#every time Potter blows up for any reason I see a direct result in my day to day

[boot-prints]

Made the mistake of scrolling down the Hogwarts Legacy tag for a while, gonna blacklist it now so I can't keep doing it because it's not a helpful or productive thing to do. It's all kinds of infuriating though.

[twentiethcenturymoviesandtv]

M*A*S*H: The Characters Part 4: B.J. Hunnicutt, Sherman Potter, Charles Emmerson Winchester III and Conclusion

Of all of the cast shake-ups throughout M*A*S*H’s run, none were more impactful on Hawkeye Pierce than the departure of Trapper McIntyre.

The original ‘sidekick’ and best friend archetype, Trapper’s absence at the 4077th immediately took its toll on Hawkeye, who came back from R&R to find that his best friend had left without a note.  For both the audience and Hawkeye, however, there wasn’t much of a wait before his absence was filled with a newcomer: Captain B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell).

A surgeon hailing from San Francisco, California, B.J. was a newcomer, fresh out of med-school and completely unused to the horrors of front-line surgery.  Introduced at the start of the new season, (meeting Hawkeye in the middle of his frantic attempt to say goodbye to Trapper) it became instantly clear that he was no ‘replacement’, but instead almost an opposite, a foil to the previous character’s archetype and to Hawkeye himself.

Where Trapper was a womanizer, B.J. was a loving, devoted husband and family man, a Nice Guy who started the show out as a tad naive, gentle, and idealistic.  He was a prankster, sure, but he was more likely to take a stand and argue with Hawkeye than Trapper had been, possessing a temper that, once roused, could be dangerous (leading to at least one physical altercation with Hawkeye).  At the beginning, the ways of war are a sudden jolt to him, one that he doesn’t necessarily take well.  As with every character, as time goes on, B.J. began to change as a result of the war, growing a mustache in a distinct ‘anti military’ move, and becoming more jaded, slowly evolving into the cynic between himself and Hawkeye.

B.J. was a good man at heart, as concerned for his patients as Hawkeye, but without the level of external breakdown that Hawkeye tended to go into.  More of a Tranquil Fury type, B.J. managed to keep a reasonably cool head, (most of the time) and acted as a Morality Chain, a voice of reason where Trapper was an encourager.  He was a more mature character, a husband and father increasingly feeling the wear and tear of being forced miles away from his family without any way to see his daughter grow up.  He also possessed a nasty jealous streak, seen often when Hawkeye mentioned how much Trapper had meant to him.

Despite their differences, B.J. and Hawkeye became very close friends throughout the show’s run, constantly having each other’s backs and being each other’s coping mechanisms through the horrors of war.  As surely as the others, B.J. became part of the 4077th’s family, and as a result, his character required the same amount of closure that the characters that had been there from the beginning deserved.

At the end of the show, B.J., like the others, gets to go home, and we as an audience learn that B.J. really doesn’t like saying goodbye.

After dancing around it through an entire episode, B.J. leaves a final farewell message to Hawkeye, (and the audience) in a heartfelt display of affection to his best friend, the man who made Korea bearable for him.  In the end, in a fitting display of the entire basis of his character, B.J. does what Trapper never did: he left Hawkeye a note.

But he wasn’t the only newcomer to make an impression.

Following Henry Blake’s death, the 4077th was in desperate need of a commanding officer (someone to relieve Frank Burns from his tyrannical reign), and replacement came in the form of Sherman Tecumseh Potter.

In much the same vein as B.J. was the complete opposite of Trapper McIntyre, Colonel Potter was very much the Anti-Blake, in the best way possible.  A career army-man, Potter was both a dedicated surgeon and a dedicated army man, on his third war.  Hailing from Hannibal, Missouri, Potter was just the man to shape the 4077th into some semblance of order, following Henry’s bumbling chaos.

Although still a Reasonable Authority Figure with a sense of humor, Potter was no pushover, standing his ground against Hawkeye and B.J.’s schemes and Frank Burns’ wheedling.  A Father to His Men (and an actual grandfather – Potter was another family man, a direct contrast with Henry’s cheating), Potter settled in instantly, a Cool Old Guy with a love of westerns and horses who could be empathetic and caring for his unit in their moments of weakness, and also make sure that Klinger didn’t get away with this week’s Scheme.

Potter was probably one of the characters who developed the least as the show went on, most likely due to his already settled personality as an ‘Old Soldier’, but by no means did he leave Korea unchanged.  As the show went on, Potter had moments of hidden depths, notably in terms with hearing the news that the last of his old squadron had died.  Potter often grappled with his age, sometimes causing him to feel competitive with his surgical abilities, attempting to prove that he could keep up with the younger doctors.  Like the others, despite his age and experience, Potter was very human, afraid of making mistakes, and, after three wars, was thoroughly tired of the killing.

“They keep inventing new ways to kill each other. Why can’t they invent a way to end this stupid war?”

After the war ended, Potter, too, got to go home to his wife, Mildred, saying goodbye to his newfound family, and receiving a genuine salute from both B.J. and Hawkeye, becoming one of two characters Hawkeye ever saluted (the other being Radar).  In the end, Potter had his unit’s affection and respect, and left Korea with dignity.

“Well, boys – it would be hard to call what we’ve been through fun, but I’m sure glad we went through it together.”

Despite beginning the show as a potential ‘replacement’ for Henry Blake, he ended it, much as B.J. did for Trapper: as an entirely new character in his own right, who changed the dynamic of the unit in general, bringing a wholly unique style to his command, and the show in general.

But there was one other character who had yet to appear on the show: another ‘replacement’ character who quickly proved that he was no simple replacement.

Exit Frank Burns, replaced with Major Charles Emerson Winchester III (David Ogden Stiers).

Charles Winchester, originally from Boston and then stationed in Tokyo, was a thoracic surgeon and pediatrician, and very good at it.  Born into a wealthy family (Very Blue Blood) and schooled at Harvard, Charles was an asset to the 4077th once he was assigned there, (after trouncing a commanding officer at cards and boasting about it) despite multiple pleas to the unmoved Colonel Potter to be reassigned.  

