#HP and the traditions of the magical world

[tyrantisterror]

Your recent train of posts about you-know-who’s book series got me thinking. You once said “The Owl House works as a sort of rebuttal to Harry Potter in a lot of ways”, care to elaborate on that statement? Especially in regards to how The Owl House’s worldbuilding and themes clash with Harry Potter’s?

Oh man... I don't want my blog to be consumed by Harry Potter Hot Takes. I'd prefer to vent most of those feelings through my wizard books instead, it's more productive that way.

So, ok, short version: The Owl House is about a teenager from the mundane world discovering there's a magical world hidden away, goes there to learn magic, and in the process uncovers a plot by an abominable fascist to commit genocide. In very simplistic terms, that is more or less the same plot as Harry Potter.

But the devil's in the details, isn't it? Luz doesn't have any grand inheritance to claim, no prophecy to fulfill, nothing that makes her the most special specialest special person of all time. There's even a whole episode early on where a villain tries to lure her to her doom by claiming she's the chosen one, and the lesson is that NO ONE is "chosen" for greatness - greatness is something you make yourself, not something that's thrust upon you. She is not inherently gifted as a witch - in fact, she struggles harder because she doesn't have a a special bladder true witches are born with, and has to learn an ancient and forgotten method of spellcasting basically from scratch to cast spells at all. She is, emphatically and at times definitely deliberately, the opposite of what Harry Potter is.

So is her academic experience. There's a magic school in this setting, and (at first) it wants nothing to do with Luz because she's human, not a witch, and thus is believed to be incapable of casting spells. So Luz's primary mode of education on magic comes from a private mentor, Eda, who is also a wanted criminal and social outcast because of her disdain for the draconian rules of their society. Eda is an unconventional but magnificent mentor, one who is as willing to try new things and learn new methods as Luz herself, and who helps Luz discover ways to make possible what everyone else claims is impossible. Eventually Luz does convince the magic school to take her in, but in the process she changes how it runs, challenging a lot of its preconceived notions and forcing them to do better.

Which is vital, because the biggest problem facing the society of this magical world is narrow-minded reliance on outdated social categorization. Like HP, people are sorted into categories (covens here instead of houses), which they are then forced to stick to and never dabble in the others. It is explicitly compared to both the concept of tracking in real world education (i.e. forcing kids into a career path early and ONLY giving them education relevant to that one career) and the house system of HP:

And it's wrong. It's both presented as needlessly limiting, terrible for encouraging advancement and growth of both the students and society as a whole, and an immoral system that's only kept alive by the "Well, this is how we've always done it" inertia that keeps so many awful traditions in education alive. And I really do mean it's immoral, because it's the brain child and secretly crucial evil tool of a genocidal fascist.

I kind of cringe at writing those two words since I feel people have been WAY too quick to accuse cartoon villains from children's shows of fascism and genocide - like, Chairface Chippendale writing his name on the moon with a laser would probably kill a shitload of people in real life, but that doesn't mean he's an analogue to Hitler. But Belos, like fellow Disney villain Frollo, is clearly intended to be exactly that: a genocidal fascist. In a world full of magic-fueled absurdist black comedy beats, Emperor Belos stands out as a consistently serious threat, tonally dissonant with his surroundings in a way that makes him chillingly effective as a villain. And like real world powerful bigots, his power primarily comes from the fact that the systems of society favor his mindset over those of outsides like Luz and Eda - all the systems of oppression our heroes chafe against were either created by or worsened by him, with the express purpose of using them to kill everyone and everything in the magical world.

Luz could not be more thematically opposed to her enemy, and the story is incredibly consistent in showing how defeating Belos alone isn't enough, but that the systems that empowered him have to be disproven and dismantled. His enablers must be destroyed or humbled, the prejudices he encouraged must be torn down and fought at every turn, and innovation and progress must be embraced for the good of all. There's so much stuff you could analyze about the themes in that show regarding oppression and the othering of people who are different, and it's all so, SO much more consistent than the discussion of the same themes you'll find in Harry Potter.

[lilbeanz]

Hi! So firstly I want to be a little direct (I hope I'm not being rude 😓) and ask if you're religious and if you practice witchcraft? When I started reading jodt I was pleasantly surprised to see the real life wicca holidays and traditional way of decorating for Yule. You even put in the candle language!!! 🕯️🕯️ (Even if a bit sneaky) It made me, a modern witch, feel seen in a work of fan made, free, easy consuming content. So I wanted to ask if it was a classic writer-researched-a-bit-too-much or you practiced it yourself. Sorry if the question made you uncomfortable .

Secondly I have say you're doing very well with everything and I admire the way you always interact on here and post something almost every day! Just make sure you can rest and have time for your offline life ❤️🔮 Blessed be

Ahhh!!! Merry meet! You are not being rude at all, and tysm for noticing🥺🫶 (it was a bit cheeky of me, wasn't it?😈)

Would I say I'm a witch? ....Sort of? I'd call myself a novice to the craft at best. I'm not explicitly religious, I don’t have an altar or worship any deities.

I dabble! I'm fascinated by witchcraft and wicca, and my family's always been quite witchy at heart.

I've done a couple of spells here and there, nothing huge. Like I said, I dabble... and RESEARCH THE HECK OUT IT🔮✨️

And Joanne really fucked up by having her magic world celebrate Christmas and Easter etc... I get that the Muggle world has blended alot with it when HP takes place -- and it is all from Harry’s pov -- but why would pureblooded witches and wizards celebrate Muggle Christian holidays? Especially families like the Malfoys.

As a witchy person, it just made no sense to me. The eight sabbats predate the christian holidays... Good thing the canon story is all from Harry’s perspective, huh? I saw my opportunity and I took it! 🤣

Also tysm, you're so sweet 🥺💕

Blessed be!🫶

[lioniheart]

I've been on a Drarry kick lately so here are my favorite things the fandom has practically made canon with how often you can find it in fanfics:

—>Desi Harry

Literally the best thing to ever come out of HP fanfictions, like yesss give that boy some culture!!! And when the fic goes into detail abt him exploring his origins and getting closer to the Patil sisters? Delicious. I read one years ago where he wears traditional clothing to the Yule Ball and it will forever be canon in my mind.

