' trend #thg did it and STILL couldn't fit in johanna's story eye-

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael After Midnight: Watchmen

Alan Moore.

Zack Snyder.

These two men are my archenemies. For years on my blog I’ve made it a point to mock both of these men. Alan Moore is a pompous, stuffy old bastard who gets ass-blasted every time someone turns his comics into a movie and subjected the world to Harry Potter firing lightning out of his peehole; Zack Snyder is like if Michael Bay was overly pretentious and liked slow-mo more than explosions, and also had a fanbase that makes the one for Pokemon look sane and rational in comparison. I have made fun of these guys so many times across the years, and now here they are, having both contributed to the work I’m reviewing tonight. But before we begin, I have a confession to make:

I don’t actually hate either of these guys.

Like yeah, they have both made some things that are undeniably ass, and Moore has a really pissy attitude (though it’s at least partially warranted with how he was treated in his heyday), but in general I like their stuff. Snyder has 300, one of my favorite action films ever, and his version of Justice League was solid if a bit ass-numbingly long. And Moore has a long and storied history in comic books, so just because he made a shitty boomer comic where he made Harry Potter the Antichrist doesn’t change the fact the first two volumes of League rule. And both of these men have one thing in common that I think is genuinely great: Watchmen.

Watchmen is Moore’s deconstruction of superheroes that dropped right around the time the Dark Age of comics was ready to get going, so he often gets blamed for starting it (which ignores Watchmen wasn’t this huge cultural icon at the time and so was way less influential than something like The Dark Knight Returns or The Death of Superman). It’s a fantastic tale with tons of brilliant visuals, multiple interwoven stories, fantastic characters, and some really deep shit to think about. Because of all that, the comic was for a long time considered unfilmable. Who would be insane enough to even try to tackle a comic this dense with supplementary material, background elements enhancing the narrative, and all that? Well, that insane man would be Mr. Snyder, who brought the same level of slavish reverence to this movie as he did to 300, right down to using the comic panels to storyboard. The resulting film is a genuinely great movie, maybe even one of the greatest superhero films ever made, though I’m not going to pretend this is a flawless masterpiece, because hoo boy are there some problems.

(Quick note: I am using the Director’s Cut as reference here. It’s the only version I’ve ever seen of the movie, and it has that trademark ass-numbing Snyder length, but I won’t hold it against him this time since I haven’t seen the theatrical cut or the cut where they shoehorn in the animated Black Freighter short film)

This movie has an absolutely phenomenal cast, and they all do a stellar job at bringing every character to life. Billy Crudup brings the cold, emotionally-detached aura Dr. Manhattan sorely needs; Patrick Wilson is as endearingly schlubby and vanilla as Nite Owl should be; Matthew Goode has that phenomenal, almost godly aura that Ozymandias should exude. There’s not a single bad choice in the house here, but there are two actors who stand head and shoulders above the rest. The first is Jeffery Dean Morgan as the Comedian, the resident psychotic asshole nominal hero who rapes, murders, and commits crime against humanity after crime against humanity under the government’s orders as well as for shits and giggles. This guy was Peacemaker before Peacemaker (except he was also based on Peacemaker) and despite being one of the most morally reprehensible characters in the entire movie, Morgan makes him an utter blast to watch. I don’t think anyone could have possibly brought the man to life quite as well as Morgan did.

But the best of all is, you guessed it, Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach. To this day, there are few comic book movie casting choices that are so utterly perfect. The comic Rorschach came off as more of an emotionless sociopath than anything else, but here in the film Haley plays him as a snarling, ranting lunatic that a guy like Rorschach definitely would be; I mean, the dude’s essentially Alex Jones as a vigilante, he needs to be rabidly psychotic. Haley just absolutely kills it in every scene he’s in, delivers all of the famous lines with gusto, and is the part of the film absolutely no one will dispute is perfect (except maybe Alan Moore).

The story is kept mostly intact, with fairly little changed. This is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, Watchmen has such a great story that you really wouldn’t want to change anything, would you? Most of the alterations are pragmatic, such as the squid blowing up New York being changed into Dr. Manhattan being framed, so it’s not really too bad or anything. On the other hand, though, it’s to the point where things are so dense it’s hard to filter through it if you haven’t already read the comic. And if you’ve read the comic, why would you want to watch the movie? You’ve seen this all already! You’re basically just watching the world’s most elaborate audiobook at that point.

It doesn’t help that Snyder kinda misses the point in some regards, such as the heightened violence. People often (rightfully) point to the scene where Laurie and Dan brutalize thugs in an alleyway, a scene that just absolutely makes no sense in regards to the characters or narrative and that is just unbelievably stupid, but that’s just the obvious one. The one that has always bugged me more is in Rorschach’s flashback to the kidnapped little girl where, instead of chaining the killer up and leaving him to die in a fire, he kills the guy with a cleaver instead. It sort of changes the context of things, making Rorschach’s breaking point far more generic and honestly less powerful than in the comic. There’s also the excising of a lot of the iconic subplots of the comic, which again, makes sense because of the difference in the medium, but it does rob quite a bit of impact. In particular, Rorschach’s shrink in prison gets the short end of the stick despite having one of the best arcs in the comic. The loss of a lot of the supplementary stuff doesn’t help either, and leaves the story feeling slightly (but not overly) bare at points.

Honestly, I think a better balance needed to be struck here. This film comes off as way too slavishly loyal to the text, and that’s just not a good thing for an adaptation to be; adaptations need to respect and honor the original work, yes, but they also need to be their own thing as well and do stuff in a different way. I get why Snyder didn’t want to change much, seeing as Watchmen has become a sacred cow in comic book circles that it’s sacrilegious to criticize, but at that point the movie kind of fails as an adaptation because it’s not doing much to justify watching it over reading the comic. You’re not really getting much different out of the experience beyond a change in medium. Compare to another Moore adaptation, V for Vendetta, where the movie did dumb down the politics of the book to be more palatable to general audiences but still managed to keep the core ideas and themes (and also the prisoner’s letter, which if removed would ruin the entire story. I’m not joking). I think that movie works way better as an adaptation because it offers something different depending on what you’re looking at while still keeping the same core.

I don’t think it’s any wonder this film didn’t do well, because even back at the dawn of the modern superhero movie scene this was just not what audiences were gonna be looking for. Noted fan of the film and Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson called it “the Blade Runner of superhero films,” and frankly that is a very apt comparison. This is a film that didn’t do well at first but got reevaluated over time to become a cult classic, and a lot of people these days see a lot more value in it than they did initially. Sure, everyone always loved that opening credits montage, because that shit rules, but nowadays people have finally learned to appreciate Zack Snyder’s cheeky payback towards the studio-mandated sex scene by making it slow-mo and playing “Hallelujah” over it (making it the only acceptable use of that song in cinema aside from Shrek).

It’s hard to call this a great adaptation of the work so much as a great copy and paste job, but the thing is, this is still great. Moore’s genius still shines through because the writing is still all there, and Snyder’s clear love of Moore’s work is obvious even if there are points where he clearly missed the mark. It still has the great ideas, the great characters, the great philosophical points, the great moments… It’s still Watchmen, by design, for better and for worse. As much as I would have liked to see some more creative liberties taken here and there, it’s hard to say where I’d want that, because Watchmen is such a great story that it’s hard to really say what I’d change.

This is a great movie, and arguably Snyder’s magnum opus. He’s kind of fallen off in recent years, and you can see a lot of the problems in his modern superhero films in this movie, but this is still a great time if you’re willing to get on its level. I think it’s aged better than a lot of older superhero films, especially since this is a deconstruction of the genre that came out before the genre really took off in cinemas. I don’t think I need to tell Snyder fans to watch this, as they’ve probably already put this film in a jar that they are slowly filling up with their bodily fluids like it was Rainbow Dash. But if you’re a fan of superheroes or even if you’re tired of superheroes, this is a great film to watch. If nothing else, watch it for Jackie Earle Haley, because by god that performance is worth the price of admission alone.

Alright, with all that out of the way I guess it’s time to make my peace. Zack Snyder, Alan Moore?

#Michael After Midnight #review #movie review #Zack Snyder #Alan Moore #Watchmen #Jackie Earle Haley #superhero movie #superheroes #cult classic

[awed-frog]

Hi, genuinely asking here, since I kinda like your blog, but from the 2 english articles I found about the whole mila situation(it's a French issue, how is the rest of the world supposed to notice it if French people don't bother letting them know?) the uproar is about her being islamophobic af, not about her rightfully telling men to not hit on her or that she is a lesbian. Like, my French is rusty but none of the french articles even care about those parts. What are you going on about?

The uproar is that you have a right to be “Islamophobic” because freedom of speech protects blasphemy. Without this protection, we wouldn't have satirical newspapers, books like Harry Potter (which was officially branded a 'corruptive influence' by the former Pope) or anything Neil Gaiman wrote and mostly 90% of the movies we watch, not to mention random conversations, Halloween costumes, Carnival stuff and so on. I mean I'm guessing that during an ordinary day, you might enjoy an episode of Supernatural or Lucifer, or even watch a movie where two characters briefly discuss whether God is real, or what an asshole He is, and why He lets bad things happen. Next you might participate to an online or RL discussion about the same thing. Depending on your native language and whether swear words are usually about religion or not, you might even blaspheme out right - a stunned 'Porco Dio' when something doesn't go your way. You might scroll past, and 'like', posts that say Christianity fucked the world and deserves to be destroyed, or people insisting God is a woman, trans, a pink wombat. You may see or write angry posts about how all priests are pedophiles, or hiding pedophiles. You might make or enjoy memes about Biblical stuff like Cain and Abel, and reblog gifs from The Life of Brian or one of the thousand offensive jokes there are about Jesus and the 'Virgin' Mary (ahahhahah, poor cuck Joseph). And most likely, you do all of this without a second thought - you consider this a normal and unremarkable part of your life.

Well - it is a normal and unremarkable part of your life - in some Western countries, at least - because we fought the Church and its minions for literal centuries so they'd shut the fuck up and stop annoying and torturing and killing people. I mean in the US they have their own problems, but in Europe I'd say you could call about 70% of the population overt or covert Christianophobes - if such a term had any meaning - simply because they blaspheme every single day. Whether they consider themselves Christians or not, whether they've been baptized and married in a Church or not, on any given day they might dress up as a sexy nun or ironically hang a crucifix upside down or listen to 'empious' music (like all metal and most pop songs) or make a bad joke about a priest or watch a 'corrupted' movie or say they don't give a fuck about God (understood to be, the Christian God), because if He exists, than he's a fickle motherfucker.

What Mila said is not nice. She reacted in anger, she reacted badly, she's also a teen on social media so she's bound to do stupid things and make mistakes. Meanwhile, the thousands of mostly adult men who threatened her with violence are not doing something stupid or making a mistake. They're demanding what Muslims (in Europe, but also in their own countries) have been demanding more and more loudly: that we give them special treatment, suspend our freedom of speech and blasphemy laws, stop criticizing their religion - or fucking else. Because this is not a polite philosophical discussion over cupcakes. People get killed every day for 'disrespecting' Islam - most of them Muslims or ex-Muslims. Please remember Samuel Paty, the teacher who's literally been beheaded in the street for teaching a class that was on the curriculum, and that other teacher in Yorkshire who's been in hiding with his family for months - and will likely never teach again - because he's 'guilty' of the same crime.

(And tbh, 'disrespecting' Islam can be everything and anything. We always think about a certain kind of 'extreme' Charlie Hebdo humour, but there are lots of things that are forbidden depending on who's in charge. For instance, a famous (and devout) Algerian theologian, Saïd Djabelkhir, was recently sentenced to three years in jail for 'offenses' against Islam - for instance, he suggested the story of Noah's Ark could be a metaphor and not an event that truly happened. The horror.)

Legally speaking, 'respecting' someone's religion means the State can't forcibly close a church if people are peacefully practicing their faith. It doesn't mean every single one of us has to stop criticizing, making jokes, writing novels and fanfiction, and yeah - even yelling obscenities because we're all human and we do get angry from time to time - under literal pain of death.

Anyway if you want to learn more about this, I'd suggest you look for the tag 'ex muslim' here on tumblr or on reddit or Twitter. You'll get opinions much more informed than mine on all of this and why the right to blaspheme is so essential.

(Also for future reference, it's not people from country X who have to 'bother' letting the world know what's going on. Instead, you're supposed to have curious, inquisitive, unafraid media who also cover that 98.13% of the world that's not the United States.)

#ask #affaire mila #news #france #islamophobia #sorry i'm a bit curt #it's just a shitty issue

[twoidiotwriters1]

Written In The Stars CXXXIX (Harry Potter xF!Oc)

A/N: I’m scared to see how you guys will react to this one, hope you at least find it enjoyable despite my very self-indulgent plots -Danny 

P.S. Huge s/o to @bwbatta​ bc I decided to update my fic and now I have pretty dividers in all my books! Most of the ones I ended up using are her work so go check it out :)

Words: 4,641

Series’ Masterlist

Book V // Next Chapter

Listen to: ‘Need Your Love’ -by Joshua Wicker

Chapter One: Dumbledore's Mission.

"A galleon says Erick will crash the car —"

"Shut up!"

"Don't make him nervous," Emily scolded Harry. "If you continue this I won't teach you how to drive!"

"We don't need to learn," Mel snorted. "We'll apparate everywhere..."

"I thought you hated it," Her mother raised a brow.

"Yeah, but she's lazy," Harry smirked.

"Why is Harry here? He's not allowed to leave the house, is he?" Mel frowned.

"He's not allowed to be alone outside, there's a difference. We're babysitting two infants, unfortunately..." Erick taunted.

"What's the matter, Flint? You have stage-fright?" Harry replied.

"Oh please, he feeds on attention! Like a dementor but in a more annoying way..."

"Enough!" Emily looked over her seat. "Is that the kind of things you want to teach your brother?"

"I doubt he'll remember any of this!"

"We know he can do it, Em, we're just teasing," Harry said blithely.

"Yeah, he's the only adult here apart from you, mum. It's kind of his obligation to be good at driving."

The baby let out a squeal of agreement, he was three weeks old but had a good set of lungs that he was happy to use at any given time, especially while everyone was sleeping.