“But, know this: You can cut me off from the civilized world, you can incarcerate me with two moronic cellmates, you can torture me with your thrice-daily swill, but you cannot break the spirit of a Winchester. My voice shall be heard from this wilderness, and I shall be delivered from this fetid and festering sewer.”

As with Potter and B.J. before him, Charles proved very quickly to not simply be ‘the new Frank Burns’, displaying instead a completely separate and different series of personality traits, not the least of which was competence.

While Frank’s less than stellar abilities as a surgeon were repeatedly the butt of many jokes (and a source of superiority for Hawkeye, Trapper, and B.J.), Charles was legitimately excellent as his job, his only difficulty being adjusting to the pace and style of ‘meatball’ surgery when not able to utilize the time and equipment available in high-end hospitals.  But there was more to Charles than simply being good at his job.

Charles joined the cast to fill in as an antagonistic character, a role vacated by Margaret several seasons ago, and a part left entirely empty thanks to the departure of Frank Burns.  However, while Burns tended to be ineffectual, more of a nuisance than a problem, a consistently ‘inferior’ character who was always obviously wrong, Charles typically had more weight and reason to his actions.  While consistently butting heads with Hawkeye and B.J., Charles’s snobbery and selfishness could be treated as a joke, yes, and his character overall as ‘worse’ than the other two Swamp inhabitants, but at the end of the day, Charles was simply more human than Frank, and thus, a lot harder to hate.

Despite multiple attempts to ‘Break the Haughty’, Charles remained steadfast and stubborn through his time in the war, a Gentleman Snarker who slowly revealed a Jerk with a Heart of Gold type of personality.  He had a great sense of Family Honor, and despite his Insufferable Genius tendencies, proved that he had Hidden Depths, (and a potential history of a Lonely Childhood and Parental Neglect) which occasionally showed to prove to the audience, and the rest of the 4077th, that Charles was no Frank Burns.  Indeed, despite never losing his position as a ‘foil’ to the 4077th cast, Charles remained a proud, but good man from the moment he arrived until the moment he left, another symptom of a show who had matured past the need for cartoonish sit-com villains.

Despite the fact that Hawkeye never succeeded in breaking the ‘Winchester spirit’, Charles did leave Korea a changed man.  Besides learning to operate in horrendous conditions, at a pace designed merely to keep people alive and not much else, Charles took one final blow in the M*A*S*H finale: “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen” that spoke to both his character, and the toll that war takes in general.

Throughout the show, it was made abundantly clear that Charles adored classical music, viewing it as a haven away from the war, allowing him to forget about it for a little while.  His love for music enabled him to connect with a group of Chinese prisoners of war, who know some Mozart.  Throughout the episode, Charles teaches them some more, bonding with them until a prisoner exchange sends them away.

Later, the POWs are killed en route to the exchange.  As they’re brought back to the 4077th, only one is still alive, and he dies before Charles even has a chance to operate.  This devastates him utterly, to the point where he destroys his own record of the song he’d been trying to teach them.

“For me, music has always been a refuge from this miserable experience… now it will always be a reminder.”

In the end, Charles gets to go home, and in a sign of how far he’s come, he leaves the 4077th on the last remaining vehicle, a garbage truck, with utmost dignity, remarking that it’s only fitting.  Charles leaves his 4077th family, and the audience, in a somewhat surprising turn of events, misses him, is sorry to see him go in a way that we were never sorry for the absence of Frank Burns.

There were other characters, sure: the paranoid Colonel Flagg, the kitchen and mess hall staffer Igor, Klinger’s mortal enemy, Zelmo Zale, Ascended Extra fan favorite nurse Lieutenant Kelleye, and sympathetic psychiatrist Sidney Freedman, or Margaret’s less than stellar husband, Donald Penobscott.  This was more evidence for the care and realistic development that the M*A*S*H world was given: a variety of people filling in alongside the main cast, making a comfortable family that over eleven years, viewers got to know very well.

In the history of television, very few casts have had the lasting impact on viewers the way the M*A*S*H cast did.  At the end of eleven years, the audience was owed that finale, a way to say goodbye in a fulfilling way to characters that had become very familiar, important, almost real to viewers who had been tuning in to see them grow and change for over a decade.

The cast of M*A*S*H each served a place in the stories, with unique characters with depth and personality that transcended the flat character types typical of sitcoms just a tad previously.  The audience knew these people.  They liked these people.  Every character feels real, genuine, and memorable, and their dynamics are nearly as memorable as the characters themselves.

Throughout the show, you watched these characters grow and change, finding new ways to approach situations, as viewers got familiar with the core traits of their individual personalities.  They work very well as characters, as people, both entertaining and compelling figures for the audience to want to spend time with every week.  They felt real, like people you could know in real life.

And it worked.

M*A*S*H’s characters are still loved to this day, for being both entertaining and stellar examples of what happens when television characters are written like real people, with flaws and growth and kindness in varying doses.

In the end, it is that humanity in each character that gives M*A*S*H it’s longevity, and what places these characters as some of the most iconic and beloved in American television history.

Thank you guys so much for reading!  Join us next time as we discuss M*A*S*H’s place in the times and the culture.  If you have anything you’d like to say, don’t forget to leave a comment!  I hope to see you all in the next article.

[nicophantom]

The Madness Within:

Prologue

Summary: Harry Potter was just about to start his fith year at Hogwarts when one night he had a chance encounter with a werewolf and gets bitten. Now he has to deal with his so called 'furry little problem' on top of everything else in his miserable life; an uncle with anger management issues, a bunch of back stabbing 'friends', a lying old fool, a bunch of 'bad guys' that are actually the good guys, and find out who his real parents are. Oh and let's not forget about his mate who is none other than Draco Malfoy. Will Harry be able to figure this all out and stop the real dark lord in time?

(I suck at descriptions so please read the story and judge for yourself and not by my shit show of a description.)

Warning ⚠️ abuse, cursing, bad grammar/spelling, and a shit ton of gay, so if any of that makes you uncomfortable then dont read this story! The gay train has left the station! You have been warned!

Dumdledore bashing, Weasley (Molly, Ron, Ginny, Percy) bashing! Good aunt Petunia, good Dudley, good Tom Riddle, etc.

