#like. please. the one and only thing that's actually very nicely tied down on HPs plot. use your eyes rub ur braincells and read

[acnara]

I once again fear I have to remind ppl that Neville would have never been "the chosen one" because he, for one, would have had to be CHOSEN and he WASN'T. So he isn't, and could have NEVER been THE chosen one.

Point number 2: Harry the one and only person who could be the chosen one because A) as stated before, he is the only one who was CHOSEN by V and B) he is the only one with a mother that Snape would have ever stepped up to Voldemort for, giving said mother the chance to protect their kid in The way Lily did.

PLEASE let this rest I'm tired of people spitting the coldest takes known to man about The Prophecy goddamn

[kindestegg]

Deltarune: On tea, relationships, and why people probably need to stop exaggerating

Alright, so ever since the introduction of the “character flavored” teas in chapter 2, there has been a lot of discussion about them. If you haven’t heard of it yet, in Deltarune Chapter 2, there’s an item that’s a tea that you can buy from an NPC and choose the flavor of, giving you a flavor that is named after a party member. So, Kris tea, Noelle Tea, Susie Tea, and Ralsei Tea.

The fun thing about this item is that it can more or less be used to “track” the relationships between the characters, so to speak. For example, if Noelle has the Susie tea, even if she’s not supposed to drink it due to normally leaving the party, she’ll still have a reaction to it, wondering if they would sell this in gallons and recovering an absurd amount of HP, 400 to be precise.

(this is long as hell, so please continue reading under the cut)

These teas are also actually a reference to a book series Toby is a fan of, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, which does have a chapter about students having ice cream flavored after their classmates. This is most evident when the characters drink their own tea, which tastes like nothing to them and recovers the least amount of HP: 10. In the books, the students also could not perceive the taste of their own flavor of ice cream.

So, the fandom gets ahold of this information and starts testing out the teas and how characters react to them, right? The thing is, I’ve seen people kind of exaggerate the importance of these items and even the meanings of them, and while I think everyone’s entitled to harmless headcanons speculating on the relationship of characters, the problem is people are using these teas as immutable proof and part of their theories.

One of such exaggerations comes mostly in the form of the infamous Ralsei Tea, as to which Kris apparently does not show much reaction, though curiously Ralsei is still happy to see Kris drinking it, and it only recovers 60 HP. For reference, the teas usually cap at a good 120 HP, which is when a character loves the flavor, Noelle being the outlier because she really is just that in love with Susie. For the most part the Fun Gang has pretty positive reactions to each other’s flavor of teas, recovering 120 HP… with the exception of Kris’ reaction towards Ralsei tea.

And the problem starts now: Due to this, people started using this little tidbit in their theories, claiming this was proof that Kris actually dislikes or even hates Ralsei, that we should be ashamed of ourselves for making Kris hug Ralsei, that it is torture for them that we choose nice dialogue options towards Ralsei, some going as far as to claim this is somehow tied to the infamous “Ralsei is secretly evil” theories.

But does this speculation hold any actual weight when analyzed more deeply?

… No. I’m sorry, it just does not, I’m not going to entertain this. In this post, I’m going to deconstruct how the teas really work, and exactly why claiming that this is good enough proof that Kris would dislike Ralsei is an exaggeration at best and downright false at worse.

To truly make a precise conclusion, we must first look at the full picture. We know that 10 HP means “tastes like nothing”, and we know that 120 HP means “tastes amazing”, but are there any other reactions that aren’t either 10 or 120, aside from the 60 HP we already know from Ralsei tea?

Pictured: Noelle reacting to Kris tea.

Pictured: Kris reacting to Noelle tea.

Pictured: Ralsei reacting to Noelle tea.

Pictured: Noelle reacting to Ralsei tea.

I think what people forget here is that you don’t have to really adore someone or outright hate them. Sometimes you’re more neutral on people. And I think that’s what happens here. As you can see here, Ralsei recovers 10 less HP for Noelle than Kris does for him, and still calls her flavor “soft and sweet”. Meanwhile, Noelle claims his tea has “nothing in it”, even though she still recovers 50 hp.

Does this somehow mean Ralsei hates Noelle, or she hates him, for that matter? … No, that wouldn’t make sense, they just met, they know nothing about each other. We do learn here one important thing though, flavor is not tied to HP recovery, as in, the flavor of each character’s tea will taste different to a different person based on what they perceive of them.

As a comparative example, while Kris tea tastes like apple juice to Susie due to her always smelling the apple shampoo they use, Kris tea tastes like blueberries, which is a reference to Kris’ appearance in the Dark World. So while Ralsei tea tastes like nothing to Noelle as she can’t perceive him well enough yet, it still heals 50 HP due to it not being her own tea, and Ralsei heals for the same amount, but he seems to perceive others based on appearance and wants to find something good to say, so he ends up tasting it as something “soft and sweet” because that’s what Noelle appears like.

We can also gain a new “base” HP recovery that is accounted for when characters drink tea that is not their own: 50 HP. And we know 50 HP means “I was literally just made aware of your existence and can’t comment much on you yet”. Now, if you look at Kris and Noelle, they recover 70 HP from each other’s tea. In Noelle’s words, they have been neighbors their entire lives, yet they still find it hard to call each other friends, necessarily. Although you can choose the prompt “we’re friends”, the reasoning still stands: Kris and Noelle just don’t have that much to say about each other. If you remember, when you visit Rudy at the hospital in chapter 1, then Noelle afterwards, they’ll comment on how Kris usually isn’t as involved or interested in their neighbor’s business, suggesting they really don’t hang out as much as you’d think.

So, 50 HP, 70 HP. Where does that leave us for Ralsei’s 60 HP? Does it actually reveal evidence of hatred or at least dislike?

… The answer, if you’ve been paying any attention, is no, of course not. If 50 HP means “literally just learned the other exists” while 70 HP means “not exactly great friends but have known each other for a long time and shared memories”, then that puts Ralsei at a pretty advantageous spot all things considered. Even with him acting somewhat suspicious, even with him being a creature from an entirely new magical world Kris was made aware of literally a day ago, even with Ralsei’s clingy behavior, Kris considers him more than just some random person they just met, and almost a good acquaintance to the level of Noelle.

And sure, you could still bring up comparisons to the higher HP recoveries, like Susie recovering 120 HP from everyone despite also not really being exactly friends with any of these people for too long, and for that I will say…

That girl will eat anything and considering they are all flavors she enjoys she’ll obviously down it in a second, and

Susie is just… a more open person. Once you get her guard down and let her know you truly want to be her friend and think she is cool, she’ll immediately consider you a friend and part of her team. (It’s also kind of sad in a way because it shows she may be desperate for the feeling of belonging but let’s not get into that right now).

Kris, however, is a much more reserved person. Once again I must remind you how everyone in Hometown comments about Kris not usually being very outgoing or talkative. Hell, even when they drink Noelle tea, no one can tell whether they like it or not. Susie may be an exception to this rule, simply because they do have a lot in common, particularly to the fact she was also always an awkward quiet person that their classmates could never place and would often get in trouble. Even if she was mean to them and a downright bully in chapter 1, teens can still have some pretty weird appreciations, and you can tell they must have been wanting to befriend her from the start. It simply just is a better relationship to them. Otherwise, people they haven’t invested in knowing well will probably not cause the same reaction.

Bottom line is… why are we having this debate again? In the end, it feels rather silly. Yes, Kris doesn’t recover 120 HP from Ralsei tea. Big deal? That doesn’t mean they hate or even dislike him, that there’s a deep turmoil and conflict going on between the two already. Ralsei is just a new friend they are still getting used to, that’s it. Can’t blame the kid for having boundaries.

For further proof, if you learn more about the content that is being referenced here, you’ll learn that in the same chapter of the book, there is actually a way for one’s flavor to taste “horrible” due to a person being perceived that way, but at no point in these reactions it’s suggested anyone’s flavor tastes bad, that any of them are disgusted, so I doubt any of these reactions can be seen as dislike.

Dang… this got a little long… but I just felt like I had to make this post because, reiterating, I find myself a little irritated at the fact people will use the tea’s reactions as part of their theories, claiming it as actual proof, when it is far from proving anything.

And before someone brings it up, yes, Kris has been shown to prefer Susie over Ralsei, do I have to point out the flaw in that logic? Preferring someone doesn’t mean you outright dislike the other person.

Moral of the story is: Don’t take conclusions for your theories without good backing in canon, feel free to make your headcanons but don’t state it as proof, byeee.

[in-tua-deep]

How would Ravenclaw! Klaus react to the ghosts in Hogwarts? Like, would he ignore them until he realizes everyone else can see them? Does he discover that he can make ghosts corporeal and/or levitation and telekinesis now that he's not on drugs? Does he accidentally talk to a ghost that no one else can see, like the ghost of a muggle, and everyone thinks he's crazy? Basically, what are your Klaus headcannons for your HP AU? (Sorry if this was too long, I've just been thinking about this alot.)

asdfFGDH no worries - I also like the idea of Ravenclaw!Klaus but for the purpose of this au he is a baby Slytherin bless his heart

okay okay okay

So the thing is, while the kids stay at the school for winter break and that’s fine, they have to go somewhere for the summer. Headmistress McGonagall took them for the remainder of the summer before they went into their first year, yeah, but she wasn’t exactly planning on housing seven magical kids. She was just the best bet to transfigure them seven beds (can you say bunk beds?) as a temporary measure

The summer between first and second year they end up with the Weasleys who have an empty nest after Ginny moved out. They have room for seven magical kids at least, even if they kind of tiptoe around one another and it’s kind of an awkward placing

Molly Weasley is very physically affectionate and loud. The kids are very used to violence and getting yelled at so this is not a fantastic combination. Five thinks Arthur Weasley is an idiot of the highest degree after several questions regarding muggle things (and the other won’t say it but they’re kind of thinking it as well) not to mention their general wariness of male parental or authority figures. 

Diego volunteers to cook with Mrs. Weasley and likes it but then immediately feels guilty because that’s something he did with Grace and he misses her so he swings wildly between liking Mrs. Weasley and hating her for not being Grace and then feeling guilty for liking her AND guilty for hating her and it’s a vicious cycle 

Luther still resents the fact that they can’t go home, even if he’s starting to clue in to the fact that the way Reginald treated them was way beyond not normal and that he’s actually way safer than he’s ever been before? It’s weird and he feels guilty for what he perceives as disloyalty for enjoying himself and having fun and so he’s kind of moody like Diego is

(this combination is somewhat explosive oops. at least they don’t share a room unlike they did at McGonagall’s place)

now this is a somewhat long winded way of saying that during the summer, the Weasley kids do come and visit their mother of course! And, one fateful day, one half of a matched pair shows up to cheerfully cause chaos. George Weasley comes home with a big smile and free samples from the shop to distribute among the little kiddies under his parents roof - have to keep them on their toes after all!