Harry leaned and checked that the baby's blankets. Mel beamed at the sight, the boy had pretty much adopted the boy as his own brother, which she thought made a lot of sense, not only because it was Sirius' son, but because he'd been part of her family for so long that anything else would've been silly.

They were well aware that bringing little Regulus to their driving lessons was a bit risky, but Emily wasn't as keen to leave Mel and Harry alone in the house as she used to, so she put a few safety spells on the chair once the baby was seated while Harry and Mel sat on both sides of it.

Erick turned out to be a good driver, but he still had a bit of trouble understanding how cars worked.

"I have to be pulling and pushing stuff all the time!" He complained as he activated the windshield on accident for the third time. "Why can't I just turn the key and press the pedal?"

"Cars don't work like that," Emily said patiently. "It's complicated, but you're good!"

"He's only gone up and down the street for half an hour, Leggie fell asleep already," The girl huffed.

Emily looked over the seat once again, she was frowning. "Erick, switch seats with Mel."

"You're joking... right?"

"Erick," The woman repeated.

"On it," He said happily. "C'mon Mel, are you scared?"

Ten minutes later, Erick was in the backseat and she was tightly holding onto the wheel.

"I'm doing it!" She said. "Is not that hard, is it?"

"A slug could move faster," Harry was looking at the roof of the car and dying of heat. "I thought you were going to be more... the reckless type of driver."

"Me too..." Erick agreed lazily, he was playing with one of Reggie's feet.

"I'm not going faster, my brother's in the car!" Mel scoffed.

"We're not asking you to! Just enough so we can feel like we're actually moving!"

"Bringing you three was a bad idea," Emily said over the boys' laughter.

"Fine!" Mel pressed down the pedal, the car immediately gaining speed. "I'm was just being careful!"

"Which makes me proud," Emily softly patted her shoulder. "It feels like it was yesterday when you were running around Remus' house in nothing but a diaper and now you're driving!"

"The other night I ran into her wearing no pants, so she's hasn't changed really," Erick murmured nonchalantly. "I stepped on Grey's tail thanks to that... maybe that's why he hates me so much."

"What?" Harry's head snapped to the side so fast he hurt himself.

"I forgot you live here now! Sometimes I sleep like that, s'not a crime!" She looked at Harry through the rearview mirror. "I've been an only child for sixteen years, sometimes I forget there are more than two people in my house..."

"I'm surprised her scream didn't wake up Leon," Erick sniggered.

"He's a heavy sleeper like his dad," Emily responded distractedly.

The conversation died instantly. It wasn't the woman's intention, of course, but it'd been only a few weeks since Sirius' passing, sometimes they would forget for a moment, just a brief second, then one of them would talk about Sirius and everything would start again...

It was painful, and it was weird. Mel had never endured something like this with anyone except Harry. Having a larger group of people sharing the same pain was strangely comforting.

Mel cleared her throat. "It's Harry's turn..."

"I'm okay," He said quickly. "I can learn another day..."

"Glasses, you and I have a tradition of experiencing things at the same time," The girl stopped the car and turned to look at him. "You're not going to ruin our streak. Besides, I need to know if I'm better than you."

Harry stared at her in amusement, then he looked at Erick.

"Is it fun, having her bossing you around all day?"

"I boss her around too," Erick smirked.

"They take turns," Her mother sighed.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Harry gave the woman a look of sympathy as he stepped out of the car.

"There are worse things than being stuck with two pushy teenagers..."

"Hey!"

"Sorry," Emily smirked. "A pushy teenager and a pushy adult."

"If it annoys you that much I'll move out," Mel offered humorously. "What d'you say, Prince? Should we try our luck outside our comfort zone?"

"You wouldn't last a day," Erick taunted.

"Fiddlesticks," Mel muttered, to which Harry laughed.

It was around three in the morning when someone knocked on her door. She'd been awake for a while now, so she stood up and opened it.

"Hi," She rubbed her eyes. "What's up?"

"Can't sleep," Erick mumbled. "Care if I stay a moment?"

"Go ahead..."

She went back to bed, Erick sat at the edge and stared at her for a moment. Grey let out a sleepy growl, curling further away from his reach. Erick pulled out his pocket watch, now hanging from a chain he'd found in Regulus Black's room back in Grimmauld Place. The reason why he'd taken it was unknown to Mel.

"What's up?" She mumbled, suppressing a yawn.

"I'm thinking."

"About?"

"How lucky I am."

Mel let out a puff of air without replying. He would do this often, say he was lucky to be there, that she'd saved his life... She just wanted him to shut up.

"I really don't want to punch you, Prince, I'd ruin your pretty nose."

He smiled, unbothered.

"You know, a few years ago you would've been pleased to hear me say that, you ungrateful git."

"Yeah well, a few years ago my biggest dream was to become a princess," She joked. "So you see my priorities were a bit messed up..."

"You'd make a cute princess."

"C'mon —"

"I mean it."

"Erick," Mel said in a tone of warning. "Stop."

He'd been acting like that for a whole week: flirting when no one was around, complimenting her... Mel had closed up so tightly around herself that she was barely capable of saying I love you to her mum. Erick had lived deprived of affection his whole life and was just getting out of that environment. At what point had she become the cold, distant one, and he the ray of sunshine?

She knew right away what he was trying to do, but she was so numb... Mel cared about him, but she was not there yet.

Erick leaned on the wall and tilted his head a bit so he could look at her.

"I'm sorry."

"Why?" She replied. "It's not your fault... I just — I need time."

He nodded shortly.

"We can talk later?"

He was wonderful, but she was in the middle of all that was wrong in their world, right next to Harry and the lifeline that she still hadn't decided whether she wanted to keep or not.

"We should go to bed," She murmured, still unable to make any real decisions for herself.

"Yeah," He stood up, carefully putting the blankets back in place and dropping them all over Grey on purpose. He put the watch back in his pocket as well. "Sweet dreams, Mely."

The Ministry of Magic

PROTECTING YOUR HOME AND FAMILY AGAINST DARK FORCES

The Wizarding community is currently under threat from an organization calling itself the Death Eaters. Observing the following simple security guidelines will help protect you, your family, and your home from attack.

"I have a better way to protect our house," Erick groaned, he was gently rubbing his temples. "Let Leon cry the whole night and not even Voldemort will try to enter... I myself am starting to consider living on the street just to get away from the noise."

"S'not that bad," She answered, the dark circles under her eyes giving her away. "It's hard to get used to being a human, you know?"

"Look at this," Emily unfolded the newspaper. "'Scrimgeour succeeds Fudge' — Well, haven't met him yet but I hope he's got a bit of brain, Tonks told me a few months back that he's certainly a bit brisker..."

The doorbell rang and Mel left to open the door.

The routine at that point was established even if it had been only two weeks since their arrival; Erick got used to life at Privet Drive quite easily, he spent two whole days examining every corner of the kitchen, and when Mel showed him what a movie was, he wasted a whole day in the drawing-room watching the movie adaptations of the books she'd lent to him.

Harry would go daily to check on"Reg". Once he'd stayed the night but refused to sleep in Mel's room, not that she'd tried to convince him otherwise.

"Goodmorning," She opened the door without paying attention, "you're a bit late for breakfast but I'll let it pass as soon as you —"

She stopped talking at the sight of her great-uncle, Dumbledore smiled at her and walked in.

"I can't stay for breakfast, but I dare say I regret it deeply."

"Professor... I — Is everything okay?"

"Certainly."

"To what do we owe the pleasure?"

Mel turned to see her mother standing near the stairs, gazing at Dumbledore coldly.

"Emily," Dumbledore said. "Good morning... I'm here to speak with Mr Flint."

"Is he in trouble?"

"Quite the contrary, I believe he's never been better."

"Professor," Erick's posture changed when he walked into the room, suddenly he looked more like a young man and less like a boy. "What can I do for you?"

"I have a mission for you... Mel as well, but only if she wishes to go."

"She's not of age," The woman replied quickly.

Mel was ready to accept whatever it was he wanted her to do, she needed to feel like she was doing something. Although she wasn't exactly happy to see him so soon after the end of their last term.

"As I said, only if she wishes to come. I assure you she'd be safe."

The girl looked at her mother and then at the men standing in front of her.

"Can I hear what this is about first?"

Emily crossed her arms without uttering a word, her uncle signalled towards the couch.

"A word, then?"

Erick nodded, making a beeline to the closest armchair. Emily turned to leave, but Dumbledore spoke again.

"You can stay."

The woman shared a look with her daughter, Mel couldn't hide her eagerness to hear what the old man had to say.

"I won't sit there and watch history repeat itself," Emily sighed.

The woman left before Mel could say anything. She would talk to her later, but first, she needed to talk to Dumbledore.

"I beg you not to interrupt me while I speak."

Both pupils silently agreed to his petition.

"Now, I find myself in need of a new Professor, but the man I'd been contemplating for the job has been on the run for almost a year — He's not guilty of any crimes," He added, noticing the way their faces grew worried. "He's just afraid like everyone else... I need you to track him down and point me to where he is so I can have a word with him."

"I'll do it," Erick responded instantly.

"Alone?" Mel frowned.

Dumbledore stared at her for a second too long.

"If I remember correctly today is your sixteenth birthday, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Mr Flint turned seventeen in January — You may know that's considered to be the start of our adulthood."

"Yes."

"Erick is allowed to do magic outside school... But you still have a year left."

"I don't see  —"

"You have Matthew's spirit when it comes to saving a friend, Mel. When you were eleven you left this house with Hagrid so you could look for Harry yourself... The time has come for me to finally be honest with you."

"What do you mean 'finally'?" The words were burning a hole in her brain. "You mean all the things you told me when I was in your office last month... that wasn't it?"

Erick stared at them with polite interest, even though she knew he was dying to ask. Mel hadn't told him a thing about that night out of respect for Harry's privacy.

"That was all I had to tell you regarding the Harry," Dumbledore replied. "There are plenty of things I haven't said, and I wish to talk about them with you."

"And if I agree to go with Erick on this mission... you'll tell me?" Mel raised a brow.

"I'll tell you whether you help me with this or not, but I believe there's nothing else I can teach you, Mel. All that's left for you is to start putting your knowledge to use; I recommend you to go on this mission."

"What about my animagus lessons?"

"Ah, yes," Dumbledore smiled. "I'll help you with that, but that'll be it. You've concluded your lessons with the highest marks, dear girl."

She would've been elated hadn't been because of the strange way her uncle was acting.

"Aren't you happy?" Erick nudged her arm gently. "You've worked hard for years, you should be proud!"

"I am proud," Mel replied shortly. "And I'd love to help, but I can't leave my family, it's not safe."

"They'd go to the burrow if you leave."

"What about Harry?"

"He'll go to the burrow too, but I have a few matters to attend with his family first."

"If Mel wants to stay that's alright, I can go on my own —"

"You can't."

Erick looked at her irritated.

"It's not like you can do magic outside school."

"It takes more than magic to survive out there — You don't know how to blend in with the muggles, do you?"

"You can discuss this throughout the day," Dumbledore grabbed a letter from his pocket. "In this, you'll find all about Horace Slughorn's last known whereabouts and a picture so you can identify him. If you do, don't approach, he'll know you're following him. As soon as you find him come back to Privet Drive and write to me."

"This is all just in case we decide to go, right?"

"I'm going," Erick scowled at her.

"We'll talk about this after dinner," She glared back.

Dumbledore stood up and they followed, Emily was at the entrance ready to let him out.

"I'll wait for your response, then," Her uncle stared at her for a moment. "You and Harry..."

"We haven't decided," She was quick to reply. "We need time."

"Very well."

"You're quiet."

"I have a lot to think about."

Her day had been slightly ruined by her great-uncle's visit. Although Lupin had been there for a couple of hours and stayed for dinner. Mel and Erick talked about the mission and she'd promised to tell Harry after the party was over, which was now.

The Slytherin was upstairs taking a shower and Emily was putting Reggie to bed. Mel and Harry were sitting on the grass, watching the stars above them. She'd fallen into contemplative silence, pondering what to do. She could go chase some stranger for Dumbledore's benefit, or she could stay and look after her family.

"This would be much easier if my mum had asked me to stay!" She pouted.

"I reckon she knows that," Harry responded, throwing small rocks over the fence.

"Won't you?"

"Hmm?"

"You won't ask me to stay?"

Harry stared at her.

"No."

He didn't explain his reasons, but he didn't need to. Mel had made up her mind even if she didn't want to admit it. That was exactly why she was so upset, she wanted to look after her family, but her responsibilities were keeping her apart. Three years of hard work had led to this, and although Mel was a big sister now, winning the war was more important than changing diapers.

Her mother was a whole different problem too. Around them she was always cheery, but Mel was sure she'd heard her cry when none of the boys was around to hear.

She believed it was about Sirius, but it could also be about her and Harry, that she was scared for them. Mel didn't have the heart to lie if her mother were to ask about the prophecy. It was, as they had agreed without even having to speak about it, too much weight to put on their loved one's shoulders. The idea of Emily, the closest thing to a mother Harry ever had, finding out there was a big chance one of them would die after having lost Sirius in such a brutal way...

"I don't think I'll be able to look at Dumbledore in the eye if I come back empty-handed..."

"You're one of the best witches I know," Harry shrugged. "You'll be fine, just try not to murder Flint while you're away."

"He's less annoying now," She grinned. "Ever since he left his parents' house, dunno, he's improved. Although I might murder him if he doesn't stop —"

She was going to say 'flirting', but for some reason, she didn't feel ready to talk about that with Harry. She wasn't ready for anything and yet the world was forcing her to keep moving, it was exhausting.

Mel got up and offered her hand to her friend.

"Do you remember when you were just Harry and I was just Mel, and we were the odd kids at school?" She fixed her gaze on her bedroom window. "Wish we could go back to that."

"When I didn't know I was a wizard?"

"Things were easier back then, don't you think?"

"Maybe," He retorted. "But they were never entirely good."

In Harry, Mel found another reason to stay.

They could have the summer to talk about the things they needed to. She would stare at his aged features and compare them to the ones of that young boy she used to call her best friend...

Their bond still had thousands of cracks that had to be fixed, Mel was having a hard time letting him in again and they needed to be okay in order to know if they wanted to keep the lifeline or not. It wasn't that she didn't want to like him, she wanted the comfort he used to provide, the warmth and security of having someone who understood.