I don’t own Harry Potter or any of the characters that’s all JK Rowling!

~~~~~~~~

3rd person POV

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        The night was dark and silent, the air thick with chilling tendrils of mist that weigh heavily on the street of privet drive. The eerie silence was shattered by a scream ripping through the air coming from the direction of the fourth house in neat row of squat buildings, though none of the neighbors noticed as usual. Inside the seemingly innocent family home a boy of about fourteen knelt facing the wall as lash after lash struck his back. The metal buckle of his uncles belt dragged through his skin as it stuck in his flesh after each blow, his blood dripping on the floor into an ever growing puddle.

        The boy grit his teeth tighter and pressed his palms into the cold, unyielding wall harder, trying not to think about the warm, sticky pool forming around his knees. 'Blood. My blood. Oh god, my blood.' He thought to himself. 'I hate this. I hate seeing my own blood. I hate this man, this muggle monster that is doing this to me. I hate my self for not fighting back. For not fighting harder. For being so weak. But if I did try to fight without my magic he would most likely beat me to a pulp then start beating Petunia and Dudley and I can't let that happen. No matter what. No matter how much I want to just leave it all behind.' His thoughts went on and on like this, with his uncle still wiping him and him still bleeding out on the floor. 'To just forget it ever happened and live my life, never even thinking of it again, or to just die even. To die, at this point, would be a blessing and a relief. If I had my wand I could perform a spell! but I don't have it, the muggle pig snapped it as punishment for accidentally waking up some of the neighbors with my screams from my nightmares and waking up the whole house from the same thing a few to many times.' the oh-so wonderful man, could he even be called a man, had been furious that his illusion of normalcy had been shattered by the boy when the worried neighbors had come over late one night two weeks ago to see if everyone was ok. They had been reassured that 'yes, everything was perfectly fine' and were sent back to their residence with a promise to have the boy taken care of immediately. The boy's uncle had then broken his wand, beaten him, then peacefully headed off to bed. the man, thing, had even 'generously' let him keep the splinters of his poor, shattered wand to 'remind him of his wrong doing' and his 'freakishness'.

The broken child just sat there, on the floor, silently sobbing, knowing that even a quiet wimper would get him into more trouble than he was already in, even then he accidentally let a few through which resulted in even more lashes. Not to mention that it would give that thing standing over him a great deal of pleasure knowing he was in so much pain. Eventually his uncle got bored with the belt and switched to fists, beating the shit out of the already bloodied and bruised boy. At one point he even pulled out a small, dull knife and slid it across the skin of his neck, his arms, his back, his legs, his chest, his face, every inch of available flesh held at least one sort of gash or an other. Eventually it was to much for the poor boy's mind to handle and he fell into the calm, dark, bliss of unconsciousness.

But who was the poor, broken boy you may ask. Well that's simple really. It was the golden boy. The savior of the wizarding world. The boy who lived.

It was none other than Harry James Potter himself. And he looked like he was the one who would need saving before long.

Or would he.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

——————————

note: My inspiration for this story came from 'Wolven Blood' by ONLY-OPEN-USERNAME on wattpad. I own the plot/story (and maybe a few OCs if I decide to add them later) so if for some strange and obscure reason you like this story so much you want to post it on your own account and/or an other website please ask me first! If I say you can please give me full credit for my story and send me the link to were you post it. I don’t really know how posting on tumblr works yet so please cut me some slack while I’m learning.

Well you lot of lunatics and nerds. Please leave a comment stating what you thought and any suggestion on ways to improve. Till next time, adiós!

~NicoPhantom

[gunterfan1992]

Episode Review: ‘Seventeen’ (S10E05)

Airdate: December 17, 2017

Story by: Adam Muto, Kent Osborne, Jack Pendarvis, Julia Pott

Storyboarded by: Seo Kim & Somvilay Xayaphone

Directed by: Cole Sanchez (supervising), Sandra Lee (art)

The clock ticks ever-nearer to the ending of Adventure Time, and this is not made any better by the fact that Cartoon Network keeps bombing us with, literally, days worth of new episodes every few months.

“Seventeen” was the first episode we received out of four on December 17 of last year, and it really ramps up the plot concerning Uncle Gumbald and Fern, while also nicely tying into the recurring event of Finn’s birthday!

In this episode, a mysterious green knight crashes Finn’s seventeenth birthday party, telling Finn that if he can strike him, he will win his green axe. Finn does as challenged, loping off the knight’s head and claiming his green axe as his own. Unfortunately, it was a ruse, and it turns out that the knight is still alive and ready to strike Finn in return! After a bit of discourse, the three decide to settle their duel by playing three party games: the Green Knight cheats and wins the first one, but Finn is able to best the knight in a second. The final game—a round of arm-wrestling—reveals who the Green Knight actually is: he is Fern, who somehow managed to survive the weedwhacking in “Three Buckets”.

At that moment, the Green Knight/Fern’s horse begins to speech, and it is revealed that Uncle Gumbald and his degenerate family members were hiding inside the whole time, watching. They were making notes to see how to bring down Bubblegum’s regime. Marceline (who was at the party and sequestered with Bubblegum an Huntress Wizard throughout this whole ordeal) becomes enraged and frightens Gumbald’s crew, which causes them to realize that Marceline may be the biggest threat to their plans...

For those not in the know, “Seventeen” is basically a resituated and restructured version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a Medieval, Arthurian poem about the titular Sir Gawain. As Wikipedia puts it:

It describes how Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table, accepts a challenge from a mysterious "Green Knight" who challenges any knight to strike him with his axe if he will take a return blow in a year and a day. Gawain accepts and beheads him with his blow, at which the Green Knight stands up, picks up his head, and reminds Gawain of the appointed time.

Sounds familiar, does it not? Either way, I’m always down if Adventure Time—which is fundamentally indebted to medieval lore about knights and honor—decides to borrow story elements from some of the greatest poems of all time! After all, I’m a pretty big lit fan.