And Klaus sees ghosts. Which, if you said this to any wizard or witch, they would nod and tell you that they also see ghosts! Except Klaus sees more than the ones like Nearly Headless Nick and the Bloody Baron. He sees souls that are only wispily tied to the world, who haven’t had time to solidify their presence. Who follow behind their family.

Now, Klaus doesn’t mention this. It’s not normal, after all, and all of the Hargreeves have agreed to keep their... extra issues under wraps in case the grown ups decide to return them or something, or decide they aren’t magic after all, or whatever. They’re eleven going on twelve they’re allowed to be afraid.

So Klaus doesn’t mention anything when the red headed man comes in followed by an identical (albeit slightly younger) man. Klaus only cottons onto the fact that this man is a ghost because Molly Weasley introduces George to them and not the other one. No one notices the other one. And they’ve seen pictures, they know that there used to be Fred-and-George until the war happened and then there was only-George. 

(related: Klaus is actually very happy with the wizarding world ghosts and also very pissed off about them. On the bright side, the killing curse leaves no visible wounds! So there’s not as many incredibly disturbing traumatizing ghosts to look at! Downside here is that Klaus cannot tell if a ghost is a ghost. Unless they’re wearing fancy ass historical period clothes :/

Klaus memorizes pretty much all the years students out of sheer self defense. If there someone who Klaus knows Is Not a Student, he just quietly asks the nearest sibling who is In The Know about his powers

He gets anxious when they’re out in like, hogsmeade or diagon alley though, or when there are a lot of strangers. his general rule of thumb is to only interact with people his siblings interact with, or people who he touches first. He’s perfected the ‘accidental bump’ move thank you

The other sibs are all very accommodating because if Klaus’s secret gets out, then all their secrets get out)

Anyway so Klaus’s modus opperandi is to ignore ignore ignore! Usually if ghosts don’t realize he can see them, they leave him alone. Unfortunately, Klaus is sharing Fred-and-George’s old room with Ben (they organized themselves this way so that Ben can wake Klaus up when he has nightmares)

and Fred floats up to reminisce while Klaus is in there and Klaus would ignore him except he keeps making comments and looking sad and just UGH and he’s lurking in front of the door and Klaus can’t just walk through him to leave. That’s weird and gross. So eventually, eventually, Klaus snaps at him “Can you please move?”

and he’s tired and he had nightmares last night (he can’t just ask Five to carve the good dream runes into some random lady’s son’s bed) and he just wants to go downstairs okay?? and he’s not thinking about it and the guy looks young and friendly and almost alive and it just slips out

and Fred stands there in shock for a solid second before finally whispering a simple - “You can see me?”

and this is a mistake

Fred tries to convince Klaus so hard to tell George and to pass messages and and and - he’s just so excited! He’s been following George around, watching him wallow in grief and watching his family wallow in grief and he’d thought that ghosts were just. Ghosts. He didn’t realize it was even possible, this invisible existence. He’s been silent for so long 

But Klaus is a traumatized eleven year old okay he is Not About Any of This

eventually Fred gets it into his head that he’s freaking the kid out and softens, because Fred’s always been pretty good with kids anyway. He listens when Klaus haltingly explains why no one can know and then kind of hedges, because Fred is really nice, so he makes a deal

He’ll tell George about Fred, but only when he’s 17 and a legal adult in wizarding society with no chance of being sent back into Reginald’s grasp. Fred thinks this is stupid, but he’s waited fourish years already and didn’t expect to have any chance so (and Klaus is very adamant about keeping away from his ex-Dad and Fred knows there’s a reason)

anyway Fred follows Klaus when he goes back to Hogwarts to start second year. Well, kind of. He splits time between the shop/lurking after George and then going to bug Klaus. Klaus is very resistant to this at first, because if the other ghosts realize he can talk to Fred, then they’ll want to talk to him.

Fred fixes it though by basically just going around (because Fred is still legendary and his pranks are to be feared and all the ghosts in Hogwarts uniforms with haunted eyes that fell defending their school know that) and warning them off. He takes requests and messages and passes them to Klaus to write down in a notebook to be distributed when Klaus hits 17 - so Klaus isn’t bothered by any ghosts

besides being bros with Fred is actually a very excellent thing to be because Fred knows everything about the school. He knows all the secret passageways and all the trick steps and trap doors and empty rooms. He mentions missing having a map in passing, but tells Klaus it would have been so much cooler to have an invisible ghost to scout ahead and warn them about professors or anyone coming

Klaus doesn’t keep Fred secret from the others, so the whole family gets to benefit from Fred’s vast knowledge

(Klaus’s written test grades increase, to the bafflement of his professors - it certainly helps having a ghost to help you cheat!

none of the family are above cheating tbh, they are all very wary of the concept of failure in general and are willing to do a lot to avoid becoming acquainted with the consequences of failing)

Klaus probably figures out making ghosts corporeal when he’s hmm. 15? There is. a lot of drama in Klaus’s fifth year and it’s stressful and there is an Incident where Fred going corporeal saves Klaus’s life

(Fred helps out a lot in Klaus’s fifth year, actually, the kids would probably be in serious trouble without him)

anyway this sparks another freak out where Fred says they HAVE to tell George - because this changes everything!! They fight and don’t speak for like two entire weeks before Fred comes back and grudgingly apologizes. After so long hanging around the Hargreeves, he knows very well that they were Super Fucking Abused and are fearful of being returned for Good Reason

so Fred gets to be the one that Klaus practices with and figure out corporeal ghost stuff with

I’m going to say no levitation/telekinesis in this au (pending the results of season two maybe?) but I will say that the first year flying class? Klaus fucking excels. You think about Klaus on a broom and it should be a disaster, but Klaus is the best flyer in Hogwarts, he treats the broom almost as an extension of himself

Slytherin keeps trying to recruit him onto the quidditch team but Klaus always laughs it off saying that he’s not a jock - also his flying skills do not translate into catching/throwing skills thanks. He’s graceful as all fuck but if you try throw him a quaffle or whatever, he will drop it

i feel like it should be noted that with all seven of them, the Hargreeves could form their own quidditch team lmao

But yeah to sum up, Klaus ignores ghosts (his housemates tease him about being scared of ghosts and he laughs them off), he does discover his ability to make ghosts corporeal due to no drugs, no levitation/telekinesis, he can absolutely see ghosts that wizards can’t see (and not every wizard/witch who dies becomes the wizarding version of a ghost), and I have headcanons about Klaus being very good on a broom lmao

[justoceanmyth]

Author Interview Tag!

I got tagged by a bunch of people, (  @the-last-cuddlebender, @penguinsledder, @thinkingisadangerouspastime) so I figured I should actually, y’know, fill the tag prompt (i don’t always answer these kinds of things as much as I want to bc I always get distracted and forget they exist)

Name: I am still underage (though not by very much or for very long) and so I’ll be keeping my real name off the internet until I am a baby no longer... which basically means within a year(stay tuned for my real first name? i guess??). You can call me Ocean though!

Fandoms: I hyperfixate, so there’s a good chance that if I’ve read it, watched it or played it, I have dipped my toes into the fandom at least once in search of more content. Ergo-- MCU, HP, Good Omens, Percy Jackson, other fandoms that I can’t think of now that I’m trying to list them bc that’s the way my memory works. I contain multitudes and lots of affection for my hyperfixations.

The only fandoms I’ve written for at this point are ATLA and one HP fic that. Yeah. Don’t look for it. It’s not *bad*--in fact for starting it at like 12 it’s something I’m really proud of--but it’s not something I want people to seek out either.

Where you post: If it’s short, I’ll post it here and ao3, but mostly to ao3, at OceanMyth.

Most popular one-shot: smells like home, which is Zuko-centric and therefore unsurprising that it’s in the top spot, followed by a sign of strength, which is about Toph discovering that Aang has tattoos. To be fair though, a bunch of my fics are really closely tied for ‘most popular’ because I haven’t been posting to ao3 for that long, which means that this changes frequently.

Most popular multi-chapter fic: It’s the HP fic that Must-Not-Be-Named. It’s the bracelets that bind us, sitting highest in hits, and high in kudos and comments as well. Which I’m glad about! I’ve reread the fic several time bc I really enjoyed writing it, and knowing that other people liked it too is really nice!

Favorite story you’ve written so far: This is probably a cop-out answer, but I really love most of my fics. Mainly because I try to write stuff that I wanted to read, and that makes them nice to look back on.

Fic you were nervous to post: This answer is also a bit weird, but I’m never really nervous when I post a fic. It’s about three seconds after I hit the post button that I get nervous and uncertain, and have to convince myself that it’ll be fine. And that happens regularly, every time I go to post something.

How you choose your titles: I have no idea. Sometimes it’s a song lyric that I carve and butcher until I think it works. Sometimes the perfect one pops into my head and I have to leave it, otherwise it will wilt and fade like a flower. Sometimes a semi-perfect one pops into my head, and then I have to knead out the potential like bread-dough. Sometimes they come to me when I hit my head against the table hard enough (I jest, please don’t do this). 

Titles are an arcane mystery, and I am simply a wannabe wizard, seeking out the answer to the universe.

Do you outline: YES. Yes. Yes I outline. I outline *everything* even my shortest oneshots, because my brain is full of holes and doesn’t like to write linearly all the time. 

Having even just the bare-bones of a structure to go and fill back in with scenes I think of while doing other stuff makes all the difference. I never think of my favorite scenes/dialogue while I’m in front of the screen, it’s always when I’m getting ready to sleep or shower, and being able to scribble down the idea and then add it to the outline is just *chef kiss*.

It also helps me to be able to bounce around from idea to idea, and get back into the flow more easily. (though recently the flow has been hard to come by, and generally put me into a bit of a block. I think I broke it though, which is good!)

Complete: Everything currently posted to my ao3! Which is a bad answer I know, but sometimes you just have to promote yourself. (18 fics, mostly oneshots)

In progress: I have four oneshots on my wip-oneshot document, and a long-fic in a separate file.

Coming soon: betting on the long game, snowday

Not yet started: Words That Look Like Music (still outlining, this is the longfic I mentioned above)

Do you accept prompts: Yes! Prompts, asks, whatever! However, I will say that just because I get a prompt, that... sadly doesn’t mean that I will write it, mainly bc I struggle with a ton of Executive Dysfunction as a result of my adhd, and also because I can wind up forgetting about it completely. (And when I finally *do* remember, I’ll feel guilty about it, but be too scared to post/answer)

Upcoming story you are most excited to write: Words That Look Like Music, because I’m going to be doing a *ton* of research and worldbuilding on writing systems and script  and soulmates and how that would work with the different nations & bending in ATLA.

Tagging: I’m 99% I am the last to this party and everyone I would tag has been tagged already... except maybe @cats-and-metersticks?

[kageyuji]

Hello, may I request a matchup and be matched with a male, please and thank you from Haikyuu, HP, Sherlock, Twilight &Mystic Messenger ( if that amount of fandoms is alright, if not let me know). LINK -  The first part is infoship2 (.) tumblr (.) (com) (without the parentheses). You can take as much time as you need to, I don’t mind being patient & waiting.