He knew it, and he was trying his best to not mess it up, but Mel didn't want to love him again, cutting the lifeline was the best way to assure that... It was easier said than done, though.

Harry was confused. Sometimes it felt like nothing would ever happen, then an overwhelming affection would crush his chest whenever Mel laughed or touched him. He didn't want to put a name to it, he was terrified of saying it, even to himself. All he knew was that the connection was a way to make sure Mel would be safe, and he didn't want to give that up.

"I should go."

"Yeah..."

"Happy birthday," He said. "I have to be honest and tell you that your present was meant to be sent last Christmas, but..."

"I didn't give you a present either, it's okay... I'm a bit angry though, that was a missed opportunity, I could've won."

Harry laughed.

"You'll have a new chance this year, but I doubt you'll be able to beat me — I've already gotten yours..."

"It's July!"

"I know," His smile vanished suddenly, then he added. "Be careful out there, please."

"Erick'll make sure I don't do anything stupid," Mel smiled. "He's so obsessed with protecting me — as if he didn't know I can do it alone just fine!"

"Yeah, but now's different."

"Different how?"

"We need you alive," He told her. "You want to live long enough to become Headmistress, right?"

Mel froze, not knowing what to answer.

"What?" Harry tilted his head.

"I lied," She blurted out. "I never wanted to be Headmistress — I saw you that night, in the mirror... I saw..."

"What?" He asked again, this time softer.

"You kissed me. A real kiss... like the type we used to gawk at as children."

Harry cleared his throat. "Oh."

A tense silence surrounded them. The variations of colour in his eyes were remarkably easy to notice from where she was standing. She was tilting her head up now, perhaps they were too close.

"Be careful."

"You told me that already," Mel whispered, unable to look away. "Anything else you'd like to say?"

"Yes," He paused, his eyes took a quick glance to her lips. "But if I say it you'll get mad."

Harry kissed her, Mel responded by pulling him down.

It was hard to tell whether she was euphoric or scared, perhaps both, or perhaps neither. As soon as it happened Harry jumped away, and she was dropped back into reality.

"I can't do it — We haven't talked about  the lifeline — We won't make the right choice if we let our feelings —"

"You're right! Yes!" Mel said, acting just as agitated. "It's a terrible idea — I like you, but—"

"—it's confusing," He said anxiously. "Do you have feelings for me?"

"Do you have feelings for me?" Mel asked in a high-pitched voice.

"No!" He responded, but his voice trembled with a lack of confidence. "I care about you a lot —"

"— I care for you too —"

"— But just —"

"— as friends!"

They stared at each other with the same frightened expression.

"I'm sorry if I made things uncomfortable," He groaned, running a hand through his hair. "I... I don't want to lose you."

"We need to spend some time apart," She nodded, avoiding his eyes. "We can ignore this happened, right?"

"Absolutely," He agreed. "You're spending the summer at the burrow?"

"My mum and my brother will be there, so I kind of have to... is that okay?"

"It's okay," Harry looked around. "We... we should go."

"Did you ever regret falling for my dad?" Mel asked randomly. "I mean, you ever wonder how things would've turned out if you'd stayed as friends?"

Emily stopped folding her clothes.

"Something nagging that head of yours?"

"I think relationships are a waste of time. They all break and you always end up hurting..."

"What makes you think such nonsense?" Emily raised a brow, leaning back on the couch. "Who are you and what did you do to my daughter?"

"You don't think that way?" She asked doubtfully.

"Because I lost my partners that means I have to be bitter?"

"I didn't mean it like that," Mel replied quickly. "But... yeah."

Emily remained silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts.

"Solitude can do weird things to your heart, love. It can pull you towards bad or good places... People that make you feel a little less lonesome, someone who understands you. You should hold onto that for as long as you can, no matter how scary it is. You never know what wonderful things may bring you..."

"Sirius said something similar a year ago," Mel said quietly. "Something about finding my equal, that the earth's full of options and stuff..."

"I won't force you to find a partner if that's not what you want, but you're young and the world is big, you can't turn your back on every opportunity."

"It's not like I have lots of prospects right now..." She huffed.

"You don't need lots, just the right one."

Mel hesitated for a moment, then added:

"I know you used to have a crush on James Potter."

Emily looked up from the laundry again, she raised a brow. "Oh?"

"I know it was a long time ago," She shifted in her place awkwardly. "But do you ever wonder what would've happened if you two..?"

The woman sighed.

"Only once."

"When?"

"When I found out Voldemort was after his son," She folded the last shirt and handed it to Mel. "I asked myself if I had made the right choice by giving him up... When I look at you I know it was the right thing to do. What happened to James and Lily... it was horrible, but it wasn't my fault. I was happy with your father; maybe Matthew wasn't my first love, but when it comes to this, your first love rarely is the one that lasts."

"Mel?" Erick walked into the room. "If we're planning to drive around all day tomorrow, you should sleep," He nodded shortly at both of them and left the room, her mother chuckled.

"You know, Erick reminds me of your father... I know Sirius said he was like his brother, but Regulus made all the wrong choices... Erick's done all this for himself, to be better. Just like Matty."

Mel's gaze lingered on the doorway long after Erick had left.

"Thank you, for letting me go," She sighed, looking back at the woman. "I don't love following Dumbledore's orders but I... I want to make this world a better place."

"Love," Emily cupped her face adoringly. "I know why you're doing this. Just how I knew why you flew that car to save Harry, and why you went to the Ministry... but you're my daughter, and it's my job to worry about you anyway."

Erick and Mel took three changes of clothing and put them in the trunk, Emily gave them muggle money. Mel had a fake driver's license as well as Erick, and they would take turns driving. Harry was nowhere to be seen, but it was expected since it was five in the morning. She hadn't mentioned the kiss to either her mother or Erick, she was determined to keep it that way, much like the whole lifeline stuff and the prophecy.

'Just pile more secrets on top, why don't you,' She thought bitterly as she walked out of the house.

Emily hugged both and let them kiss Reggie goodbye, Mel promised they would see each other soon, and Erick vowed he'd make sure Mel would be safe (she snorted loudly at this). Once inside the car, her friend took a deep breath.

"Ready?"

"This isn't our first adventure, Prince."

"This one's the first we do with permission."

"You're an adult, you don't need anyone's approval."

"You know what I mean," He rolled his eyes.

"Sorry. I get defensive when I'm —"

"I know," He sighed. "I talk too much when I'm worried."

"I know," She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly. "I'm ready... We'll be okay."

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Taglist.

@dee123ksha @vampiregirl1797 @siriuslysirius1107 @stardusthigh @mikariell95 @vernon-dursley @thesuitelifeofafangirl @tomshollandz @wlwmaximoff @reverse-hxlland @hamiltonwc @omiwashere @t-rexs-world @just-here-to-escape-from-reality @21bruhs @i-am-scared-and-useless-bisexual @dielgonacoffee @thelastpyle

#twoidiots writing #hp fanfic #Harry Potter #harry potter xoc #harry potter fanfiction #WITT fic

[feminist-pussycat]

A Terf’s Semester Challenge

So, ladies, this term I’m taking a philosophy and feminism course because I needed a philosophy credit and I didn’t think this through. This post shall be ongoing with all of the libfem trans idiocy that will be present in the class discord, teachings, videos and discussions. If  I feel like it, I will analyze what is said and why it is stupid. It is the first day and I have found two they/thems already. oh my god.

1. “If I can be specific, as a Trans person, I often find gendered language regarding experiences that affect trans people too (such as the abortion debate. Typically sources will use very female-oriented language, when trans people are very affected by abortion laws as well) and in my own experience, it can feel like I'm being left out. “ - a they/them

- Only female people experience abortions. Also known as women. What narcissism.

2. “If feminism is a movement to end sexist oppression, then trans women’s voices are among the most important voices to be included in the movement. Sexist oppression involves patriarchal norms and expectations – including gender norms and expectations. So discrimination and violence against people whose identities pose a challenge to patriarchal norms and expectations is itself a form of sexist oppression.” - my fucking prof

- trans women are not a part of feminism! feminism is for women, not all feminine people! the discrimination and violence against identities that aren’t patriarchally correct is oppressive but not feminist! i’m already so fed up with this bullshit

3.  “Truth be told, I haven't been able to enjoy a Harry Potter movie in the same way I used to since learning that JK Rowling is transphobic, and I don't think I ever will again. I do think it's morally okay to turn off the switch sometimes, because we're all just trying to get through and be the best person we can possibly be, but I'm still trying to figure out as to whether we can do this at all. Of course I think JK Rowling is a terrible human being who deserves no platform whatsoever”

- ah yes, a terrible person who believes only women menstruate and biological sex is real. we must not consume her content, lest we be committing thought crimes and be a participant in the literal violence she has brought down on the precious trans ppl and their gender feels.

#trans people #trans men #radfem #gender critical #terf #feminism #help me

[memecatwings]

actually media portraying bad actions as heroic or even neutral can and has influenced people to commit those bad actions in real life - after the movie Jaws came out people were so afraid of sharks that they went out and hunted certain species to endangerment and now we have the yearly Shark Week to undo the damage that Jaws did to the public, after the movie American Sniper premiered hate crimes against Islamic people skyrocketed because the movie portrays them as universally evil and the protaginst is framed as heroic for killing them, 50 Shades Of Gray inspired people to get into bdsm with the movie as their only frame of reference for it and got hurt because the movie is an innacurate portrayal of bdsm that sexualizes an absuive relationship then calls it kink - if you consume a piece of media that contains something you are ignorant about then that media will form the base of your view on that topic, it's why people push so hard for good representation of minority groups. if your only frame of reference for gay people is something where the only gay characters are evil, you will subconsciously associate gay people with bad actions - media effecting real life is the entire premise of propaganda and it works best when the audience is ignorant about the ideas being pushed. if you're fully aware that sharks are important to the ecosystem and rarely ever attack humans then Jaws will just be a fun movie for you, but if you dont know anything about sharks then Jaws will tell you that sharks are malicious monsters that need to be killed. everyone knows that murder-cannibalism and medical malpractice are wrong so nobody's gonna go around murder-cannibalizing because they watched Hannibal, it's just a fun show. not everyone knows about how witchcraft and paganism work irl so the amount of misinformation and cultural appropriation spread by things like harry potter and supernatural can and has influenced how the public thinks about witchcraft and paganism - you cant just say fiction doesnt effect reality fiction effects reality in every way and if youd just paid attention in english class rather than daydreaming about fandom being "superior" to Shakespeare you'd know this

#accidentally ranted too much 😭😭 #i hate a bitch who says fiction doesnt effecr reality #whatever happened to all of us thinking quick sand would be a bigger issue in out adult lives

[ourplaceinthecosmosphff]

Chapter 16. Fight or Flight

‘I am healing by mistake. Rome is also built on ruins.' Eliza Griswold

“It’s a private street,” Harry explained as he walked me on quickstep towards the big black gates in red brick ahead. “Technically owned by the Crown Estate. Most of the houses are embassies or former embassies now owned by billionaires.” “Was someone supposed to have stopped me from just walking in?” I asked, already guessing the answer.

“A little weird to have a central London address mostly habited by dignitaries and rich people and forbid people from entering it, isn’t it?” He grinned. “So it’s open for pedestrians and cyclists twenty-four-seven. Cars only authorized. And, of course, they are free to kick you out if they think you’re behaving strangely.”

“Understandable.” I smiled.

“...So…” He started, shifting on his feet as he walked, adjusting my bag on his shoulder, “Where’s Christopher?”

“...Right now? Halfway to Canada, probably. On business.”

“Ah.” He nodded. “And… your security?”

I looked around at the street lights, avoiding his eyes. “It’s just me.”

“Right… but, should it be? Isn’t it a bit--?” Before he could finish -- ‘dangerous’ was probably going to be his last word -- I stopped, and looked at his, heaving a sigh. “This is weird. Isn’t it? I’m sorry, I can get a hotel.”

Under the moon and lamp post lights, I thought I saw his cheeks redden. “No, that’s not--! I don’t-- You’re welcome here, of course! I was just… worried. You shouldn’t be walking around on your own.”

At this charming revelation, said in an even more charming tone, I smiled, sheepishly. “Well, I am.”

“So, no… major changes after the…  new succession?”

I sighed, remembering Joyce, my protection officer that had been replaced, and Cadie. “Some. Not tonight, though.”

We were quietly ushered through a pedestrian steel door a few steps after the big gates, which magically opened when Harry approached. His protection officer followed after us.

“Uh, sir?” He called when we kept walking.

Looking back, Harry startled slightly. “Oh, that’s right. Do you mind?” He looked at me, “They need to sign you in.”

“Oh, of course.” We walked to the security cabin near the bigger gate, where another guard, this one in uniform, smiled at us.

“ID, ma’am?”

I handed him my passport from my coat’s pocket, which I had kept handy for the train.

“I’m sorry about this,” Harry said, worried, “It’s… bloody protocol.”

“It’s alright.” I smiled. “You do remember I live in a palace, too? If there’s one thing I understand in life is protocol.”

He smiled back. “She’ll already be registered.” Harry told the guard. “She was here last October.”

I remembered, distantly, filling up my passport in security forms before the tour, and we had come to Kensington for tea once. A lifetime ago.

The guard returned my passport and wished us a goodnight, so Harry walked me towards the palace, now unaccompanied by any officers.

We didn’t go into the main building, however, like when I visited William and Catherine’s house, we went around it.

“So…” Harry started. “I don’t live in the main palace. I don’t got an apartment. It’s… small, my place. Really small. Two bedrooms! So, should be fine, but–”

“Is this--?” I stopped walking, my mind finally catching up to where I was and what I’d done. “Should I not have come? This is weird, right? I didn’t mean to barge in and--”

“No!”

“I’m sorry, I can get a hotel–”

“No, really– It’s fine!” He assured me. “I just wanted you to be prepared, because it’s not a… big, fancy place like my brother’s house, or my father’s house. It’s just… a cottage, really. It’s tiny. I live alone, so it’s quite good just for me–”

I sighed, feeling relieved. Now almost amused. “Agani, fellow royal. I live in a palace? I know how it works. It’s not all a palace.”