—>Married Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini

Their entire dynamic is taken out of thin air and I love it. Cunty Pansy and Flirty Blaise are my children, actually.

—>Grant Chapman

Not that common in drarry fics, I know, but fuck if that isn't my favorite OC to ever exist.

—>Any type of World Building, wizards traditions, magical laws, etc

J.K. did such a poor job with it that it was one of the reasons why I never cared much for the series and started sicking out fanfiction before even finishing the 3rd book.

—>Sapphic Ginny Weasley

Especially if she ends up with Luna. As another lesbian redhead, this holds a special place in my heart ok?

—>Distant Cousins Draco Malfoy and Luna Lovegood

Admittedly not that common, but it just makes sense to me.

—>Draco Speaking French

I actually have no idea if this is fanon or canon, but I love it.

[dailyadventureprompts]

What’s fasinating about the d&d movie is that it is all the fun of d&d removed from the rigid restraints of the the clunky game system: Thrills and laughs and hairbrained schemes minus the minutia of needless rolls or waiting for your turn in initiative to circle around. Part of this is idealization, but as someone who’s obsessed with making my favorite game system the most fun possible I can’t help but draw some comparisons.

Combat: Holga’s fight scenes were a highlight of the film for me, displaying a huge amount of kinetic creativity as she pinballed between different combatants swapping out weapons, bouncing off the surrounding terrain . This is a far, far cry from how being a fighter plays out at the table, as most martial characters are focused into doing just one type of attack as good as they can because it’s their only reliable contribution to combat. Try to model Holga’s fights in game and you’d be caught in a boring slog of dealing 1d4+STR damage to a bunch of guards whittling away at their hitpoint pools, a far cry from the lighting quick flury of smashing, bashing, and flips that make her the film’s action setpiece.  

What d&d needs is a system for combat that exists alongside the traditional damage/HP paradigm: an additional layer of complexity for martial characters that encourages tactical thinking and lets those who do their damage up close feel just as cool and as clutch as casters. My mind’s already whirling thinking up something that revolves around stuns, suckerpunches, and positioning, so expect it later this week. 

Powercreep: This might be subjective but I find it fascinating that the official stats put out for the party has them hovering around level 16, a point in character progression  a)that  most characters never get to b) by which the game’s difficulty systems have begun to break down. I suspect this was done in order to keep their on-screen abilities in line with how they are in the base rules, but I can’t help but feel like its odd for the “idedalized” dnd experiance to be playing around with toys that most groups will never get their hands on. 

In my experience d&d is on a sliding scale of stakes V Shenanigans, with the exact ballance evolving over the course of a campaign:  Your group starts out as a bunch of dumbfucks and at some point while you’re making  making absolute fools out of yourselves you become a found family just in time for the consequences of your actions to circle back around and threaten the realm. First the characters start caring about eachother, then they care about the world, then they have to save that world. Level 16 is, for me, distinctly in “save the world” territory, despite the fact that the HaT crew are clearly still figuring out who they are and what they care about.  It makes me wish D&D was more free with its shenanigan enabling magic/items/class features at lower levels to help fuel these kinds of antics.  

Attunement: Perhaps the best “ oh I’m totally going to steal this” moment came from Simon’s attempt to attune to the helm of disjunction. Turning what was otherwise a rote game mechanic into an oppertunity for character growth was genius on behalf of the writers, though one I’d only really employ with items that were as necessary for my plots as the helm was for the heist. Just like Simon’s major flaw was self doubt, I could easily see delicious storytelling potential in throwing up other emotional hurdles depending on the situation: A hero’s sword refusing to attune to the haunted survivor until they’ve come to terms with what they’ve done, an otherwise altruistic character being forced to admit their sin and self interest by an evil-aligned artifact. 

Over all, I really enjoyed the movie, though paradoxically It didn’t hook me as much because for me one of the biggest charms of fantasy is the feeling of discoverying a new world, and I’ve been living the d&d world for the past 20 years so it didn’t come of as wild and magical as it could have been, having hewn so close to established d&d material. 

[sophsicle]

hey soph! i don’t know if you’ve talked about this in here before, but i really do love your writing style and your storytelling and i was wondering if you have any book recommendations or favorite writers you enjoy and feel inspired by! i’ve been struggling to find books i feel connected to the same way i do with fic so i was wondering if you have any recs for that :) sorry to bother in case this is too nosy!!!

Okay, I have talked about this before but i'm gonna give a slightly different version of this list, that's sort of suited to like, books i think are specifically good bridge between fanfiction and published works and also that i love (i am sure i have recommended all of these in some way before BUT)

The Green Creek Series by TJ Klune (Wolfsong, Ravensong, Heartstrong, Brothersong) it's queer, found family and werewolves, but very hp-esque in the type of fantasy, like our world but there just happen to be werewolves (and also witches), and if you like the way i write you'll probably like Klune because we have very similar styles, in general just an absolute gem of a series

Villains series by V. E Schawb (Vicious, Vengeful), angsty anti-heroes and complicated friendships for dayyyysssss, i feel like if you like Regulus you will appreciate the protagonists of this series - victor

Simon Snow series by Rainbow Rowell (Carry On, Wayward Son, Anyway the Wind Blows) started very much as a parody of drarry fanfiction, but by the second book turns into a genuinely excellent stand alone series (not that the first book isn't great, it IS, i just think it plays into the gimmick a bit more, where as the second and third books are just sincerely good), but wizard-orphan-chosen-one falls in love with his school nemesis and they fight the big baddy and deal with the consequences etc.

A Gathering of Shadows series by V.E Schawb (A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, A Conjuring of Light) probably the most traditional fantasy, the first book drags, the second two are PHENOMENAL, you have triwizard tournament meets hunger games, gay pirate queer love story, brother angst, the whole shebang!