I told myself I was going to bed like 30 minutes ago but you know what here we are lmao

For Mystic Messenger, I ship you with 707!

V was an honorable mention

Seven didn’t exactly have the best childhood growing up either, so he is definitely the one to comfort you.

He has an obsession with Elizabeth the 3rd, second only to Jumin. So expect him to talk about animals a lot.

He thinks your overthinking is a strength, he knows you can never be too careful.

Don’t worry about being afraid to talk to him, he’s definitely going to be talking your ear off as soon as you two meet.

He finds the fact that you are lazy absolutely adorable, he would love to sleep in with you on days that he doesn’t have to get up early for work.

However, if you ever get bored, let him know because he will have the two of you on adrenaline highs in a matter of minutes.

Seven is also a master at bottling up his emotions and showing people only his happy, goofy side. Therefore he’s quick to see past your fake smile, and quick to wrap you in a hug and comfort you.

He’d love it to be honest and open with you, it’s just not something he’s trusted anyone else enough to be.

He’s really honest with you, he’s become so close to you that he feels terrible doing anything but being straight with you.

Speaking of being close, he’d want to be close to you as friends before he wanted to be in a relationship. He just needs to be close before he actually lets you in.

But once you two become close? Oh boy.

He’s so obvious when he flirts with you that it physically pains the other members of the RFA to watch.

Eventually Jaehee has to convince him that you are just really oblivious. When he asked you out and you said yes, his soul left his body.

He hates games too, he just doesn’t see the point. There isn’t any point in testing you, he trust you and he knows you trust him.

Seven understands when you only want affection during random times, he’ll leave you alone whenever you don’t want attention. However, he’d melt when you do want attention and just kind of...snuggle up to him while he’s working or playing a game.

Seven likes leading new languages too — he literally got bored one day and just decided to learn Arabic — so he’s down to help you learn anything new.

He likes music too, he’s the type to blast his music from the moment he wakes up to the moment he’s settling down.

For Haikyuu, I ship you with Daichi!

Asahi was an honorable mention

Daichi is one of the kindest people

He’s very understanding and gets it sometimes if you feel worthless, worn-out or just all around anxious.

He’s quick to pick up on it, no matter how hard you try and hide it.

However, he does understand that you feel guilty about it and won’t mention it. He’d just slyly give you more affection whenever he saw you getting that way.

He likes that you are somewhat of an idealist, he likes to see things the way they are too, even if he does have big dreams sometimes.

He’d love to have you at one of his games “over”analyzing anything. Helping him pick out where he or his team is going wrong is definitely something he appreciates.

He is a good listener too, but sometimes he does tend to vent about his days to you. You’re just comforting to him, he can’t help it.

Daichi is pretty up front about his emotions too, he’s the captain after all. He knows that hiding things isn’t good.

So, he’s pretty honest to you about stuff. He’s not brutal about it though, he’ll tell you straight what he’s saying but he’s somehow nice about it.

Daichi absolutely doesn’t believe in love at first sight either. He might have a crush at first sight, but not love. He’d rather be friends first and then ease into a relationship once the two of you are close.

I will not apologize to Daichi to this...He’s so oblivious when it comes to flirting.

It physically pains the team to see both of you flirting with each other but neither of you realize the other is flirting too.

Eventually Tanaka is just gonna stand up and point it out to both of you.

He loves being lazy with you, he doesn’t get a chance to do it often and so when he does he likes to be with his favorite person.

This man loves hallmark movies. It takes all of his willpower not to cry, he usually ends up crying anyhow.

Daichi has a strong dislike of cheaters too. He doesn’t see the point in dating someone just to break their heart. Is it like a power thing? He doesn’t get it. (I don’t either tbh like wtf?)

Over all, Daichi drinks his Respect Women Juice.

For Sherlock, I ship you with John!

Another Sweetheart

Considering his time in as an army doctor and his PTSD, he gets mental health.

He understand when your mental health is getting the best of you, he’s always there for you.

He doesn’t mind you being a perfectionist either, he doesn’t really like things being messy either.

He likes that you’re an idealist, he knows that the world is all sunshine and rainbows all the time.

He gets that sometimes you feel annoying when you try to explain how you feel or express your emotions

He doesn’t think that though, he’s the type of person to hang on to every word you say and care about it.

Sometimes with his PTSD, he has bad days. He’s only human. So he likes that you’re so empathetic, he needs someone to lean on every now and then.

He might vent to you about somethings he has on his mind, Sherlock can be a lot sometimes, so he always appreciates when you listen to him.

He knows that you tend to lie about how you’re feeling, he lies about his own feelings a lot. He stops once he gets closer to you, he’s honest towards you.

But he realizes how you actually feel about a lot of things and makes sure you’re fine with everything he does.

It was something he picked up in the army, he needed to know how his patients felt, so he often asks how you feel about things. He knows you won’t say anything otherwise.

Like I said earlier, he’s pretty straight forward with you once you get close. He’s learned that being anything but straightforward doesn’t work.

Actually, he’s just a really firm believer that communication is key.

He’d want to be close beforehand too — he just doesn’t trust people right off the bat — so he has no problem being friends first.

For Harry Potter, I ship you with Harry!

He didn’t have the best life as a kid either, so he understands. He had to grow up all too fast and care for himself, he sympathizes.

I can’t explain it but I just know that whenever he sees you get tongue tied he thinks it’s absolutely adorable.

He’s used to feeling useless or like he’s annoying any time he opens his mouth, so he understands whenever you don’t want to voice your opinions or say how you feel.

Actually, he recognizes it and tends to ask you about things, or ask if you have any input to the situation.

He gets really happy when you start opening up to him, he knows how hard it can be to trust people sometimes. Everytime you make some sarcastic comment at him, he can’t help but laugh.

He really likes your sarcastic, playful side. Something about your smile, he just really likes it.

He’s really patient and he doesn’t care if you get mad at him, he’ll forgive you

That being said, he does appreciate being open and honest with each other. He hates secrets.

He’s pretty oblivious to people flirting with him too, so just... *cue Ron and Hermione facepalming whenever you flirt with each other* It’s adorable, not even gonna lie.

He’s fine easing into the relationship, he gets it if you’d want to be friend first.

He gets it if you don’t want to give him affection all the time, but he’s always there for you when you do want to though. He never gets sick of you.

Honestly he’s just over-all a very understanding person.

Harry loves board games and you can’t convince me otherwise. Please play some with him, he would absolutely die.

He probably really likes Disney movies, he’s a big fan of Pirates of the Carribean, he told me so himself.

Painting rocks seems really mundane and domestic to him, he’d love to paint rocks with you. He’s gonna get paint all over himself, no one knows how or why.

Harry also hates cheaters, he loves anyone who cares about him and doesn’t have the heart to break someone else’s.

For Twilight, I ship you with Jacob!

This is the most patient boy, don’t even get me started

He understands about your mental health, your childhood, everything really.

It’s not to say that he’s been though what you’ve been through specifically, but he’s been though some deep shit before.

He just wants to be your shoulder to cry on, since you’re always there for him.

Jacob would never cheat, he respects you too much to do that. He doesn’t want to hurt you, or anyone for that matter.

Like everything else, he understands about you shying away from affection sometimes. He’s happy to wait until you’re ready before he does anything.

Along the same lines, he’d probably crush on you immediately but he would probably want to get closer before anything happened between you too.

He’d like to let you set the pace. He’s ready for anything, just let him know when you want to move along and he’s happy to oblige.

As much as Jake loves his small town, he’d want to travel and see the world some too. He’d love to go along with you, to see everything.

Also you said you like animals and I feel like he’d love to snuggle against you in his wolf form? Like, he’s so soft and warm?

Fear of being vulnerable? Say hello to your very own personal protection (mentally and physically!)

He’s really protective of his friends and family too, he admires that in you. For him, if you are protective of those you love, then you’re a good person.

He’s very open, he doesn’t like to keep secrets. Not telling people about how he’s a shapeshifter is one of the hardest things he’s had to do, he just hates having to lie about things.

So he’s also pretty straight foreword. He won’t be blunt about it, he’d try to cushion the blow if he ever did have to tell you anything heartbreaking, but most likely it won’t happen.

He’s definitely one of those guys that don’t really like girls wearing makeup. It’s not that he thinks it makes them look fake, he just doesn’t see the point. You’re beautiful either way, so why spend all that time?

He understands if you like makeup as a hobby, though. He can totally get behind any artistic abilities.

Please play board games or paint rocks with him on rainy days, it’s really domestic and he would absolutely melt.

[professional-anti]

Chapter Nine: The Circle and the Brotherhood

Okay, we start out a little stressful bc Jace says they’re gonna take the subway back to the Institute and Simon jokes around like “you guys take the subway but you’re demon hunters haha” and this happens:

Jace was scary-calm. His face was expressionless, but something burned at the backs of his eyes.

Um, are we not supposed to be worried about this? Jace should be working on this problem!! Why is he so mad at Simon? Oh, that’s right, he thinks that Simon is competition for Clary. And that’s enough for him to get this angry at Simon. I’m sure everyone can tell why this is unhealthy.

Simon proves to be an actual idiot when they get to the Institute. The Institute is housed in an old church, and for some reason Simon can’t comprehend that old buildings can be used for something else.

“It’s the Institute,” Clary said . . . “I thought it ws a church.” “It’s inside a church.” “Because that’s not confusing.”

This is New York City!! The home of remodeling!!! My aunt’s apartment used to be a house! My brother’s camp used to be an apartment! Things can be other things!! Oh my god!!!

They meet Isabelle in the kitchen, where she’s stress cooking. Oh, I remember this! She sucks at cooking but does it when she’s stressed. It’s actually really cute. I stress cook too! Once I made soup from scratch at 3 AM. (My psychiatrist said, verbatin, “That’s worrisome.”)

But then of course we get the typical annoying thing, where Simon stares at Isabelle “rapt and openmouthed”. I think I speak for most people when I say that someone staring at you with their mouth open is creepy. And weird. When was the last time you looked at someone like that? Hopefully never! Blergh, it’s like the way creepy men stare at you on the street. And then Clary gets jealous of Isabelle. So, that’s fun. Love that girl-on-girl hate. I’ve never felt the urge in my life to hurt a girl bc she was prettier than I am. I can’t imagine feeling that way. Sometimes I’ll say jokingly “she’s so pretty, I’m mad”, but I’ve been trying to cut back on that bc I don’t mean it, it’s something that’s been programmed into me to say. But Clary literally wants to throw the soup over Isabelle’s head. Okay.

There’s a tiny bit of worldbuilding that’s also kind of cute, which is that Isabelle “got the recipe from a water sprite at the Chelsea Market.” Well, most people would just say “Chelsea Market” without that article in front of it, but I still like it. Idk, maybe I’m just a sucker for magical New York. Vampires on the Upper East Side? Give me. Werewolves taking advantage of Central Park? Hell yes! Magicians in Greenwich Village? Duh, sign me up. So, little mentions like this make me happy. The worldbuilding is still shit, but this is some nice stuff.