He smiled. “Yes… It’s just that people always seem to think it’s all very glamorous.”

The house was nice, it was, as he had mentioned, smaller than most, but it made up for it with that warm, comfortable look of a real home. The front door led into what seemed like one room, with sliding doors separating the smaller half – a kitchen with faded yellow cabinets that needed upgrading, but looked nice. The other half had a blue three-seat sofa and a matching armchair in front of a wooden chest of drawers in which was propped up a flat-screen TV – the only thing in the room that looked like he had actually purchased and not inherited, or maybe borrowed from the Royal Collection.

“It’s nice.” I told him in the silence. He was still watching me from the front door, which he’d just closed, my bag still hanging from his shoulder. “I like it.”

“Are you hungry?” He asked, with a smile, moving quickly into the kitchen. “We could order takeout. I like thai food, there’s a nice place not far from here. Or, I have stuff to make sandwiches, if you’d prefer– what?”

I was smiling at the way my bag would sway around as he moved quickly around his small table to reach the fridge, looking slightly frazzled. “Nothing.”

He smiled, too. “Or!” Excitedly, he walked over to the microwave and opened it, removing a small plate. “Ta-da!”

I approached, realizing he was holding a plate of the entrées from the wedding. “You stole the entrées?!” I laughed.

“I asked! Politely asked if I could have some of the leftovers. You were right, they were delicious.”

We laughed. “Scandalous!” I said, grabbing one and moving to the sofas. “I’m not that hungry, actually, but thanks.”

I sat on the larger sofa, realizing the room also had a small, marble-top coffee table on top of a Persian rug and a corner bookcase with picture frames. I got up to look at his books, realizing it was a mixture of books, CDs and DVDs, even some vinyls. My eyes were first caught by Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton, 1984, by George Orwell and Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley. He also had Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, Catch 22, by Joseph Heller, and The Complete Calvin and Hobbes collection, which made me smile. I pulled out an orange spine -- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Mark Manson -- and he moved behind me, the only time I heard him since walking over.

"That was a gift." He explained, in a justification tone.

I smiled back at him, returning the book to its place and noticing a white one with large black letters next to it, Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race, by Reni Eddo-Lodge, which had a summary that regarded it as 'the essential handbook for anyone who wants to understand race relations in Britain today.' I returned it to its place, smiling.

“So you like fantasy.” I concluded, when I found The Hobbit and at least two Harry Potters.

“More like sci-fi.” He replied. “I like The Hobbit, and I made an exception for Harry Potter, which is iconic.”

“I liked the movies.”

“You haven’t read the books?”

“Could never really get into it.” I shrugged.

He closed the distance between us, my bag still on his shoulders, and stared at me from up close, seriously.

“You didn’t like Harry Potter?!”

“What I said was I couldn’t get into it.” I repeated, fighting a grin.

“That’s what people say when they tried something and didn’t like it.”

“Well–” I reflected on the option. “You don’t have any evidence that’s an universal truth. Surely not that that’s how I meant it.”

“Okay, counselor,” he sighed, impatiently. A grin made its way into my lips. “Did you or did you not like reading Harry Potter?!”

“I believe I have a right against self-incrimination in Britain, I certainly do as a Savoy citizen, so I will be evoking that right at this moment.”

He took in a long breath, running a hand through his hair, “Wow.” He sighed, making me laugh. “Just… wow. I am… outraged. As a British man, as a human being–”

“Okay, calm down.” I laughed.

“Harry Potter is incredible!”

“It was just… really childish for me.”

“The first book was written for children! The tone changes as the books go along!”

“Yes, there’s like ten of them. It’s a lot.”

“Seven, and you went to Harvard! You can handle seven children’s books!” My bag fell off his shoulder at his exasperated arm movements, but he was quick to grab it by the handle before it hit the floor.

“And why are you still carrying that?”

“I just…” He shrugged, walking over to the armchair to put my bag there. “I imagine you’ll need it.”

He looked back at me, pulling his long sleeves up past his elbows.

“I--I imagine your protection detail will be ‘round shortly to collect you.”

I chuckled, nervously. “What–? Why? I told you, it’s just me tonight.”

“Yes, and you’re the next in line to the throne of a country. I can’t go anywhere without security, and I know my brother has at least two at all times, so I’m assuming you have at least one person looking for you out there by now.”

There was an awkward silence as I shifted on my feet, hands still in my coat pockets, mouth agape, searching for what to say. He didn’t look upset, and it wasn’t like I’d just committed a crime by omitting what happened, but it still felt as if I had done something incredibly wrong, and the more I looked at him, the more uncomfortable the thought of continuing to lie was.

“It’s–It’s… It’s not like they’ll rush in here screaming that you kidnapped me or something.” I said, nervously forcing a giggle at the thought. “I don’t even know if they’ve noticed I’ve gone yet.”

“Ah.” He nodded, slowly, sitting down on the larger sofa. “So you ran away when they weren’t looking.”

“They were asleep.” I corrected, feeling my whole body warm in embarrassment. “And I would object to the word ‘ran’, I very calmly walked off the train when it stopped in London. It’s not my fault they didn’t notice.”

“They were asleep?!” He asked, his voice going higher than I’d heard before.

“It’s a long journey… Especially from Northern England.”

“Well, it’s their job! That’s… that’s so unbelievably unsafe!”

“I’m here, aren’t I?” I raised my hands, in a placating gesture. “No harm done.”

“Well, you couldn’t have known that, could you?!” He asked, eyes widened. “But they sure should have, it’s their job! What if someone walked into the train and pointed a gun at you and forced you to leave?”

“What– I’m– I don’t even–” I sighed, frustrated. “Harry, I’m sorry, okay? Do you–? Would you like me to leave? I can get a hotel–”

“No!” He got to his feet. “I just–” He sighed. “I know how important security is, and… you… you’re a bigger target now, aren’t you? Your security profile must have changed since… you know.”

“I don’t.” I admitted. “They don’t really tell me much these days.”

I walked over, took off my coat, and sat down on the sofa. “Really, Harry, if this is a lot, I can get a place to stay, it’s no trouble.”

He walked over and sat next to me, laying his head back to rest atop the back of the sofa. “I don’t want you to leave.”

Relieved beyond understanding, I started to relax. So I sat back and laid my head next to his.

“So you didn’t miss the train.” He said, and seeing as it wasn't a question, I thought it would be best not to incriminate myself again.

“Marie? Did you?”

I looked at the ceiling. “Technically, I did. But I missed it because I got off.”

He let out a quiet, nasalized chuckle. “Why?”

I heaved a long sigh, and turned to look at him. “I don’t know… I just… I was in the train. And I couldn’t stop thinking about things. And I wanted to. And then we stopped in London. And I grabbed my bag and went to the bathroom, just to walk a little, to distract myself. But then I saw the doors opened. And my protection officers were asleep, so they didn’t even see me get up, so one second I was just fantasizing about how I could just… walk off, and the next I just… did.”

“I still think your security is incredibly irresponsible in this scenario.” He said, on a low tone, in which a hint of anger was only just noticeable.

“They have a right to sleep if we’re on a moving train.” I protested.

“What were you thinking about?” He asked.

“I just… I don’t know, okay? I just… The door was open and there was this colder breeze coming in, and I just… I just wanted to feel more of it. I don’t really understand it, either.”

“I actually mean… What were you thinking during the journey? That you said you didn’t want to think of anymore?”

“…Oh.” I looked back at the ceiling, biting my lower lip. “Everything, I guess. I just…”

I thought back to the train ride, the sound of the tracks, the dimmed lights as everyone seemed to either be asleep or blissfully entertained by their phones. To my heart, full of questions and… anger. I couldn’t tell him half of it.

“I just… I can’t–” I felt my voice break slightly as a knot found its way into my throat. “I can’t be in Savoy right now. I just… I don’t even– Sometimes it just feels like… Like–” I sat up, clearing my throat and turning to look at him, folding one leg to sit on top of it, facing him. 

He’d opened his house to me out of nowhere. I knew how chaotic this must look. He deserved some explanation. 

“It’s like they’re all playing a game and I’m the only one who wasn’t told the rules, but I’m still… part of it, you know? I’m the… I’m the game.” I said. “And I’m just… so tired of it.”

He was quiet, brows furrowed. He sighed… and then nodded.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay. I’ll… I’ll go give security a call, and tell them if someone comes asking for you to say they haven’t seen you.”

My mouth opened, in astonishment, but I didn’t know what to say.

“And you… what do you want to do? Shower? Movie? Pizza? Sleep?”

I was still astonished, but I started to smile now. “A shower would be nice, I guess.”

“Great, let me show you to the bathroom and I’ll get you a towel.”

He got up, quickly grabbed my bag and smiled when he asked me to follow him. The guest bathroom was just around the corner from the living room, beyond the narrow, carpeted staircase up.

“This is the guest bath. You can use the one in my room, though, it’s better water pressure and you’ll be closer to the guest room.”

Upstairs, there was just a small hallway with three doors, one of which was a closet where he got me two towels. The one at the other end was his room.

The bed was made, but looked like it had been slept in recently. Another flat screen TV was mounted on the wall in front of it, with a paused Netflix movie displayed.

“Do you have pajamas, or–?.” He asked as he left my bag on the bathroom floor. “I can find you some of my clothes?”

I had a clean set of pajamas I’d brought to stay in the hotel overnight, but for some reason I smiled, sheepishly, and said, “That’d be great, thanks.”

“Sweatpants good? I’ll leave them in the bed. You can change here, I’ll wait downstairs.”

“Okay.” I smiled.

Inside, I got out of my travel clothes, brushed my hair down slowly, taking deep breaths, avoiding my reflection in the mirror. When I was done, I put my hair up in a tight bun, and finally looked at myself, but I couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re ridiculous.” I told mirror-Maggie.

As I showered, I tried to better answer the questions he had asked. I’d been thinking of Christopher, of his family ring, of why he would have decided to propose so soon after we got back together. I thought of why my father would say yes without consulting me. Of why my father would continually make decisions about my life without consulting me.

When I turned off the shower, I knew a couple of things for sure: I didn’t plan to run away. I just wanted to go to the bathroom on the train, to distract myself from my own thoughts. When I saw the door and realized that I could leave without my security seeing, all I wanted was to run. To feel… free. To be somewhere I wasn’t expected to give people the nice and polite answers they expected. For some reason, my heart decided this was that place. But this freedom also brought me guilt. What did that say for my relationship?

I wrapped myself in the towel and opened the bathroom door to find a pile of clothes in his bed. I brought them inside and got changed into a much too large for me black sweatpants and dark green shirt. Luckily – or maybe Harry had predicted this – the pants had drawstrings, so I could adjust them to my waist. I folded the bottom as best as I could.

When I did, my eyes fell on a bottle on the lower shelf of his cabinet. It was L’Occitane Cedrat Spray Deodorant. The name was familiar. I got up and realized there was another bottle on the shower caddie with the name – this one a shower gel. So I reached for the deodorant and sprayed a little of it in the air.

The smell almost knocked me to my feet. It was the smell Harry always had, the smell I remembered from London. The smell that brought me right back to an otherwise boring State Dinner, on a red dress, dancing barefoot in a room in Buckingham Palace where we weren’t supposed to be, his face leaning ever so much closer to mine, chills going down my spine, warming up my skin, getting on my tiptoes hoping to close the distance… before we were interrupted by my protection officer Joyce telling us it was time to go.

The smell took me back to flirty, happy texts planning a date. Running after Lourdes after she stole my phone. Waiting for a reply when Auguste and Montennon walked by with death on their faces… before everything changed.

I shook my head. I couldn’t add more things to the archive of stuff I had to think about.

Down the stairs, I found him in the kitchen. He bit down a grin when he saw me in his clothes. “Well, you look…”

“Ridiculous.” I smiled. “It’s a bit big.”

“No! You look cute.” He said, making me blush. “Security has been informed, by the way.”

“Right.” I sighed. “Thank you so much, Harry. I don’t think I said that yet.” He avoided my eyes, shrugging. “It’s not a problem. You’re always welcome here.”

“I know it’s... Weird… and I didn’t mean to interrupt your night.” I added. “I saw the TV on in your room.”

“Oh, I was just watching a movie. The new Transformers.” He told me. “It’s… not great. But in a good way? Does that make sense?” I smiled. “Kind of, yeah.” “Wanna watch it with me?” He asked. “I’d practically just started it. And it’s early-ish, still.”

“Sure.”

“Awesome.” He clapped his hands together and found a packet of popcorn in the kitchen cabinet.

A little while later, he handed me a bowl and a salt shaker. “Madame.”

I salted the popcorn as he walked around, grabbing napkins and a bag of M&M’s from a cabinet. “Chocolate or peanuts?” He asked. “And bear in mind, there is a right answer.”

“Dealer’s choice.” I returned.

“Coward.” He half-coughed, half-muttered, making me chuckle. “I have coke, orange juice, and beer.”

“Coke.”

“Right answer.” He nodded, approvingly, before turning to me with a slightly more serious expression. “I have… further questions.”

I pulled a chair and sat down, pushing the popcorn away. “Okay.”

“So… who knows– Did you tell Christop–” He sighed. “How many people know you’re here?”

I did the math in my head. “Five, or six, maybe?”

“Plus me and the security officers we walked by?”

“No, I– I mean you and the security officers.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“And the cab driver, but I don’t think he knew who I was.” He was quiet for a while, biting his lower lip. “Any other questions?”

He sighed. “Shouldn’t you tell someone?” At the way my face responded, he continued, quickly pulling up a chair and sitting next to me. “I mean, just that you’re okay, at least. They’ll think you were kidnapped!”

“If I turn on my phone they can track me.” I confessed. “All our phones are tracked by security headquarters.”

“Don’t you have a chip?” He asked, seeming genuinely surprised.

“Those tracking chips that go into your skin?” I asked, “No. The idea gets floated around every couple of years, but my siblings and I always hated it. And my mother thinks it’s too weird.” He nodded. “Do you have one?”

He smiled widely, teeth closed, and pointed at the right side of his jaw. “Just under this tooth here… But don’t tell anyone.”

I laughed. “Right, lesson one of anti-terrorism training. Your teachers would be very disappointed in you.”

He groaned, grinning. “Don’t remind me. Those guys are impressive, but they’re terrifying.”

