#marauders playing persona basically

[ecreip]

I like to mess around with custom YGO cards sometimes, and recently I had an idea for a Pendulum archetype. Working name: "Paranosis", an admittedly straight forward portmanteau of "Parasite" and "Hypnosis". The gameplay gimmick is giving the opponent Pendulum Scales that have negative effects for their controller. For lore, all the monsters are Normal Monsters who were corrupted in some shape or form, making them vulnerable to a parasite that targets the mind. They retain their ATK/DEF and Attribute, but their Types have changed to Insect (the parasite's Type) and their names are just "Paranosis [Type prior to infection]". Their identities and memories are being slowly erased and they become more (self-)destructive due to the parasite's influence. Currently I have four Pendulum Monsters, two Traps, and two Spells. The effects can be read in the attached images, but I'll briefly discuss why I chose the four monsters I did.

Warrior Dai Grepher: He has the Dark Grepher and Dark Lucius timelines where he clearly was not okay. His rivalry with Warrior Lady of the Wasteland (aka D.D. Warrior Lady) is also at play, specifically insecurities regarding the numerous chaotic things that have happened in their battles.

Gogiga Gagagigo: His first released card is Gagagigo and his youngest version is Gigobyte. The flavor text of each Normal Monster that portrays his life talks about his dark destiny and how he basically loses his own soul by the end. However, he also has close connections Eria, the Water Charmer and Marauding Captain. I focus on the former since he first partnered with her when he was young, but I might adjust the flavor text to account for the latter since that's the one his Gagagigo self most commonly interacted with.

Dragon Core Hexer: Original the monster Dragon Horn Hunter, constant exposure to dragon's blood in her hunts have corrupted her in body and soul. She wasn't even able to save her village, which was destroyed without her ever realizing. So yeah, gal's going through it (and she's also my favorite Normal Monster altogether so I had to include her).

Dunames Dark Witch (Dunamis Valkyria in the OCG): While Grepher clearly appears sinister in his Dark persona, the Dark version of Vakyria (the constant of her name in all other versions and what I'll refer to as henceforth) isn't as evil looking. She also doesn't have an Even Eviler Form™ ala Dark Lucius. But I went with her cause it allowed me to have two Level 4s (Valkyria and Grepher) and two Level 8s (Gagagigo and Hexer) that were all different Attributes and Types (which is important for the naming scheme and flavor). Plus I think someone who is a bit more courageous than the others allows for some spicy flavor text.

Please excuse the lack of placeholder images for the last three cards, but I wasn't sure what to use and didn't wanna get bogged down. The monsters are just the arts from their Normal Monster versions I'm referencing. If these had proper unique art, they would all be somewhere full of variable mixtures of fear and anxiety-induced rage (plus something indicating that an insect is influencing and blinding them to amplify their fear). Pervading Paranosis uses cropped art from Array of Revealing Light.

[allherfaeriesmeetinjuly]

ok so aside from the marauders’ era references, these are my actual thoughts on the movie: so spoilers !!

i see edits on tt of enola being canonically lesbian and that really shaped my viewpoint on her relationship w tewksbury. she deserves to be w a girl!! in the trailer it was mae who held a knife to a neck. like imagine?? the tension? the hostile strangers to lovers? the immediate protection of bessie? the solving a case together and bonding arc? we could have had it if only she didn’t die literally the next day after the knife scene ☹️☹️. and so the subplot of romance between tweaky and enola was meh, i liked the interactions but i was not kicking my legs blushing unlike the first movie. but, i have to admit, that one scene when she was arrested and she put the letter evidence into his blazer. like ok slay they ate that up. the chemistry. the kissing and i love you scenes were just meh honestly.

my feelings on moriaty is that i did not at all see that coming. but i love the idea of a black woman playing THE main villain role. also she did not deserve to go to jail because of the amount of cunt she was giving. and also it’s just like government fraud and what the men were doing was basically killing girls for profit. grail deserved his death. he’s so icky. i love david but he really was. speaking of david and the acting… david thewlis stop hxjsjx idk ahhhh he’s so i’m literally blushing typing this out. also henry fucking cavill can u like not?? like like. i’m okay (not). and helena is here i love her so much she’s my favourite person actually. i loved her performance so much she really outdid the eccentricity of her character and her being so so proud of enola really gave me 🫶🏼🫶🏼. and louis feel strange somehow.. like i did not enjoy his performance as much as i did the rest. and i get that his “persona” is this heartthrob person but i did not get the vibe i did not like him much in this movie. millie on the other hand … i <3 her so much she’s so great in this movie. like genuinely i loved every scene where she wasn’t cringey (15% of etiquette scenes). but she is v cool. that wraps my movie of the week so see another ramble next week !!!

[theday-to-daymarauderslife]

Thread of Dorcas playing Persona 3: Portable whilst Regulus watches (Very Out of Context)

(Dorcas is playing as a female protagonist)

Regulus: This unknown boy is creeping me out

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Regulus: OO PRETTY GIRL SHES HOT Mitsuru queen

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Regulus: Awe Yukari’s cute

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Regulus: WHY DOEES SHE HAVE A Gun

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Regulus: HOBBYY???? WHAT HOBBY NEEDS A GUN

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them: was everything okay?

Regulus: NOTHING WAS OKAY!!! THE STATION WAS WEIRD AF

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Regulus: when the game says you need to sleep you sleep

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Regulus: 'dont tell anyone what i saw???' tthats not concerning at all!

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Regulus: HELMET MAN!!!

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Regulus: 11TH GRADE???? THE PROTAGONIST IS SO SMALLL

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Regulus: sexism??? in this economy??? its more likely than you think

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Regulus: GOOD GODS THE PRINCIPAL IS SO CREEPY WTF

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Regulus: 'SMIRKING CLASSMATE????' THATS WHAT THEY CALL THE LIAM OBRIEN???

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Regulus: OMG HE LOOKS LIKE A FRAT BOY AND HES GONNA BE OUR FRIEND!!!

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Regulus: yukari didnt havve to come for junpei like that but she really did

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Regulus: omg junpei sweetie, hes such a himbo but also not a himbo???

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Regulus: LIN MANUEL MIRANDA????

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Regulus: I dont need to but im gonna ask ALL THE QUESTINs

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Regulus: HES GASLIGHT GATEKEEP GIRLBOSSING US HOW DARE

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Regulus: idk why but whenever he talks i hate him

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Regulus: mysterious old gentlemen?? thats me

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Mitsuru: the moon is beautiful tonight

Regulus: SO ARE YOU

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Regulus: I THOUGHT SHE WAAS GONA CONFESS

FOR A HOT SECOND

AND THEN I REALIZED THAT WOULDNT HAPPEN CAUSE PEOPLE ARE COWARDS

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Regulus: THESE MONSTERS ARE FIGHTING CAUSE THEYRE DISTRESSED??? WELL IM ALWAYS DISTRESSED TOO YOUU DONT SEE ME STARTING FIGHTS EVERYWHERE

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Mitsuru: are you ready

Regulus: never

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Regulus: DEPRESSION IN THE BUILDING BAYBEEEE -ooo blood

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Regulus: FIGHT THE GHOST MOPS YASS

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Regulus: oof them good beats im vibing

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Regulus: merlin, this game takes the english out of me

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Regulus: smollenemy boisss

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Regulus: ITS A GHOST PIXIE WITH A HAND

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Regulus: THAT HAND HAD A FACE ON IT??? or am i SEEING THINGS??

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Regulus: we love the mcfucking stairs, thanks Dorcas

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Regulus: aweee ghosties wearing cute pink pyjama pants

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Regulus: i wish these hand things fought with their middle fingers, would be so mucch more interesting

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Regulus: Shuffle time -EVERYDAY IM SHUFFLING

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Regulus: junpei's me; burning my mouth with the hot food knowing FULL WELL THAT ITS FUCKING HOT

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Regulus: yukari??? tired?? EXCUSE ME???