Jace snarks at Clary for eating all the sandwiches at Dorothea’s, and it’s maddening. Those sandwhiches were the first thing she ate for a whole day! Let women eat their fill without judging them!! Arggghhhh!!!!

For some reason, Jace isn’t sure if they should tell Hodge that the men with Luke were the ones that killed his father. I guess bc he thinks that Hodge won’t let them go out and investigate? Idk. Like, we all know that Hodge is Evil Giles, but Jace doesn’t know that. He tells Isabelle that they’re going to Hodge, but they might not tell him about the men being his father’s killers, and this exchange happens:

[Isabelle] shrugged. “All right. Are you going to come back? Do you want any soup?” “No,” said Jace. “Do you think Hodge will want any soup?” “No one wants any soup.” “I want some soup,” Simon said. “No, you don’t,” said Jace. “You just want to sleep with Isabelle.” Simon was appalled. “That is not true.” “How flattering,�� Isabelle murmured into the soup, but she was smirking. “Oh, yes it is,” said Jace. “Go ahead and ask her—then she can turn you down and the rest of us can get on with our lives while you fester in miserable humiliation.” He snapped his fingers. “Hurry up, mundie boy, we’ve got work to do.”

So much. So much. I’m short-circuiting. First of all, it’s so incredibly disrespectful to Isabelle for Jace to talk this way. If I were her, I’d be so uncomfortable. And I know that Jace knows her and her comfort limits, but it’s still disrespectful. Secondly, Jace is so mean. And Clary does call him out for it, but who even knows what she sees in him. He’s so fucking mean. And mean characters are fine. They’re great. But I’m just confused why everybody is falling the fuck in love with Jace. It makes zero sense to me. Jace is set up as this paradigm of a romantic partner and it’s like,,, what??? This Jace???

Clary calls Jace an asshat. An asshat. In our year of the Lord (checks copyright date) 2007. Actually, makes sense. Fandom was Like That. Everyone being vaguely British. I wasn’t technically on the fandom scene for anything back then, but in my fanfiction phase, I did some serious digging into the past. And all this fandom dialect makes sense when you remember that CoB is repurposed HP fanfiction.

Jace claims that he was trying to save Simon from heartbreak bc “Isabelle will cut out his heart and walk all over ti in high-heeled boots. That’s what she does to boys like that.”

Clary APOLOGIZES to Jace for snapping at him. Like, the Jace who was so brutally mean to Simon just now? The Jace who is constantly rude to her? The Jace who talks down to her and is so freaking patronizing? Is she apologizing to that Jace? Mmmmmkay.

Ugh, apparently Maryse, Isabelle’s mom, is usually the cook. So it’s the women who like cooking in this book. Got it. Usually 7 people live here, right? Isabelle, Alec, their brother, their parents, Hodge, and Jace. Two women. Five men. And the only people who cook? The women. Cool, cool, cool. Okay. Got it. Thanks.

Wait, this is weird. Apparently Maryse never taught Isabelle how to cook because, according to Jace:

“Isabelle never wanted to learn. She’s always been first and foremost interested in being a fighter. She comes from a long line of women warriors,” he said, and there was a tinge of pride in his voice. “She’s one of the best Shadowhunters I’ve ever known.”

So, huh. A lot to unpack. Isabelle likes to cook, right? So why wouldn’t she want to learn? And why are cooking and fighting mutually exclusive? There’s so much weird stuff going on here. Clare writes the women as the only ones who cook. I don’t like that because she’s basically saying, “Cooking is something that women do, not men.” And now, because it’s a traditionally feminine thing (which it doesn’t have to be anymore now that most men aren’t out hunting all day), Isabelle doesn’t want to do it. And the narrative accepts that as normal, that women should want to divorce themselves from traditionally feminine things, which in my opinion is still sexism. Except that Isabelle likes to cook. So why wouldn’t she let her mom teach her? Does any of this make sense, you guys?

I AM CONFUSION

For some reason, Clary desperately wants to know if Alec is a better Shadowhunter than Isabelle. Not sure why. Jace replies that Alec has never killed a demon. Interesting. Not sure how that’s possible, but okay. They meet Hodge in the greenhouse, and the prose is truly awful:

Clary exhaled. “It smells like . . .” Springtime, she thought, before the heat comes and crushes the leaves into pulp and withers the petals off the flowers.

Slow down there, Emily Dickinson. Anyhow, Jace tells Hodge about their adventures, except for the fact that the warlocks were the ones who killed his dad. Still not sure why, still don’t really care.

“And [the warlock’s] names were . . .” “Pangborn,” said Jace. “And Blackwell.” Hodge had gone very pale. Against his gray skin the scar along his cheek stood out like a twist of red wire. “It is as I feared,” he said, half to himself. “The Circle is rising again.”

There are so many other quotes like that from HP, but I’m not about to reread all 7 books to find them.

Neither Jace nor Clary knows what the circle is, and Hodge ominously leads them to the library. There’s some annoying, edgy description about the libary. Then Hodge pulls out the Death Eaters’, I mean the Circle’s, manifesto. He reads some creepy stuff from it about swearing his life to the Circle “in order to preserve the purity of the bloodlines of [Elba]”. So, you know, creepy. He explains that he used to be part of a group of Shadowhunters that followed Valentine. They wanted to kill all muggles, ahem, Downworlders when the Downworlders arrived in Elba to sign the Accords. For some worldbuilding reason, they have to be signed every fifteen years.

I’m going to cry. I just can’t. A group of magical supremacists who follow a leader whose name starts with the letter V. Please, someone set me free from this hell. Jace recognizes this story; apparently, this was the Uprising. Somehow the Clave managed to wipe out every mention of the Circle, though. Not sure how. Sounds a little bit like a scary place to live, if the government can just wipe out information like that. A healthy government would say, “This was something terrible that our country did. Nobody forget. We must do better.” But apparently Elba is some sort of fascist hothouse. Also, I’m confused what the point of erasing the Circle was if everyone still remembers the Uprising. Whatever.

Hodge finally admits that he used to be part of the Death Eaters, and even helped write the manifesto. Double bombshell, Clary’s mom used to be in it to.

“My mother would never have belonged to something like that. Some kind of—some kind of hate group.” “It wasn’t—,” Jace began, but Hodge cut him off.”

Okay, tell me what it wasn’t, Jace? It wasn’t a hate group? They wanted to kill all the Downworlders bc they were just so full of love? No, tell me. I’m interested.

Anyway, Hodge triple-bombshells Clary by telling her that Jocie wouldn’t have much choice in the matter bc she was Valentine’s wife. Let’s just ignore the fact that Jocie still is on the hook for being part of a suprmacist organization and end part one. That’s right, guys! Part one is finished, finito, finis. See you on the flip side.

[overfedvenison]

More SMT nocturne diary! I did some of this on the weekend...

---

I ascended to the top of the Obelisk and met with my Teacher from before the conception. As I hadn't seen her for the entire game, I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting...

Surprisingly, she was fine. She expressed regret about the conception, saying how she believed that the world would be recreated in a state where people would be happy to be alive. In the old world, they simply stagnated... People lost the need to improve themselves and compete.

She expressed the feeling that Hikawa was simply using her. He told her she would be the pillar of the new world - A pun, the pillar of the obelisk she rested upon is literally channeling energy for the new world. I'm not sure if that existed in the Japanese version. But she said it's not too late - We can still change the fate of the world.

It looked like she was developing her own reason, but actually gave herself up to a god 'Even Hikawa didn't know about:' Arcada. Her body turned into a vessel for it, and she told us cryptic things about fighting for a reason. Through it all, I got an important bit of information: A demon cannot make a reason, ourselves included. So we must champion one.

After she disappeared, Lucifer appeared in his child form... Apparently, the world will soon be recreated, and all those with reasons will soon go to war. I came back at an interesting time, it seems.

Mechanically, the god blessed us with two additional demon slots. But now I'm left without a clear direction, left to wander to find my reason...

---

I decided to examine the Mannikin City, to see if Futomimi had developed a reason... His ideals seemed juvenile: A world where mannikins could live in peace and have nice lives. Unlike others, which had a wide variety of high ideologies - A rejection of unnecessary things where the powerful are chosen for greatness, an isolationist society where you can do anything but are forced to rely on yourself, etc, Futomimi basically just wanted Mannikin Liberation. He seemed to have no real idea what to found a world on, really, which ties in with Mannikins are being "Flatter" than humans with more of a surface-level understanding and ideals.

I'm curious to see his conclusion. As I went to the place where he was metitating, various Mannikins told me had had already left. So, to the Mannikin Village...

Hijiri was waiting for me there, and congratulated me on stopping the flow of Magatsuchi. Hikawa won't be able to make his move for a while, and the Nightmare System is disabled now that the Maiden is removed from it. He dropped some lore on me... - To make a new world, you need a strong idea of what you want to create. A "Reason" - To acquire a reason, you need divine protection from a god. You need a large amount of Magatsuhi to summon a god. (Does our teacher thus already have a reason? Or does she represent Hikawa's completed reason?) - Isamu is currently in the Alama Network, if we want to go find him

I went off to find Isamu, as the manikin village hadn't changed. This was another trek through the Alama Network...

---

The boss there was the same spectre as the last time I was in the network - Very clever! The trick here is that he drains your MP to deliver a very powerful attack, and summons a total of six clones of himself... He's also immune to the four basic elements.

I saw the trick: I went in with almost-empty MP and spent the first rounds debuffing his attack, then spamming Poison Arrows to deal damage against all the enemies, healing with items, and attacking. (First use for poison arrows, honestly.)

Once he started simply attacking us, I summoned proper allies to finish him off

---

Afterward, I found Isamu... He had absorbed the souls in the Amala Network and grown powerful from them - And developed the reason of Musubi.

He says he has stopped caring entirely about others. The way he sees it, the way the world works is that others don't notice him and he doesn't notice others. Ultimately, everyone is at the center of their own world, and he wants to make this more explicit in his vision of the new world - A new universe where everyone can create their own world, regardless of what others think.

I agreed that his general philosophy has appeal, at least in the sense that I know where he's coming from. I said the same thing to the previous Reason I found. He responded "You can't please everyone, and shouldn't bother trying to." And said that he stopped blaming me for failing to help him find the teacher, or escape the prison, or anything else.

I can see the rationale: You are at the center of your own world. From that perspective, there is no incentive to help others. Likewise, you should expect no help -from- others... Blaming others for not helping you is a flaw of character, and the only person you can depend on is yourself. If you want something to happen, it's entirely on you to do so - Alone. And, presumably, you shouldn't care about what others think, or let their opinions effect your own life.

The path to Isamu has you meet a Shadow who parrots his phrases... "Society didn't reject me, I reject society." "To be strong is to be solitary." Things like that. He accepts you and lets you inside only if you -don't- try to convince him to let you by.