[malsfefanfics]

OC Profile: Davi

Art by @cringeyvanillamilk, edited to icon size by me.

"We're not exactly sure where he came from, but he's become a fine member of the monastery. Davi has the heart of a knight, but he has a laid back side as well. I get the feeling he keeps us all at arms length, though. I wish to know him better. He seems particularly awkward around Felix, Dedue, and is actively avoiding Seteth and Flayn." -- Dimitri about Davi.

Full name: Davi Valerio Nicknames: Dava (by children), Vi, Brat (by Graham, affectionate) Birthday: 19th of the Pegasus Moon, 1164 Age: 21 (Pre-Timeskip), 26 (Post-Timeskip) Crest: [REDACTED] Family: Unnamed mother (deceased), unnamed father (deceased), Rui (twin brother, deceased), unnamed grandfather (deceased), Graham Govain (Adoptive Guardian), Chliodna Govain (Adoptive Guardian) Nationality: Duscur Titles: Crepuscular Commander, Warrior of the Mind Voice Claim: Jonah Scott (Legoshi from Beastars)

Interests: Weapons training, the Opera, Religious Studies Likes: Horses, Choir Practice, Training, Dancing Dislikes: Most of Faerghus, Crests, Heroes Relics

Favorite Meals: Onion Gratin Soup, Grilled Herring, Fruit and Herring Tart Liked Meals: Saghert and Cream, Beast Meat Teppanyaki, Pickled Rabbit Skewers, Derdriu-Style Fried Pheasant, Disliked Meals: Garreg Mach Meat Pie, Country-Style Red Turnip Plate, Gautier Cheese Gratin

Tea Preferences: Chamomile, Cinnamon Blend, Almyran Pine Needles

Liked Gifts: Fishing Float, Exotic Spices, Floral Adornment, Book of Sheet Music Disliked Gifts: The History of Fodlan, Legends of Chivalry, Book of Crest Designs,

Lost Items:

Strange Book of Music: A notebook filled with unfinished sheet music. The lyrics are in a language you don't recognize.

Traditional Kilt: A garment fit for a warrior. An elaborately weaved design colors it like the twilight.

Suppression Charm: A charm meant to suppress magic power. You remember seeing something similar in a Crestology book.

Starting Class: Commoner Preferred Class Path: Soldier/Monk --> Cavalier/Mage/Dark Mage/Priest --> Paladin/Wyvern Rider/Bishop/Dark Bishop/Warlock --> Wyvern Lord/Dark Knight/Holy Knight Strength: Lance Weakness: Heavy Armor Budding Talent: Faith Personal Skill: Merciful Pantheon - Increases nearby allies critical hit rates by 5% when their health is less than half.

Weapons Starting Levels:

Sword: C Lance: B Axe: E Bow: D Brawling: E Reason: D Faith: D+ Authority: C Heavy Armor: E Riding: D Flying: D

Base Stats:

HP: 30 Str: 12 Mag: 6 Dex: 7 Spd: 7 Lck: 6 Def: 8 Res: 8 Cha: 10

Learned Faith Spells: Heal (D) Nosferatu (D+) Recover (C), Seraphim (B), Aura (A) Learned Reason Spells: Thunder (D), Thoron (C), Bolganone (B), Excalibur (A), Agnea’s Arrow (A)

Recruit Requirements for Canon-Compliance AUs: 

Blue Lions: must complete the Paralogues "War for the Weak" and "An Ocean View", and have B or higher in Lances, Reason, and Riding

Golden Deer: must complete the Paralogues "Dividing the World" and "An Ocean View", and have C or higher in Faith and Flying

Black Eagles: must complete "True Chivalry" and "An Ocean View", have a B in Axes and Heavy Armor.

Black Eagles (Silver Snow): Must also have completed Ashen Wolves Paralogues and have a B in Swords and Authority

Potential Supports:

Byleth

Dimitri

Dedue

Felix

Sylvain

Ingrid (up to B)

Annette

Mercedes

Edelgard

Caspar

Dorothea

Bernadetta

Petra

Claude

Lorenz (Up to B)

Hilda (Up to B)

Leonie

Raphael (Up to B)

Ignatz (Up to B)

Seteth

Flayn

Manuela

Hanneman (Up to B)

Yuri

Constance

Hapi

Balthus

Crit Quotes:

By the grace of the gods!

Ashes to ashes, as they say.

This is my vengeance!

You are not much of a challenge.

My mentor calls.

You're in my way!

You shall regret crossing blades with me!

God of War, guide me!

You are a disgrace!

Defeat Quotes:

Apologies, friends. I must fall back.

This is too much. We must retreat.

I....I won't die here....not now....

Ah...so this is what Rui felt that day...

I'm sorry, Graham. I failed....

Don't weep....I....made my choice....

Skill Level Increase Quotes:

This will aide my people well.

This blessing will serve me well.

Blessings by the God of Wisdom.

Now this is curious.

Insightful. Thank you.

Level Up Quotes:

To grow is part of life.

Blessed by the God of War.

I know I can do better.

The Gods are testing me.

Gift Quotes:

Liked Gifts: You found something truly magnificent. I am grateful.

Neutral Gifts: This is delightful.

Disliked Gifts: Perhaps you should take your curses elsewhere.

[thydungeongal]

A New Party Emerges

So, to pass the time I have been playing solo Old-School Essentials using a randomly generated sandbox generated via Hexroll and with a party of characters whose random stat rolls were outsourced to Tumblr.

To get up to speed on recent events.

Since my last attempt ended on a party wipe, I thus created a new party. This first post will simply be to introduce the new party.

Himbo Baggins Str 15 Int 6 Wis 9 Dex 13 Con 9 Cha 9 Halfling, Lawful 1 hp AC 6 Leather, crossbow + 20 bolts, silver dagger, sack (small), mirror (hand-sized, steel), backpack, tinder box, 1 torch, waterskin, 5 rations, 10 gp

Himbo is a simple little halfling from Heretoforeshire who got bored of the simple halfling life of vaping with his cousins Rippin "Fat Cotton" Took and Merry Randyfuck. He hopes to make a good fortune adventuring so that he may one day retire in a nice hole, but in the meantime he wants to meet new people, help them, and see the world!