But perhaps my favorite part of this episode is the voice actor for the Green Knight: Brad Neely. While Hayden Ezzy usually voices Fern in all of his forms, it is Neely who the show brought on to give the Green Knight a further mysteriousness. Neely’s done a lot of great, creative stuff (he created China, IL, worked on South Park, wrote that silly “George Washington” song that is floating around the ‘net, and created the Professor Brothers), but in my mind his magnum opus will always be Wizard People, Dear Readers. You might not know this, but I’m a major Harry Potter fan, and Neely’s ‘alternate audio book’ is such a treat for a major fan like myself.

But that’s neither here nor there. The point I’m trying to make is that Neely is a funny guy, and I’m glad that the show was able to secure him as a voice actor and give him a rather memorable character to play.

Unfortunately, this episode is not perfect, and definitely has its problems. My biggest issue with the episode, however, is its blocking and its resolution. Let’s start with the former.

Kim and Xayaphone have a very unique style of illustration and blocking. If you’ve read through my reviews, then you know that I have extremely varying opinions about their style, depending on the episode. Some times it works grandly, and accents the madcap or silliness inherent in a given episode. Other times it bogs down all the action, resulting in an episode that is, frankly, hard to watch. The blocking and illustration style in “Seventeen” isn’t so much bad as it is distracting. There are points where I’m immediately and openly reminded that I’m watching a 2-dimensional cartoon. Case in point: the scene where Bubblegum, Marceline, and Huntress Wizard are stuck behind the Green Knight’s forcefield. The three characters just stand there, awkwardly waving their hands in the air. It reminded me of a student animation film with the way it was poorly and—if I’m absolutely honest here—rather lazily animated. Other scenes were much better (Finn ripping his shirt off and then flexing his guns was really well ‘boarded, and made me laugh), but they are sadly too few and far between.

My second big gripe with this episode is its resolution. I understand that this is a cartoon for children, but having the bad guy reveal himself (or, in this case, themselves) and then explain their super evil plot is just lazy. Even if Uncle Gumbald didn’t want to engage any further, there was no reason for him to announce himself and then declare his dastardly plan to his rather intelligent grand-daughter. Would not it have made more sense for him to gather his intel and then sneak off into the night to strike another time? And what is more, I completely buy the idea that Marceline would scare the bujeezus out of Gumbald and his crew but Marceline’s antics in this episode aren’t really that scary (compared to say, what she does in “Henchman”), nor do the reactions of Gumbald et al. read as ‘scared’. They come across more as mildly bored.

But all in all, the episode isn’t bad—I must stress that. I enjoyed the gags, many lines of dialogue, and the further exploration of Finn’s personality. It’s just that it did not live up to the source material, and it suffered from a few major issues.

Mushroom War Evidence: None.

Final Grade:

Once again, sorry about the massive delay. Life stuff, man. Life stuff.

[drarrylovebot-blog]

Tinged With Gold

Prompt: “How long has it been since you’ve slept?” (SOULMATE AU)

“How long has it been since you’ve slept?” Harry asks a little bit awkwardly as Malfoy stands in the middle of his living room, some soot cling in his ridiculously tattered posh clothes and disheveled hair –a result of arriving in Grimmauld Place’s Floo. Harry carefully takes in Malfoy’s form, his blond hair is for once looked as disheveled as Harry’s, there are bags under the grey eyes, and his cheekbones are more pronounced now than ever. Harry realizes that for once, Malfoy lets himself looks fragile and vulnerable in front of Harry. Malfoy only answers Harry with a shrug, but his eyes looks tired, his demeanor drains from his usual arrogance or mocking attitude, Malfoy looks like he’ll be glad to just lie down and never gets up until the near future –most probably not ever. Harry sighs as he knows the feeling as good as he knows the back of his hand. “Come on, we both need some rest.”

Harry walks to his bedroom, and leave Malfoy in the middle of the room while he goes inside the bathroom and locks the door. After some pause, Malfoy finally reacts to the situation.

“Potter, where should I sleep?” Malfoy asks quietly that Harry won’t hear anything if he isn’t near the door.

“You see that big bed in the middle of the room?” Harry answers him sarcastically.

“Okay, and where would you sleep?”

“You do see that the bed can fit almost 10 people, don’t you, Malfoy?” Malfoy keeps his silent for awhile.

“Potter, I am not sharing a bed with you!” He finally splutters with as much dignity he can put in his tone.

“Yeah, you’re welcomed to go back to your Manor, if you can, but no, your mother specifically asked me to bring you here, and seeing how she reminded me about life debts and all, I cannot say no. So, just suck it up, Malfoy.”

“And does that deal oblige me to be in the same bed as you?”

“Well, no, but there’s no other decent bedroom, seeing this is the first time I came here after a full year sleeping on the forest ground. Kreacher is definitely off limit as he hasn’t materialize out of thin air when we arrived, and seriously Malfoy, I’m too tired to have this kind of conversation. Just please for once listen to me, and sleep in the bed.” Potter’s voice sounds very weary, and that’s the only reason why Draco actually shuts his mouth. He has the fucking Dark Lord sleeping in the same house with him, surely he can endure a night in the same bed as Potter. Besides, Potter has just saved the bloody Wizarding world, surely he ought to have some respect to let him has a peaceful night.

Draco takes his turn to use the bathroom in silence. He doesn’t make any comment about Harry’s lack of hair product –surely that’s why his hair always looks like a bird nest. He also keeps his silent about the dim lit bathroom –like Potter said no one has been here for a year, maybe even two. The only time he speaks is when he asks to borrow some of Potter’s pajamas, and even then he keeps quiet when Potter gives him a very Gryffindor boxer –the red and gold seem very bright, they almost glow in the dark. Draco sighs heavily after a few long moment of being in the same bed as Potter –it’s dark as Potter doesn’t sleep with the lights on, the silent has become very awkward, and Draco is basically tucked under the coverlet as far as he can be from Potter without falling of the bed.

“Potter? You awake?” Draco knows none of them has fallen asleep –he’s not even sure they actually can, but he asks anyway.

“No, Malfoy, I’m asleep. Do shut up.” Harry says with as much sarcasm he can put to cover his exhausted tone. Why does he have to be trapped with Malfoy, of all people, just the night after the war? Merlin, everyone knows he hates Malfoy.

“May I say something?” Draco asks once again with all of the hesitation he carries in his being. This somehow gets under Harry’s skin.