Musubi... Seems to evoke the outcasts of society, people who detest having to alter themselves for others and have been let down by society. As much as it is about the virtues of isolationism and a self-directed life, it comes from a place not out of anything constructive, but of a rejection of a society that has burned and let down many people.

It seems to be very forward-thinking and prescient in it's delivery for a 10 year old game -  The Alama Network is very much a fantasy equivalent to the internet, and it is through that Isamu was able to get his voice out and gain power and supporters for an movement isolationist on a personal level. Isamu's grand scheme has been called a "NEET paradise" by some gamers for good reason, and it's overall essence seems very similar to a lot of recent internet movements.

---

I went back to Shibuya and decided to try fighting Mara, a bonus boss in the back of the strip mall on a full moon. Mara is incorrectly summoned as a slime by some manikins, and has only 2300 HP but fully heals each turn. I was able to win by lowering his defense and attacking as best I could the round after Sarutahiko hit with a Retaliate (a counter that does huge damage.)

For my trouble, I got the Muspell magatama - and the knowledge that Baphomet speaks bleating every word with an A in it.

---

I found Hikawa at the old Mantra building... He says he was impressed by my strength, the power of the demi-fiend, and explained his own ideals.

"Man's greed is like a fire. When it is small, it is warm and comfortable. But fire eventually grows into flames, devouring everything in it's path. Mankind grew to covet fire. Humans became dependent on it's warmth, and averted their eyes from it's destructive nature."

"Humans should serve the world. By doing so, a life of repose would in turn be promised to them. What is desirable, what is undesirable... It's not man that makes that distinction... It is the world."

"Humans should be beacons of light in that world. The light spins quietly-- Sometimes bright, sometimes dim-- Becoming one with the world. That is the ideal way of life. Don't you agree, that the world should be ruled by serenity?"

Essentially, he's arguing in favour of a purpose. Greed, in small doses, is something that pushes you forward. But a society can't be built on greed... Humans need to serve a structure, a greater purpose, and bend to it's will - A higher purpose inexorably linked with the will of the world. As long as you dutifully serve this higher purpose, you will have a good life.

On the face of it, this is phrased in a way that's setting off red flags... But I suppose these all were. "Rule by serenity" sounds sinister, but the idea that mankind should be serving a purpose to the world does seem to have merit. I... Very hesitantly agreed to this outlook, as well as all the others. He said he'd get me when time is appropriate.

Those are our three Reasons so far... One of cutting out unnecessary things and rule by the naturally exceptional. One of intense isolationism on a personal level, and pure self-reliance and independence - And no care for others. And one of personal sacrifice and order to be in tune with the world, with the implication that those that don't keep in line should be stamped out.

---

I was unable to get to the Mantra Building. But, I'm very curious about Futomimi, so I returned there. Once I teleported back to Asakusa, Hijiri confirmed this was a good path.

Futomimi prohpesizes a great power that can threaten the Manikins in Yoyogi Park, so we head there through the subway.

We meet Yuko again. She's not overtaken by the god, but gives us guidance... The world Hikawa wants is a restrained world of order, one that would cripple the new world. She says that as the one responsible for the destruction of the old world, it's her duty to shape the new one - She says that the world can't remain in a state of chaos, nor fall prey to Hikawa. She clarifies that, despite speaking to her god, she has no reason.

She tells me of the Yahirono Himorogi, a stone that grants an enormous amount of magatsuhi to it's posessor. Hence the power struggles in Yoyogi Park. Yuko wants it to reveal her reason, from her god. She asks for my help to take it from it's current posessor...

This is interesting... I don't think a reason can come from a god like that. I think a human has to will it. Relying on someone to tell you what you want the world to be? That sounds fishy. I told her I'd think about it.

[hillnerd-art]

character meme! Got a request from @tinawantscookies for Lavender Brown.

Got anonymous requests for Sirius, Rose, Dominique, and the Scamander Twins

First Impression

Impression now

Favorite moment

Idea for a story

Unpopular opinion

Favorite relationship

Favorite headcanon

answers under the cut

SIRIUS BLACK

First impression after my first read of PoA he was my fave character. This book was the one that got me hooked on HP. His Count of Monte Cristo-like story, the angst, how charming he was. I just loved him. My best friend and I wrote two long fics together back in high school where he was at the center of most of the hijinks.

Impression now I still have a deep-seated love for him, but he sort of fell further down the fave list a bit during book 5. His death shook me, and I literally threw the book across the room back in 2003 from the shock of it. So my obsession sort of fell off a bit, as there wasn’t much to explore with him. I still love him, and he still up there for characters I love. I’ve drawn him a lot over the years, and even written fics over the years too. He remains an interesting, and tragic, figure in the series. His death was just so so unnecessary and heartbreaking. I don’t think I’ll ever really get over it.

Favorite moment Probably when he tells Harry about being his godson and that he’d like Harry to live with him. Such a sweet moment.

Idea for a story I’ve written one. I’d like more stories exploring the infamous werewolf prank on Snape, more stories about him rebelling against his parents, more about his relationship with his brother, more of how he and James became besties.

Unpopular opinion I don’t think he and Remus were together romantically after the prank on Snape. I think that it broke their trust - they remained friends, but I can see that being something they could never recover from fully. Thus Sirius thought Remus would be the traitor later on, since they weren’t as close anymore. I don’t think they got back together after he was back either. They’d become too different from each other - and though they were so grateful to have the other back, it could never be like it was when they were young boys caught up in their own cleverness without anything that had ever gone wrong in their relationship.

Favorite relationship Sirius and Harry, or him and James. So pure. Him and Remus is so sad to me so much of the time. :( I love it though. I also like seeing him buddying with Tonks.

Favorite headcanon Sirius discovering muggle culture and throwing himself into it- band t-shirts, motorcycle and all.

LAVENDER BROWN

First impression  She reminded me of the girls I was not friends of in school. I had nothing against them, but we had nothing in common. They’d write in that girly middleschool handwriting with hearts on the i’s, giggle about boys, never seemed to care about politics, history, or nerdy stuff in general.

Impression now  She’s a sweet, strong woman who really stuck by her beliefs and friends. Her involvement in the DA didn’t make an impression on me the first go around, but the more I think on her, and see her turned into a monster in fics, the more I want to defend her. I get that people want to hate on her for keeping Ron from Hermione- but she didn’t. She liked Ron, so she went for him and made it clear she did. Good on her! Hermione could have learned a thing or two from her. :)

Favorite moment   He rnaming her rabbit binky and being so attached to it is so sweet. Lav is so adorable.

Idea for a story  I like to think she survived the battle of hogwarts (feebly stirring) but has some pretty awful scars- and has to work on accepting herself with some scars/deformity- not because she was shallow- but because it’s hard for anyone to work through that- and I think Lav is the sort to be an inspiration to others because of her work and future advocacy for survivors like herself.

Unpopular opinion  Lavender is a sweet girl and I think she deserved better than the relationship she had with Ron. Poor thing should have been treated better and did nothing wrong at all.

Favorite relationship  Her and Parvati’s friendship.

Favorite headcanon  ties into idea for a story, i guess.

ROSE WEASLEY

First impression  Rose is a chip off the ol’ Hermione block- described as having brains, and already in her new school robes like a nerd. :P I immedaitely shipped her with Scorpius

Impression now  Um I love her and am obsessed with drawing her, as I love drawing curly hair and red hair. :D So I picture her as being this firecracker who is basically a hyped up combo of her parents- like Hermione she is very smart and a total bibliophile with giant hair, like her dad she curses up a storm, eats like the world is running out of food, and is red headed, blue eyed, freckled and tall. She is fiercely competitive, a bit overdramatic, and is quick to put her foot in her mouth because she has no filter. Despite all this, she means well, is highly curious, and is the defender of the downtrodden.

Favorite moment  She and Albus looking solemn when Ron says he’ll disinherit them. ;)

Idea for a story  You mean besides the one I’m writing? :D I love Rose and Scorpius friendship stories, and ones of her and her parents bonding over things.

Unpopular opinion  I’m not sure what would be an unpopular opinion of her? I hated what they did with her in Curse Child.

Favorite relationship  Her and Scorpius, and her and Ron.

Favorite headcanon  She is a daddy’s girl, through and through, and thinks he can do no wrong.

DOMINIQUE WEASLEY

First impression  Well, she’s not in the books- so at first she was a non-entity to me and it was hard for me to imagine who she was as a person.

Impression now  It took a while for me to get a bead on her, but now I like her quite a lot. I see Dom as being a bit of a tom-boy who marches to her own drum. She’s not the rebellious kid who yells and tries to get attention- she’s the kind who just quietly does as she pleases and if they don’t like it- eff ‘em. She’s very implacable and hard to shock/get a reaction from. She’s the kind who legit wills herself into not being ticklish. I see her as hanging out mostly with boys, and enjoying quidditch. She was the first Weasley to be sorted into a house other than Gryffindor, and was happy to be different, where most kids might be upset or unsure. I headcanon her as Ravenclaw- and she loves lording it over James when she steals the quaffle from him in a match.

Favorite moment  n/a

Idea for a story  I’d like any story that explores more of the dynamics at Bill and Fleur Weasley’s house. They’re always from Victoire’s perspective, so it would be nice to see something from her or Louis’s perspective.

Unpopular opinion  I see her as queer. Not sure if that’s unpopular or not, but I don’t see much of her in fandom in general.

Favorite relationship  Hmm… I guess her and James makes me laugh the most, as I see her being one of the only people able to actually get him rattled. Her, Teddy and Fred are the only ones. Lily only when she’s about to tattle on him.

Favorite headcanon  She cuts her hair short at school one time because she was tired of it, and felt it just wasn’t working for her. She does an awful job of it, and expects it will piss her mum off- but is surprised when all she gets is a ‘You were so right to cut your hair, you look so much better with it short. but tsk tsk let’s fix your layers. If you’re going to cut your hair, do it right. Here, let me show you!’

LORCAN AND LYSANDER SCAMANDER

First impression  When I learned Luna and Rolf had twins, I immediately thought of this kid I knew whose dad was a percussionist who loved to travel the world and collect non-western instruments. The kids was always wearing his wavy hair to his shoulders, putting on daishikis and woven vests from Peru, and generally looked like the son of a hippie traveller. Immediately, I had a mental picture of these kids.

Impression now  So, now I have very firm headcanons for them, and am a fan of Lysander and am shipping him with Lily. I’ve even written a ficlet. :P So I picture Lysander as someone who travels the world and wants to do a lot of good. He is a Mediwizard who was studying to become a full Healer- but in the meantime has been traveling the world and using his mediwizard abilities to help less fortunate people in third world countries/impoverished areas. He decided to abandon becoming a healer for a time, because there is a lot more oversight for healers when they enter countries- vs mediwizards can sort of go in under the radar and help heal people without oversight. He likes to help muggles- and think it’s basically immoral how wizards could cure most common muggle ailments, but don’t.