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Regulus: im love fortune telling lady

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Regulus: EAVESDROPPINGGGG TIMEEE

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Regulus: apparently rio is Dorcas' beloved lmaoooo

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Regulus: YUKARI FLIRTING WITH USSS YESSS

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Regulus: FRIENDS THAT ARE GIRLS??? NOPE YUKARI IS OUR GIRLFRIEND (remember they're playing as a female protagonist)

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Regulus: akihikos mood changes tho; one minute hes like 'you better be training' and the next hes like 'go have some fun'???

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Regulus: YUKARI FLIRTING WITH USSSSSSSSSS

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Regulus: WE GOING ON A DATE WITH MITSURU!!!

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Regulus: YUKARI DATE WITH US ON A DATE SHE SWEETIE SHES POURING HER HEART OUT TO US THIS IS TOTALLY A DATE

Regulus: LOVERS ARCANA??? I WAS CORRECT THEYRE DATING

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Regulus: HORROR HOUSE??? I THOUGHT SHE SAID WHORE HOUSE!

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Dorcas: are you ready to hang out with junpei

Regulus: im always ready

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Regulus: hes stopping to stare at us??? well, we are beautiful

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Regulus: sausage fest??? JUNPEI WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

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Regulus: what type of life has theo been living??? wtf??? spoonfuls??? my guy does he need help??

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Regulus: fuck tanaka, and not in the fun way

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Dorcas: you wanna take theo out on a date

Regulus: FUCK YES I LOVE HIM

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Regulus: men are cowards

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Regulus: the way junpei talks about akihiko is like hes in love with him like dude you tryna set us up or yourself???

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Dorcas: you can date any man in this (as a female character)

Regulus: disgusting

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akihiko: i dont want u to rely on me during fights

Regulus: thats completely fine we have Dorcas

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Regulus: i love being talked about behind my back

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Regulus: SIT YOUR ASS DOWN AKIHIKO

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Regulus: MOTORCYCLE??? IM EVEN GAYER NOW

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yukari: what are we gonna do?!

Regulus: cry

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junpei: what type of messed up ride is this??

Regulus: a fun one

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Regulus: YAS STRIKE A POSE JUNPEI GOOGLE MAP ALWAYS TAKING PHOTOS BAYBEEE

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Regulus: does someone know how to drive a train???? i feel like that would be a good skillset to have

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Regulus: Dorcas' making us cry and now junpei's freaking out, great

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yukari: how did you know which ones the break

Regulus: ITS CALLED GUESSING -or Dorcas has played this before

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Regulus: a yawn-b-gone??? do you mean energy drink???

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Regulus: someone pls get akihiko high, he needs it

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Regulus: Theo, my sweet boi i love him

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Dorcas: someone was injured their car fell-

Regulus: nice

Dorcas: ????

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Dorcas: i will cheat to get these questions right

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Regulus: not Dorcas losing her cool over rio

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Regulus: not Dorcas tryna murder headless ghosties while they couple dance

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Regulus: lets get us some boiiisss and by bois i mean personas and not actual bois cause yike

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Regulus: oh no, drunk man. we don't love drunk man

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Dorcas: Translate 'pan' into english

Regulus: BRAID!

Regulus: Wait- I MEANT BREAD

Dorcas: BRAID?????

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Regulus: i cant believe we have to do the test

Dorcas: REGULUS YOU'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING IM ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS

[mariekavanagh]

Re your post about the new Harry Potter series, considering you're such a Sirius Black fan would you not want a Marauders series?

lol nope.

You'd think I would want this, and I'm aware that there are many many people who do want a "Marauders" era prequel. But there are many reasons as to why it wouldn't work. Here are some.

This fandom is hella divisive and argumentative at the best of times. This can be a good thing, don't get me wrong. Different opinions are a good thing. But so often this fandom fails to discuss them respectfully, often resorting to just insulting the other side or shouting insults. The fandom surrounding MWPP has so many sides with people very devoted to their side - whichever side a potential TV show decides to portray, there will only be a small amount of the fandom satisfied by it.

Now lets get into the more detailed issues with a MWPP series.

1) James Potter vs Severus Snape.

If we end up with a show that outright depicts James + his friends bullying Snape (or other students), we'll have an argument about whether or not Snape deserved it, whether it's bias against Snape, MWPP fans complaining about showing their shady side, and arguments on posts that I can already see myself hastily scrolling past in which both sides are shouting at each other over who is right. It's exhausting enough already, without an official on-screen depiction to squabble over.

2) Wolfstar

Ships are great. Ships are fine. Ship who you want. You have that freedom. But there are people who like to declare their ship as canon simply because they like it so much or because there is a slither of canon "evidence". Wolfstar is one of those ships. If a prospective TV show decides to stick with canon and not confirm wolfstar, or worst still, give either character a potential love interest other than each other, there will be uproar from some areas of the wolfstar ship. Likewise, if they do push the boat out and decide to go for wolfstar, or perhaps just hint at it, there will be uproar from the anti-wolfstar community. Once again, it just comes down to the fact that this fandom so often fails to have a polite debate or conversation.

3) Casting

The lack of official on-screen material on the MWPP era means that there is a lot of fancasting for characters from that era. Which is a good thing! I do it myself, sometimes. It's a great feeling when you find an actor/person and think "Omg it's *insert name here*!" There are some very popular fancasts for the MWPP characters (Off the top of my head, Ben Barnes for Sirius, Andrew Garfield for Remus, Timothee Chalamet for Regulus and that other guy who is always shown as James in the same group whose name I cannot remember), but the reality is that these actors are extremely unlikely to be cast in these roles in any official movie/series. Aside from the people in charge perhaps just not seeing them as the right fit, the images and clips that people use for these actors as their characters are from films that are about a decade old. The actors are not young 20-somethings who can get away with playing teenagers anymore. This is perfectly logical, but I can already see it fuelling criticism about whoever is cast in the roles that fans are so loyal to seeing their fancasts playing. Endless "This actor isn't right, THIS actor should have been cast instead!" posts incoming.

4) Abusive Blacks

Oh boy. The cherry on the cake. You all know how much I dislike the headcanon that Sirius's parents were physically abusive towards him. That's just my persona preference. If a potential show or film decided to roll with this angle then I would not be the biggest fan for sure, but oh well. But this is just yet another example of an area of the MWPP fandom which is so divisive. If they show the Blacks as beating Sirius or cursing him til he's almost dead, then there will be people in favour and people against. Likewise if they don't show this, there will be people either saying this is a good thing or saying they're "going against canon" (abusive Blacks isn't canon, deal with it). Posts on the matter will quickly dissolve into name calling and shouts of "abuse apologist". Fun times.

5) Peter

I personally have a bit of a thing about people who deliberately erase Peter from works on MWPP. Yes he turned out to be a traitor and a bad guy, but you can't deny he was there all together. He was there, he was their friend, and he was very much a part of the story. But that's just me. Ultimately, Peter's divisiveness means that any characterisation in any prequel movie/series will surely be judged harshly depending on how people choose to view him, regardless of canon. The writers will have a nightmare of a time trying to satisfy an audience which all share very differing opinions as to how a younger Peter should be portrayed on screen. I would not envy their task of trying to get the balance right.

In summary, there are so many reasons as to why a MWPP would just be far too divisive to be successful, in my view. Too many topics that the fandom can never agree over, too much potential for outcries of "This angle/actor/storyline is wrong", "The writers are being disloyal to canon", "This is basically canon why are you refusing to acknowledge it?", the list goes on. I feel like any potential enjoyment to be gained from a show would ultimately be tainted by how much arguing every little aspect would trigger. And for that reason, I feel like we never will get any official on-screen prequel from this era. What production company/producer/writer/actor/literally anyone involved would want to take on such a project?