Gorn Battleforge Str 16 Int 9 Wis 9 Dex 10 Con 15 Cha 11 Dwarf, Chaotic 2 hp AC 4 Chainmail + shield, spear, sling + 20 stones, sack (small), mirror (hand-sized, steel), backpack, tinder box, 6 torches, waterskin, 4 rations, 10 gp

Gorn is a dwarf, tentatively of the clan Battleforge but somewhat ostracized by the rest of his clan for his unorthodox ways and disrespect for tradition. Gorn wishes for nothing more than to gain money, glory, and power.

Lucy Str 9 Int 9 Wis 8 Dex 16 Con 12 Cha 10 Tiefling (alternate racial class found in Carcass Crawler #3), Neutral 5 hp AC 2 Black eyes, red skin, Fire resistance, cast mirror image once/day Chain mail + shield, silver dagger, sword, holy water, wolfsbane, backpack, tinder box, 1 torch, waterskin, 6 rations, 11 gp

Lucy (full name "Lucia") is a tiefling, a person with a touch of demonic influence. Despite her demonic origin, Lucy is actually a kind person, if a bit vain and mischievous. She is mostly in the life of adventure for the thrill of it.

Bernard Str 11 Int 8 Wis 14 Dex 13 Con 10 Cha 11 Cleric, Neutral 1 hp AC 1 Plate mail + shield, sling + 20 stones, mace, mirror (hand-sized, steel), holy water, backpack, tinder box, 6 torches, waterskin, 3 rations, 14 gp

Bernard is a priest of the church of Neutrality, wandering the world in search of adventure and preaching the value of moderation in all things and "it's impossible to say whether things are bad or good."

Jennifred Str 7 Int 10 Wis 11 Dex 7 Con 14 Cha 17 Magic-User, Neutral Detect magic 2 hp AC 9 Dagger, mirror (hand-sized, steel), pole (10' long, wooden), backpack, tinder box, 3 torches, waterskin, 4 rations, 6 gp

Jennifred is, by all accounts, a nice girl who just happens to be a magic-user. She's not particularly bright, she's clumsy, but she was still able to complete her apprenticeship through sheer positive attitude and lots of nights spent studying while burning the midnight oil.

Anyway, so that's our new party. Unfortunately, as it turns out, the free version of Hexroll doesn't save the state of solo sandboxes on its server, which I think is entirely fair because server storage isn't infinite and neither is maintaining such a service free. I am currently mulling through my options, including whether to become a supporter of Hexroll to be able to maintain continuity between my solo ventures, but for now this new party will have to go into an entirely new solo sandbox.

EDIT: In the meantime, if someone wishes to explore the previous sandbox, here it is!

[annerbhp]

So I think you’ve written some of my fav HP fanfic ever like ever ever and I see you’ve been obsessing over the untamed lately. Is there anything similar narratively that drew you to it or another reason why you’d recommend someone watch the untamed?

Thanks so much! That is very kind of you to say, and REALLY nice of you to give me a chance to blather on about The Untamed!

You know, sometimes I just think the right piece of media comes along at the right moment and just hits all the right buttons. I swear I can never see it coming until it does.

Part of the reason I started watching The Untamed in the first place was because I kept seeing random posts about it and I was looking for something to distract me. It was still during the most isolated time period of COVID. I'd also found that my attention span and ability to focus on one thing at a time was severely challenging at the time? Like I couldn't even watch TV without also playing a game on my phone or doom-scrolling. So when I started The Untamed looking for something to watch, the fact it was in a foreign language and I had to read subtitles like...fixed this for me? It allowed me to fully focus on something for the first time in a long time. I also really like the formats of Chinese dramas in general, in that they are long (50 episodes in this case) enough to get really invested in the characters and character arcs, but are filmed at the same time with a complete plot from beginning to end. It's just so much nicer than the American TV show format of "here's a season, maybe you'll get another, maybe not, maybe the plot will wildly change, maybe we'll keep upping the ante and randomly kill people off when actors get different jobs." So the combo of subtitles and format really appealed to me.

But as for why The Untamed in particular is great, well, there's a lot of reasons!

It's a world that has magic, which I always find fascinating. This fantasy setting is based off Chinese Daoist traditions.

It has the theme of young people forced into war far too young. (Sometimes it feels like the show is actually three different genres in turn: high school hijinks, gritty war movie, and a murder mystery caper, and each one is awesome.)

Which kind of leads to another of my favorite things: the character arcs. I love a show with thoughtful character growth and change over time and this one does that really well.

There are so many characters to love, all with their own drives and interests. I can't say this show does overly well by its female characters when it comes to plot, but when it comes to character development, they are all fully fleshed out and have their own drives and none of them exist to just be a love interest, which is nice!

There are Jane Austen-levels of romantic longing. Like, the show is based off a novel that is explicitly gay, and I do mean explicit. Yet thanks to censorship, everything is subtext that is played so well by the actors and clearly very carefully put in place by the creators of the show through music and things like framing and glances and symbolism and hand touches, did I mention the LONGING GAZES? They know what they are doing. This show is so romantic, I can't even get over it, especially since it could never really be explicitly stated, even though it totally is!! (I am such a sucker for romance.)

There is also absolutely beautiful music, cinematography, and costuming.

Phenomenal acting, even when some of the CGI is laughably bad, and most people playing instruments don't look at all like they are actually playing.

This show has tragedy and humor and highly competent people and complicated evil and historical trauma and a complete denial of black and white thinking. It never holds back from exploring the ways society can fail us and we can fail ourselves. And how we can still find ways forward.

Also, the show has some jaw-dropping plot reveals that I just did not see coming, though maybe other people did. It was one of those, "WAIT A MINUTE" moments when the moment the show ended I was determined to watch all 50 episodes again immediately with my new understanding. I love media that can pull that off.