“Just spill already, you git, I’m trying to sleep!” Draco ignores the bite. He understands what Potter is doing; seeking for a fight, after all that is the best they can do towards each other for the last seven years. Draco tries to find every bit of bravery inside his body, every bit that is left after the war. He knows he has to do this. This is the right thing to do, just like when he saved Potter in the Manor, and when he throws his wand toward Potter when he came back to life. This feels just as right, and if he could do that, he should be able to do this.

“I want to thank you for saving my life, and I want to apologize for my behaviours toward you for the last seven years in school.” Draco says quietly, letting himself to be vulnerable inside the dark room. Potter doesn’t say anything. Potter doesn’t say anything for a very long time that Draco thought he falls asleep.

“And do you really believe that it will be over once you apologize?” Harry asks with anger in his voice. Draco looks over the outline of the boy in his right side. Potter is staring at the ceiling of the four posters bed, the moonlight from the window illuminates how tense his jaw is. Potter is angry.

“No.” Draco says softly, honestly, which makes Potter’s head snaps at Malfoy direction. The moonlight is lighting each and every Draco’s feature as he is in the direct line of Potter’s window. The glowing pale blond strands, the pointy chin, the sharp and high cheekbones, the exhausted face, even the faint purplish bruise on his sharp jaw, and the cut above his left eyebrow, but Harry also sees the determination inside the grey eyes –determination and vulnerability. Draco looks at the green eyes with sincere honesty, and he can see the anger inside them dissolves into something a little bit softer. Understanding, if Draco can guess, and that’s why Draco continues his sentence. “But it’s a start of something.” Draco dares to quirk the end of his lips, so his mouth turns into a small smile as he goes back to watching the four posters bed’s ceiling.

“Your mother said about this house is the only place you need to go as you are not going to visit the Manor until she said so. She said the Manor should be purifies from any trace of Voldemort’s existence before you can go back there,” Potter chuckles a little bit after that, “and then she said that this house will help you heal because the magic correspondents with you. It is the House of Black, and you carry the Black’s bloodline inside your body. Therefore, the house belongs to you.” Draco hears the bitterness behind Potter’s nonchalant attitude.

“This house is yours, Potter. Sirius Black gave it to you; you’re the only rightful owner of Grimmauld Place. I’m only here as a guest who seeks for shelter after a war.” Draco says as nonchalant as Potter tries to be. They fall back to silence, until eventually Potter gives out a little yawn. Draco knows they need to sleep, but he is not sure whether they will actually succeed on doing so or not. No, they have to sleep before Draco blurts anything else, he still preserves his dignity –as low as it already is.

“Go to sleep, Potter. We both need it.” Draco says as Potter gives out another big yawn.

“Okay.” Potter says sleepily. Draco turns to his left side, his back facing Potter, and tries to get comfortable in the long stretch silence. “Goodnight, Draco.” A quiet, sleepy voice comes from behind him, which makes Draco gasps as his breath is stuck in his throat. He stays silent for awhile, trying to vanish the lump in his throat. He stays silent until he can breathe properly, until he’s quite sure he can hear Harry’s soft snores in the dark room.

“Goodnight, Harry.”

The moon is hanging proudly in the black ink sky, piercing its light through the window of No. 12 Grimmauld Place, specifically illuminating a four poster bed, in which a raven haired boy with a scar on his forehead and a pale blond boy with a dangerous black skull and serpent in his arm are sleeping the night away. Minds hundreds of miles away from the reality, as one is full of snake and tortured corpses and the other one of dark forest and familiar corpses. The moon witness how in reality both are seeking something unconsciously from each other –comfort, solace, redemption, salvation, anything – anything they can get and take, anything they can give. As the hours pass, two sleeping bodies keep moving towards the others, almost like being pulled slowly by a magnetic force, not so strong they collides too hard, but strong enough that they can’t resist the pull. As the images in both minds only get more terrifying, sweats forms on their body, hands actively seeking for something to hold their ground, until finally their hands find each other to give the comfort they terribly desire. A small touch of light warms the dark and lost minds –some resemblance to a purpose or just something to reach for and to keep inside their hearts. Something they should never let go.

And so the moonlight beams a little bit stronger when fate finally seals one more deal for the night. The wind blows gently, sending the words of joy to all corners of the world. The rain pours, wiping out the day’s dreadful ordeal of the war. And the earth finally tastes a sweet drop of happiness as one small miracle has happened after a day of so much lost and grief. The fate has once again intertwined two souls into one path of life, letting a single touch of unconscious comfort in the night glows with a blinking golden hue, and destiny has finally connected the soul of the Saviour of The Wizarding World with the soul that was created to be his, and his only for as long as both men were created.

.

.

Here is Part II | Part III | Part IV

[kktravelblog]

england: april 2018

I finally reached my breaking point of sitting at a desk this past April. I always knew it wasn’t for me, but thought I’d give it a valiant effort. I mean after all, it is what everyone else was doing. After months of contemplating what’s next, I decided to quit my desk job while still giving a somewhat traditional path a try and found a nanny position in Hoboken. And the best part of changing jobs is having the opportunity to have a free week of vacation time built in. If you don’t do this, you’re honestly missing out. 

I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go. Typically, I use every vacation opportunity to go somewhere exotic with beaches, diving, mountains and hiking, but because summer was right around the corner, I decided to go to cloudy England, which would be only the second time I’ve visited Europe. This always comes as a shock to people, but it just hasn’t happened yet. However, this time around, England was almost too easy to pass up because my two good friends from Australia, Anna and Katie, already lived there and I had free places to stay. So within less than a week, I had a trip planned and was on my way. 

This was my first solo traveling experience, which I really want to do one day (stay tuned AGAIN). I had gone to Australia alone, but I view that as a completely different category of travel. I looked it as a real small baby jump though, since I would technically have two friends awaiting my arrival in each city I was to visit. And they speak english. But it was still a step in the right direction.