*drops mic* *sips tea* *stands up* *leaves room* *closes door*

[thequibblah]

⭐ honestly there are so many things that I'd likevto ask which is why I want to ask a broaderish question.. How do you approach the characterisation of your "Main cast"? I think you have created some really great complex characters even though they do not exist in canon or even fanon (Germaine in example)

I hope this isn't too broad lol

no, i don't think it's too broad! just let me know if my answer doesn't actually touch on what you were wondering about haha

character creation for me tends to be spontaneous rather than conscious — i.e. i'm just writing my way through a scene and i'm like anyway, these people are new and they're friends or they're dating or they hate each other, and there's rarely a ton of forethought put into it. the vast majority of the ct cast was like that, i would say, except possibly michael, who was the first love interest i invented so there was a little more intention there

(but other than him i was really pulling things out of nowhere for the rest of the students especially — including with emmeline which sometimes surprises me)

the exception is, of course, the main cast. they and sara were very intentional, and i wrote little bio thingies for them before i started even outlining the fic. i mean the non-canon main cast, of course, lol — mary, dorcas (they're both canon but i've invented virtually everything about them, so), and germaine.

i did actually do a lot of hemming and hawing about how many girls there would be in lily's year in gryffindor. as discussed in a previous "my beef with j/k/r" instalment on this blog, the numbers of the hogwarts population really don't make sense at all, so i knew i could be flexible and kind of hand wave any questionable bits away. but the composition of the gryffindor girls was crucial in deciding lily's characterisation, imo — an easy way to convey implied characterisation is to show someone in contrast to the people around them. so: who is lily within the context of her friend group? is she friends with all the girls she rooms with?

separately, i've always liked writing friends in groups of four. in the planning stage of this i was like urghhh it's four girls, the four marauders, is that like too perfect....... and one thing i HATED was that people could then map on each marauder to each girl (lily = james is a bit questionable, though i firmly believe they're much more alike than they seem, but it kind of works.... mary = sirius, dorcas = remus, germaine = peter). and i didn't, and don't, want to make it seem like i've just made vaguely distinct female versions of each marauder!

i've made my peace with that risk, of course, and i think each of the girls is significantly different from "their marauder" (LOL) that it's actually fine — and, better still, if that thought occurs to anyone i hope that their characterisations will go on to provide interesting nuance to the parallels

but, anyway, tangent aside, i love groups of four because i think basically all my life i've had groups-of-four friendships. to absolutely go to bat for us foursomes, it's nice because no single person is the obvious odd one out, and each combination in pairs brings something different to the table — the role that doe plays in the group of four at large, for instance, isn't exactly the same as who she is in her individual friendship with mary, lily, or germaine.

the three main cast members came of some very clinical answers to those initial questions about lily.

one, i have always liked having mary be one of lily's friends, and in my characterisation of her she's obviously a great foil to lily, as a fellow muggle-born student. so, she was a lock.

two, i wanted to write one other canon order character, but i didn't want it to be marlene because in my reading of her canon mention, lily is unlikely to write a letter to sirius with her full name (paraphrasing but "i was so upset when marlene mckinnon died, i cried for ages") or, indeed, write a letter discussing how sad marlene's death made her, if they were besties and schoolmates. i went with dorcas because why the hell not? in developing her i then added all these thoughts

three, i felt the need to make up an oc so i could have absolute freedom over their fate. i had certain preconceived notions about mary and dorcas and what their stories would be, so there were other things (e.g. playing quidditch) that i wanted to have a friend of lily's do that they couldn't. plus, i wanted to write a massive lesbian.

another little sticking point, though, was that i (for a very SHRUG?? reason) didn't want lily to be besties with everyone she's lived with, but i didn't want to insert a catty rival into her dorm either. (now, don't get me wrong, i do love a good rival. i did, after all, write mary and amelia, and i am a known appreciator of carlotta meloni, and i adore TLE's marlene mckinnon. but i wanted the gryffindor girls to be like lily's safe space — a contrast both to her home life and to her recently-strained friendship with snape, where she's spent some time having to second-guess herself a lot. in my mind her friendships with all three of her besties coalesced at various points organically, until she was like wow wait i do actually have a home base here.)

the compromise was someone who was friendly with lily, but there's no strain on that friendship to be more than it is — which, sara and lily respect each other but have also learned they're not so alike that they need to hang out all the time. sara, to lily, is the girl you do things with because you're schoolmates, and then once you're out of school you amicably drift apart and occasionally leave a nice comment on their instagram

so that was how the gryffindors coalesced in my mind as placeholder figures. i will fully confess i start with tropes and then work out ways to deconstruct them or complicate them — as i've talked about in multiple of these questions, i think a lot of my characters are caught between sticking to their perceived label and acting the way they want to, aka the ripest high school drama fodder known to humankind

Wearing a fake smile and watching her sister’s sickening love life had put things in perspective a little. Why should she always do what was expected of her?

(we construct ourselves in contrast to those around us....)

mary started off as boy-crazy, doe started off as idealistic, and germaine started off as struggling to find her place. then i built up from those foundations, adding in tropey bits i enjoyed and wanted to engage with — i wanted doe to be passionately principled, but the gentler counterpart to mary, and even-tempered where lily runs hot. i wanted germaine to be a little bit thoughtless, changeable, someone utterly herself but still uncomfortable in her own skin. knowing, then, that the other two were going to be, how shall i put it, gentler hearts (LOL), i went back to mary and decided she would have this tough-girl, queen-bee persona.

then doe got her family background, which added in her ambitions and hinted at her future, and made it so her foundation would be threatened by events of the story. obviously i was writing mary in the aftermath of the mulciber/avery incident, so i needed to ask how much her take-no-shit vibe was threatened by it — and if not, why? how? unsurprisingly, even to people like amelia...

“At least I’m not overflowing with insecurity,” said Amelia. Mary laughed. The sound echoed through the courtyard. “We both know that’s not true.”

...the persona is put-on, but the "real mary" is so caught up in the invented mary that even she couldn't hope to uncover an authentic self...nor would she necessarily want to, because her affected self is still her...

wait don't get me started

germaine was already a quidditch player, and i wanted her to be a seeker because that's automatic investment in perhaps the single player with the most impact on the game — crucial for what i knew would be many, many quidditch sequences, where james wasn't always the most important pov! some of that seekery vibe leeched into who she is: she's searching, right from the start, for a sense of self that feels just out of reach:

“This year is going to be a year of change,” Germaine said [...] “Henceforth I will be going by... Gemma.” The girls looked at one another for a beat. Then Lily, Doe, and Mary burst into laughter.

she's more anxious and outwardly uncertain than her friends, and i wanted to consciously engage with that — proper teenage awkwardness, the kind that wouldn't really happen to Main Character lily, I Have No Sense of Shame mary, and I Am Overflowing with Good Sense doe. more than the other three, germaine is a normal person in the context of this world — she's not a muggleborn, so the war has a different impact on her; she's not the child of activists; she's not well-off. an absolutely spontaneous invention that i was really quite thrilled by was having her sister be crouch's secretary, because it's such a sudden, shocking realisation for her that she's got such a close connection in the thick of it

Germaine clapped a hand over her mouth. “Big news soon,” she mumbled. “Big news soon, that’s what Abigail said, only she didn’t say what big news…”

so germaine is really just... living her life, an indie coming of age film in which her friends' subplot is a fucking war LOL

i defined germaine in contrast to the other girls a lot when drawing out the characters for myself, mostly for a practical reason — i didn't want her to overlap too strongly with any of them, since she's the only one who's wholly my invention. i think some of that remains in her characterisation, but i decided to make it conscious instead:

Germaine saw herself as a happy medium, flexible enough to stretch sympathetically between her friends. But— What does it mean that I define myself in comparison to them? Nothing. She was only seventeen and she was finding her way.

i knew germaine was going to get the chaotic sporty romance pretty much right off the bat, but, fun fact, i hadn't actually picked out who her love interest would be until after i started spitballing other sixth years' names and had a basic idea of who emmeline was. wild!

i feel like i haven't said all i want to say but let's stop there or i'd go on forever, ha!