Look, the opening scene is literally the main character falling to their death off a cliff and you get to spend the rest of the series trying to figure out how that happened and where the world goes from there. It's beautiful!

If you do try to watch it, the first episode or two is SO CONFUSING, and that's fine, just go with it. By episode 10 if you are not completely sucked in, then maybe it's just not for you. We get some non-linear story telling approaches that are so effective.

Also, not really a "why is the show so great" or anything, but the fandom for this show is so active and HUGE. Like, there are currently over 43,000 fics on AO3 for the main pairing in this fandom alone. You'll be reading for ages. Some of them are the best fics I've ever read.

Hmmm. I think I'll go read some Olympics AUs.

[ggadtomarry]

I say it again because I like repeating myself.

Evil!Albus doesn't make sense. Even worse, it actively destroys HP's story.

If Albus wanted... Idk, to kill Harry? He would have done it.

If he wanted control of UK he would have entered in politics.

If he wanted to destroy magic world's traditions he would have done it, and instead he's one of the most powerful and knowledgeable wizard alive, and he deeply respect magic culture.

If he wanted muggles to conquer the magic world, he would have helped them to.

If he wanted to rule muggles, he would have allied to his husband.

Like, I feel like not even writers who write bashing fics with evil!Albus know what they want him to do. They just want a cardboard villain for LV to destroy, no question asked, not answers given.

And that's a damn shame. Because LV and Albus have such an interesting relationship. Like, LV hates Albus, but he also respects him because he respects strength (he only understand brute force?).

Albus admits that Tom was the best student ever in Hogwarts, and he still doesn't want to kill him.

And the Phoenix core! Albus' Phoenix.

Also, they are both incredibly powerful half-blood in a world where pure bloods (more often than not inbred and variously ill and cruel) hold political and financial power and despise the not-pure ones . And still, against all the odds, against all the prejudice, Albus and Tom rose to highs no one wouldn't have ever believed.

So much alike. But no matter, it's their choices to be dramatically different.

And Albus intimately knows Tom. He knows how his incredible but twisted mind works. He knows that under his supervillain title, his edgy cult, his monstrous mask he's still the hurt angry manipulative boy who enjoyed hurting people. Who was rejected and abandoned by everyone, who reacted to suffering with violence, unable to heal himself. Who hated the world enough to be willing to see it destroyed. Who killed without an ounce of remorse, because human life is nothing for him. Who didn't stand for any ideals, just his power.

I really would like to praise how well Albus anticipated Tom's moves and manipulated him, and in the end defeated him from the grave.

1- he knew Tom was not dead, he knew he would have tried to kill Harry as soon as possible. So he protected Harry with the only magic Tom didn't disturb himself to learn. And it worked, as confirmed by LV himself in GoF.

2- he knew Tom wouldn't have been able to resist the call of the philosopher's stone and Harry in Hogwarts. He also needed LV to see the devastating effects of Lily's protection. He needed Harry to defeat him. Everything in order to push LV to desire Harry's blood for his great resurrection. It worked.

3- as he thought, LV went to insane lengths to use Harry's blood. And this was the only way possible for Harry to live. He needed to die for the horcrux to get destroyed. But lily's protection, now living in LV too, would have protected Harry even more formidably. Harry couldn't die until LV was alive. What a genius move!! The only way to save Harry, damned by the prophecy, and to defeat LV.

4- Tom was obsessed with fate, destiny. He truly thought he was chosen by higher forces to rule. And so Albus knew he would have wasted many energies to hear the damn prophecy. And LV did. And in doing so he made stupid mistakes such as appearing personally in the Ministry. It was stronger than his rationality (already compromised by his edgelord lifestyle).

5- he accurately guessed the identity and the location of most horcruxes.

6- he anticipated LV's plans: allying himself with creatures despised by Wizards. Because LV, in spite of his so-called ideology, doesn't really care who you are, just if you can be useful to him.

7- he knew well the neuroses and the twisted way of thinking of LV. He knew he wouldn't have researched on Lily's love sacrifice to better understand the implications of his rituals. He knew he wouldn't have reflected on domestic elves' unique magic. And this was his downfall.

8- in the end, everything worked out. Harry was saved. LV got defeated (mostly by his prevedibile mistakes).

I think Albus' genius in dealing with LV and still saving Harry is not recognized. Like, never? When it's one of my fave things in the series.

When Albus cries after Sirius' death? He admits his mistake: loving Harry. Because if he hadn't loved Harry, he would have killed him. One horcrux less. But he couldn't, he didn't. And he was right.

When LV possesses Harry and tries to tempt Albus to kill him? Foreshadowing. This was the path Albus was tempted (supposed?) To take. One life to save thousands. But he resisted temptation, and he was right in doing so.

Awesome. Inspiring. Such a great character. Such a great foil to LV. How I wish I could meet real Albus more in fics!!! He would enrich immensely Tomarry stories.

And not let me start on GGAD. What a great addiction to him being a foil to LV. The fact that GGAD and tomarry are not often paired together is a betrayal.

Last but not least: he never kills on screen. The implication is that he never killed. Fantastic!!! In fantasy story often the general idea is that a Real Hero/Man Kills. Albus doesn't, and he teaches Harry not to do it. And they still win.

Albus was an internationally renowned, admired, feared wizard. Tom was a genius, but he mostly funded his fame on his ability to murder people. Wow. Like, Tom was clearly able to do other things, not just murder and torture. He invented the incredible magic that allows you to bloody fly. But not, almost all his fame is funded on "great but terrible" things like murdering and torturing people. What a waste.

I think Albus pitied this broken beautiful cruel brilliant boy. And he was right.

[sprintingowl]

Jackals

Jackals might be the weirdest normal rpg I've read in a minute. It is d100, osr, fate, indie, traditional, historical, and ahistorical. It is a feature length system with rules for everything from morale to wilderness exploration, a hefty bestiary, and multiple sample adventures, and it feels like sixteen different colors of playdoh all smooshed together.