“Do you ever get refresher training?”

“I think my last one was after my brother’s wedding, due to ‘increased media attention’.” He quoted, annoyed.

“Yeah, they made us take a refresher when Lourdes was born. It was awful.”

“Weren’t you, like, ten?!”

“Yes!” I confirmed, nodding enthusiastically. “That’s what made it awful!”

We chuckled, together.

He scratched his beard, looking at the ceiling. “God, we live weird lives.”

The TV in his room was bigger, so we took the popcorn, the cokes and the chocolate M&M’s – his favorite – upstairs where he started the movie from the beginning.

Admittedly, I didn’t pay as much attention as I should have, but I understood enough of it to know he was right: it wasn’t great. Great was the popcorn, the ice cold coke, and the chocolate M&M’s.

Eventually, though, my back started to hurt, so I slid down to lay on his pillows instead of sitting against the headboard, and my eyelids grew heavy, and the sound of explosions grew dimmer as I fell asleep. I shook myself awake a few minutes later, apologizing, but he only smiled and said, “It’s okay”, as he hesitated slightly, before reaching over and resting his hand by my head, brushing my hair so lightly I was asleep again in seconds.

When I woke up, the room was darker than before, the movie was over and the TV now displayed the long list of credits on a dark screen to a slow instrumental track. Harry nowhere to be found.

I heard steps from the hallway, and closed my eyes instinctively, just as I heard him come in. Slowly, I felt a warm blanket cover me, just at this moment realizing how chilly I had been a second before. I breathed in deeply, realizing how much his pillow smelled like him, and settled in to place to sleep again before I heard him step away. Opening my eyes, I realized he was leaving.

“Harry?”

He stopped at the door, and looked back. “Hey.” He whispered. “It’s okay, you go back to sleep. I’ll take the other room.”

“You should sleep in your own bed.” I said, forcing myself to sit up.

“It’s fine, Marie.” He smiled, approaching to gently tuck me back in, pulling the blanket up to my chest. “I promise, just go back to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He was almost leaving again, but my heart couldn’t take it.

“Harry?” I called, whispery, holding on tightly to two fistfulls of the blanket to stop from reaching out to hold his hand.

“Yes?”

I thought of his girlfriend, of my boyfriend, of the imaginary crown looming over my head, and yet, I couldn’t stop my lips from uttering, “Stay.”

He stared at me for one, two, three seconds before getting up. He walked around the bed and laid down, fluffing his pillows slightly as I stretched the blanket out to him.

We laid in silence, his warmth reaching over to me under the covers – or maybe my skin was just warmer than usual. I flipped over to lay on my stomach, hugging the pillow under me. When I did, my fingers hit something that felt like a needle. Carefully feeling it out, I realized it was a bobby pin. ‘This must be the side his girlfriend sleeps in when she’s over’, I thought, feeling suddenly sick to my stomach.

Turning to look at him, I breathed:

“Truth or dare?”

I heard his body move in the dark, and felt his knee brush against my leg as he turned to lay on his side, facing me.

“Truth.”

“Okay…” I held out the bobbi pin from under his pillow, pointing it at him. “Now, be honest… Do you curl your hair to sleep?”

His head raised from the pillow to look at what I was showing him, confused. “What–? Oh.” He smiled as I chuckled. “That’s–ha-ha, hilarious.”

He picked the bobby pin, and turned around to place it carefully in the bedside table next to him.

“Or does that belong to a lady-friend?”

He laughed. “A lady-friend?!”

“You never explained if you and Cressida broke up or not, so I wouldn’t want to speculate.”

“No, of course.” His tone was a mixture of sarcastic and teasing. “You’re just being respectful.”

There was a nice, quiet silence before I whispered, “You never answered the question.”

We laughed again. “No, Marie-Margueritte, I do not curl my hair before bed.”

“So how, pray tell, do you explain the evidence?”

“Objection, your honor,” he said, and I could still hear the giggle in his voice, “No follow-up questions, remember?”

I sighed, “Oh, right, that bullshit rule.”

“Enough stalling. Truth or dare?”

I smiled, sighing. “Truth.”

“…Do you think Clara could have done better than John? Be honest.”

I laughed. “You’re terrible.”

“Come on, we’re all thinking it.”

“Who’s ‘we’ in this scenario?”

“Every guest at their wedding.”

“You’re a terrible friend.” I giggled.

“Hey, I didn’t say that to him! I’m saying it to you, in confidence.” He justified, “And I can’t help but notice you’re avoiding the question.”

“Alright, fine. Admittedly, yes, she has dated guys I think were objectively better looking in a traditional way. But that’s not everything!”

“No!” He said, in an exaggerated way. “Of course not… that’s why your boyfriend looks like that.”

“What do you mean with ‘like that’?” I laughed.

“Oh, you know… the big, moussed up hair, the fancy suit, be honest, does he wear makeup?”

“Oh, my god!” I laughed. “You’re the worst. And you already asked your question. So, truth or dare?”

He sighed. “Truth.”

I considered for a long time what to ask. Long enough that he called out, “Marie?”

“I’m thinking.”

“Oh.”

Gulping, I tried to make the question sound as casual and playful as possible. “Who’s the mysterious owner of the bobby pin?”

“…oh.”

He was silent.

“Go on.” I laughed, nervously. “You must answer truthfully.”

“I–” He sighed. “It’s… It’s you.”

“I–” I startled. “What?”

He sighed, again, deeper now. “That day, my last day in Savoy. On the stairs. You were trying to remove your hat… I helped. I tried to give them back to you, but you– were distracted, I guess.”

“Oh…”

“Sorry.”

“No, don’t.” I turned around, laying in my side, facing him. “Harry, I’m the one who’s sorry… that day I was–I was acting completely insane.”

“Don’t apologize.” He asked. “You were going through so much–”

“Yes, but that doesn’t excuse hurting someone–”

“You didn’t hurt me.” He reached out, holding my hand in the space between us.

“I mean–”

“I know what you mean.” He assured me.

Breathless, I closed my fingers on his hold. I couldn’t know what he was thinking of, but I was thinking of the kiss. Or, more accurately, the almost-kiss. I could still feel his neck on my lips, his smell, right there on his pillow, had lived in my mind for the past five months. That‘s what I was apologizing for, but couldn’t say. I couldn’t speak of it. Speaking of it could lead to questions I had also been avoiding for five months like my life depended on it.

“Truth or dare?” He asked, without letting go of my hand.

Breathing in, deeply, and knowing I still wanted to talk about it, but it may not be the right time, I said, “Truth.”

Quietly, I felt his fingers brush mine, slowly.

“Why did you ask about my ex?” He asked, whispery, barely audible.

“…I…” I gulped. “I was curious… I guess– I guess it feels… sad? That we lost touch. I wanted to know what– you know, what you’ve been up to.”

He was quiet. I ventured a look past our hands, to his face, where I could almost see a smile on his lips.

His finger slowly traced mine. His next question came even lower than the first, as if scared to make it even a little bit more real than it had to be. “Were you jealous?”

I felt my heart jump on my chest. His soft touch on my hand, the guilty knot of anxiety in my stomach to be laying in bed with him, as platonically as it was… it all made it impossible to lie.

But I was a lawyer.

“No follow up questions, remember?”

A silent second. And then I heard his nasalized chuckle. “Wow…”

“Your rules.” I shrugged, painfully pulling my hand from his while I still could, and turning to the other side. “Goodnight, Harry.”

He let out another low, appreciative chuckle. “Goodnight, Mary.”

I fell asleep smiling as the name echoed in my thoughts: ‘Mary’.

--- ---- ---

[A/N: heeeeeeeeeeey. how ya’ll doin? I really wanna write something cute and funny here about the chapter or about how much I appreciate you reading but its 4 am on a monday and i spent all sunday working on overtime and i am exhausted so... just know I appreciate you A LOT seriously thank you so much for reading!!! let me know what you think???????? the end of this chapter made me smile when i wrote it and the next chapter made me cry so you have that to look forward to. THANKS BYEEE]

#Princeharryff #prince harry fanfic #prince harry fanfiction #princeharryfanfiction #Princeharryfanfic #prince harry #brf #modern royalty au #modern royalty fanfic #fanfiction #OPITCphff #chapters

[callunavulgari]

Scrapbook 2021 | Part II

For anyone that’s new to this, this is how I keep track of all of the things I enjoy and/or create throughout the year. I have literally been doing this since I had a livejournal. I think the first one was 2011? Maybe? In which case, woohoo, ten years of scrapbooking!

It’s a nice little snippet of my life and helps to organize my brain.

A reminder:

Normal font - Indifferent/Neutral Italicized font - Enjoyed bold font - Loved with an asterisk* - All time favorite (bracketed titles) - Re-watches/Re-reads strikethough - Disliked

Goals are: read 80 books (as of today, i am at 31 books, which sounds not great but goodreads assures me that it’s only 1 book behind schedule), finish five video games (at two at the moment... mostly because I keep dragging my feet on actually finishing P5R), write more than 20 fics (at... 6) or something larger than 20k (negative), and write either an original short story or start a novel (i have started plotting for the novel? does that count?)

Past Years

MOVIES

May

Mortal Kombat

(SW: The Phantom Menace)

(SW: Attack of the Clones)

(SW: Revenge of the Sith)

(SW: Rogue One)

(SW: A New Hope)

SW: Clone Wars

Enola

Wonder Woman 1984

Dark Phoenix

(Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring)

June

(Princess Mononoke)

Sailor Moon: Eternal

In The Heights

Wish Dragon

July

Luca

(Thor: Ragnarok)

(Doctor Strange)

(Guardians of the Galaxy)

Black Widow

Space Jam 2 Electric Boogaloo

August

The Green Knight

Godzilla vs Kong

(Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)

BOOKS

May

These Violent Delights | Chloe Gong [Fin]

The Midnight Library | Matt Haig [Fin]

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within | Becky Chambers [Fin]

Unconquerable Sun | Kate Elliott

People We Meet On Vacation | Emily Henry [Fin]

The Soulmate Equation | Christina Lauren [Fin]

June

Unconquerable Sun | Kate Elliott [Fin]

September Love | Lang Leav [Fin]

One Last Stop | Casey McQuiston [Fin]

The Chosen and the Beautiful | Nghi Vo [Fin]

Lumberjanes, volume 2 | Noelle Stevenson [Fin]

For the Wolf | Hannah Whitten [Fin]

The Sandman | Neil Gaiman [Fin]

Mister Impossible | Maggie Stiefvater

July

Mister Impossible | Maggie Stiefvater [Fin]

TAZ: The Crystal Kingdom | The Mcelroys [Fin]

She Who Became the Sun | Shelley Parker-Chan

A Psalm for the Wild-Built | Becky Chambers

The Universe of Us | Lang Leav

August

She Who Became the Sun | Shelley Parker-Chan [Fin]

A Psalm for the Wild-Built | Becky Chambers

The Universe of Us | Lang Leav [Fin]

Lumberjanes, volume 3 | Noelle Stevenson [Fin]

Lumberjanes, volume 4 | Noelle Stevenson [Fin]

PODCASTS

May

The Penumbra Podcast, s3-END

June

The Magnus Archive - Fear Winners 1 & 2

July

Gods of Appalachia, Eps 1-6

(Wolf 359)

Janus Descending

August

(Wolf 359)

Mabel

(Zero Hours, ep 7)

Time:Bombs

TV SHOWS BY SEASON

May

Watcher Entertainment, Are You Scared?

Castlevania, s3, s4 [Fin]

Word of Honor [Fin]

Buzzfeed: Kelsey in Control?

Demon Slayer, s1

June

Demon Slayer, s1 [Fin]

Kim’s Convenience, s4

Leverage, s5 [Fin]

Watcher: Too Many Spirits, s3

Loki, s1

Lucifer, s2, s3, s4

Trese, s1

(Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime, s3, s6?)

(Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural, s1)

Sweet Tooth, s1

Love, Death & Robots

July

Loki, s1 [Fin]

Watcher: Too Many Spirits, s3 [Fin]

Watcher: Dish Granted, s3

Shark Week

Lucifer, s5

Masters of the Universe: Revelation

August

The Owl House, s2

Watcher: Dish Granted, s3

Watcher Weekly+

Buzzfeed: Ruining History

Star Trek Discovery, s1, s2, s3

What If..., s1

VIDEO GAMES

May

Monster Hunter Rise, 12 hours

Mass Effect 1: Legendary Edition, 25 hours

Pokemon Go

June

Mass Effect 1: Legendary Edition, ? hours

Pokemon Go

Animal Crossing: New Horizons, ??? Hours

Persona 5 Royal, ??? hours

July

Persona 5 Royal, 167 hours

Pokemon Go

August

Persona 5 Royal, 167 hours

Pokemon Go

Ori and the Blind Forest [Fin]

DELIGHTFUL FIC

May

The word is help. by spqr | Star Wars | Din/Luke | 9k | In a flash, Fett has his blaster out and pointed at Luke’s head. “You’re right,” he says. “Turnabout’s fair play. So maybe I oughta shoot you.”

Don’t be afraid. by spqr | Star Wars | Obi-Wan/Anakin | 12k | “Padawan Kenobi,” Yoda says, after a moment. “Complete your training, Master Skywalker will.”

who carried the hill by spqr | Star Wars | Din/Luke | 22k | Din’s about to head up the ramp onto the newly-repaired Razor Crest when a string pulls taut around his heart and yanks him into the sky.

Tapestry by spqr | Star Wars | Obi-Wan/Anakin | 8k | In March, Obi-Wan drags Anakin to another faculty party, where Anakin gets all sorts of wrong ideas about Quinlan Vos and decides to fellate Obi-Wan in a coat closet about it.

wonderterror by peradi | Star Wars | Leia/Han/Luke | 6k | Anakin Skywalker is the son of the Force.He’s half human and half something monumental.What does that make his children?

Xen Gardens by denimwrapped | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan & Shane | 1k | Shane Madej saves the day.A strange man comes to congratulate him.

A Series of Better Decisions by SassySnowperson | Star Wars | Padme/Obi-Wan/Anakin | 9k | "Kill him. Kill him now!" Chancellor Palpatine hissed, as Anakin held the two blades against Dooku's neck. "No," Anakin said. "It's not the Jedi way."