[lonely-thoughts-past-midnight]

Turned by Love

Pairing: young!Remus Lupin x Reader

Warnings: AU, Stupidity, a hurt ankle, cowardly behaviour and love (?)

Summary: only the one who truly loves and trusts the werewolf, can turn him back, before the night ends – Remus hasn’t found the one yet – or did he?

A/N: So, this was requested by @deaconsposts and basically, there is an English myth about werewolves. If someone who loves and trusts the wolf, says his name, he will turn back.

Yes - this is an AU since it does NOT work like that in Harry Potter, though it is such a lovely idea.

--

Remus dreaded one thing more than N.E.W.T.s and OWLs. It was the time of the full moon. Since fifth year his friends kept him company, but he had to lie to so many of his friends – he felt horrible for telling them all those white lies. For example, Y/N – a witch from y/h – undoubtedly one of the kindest people he knew, and yet he lied to her every month.

At first their friendship had only started for academical purpose – they studied, they read and after time they did not only meet for this reason alone. Remus had grown fond of the girl. He had to endure endless teasing from James, Sirius and Peter – and the three of them tried to get him to tell her how much he liked her. Maybe in another life, he would, but his furry little problem was the reason why he would never do that. He couldn’t put this weight on her shoulders.

He and his friends were already awaiting – more like dreading – the full moon, which was hidden behind clouds for now. His thoughts went one last time to the kind h/c haired woman he fell for before he felt extreme pain.

--

Y/N felt bad. It was a full moon night – which meant Remus would have to endure a lot of pain tonight. Officially she didn’t know – but the Marauders were absolutely horrible at hiding it. Calling him Moony – when he misses classes every full moon and comes back heavily injured. Being on the edge days before the moon. She knew after the first few months. But it was painfully obvious.

She noticed how he kept to himself, so slowly Y/N tried to get close to him – helping him, after the full moons by taking notes from the classes he missed. At first, she only did it because she felt bad for him, but as it happened, she started to like his own persona – kind, funny and absolutely adorable. And as it happened, she fell for him.

At first the girl only had a crush but after two years there was no denying it – she was absolutely at his mercy – because she loved him so dearly. It was the little things, how his hair never kept its shape, how he was reading the rules to find loopholes, how he was excelling all classes. Just all the little things that made him himself.

So tonight Y/N wanted to help – and not only by taking his notes. She would try and help him. Her h/c was lighted up by the moonlight – as if the moon was taunting her. She was already near the Shrieking Shack – or rather the Whomping Willow - as it was there to protect the entrance – and she could hear his screams of pain.

The e/c girl had started running, feeling horrible for her friend (and love interest) – she would do anything she could.

She saw something that was surprising, the werewolf (who was Remus) played with a shaggy, black dog, a stag and another animal – probably – she couldn’t see – but wherever Remus, James and Sirius were, Peter was not far.

She got closer and closer and with eyes full of wonder she didn’t register as the werewolf took notice of her. Her e/c eyes had gotten wide with horror, once she saw that the werewolf was heading her way. Tears started streaming down her face. Would that be it?

Before the animal could reach her, the stag threw him out of the way, and as if her brain knew what to do – she ran. What a stupid idea!! What was I thinking, the h/c girl thought to herself. Her feet were carrying her – even though deep down she knew that it was a fight she couldn’t win. No matter what she would do, a werewolf was faster than a human.

And while her thoughts were drifting so much, she didn’t notice the uneven floor and fell hard. Her leg hurt horribly, and even more tears were in her eyes. It didn’t take long before the 4 animals caught up. Finally, she was able to see the forth animal – a rat. How very useful, she thought. Though better than being killed or infected.

Even if the dog, the stag and the rat tried, they were to slow. The wolf was above her and finally, she realized something. This wasn’t some monster, it was her Remus. Even if the girl knew it deep down, now she realized it with every fibre of her being. Before I die, I have to tell him!

“Remus… I know you are somewhere in there. I haven’t told you this, because I was scared, but there is no reason to be. I am in love with you. I know that you, Remus Lupin, would never intentionally hurt me, so I forgive you for everything that will happen.” A small smile graced her lips as she closed her eyes ready to take the hit.

Suddenly she could hear the breaking of bones – and she opened her eyes in horror. The werewolf in front of her was transforming back? How could this be? Sirius – aka Padfoot – James – aka Prongs – and Peter – aka Wormtail – transformed back to their human self.

All of them were littered in cuts and scrapes. But they didn’t care, they watched their best friend transform back, their eyes wide in shock. After finally being back to normal, Remus fell unconscious. “Moony!”, James and Sirius caught him before something could happen.

And while the boys were completely concentrated on the task at hand – which was taking care of Remus – Y/N left.

--

Madame Pomfrey was awaiting them – so were McGonagall and Dumbledore – but they didn’t think they would arrive so early. While the full moon was mockingly shining through the windows – the three adults were staring at the human Remus. “How did this happen? How has he already transformed?” It was an open secret, that the other three Marauders went with Moony – but for obvious reasons, they couldn’t say it.

“We don’t know – we looked out of the Gryffindor Tower and saw someone, so we headed down.”, James lied smoothly.

“There is only ONE way, how he could transform back. There is a myth, that if someone truly trusts and loves the werewolf, he will transform back – if called by his name.”, Dumbledore said – deep in thoughts. “You three – get back to your dorm – you can check upon Remus tomorrow – and because this was an emergency you won’t get detention – but don’t let it happen again.” McGonagall said – her motherly nature to all of the boys obvious.

“Thank you, Professor!”

--

The h/c haired girl arrived at her dorm – quietly but cursing she searched for something that would soother the pain in her ankle – which was already swollen. Finally, after what seemed like hours, she found something and with a quiet whisper, she said the spell that would help her heal. How should she face James, Sirius, Peter and Remus now? And with that thought, she fell asleep in her bed.

--

The following morning, the three boys visited Remus, who surprisingly was already awake. “What happened yesterday – I feel way better than usual after a full moon.” The three boys gave each other looks before Sirius grinned. “You have found your one – the little y/h girl. She was there yesterday – I have no idea why – you chased her and when u got to her, she confessed her love and you turned back. Sadly, she left, before we could talk to her.”

“You are telling me, that Y/N is the one, who turned me back? That’s absolutely impossible!” Remus's face was a little red and not only that, but he also was shocked. “Mr Lupin – since you are perfectly fine this night, I will let you go now. I hope your following months will be as comfortable.” Madam Pomfrey said. “And you lot - get out”, she said in the direction of the three boys.

--

Y/N successfully avoided all of the Marauders. She knew they tried to get to her before breakfast – the solution was to go earlier. Her friend crossed her idea though. She wanted to leave before they would enter, but she didn’t have any luck. Her friend asked her a billion questions about potions – this was the reason why suddenly someone tapped onto her shoulder.

Before her was the sandy-haired boy with the eyes she dreamed about. Suddenly her cheeks felt hot and before she could even process it, her body already knew what to do. A quick “See you”, was shouted to her friend’s direction before she ran off.

Remus just stood there – a little shocked and most definitely confused. Did he do something wrong?

--

The mission of avoiding the four troublemakers had been successful until now – in Charms, she was a bit late, so she sat far from them – in DADA she arrived early and sat next to her fellow y/h friends. But now would be the end of her luck: potions.