I arrived in London, found wifi to alert Katie, then started my journey to her flat just outside of center city London. Once I got off the tube and made my way outside, I found Katie waiting for me. And no joke, the second I stepped outside, I felt like I was in Harry Potter. To all of you that don’t know, I am a huge fan of Harry Potter. To me, it has always been a mysterious place created in my brain while reading the books and later by Hollywood. So to see the country it was created around was surreal. I probably mentioned “that looks just like Harry Potter” more times than I can physically count. But it still blows my mind. *American fangirl* 

Katie’s flat was only one stop outside the center city of London, making it extremely convenient and a great place to be. After a quick pitstop to refresh after the long flight, we headed into the city to meet up with her boyfriend and to have lunch at this cool indoor food truck market/explore a bit on her lunch break. I was quickly informed on this mini tour just how many buildings were older than the United States of America, which is pretty nuts to think about. I never cared for history, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around that fact. Katie and her boyfriend both had to head back to work, so I was left to explore the city on my own which resulted in me walking over 15 miles. I saw a lot, including Big Ben (although under construction), the London Eye, the bridge that collapses in Harry Potter, the London Bridge (from the famous song), and more. Somehow, in a square mile city though, I somehow managed to completely miss Buckingham Palace. Not sure how and the only way I realized is when I later complained that I didn’t get to see the men in the red suits and Katie and her flatmates were flabbergasted and made me show pictures of where I was.   

While exploring the city was great, my most memorable day in London, to no surprise, was my solo trip to Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio. IT WAS BLOODY BRILLIANT. I know you get it, I am a huge fan, but I just cannot help myself. Magic is so cool. I spent over three hours there, winding through the sets and reading everything available. I was incredibly shameless, to the point that not only did I have strangers take my picture throughout, but I also mounted a broomstick in front of a green screen just so I could get a video of me flying through Harry Potter scenes. Some call it desperate, but it’s really commitment. Don’t worry the short clip is public, but I have the full version waiting for your viewing if you choose to want to see it. Warning, it’s two minutes long. I also don’t think its fair if I leave out that the majority of the other people there were either couples or families. I was the only single person, who got ID’d for age. ID’d at the Harry Potter studios. But honestly, there is no shame in this game. 

The next day I headed back into the city to see Buckingham Palace. Not making that effort would have been embarrassing. It’s like completely missing the Empire State Building. It honestly was worth it to see too. It puts the White House to shame, that’s for sure. After that, I spent the rest of the day wandering and then met up with Katie for dinner. We had an early night as I had planned to set off to Birmingham early the next day, with a stop to see Stonehenge and Bath on the way. 

Stonehenge was really cool. I’ll be honest. I skipped the museum part due to timing (and lack of interest), so I honestly cannot tell you much about it. But I can tell you the rocks were really cool and my timing with the weather was impeccable. The entire drive to Stonehenge, plus the short bus ride from the parking lot, it was downpouring. But I swear, as soon as I stepped off the bus, the clouds parted and the sun came out. Luck was on my side. I’ll get to why in a second.

Next up was Bath. Bath is a really unique city and I definitely recommend stopping by if you have the time when you’re in England. It’s known for its natural hot springs, Bath Abbey and Roman-era Baths as well as the architecture. The architecture is traditional and old-fashioned, however the overall vibe of the city and the stores within are new and modernized. I could totally see myself living here. Check it out, and let me know what you think. 

And finally, I made it to Birmingham, where Anna and I quickly headed to the local food truck markets to eat and catch up. Anna (she’s American) had been my closest friend in my Australian adventure and recently moved there with her Australian boyfriend. Dreams do come true. 

This is where traveling gets cool. While in England, I had the opportunity to go visit Richard and Helen Combe at their countryside English home. Turns out, luckily, they live right outside Birmingham. If you don’t recall, I met Richard on the top of Rob Roy Glacier in New Zealand in 2015. It was a series of weird coincidences that brought us together, but showed me just how grateful I am for how the world works and the people it brings into your life. Richard had lost his son, Stephen, in a helicopter crash a week prior to us meeting. We only spoke for a short time that day, but it was an incredibly impactful conversation. After tracking him down, I was able to reach out and maintain a friendship with him and his wife Helen throughout the years. It was really cool to hear their side of the same story and how many similarities there were, most notably, that we were meant to find each other for a good reason. Spending the day with them in England will forever be one of my most memorable traveling days, of course, after the day I met them. They welcomed me into their home as one of their own and showed me a glimpse into their lives, including meeting their daughter and Helen’s mother. They also told me tons of stories, showed me around their town, took me on a short walk to a part of the city where you could see Wales in the distance, and updated me on their lives, while also being incredibly interested in mine. I will forever hold that day incredibly close to my heart. 

I should also mention, I am not spiritual in any way. I believe in a lot of cliches like things always work out, when there’s a will there’s a way, etc. but I am not spiritual by any means. Except I do believe their son Stephen played a huge impact on how seamlessly my trip worked out. From the plans, to the odd weather occurrences, to how close they lived to the only other city I was visiting to… did i mention the car company randomly upgraded me from some random car to a Mercedes A class (still don’t know what it means, but know that is definitely an upgrade) for free? All of those things had to of had some help. It doesn’t make sense otherwise. But it was these moments that really reminded me of how special my friendship with Richard and Helen is. And what it reminds me of life. I always say the punchline of every joke, story, moment will always come, but sometimes not right away. And this one proved it by coming three years later. 

Ok back on track now… Sometimes I need to include things for you guys, but also for my own personal memory. 

After my visit with Helen and Richard, I headed back to Birmingham to meet Anna. We would later go to dinner at the local pub, and embarrassingly mess up trivia questions based on America. I spent the next day literally laying in bed, watching Netflix, letting my body relax from jet lag and waiting for Anna to get out of work so we could head back to London to hang with Katie. 

