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"D'you need any assistance?" she asked, and like the other girls who lived in the village, she couldn't stop herself from staring at him, and Tom felt his breath catch when he saw her strange dark eyes aligning in his direction, first one, then the other.

Reblog this with an out of context line from an unpublished WIP. Can be fanfic, original fiction, a chapter or full fledged work. Doesn’t matter. Humor me.

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Snakes on a Train

There was a bloody snake on the train. There was a bloody snake right under their seats. "Hermione," said Tom, taking care not to make any sudden movements.   Hermione's fountain pen juddered to a stop over her page.  "Yes?" "Do you mind moving your legs this way?"   She looked at him blankly.  "Whatever for?" Tom grasped for the best excuse he could contrive, one which wouldn't set her into a panic.  "You have interesting knees."

CHAPTER 28   ///  Birds of a Feather

{ Archive of Our Own }   |   { Fanfiction.net }

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So I guess Tom isn’t much of a cat person.

Maybe there’s a reason why he likes snakes the best:  they don’t have any hands.

What would Tom do if Crookshanks stole his wand?

My eyes actually widened as I read this - oh, gosh. I can’t imagine he’d take kindly to anyone touching his wand.

I suppose the real question is, did he break it? Because if he didn’t, Tom might just spend an afternoon putting cat repellent charms all over his stuff and cursing under his breath about the bite and scratch marks in his wand that he’s going to need Ollivander to fix. If Crooksie did break it - I’m going to be realistic and say he’d be making a stop to the Magical Menagerie in search of an identical kneazle.

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Tomione Fanfiction Bingo Card

For the readers of the Tom Riddle / Hermione Granger ship who feel like they get déjà vu every time they start a new fic.

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The Slytherin Common Room

"What about you, Riddle?"

Tom lifted his eyes from the pages of Anatomica Arthropoda.  "What about me?"

"Got any plans for when you leave Hogwarts?"

"A few."

"Oh, come on, Riddle," Rosier coaxed, leaning forward and looking expectantly at Tom.  "Do tell.  Do you want to join the Ministry and shuffle parchment with the best of us?  Or be a professor?  You're heaps better than Merrythought, the old bag, and Sluggy would love to have you at his side for every meal at the High Table."

CHAPTER 22   ///  Birds of a Feather

{ Archive of Our Own }   |   { Fanfiction.net }

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There’s a lot of really great points to unpack in this essay.  Thanks for your very detailed and thoughtful response!

I personally feel that a great many issues with this fandom (and the Harry Potter fandom as a whole, and other fandoms beyond that, but that’s beyond the scope of this discussion) comes from authors and audience treating fanfiction protagonists as self-inserts.  It’s one thing for JK Rowling to write original flavour Harry as an everyman who appeals to young readers, and another thing to write self-inserts who wear the shape and names of the beloved canon cast.  This is where you get the tropey “Lord Hadrian Potter-Black and the Veela Harem” fics, and in this particular fandom niche, Tomione fics where unhealthy dynamics are lauded as relationship goals. 

Of course, fanfiction is fanfiction and everyone is free to write whatever they want, but there’s something galling about the people who read fanfiction without being able to create distinctions between The Reader, The Protagonist, and The Author.  The Reader’s desires have no influence on what choices the Protagonist makes; the Author can write a Protagonist whose opinions do not represent their personal beliefs, and the Author is under no obligation to write what the Reader wants to see.

I commiserate with every author who has written an imperfect character, and had their depiction criticised for their imperfections.  I’ve been personally had reader responses in multiple instances where my own depiction of Hermione was called “too weak” (compared to what?  To Tom?  To canon Hermione?  To movie Hermione?  To reader headcanon Hermione?), and in one notable instance, where I’ve been called gender-biased for writing a Tom whose magical feats were more impressive than Hermione’s. 

I’m sorry, but Voldemort in book canon created a curse on the Defense Professor position that lasted 40 years, while powering a Taboo over the whole country, while flying to Germany and back, all on 1/8 of a soul.

Writing how and what I want to write is how I move past that, and while I agree that there’s some validation to be found in reader responses, I also feel that if there’s high contention between reader and author about the way characters are portrayed, they are strongly encouraged to write what they want to see.

# How To End a DM Debate 101.

Do you mind sharing your personal thoughts on the double standards in how the fanfic community treats Tom vs. Hermione? Example being when Tom is depicted killing people, it gets no response, but if Hermione thinks of reporting him to the Aurors, she's decried as a traitor. Where do you think this trend originates? Should authors be mindful about double standards when writing? Has the possibility of reader backlash ever affected how you've written your own stories?