His brother Lorcan is more an adventurer who loves mountain climbing, hiking etc. He occasionally does help with villages and such, but usually just clues Lysander into ‘oh I came across this kid with a messed up foot in this village’ then Sander is on it.

Favorite moment n/a

Idea for a story - Got one going already! :D I’d like some more stories about his work in villages and such.

Unpopular opinion  Lysander is brown eyed and blonde haired, while Lorcan is black haired and blue eyed. Neither are super into animals once they’re older.

Favorite relationship  His and Lily’s, now. :)

Favorite headcanon  I think I covered most of it. bUT MAN, I can’t believe I’ve only posted the twins once. I know I’ve sketched them before, but I guess I never posted it :P  

[feheroestips]

Quick overview

Wrys has heard your cries for the need of a 5 star and he’s here to help! Wrys is proud to announce he can use two ploys skills at once and is one of, if not the best user of ploys thanks to the highest res in the game tied with two armour units, being Henry and Tharja, What wrys offers which they don’t is erm a lack of hair? When you’re a man like wrys though you don’t need hair.  The only thing you should fear about Wrys is when he couldn’t be the last guide because of Zephiel.

Base kit

Wrys comes with slow, though Wrys is so behind everyone else it doesn’t actually do him that much good. The same can be said about live to serve where if anything touches his bones Physically he’ll crumble into dust. However Wrys comes with Rehabilitate and also Heavenly light, both of which are amazing healing skills though its subjective to the player.

Wrys performs best with ploy skills, Wrys wants to play support and nothings better than wrys sniping down foes from a far. Fortress res is a very nice A slot as well, as is a skill like distant defence.

Pros + Cons

+Highest res in the game

+The highlight of my meme wheel

+Actually decent hp

-Will die to most things

-Wrys needs a lot of donations to the church

-No combat ability 

Partners

Literally anyone will keep Wrys safe, just anyone

Suggested set(s)

Donate to the church, please

+hp/res -atk/spd

Candlelight+ Or any staff you like, Physic/Rehabilitate +, Any assist you need

Slot A = Fortress res, Distant defence, water boost

Slot B = Wings of mercy

Slot C = Any ploy skill

Sacred seals: Any Ploy skill

Weapon refinery: DAZZLING STAFF PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING THAT IS PURE

So this set requires providing your local church with 3-4 5 stars depending on how you build but makes wrys a mean lean debuffing machine, able to snipe targets for their stats thanks to ploy skills, the best combination would be atk and spd but work with what you got. As such when using ploy skills you want to go +res and use fortress res as wrys wont need his awful attack to make him rocket to a whopping 44 resistance easily able to ploy most units in the game.Though you can just go for magic tank Wrys with something like a panic stave to reverse blade tomes while using a +hp nature to get +6 res from waterboost. Speaking of staves use what you want Wrys will be grateful though candlelight gets the biggest shout out thanks to the fact it offers so many support options to the team, especially with wings of mercy.

Wrys Wrath

+hp/res -spd/atk

Pain, Physic/Rehabilitate +, Any assist you need

Slot A = Fortress res, Distant defence, water boost

Slot B = Wings of mercy

Slot C = Savage blow

Sacred seals: Savage blow

Weapon refinery = Dazzling just dazzling

This functions just like the above except with a focus on chip damage through pain and savage blow, while while wrathful staff seems nice wings of mercy offers more support for Wrys and even save him if need be.

[kaithedumbass02]

A New Undertale AU

(First off, I'm sorry for not posting here often, but I've been doing some big things, like making this AU, all the characters are finished, I just need help with the story of the AU, if anyone has any ideas, please tell me ^^) ErrorLust Sans Appearance: he is a bit taller than both Error!Sans and UL!Sans, it's not a lot, but it's noticeable, The shirt he wears is the same as UL!Sans, but the shirt is light grey and the heart on the shirt is much bigger and red, the heart has light red glitches on it. He's jacket is a grey color and has neon blue ruffs on the end of he's sleaves and collar of the jacket. He also wears black fingerless gloves, he's shorts are a very light grey along with a heart on the top which is the same neon blue. Both of he's eyes are purple and he has dark purple tear marks running down from he's eye sockets, and he has the ability to produce purple strings from he's fingers. Personality: he is VERY kinky, but easily pissed off, loud noises, most stupid things, and rather dumb people set him off. He has 2 kinks, Eproctophilia and Bondage, he doesn't often let people know about them, he prefers to keep these to himself. He is...kinda gassy, most of the time he has a hard time controlling he's gas, and often blows...from both ends, it is glitchy, the sound, smell and color changes every few seconds, he does try to act embarrassed about it, but he normally isn't. When he gets set off, he will use he's kinks as punishment for making him mad, wrapping up he's victims with purple strings that comes from he's hands, and then gassing them until they either pass out or beg him to let them go. He actually enjoys being tied up, this would be the Bondage. He normally gets himself into very..."showy" poses if you get what I mean. Likes: being around people, not too many thought. Acting on he's fetishes in private. If pissed, making he's victims pay. Not eating too much. Dislikes: people who act stupid unless it's a friend. Eating a lot, gives him a REALLY bad stomach. Extreme weather. People acting stupid. VERY loud noises. Abilities: Gaster Blasters: like the classic Sans, he has the Gaster Blasters, these are blackish purple with dark purple marks running down from the eye sockets, and the eyes are red, they are a bit bigger and more powerful then the classic ones, the beam they spit out is purple and can poison you if hit. The damage increase isn't THAT significant, it takes away around 10-15 HP, but the poison makes that seem like a lot. He can fire them rather quickly, a bit faster than Classic Sans.  Bone Attacks: he has the regular bone attacks like the original Sans, the ones where you have to jump over are still white, but the ones where you have to stay still are purple and black, the colors are marbled in. And they move a bit quicker too. Asster Blasters: these are just like he's Gaster Blasters, but instead of shooting out energy, they shoot out beams of pure stink, these ones do around 15-17 HP of damage, but the poison does more damage. Smokescreen: he can use he's gas to create a smokescreen, this makes it harder to dodge attacks, it does last for a few turns so it's kinda hard to get through. Poisonous Smokescreen: this is basically the same as the regular Smokescreen, but it does damage over time, sometimes safe spots show up so someone won't take damage, but they do move around so you would have to try staying in the spot to avoid damage, but luckily this only last for a few seconds. Poisonous Goo: he can create balls of purple, poison goo, these do a VERY large amount of damage, around 30-40 HP, but at least the poison effect isn't very powerful, you do have to keep moving around so they won't get you, but they are a bit fast, but are avoidable, but it's still not a good idea to get hit by these Binding: he uses the strings that come from he's fingers to tie you up and prevent you from moving, similar to Undyne, instead of using spears, he uses he's Gaster Blasters and you have to move to face where the attack is coming from to get through it, but they do come pretty fast ErrorLust Papyrus Appearance: He is white instead of black unlike the original Error!Papyrus, being almost double the height of he's brother, he can be quite intimidating at first, but he wouldn't hurt anyone unless angered. He's clothes are basically the same as Error!Papyrus, a few differences with he's clothes are he doesn't wear the gloves, and he's jacket is zipped up. He's scarf is is a light pink in color and is a bit longer. The jacket itself is a dark pink to contrast with the light pink scarf. He's pants are a light grey color. The rim of he's boots are a neon blue and the main of the boots are white. The inside of he's mouth and eye sockets are a dark pink, and he's teeth are white. Personality: he is a little kinky, but no where as kinky as he's brother, he only has one kink, and that is Bondage, he has a VERY strong dislike for he's brother's gas, he basically hates it, not only does it annoy him, but it absolutely disgusts him, but he still loves he's brother no matter what. Unlike he's brother, it is very hard to anger him, but if he is angered, you'll regret it, big time, he will tie you up with dark purple strings that come from he's back, and these are very, VERY painful if touched, he can be pretty brutal with these, constricting the victim with these, sometimes he's accidentally killed with these strings, but he doesn't think straight when he's mad, he's basically the polar opposite with he's actual personality when mad.  Likes: he's brother (at times). Calming things (this is just about anything calming). Cold things. Cool/regular weather. Being calm. Being active. Dislikes: he's brother (at times). Loud noises (like he's brother, this is something that would set him off, but they have to be VERY loud and last for awhile to piss him off). Hot things. Really hot weather. Being angry. Not doing anything productive. Abilities: The Bone Zone: He traps you in a small box made of blue bones as an onslaught of bones attack. They don't do much damage but they're a lot of them Halt: He attacks with one of his purple strings that does a decent amount of damage and slows your movement by 50% for the next 3 turns Burning Bond: he wraps you up with his purple strings, draining HP, the HP drain is only 1 HP, but it happens every few seconds, and the longer you move while this is active, HP will be drained quicker, the HP drain only works if you are moving, so simply don't move to avoid damage, but there are some points where you have to move with the strings, occasionally the strings will move along the board, they do move pretty quicky. Attack Drain: if hit by any of he's strings, your attack will be reduced by 30% for 5 turns. Biting Dog Heads: he will summon dog heads that come out from the ground, but doing this also summons platforms so that your able to dodge them, be careful though, these dog heads deal a big amount of damage, around 20-25 HP ErrorLust Chara Age: 20 Gender: Female Appearance: she has her regular hair color while the tips are a deep velvet red, all the glitches are on her back along with the glitchy stripes on her crop top sweater which is the same velvet red that her hair is, her shorts are basically the same as UL Sans Personality: she is cruel, sadistic and enjoys torturing victims, she'll use any torture imaginable, gas torture, pain torture (I mean ANY kind of pain, cutting with a knife to sexual torture) and anything else that someone can torture with. Being very dark in nature, preferring to stay away from everyone else, basically the polar opposite of Frisk. The kind of torture she uses the most is pain torture, she's been known to cut her victims many, MANY times, often letting them bleed to death, walking away, laughing. But thanks to Frisk's will, she is very easily contained and doesn't appear too often. But she tries very often to break out of her containment.  Likes: Torture. The night. Dark things. Anything that is really dark in nature. Fighting. Being alone. Gory things. Anything with death. Dislikes: Being kind. The day. Nice people. Being contained. Anything that's nice, sweet or caring. Anything colorful, it just disgusts her. Abilities: Gas Lethality Increase: for every few LV she gains, the smell and lethality of her gas will increase. LV1-LV4: very tame, they are worse than normal, but nothing too bad. LV5-LV9: they are pretty bad around this point, most humans would/or want to pass out after a few farts. LV10-LV14: around this point the smell gets close to Sans's level of stink, not AS powerful, but VERY close to it. LV15-LV18: at this point, the smell is more powerful than Sans's smell, MUCH more powerful. LV19-LV20: they are downright lethal at this point, up to the point if exposed to them long enough, it will kill you. Death By 1000 Cuts: She attacks with a barrage of knives that do a low amount of damage but apply a bleeding affect when one hits you, the bleeding affect lasts for 5 seconds and the effect stacks if hit multiple times with the knives. Bloodlust Gain: if hit with the bleeding affect, at the end of the turn she will regain 20% of the damage as a attack increase. Low HP, More Attack: if her HP gets down to half, both her attack and attack speed go up by 50% ErrorLust Undyne Appearance: Her hair is neon blue with bright red streaks going through it, her skin is a bit darker than the original UT Undyne, the glitches over her eyes are black, the goopy cape is the same neon blue as her hair, the clothes she wears are all black expect the heart on her tank top which is a white color Personality: well this is...kinda difficult to explain, her personality is mixed and does change a lot, she could be neutral one minute and angry the next, when she's neutral she won't really show any emotion, she'll just have a blank expression most of the time. But like I said before this does change pretty quickly, if angered she will have a scowl on her face, wanting to fight the next thing that approaches her. When she fights she is VERY aggressive, bombarding the victim with fast and brutal attacks, you'll have to have a fast reaction time to dodge them. But she quickly calms down again, you just have to keep dodging and stay alive. She should calm down after a few turns. But if you try to hurt someone she will step in and try to stop you, if this happens you'll have to try and stay alive for much longer.  Likes: she really doesn't have any "likes" she's neutral to most things. Dislikes: same as the likes, she's neutral to most things, But the thing that would be considered that she hates is seeing someone being hurt. Abilities: Anger Increase: when mad, her attack goes up by 40% Black Spears: these spears are a very powerful version of her original spears, they are bigger, faster, and a lot more powerful, about 50% more powerful, and if hit with these spears, your speed will decrease 20% for 5-10 turns. Balls Of Goo: by using the goop from her cape, she can send balls of black goo after you, these are homing attacks, and will follow you for a few seconds. Sneaky Spears: in any of her attacks, she can send invisible spears towards you, the invisibility wears off, when they are close, but they are slow and thus easily avoided. ErrorLust Frisk Age: 20 Gender: Female Appearance: her hair is blue and fluffy, she's a little tan like the original Lust Frisk, her eyes are closed, and the lashes are red, her sweater is striped, and the colors switch between black, white, grey, purple, orange, and green constantly. Her shorts are light brown and flip flops that change from black to blue Personality: she is very sweet, kind and caring, she hates seeing anything in pain and would try to help them to make them feel better, she would fight ONLY as a last resort, but if she is forced to fight, she will fight, and aggressively too, she usually tries to heal whatever she hurt after the fight. Even though she doesn't really look like it, she can be pretty sexual when put into the right situation, she has been put in these situations by Sans many times, but it never goes that way. Likes: being caring, calming things, sunny weather, sweet food, bright colors, being creative, positive people. Dislikes: hurting things (on purpose or by accident), anything loud, hot food, anything dark, rainy weather, REALLY negative people. Abilities: Healing Hug: she can heal injured people or monsters by hugging them, it doesn't heal too much, but it helps The Healing Touch: she creates balls of pure healing magic, it's a heal over time affect, healing a few HP every few seconds, this is a very helpful in some situations. Kindness Helps: since she doesn't like fighting, she can cheer someone on and can actually increase their speed and rarely their attack. Seductive Gaze: if her attempts to run from a fight fail, she can try to use her seductive gaze to make someone/monster to spare her, she only uses this as a last resort as she doesn't like to use this, she sees it as using it to use someone/something.