My last day was super special in terms of friendships. It was really great to hang with Katie and Anna together again and honestly felt like no time had passed by since we had last been together in Brisbane. We spent the day exploring London and different markets, walking the waterway and eating good lunch (my fav meal). And of course, Kings Cross and platform 9 3/4. That night, Anna and I were left to pick a restaurant on our own. And in true American fashion ended up unknowingly picking a chain. It was still good. Heck, I’d go back. Later, we met a few of Anna’s friends at this really cool bar that legitimately had a tree in it (that Lexi also recommended. If she ever reads this blog, I needed to make sure she got her call out) and then would later go to a London club. Did you know London clubs close at midnight? No? Me neither. It’s weird to me. But we ended the night the right way, by eating pizza and face-timing both B and Eric. No better way to end the trip than all back together. If not physically, but technologically.

The next morning, I woke up at 4 am and made the trek back to the states, through Dublin, where I was able to try a Guinness at 7 am their time. I couldn’t tell you what time my body was on. However, I refuse to count that as real. I will go to Ireland for it. Again, I can’t say it enough, this trip was special in so many ways. I know it’s getting cliche. Not only with Richard and Helen, but also it was really cool to see two of my closest friends from Australia in a different country and spend the day like no time had passed. I really look forward to when we can all cross paths again. But Anna, to be honest, it’s your turn to come to the city. Katie already did. And B and Eric, you too. 

And now I was off to live a semi-traditional life of being a nanny in Hoboken at 27 years old. 

[mechanon]

Chocolate Box 2018

General DNWs: Underage (sexual activity that would be Explicit/Mature rated under 16, any sexual/romantic interaction under 13), snakes, m/f or m/m unless otherwise requested, polyamorous relationships or poly evangelism, queerplatonic discussion, the split attraction model, asexual headcanons, trans headcanons, AUs other than canon divergence. 

General dislikes: Incest, infidelity (breaking up because of an attraction to someone else or an unacted upon attraction are fine), sexual/romantic relationships between teachers and pupils, significant power or knowledge imbalances in romantic relationships

General likes:  Unhappy endings, character studies, POV change scene rewrites,  casefic, gen, het, slash, femslash, similar levels of respect and affection between people in romantic relationships,

The Invisible Library - Genevieve Cogman

Fandom Specific DNWs: Unrequested relationships

1. Irene/Bradamant

I love Irene and Bradamant’s relationship in canon. Anything that explores their pre-canon relationship would be amazing or something that explores their feelings after The Burning Page.

2. Irene/Zayanna

Zayanna lives and gets to be a secondary character in Irene’s story or she dies and Irene explicitly grieves for her. Or she gets her promised assignation with Irene properly.

Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch

Fandom Specific DNWs: Thomas Nightingale/Peter Grant

Fandom Specific Likes: Newtonian Magic, the hints at other magic systems, scientific exploration of magic, the demi-monde, Beverley/Peter.

1. Beverley Brook/Sahra Guleed

How does Sahra reconcile magic and the river gods with her faith?

Sahra and Beverly working together or just chilling together.

Sahra and Beverly swimming together in Beverley's river or the Thames.

2. Caroline Linden-Limmer/Beverley Brook

Caroline and Beverley are both really interesting characters who have very determined mothers. How do they get on?

3. Helena Linden-Limmer/Varvara Sidorovna Tamonina

Did Varvara and Helena ever meet before canon when they were both wild young things? How would they get on meeting post the Hanging Tree?

4. Jennifer Vaughan/Sahra Guleed

Both Jennifer and Sahra feel like they’re coming at magic from the same direction and are both professionally ambitious through conventional directions.

5. Mama Thames/Varvara Sidorovna Tamonina

Any time period would be great but precanon before either of them were settled in their powers would be awesome or post Night Witch when Varvara is constrained by the Folly would be amazing.

6. Miriam Stephanopoulos/Original Female Character(s) (Rivers of London - Aaronovitch)

Miriam Stephanopolous and her misses in the country interacting would be brilliant or Stephanopolous trying not to collect every case with possible Falcon link or being called by other DIs who’ve got to deal with the Folly.

7. Molly (Rivers of London) & Thomas Nightingale (Rivers of London - Aaronovitch)

Molly interacting with people outside the Folly or taking care of Nightingale would be cool. An exploration why is she so scared to leave the Folly or her relationship with Nightingale outside of Peter’s observations. A Molly/Nightingale take on any of these would be good.

8. Olivia Jane McAllister-Thames/ Phoebe Beaumont-Jones

What’s it like dating someone who’s mum can drown you if you piss her off? How did Tyburn being the last to know affect Olivia’s relationship with her mum? Is Olivia innately magical?

9. Peter Grant & Abigail Kamara (Rivers of London - Aaronovitch)

Peter experimenting with magic. Abigail and Peter having lessons. Nightingale getting permission from Abigail’s parents to start teaching her.

10. Peter Grant & Lesley May (Rivers of London - Aaronovitch)

Lesley is a far more interesting character to me as a villain than she ever was as a god guy and I’ve loved the recent comic hints that Peter’s perception of her as a better police officer wasn’t shared by their senior officers. Please don’t make this a deep cover mission for her. I find Peter’s continued belief that she could be saved interesting and would love to see whether she wants to be saved or to corrupt him explored. An outside perspective on their relationship would also be interesting

11. Sahra Guleed & Peter Grant (Rivers of London - Aaronovitch)

I love Peter and Sahra’s interactions in canon and would love more particularly in the form of case fic or case interludes.

Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Fandom Specific DNWs: Cursed Child mentions

1. Crookshanks & Minerva McGonagall (Harry Potter - Rowling)

I love Crookshanks as a character and would love to see him interact with a feline animagi. Given his support for Sirius it would be interesting to know if he’s a rule breaker who causes McGonagall problems or if they get along.

2. Crookshanks & Mrs Norris

I love Crookshanks as a character. Given his support for Sirius and Hermione and co.s’ tendency to be in trouble with Filch it would be interesting to see a rivalry or dislike between him and Mrs Norris.

3. Crookshanks & Sirius Black

I loved the relationship shown between Sirius and Crookshanks and would love to see more of it either during PoA or GoF when Sirius is hiding outside Hogsmead or during OotP at Grimauld Place.