Futurus (-a -um) by cadesama | Star Wars | Padme/Anakin/Obi-Wan | 60k | Cracked hyperdrive? No problem. Just hold it together with the Force. Time travel? Well. That could be a bigger problem.

Comfort in Wartime by Rosbridge | Star Wars | Padme/Obi-Wan/Anakin | 4k | Obi-Wan is exhausted, drunk, and just about out of fucks to give.

spark me up, i'm a firework (i'll burst into light) by coffeeinallcaps | FATWS | Bucky/Sam | 7k | "You know how the super-soldier serum makes everything, well, super? I guess you could say that's what happened to my sex drive."

Thaw by spqr | Star Wars | Din/Luke | 6k | That’s what hope does to you, Luke remembers now. It lingers at the back of your mind, whispering maybe, maybe, so that knowing a plan is stupid isn’t enough to keep you from trying it.

Christ in Repose by spqr | Din/Luke | 8k | More on this story as it develops. Subscribe to HNN’s JEDI WATCH newsletter for instant updates on Jedi sightings throughout the galaxy.

Insufferable by perkynurples | Word of Honor | Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu | 3k | Wen Kexing asks a question. Zhou Zishu only hesitates to answer for a little while.

parasitic, parasocial by brawlite | The Untamed | Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen/Xue Yang | 45k | Xue Yang stumbles upon the channel of Fuxue, a popular videogame streamer, and immediately becomes completely and utterly obsessed with him. Unfortunately, Fuxue has a boyfriend -- but that's fine: Xue Yang loves a challenge.

Aaron Burr has Hamilton's RSI and he isn't pleased about it. by DragonBandit | Hamilton | Hamilton/Aaron Burr | 3k | Aaron knows 2 things about his soulmate: The first is that they're angry about everything. The second is that they need to fucking sleep.

dinluke lawyer au by spqr | Star Wars | Din/Luke | 31k | At 1:18 a.m., just when Luke is starting to think he might’ve gotten away with something, Biggs Darklighter shows up on the other side of his desk and says, “I can’t believe you called in sick to get shotgun married to a Mando.”

like, comment, subscribe by DeHeerKonijn, Roselightfairy | Lord of the Rings | Gimli/Legolas | 90k+ | Legolas meets Gimli for lunch - unfortunately, he meets someone else, too.

a jackal; a thief by brawlite | Word of Honor | Wen Kexing/Ye Baiyi | 11k | This is not the first time Wen Kexing’s body has been poisoned like this.

you're the trouble that i always find by sundiscus | Word of Honor | Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu | 27k | “Do you know him?” Jin Wang asks.The ringing in Zhou Zishu's ears gets louder. “No, Wangye,” he says.At Zhou Zishu’s voice, the prisoner freezes.

vampire!wwx threadfic by sundiscus | The Untamed | Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji | ??? words | in which vampires exist in a modern cultivation au, lwj is investigating a string of strange deaths, and wwx is a vampire he can’t seem to kill.

Velle by DeHeerKonijn, Roselightfairy | LotR | Gimli/Legolas | 29k | Velle (Latin): to want.

June

May All My Wounds Be Mortal by hansbekhart | Word of Honor | Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu | 10k | Peeled out of his many robes, Wen Kexing’s body reveals itself to be mostly leg. He strips eagerly, grinning up at Zhou Zishu as if this is another joke between them. See? Wen Kexing’s body seems to say, I have no secrets from you.

drop by brawlite | The Untamed | Song Lan/Xue Yang | 4k |  Xue Yang has had this dream before.

Splenda by Tierfal | FMA | Ed/Roy | 19k | WIP | A sugar daddy AU that barely even qualifies as a sugar daddy AU, because these two can't do anything right.

From the Ashes by blacktofade | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Shane/Ryan | 3k | “This doesn’t need to leave this room,” Ryan had said that first time. “Casual is my middle name.”

Whale Songs by denimwrapped | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 2k | It could be humming, he thinks. Some distant angelic humming. What it’s humming about, he’d have to find out the hard way. All he can hear in his mind’s ear is come closer. There’s so much more in the depths than you’ve ever known.

A Good Bargain by Neery | Word of Honor | Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu | 11k | The Window of Heaven captures the Ghost Valley's master. Zhou Zishu is put in charge of interrogating him.

So Why Not Crack Your Skull When the Mind Swells by greenteafiend | The Untamed | Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian | 13k | Or, Wei Wuxian is cursed to feel terrible pain when he and Lan Wangji aren’t touching.

the agony and the irony by arostine | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 44k | WIP |  Ryan has a lot on his plate right now. He’s one of three members of his species employed at BuzzFeed, and the only male omega, and his boss keeps asking him to do videos about being an iterant ‘to educate the humans,’ when what he really wants to do is videos about ghosts.

the rest of your life by bestliars | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane/Sara | 30k | MYSTERY DISAPPEARANCE IN THE MIDWEST! The year is 2034. Successful video producer Ryan Bergara uproots his whole life to take care of his friend’s children.

sit in my circle and hold my hand by soda_coded | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 14k | Ryan and Shane work for the metaphysical department of the LAPD, fool around and get cursed.

Idle Hands (Do the Devil's Work) by ma_malice | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 4k | In which the only upside to being a demon stuck in a seasonal Chicago snowstorm is the ability to abandon your body and possess your boyfriend in LA.

Shell Game by Giddygeek | The Magicians | Quentin/Eliot | 20k | Or, Quentin can’t believe he never thought to ask if there was a magical time in Fillory when people swapped bodies with the last person they slept with.

Contention by hollybennett123 | Word of Honor | Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu/Ye Baiyi | 3k |  The Zhou Zishu of ten minutes ago, who first agreed to the whole thing — the evening’s conversation and general bickering over drinks taking an unexpectedly filthy turn — had been thinking only about the imminent pounding on offer and not, well, everything else that might come with it.

Necrocafé by etothey | Locked Tomb Trilogy | Gideon/Harrow | 2k | Harrowhark Nonagesimus isn't sure which confounds her more: the new boxes of bones she is to animate, or the hot redheaded courier who brings the boxes.

simple man by spqr | Loki | Loki/Mobius, Loki/Loki | 6k | “Tell you what,” says Mobius, shortly after the Timekeepers have sentenced Loki to death, “why don’t I take care of this?”

(Un)disclosed desires by Springandastorm | Loki | Loki/Mobius | "That's not how I see you at all, Loki." Mobius said, unexpectedly earnest. "We all play roles sometimes." 

sources of light by brawlite | Word of Honor | Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu | 3k | Zhou Zishu makes a difficult choice in order to save Wen Kexing's life. The morning after is not an easy one.

warm company, cold nights by janonny | Word of Honor | Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu | 23k | He gave Zhou Zishu a lingering look from beneath his lashes. “Your virtuous wife will accompany you of course.”

July

the potential of broken things by icarusinflight | Harry Potter | Drarry | 11k | "Can you feel that? Some things want to be what they once were. The original spell is still there, and it wants to work again. All it takes is a little push and then"—Draco clicks his fingers of his free hand—"snap, everything will go back into place."

little beast by brawlite | The Untamed | Song Lan/Xue Yang | 7k | Payback's a bitch.

you, undeniable you by returnsandreturns | Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Jake/Amy | 1k | “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Jake asks, for the fourth time. “Because we can just ditch that thing, toss it out a window, do it missionary like the founding fathers intended.”

Car Talk by drunkbedelia | Loki | Mobius/Loki | 1k | ‘When I pruned myself, I thought I might be able to find Loki,' Sylvie said.

one too many by sarcasticfishes | Watcher | Ryan/Shane | 1k | “Stay here,” Ryan says, just casual enough, “I’ll drive you home tomorrow.”

Tencent and Chill by quoth_the_ravenclaw | The Untamed | Nie Huaisang/Nie Mingjue | 2k | “Da-ge,” Huaisang whines, all for show, as much a performance as the actors on screen. He wiggles his toes. “My feet are so sore, you worked me too hard.”

The House at the End of the World by Hopetohell | Loki | Loki/Mobius/Sylvie | 1k | What will they do, now that they can do anything?

moderate the middle by ElisAttack | Loki | Loki/Mobius/Sylvie | 9k | People only smiled with their eyes when it was real. Unless they were a Loki. No matter the differences between the variants, their tricky grins were a constant as much as they were indiscernible.

Lost and Sound by snack_size | Loki | Loki/Thor/Sylvie | 5k | “Sylvie, did you help my brother defeat the Time Police?”

push the button (and let me know) by dinosuns | Loki | Loki/Mobius | 5k | “How about this?” hands folded on the table, he watches Loki intently. “If you tell me why, I’ll answer.” 

We're (not) all villains here by sir_not_appearing_in_this_archive | Loki | Loki/Mobius/Sylvie | 19k | WIP | Alone and friendless (once again), Loki has to find a way to set things right, or at least right enough he can comfortably sneak off into the sunset, which starts with one thing: saving Mobius's lost memories.

what remains by dinosuns | Loki | Loki/Mobius | “You’re no analyst.” Mobius sounds stunned. They are not aligned, they are not in tandem. But there are wistful glimmers of what is now agonisingly out of reach.

worth a shot by thereyoflight | Loki | Loki/Sylvie | 2k | When Loki and Sylvie are moments away from being cornered on the train in Lamentis, they resort to desperate measures.

Bug Problems by xorabbit | Marvel | Grandmaster/Loki | 7k |  Loki ends up on Sakaar, of course, with just that many more schemes to scheme. However, the Grandmaster is not altogether too terrible--a bit of fine luck, for once--and perhaps it's all right to have a better-natured fling while one works out what's next.

our way, no takebacks by dinosuns | Loki | Loki/Mobius | 20k | "Nice speech," Sylvie drawls, but the sarcasm doesn't land.

August

Vennen min by spqr | Loki | Loki/Mobius | 12k | The day they let Mobius out of the infirmary, Loki gets assigned to a new handler. This, Mobius is pretty sure, is where the trouble starts.

new terms by dinosuns | Loki | President Loki/Mobius | 21k | For the first time in his life, Loki triumphs. How fitting then, for the end to swiftly barge in unannounced.

Icarus by Waako | Loki | Loki/Mobius | 5k | When Mobius got pruned, he expected two different outcomes. Either eternal peace or eternal emptiness. He certainly didn’t expect a grey sky, ruins of old buildings looming over him, and a Loki variant watching him like he was a piece of fresh meat.

Stress Relief by spqr | Loki | Loki/Mobius | 3.5k |  “Let me read you something,” Loki says. He rifles through the pages, clears his throat, and Mobius puts a hand over his eyes because he knows what’s coming before Loki even reads the first word—“Pēdīcābō ego vōs et irrumābō—“

just like the weather by sarcasticfishes | BFU | Shane/Ryan/Sara | 6k | “Y’know,” Ryan shrugs. “Friends have kids together sometimes. Like if a same-sex couple has a friend surrogate for them. Or sometimes people just co-parent.”

Woodash and iron and leather by iffervescent | The Witcher | 9k | Jaskier is the only person Geralt's ever been around who doesn't smell of fear

Food of Love by tanktrilby | The Witcher | Geralt/Jaskier | 22k | I brought a dead princess back to life through the power of song is the kind of thing that would have got an eyebrow raise even from the stone-faced Geralt of Rivia, so it's a good thing he and Geralt will probably never see each other again.

If The Morning Light Sets In by nagia | Castlevania | Sypha/Trevor/Alucard | 45k | Save the Belmonts, save the world.

halfway by ivelostmyspectacles | Castlevania | Sypha/Alucard/Trevor | 12k | Vampire attacks are happening again. Unprovoked, strange, humans and vampires dying alike. A disease. Alucard assures them that he isn't susceptible.

lonely lonely heart by spqr | Loki | Loki/Mobius | 7k |  Mobius looks down at the paperwork, gets a sort of flustered farmboy look on his face, looks back up at Loki and says, “You offered to give a cop fellatio in the middle of Central Park.”

Bedrest by Lise | The Untamed | Xiao Xingchen& Xue Yang | 3k | Xiao Xingchen's newest patient is causing him problems. He just won't stay put.

too little, too late. by raisesomehale | Miraculous Ladybug | Adrien/Marinette | 6k | WIP |  “Ladybug.” Chat’s voice cuts in like molten steel.

DELIGHTFUL FANVIDS

May

Jesper Fahey | 99 Problems

Jesper Fahey | OLD TOWN ROAD

Kaz & Inej | I Can't Pretend

human | kaz brekker

bucky barnes || humble

The Mandalorian || Warriors

The Mandalorian | I'll See You Again

Hope is the light.

