#( in a twisted sense there's a kind of purity to his cruelty?? i just think he's neat. )

[erabundus]

scaramouche  is  such  a  fun  muse,  because  he  can  be  playfully  annoying  like  a  little  brat  —  only  to  turn  around  and  do  something  genuinely  (  horrifyingly  )  malicious  without  an  ounce  of  hesitation.

[thatgirl4815]

Red

Totally random thought, but I’ve been thinking and..maybe red isn’t Kinn’s true color? ‘True’ as in, it represents something that has been applied to Kinn but doesn’t fully represent who he is. 

The Hidden Messages preview highlights Kinn’s color as red and Porsche’s color as blue, so there’s really no doubting that they’re intending us to view them as (at least partial) representations of these characters. For the purposes of this post, I’m going to focus exclusively on the color red. 

Symbolically, red often represents themes like dominance, anger, wrath, and strength. I’d argue that, in many cases outside of the romantic sphere, red has negative connotations. Aside from white and black, blue and red often represent forces of good and evil, respectively. Looking at it from this perspective, it makes sense that Kinn would be marketed as the “evil” of sorts given his ties to the mafia. Porsche would then be defined as a symbol of purity. We, of course, know that these are mere generalizations, but they seem to hold up for many fictional works. 

I mentioned how red has mostly negative connotations, but it can also represent warmth and security, both of which I think we see Kinn trying to encompass over the course of these past 7 episodes in his relationship with Porsche. On the surface, red might appear negative, but there is more to unpack if you look deeper. If Kinn’s color really is red, I think it’s meant to deceive us. I’m thinking back to Ep1, when Kinn’s persona seemed so stone-faced and mafia-like (for lack of a better term). He was embodying these negative associations with the color red: namely, dominance. 

Now, this is where I’ll bring in Vegas. The whole reason I was tempted to write about red at all is because of the use of color in Ep7, both in his clothes, and in the light that shines on his face in certain scenes:

And he’s been cast in a red light in other places as well:

I believe Vegas represents the kind of cruelty we typically associate with red. Not to imply that Vegas is a one-dimensional character, but from what we know of him, he is just plain evil: twisted, sadistic, and cruel. He is also power-hungry. He mentions how Kinn wants control, but he wants control also--he feeds off of it, in fact. I don’t want to attempt to completely psychoanalyze Vegas’s character here, but I do think that red suits him.

Vegas and Kinn

What, then, do we make of the fact that both Kinn and Vegas are associated with the color red? As I’ve said, I think that Vegas embodies the true meaning of red’s relatively negative associations--dominance, control, and wrath--while Kinn is merely posing as the color red. I’d argue that for Kinn, red represents his mafia persona that he tries so hard to embody. I don’t think this means that Kinn doesn’t represent any of these other attributes of the color red, such as dominance and control, because he certainly does, but I’d argue that it’s a result of this role in the mafia (and Korn’s pressure) more than who he really is at his core. 

And really, when I go back and watch that Hidden Messages video again, I can’t help but think how different Kinn seems there--it doesn’t even feel like the same character. Maybe it’s because we’ve been enlightened so much to his struggles (Ep6 ftw!!), but it’s interesting to look back on early promotional materials and consider how much they differ from the final product now. It’s not necessarily a bad thing (in fact, I think it’s quite the opposite). 

I’m probably reading into this too far, but I wonder about the colors that each character has been assigned. I don’t think their associations are nearly as black and white (pun intended) as we’ve been led to believe, and if we view them this way, then we miss out on some of the richer nuances of the characters.

[tgunn64]

Favorite Villains - Bellatrix Lestrange (Harry Potter series)

Even though you’ll notice that I’ve grown my current Top 50 is mostly big bosses and lone operators, that’s not to say I don’t still have soft spots for the likes of henchmen and lower level operators. Though the rare case of a second in command overshadowing hasn’t really occurred the way it has for Bellatrix Lestrange, who I have had a really particular relationship with over the years. And that relationship has basically been fanboying over her before I even got into HP because I was widening my villainous scope for various fan projects. Her extremely gothic look and Helena Bonham Carter’s distinct charisma caught my attention really fast and she was a quick stranger favorite. I wasn’t into Harry Potter for a long time but I was not disappointed by her when I finally got around to diving into them.