4. Fleur Delacour/Nymphadora Tonks (Harry Potter - Rowling)

While they never met in canon they are both very competent women who as presented should have a lot in common. Whether that results in them rubbing each other the wrong way or connecting instantaneously I would love to see them together on Order business.

5. Hannah Abbott/Susan Bones (Potter - Rowling)

They’re the classic femslash ship of HP for a reason. I would like to see them fumbling their way through life outside of Hogwarts after the war and dealing with the aftermath.

6. Hermione Granger/Ginny Weasley (Potter - Rowling)

This is another ship where I’m mostly interested in it post the war. They both went through very different but equally traumatic experiences. Can we pretend that Hermione/Ron never happened but the fall out of Harry/Ginny and their relationship would be interesting?

7. Hermione Granger/Lavender Brown (Potter - Rowling)

HBP era jealousy would be amazing but not if that jealousy focuses on attraction Ron.

8. Hermione Granger/Luna Lovegood (Potter - Rowling)

I loved Luna and Hermione’s interaction for OotP on and would love to see either awkward one-sided crushes on either side during the Hogwarts. Academic disagreement leading to sex/snogging where neither side is exactly right is my favourite kind of post-Hogwarts Luna/Hermione.

9. Lavender Brown/Parvati Patil (Potter - Rowling)

I love their friendship and would love to see it as more. I’m a sucker for heart wrenching grief so kill one of them off and make them suffer.  I would be happy with m/f end game for this ship especially if that was Lavender/Ron or Parvati/Ron coming together as a result of either Lavender or Parvati’s death or they look back on their relationship fondly and not as an experiment.

10. Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley (Potter - Rowling)

I like one-sided pining for this ship. A childhood crush for Luna where she has to watch Ginny pine for and then catch Harry or a post-war attraction of Ginny’s where she has to watch Luna be happily married to another woman especially if that woman is Hermione and Ginny worried that she would lose Harry to her before marrying Harry.

Shetland (TV)

1. Alison MacIntosh & Jimmy Perez (Shetland (TV))

I loved Tosh and Jimmy’s relationship in Shetland and would love to see more either as case interludes or case fic.

2. Phyllis Brennan/Rhona Kelly (Shetland (TV))

The conflict between Phyllis and Rhona in the aftermath of season 3 really appealed to my love unhappy endings. I would love to see their relationship disintegrate either specifically as a result of Phyllis’s actions or another reason

3. Rhona Kelly & Jimmy Perez (Shetland (TV))

I enjoy Rhona and Jimmy’s relationship. They have similar experiences as new comers to Shetland even though Jimmy is from Fair Isle and I would love to see that explored. Please no Jimmy/Rhona implications or implications that Jimmy’s relationship with Fran is not real.

4. Rhona Kelly/Alison MacIntosh

I would particularly be interested in this as a destructive post season 3 relationship where they are both hurting but something prior could be very cool.

Crossover Fandom

1. Abdul Haqq Walid (Rivers of London) & Jimmy Perez (Shetland - Ann Cleeves)

I would love a crossover between these series and Dr Walid feels the best character to drag up to Shetland as he at least has family in the Highlands. Case fic, pretty please.

2. Jennifer Vaughan (Rivers of London)/Fran Hunter (Shetland - Ann Cleeves)

While the timeline would have to be massively messed with I’d love to see these to women interact and they are my second choice for the best characters to mesh these series together. Watching Jimmy’s mind blow as he realises his wife/girlfriend has had a previous relationship with a woman is a big part of the appeal.

3. Hermione Granger/ Bradamant (The Invisible Library) or Hermione Granger/Irene (The Invisible Library)

Let’s be real, this just sounded hot to me and with the amount of time Hermione spends in Libraries they’ll have to meet at least once.

4. Hermione Granger/Beverley Brook or Hermione Granger/Cecelia Tyburn Thames

Seeing these to very different worlds would mesh would be great. I’d love to see the conflict between Beverley and Hermione’s very different personalities or Tyburn and Hermione’s very similar personalities

5. Natasha Romanov (MCU)/Mama Thames or Natasha Romanov (MCU)/Varvara Sidorovna Tamonina

Natasha is my favourite MCU character and I figure she must have come across Mama Thames or Varvara at some point in her travels. I would love to see how Natasha deals with these women with who are so much more personally powerful than her and in the case of Mama Thames, politically more powerful. Varvara and Natasha dealing with how Russia has moulded them but still not being what Russia wants would be cool.

6. Jane Marple (Marple - Christie)/Minerva McGonagall (HP)

I would love to see Miss Marple in the Wizarding World. I imagine she and Augusta Longbottom would coldly but politely disagree. I would like to see how she deals with the Wizarding World especially if she is a muggle or squib. Whether she and McGonagall have a fractious relationship of people who are too similar and have all the same faults they dislike in themselves or they get along like house on fire it just sounds like fun.

Original Work

1. The Anthropomorphization of Death/Half-Orc in Search of a Honourable Death

I’ve never seen an anthropomorphic death I didn’t love and the idea of death dealing with someone who wants death sweet embrace is interesting. I’d love to know why the Half-Orc is searching for death, whether that is death as a concept or this specific death, and why their death needs to be honourable, and what for them constitutes a honourable death.

2. Bored Female Physics Prof who Built a Time Machine Last Week/Female Human Intergalactic Ambassador

I love time travel and xeno species. I would love to know more about what the intergalactic ambassador is doing and how the physic professor meets the ambassador. Does she appear on another planet that the ambassador is based on because the location of her time machine is no longer on earth? Is the professor from our world or has alien contact already happened and this is an on going relationship when she gets bored and builds a time machine?

3. Confused Courier/Inhabitant of an Impossible Address

I love the concept of this. I would love for impossible addresses to be a known thing in this world but for the courier not to know this address is impossible. It feels like the kind of story that lends in less to a 5+1 style format with five failed delivery attempts or that strangely work and one successful delivery, for example.

4. Female Squid Selkie/Original Fisherwoman

Wow oh wow, what did you catch? And can you keep it?

Squid selkies are and awesome idea and sea based smut with tentacles would be amazing.

5. Forest Witch/Female Embodiment of the Forest

I would love for the embodiment to be very much a metaphor in this case.

6. Witch & Witch's Cat

I would love to see the trouble the cat manages to get into when magic is another obstacle. What is different about a witch’s cat compared to your normal domesticated cat?