►Zhou Zishu & Wen Kexing | Beautiful mess

Kaz & Inej | I Can't Pretend

versailles at night | alina & the darkling

look what you made me do | the darkling

Bucky Barnes | Rasputin

Obi-Wan || dirty work

Blood in the water [the Witcher]

MARVEL || Astronaut in the Ocean

Enola Holmes || Unstoppable

Shadow & Bone || Fire Meets Fate

Mo Dao Zu Shi Season 3 AMV/Trailer - Teeth

Kylo Ren | STAR WARS

June

MARVEL || Rasputin

MARVEL || Astronaut in the Ocean

i dont enjoy hurting people | Loki [1x01]

loki laufeyson • unsteady [⚠ 1x01]

MARVEL || Levitating

Shadow & Bone | Paint It Black

Glitter & Gold | Jesper Fahey

Shadow and Bone | Levitating

wen kexing ✘ zhou zishu | put your lips on mine

Erik Lensherr - Magneto

The Crows || Circus

The Crows | Thrift Shop (Shadow & Bone)

Zemo & Bucky — RASPUTIN [tfatws]

Cruella | Feeling good

Percy Jackson || Watch Me

THE KILLING KIND || The Magnus Archives Animatic

LOKI || Glorious Purpose

The Darkling | Black Heretic

Sam x Bucky || Handclap [HUMOR]

Loki || Lovely

Doctor Strange || Dystopia

Loki & Sylvie || I’m not your friend

Loki || Hate Me

MARVEL || River

Loki & Bucky || Paint It Black

Wanda Maximoff || The Scarlet Witch (WandaVision)

Play With Fire || MARVEL || Loki Doctor Strange Scarlet Witch

MARVEL || Warriors

Loki || God of Mischief || You Do You

(Marvel) Loki | You Will Never Be A God

Marvel's Horror Cinematic Universe

community gardens || the magnus archives PMV

July

Thor || Rise

Loki & Sylvie - Demons in my head [ep.3]

//HUMANS// THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES

Loki | Lost

A Quiet Place

Loki & Sylvie || Strange Birds

Loki & Sylvie "I won't let you down" | (+1x05)

♚ Loki & Sylvie | If You Love Me (1x04)

Loki & Sylvie | If our love is wrong [Loki +1x04]

Loki and Mobius | Hold On [Loki +1x05]

loki laufeyson • in the end [+ 1x04]

Loki and Sylvie || Feeling Good

Marvel || Black Widow - Counting Stars || Natasha Romanoff 

Cruella || Little Wicked

MARVEL || This is My Time || Shang-Chi Trailer Music

Sylvie | Unstoppable (Loki +1x03)

Loki and Sylvie (Lady Loki) || Play With Fire

Wanda and Vision || Dancing With Your Ghost

Wanda Maximoff and Loki || You Should See Me In A Crown

Loki and his Variants ⚔ King of Space [ep.5]

Loki & Sylvie ❤ This world is slowing down [ep.5]

Sylvie || Confident (+1x04)

•Loki x Sylvie ⱠΞⴼ King and Queens•

Loki - In The End | Marvel

Loki & Sylvie ❤ Out of Control [ep.4]

Loki & Mobius | Dynasty [LOKI/+1x04]

Loki & Sylvie ❤ Love War [ep.6]

(Marvel) Loki | Glorious Purpose

(MARVEL) Loki | Chaos

Loki | In The End [+1X06]

Loki x Sylvie | Another Love

Loki & Sylvie | Arcade [ Loki +1x06]

MARVEL || The Assembled Universe (c/w ASTrix UI)

August

Natasha & Yelena || Do It Like A Dude

Black Widow || Smells Like Teen Spirit

MARVEL || Uptown Funk

MARVEL || 1 in a Million

MARVEL/DC || Dies Irae

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness TRAILER #1

MARVEL || Loki 

DELIGHTFUL MUSIC

May

The Wild One - Suzi Quatro

What’s So Funny ‘Bout - Sharon Van Etten

Levitating - Dua Lipa

The Underground - Meg Myers

You Won’t Find Me - Narrow Skies

Elixir of Life - Leah

Salt and the Sea - The Lumineers

ERROR - Niki, Kradness

Runaway - AURORA

Butterfly Water - Pastelle

Close to the Sun - Porcelain Pill

Selkie-boy - The Lost Words

Good Riddance - Annapantsu

Die Anywhere Else - Julia Henderson

Heat Waves - Glass Animals

Down - St Vincent

Word of Honor OST

Welcome to the Pleasuredome - Frankie Goes to Hollywood

Shy Away - Twenty One Pilots

Follow You - Imagine Dragons

I’m Not That Girl - Kerry Ellis

Meant to be Yours - Ryan McCartan

Ex Wives - Six

Euphoria - BTS

Walls - Cher

96,000 - In the Heights

Sun Goes Down - Lil Nas X

Enough For You - Olivia Rodrigo

Brutal - Olivia Rodrigo

Ziti E Buoni - Maneskin

Shum - Go_A

Loco Loco - Hurricane

Space Ghost Coast to Coast - Glass Animals

The Horror and the Wild (whole album - The Amazing Devil

Chant - Hadestown

Titans - Major Lazer, Sia

Bones - Galantis

Golden Dandelions - Barns Courtney

Le Nozze di Figaro - Hybrid

Save Your Tears - The Weeknd

Psycho - Post Malone

Gold Lion - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Close to Me - Ellie Goulding

And So It Went - The Pretty Reckless

help herself - bbno$

Fire For You - Cannons

Twist the Knife - Chromatics

He Said She Said - Chvrches

Face Down - The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Campus - Vampire Weekend

Your Power - Billie Eilish

Reach - Eternal Eclipse

1 Last Cigarette - The Band Camino

Insertion - Hans Zimmer

from the edge - fictionjunction

The Devil Is a Gentleman - Merci Raines

Meet Me In The Woods - Amarante

Fire - Saint Mesa

Smells Like Teen Spirit - Saint Mesa

Appetite - Casey Edwards

All Things Devour - aeseaes

Throne - Saint Mesa

Witchcraft - Vian Izak

June

The Shrine / An Argument - Fleet Foxes

It’s Tricky - Run

Darjeeling - Barrie

Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings - Father John Misty

Picture Me Better - Weyes Blood

Loch Lomond - Mackenzi Tolk

Punta - Matzzy

Touch It Clean - DJ Raulito

Oh No - Kreepa

Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land - Marina

Sofia - Askjell

The Boy - Shannon & the Clams

First Steps - Lena Raine

The Power of Balance Rearranged - Rush Garcia

And So My Heart Became a Void - Ursine Vulpine

Paper Mache - Iris Lune

Catch Me If You Can - Desert Belle

Darkroom Double - Moon & Pollution

Serotonin - girl in red

In the Air Tonight - Natalie Taylor

When Your Heart Is a Stranger - Friends In Paris

Moon Effect - Sailor Moon Eternal OST

In A Black Out - Hamilton Leithauser

Forever - CHVRCHES

Way Less Sad - AJR

Helter Skelter - Detention

The Devil You Know - X Ambassadors

TVA - Natalie Holt

Honeybee-The Head and the Heart

Home All Summer - Anthony Ramos

In the Shadows - Amy Stroup

My Way - Lucifer Cast

In the Air Tonight - Jon Howard

The Beast - Old Caltone

The Beast - Delta Rae

Freak Like Me - Adina Howard

Only the Good Die Young - Billy Joel

Winds of Change - Scorpions

good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo

If I Could See The World - Patsy Cline

Ends of the Earth - Lord Huron 

The Killing Kind - Marianas Trench

Bones - Wens

Kiss Me More - Doja Cat

How Not to Drown - CHVRCHES

July

Dark Moon - Bonnie Guitar

Free Smiles - Tia Ray

Sundown Blues - Joanna Levine

Citta Vuoto - Mina

If You Love Me - Brenda Lee

Very Full - Tom Hiddleston

Loki Green Theme - Natalie Holt

Wrecked - Imagine Dragons

The Wolves - Cyrus Reynolds

Cure For Me - Aurora

Theory of Light - Eternal Eclipse

Fate of the Clockmaker - Eternal Eclipse

Potential Breakup Son - Aly and AJ

transparent soul - travis barker

My Love Will Never DSie - AG, Claire Wyndham

Happy Together - King Princess

Atomise - Temple

Darkside - Oshins

Someone to Watch Over Me - Lucifer Cast

This is Ours - Peter Sivo

Love and War - Fleurie

Take Me To Church - MILCK

Devil I Know - Allie X

East of Eden - Zella Day

Shadow Preachers - Zella Day

Losing My Religion - BELLSAINT

Hard to Kill - Beth Crowley

Dark Side - Blind Channel

Tanz Mit Mir - Faun

My Jolly Sailor Bold - Ashley Serena

Stuttering - Fefe Dobson

August

Monsters and Fairies - Savannah

Chosen - SVRCINA

IAN HA 3BYK - GO A

Freya - Verdandi

Sick on Seventh Strett - Sarah and the Safe Word

Tarah - Sae Sae Norris

Suspicion - Sherwood Roberts

Fjorgyn - Osi and the Jupiter

Fight to Make It Up - Takenobu

The Edge of Dawn - Rozen

Innocence - Cannon Diviision

A Stray Child - .Hack//Sign

The Kiss - Luigi Rubino

Any Kind of Dead Person - Ghost Quartet

The Great Unknown - Dominique Gilbert

Smells Like Teen Spirit - Saint Mesa

over the rainbow - misterwives

Fireflies - Cullen Vance

My mother Told Me - Nati Dreddd

Athetosis - Crywolf

Major Tom - Shiny Toy Guns

Novacaine - 10 Years

Right Here Right Now - Jesus Jones

NDA - Billie Eilish

Trouble’s Coming - Royal Blood

Completing the Circle - Gareth Coker

There’ll Always Be Another Monster - Brian D’Oliveira

POSTED FIC

May

take my hand and i'll drown you with me | Star Wars | Rey & Ben Solo | 2,157 words |  “You brought this upon yourself,” the creature told her, its voice serene.

June

keeping me restless and whole | Loki | Loki/Mobius | 1,584 words | Mobius was very young when he encountered his first Loki.

July

feed me lies until i'm dead | Loki | Thor/Loki | 3,476 words | “Don’t you think we should talk about it?” Thor asks.

the ghost of us can linger here | Loki | Loki/Mobius/Sylvie | 4,432 words | “So, how do you crazy kids want to do this?” Mobius asks them in a stage whisper, mouth twitching. At her back, Loki laughs, burying the sound against the curve of her neck.

there's a whisper in my bones | Loki | Loki/Mobius/Sylvie | 2,794 words |  “All right,” she says. “Fine. Let’s make things more interesting. Take off your clothes.”

east of eden | Loki | Loki/Mobius/Sylvie | 2,202 words |  “How long have you been fucking him?”  Mobius asks, stroking his fingers against the place where leather meets skin.

Triptych in C Minor | Loki | Loki/Mobius/Sylvie | 1,647 words | Pt 1 | There is a house at the end of time, past the last storm, pushed up against the very edge of the unknown. It is a castle, a manor, a fortress - all depending on who inhabits it. But one thing that it never is, is a home.

August

N/A

WIPS | UNPUBLISHED | ORIGINAL

May

2k of Reylo mermay fic

June

N/A

July

1k+ of Xue Yang being a slut for Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen

300 words of vampire Song Lan

7k of Green Knight AU

August

10k of Green Knight AU

1.5k of hair dye shenanigans

FANMIXES/GRAPHICS

May

yearning: a playlist for the heart

June

the chosen and the beautiful: a mix for jordan baker

July 

kings & queens of the ruckus: a mix for loki and sylvie

August

N/A

#heather says what #heather writes #scrapbook #2021

[moonlight-breeze-44]

For The Love of Family

Read on AO3

Alec officially comes out to his family.

Simon and Clary argued back and forth, a fact that their respective partners found endearing, over what movie would be most 'culturally important' for the Shadowhunters to watch. Alec didn't care, really; he just wanted them to pick something already.

It was easy for Alec to tune out their little squabble and maybe that was why, curled into Magnus's side on their sofa, his thoughts began to turn to himself and who he was rather than the upcoming movie night with his sister, his parabatai, and their significant others.

He began to look around the room, a heavy fondness growing in his chest. Magnus on his right side on the sofa, his arm casually thrown around his husband, a title that Alec was proud to finally call his own. Jace on his other side, shoulder-to-shoulder with his parabatai, limbs sprawled out on Magnus's couch like a starfish, leaving a small space under his arm for Clary to crawl into when she was finished debating the movie with Simon. Izzy at his feet, his hand in her hair, playing with it, as she practically purred in delight. And of course, the two idiots at the front of the room who were now holding their respective movies and clearly about to make a dash for the DVD player. Simon, with his vamp speed, would be the obvious winner, but Alec wasn't sure Clary wouldn't try something underhanded to get her movie in first.

These people, ¾ of whom he hadn't even known a few years ago, were his family, his everything. He loved them, and they loved him, too. For the first time in his life, Alec opened his mouth and said exactly what was on his mind.

"I'm gay."

Simon and Clary paused mid-sentence, turning to him with similar looks of confusion on their faces. Jace and Izzy mirrored their expressions. Magnus arched an eyebrow at his husband.

"Yes, darling, I think we're all aware of that," he said with an amused smile, waving his hand with the Lightwood family ring on it for emphasis.

Alec felt suddenly very stupid for having spoken up. Of course they already knew that. There was no need to confirm it. A blush crept its way up his cheeks. A firm hand on his shoulder caused him to look up from his self-imposed embarrassment.

It was Magnus, his expression soft and questioning. His eyes spoke volumes to Alec, communicating everything he wouldn't say in front of the others: Clearly this is important to you. I didn't mean to make light of it. I'm sorry.

Alec smiled reassuringly at his husband to let him know it was okay, took a deep breath, and continued hesitantly.

"I know," he said, "but I just…" He trailed off, not sure how to put his thoughts into words. Simon, Clary, and Jace waited patiently for him to find his voice; Izzy gave him an encouraging look, and Magnus squeezed his hand supportively.

"It's just...that's the first time I've ever said it out loud."

He watched as, one by one, the expressions of everyone in the room changed to a sympathetic understanding. Clary smiled softly at him and said, "Congratulations." A few years ago, he would have taken her words as sarcastic, and shot out something scathing in return. Now, he knew how she meant them, and he gave her a grateful smile.

"Dude, hell yeah!" Simon stepped forward and held his hand up in front of Alec, clearly waiting for something.

Alec raised his eyebrows. "Is it a mundane thing to do some weird handshake after coming out? Because if that's the case, you can forget about it."

Simon turned to Izzy, distraught. "Shadowhunters don't know what a high-five is?!"

"No?"

Simon groaned in protest. "That's like, a crime against humanity!" He put his hand back down again and strode closer. "Come on, I'll show you."

Alec grumbled a little but watched the other boy slowly put his palm up again, lifting Alec's with him, until their wrists were lined up with each other. "Now you slap my hand," Simon instructed, reaching over to slap Jace's palm, which happened to be open, to demonstrate.

"Hey!" Jace cried out indignantly. Clary stifled laughter from her place at the front of the room.

Alec rolled his eyes, but indulged the vampire and connected their palms with stinging force, smirking when Simon winced.

"What was the point of that?" he questioned.

"The point?" Simon sputtered, incredulous. "It's a high-five. It's celebratory!"

Alec opened his mouth to reply, but Izzy hushed him with a look, smiling fondly at her boyfriend, who gave her a damn near illuminating one back.

When Simon returned to the DVD player to continue his argument with Clary, Izzy reached up and patted Alec's knee, smiling softly at him. "Good for you, big brother," she said. She rocked forward on her knees to press a kiss to Alec's cheek. Alec carded his fingers through her hair, smiling appreciatively down at her. If there was anyone he would always crave the approval of, it was his little sister.