It IS my understanding that the books and movies don’t have all the same context and the latter suffers for it, (and if we’re being honest I caught all the movies enough out of order on TV that some spots here and there are blurry for me) but the research I did on Bellatrix’s book-to-movie differences and chunks of text I sought out in particular really helped put her in a grander scope and get me to like her all the better. Because after all, Harry Potter is ripe with allegory and real life socio-political metaphor. Considering the Death Eaters and their hatred of muggles and ‘mudbloods’ is a clear take on supremacist groups prominent in history, I really love that Bellatrix is established to hail from the prestigious Black family, along with Narcissa, her sister. Emphasis was placed on blood purity and superiority of the wizarding kind by Bellatrix and Narcissa’s upbringings, and I kind of just love how true to life, it’s rather commonly a place of privilege that prejudice such as the Blacks’ stems from. Bellatrix married into the Lestrange family, not out of any sort of love or desire, but out of the bolstering of blood purity and a position within the Death Eaters.

Politics aside the big draw to Bellatrix is all of the fun of her being a blood crazed maniac. Despite all of the clear joy she takes in causing pain and misery, which is scary and a bit cathartic in a villain in of itself, Bellatrix is very manipulative in how she goes about scratching her urges. Possibly her most notable notch on her belt of murders was killing Sirius Black, a very dear figure to Harry, leading him to knock her off her feet in a rage. Here she takes her chance to coax Harry into embracing that rage and striking her down (Voldemort did so in the movies, but it’s my understanding Bellatrix did this all herself in the book), which shows that her peerless cruelty isn’t just for petty self indulgence. Harry’s conflict isn’t just him against Voldemort, but also the ease and temptation of doing the wrong thing with his power, which Bellatrix quite nearly edged him over. The above is especially relevant speaking to another one of the big themes of the HP saga, that being familial connections and significance. Harry basically finds new family in the form of several loved ones of many shapes and sizes, contrasting the Death Eaters, who feel almost incestuous in the circles and company they keep and marriages they break in the name of Blood Purity. A family like that may be more pure in a literal sense, but considering Bellatrix personally killed both Sirius Black and Nymphadora Tonks, all bets are off if they don’t see eye to eye. I think it’s also somewhat poetic that Bellatrix met her end messing with the wrong family at the hands of Molly Weasley. Even an interaction as small as her snapping at Draco (to Narcissa’s chagrin) speaks to Bellatrix’s twisted ideals and how little actual family means to her compared to purity of her kind.

Even the sheer gravity of her body count has to be appreciated, thematics aside. In addition to all of the above she also killed Dobby, a big ‘heart of the team’ character. She really knew how to push the right buttons, which is why I think Voldemort held her in such high regard. She was so much more than some malice junky. There’s some dispute as to the true nature of Bellatrix and Voldemort’s relationship--I consider it at least a little more than some developments in works like the Cursed Child would declaire. She was clearly more than a mere pawn to Voldemort, worth enough to him to warrant a yell of anguish upon her death. The tears that well in her eyes at his simple approval I think speak volumes of how she practically worships him as a trailblazer and symbol of the ideals she fights for. I don’t think I’d ever think of them as a couple per se, but equally so I just don’t think there’s any limit for what Bellatrix would do to please her master. Ultimately it’s true that Bellatrix isn’t the biggest villain in Harry Potter or even the biggest Death Eater, but she’s insanely memorable and relevant to its themes for a number of reasons, and certainly one to look at fondly.

[vermiculus-incipiens]

OOC INFORMATION:

What's your name? Elm.

Preferred pronouns: She/hers.

Timezone: CET (CEST during summer).

IC INFORMATION:

Character Name: Sirius III Orion Black.

What's a hobby or pastime that your character enjoys? The pulse beating hard as the sweat runs down your neck, lungs aching for air, your steps only guided by the moonshine; in the darkness, everything can be a foe, a friend, and the rush of adrenaline of the potential threat makes Sirius feel alive, makes his ever present-fears and high alert reasonable, for a change. The roaring of the engine, straddling the beauty, spoiled with time and money. Freedom, his mind screams as he takes to the roads, soaring in every twist of the road, feeling like gravity wants to pull him off the road. And that pleasant surge of… feelings; fear, happiness, freedom again, when the wheels lift, and he takes to the air, the sky above. Anything's possible, then, in the company of the stars, and he's one of them. Despite what they say, and as they'd always had said. Books weren't a thing that Remus had introduced in Sirius's life; he had often loved browsing the rows of bookshelves in the library back in the house he had spent his childhood. The titles, the covers of the books always held so much mystery, so much potential. Adventures inspire dangerous thoughts, ideas and philosophies to nurture them. Of course, Orion and Walburga hadn't housed books that rallied in defence of the Muggles and the marginalised but reading about how purists wanted the world to behave, indeed, helped create a rebel. Sirius likes books, still. Pamphlets penned by rebels and activists, stories about the bleakness of the world, the injustice, but he equally loved the fiction, the adventures, the classics. When his mind allows him the peace to sit down, it never really does. Drawing, then. It lets his energy out through the movements of his hand, yet it requires the form of attention that Sirius desires, that kind of where he just gets wrapped up in something and forget about anything else but to be in the here and now. His running and motorcycling do that, yes, but not in the same tranquil triumph of drawing, of finishing a piece.