[a-winterprince-blog]

Things are changing

This is the first chapter of my crossover fanfic in progress (OUAT characters being kids and going to Hogwarts). If you’re interested, feel free to check out the rest on FFnet. You can find it in the story in the OUAT/HP crossover section as Once Upon A Wizard by xXWinterprinceXx.

When Emma heard the doorbell, she had no idea it would change her entire life.

She was just getting used to her new foster family. Mother, father, and twin boys.

She liked it here, really. They were a little stiff when it came to traditions, but she would get used to it. It felt nice, actually, to pray before eating a meal, or to fill the dishwasher.

It made her feel included.

"Emma, honey, will you open the door, please?" she heard her foster mother call.

Another gesture she highly appreciated. She was entrusted with something she had rarely had the chance to do: Opening the door to her home.

She quickly ran down the stairs, yet trying not to be too loud because she didn't want to disturb her new family.

When she reached the door, she hesitated. She didn't want to let a stranger in. She took a quick glance through the loophole.

There was an elderly woman she had never seen before. Her dark hair was tied into a knot and she looked very severe. She was wearing a weird green and black dress, or was it a coat? But she didn't seem to be dangerous. Maybe she just had a question. Or she was at the wrong door.

Emma turned the doorknob, placing herself between the stranger and her home.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Am I speaking to Miss Emma Swan?"

Emma frowned at the strange and old-fashioned address.

"Yeah", she answered hesitantly.

The woman's thin lips curved a little into what seemed to be the attempt of a smile.

"Good afternoon, Miss Swan. I would like to talk to your parents."

                                                       ~~~

"Will it eat me?" the boy asked, his voice slightly shaking, although he tried to sound confident.

"What?" his brother asked a little confused, still looking at the picture frame he held in his hands.

It was their favorite and most important possession, a picture taken at their parents' wedding. Their mother, the most beautiful bride in the world, her long, curly black hair plait around her head in the most artful manner, was wearing a blue and purple dress that stressed her deep blue eyes, something both boys had inherited. Their father wore a simple but elegant dark Dress Robe. They seemed so happy, looking at each other and then turning to the photographer.

"The monster, will it eat me?" Killian asked impatiently and turned his brother's attention away from the photograph.

"What monster? I thought you hadn't been afraid of Stripey since you were six years old!"

"I'm not talking about Stripey!" Killian protested defensively and a little embarrassed. As a young boy he had always imagined that a monster lived under his bed, but that had been ages ago. He was already eleven years old, after all!

"I'm talking about the monster in the lake! You said there was a monster in the lake!"

Liam smiled and kneeled down before him, taking his hands. "I didn't say 'monster', I said 'giant squid'. It is very peaceful, really. I even heard that once a first year fell into the water and the squid saved his life."

"Really?" Killian asked in disbelief. "That's cool!"

Liam smiled at him.

"You're nervous, aren't you? About Hogwarts?"

Killian gave him an unsure shrug.

"It's just… I mean it's really exciting, all the magic and stuff, but… It's almost too exciting. We just found a way to handle our lives here. I'm not sure I'm ready for another change."

Liam frowned at him with concern.

"Do you want to wait another year? It shouldn't be a problem, I can ask Professor French to delay…"

"No!" Killian interrupted him. "I'm going. It's my last chance to go to school with you. Besides, don't you always say that I have to get back on the horse right after falling, because if I don't, my fear will only grow? I guess it's kinda the same with this. If I don't go now, I might never go." A little quieter, he added: "And I don't want to spend another year in a muggle orphanage. Now that you're seventeen and I go to school we can finally have our own place, and I wouldn't have it any differently."

Liam smiled at him. "Me neither. Don't worry, you're never going back there, I promise! We can handle ourselves. Just the two of us. So…" He got on his feet again. "We should get going, don't you think? Next stop: Diagon Alley!"

"Liam…" Killian started before Liam could reach the chimney with the flee powder. "I was wondering… maybe…"

"What? You can ask me anything, Killian."

"I want to use dad's wand!" Their father, Bentham Jones, had died a few years ago. He had been killed by a few remaining Death Eaters, defending his sons.

After that, Liam and Killian, who was about six years younger than his brother, had lived in several muggle orphanages. Liam had gone to Hogwarts, but he had always come back during the holidays, although Killian knew he'd rather stay in the only place he called home.

But Liam had always made sure he could see Killian, his only living family member, as often as possible.

Killian remembered all the winter evenings when Liam would sneak into his room and quietly tell him stories about Hogwarts, about the teachers, the lessons, the friends he'd made, the adventures he'd had.

He was his brother, the closest thing he had to a parent, his only friend. Liam was everything to him.

Now he looked at him, both surprised and concerned.

"Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly.

This was another trait that Killian loved about him. He trusted him enough to let him make his own decisions. He didn't tell him what to do; he only made sure Killian considered his choices long enough.

"Yes. He was a hero, and the wand is almost all that is left of him. I think I would be… more confident if I had it with me."

Killian noticed that Liam momentarily frowned when he talked about their dad. It startled him for a brief moment, but it was probably just because he missed him, too.

"You should know that wands are… tricky things. Using somebody else's wand could be a lot more difficult, especially since you don't have any experience."

"I'm aware", he assured him.

"Fine", Liam agreed reluctantly.

He stepped to his desk and opened a drawer. He eyed the long, crooked wand and stretched out his arm to give it to him. Before he let go of it, he said:

"Blackthorn and Dragon Heartstrings, 14 ½ inches, not very flexible. Always know your wand."

Killian nodded and carefully took it. He thought that holding it would immediately fill him with awe, but instead he felt grief and anger. It had been found near his father's dead body. Had he used it, one last time, to defend himself and his family? And how could he, Killian, fill out the big footsteps left by his father?

"Let's go now", Liam said. Killian securely stored the wand away and followed his brother through the green flames.

                                                      ~~~

"I am sorry, Mrs. …"

"McGonagall. I am Professor McGonagall."

"Yes… Professor McGonagall. You are suggesting that Emma needs to go to a special school for… special children. You must excuse me, but that sounds as if you thought there was something wrong with her."

Emma sat in the armchair, slightly leaning forwards, and watched her foster parents and the strange woman talk. Her whole body was tense.

She didn't want to go away. She didn't know what this school – Hogwarts (what an idiotic name, really!) – was, but she didn't care.

All she knew was that her foster father shot her a suspicious glance over his wife's shoulder every now and then as if she wouldn't see it.

Her foster mother still eyed Professor McGonagall, and Emma knew she was close to making her leave the house.

But it was only a matter of time until she also doubted her, and then they would throw her out and she would live in the next foster home, the perfect life she had imagined here blown away by this… freak.

"No, there is nothing wrong with your daughter, I assure you. Hogwarts is a place of magic."

"Magic?" her foster father spat out. "Are you sure it's not you who needs special treatment?"

"John…" his wife began, but she turned to Professor McGonagall instead. "Maybe you should leave now."

Professor McGonagall didn't move.

"Our ministry reported that your daughter possesses magical abilities. They must have shown a few times, but none of you knew what it was. It could have been something very simple, like a light bulb flickering when she was angry or scared, or something moving without being touched. Surely you must have witnessed something that you couldn't explain."

"No." her foster father said firmly. "We did not know anything like that about our foster daughter, nor did the foster home report any abnormalities."

With that last word he looked at Emma, and she felt that he was blaming her, that he thought she was a freak. Tears burned in her eyes and she jumped to her feet and left the room, not willing to let anyone see her cry. It wasn't until she reached her room that she allowed the tears to run down her face.

So that's it. She would go back into the system, with another note saying 'She is such a nice girl, but it just didn't work out'. And again, it wasn't even her fault. She had done everything right. She had tried so hard to be a part of this family, as with every family she'd had been in.

She heard a soft knock on her door and quickly wiped her tears away. Her eyes must be swollen. Damn.