Jace, on his left side on the couch, wrapped his brother in an awkward side-hug. They didn't need words; Jace's happiness for Alec filtered clearly through their parabatai bond.

Magnus didn't say anything, instead opting to squeeze Alec's hand. Alec's attention slowly returned to Simon and Clary, who were now going over the finer points of both Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, movies that no else in the room, perhaps with the exception of Magnus, had ever seen before.

Later, when they were all settled on or near the sofa watching a movie that had been proposed as a third option by Izzy and Jace, Magnus leaned over and whispered in Alec's ear.

"I'm so proud of you, Alexander."

Alec turned to face his husband, who tilted Alec's chin up to press a soft kiss to his lips. The seasoned Shadowhunter sighed and felt whatever residual tension he might have been feeling leave his mind and body.

This was his family, and as long as they loved and accepted him, that was all that mattered.

#my writing #shadowhunters #the mortal instruments #alec lightwood #malec #post-canon #ao3 #coming out #fluff #canon divergence #fanfiction #my fanfiction #fanfic #shadowhunters fanfic #malec fanfic #the mortal instruments fanfic #archive of our own #writing #fanfiction writing #clalec brotp #parabatai #isabelle lightwood #Jace Lightwood #Clary Fray #simon lewis #magnus bane

[trainsinanime]

About Slytherin

People don’t talk about Hogwarts Houses all that much anymore, and for good reason. Between what we know about the author, the quality of the recent movies, the allegations against these movies’s biggest star (to be clear: I’m not taking sides on Depp/Hearst before the court case is resolved, and I reserve the right to not take sides afterwards either), it’s not exactly been fun to be a Harry Potter fan, and many people have moved on.

But sometimes you still see folks declaring what Hogwarts House they’re in, or what they imagine as a headcanon for a fictional character they like. And fairly often, the answer for that is Slytherin, both for themselves and for heroic characters. But how accurate is that? And more to the point, what is Slytherin really about?

I’m sure there’s stuff on Pottermore about this, but who cares. Within the actual books, we get three competing definitions of Slytherin from various sources:

The official description, from the Sorting Hat

Its reputation

What its people are actually like, filtered through Harry’s point of view.

The Sorting Hat is, functionally, a school official, and presumably gives the description of Slytherin that he’s supposed to. This description lists several core attributes of the house: It’s racist, and people may be devious, but they are also clever, loyal and true friends. Also deeply racist. If you leave out the racism then this sounds nice, and those qualities (minus the obvious racism) is presumably what people mean when they call themselves Slytherin. But can we trust the nice parts of that description?

There are plenty of examples throughout all the books of wizarding society featuring heavy propaganda from official sources, and official descriptions being incomplete and inaccurate. So it is at least possible that the Sorting Hat is speaking pro-Slytherin propaganda. (And also anti-Hufflepuff, I mean, seriously)

Compare and contrast with the reputation the house has in the wizarding world, among people who probably know more about it than just whatever new synonyms the Sorting Hat came up with. This reputation is simple: People assume Slytherin is evil, because evil wizards, notably Voldemort, and followers of evil wizards, notably the death eaters, often come from it. Harry’s experience certainly doesn’t contradict that either; to him, Slytherin is the house where all the bullies come from, both amongst students and teachers. His views gradually start changing as we see more non-evil Slytherins, like Slughorn, and with the whole Snape redemption arc (which, to be honest, was not my favorite by a long shot). The end conclusion the books reach about Slytherin appears to be that they’re just misunderstood and unfairly ostracized.

That conclusion, and Snape’s whole redemption arc, which is central to it, sure is… something. Parts of it have the same energy as the common hot take we’re currently seeing everywhere that goes, “calling racism racist is just bullying and forces vulnerable people to become racist”. I did not like it then and like it even less now.

But no matter what you feel about this arc, it’s important to note that the bad things people are saying about Slytherin are all based in fact: Voldemort did go there, and everyone else we know who is in Slytherin was either a Death Eater or has parents who are Death Eaters. The main exception here is Slughorn, who is hardly a shining beacon of anti-Voldemort resistance.

This brings us to the final source of information we have: The people who go to and teach at Slytherin. Now, since the books are all from Harry’s point of view, we’re obviously getting only a limited glimpse into life at that high school dorm, which may not be representative. But it is the best thing we got. And based on that, we see roughly three different categories of people in Slytherin: The aristocrats, the professional bootlickers, and the social climbers.

The aristocrats are easy to define as Draco Malfoy: His father is a racist slave-owning rich and powerful aristocrat. Draco knows that he will become a racist slave-owning rich and powerful aristocrat himself, and he’s already acting like one. And he doesn’t appear to be an exception there. It is heavily implied that a lot of Death Eaters are very powerful people, and their kids all go to Slytherin.

The professional bootlickers are Crabbe and Goyle, but also Professor Slughorn. Here we get people who are part of the power structure, but not at the top. They follow the aristocrats because they hope to gain social status that way. Slughorn is definitely much nicer than Crabbe and Goyle about it, but his main redeeming quality is arguably that he also seeks to decorate himself with royalty from other houses. He’s still a strict follower.

Finally, we see Snape and Tom Riddle: Both are outsiders who don’t really fit into the aristocratic system, because of their social background that is judged unacceptable. But both of them resent their social backgrounds and are willing to work with the established aristocracy. And since they’re very good at it, the aristocrats let them, and in the case of Voldemort, even let him lead. The fact that there are two of them implies that this is not an accident; Slytherin is, to a certain extent, open to people who don’t fit into the aristocracy normally, as long as they’re willing and able to get the aristocrats what they want.

So based on that, what is Slytherin about? I would argue that it’s power. Where Gryffindor has heroism, Ravenclaw has knowledge and Hufflepuff has a belief in the fundamental fact that all wizarding people have equal value, Slytherin represents power. Specifically, the house Slytherin’s explicit in-universe purpose is to preserve and perpetuate an old, very stratified and aristocratic power structure within the wizarding world.

This is supported by a number of key attitudes among all Slytherins who we meet. For example, all Slytherins have a rather cynical outlook on human worth, and believe it is right and necessary to rank people. Even Slughorn, the token “nice” Slytherin, has clear ideas of who is the most important among his students and who doesn’t matter at all.

Slytherins also have a rather peculiar moral codex that again serves its power structure. The aristocrats very clearly believe that rules and laws should apply strictly to other people; and the bootlickers help enable them in whatever crimes they do. Among aristocrats, it seems like they are openly acknowledging their schemes to some extent.

Here is where we get back to what the Sorting Hat says: Friendship and loyalty are key Slytherin traits. Sounds nice, until you realize that they mean the loyalty that Crabbe and Goyle show towards Malfoy. Or the kind of friendship that in real life goes, “I won’t tell anyone about your tax evasion and I trust you won’t tell anyone about my affairs”.

The racism of Slytherin is not an incidental element to make Draco seem more evil, but rather an integral part of preserving these power structures as well. First, the belief that some people are naturally better than others is engrained in Slytherin culture anyway. But more importantly, it limits the pool of people who can get into the aristocratic system, and thus ensures that the few at the top stay few and have to share less wealth and resources. Plus, the racism also provides the ideological underpinning of the whole system. Crabbe and Goyle follow Malfoy in part because they’ll get some of his riches and glamour, but also because they believe that he has a right to be in power. He comes from an old family that always was in power, and they’ve been taught both at home and in school that having the right ancestors is super important.

Is some of this a stretch? Maybe. But maybe not. Hogwarts is, after all, a reflection of the outside world, and there are plenty of examples of similar more-or-less aristocratic school systems that seem to have been the inspiration for Slytherin. In the US, the term “trust fund babies” is very obvious. In the UK, the elite private schools like Eton that educate most top politicians, journalists and so on are also a clear analogue. Slytherin appears to be a critique of that.

Until it doesn’t anymore, of course, because Harry needs to get closure with the incel who once lusted after his mother or something. Not gonna lie, Deadly Hallows was weak as shit.

So yeah, Slytherin: Aristocratic, racist, all about keeping the guys in power there.

Does that mean it’s wrong to head canon either yourself or your favorite fictional characters as Slytherin? No, of course not. As long as you/they are openly racist, have a superiority complex and believe that inherited wealth and power is always a good thing, then it’s perfectly alright to have such head canons. If not, well, then it becomes a bit more difficult.

#harry potter #hogwarts #slytherin #i did basically the same post a few months back but framed it wrong and nobody read it #so this is me trying again

[secret-engima]

Are you in the One Piece Fandom? Wait what fandoms are you in? Overlord?? Akatsuki No Yona?? (THAT ONE IS A GREAT READ AND WATCH TBH—its so underappreciated!!) Undertale?? (Throws hands up)

Uhhhhhhhhh depends on your definition of “in”. If by “in” you mean “have consumed the canon content enough to know what’s up” then I am in a lot less fandoms than you’d think. If you mean “have absorbed enough of the canon and fanon via osmosis to kinda get the gist and enjoy the fanfic while ignoring the actual source material” then I’m in … enough fandoms I literally can’t remember them all off the top of my head but here’s a list of what I can think of rn:

Transformers (Animated, Prime-verse, Bay-verse, SORTA G1 but only for like- two fanfics and a couple one-shots)

Final Fantasy XV (obviously)

Final Fantasy 7 (this is one of those osmosis ones, the only canon content I have actually owned is the Advent Children movie. Have watched Crisis Core walkthroughs tho)

How to Train Your Dragon (movies only)

My Hero Academia (manga, anime, and vigilantes but I’m not up to date so no spoilers pls)

Katekyo Hitman Reborn (osmosis that led to watching some of the show. The fanfics are better. Hands down. Still glad the show exists tho, otherwise the fanfic would not.)

Harry Potter (solely via crossovers, I don’t tend to enjoy straight HP fanfic, but yeeting Harry into fandoms I do know is funny)

Naruto (I have watched exactly three eps of the original and up to the Diedara mocking Naruto with Gaara’s body in Shippuuden. Everything else is pure fandom Osmosis.)

Boruto (counting this as a separate thing because Naruto fans tend to be mean over the show (????). Which is a shame cause I adore it. Ninja school/youth slice of life with end of the world drama thrown in for flavor? Heck yeah. Also Mitsuki is My Bby Boi™ and I will hear no dissent)

Akatsuki No Yona (anime, slowly collecting the manga, it is The Best™)

One Piece (pure fandom osmosis. Have watched maybe the earliest eps before I got a headache from the animation/voice acting, after that I quit and live in fanfic only)

Undertale (have never played the game, no desire to, have absorbed plot through wiki entries and fanfic osmosis. Mostly I just adore the concept of a character who knows about save points and uses them for good or evil, as well as the whole “different runs” thing and the potential Angst and Hurt/Comfort having a Frisk with multiple runs under their belt could bring. Also Papyrus and Sans are the cutest things and I love them even though I hate skeleton characters as a general rule).

Sword Art Online (this is the anime that got me into fantasy anime. Period. My Fairy Tail fanfic would not exist without this anime making me interested in non-Case Closed and Detective School Q anime. SAO Progressive Light Novels are *chef’s kiss*.)

Log Horizon (anime is fun. I like the more political/economic take that makes it so different from SAO. Also the potential Shenanigans between Adventurers and Landers and the Lander POV potential is cool).

Star Wars (I have watched all the movies at least once barring Rise of Skywalker so no spoilers, am working through older Clone Wars seasons and gleefully have enjoyed Rebels and several of the games. I do NOT write for this fandom as a general rule because I have no desire to get involved in the flame wars, especially since the original trilogy was not my entry point? So I actually really enjoy a lot of the characters and shows outside the original trilogy and apparently my ability to like content that isn’t *raises imaginary holy grail* “the OG trilogy” is a crime against Star Wars and nature and possibly humanity. Let me enjoy my blind jedi and his crew of misfit pseudo-kids you puritans. Also Rey.)

Fairy Tail (anime, have yet to watch the last season, love this show with all my heart).

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood (have yet to watch more than a few eps on the show, for all its on my reading list, so most of what I know is fanfic osmosis).

Fruits Basket (I … actually have not read fanfic of this? But I adore the books with all my heart and am so stoked to see the remade anime).

Case Closed/Magic Kaito (anime and fanfic. Treating these as the same since they’re in the same universe and spot of timeline, just have different MCs and premises).

Detective School Q (My first anime! Thank you youtube for the collection of pirated anime eps I got to binge before they all got deleted. As far as I am aware, there is no fandom still living for this show, which is a shame because it was good).

Rurouni Kenshin (the original anime! Never got past the arc with the burned villain but I still enjoyed it up to that point. No idea what the arcs after it are like. Don’t really care.)

Hobbit/LOTR (read the Hobbit, have watched all the movies. AU fanfics ftw.)

Bleach (this … is pure fanfic osmosis. I blame @wolfsrainrules @north-peach and @akaluan they got me curious. Still a little iffy on the show itself but like- I enjoy the fanfic. I’m a sucker Akaluan’s Dragon Eclipse fanfic especially.)

Princess Tutu (haven’t been in the fandom in forever? But I have a few fav fics and the show is *chef’s kiss*).

Voltron: Legendary Defender (started with the fanfics out of accident and curiosity, then hopped over to the show because the crossover potential it had with TF got me interested. Am currently in the second season so pls no spoilers).

Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (show, fanfic, I enjoy crossovers. Someone did the world’s most epic TF:P crossover with this show and I have loved it ever since.)

MCU (osmosis that led to watching the movies. I think I liked all of the ones I watched barring Guardians of the Galaxy and Antman. Tellingly, I have made a point not to watch Endgame, Infinity War, GoG 2 or Antman 2. I can tell that the first two are just- no. I haven’t seen a fandom go up in fire that fast in years I have no desire to experience WHY.)

Edit: AVATAR. Why did I forget Avatar: The Last Airbender? hgdhgf. Anyway I like both A:TLA and Korra.

Uhhhh that’s all I can think of atm. I’m definitely missing some but yeah. Brief rundown of fandoms I am able to at least hold a basic conversation about and a brief bio of how/why I know them.

#SE asks #oliverslewty asks #Secret Engima Rambles #fandom things #fandom list #i know i'm in more fandoms #but for the life of me i'm blanking on them rn