In potions, Y/N was paired with Peter – and Remus with her best friend. The worst of all was the potion they would be talking about today. Amortentia. She already knew what she would smell – books, chocolate and a faint smell of wood.

In other words: Remus Lupin.

--

Y/N even thought about not going to the class – but her stupid crush wouldn’t be able to stop her from learning new stuff. They all stood around Professor Slughorn – while he talked about the love potion. In the middle stood a vessel full of Amortentia. “Now, who could tell me a little about the potion in front of us? Y/L/N?” “It’s Amortentia, the strongest love potion in the world – it smells like the person you love and if you drink it, you will fall in love as well.” Y/N felt her cheeks tingle as Remus threw her a look.

“Very good, indeed – 15 points to y/h. Now, Y/N why don’t you come forward and tell us what you smell?” “Sorry Professor, but I caught a cold, and I kind of lost my sense of smell”, Y/N told him a smooth lie. “Well that’s too bad – what about you Mr. Lupin?” Remus only nodded.

He stood above the cauldron and took a smell of the potion. “It smells like a sweet kind of ginger, books and… and kind of like an early morning.” Y/N felt a shock surge through her. That was her smell, she was sure of it, but it couldn’t be.

The hour went by slowly and as soon as the class was dismissed, Y/N wanted to run for it again, but Remus beat her to it. “Can we please talk?”, he sounded absolutely desperate. The h/c girl wanted to say no, she truly did – but with this look in his green eyes, she couldn’t.

With a slight nod, she gave him her agreement and the two of them headed to an empty corridor.

--

“Listen, James and Sirius told me, that it was you. I know they lied, you don’t feel anything for me, so don’t feel bad for it – okay?” Y/N felt complete and utter confusion. “Remus, they weren’t lying, I am completely and utterly in love with you. I just thought you didn’t feel anything for me…” Remus wanted to tell her, that she didn’t need to lie, but before he could, he felt her soft lips on his.

“I only love you, Remus.”

Remus felt like he would cry because he was so happy.

“And I love you.”

@im-a-writer-right

[use-a-little-patience]

Young!James Potter Imagine Part 2

First of all, I’d like to apologize to whoever requested this. I am so, so sorry for splitting this in two parts, it was NOT my intention, but it happened. And second, I’d like to apologize that it took me so long to write this. So here is part 2 and I hope you like it, and if you don’t, please tell me! My ask box is always open.

Anyway, I love James, he’s currently my favourite! I also adore Sirius, who’s my number one and of course Remus is a cutie too. Okay, it feels kinda creepy to talk about them like that, they’re fictional, but sometimes I read such good imagines (I will reblog those who I adore) that it feels like I really know them.

Ok, whatever! Have a nice day!! And request!

PART 1: http://use-a-little-patience.tumblr.com/post/162862772718/youngjames-potter-imagine

James Potter was a wreck. His life broke in a million pieces, when you sent him out of your room. It was around midnight and he couldn’t sleep. His best friends were all asleep, dreaming their wildest dreams, but he couldn’t. He cursed himself for what he did to you, to your relationship and basically himself.

It was complicated, he knew. If it was any other girl that he kissed, not Lily, you’d probably listen. Of course you would be mad, but you would know that it wasn’t him who kissed the girls. With Lily, it was a totally different story. Before there was you and him, he liked Lily and thought he was in love with her. When he asked her out for the first time and she rejected him, he thought he was broken, but in fact it was his pride that was hurt. Him and Lily were totally different. She barely laughed at jokes, while he was full of them, her quiet and serious persona was a total difference to his wild one. Sirius knew that, Remus knew that before anyone else and you knew that as well.

And you were friends with the Marauders, never with the quiet Lily nor her friends, but with many other people. Just like James you were witty and funny, very kind and nice. You loved Quidditch, just like him. It was funny how you and James didn’t get together before your fifth grade, when James saw you at the party and started paying attention at you. As soon as he talked to you, his ‘‘Lily-flower’‘ was gone. You were perfect for each other. You even found out that your mothers were best friends in their Hogwarts years.

You knew, just like everybody else in Hogwarts, that James liked Lily, so you were confused when he asked you out. However, you were not blind and realized how James didn’t even look at Lily when she came his way, nor did he talk about her. Suddenly she was out and you were the only girl he had eyes on. James became nervous around you, some days he didn’t even know what to say to you, he couldn’t focus in class, because all he could think about was you. When you finally said yes and you idiots realized that you were meant to be, then everything fell into it’s place. The world was fuzzy and full of misunderstandings, but with you, James felt calm, yet so alive.

And now, he was laying in his bed, while rain was making the only sound that was heard in the room. He cursed the moment he picked up the firewhiskey he intended to drink with Sirius, and made his way to the empty common room. He was waiting for Padfoot who was, meanwhile in some girl’s dorm, asleep. So e had one glass and after one, another and so on. He felt a little tipsy and his head started to hurt. He wondered where were you, when Lily entered the room. Her eyes lightened up when she saw him, her cheeks turned a little red, but he didn’t care..at all. He had another glass, as she sat down next to him, his eyes fixed on the fire in the fireplace in front of him.

She gulped, as she noticed how her presence did not have any effect on him. “How are you James?2 she asked in her sweet voice.

James chuckled as he replied with a boring “fine.” It was obvious, he was quite drunk, since he had no energy to do anything, but look at the fire.

He did not return the question, which made Lily even more nervous. The moment she saw that James was not interested in her anymore, and that he was hanging out with another girl - you, she started to look at James differently. She always thought he was attractive and handsome, but there was so much more that she did not knew of him, and you did. Lily was surprised when she heard from Marlene that you and James began dating, her eyes almost fell out when he kissed you in the middle of the class. She overheard him talking about you to his friends one night, and she couldn’t help but be jealous of what you had. Lily envied you, that’s why she couldn’t say anything but a simple hello to you. You understood, you were no fool, even a blind man could see that Lily was uncomfortable around James and you.

Out of the blue, she kissed him. It was an act of despair and weakness. She didn’t know what else to do, how to make him look at her, how to tell him, that she is in love with him. A few months ago, James would kill for that kiss, but that was past and just past. He tried to tell you that, but you didn’t listen. He confessed, that he kissed her back, but regretted an act in a second.

Tears slipped from his dark eyes on the pillow, below his head. He closed them and covered his body with a blanket. James Potter, always on the top of the Marauders group, the baddest prankster in Hogwarts, the notorious rule breaker and joker, was now a complete opposite. He was hurt and angry, vulnerable and powerless, something he hadn’t felt in years. But you made him feel like that and he couldn’t do anything to fix this mess.

“He’s sorry, (Y/N).” Remus’ voice filled your head. You two were sitting in the Great Hall at breakfast, a few days later after your big fight with James.

“I know he is. But that still doesn’t change the fact of what he did.” You snapped back, while looking in Remus’ eyes.

“You don’t understand,” Remus chuckled bitterly, “he’s barely eating or sleeping, he hasn’t told a joke in ages, he’s constantly occupied by his thoughts-”

“What a poor guy he is, right? Remus just leave it. We broke up, now he can be with that Lily of his if he wants.”

Remus shook his head in annoyance. You were always understanding and reasonable, but when it came to your problems, it’s like you were completely blind. Some people told you, that Lily asked James out and you were logically anticipating that he said yes. He’s finally moved on, you thought. Not that you weren’t hurt, of course you were, but...if it was meant to happen, you wanted it to be done as quickly as possible. There was no night that you fell asleep without crying, no morning without a bitter realization that you can’t run up to James and kiss him.

“He doesn’t want Lily, for Godric’s sake! Why do you have to be so stubborn?” Remus got angry. A few people around you, looked at him and he blushed a little at the realization, and continued calmly,

“Look, that’s life (y/n), I’m sure you’ve already figured that out. Bad things happen, worse things than that one with you and James. And it’s James. You know him as good as I do, maybe even better and you know that he’s really sad.”