I think this is honestly going to be a favorite system for some folks, because despite the clunk of a lot of what it's doing, the whole is cohesive. The game works.

The basic pitch for Jackals is that it takes place in a sort of Stargate Sumerian mythic past on another world where an empire of animal-headed people has recently stopped oppressing humanity due to its catastrophic collapse. The PCs are spear-and-sandals militarized vagabonds who wander through ancient ruins and fight against the remnants of the empire.

There's a fair bit of worldbuilding and culture, and the book dances back and forth across the line between stereotype and fresh. Ultimately what it evokes is a sort of hollywood style world, where it feels a little staged but a lot of effort went into that staging.

And speaking of effort, the layout of Jackals is excellent and the artwork is full color, highly detailed, and very evocative of the setting. You can get a perfect snapshot of what Jackals' world is like by glancing at a single piece. John McCambridge knocked it out of the park with his illustrations.

Probably the closest comparisons to what Jackals is are The Bloody Handed Name Of Bronze (which is much more loose and story-tell-y) and Agon (which is much more narratively structured.) Both are solid systems, and definitely worth a look, but for now I'm going to stay on topic.

Jackals plays like the sort of rpg that you think of when you think rpg. You pick your culture, you assign stats, you roll d100 for checks, you fight hyenamen and steal their gold and use it to barter for a better helmet. However, in alongside all the special ability picking and magic learning and skill percent assigning there's fate points, a meta-currency called Clash that you can spend during combat to take more actions during your turn, a HP system that differentiates between sweat and meat, and a lot of clever little flourishes.

What I'm saying is there's plenty of familiar landmarks. You can power attack and dual wield and whatnot. But Jackals might have the most aftermarket additions I've ever seen bolted onto a d100 system, and it's surprisingly stable as a result.

When I started my read I wasn't sure what to expect from Jackals, but the more I mull over it the more I like it. D100 engines are squirrely, but Jackals caught that squirrel and cooked it into a delicious stew.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

The problems I have with HP's world building and the Wizarding World as a whole can be summed up perfectly with Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans. Sounds like a appropriately whimsical treat for a secret magical society. But, they beans flavoured like bodily fluids. We know there's ear wax and vomit flavoured beans, but I bet there are... other flavours.

And the question is, why? Why do that? Why sell something to children where there's a chance they might end up eating a bean that tastes and smells exactly like human shit.

Like, obviously, Rowling wrote it as a funny bit in a children's book that I doubt she expected people to dissect and nitpick over twenty years after she wrote it. But, in-universe, it shows that wizards just lack basic common sense. it's a wonder they made it to the 21st century without going extinct.

As weird as it sounds, I actually find the wizarding world fascinating in that it makes an eerie amount of sense: it's just not what JKR nor anyone else thinks it is/what it's supposed to be.

There's a larger post to be made but to me the wizarding world reeks of an extremely isolated and inbred society, complacent in their use of a technology they no longer understand and slowly forgetting aspects of that technology including the underlying fundamentals, neighbors to very different societies they feel threatened by for all they won't admit as much, and a society that has roots in western traditions but missed out on much of the Enlightenment/Post Enlightenment British history.

So, we see a world that's like Britain but... not...

The professors are there to teach, not go provide emotional guidance or emotional intervention of any kind with the students (read anti-bullying measures). There doesn't seem to be a child welfare or any kind of welfare system in place (orphans get a stipend to attend Hogwarts, but we see no mention of a wizarding orphanage/foster care system or money allotted to those like Ron Weasley who are poor but not Muggleborn). There are two historians ever mentioned and from what we see of Hogwarts a History it is not a modern western historical approach that's covered there. Everyone's extremely closely related and there are no actual positions beyond those a) made for yourself through entrepreneurship b) the ever bloated Ministry. They have no understanding of Muggles at all and those who claim to or wish to tend to be... grossly offensive is the only word I can think of.

It's a great satirical world of a decaying society and, most important, not quite one we'd be familiar with.

But this has nothing to do with your actual question (well, it does, but it's tangential).

To get back to the damned beans, from what we see, the wizarding world loves practical jokes and slapstick humor. Given they're wizards, serious injuries seem relatively easy to repair. If you start vomiting slugs all day, there's a potion for that. If you lose your bones, there's a potion for that. Blow off your hands, there's probably a potion for that.

What that means is that physical injuries in the wizarding world tend not to really matter. Unless you're using dark curses (see Bill's torn up face in HBP), you can probably get whatever it is fixed quickly. Which means that wizards find slapstick style practical jokes very funny.

Which gets us back to the candy.

The beans aren't alone, there are also the acid pops that actually burn through your tongue, blood pops that taste like blood, chocolate frogs which will jump away from you, ice mice that do... something I forget, but point being that we see wizards get very excited about the prospect of not only magic in their candies but some element of danger/just awfulness with it.

That's the exciting gamble of the beans. Sure, you might end up with a nice flavor, you might, but then you could end up with vomit or diarrhea flavored. When the latter happens, you can make a big show to your friends, "OH NO, I GOT THE VOMIT BEAN! OH HELLS, I GOT THE VOMIT BEAN! THIS IS THE WORST! I GOT THE VOMIT BEAN!" and everyone laughs at and with you over your terrible rotten luck over getting the vomit bean while Jimmy over there got strawberry.

It's kind of like a demented version of playing one of the first few editions of Mario Party: someone's going to be fucked over, that's just how the game goes, the delightful enjoyment of it is seeing who the loser is and lording it over them when you steal all their stars they eat the vomit bean.

Basically, you're kind of right about Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean. They exist because it's funny, I just think the wizards find it funny too.

[childotkw]

Would regulus have an accent if he came back from the warring clans era into hp universe?

Like.... I know he would have used some sort of translating/speaking spell but he would have definitely picked up the language eventually!