Do you have any preferred ships or anti-ships? Ships I can name that I like are Sirius/Remus and James/Sirius. However, I'm open-minded. I am open to the possibility of any ship, no matter gender and sex, and I do not have any known anti-ships.

What do you think your character's Boggart would be? If their greatest fear isn't something that could easily take a solid form, what is it? Why? A gravestone with James Potter carved into it. That is Sirius's fear. He is not having James in his life. It's possibly quite possessive, and it is very unhealthy, his dependency on James. But James, James brought life. Who would Sirius be if he hadn't met James? James showed him what unconditional love is and how a healthy home life looks. James made it possible for Sirius to turn into the person he wanted instead of the statue his parents had tried to chisel him into. So a life without James? Sirius can hardly picture it. No, that's not true; he can picture it. Does it often. Imagines how he would find out James had died on a mission or been hunted down or that James would tire of Sirius and his moods, his inability to become this good, righteous person that he and Remus were, that he wouldn't be able to cope anymore with Sirius' addictions and traumas and the various ways they manifest themselves. The absence of James, then, more than some finite gravestone. James exists in his memories, only.

What's your character's biggest pet peeve? People assuming that they know him or that they are friends. Sirius has an outgoing, easygoing personality. He likes to chat and have fun, but just because you are one of the pub mates or someone Sirius talks to doesn't mean that you know him or are friends. Relationships are something Sirius isn't good at all, neither handling them, maintaining them or accepting them and letting them get close. He's very ambivalent about the relationships in his life, and the only friends he acknowledges as thus are the Marauders and Lily. All the other people in his life? Well, they are… people in his life. Terms such as friendship or lovers are just too much, making stuff real and scary and bothersome. He also dislikes when people assume to know who he is simply by the name he bears.

What would you consider to be an eccentricity of your character? Sirius deviates from the established pattern or norm in that he tries to unsubscribe from the norms of society. It isn't easy, especially when it comes to matters like purity and superiority and the importance of your family name, but more manageable when it comes to other things. In today's terms, Sirius would probably label himself as pansexual, genderfluid and/or non-binary. Sirius doesn't care about your sex and gender, but your heart, soul and brain and he can't understand why certain clothes or hobbies or mannerisms should only be worn/done/acted by men or women. Sirius certainly would have been part of the flower power movement if he had been a teen and young adult in the '60s. Why shouldn't he be able to wear that skirt, or have flowers in his hair, or paint his nails, or use makeup? What's wrong with shagging a bloke or loving him, or a girl, or multiple people at once? Gender is a social construct, don't you know.

What is/was your character's favorite subject in school? Why? Transfiguration, because Professor McGonagall became a sort of mother figure for him, and he liked the challenges of transfiguration and the brain work it required. Charms, because it was fun and whimsical yet complex to keep his interest. Care of Magical Creatures because it was outdoors, practical, and a 'nonsense' subject that had irked his parents he had picked instead of something more beneficial.

What time of day is your character's favorite? What time of year? Dawn, because the troubles of the night are being chased away, and before him, an unkissed promise is blossoming. Sirius likes most of the seasons for what they are. Although summers are still tainted by the anxiousness of returning to the house for many years, it is also the buzzing, giddy sense of freedom, life ahead, and camaraderie and acceptance. But autumn is possibly the one Sirius enjoys the most. It's something comforting and reassuring with the world preparing to go to sleep only to blossom come spring, and besides being the time he, at last, went back to Hogwarts, he likes the cosiness of it. Tea and blankets and the rain is chattering on the windows. The crisp air, the colours. The feeling that you're about to keep walking down the path where you, at last, will find the life you're seeking to live.

What's your character's Patronus? If they can't conjure one, what would it be if they could? Why? A big, black dog, like his animagi form.