Ooh I’m gonna get in trouble for answering this because I can’t do so without getting a bit political, but that will not stop me. This is going to get really long because this is something I have A LOT of opinions about.

This community in general has a habit of excusing everything Tom does no matter what - be it murder, torture, animal or child abuse, sexual abuse/assault, whatever, even when his violence is directed towards Hermione. I’ve been very vocal about how abusive/problematic shippers rarely look to these as “relationship goals” and that the draw to it is often the drama, suspense, etc., but the amount of mental gymnastics people will do to try and either downplay or outright excuse his shitty behavior is astounding. (And not to get too political here, but it often reeks of victim blaming. Fuck that.)

On the flip side, readers will often crucify Hermione for practically anything she does. If she doesn’t help or protect Tom after he does something horrible, then she’s a bitch. If she doesn’t trust him(understandable in most situations), she’s cold and mean and should think more about how he feels. If she does the opposite, then she’s stupid. When both writing and reading reviews for fics involving Tomione I’ve repeatedly found myself frustrated because it really seems like no matter what she can’t win.

To use a few examples, I’ve seen reviews call Hermione a buzzkill for being uncomfortable with Tom, calling her weak for being empathetic and subsequently manipulated, called a Mary Sue for outsmarting him, etc.. I have seen almost no comments that blame Tom exclusively for his behavior, and in the few that criticize him at all they’re nearly always doing it to say Hermione should have known better (Ex: “Tom is an asshole, but Hermione acts like a puppy that keeps coming back after being kicked”).

To use my own fic as an example, I have received several comments from people telling me they see A Change in Priorities as a “Hermione helps Tom to be a good person” fic. In that particular story, it’s followed canon in that he has killed four people with no remorse, has abused animals, and has seriously injured some of his peers. I’ve had people describe his literal violent possessiveness of Hermione as “cute.” I also have a fair number of people saying she needs to be more understanding, more kind, more sympathetic to him despite all this. I can’t pretend that doesn’t worry me a bit.

When it comes to the “why?”, I think there’s two major reasons. The first is misogyny, plain and simple. People expect Hermione to cater to Tom’s needs constantly, and demonize her when she doesn’t. They sympathize with Tom even when they have no reason to, even when they shouldn’t, and in a lot of ways deem his well-being to be Hermione’s responsibility. If something happens to her because of it, “well, she should have done x,y,z….” Even when Tom is the one in a position of authority, people still seem to blame Hermione for everything - including his actions. This problem isn’t exclusive to Tomione, it’s a problem in nearly every ship for every fandom as well as in reality. Our fandom unfortunately isn’t exempt from it.

The second reason I think people do this is that because Hermione is so regularly used as a self insert, people become irrationally angry when she does something they personally can’t relate to or disagree with. In a lot of Hermione based fics, her character is warped so much that she hardly resembles her original characterization beyond her name, her talent, and her perceived attractiveness. Sometimes not even that. As I’ve said before, that’s not a problem in and of itself. Fanfiction and fandom are entertainment and we should have fun. What’s not cool is readers bullying content creators for creating something they personally didn’t like.

Should authors be mindful of the double standards when writing?

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but in general I’d say only if they want to. I’d love to see more authors make Tom accountable for his own shit and not give Hermione the role of therapist and handler, but I don’t think authors should have to change the content of their fiction if the purpose of the writing is purely entertainment. If content is written and rated as being for adults, it should be expected that readers have the critical thinking skills necessary to understand things like “murder is bad even if someone says otherwise” and “just because someone says sorry doesn’t mean they deserve to be forgiven.”

If something is written for children or teens who haven’t yet developed those critical thinking skills/are still learning morality, then that’s a different story. That being said, I’m not a professional author and that isn’t my area of expertise so I have no advice here.

I’m big on reader responsibility. If you can’t responsibly consume a certain type of media, then that is on you, not the content creator. To use a personal example, I have an eating disorder and I know that reading/watching things with graphic depictions of disordered eating triggers me. If I read or watch it anyways, it’s not the author’s fault if I get triggered and relapse.

Has the possibility of reader backlash affected how you’ve written your stories?

Yes and no. This is something I’ve repeatedly struggled with, and am currently fighting myself on.