Also I feel like he would be too comfortable in a kimono to change into normal high class wizarding clothes and also to make izuna feel that he isn't standing out too much

Just imagine izuna and regulus sitting in a phoenix army (or whatever they're called) meeting and they just start talking shit about dumbldoors fashion choices in Japanese.

Imagine regulus asking kreecher for a traditional Japanese breakfast if izuna was feeling too homesick.

Imagine izuna finding out about sirius little jealousy problem and making it worse bc whenever reg isn't with them in the room he whispers to him ' I'm gonna steal your brother and take him to my clan bc he's ours and not yours >:) '

Also.

There has to be a scene where izuna has to show his ruthless shinobi side in all of his (I've been a child soldier then I was a war lord of course I'm gonna kill you without batting an eyelash) and he's coverd in blood and gore

((and all of the wizards are like : oh....

He isn't just a weird guy who reg domesticated like a wild but friendly raccoon....))

(((And reg would purse his lips, berate him for being reckless, and then offer to wash off the blood with a spell without missing a beat bc he's used to the violence from his time in the warring clans era)))

And ugh I have too many ideas I don't know why I'm so invested in this au but I love it and I love you

Good night

Aww I love you too!

And I think he would! Since you're right, he'd eventually learn the language himself, rather than rely on magical translation spells. It would make sense that an accent would crop up for him.

And yes, a lot of things for him would change. Even just a few months in the naruto!verse would leave it's mark. He'd definitely appreciate quite a few things about the culture - and there would be a lot of general lifestyle habits he'd change / pick up.

His sense of dress, the types of food he enjoys, what he drinks, how he talks and exercises...it would all be impacted.

It would be a startling change for anyone to witness. Regulus Black disappears for two months (maybe two years in the naruto!verse) and comes back with a tag-along, and seems to have become a completely different person.

Izuna would absolutely lean into it though. Regulus is his now. The dude very clearly prefers Izuna's home world to this place, and he has plans in place to whisk them back as soon as possible, regardless of what anyone - including Regulus' brother - thinks on the matter.

(Izuna is also 100% sure that if they take too long, Tobirama is going to cleave the universe in half to pluck them back. Or worse - come retrieve them himself. Their exit from this world will be less dignified than kittens being scuffed by an irritated mother cat and hauled back to the nest.)

He also would have many badass moments. This boy was born for drama and showing up a bunch of self-important, annoying wizards? He would leap at the chance. It's even better since he gets to defend Regulus at the same time!

[dramioneasks]

HP FESTS: HP Springtide Festival

HP Springtide Festival 2023:

Draco Malfoy and the Flying Wand by SybilEvergreen - E, one-shot - She averted her gaze and saw one of the sofa cushions flying through the air before an object zoomed towards them. Suddenly, the arms that had surrounded her released her, and she heard Draco shout. She turned around hastily. With his left hand, he held his head, a lump beginning to form on his reddening forehead. And with the other… Oh, Merlin… This was a nightmare…. “What in the world is that, Granger?” he asked, a dumbfounded look on his face, while he was holding her proud, bright pink wand in his right hand. She really should have accepted the glass of Firewhisky.

stomach butterflies by riddikulus_puff - T, one-shot - It had become a semi-monthly tradition at the small magical animal shelter where Hermione and her six-year-old daughter, Rose, volunteered. And it had become one of their favourite activities that they did throughout the whole year. Rose especially loved being surrounded by all the baby animals. It was a day for magical families — or single people — to come and visit the shelter and adopt some baby animals while greatly helping a charity organisation. This was where a divorced Hermione Granger met a widowed Draco Malfoy, along with his six-year-old son Scorpius.

Is it over? by Writer_Love4618 - E, one-shot - An assignment in Spain, an affair that leaves a mark. A bond that cannot be broken

Bunny Love by Jellylegswriter - T, one-shot - Harry and Hermione come up with a plan to host an easter egg hunt for everyone's kids. When Draco loses a bet and has to come dressed as the Easter Bunny, how will his night end?

This fest is ongoing.

[justtosealmyfate1]

HP, the press and what is means to be a celebrity: meta

One of my favorite topics is the media and how that would play out in the Potters’ lives post-war. I touch upon this in the reaction to Albus and Scorpius getting together. There’s a media whirlwind after the photos of the two of them kissing are released. 

(this is about my fic, the fates, which is about when Albus and Scorpius’ relationship is found out.)

A lot of HP fics take the tone of “the media is so intrusive and ruining everyone’s life” which is fair to an extent, and also the precedent JKR set with Rita Skeeter’s character in the original books. She’s clearly a parody of British tabloid writers. Celebrity is also explored differently across fics. In the books, Harry is very famous, and a politically important figure. He’s always in the newspaper! The Minister of Magic is coming to his Christmas dinner to court him! This notoriety would only grow after he defeats Voldemort. I see Harry as (this sounds so dramatic for talking about a fictional character) an Obama, Nelson Mandela, Malala type of celebrity. A political figure, a hero, a survivor but also a mainstay in popular culture. Plus, he’s married to an attractive Quidditch player, and I’m sure they captivate the world with their Posh and Becks, Taylor and Travis type love. This is all to say that I think the Potters are megacelebrities, and Albus is a celebrity child who would reap the rewards and face the consequences of that. 

The American media landscape (while of course not without its flaws) is very different from the British media landscape, particularly the tabloids. British tabloids are crazy. It’s brutal. The Daily Mail is a disgrace to journalism. I think this culture would also bleed into Wizarding media. 

However!!...the relationship between celebrities and celebrity media is symbiotic. The “royal reporters” at the Daily Mail aren’t actually doing any journalistic work (even though they should be… like tell me what the fuck is going on with Kate Middleton), they’re being fed stories by the palace. This absolutely happens in the US too. Publicists will feed stories to friendlier publications, like People. When “a source close to Taylor Swift” is telling Entertainment Tonight exclusively that Taylor and Joe Alwyn broke up, it’s her publicist. 