What is your character's biggest vice (bad habit or immoral craving)? Oh, what isn't. Substance abuse, arrogance, prejudice, black&white worldview, rashness to the point of danger for him and/or others, a streak of cruelty and coldness and not caring what happens to relationships and people, hot-tempered, selfish to a degree.

Is your character an introvert or extrovert? How well do they handle social situations? Sirius is an extrovert. Since childhood, he has been trained to be able to socialise, carry conversations, and be a good representative as the heir of the Black house. Luckily for him, he wasn't an introvert forced to be a people person; Sirius was born an extrovert. He handles loneliness poorly, yet he craves it as he oft pushes people away that gets too close. He is the one that wants to spend all the time with you to the point you tire and enjoy some alone time. He is scared of abandonment and becomes too clingy and invested in the few relationships he cares about. Sirius always has no problems being social around the clock; he can be charming, fun, and charismatic. You have a higher chance of getting that good side if he wants you to have that experience.

What is your character's diet like? What's his or her favorite food? Oh, piss poor. Sirius has never had to learn to cook for himself. At home, they had the house-elves, at school, they had the house-elves, when he lived with the Potters, well, they had Mrs. Potter (and house-elves, if they had them). He ate reasonably well back then, but his diet went to hell as soon as he got his flat from the inheritance when he was 17. A cig and a coffee for breakfast, and often that could be pretty much it for the day. If it isn't, it's takeaways or dinner at the pubs and restaurants or perhaps a toast or two at home. He loves the Sunday roasts at the Potters, and he misses the Beef Wellington and Trifles from home.

How do you think your character's psychological issues have manifested and changed your character up to this point? Sirius has always lived with psychological issues. Sirius's disorganised attachment to his parents growing up has shaped Sirius and his changes up to adulthood. Sirius has always felt anxiety during mellow, peaceful moments and usually tends to busy himself to push away the problematic emotions he doesn't want to deal with. He tends to feel sad and empty even though James and the Marauders show their support and love for him. Sirius doesn't trust easily and is hyper-vigilant about his surroundings, another reason he has such trouble relaxing. He has a tendency to be drawn to harmful situations and bad people for the thrill. The rush of feeling alive and the relationships he has in various degrees of success has often been with other people with similar issues that can manage on their own and want to manage on their own and in that way doesn't have any demands on him. Closeness to Sirius has come to be connected with something dangerous, threatening due to him never knowing in what mood his parents would be and what emotions and reactions he would meet in his interactions with them. When he's facing similar situations now as an adult that feels similar to the experiences of his past, and it can suddenly feel not like a typical argument between two adults but flashbacks to his childhood, causing him to react in defence in the way he did as a child; rebellion, anger, coldness, withdrawal. Sirius often makes himself emotionally unavailable and has plenty of sexual contacts, be it temporary liaisons or longer relationships. Sirius hasn't changed but instead adopted the issues he's had to deal with since childhood. It's always been a part of him. He doesn't recognise his various coping mechanisms and the way he acts as something necessarily caused by his traumas and experiences throughout his life. His quick temper, his taste for recklessness, his desire to both be loved and be close to someone and push them away and emotionally shut down, his streaks of coldness and carelessness, his prejudices, his whole personality and worldview, it all has turned the way it has due to the life he has lived.

 Give us a headcanon for your character. Anything is acceptable. Sirius misses his family. He wishes that he could feel indifference towards them because that would mean he had no emotions invested at all in them any longer, but he doesn't. Anger and hatred, yes, but also longing, wistfulness, a bit of love, too. Growing up in the Black household was traumatic; it was full of superiority, blood purity, dark artefacts, and people not knowing how to express emotions and maintain relationships healthily. But they were also a family, a family unit. The best family, the Royals of the British Wizarding community. It was them against everyone else. And a mother's love towards her sons and a desire to make them as best as they could be in her mind. And a father whose approval and pride made you feel like you were tumbling in the night sky they all worshipped so much. Christmases with aunts and uncles and cousins and luxurious Christmas food, presents, and what felt like some warmth and love and doting underneath the scheming, the properness, the cold masks, the closed-off-ness so to be able to behave as one ought to, no matter if it was towards a child, family or the rest of society. Yes, Sirius misses it. Sometimes wonder if he indeed chose the right path; what would he have become if he hadn't willed the Sorting Hat to be placed in Gryffindor instead of Slytherin, the Hat's first suggestion? He would have been a Prince, but would he feel complete? Would he feel like he had found his place in the world? Would he feel not restless, for once?