Your eyes looked at your feet, as Remus tried to drift your mind to a realization. “But he’s going to be alright. He’s going to move on, we both know that. He’s funny and friendly, that will be no problem to him. I’m not telling you this to hurt you in any way, but I don’t want you to lose him. And I don’t want him to lose you, because of one mistake that he didn’t even make. I’ve never seen him this sad, but I know this will end after some time. And after some months, he will be just a stranger to you. Do you want that? Because he loves you (Y/N), and moving on will be the hardest thing he will ever have to do.”

You teary eyes looked at Remus thankfully, as you gave him a soft smile and got up. You didn’t know what to say and stood there awkwardly. At what he just said, you realized he was right and that stupid fight was not going to break what you had with James. “He’s at the Quidditch pitch.” he answered to your questioned, you never asked.

You ran to the pitch, tears slipping out of your eyes and drying in the cold wind.

“James!” you called out, as you saw a familiar figure looking up in the sky, playing with a quaffle.

When he heard your voice, he turned around. As you got closer and looked up at him, his face revealed dark circles under his eyes as he smiled weakly at you.

“What are you doing here?” he asked you in a low and gentle tone, one you weren’t used to. He was trying to smile, but he failed, his lips made small curls, but his eyes were missing it’s usual spark.

“I came to see you.” you said to him.

He was looking at you and again at the quaffle, nodding a little as he didn’t make a word.

You studied his whole being for awhile. And at what you saw, your heart broke in a million pieces. James looked exhausted and depressed. His messy curls were flying up and down his forehead, carried by the wind, when you put your hands on his strong arms. He immediately looked at you, his eyes full of scare of what you are going to do next. “I’m sorry.” you blurred out, as tears streamed down your face. James hurt you, but you hurt him as well, wen you pushed him away from yourself.

“What are you sorry for (y/n)? It was my fault, not yours.” he said, as you squeezed his arms.

“No James. I know the truth, please just forget...I can’t stand you like this..” you confessed.

“Like what?”

“So weak..you’re not yourself. And I love you, I love you so much it-”

His lips were suddenly crushed on yours with such force, you almost fell on your back, but James’ arms caught you in his embrace. You could taste the saltiness of his tears, melting on your lips, as he kissed the pain away.

OKAY! So I hope you liked this, I really do, because I love James and well, I hope you do too!!!

[monstvrsfm]

From beyond the shroud, SIRIUS BLACK of HARRY POTTER has arrived in Ithaca. Has anyone ever told you that you look quite a bit like ROB RACO except with a MARAUDER’S MAP WITH THE NAME PADFOOT ETCHED UPON IT, A JET-BLACK DOG WITH IT’S PAW PRINT PRESSED AGAINST A PRISON BAR, LONG BLACK HAIR EYE COLOR GREY AS THE MOON, & THE HOUSE OF GRYFFINDOR SYMBOL DOUSED IN BLACK vibe ? According to our records, you are 23 and identify as CISMALE with HE&HIM used to address you. You’ll find you’ve already been given a place to stay, so long as you’re working hard as a BARTENDER/CRIMINAL. And, what’s that, you DO remember BEING IMPRISONED IN AZKABAN? (sessho, 18+, she/her)

down below

SIRIUS BLACK

:: // IDENTITY

full name: sirius black

alias: sirius, padfoot, prisoner of azkaban, marauder, snuffles, stubby boardman, grim

date of birth: november 3, 1959

age: 23

place of birth: london, england

occupation: bartender/criminal

marital status: single

sexual & romantic orientations: homosexual & homoromantic

gender identity: cismale

religion: marauder n/a

:: // RELATIONSHIPS

their parents: orion and walburga black. sirius never had a good relationship with his parents, especially his mother, let alone his family lineage. his family, the house of black, were pure-bloods. elitists, who believed that, in order to keep their family line “pure” insisted that their family members must breed within their own pure-blood classes. because of these beliefs, they were forced to marry their own cousins. sirius rejected these beliefs, and defied tradition when he was the first black sorted into the gryffindor house. sirius is the black sheep of the family.

their siblings: regulus black. sirius didn’t share a close relationship with his younger brother, either. though he’d believed him to be “a better son” than himself. after he’d died, sirius became the last remaining heir to the house of black.

their significant other : n/a

any children?: n/a

any wanted connections? the last marauder, family members, friends, enemies, & maybe some bar regulars & prison mates. the last marauder, PETER PETTIGREW since we already have three marauders. family members like his brother, REGULUS BLACK, but also cousins and in-laws and such to the black family like, BELLATRIX LESTRANGE, NARCISSA MALFOY, LUCIUS MALFOY, NYMPHADORA TONKS, and ANDROMEDA TONKS, people he would know. his godson HARRY POTTER, please bring us harry, he’d be pure with him *cries*. harry’s friends,  HERMIONE GRANGER and RON WEASLEY, and the rest of the weasley family. LILY EVANS/POTTER, depending on how the mun would want to play her, and ANY fandom characters outside of his fandom, who we could plot and become friends with sirius. LOKI LAUFEYSON might like sirius too! although sirius’ closest friends/family are the marauders. i’d also love for sirius to meet SAM and DEAN WINCHESTER from SUPERNATURAL, since rob was literally in the show once. or other SPN fandom characters, like CASTIEL, JACK, maybe CROWLEY? enemies, SEVERUS SNAPE, but i also have this interesting idea for enemies: if the founders of the hogwarts houses are playable, then sirius meeting SALAZAR SLYTHERIN i’d love to plot and would be super interesting! since his entire family are slytherins, but sirius is a gryffindor. also, want some OC ideas? then how about some OC DEATH EATERS? maybe some who recognize sirius from his brother, or not. some regulars who show up at the speakeasy sirius works at ( oc or fandom ), and maybe some OC PRISON MATES, wizards he met/heard about him in prison.

:: // IN DEPTH

current canon: sirius is canon up to his first year in azkaban prison. book-wise, i dunno, because i haven’t read the books. movie-wise? way before harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban.

memories: sirius remembers everything up to his imprisonment in azkaban. he remembers the marauders and the marauder’s map, becoming an animagi, lily and james’ wedding and deaths, the first wizarding war, breaking ties with dear remus, being betrayed by pettigrew, and so on. everything after him breaking out of prison like, meeting teenage harry, the second wizarding war, and his death, he doesn’t remember. so basically, he doesn’t remember anything from the prisoner of azkaban movie and later hp movies. he does remember being taken from a prison floor to the sandy beach of ithaca. so sirius had not broken out of prison at that point in his life. he’d been transported elsewhere, for the sake of the rp. so, to HP muses, sirius is still considered a criminal in their world. he hasn’t been exonerated or anything yet, but in ithaca, people outside the hp fandom don’t know he’s a criminal. i imagine, in the wizarding world, he’s still considered dangerous, even though he’s really not. 

theme song: n/a

3 likes &. 3 dislikes: likes causing trouble, dogs, & the time spent with the marauders. dislikes his family, peter pettigrew, being in an enclosed space for too long.

the usual haunt: as a bartender at the speakeasy club, on the beach, occasionally hanging around the university, or various places around ithaca!

skills: wizarding skills. he is also an animagus! an animagus is a witch or wizard who can transform into an animal. his animagus form is a black dog, which harry believed was a grim but really wasn’t. sirius is also a bit of a trickster, and he also can be very stealthy.