What does this mean for the Potters? Well, they absolutely need a publicist, they need to be working with a PR team and they need a media strategy. It’s funny to think about that in the context of the books, but that dynamic was seen in the Order of the Phoenix. Harry’s “PR team” of Hermione and Luna got Rita Skeeter to write a story about Voldemort’s return. That’s political news, not celebrity gossip, but it shows that Harry knows how to use the media to get what he wants. While I don’t think as an adult he’d be doing the Wired Autocomplete interviews, he’d know how to navigate the press to further his agenda and protect his family’s image. 

I think the Potter children would be pretty protected from the press. Rita Skeeter wrote in her 2014 Quidditch World Cup article that the Potters are wizarding royalty, which informs my opinion of how the mechanisms of their celebrity would play out. I wrote in the fates that Harry and Ginny release curated photos of their children in exchange for not taking paparazzi photos of them, a la the royal family. While Harry is more of a statesman-like celebrity, who has a carefully crafted image and is more likely to be seen at charity events, diplomatic summits and ceremonies, Ginny is different. As a Quidditch player she’s more of a traditional celebrity. She’s canonically popular but a guarded person. She strikes me as the type of celebrity who masterfully makes you think you know her, but you actually know nothing at all. 

As for the kids, I think there would be a lot of media attention and interest in them. Would they lean into that, like North West, or shy away from it? I think they’d shy away from it, especially Albus. I think James would be more open to press attention. 

The three press stories I wrote for the fates all reflect different types of celebrity news. There’s the traditional, factual Daily Prophet article, the Daily Prophet opinion piece, and the Simmering Cauldron radio show. The Simmering Cauldron is entirely based on Wendy Williams. Don’t tell me she wouldn’t do something exactly like that! The DP article is expository, and then the opinion piece is meant to showcase the discourse surrounding their relationship. 

There’s a whole debate to be had about how celebrity children should be treated and the role of celebrities in our culture in general, and Albus and Scorpius are great vehicles to explore this.

[headcanonandburn]

HP headcanons i found on reddit part 2

Oliver Wood and Marcus Flint end up on the same Quidditch team, get into a fight in the locker room when they find out they're on the same team, and then kiss because they actually have a shit ton of sexual tension.

The curse on the Defense position was anchored to Ravenclaw's Diadem.

Harry is Master of Death (when it fits).

Parselmouths have an affinity toward healing magic and that's why Voldemort is never seen using Parseltonue spells because he has no inclination toward healing.

Harry is still a Parselmouth after he dies.

Astronomy is mandatory for all students until fifth year because it is intermingled in almost all other pursuits of magic. Certain potions need to be brewed during this time of the year or this phase of the moon, certain ingredients (for both potions and herbology) are supposed to be gathered during a full moon or new moon, arithmancy takes into account star positions or whatever which helps with runes and spell creation, and all of this other shit that I don't feel like typing out.

Harry has rights to both the Slytherin and Gryffindor name. Gryffindor shares a lot of characteristics with Lily (the red hair and green eyes) and Harry conquered the last heir of Slytherin, making him the new heir of Slytherin via magic.

Luna isn't actually "loony" and the Quibbler is supposed to be read upside down with those glasses she's always wearing. The Quibbler spouts nonsense most of the time to hide the fact that they're actually publishing stories that contradict the government. Not necessarily my headcanon, but something I picked up after reading a fanfiction and full-heartedly agree with.

The Potters are technically a Most Ancient and Noble House but aren't a part of the Sacred 28 because their last name is a common Muggle name. They're descended from the Peverells, who were very powerful in their own right.

The Potters and Longbottoms have been allies for years.

Neville's Mum was Alice Smith, the last heir of Hufflepuff from a straight line, making Neville the heir to Hufflepuff. Hermione is from a Squib line from Dagworth-Granger and she is the heir to Ravenclaw. Harry is the heir to Slytherin or Gryffindor (or both) via his mum or dad (or both). Or Ron is the heir to Gryffindor (because he's a true Gryffindor in personality) and his brothers aren't the heir because all of the heirs must be in the same Hogwarts year because why the hell not?

Snape's hair is super greasy because of potions fumes.

Dean and Seamus are totally fucking. Same with Sirius and Remus.

Voldemort is batshit insane because he split his would numerous times until there was only a little sliver left. Bellatrix is insane because she's done a shit ton of Dark Arts and they corrupted her.

Wizards used to celebrate the "Old Ways" or Pagan holidays, but Dumbledore voted on pro-Muggleborns and he thought that it was rude to have Muggleborns accept non-Christian holidays so he removed the celebrations from Hogwarts, instead incorporating Christian holidays to make the Muggleborns "feel welcome" and having all of the "dark" families celebrate the holidays in their own time. Dumbledore tried to get Muggleborns and Purebloods to accept each other, but since he's not a politician, he went about it the wrong way. Instead of having them all accept one another, he said that purebloods must accept Muggleborns (by incorporating Muggle Studies and removing wizarding holidays) instead of teaching Muggleborns about the wizarding world. The result is that the Ministry now believes the Old Ways are dark but the rest of Europe celebrates pagan holidays and that's why there's the traditional Yule ball (that was celebrated before Dumbledore voted to remove pagan holidays after Grindlewald or Voldemort's first reign) instead of a Christmas ball.

Harry is not completely "light" because he is very good at Dark spells. Sectumsempra is a dark spell that he mastered on the first try.

Harry joins the Auror corp for a few years to find the rest of the Death Eaters before retiring to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts.

[rebma]

Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love

isthisselfcare

Spoilers

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Okay so I may have developed a slight obsession with dramione which I was not expecting, I'd always been a Hinny gal but this fic was delightful. The perfect balm to heal the soul wrenching Manacled shaped hole in my reading.

Not only was the world building around the HP universe incredible, I loved the use of traditional Celtic and British folklore and legend to accompany the already magical universe.

Plus, how adorable is isthisselfcare's besotted Draco?! And his relationship with the other characters was so good too, especially his friends from school and with Harry and Ron.

Great story, brilliant world building, beautiful love story and agonizing slow burn.