"Emma?" somebody asked quietly.

She turned the doorknob and saw Zach and Max, the twins, her nine year old foster brothers. They looked at her with big blue eyes.

"You slammed the door. You know mommy and daddy don't like that." Zach said, but he didn't sound as if he was blaming her.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I just… I was a little upset."

"We thought so", Max nodded. They stepped into her room, Max sitting down on her bed, Zach in front of it.

"What's wrong?" Zach asked.

Emma closed the door and then sat down on her chair.

"It's just…" She decided to tell them the truth. They would find out eventually anyway.

"There is this strange woman who is talking to your parents right now –"

" –our parents", Max corrected her. Emma smiled at him.

"Right. She thinks I have to go to a special school. She's crazy, but now your… our parents think I'm a freak and I'm afraid they will kick me out."

"They won't do that!" Zach exclaimed in shock, while Max looked at her with tears in his eyes.

"I don't want you to go!" he whispered. His brother shook his head. "Me neither!"

Emma couldn't help feeling touched by their love for her. "I don't want to go, either", she whispered.

Suddenly they heard voices in the hallway and a few moments later the front door slammed shut.

Zach jumped to his feet and took her hand.

"C'mon! It's already time for dinner! Let's help prepare it."

Max took her other hand.

"We'll show them you're not a freak!"

Emma laughed a little as they rushed down the stairs. She had to go sideways as they refused to let go of her hands.

"Okay, we're going to set the table, maybe you can help them bring everything from the kitchen?"

The twins disappeared into the dining room and Emma made her way to the kitchen. Right in front of it she stopped. Her foster parents were talking about what had happened, and she could hear their muffled voices.

"We have to trust Emma. She has done nothing so far to make us doubt her."

That was her foster mother.

"So far. How do you know this… woman didn't tell the truth? Think about it, Emma has been in so many foster families, yet she was always returned to the system"

Was returned. As if she was a piece of furniture.

"John, don't tell me you believe this woman! All this nonsense about magic! We should have thrown her out right away."

"Of course not! But Emma has been with us for only two weeks, and we already have people like this in our house! Did you hear her? She wants to come back tomorrow and take Emma to London to buy her schoolbooks. Having Emma in our house is endangering our children!"

"Our children?" Emma whispered, not able to hold back. The door swung open.

"Emma! Did you eavesdrop?"

"Emma, he didn't mean it like that", her foster mother immediately said.

"No, I think that's exactly what he meant."

Emma turned around and, for the second time today, she ran up the stairs and slammed the door. Only this time, she fell on her bed and cried into her pillow, and nobody came into her room. She was sure John stopped the twins from doing that..

Had she really believed she could have a life here? That finally, after eleven messed up years, she could find a family?

Her lamp flickered again. It had always had a loose connection. Unless…

It could have been something very simple, like a light bulb flickering when she was angry or scared.

Professor McGonagalls voice echoed in her head.

No, this was ridiculous. This woman had ruined her life. Which was why she wouldn't be here anymore tomorrow.

When Professor McGonagall came to her home… to this house again, she would only find a very confused family that couldn't explain the absence of the girl they had adopted not long ago, but would surely be happy to be rid of this problem.

Emma was the problem. So Emma would be gone.

[declassroomedteach-blog]

Jailhouse Salvation 101

Jailhouse Salvation 101

(word count approx 1570)

By Gina Fournier

 The Merchant-Ivory movie adaptation of E. M. Forster’s A Room with a View features a poignant scene following a street fight that ends in murder.  Lucy (Helen Bonham Carter) comments that you witness something memorable and think you’ll never be the same, but then you forget and return to your old self.  I hope to do a better job holding onto my jailhouse conversion, from skeptical to convinced about the existence of God.  

 Disclaimer: My conviction has wavered intensely even before I finished editing this essay.

Thanks to my former employer and its bad actors, an institution I’ll call Land of Motown Community College, where I served as an English teacher, I’ve seen the best and the worst of pure Michigan humanity.  If God created humans, God sure must have a sense of humor.

Even a smattering of details from my story sound like a rollercoaster Lifetime movie no one wants to watch.  Since 2012, I’ve been sexist witch-hunted through an ongoing living nightmare that has included hack shrinks, illegal and involuntary lock up in a Catholic mental health ward and now incarceration for thirty-four days in a mid-Michigan county jail for a crime I did not commit. College administrators, union teachers, dirty cops, dirty doctors, dirty nuns and dirty priests, plus the state’s top most government officials, have participated in the protection of white collar criminals and encouraged my simultaneous downfall.   All this for me, so one man can prove his power over unions near union ground zero.

The U.S. Constitution’s first amendment makes clear that government is not to establish any official religion, not protect any particular religion from existing laws. Perhaps the founding fathers could foresee the distant future.  Nearly two hundred fifty years later, a female citizen has found cause to invert the phrase “God bless you” with blasphemy, attempting to redress grievances.  

I’ve never met the emergency room doctor who signed me into a Catholic looney bin for a week.  To my horror, I was held in a Catholic Siberia, it turns out, on campus with my all girl Catholic high school.  I was raised and violated by the same church, which now pretends it’s never met me.  Thirty five years ago, for Halloween, classmates mimicked the Robert Redford movie Brubaker to stage a failed, backboneless prison break.  These classmates, who have also turned away from my plight, dressed not in hospital gowns or orange as the new black, but plaid skirts and knee socks adorned temporarily with stripes. (Good girls, we stopped mock rioting when the nuns glared.)

Unfortunately, there is no law or principle governing the intersection of religion and families.   In my time of need, even my immediate and extended family has turned away, exponentially multiplying my distress.  My extended Catholic family has not advocated for me, though it would cost nothing except some skin.  The anger caused by this and so many betrayals envelops like nuclear explosion.

However, I realized something on day thirty-three of my lock up in the big house.  Because the ties between families and religion tend to act like strangleholds, my estranged Catholic mother is incapable of doing the one thing I want and need her most to do: to demand that Livonia Catholics honestly investigate me claims.  Because of my new found belief, I forgive my aging mother.  She’s only human and doing the best she can.  (Unfortunately, the damage done feels irreparable.  Forgiveness does not mean I can tolerate her presence.)

Through five solid years of loss, I have been cornered mentally and financially into a nearly impossible position.  But the kindest of strangers have helped me to survive.  Downstate, nice generous neighbors responded to my cries for help by giving. Up north, the same.   People have given money, food, house wares, helpful supplies such as wood, shoes, warm clothes, plus their time and honest well wishes.  I wish I would have kept better track of the names and faces of the many regular people who have been so kind, forming a lifeline, keeping me alive.

My fighting spirit has kept better track of my transgressors, including Fox News Detroit, which ran a sexist hack piece in 2015 cutting together footage I asked them not to shoot in order to make me look looser than loopy.  In search of more positive and helpful press, my creative and liberal mind encouraged me to tag my own, downstate old-ring suburban home with a metaphoric phrase that offended and confused.  “A religious figure criminally violated me!” Only my version was Twitter-short.  Basic sentence: subject, verb, object.  

Passersby assumed I was nutz.  I’m not. Unfortunately, the human resources’ labor attorney and architect of my nightmare is smart enough to know that once a crone-aged female is labeled crazy dangerous, most people won’t bother to parse the facts.  Just ask Hillary.  Voters elected a man without ethics, unwilling to practice stability, a sexual harasser, eager to “lock her up!”

I recreated my civil rights protest up north at a lake named after the largest city in New Brunswick. Maybe I watched too many episodes of Little House on the Prairie, after numerous rereadings of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books.  In middle age, without an income, I’ve been forced to gather wood and water for two years, for two winters, with a third approaching, in order to survive in my dead husband’s summer cabin, which is facing tax forfeiture, and soon.  In both iterations, I repainted my eye-catching sacrilegious phrase with “Act Peace.”  I’m not a bad person, or dangerous, or interested in spreading evil. But Fox News Detroit has been not interested in my actual story.  

While I was incarcerated, nasty locals ran down my mailbox to which my sign “Act Peace” was nailed, and then took the sign.  Two paintings espousing the Statue of Liberty have been stolen.  My sign about the connection between the dirty cop who put me in jail and Land of Motown Community College was stolen, I’d guess by the dirty cop.  My cries for “help!” with needed justice have been ignored.  Instead, community officials at this private lake community have bent the law with the help of dirty local county officials, who may try to re-arrest me over the care of my feces.  Yes, you read correctly.  My troubles continue.  Danger surrounds. This is not a pretty story.

(FYI. Please believe me. I’m still be getting my proverbial shit together, but I’ve always I properly and responsibly discarded my poop.)

Something wicked this way came, and stayed, but I pray to harness goodness and finally slay the beast on my back. I’ve been falsely accused of being suicidal and a danger to society within a country that has grown accustomed to men mass murdering and sexual harassing.  I know the pain of mental illness in the form of mental torture, so I feel very sympathetic to those, especially military veterans, who suffer from PTSD.  Mental pain is real.  And can be excruciating.  I realize no matter my idiosyncratic tendencies, finally winning a measure of justice will require the help of other people, and, well, by any name, I guess God.  I know that God may not intercede with my legal and financial problems but belief in a higher power does help with gratefulness and tranquility.

In jail, every day is a good day to die.  However, the smallest graces save a tattered soul and help a person carry on to the next long minute.   I want to thank the two women who ran Bible study every Tuesday.  Yes, you read correctly.  Unbeknownst to them, they gave me gold for a writer without means: a composition notebook, on my 54th birthday, which was an otherwise desolate milestone.  Moreover, these women of God showed me a respectable and inspirational version of Christianity.

On cable tv, my cellmates preferred back-to-back episodes of Cops, shows about zombies, the shallow high jinks of Jerry Springer, endless sci-fi.  (I prefer comedy and drama.)  The day I was eventually sprung from the slammer, my legal troubles abated but not erased, Unsolved Mysteries ran a segment on St. Pio, an Italian priest who was said to develop stigmata and miraculously heal.  Angered, under stress, I admit I acted out loudly like an ass (even by jail standards): “I hope they roast his nuts!”  

Many jail birds claim to accept Jesus as their savior, though none gave up their bottom bunk for the pregnant woman in our ranks.  Critically, I recognized around me the kind of souls who would have rejected Mary and Joseph. But I was forced to realize this was not a television segment that was going to uncover more Catholic dirt.  Although St. Pio may have self-inflicted his wounds, trapped in a county cell block, I dropped my bad attitude and truly felt in my body an undeniable wave of love.      

No surprise, in the short time since my release on PR bond, my nascent jailhouse conversion has been tested and wavered, fallen apart, and needing rebuilding.  Im not a saint.  My days are terrifying and unresolved.  But.  If I breathe calmly and deeply, and repeat my affirmations, what some call prayers, I recognize a connection between hope and light.    

House of Hope in Hersey, Michigan, offered me a composition notebook.  Any additional help readers may offer with legal defense, plumbing, back taxes, transportation, work or grace are appreciated. Thank you.  

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