ANYTHING ELSE?

sirius’ wiki! if you have any questions, never read/watched harry potter, they could be answered there. i know it’s a long read, but it’s worth it! it’s how i found out more about sirius.

i *sweats* have never played sirius, and there’s a reason for that. i’ve loved his character since i saw prisoner of azkaban, but i thought, since i hadn’t read the books, hp fans were gonna grill me for trying to play this character having not read anything! and, i thought i’d suck. but, i’m gonna try now cause his more in-depth bio makes him so interesting to me! i will try my best. not. to. suck. 

sirius comes off as this rebellious, bad boy. handsome af, but he’s really not as bad as he’s made out to be. he’s actually very loyal and intelligent. and he does have a heart. this bad boy persona is made worse from his title as a criminal and for his “crimes”. his good looks i guess don’t help much either, but for the people who don’t know him, even some of his family members, may believe him to be some sort of disappointment, bad boy, bad guy. yes, i do realize that he and james bullied snape while they were still at hogwarts (which was not okay). for the sake of this rp, the muns, and my own anti-bullying beliefs, i will say that was something sirius did in the past and was wrong, and i will not rp sirius bullying snape again, for everybody’s safety. i don’t want it to get personal and i realize bullying is a trigger for some people (sometimes even me). so they can be enemies, jus no bullying. prison’s kinda changed sirius too, so he’s not one to bully so easily anymore.

to not insult any british muns we have either, i won’t be using any britsh slang that the characters have used in the books/movies. i don’t want to use them in the wrong form and upset anyone so. he’ll speak regularly, jus imagine him with a british accent!

i think i read, in the books, sirius doesn’t have tattoos after he escapes, while in the movie he does. i’m going to say sirius does have them, but not as many, since he’s only been there for a year. they were branded on him for his crimes.

[aurimeanswind]

Let’s Get Down to Business (’To Defeat the Huns’)—Sunday Chats—1/21/18

It’s time to get back to work! Or, er, writing. All writing and no games makes Alex a dull boy.

Uh...

God, sorry, how do i do this again? Oh yeah. Opinions. And stuff.

Okay.

Deep breaths.

Post Game of the Year

I think the GOTY season is both great and not great. It’s easy to get upset with the “hot takes” and there are a lot of folks that use the opportunity to tell you exactly why your favorite game shouldn’t be game of the year, but then, I don’t see a lot of folks just enjoying their 10 or whatever favorite games of 20-whatever. What I set out to do on our Irrational Passions Podcast Game of the Year Deliberations, Five Days, Four Hosts, Three Mistakes, Two Fights, One Winner, Podcast Spectacular™ was highlight the moments I liked and enjoyed and veer more off of what I disliked. I think there is plenty of room for that discourse, and I’m not saying I am a shill who just loves everything, but there is just so much drowning negativity out there. And hey, I know I’m on Twitter too much, and that fuckin’ place runs rampant with it, that’s my own fault, but I’d rather be a well-thought opinion as to why I like something rather than the guy that hates Wolfenstein, or Nier, or whatever. It’s part of why I love being “The Persona Guy” so much, because people know I love it, and they come to me to talk about how much they love it or don’t with me. I love that.

So anyway, long and short, I think GOTY went really well for IP. We actually had an editorial meeting about all of the content and what we liked/didn’t like/could do better next time, and it was really productive. I’m a big fan of the stuff that happened, especially how we handled guests this year, and I’m curious to see that grow in the future.

If you missed it, the front page of IrrationalPassions.com is going to be highlighting our Game of the Year 2017 content for the next week or so, so go check it out!

What I’ve Been Working On

Since I have been in GOTY I haven’t been doing Sunday Chats or much else, but I am settling back into work, and am maybe expanding my day-job-work over there in my personal life. We’ll see how that goes, and how much time that removes from games for me (hopefully not too much!), but that’s all hypothetical right now. 

I am excited to say I am launching a new project next month. It’s a new show and as I’ve been thinking about all my pieces of content, IPP, Alex Talks, Case Study, and now this new show, it’s been a weird concept of what do I want to lean on, what do I want to continue, et cetera. In a perfect world I can do them all together, but I know that’s just not possible. I’m looking at monthly content and what I can do around that, but we’ll see. I want to do everything! I want to make stuff that will get me hired into video games! But I want to make sure I’m doing stuff that I love doing, and at the center of all of that is having deep and meaningful conversations, whether it’s long, thought-out essays conveyed in audio, written, or video form that engage you and I in a conversation, or an actual, recorded conversation. 

So that’s what’s up. Without giving anything away, stuff is in the pipeline, and I’m hopeful that people will take notice, and you all, my loyal readers, will dig it.

What’s on Tap

VIDEO GAMES.

I’ve been playing a lot, so I am going to go back and highlight just some gems I want to talk about from the last three weeks.

The Witcher 3

So I rebought Witcher 3 to see all of its glory on my Xbox One X. Boy, that’s a motherfucking video game.

For point of reference, I just got to Novigrad and have been starting the strings of quests there, which is kind of my least favorite part of that game (chasing Dandelion around, specifically) so hopefully I stay with it.

It’s really cool to appreciate this games innovations on another level after seeing stuff like Assassin’s Creed Origins and Breath of the Wild.

I’ve actually been switching between this and Breath of the Wild, and while I still think BotW is the far more interesting world and game that I like spending time in, I was surprised at how comfortable that switch (aha! Puns!) is. The games are very different and both good in their own ways, and really scratch two different itches. 

I will say, AC Origins is definitely the game that came closest to The Witcher 3 as far as formatting its side quest content, but it still didn’t get close enough.

Okami HD

I’ve now replayed this game basically to completion. I would have finished it again too, as I’m just before the final boss, if a week after release they hadn’t gone and synced the trophies in the PS4 re-release to the PS3 one, in which I already have the platinum. So I’m no longer earning anything on the PS4 version, which is a bummer.

Still an excellent game. It’s really odd playing a game where you’re actually a four-legged creature just running around doing dog-stuff. It’s cool, and it’s something I haven’t seen a lot of 3D games do, or at least do well.

Stardew Valley - Switch Edition

I put about 78 hours into my Stardew Valley town on PS4, and now, 60+ hours into my Switch town, I’m definitely sick with the small-town-fever.

I really love this game, and it scratches my “I wanna live in a small town” dream-itch in just such a righteous way. I love it.

I didn’t expect to take to it so hard on Switch, but there is something about cuddling up with this game in bed and losing myself to it that is just so intoxicating.

Questions

As always, look for my tweet on Sunday afternoons with the hashtag #SundayChats in it, reply with your question, OR ANSWER, depending on what I’m feeling that day, and be a part of the Sunday Chats shenanigans!

Now I’m more curious about this snake research you were doing...?

Hrm, now this is a great alt-universe theory. I’m going to assume that it’d be in place of Cedric, so it’d be Harry and a Slytherin as the champions, which does throw a lot into question. 

I think it would have. In a few ways. One, we have to assume it’d be a 7th year Slytherin, so in short, someone we don’t know. It’d be a great opportunity to characterize someone, who, say, isn’t a dick, like Malfoy, who is kind of our avatar or stand in for Slytherin characters. It’d be great to see that character and Harry develop a not-antagonistic relationship. Like, I think Harry would have still told this person about the Dragons, because that’s still just the kind of person Harry is, and I think we would have seen less shit from the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuffs to Harry because of the assumed distaste for a Slytherin champion. I don’t think it would have effected the fight between Harry and Ron though.

Where it becomes super interesting is, assuming they are a good or normal or upstanding person, do they still tell Harry how to get into the egg? Knowing that Mad-Eye was the one who told Cedric, I say yes, since they themselves didn’t get that information on their own, much like Harry with the Dragons, and I believe strongly in the pay-it-forward mentality. 

The other big question is: would they have died? If they don’t, that wildly changes the rest of the books. Harry’s PTSD in the fifth book would be, still severe, but different. What would happen to them? Would they have escaped with Harry? Would that bond make them unbreakable friends? I’d imagine so. Or after a year of tension and not talking, they’d bury the hatchet, and then the repercussions for that are massive, in that I think Harry would lead a bond between all Slytherins and Gryffindors.