I’m a sensitive person. Negative comments and reviews get to me. I enjoy interacting with readers, get excited when they’re excited, and get disappointed when they’re unhappy. That’s just the kind of person I am.

As much as I would love to say, “I write for myself,” that’s just not true. Not entirely. I create the stories for myself, but writing, plotting, editing, and posting is time consuming and a ton of work I would not go through if I didn’t have a reason. The stories are created by and for me, they’ll always exist in my head, but they’re written down so I can share them with other people who might also enjoy them.

I can’t say that I really change much of the content for readers, though. If I’m really committed to something within a story, I can’t force myself to change it for the sake of readers even if it makes them unhappy. Writing I’m not invested in always turns out so bad I can’t bring myself to post it. I’ll include little details or scenes for readers, but the stories are mine.

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Winter Rendezvous at Hogwarts

"Now," he prompted, rubbing his gloved hands together for warmth—or in hungry anticipation, "what about my side of the deal?  What do you know about Riddle?"

CHAPTER 21   ///  Birds of a Feather

{ Archive of Our Own }   |   { Fanfiction.net }

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Prefects Tom Riddle and Hermione Granger from Birds of a Feather.

Hermione:  I don't know, Tom, that sounds like a bad idea. Tom:  Oh, Hermione, when have I ever led you wrong? Hermione:  Yesterday, the day before, last Saturday...

BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Archive of Our Own   |    Fanfiction.net

Fandom:  Harry Potter  |  Pairing:  Tom R., Hermione G.

Wordcount:  120k  |  Status:  Ongoing  |  Rating:  M

In 1935, Hermione Granger meets a boy in an orphanage who despises fairy stories, liars, and mediocrity.  He offers her a deal of mutual convenience, and soon a tentative friendship forms between them—if Tom would ever lower himself to call anyone a "friend".

But whatever they have, it's something special, and if there's anyone who can appreciate Specialness, it's Tom Riddle.

1930's-40's Childhood Friends AU.

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Introducing Tom Riddle Plague Doctor, AKA Doctor Voldemort.

AKA, the doctor AU no one asked for.

If Tom Riddle had to go to a Halloween party, what costume would he wear?

I mean you’d really have to force him to wear any sort of normal costume. I can’t really see him doing so of his own free will.

Alternatively: plague doctor

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Oops that was anon. I asked about the posters.

I have larger versions of the posters on my DeviantArt account.

Visit Alethkar

Discover Urithiru

Dimensions are around 1000 x 1600 pixels.  I’m not sure how big that is in inches.  Is that big enough?

A couple of other art pieces are available in larger format there, too.

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Bridge Four Nonsense

One Punch Man x Bridge Four crossover.  Kaladin explains the source of his supernatural powers to Lopen, Rock and Moash.  This is what SA would look like in graphic novel format.

Bridge Four garage band with Lopen on the triangle, Shen on vocals, Kaladin playing the flute.  Not as awesome as Kaladin shredding on a Shardguitar, though.

And finally, Chouta.  It’s a burrito shaped like a cone. 

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Flashbacks

Kaladin and his father

Shallan and her mother

Do I need to say “Spoiler Warning”?

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Mother of Learning

Posters and fanart for the awesome long-running web novel Mother of Learning, featuring a schoolboy mage who relives the same month over and over, Groundhog Day style.

Top:  Zorian and the Lich King

Bottom:  Zorian and his teacher

Looks badass in full resolution.

And an old post where I drew Red Robe.

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Adolin Kholin

Character design in different styles and levels of detail.

Portrait

Hairstyles neat and messy

Super cartoony

Random AU

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King Elhokar

The symbols in the mirror

The feast

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I loove your stormlight art so much! It is quite a small fandom so I treasure everything they produce, but I'm so fond of your drawings especially! Have a nice day ~

Thanks!  It is such a small fandom that not much of the art I saw matched my head pictures, so I made some myself.  It is interesting to see how much other people like my own personal interpretation of the series.

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Kaladin Stormblessed and the Power of Rock

Glowing, brilliant, a Shardguitar emerged from the mist, vivid blue light shining from swirling patterns along its length. Kaladin gasped a deep breath as if coming fully awake for the first time. The entire arena went black as the Stormlight in every spotlight down the length of the stage winked out. For a moment, he stood in darkness. Then Kaladin exploded with Light.

The champion of Honor in the ultimate battle of the bands.

Saving the world through the power of Rock and Roll.

When you thought he couldn’t get more awesome.