Goddamn. This may be too good a question to answer in a simple Sunday Chats, but yeah, in short, I think the repercussions would have been very different.

YES!

Great video game.

I’ll say this, you get essentially experiences for feeding the animals out and about in the world. DO THIS. It’s not too expensive and and will totally be worth it in the long run.

Also, get as MANY demon fangs as you can. AS MANY. You get them from using your slash ability on enemies who are flying into the air after they hit zero hp. They’ll drop a demon fang, which is a type of currency you can use much later in the game, and having a big stockpile will do you a ton of good.

Outside of that, have fun! Talk to everyone! It’s like a Zelda game, so tons of people have problems or off side quests you can initiate by talking to them. You can get the platinum pretty easily in one play through, so if you’re curious about that, hit me up.

Haha, well, how about Kinda Funny Prom? I can see it hit you with the eh vibes too. Though I’m very bummed you won’t be able to make it. I’ll be sending you good vibes from there, okay?

Oh, and I am sending you selfies. Hella selfies.

But yes, I was very, hrm, I guess, unsettled, for lack of a better word. It’s like getting invited to a costume party, where I just want to hang out with my friends. Now there is all this pressure and requirements and this feeling that you’re going to be shown-up. Plus, I don’t really clean up well, so like, I know I’ll feel super self-conscious the whole time, but that’s just me I suppose. 

Then again, it’s another thing of well, I know when I’m there, and I’m in it, I’ll have a great time, but that’s a pretty big hump to get over, and I hate that I feel like I’m being forced into it, because, well, I am. 

I suppose, if nothing else, I’ll just go for the weekend and then not go to KF Prom itself, but I haven’t decided yet. We’ll see. 

Here is another, relevant example though, hearing about how things were being handled in the Harry Potter movies, starting with the third. No Marauders? Oh okay. Cool. Trash. Adios. Again, very much a me thing, but this is such a good question and I can’t think of a great example. I’m sure it’s out there, if I think of it I’ll let you know.

Listen, I love Tom Hanks as much as the next guy. He was in a Carly Rae Jepsen video, he, by all accounts, its a super cool dude, and I wanna hang out with him. 

But Tom Hardy is a mountain of a man. 

That man looks capable of actual murder. Not to say he would, he also seems like a lovely chap, but in a fist fight?

Nah.

Hardy, all the way.

Lol you’re great Nato, but also SO MUCH BOOTY AND OR TREASURE.

I talked about it a bit earlier, but I think the Guest Roundtables is a huge stand out. Those worked really well, felt good to do, and were a good reflection on a handful of cool games from the last year.

The criticism that Jarrett lodged that I sort of agree with is that there was just too much content. He said how could anyone reasonably consume all of it? Well, that’s never been my intention, I want it all out there so the audience can pick and choose what they want to hear themselves, and then go from there. But I think that’s a fair criticism. Written top 10s, guest and ours, our top 10 podcast, the five day goty show, and 10 podcasts on 10 games. It’s a ton, so why not just cut it down next time around, right?

Next year I think focusing on highlighting guests would be good. Either in just written or just podcast form. But we’ll see, we’ll have to start those conversations earlier this year.

Not at all! We just had our editorial meeting about it and I am V EXCITE.

I’ve been very lax on myself, not forcing myself to write at all. In fact, I’ve barely written a thing over the last month. Which has been, kind of nice, in the grand scheme of things. I think that’s okay. Rest is really important, and I can already feel my creative juices swirling around. 

I think my feelings about writing are very much the same, but I have a better appreciation for it now. I feel like I need to write with more purpose now, and I don’t need to set arbitrary time or character limits on it. Once I get back in the swing fo writing complete things, maybe I’ll have a better grasp on how that feels.

I think it’ll review very well and I think it’ll do very well in the states. I know that may seem surprising, but the betas, the reception to them, and the time of release, are all in Capcom’s corner. Honestly, it’s a very strategic and smart release for them. I’m quite impressed at how shrewd it is. They’ll do great.

It’s just a bummer because I see so many folks talking about how it’s clicking with them or how satisfied they were with it, and after doing the three hunts in the beta with a group of three friends, I had fun but... well, I felt nothing. It just totally did not click with me. No satisfaction, no excitement, and I couldn’t wait to be done playing it, just because how it felt did zero favors for me. I’ve always had a cursory interest in Monster Hunter because of my cohosts who are so into it, and after finally playing it I just... don’t anymore, haha. I know that is a bummer, and trust me, no one is more bummed than me that I don’t get to get in on the Monster Hunter party, but more power to the folks out there playing! it think this game will do very well. It’s finally time for the Hunters to shine in the west!

This is a great question! I’d probably own an italian restaurant, and out of spite, I’d call it “O’Neill’s”, spelled the correct way. Sick of seeing all these goddamn pubs called “O’Neals” with their goddamn sheleighlies or whatever (is that offensive? Oh god I’m sorry Amy Gils) so we are doing it the right way.

And yes, I understand the absurdity of an italian food restaurant with the name O’Neill’s, that’s the whole bit. But I love italian food. It wouldn’t be just limited to that though.

I’d absolutely hire the retired Gen and Greg Miller as my head chefs. Meaning we’d have a ton of awesome stuff on the menu. I’d make my aunt’s secret pasta sauce, my mom’s secret brownie recipe, it’d be super good. 

Oh, and we’d have only the best beer, curated by the best beer goddess in the business, Jazz Foster. Duh.

Also like, Beer Goddess is a thing, don’t ask questions.

No, it’s just not going to happen. I think there are plenty of players out there totally unaware fo the drama and fallout that dug MGSV and will get Survive and have a good time. Hell, I played the beta this weekend and had a good time with Logan Moore. Save for it crashing every time I went into the pause menu.

But that franchise just has too much baggage. People are going to tear it to shreds no matter what, but like, also, vote with your wallet. If that game ultimately doesn’t do well, then Konami is less likely to try and do another one, and I know a ton of hypocrites out there are going to just go and buy the game so they can shit on it on the internet. Be better then them. Go play a game made by a small indie developer, or talk about a game you really dug, that maybe folks aren’t talking about enough, like Hollow Knight, or Butterfly Soup. 

Well duh, I am doing that RIGHT NOW

Happy birthday dude <3.

I’m not sure what you mean in this context. Like if you’re pitching an editor with a different ideology then you? Differing “goals” is I guess what’s throwing me off here. 

I think you need to really sell why your stance is valid for that prompt, and as with everything, know your audience. If you’re doing a pitch, know the editor, know what they’re looking for, either in your, or in that pitch or prompt. They’re your audience, and your pitch is what you need to sell. You’re not necessarily selling the piece, you’re selling why the piece is special and why you need to be the one to write it.

I hope that helps?

I, unfortunately, haven’t been reading a lot of good stuff lately, so I can’t make any solid recommendations at this time, but Jarrett recommended a lot of good stuff in his Top 10 Write up, some “required readings” on all of his favorite games of the year. 

http://irrationalpassions.com/jarrett-greens-top-10-games-of-2017/

That’s all I got. I deleted my Facebook account the other day, so really I am living my best life on the internet now, and I’m ready for this year. I’m not going to be doom and gloom. Things will be hard, but there are great games coming that I can’t wait to discuss and exacerbate myself talking of, and there will hopefully be great things to go along with those games. 

Thank you all so much for reading, as always. I will try and get more into the swing of writing this every week like before, and also writing and producing cool stuff on top of that.

It’s 2018, or 20-great-teen as me and my friend Brandt Ranj have coined it, so let’s make this year great, together.

Keep it reeeeeeal.