#a very potter senior year starters

[sitp-recs]

July reads ☀️

Happy August! Last month was incredibly busy so I thought of doing a lil July wrapped to celebrate the few treats I got to chance to indulge. They kept my fandom flame alive and gave me a much needed comfort during a really stressful time, so I’m beyond grateful to these works and authors. What about you, what have you been reading lately?

💦 A Two-Fold Light by @lqtraintracks (E, 2k) - Teddy/Draco, Drarry, future Tedrarry

Teddy is hot, in all that statement's permutations. Or: Everybody's falling in love with one another.

🤠 Your Hot Hands by @starquestingfordrarry (E, 7.5k)

Draco always wanted to know where Harry Potter disappeared to. This is not what he expected.

🩲 If The Boxers Fit (A Cinderella Story) by @lettersbyelise (E, 8k)

When Draco ends up shagging a hot, mysterious stranger in a broken Ministry lift and is left with nothing but a sexy pair of red boxers to remember them by, Draco’s friends go sleuthing.

🪞 Crush by @citrusses (E, 8k)

Harry Potter has a secret admirer. Harry's pretty sure that if this person figures out what an idiot he's capable of making of himself, they'll lose interest. So he turns to Draco Malfoy, reformed nemesis and stylish lawyer, for guidance.

🚙 ready, able by @garagepaperback (E, 9.5k)

“Well, even if we went through with it, it wouldn’t work. But thanks for the grand heroic rushing in. A certain element of purity is needed to break it." Malfoy licks his lips, "You’d have to be a virgin.” Malfoy has a problem, Harry wants to help.

⚖️ When the Flood Comes, Anonymous (E, 10k)

Nine years on from the war, Auror Potter is upholding the Ministry of Magic's rule of law. Senior legal counsel Draco Malfoy is challenging it. And absolutely nothing is as it seems.

🇫🇷 The most he’s ever said, Anonymous (E, 16k)

It takes them twenty years.

🩸 on the divine agony of longing by @flimsi (E, 25k)

Speaking to Draco is like poking a beehive - and Harry is a glutton for punishment. In which Harry makes some serious blunders and then tries to fix it. Somehow.

📓 this heaven of mud by @garagepaperback (E, 94k)

winter, 2002: Draco Malfoy is absolutely fine, thank you very much. summer, 2008: Harry Potter is, er- well, not good exactly, but definitely better. Yeah. Better than before. A love story told in two somewhat unreliable parts, over six years.

Bonus: WIP I’m currently reading

🎄 Heavenstruck! by @epitomereally (E)

One and a half years after the war, Draco Malfoy shows up to the Burrow for Christmas.

Next on my list!

🏠 Two Houses, Anonymous (E, 11k)

Two households, both alike in... meddling Floo connections, apparently? Draco Malfoy is a highly professional and well-respected Ministry official, with a demanding schedule, a loving son, and—through no fault of his own—a faulty Floo connection that keeps regurgitating the Minister for Magic through his fireplace.

🪩 Closing Time, Anonymous (E, 18k)

Draco’s been invited to Neville’s stag party in Bristol, and he's confident he knows what to expect. There’ll be too many Gryffindors, for starters, plus a few humiliating team-building activities, some dodgy clubs, and a truly preposterous level of alcohol consumption. But… a drunken Harry Potter climbing into Draco's bed when he’s having a wank? No, he definitely didn't see that coming...

[cinematicnomad]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers! Spread the self-love 💞

oh, WELL, thank you! honestly, in terms of fics i've posted that i'm actually proud of...five might just be the number lol. my account has fics posted to it that i wrote when i was like. 13 (i'm looking at you harry potter fics). and then fics i wrote when i was 30. VERY different 😅

let's go in order of word count, biggest to smallest:

01. taste your beating heart (19/19 | 112k+ | M) sterek; stiles POV; post s3; emissary-in-training!stiles; slow burn; mystery

something was wrong in beacon hills. derek was halfway across the country when he felt a call to return to his hometown, and somehow stiles had been talked into letting the werewolf stay in his guest bedroom. this could lead to nothing good.

notes: this fic took me 7 years to complete. i started it in 2012 during my senior year of college in a random word doc and finally posted the epilogue nov 2019. it's the first long fic i ever wrote and actually finished, and it's far more heavily plotted than my usual ~*vibes*~ type of fic. there are definitely some things i'd change if i could go back and do it again (for starters—man, i hate that summary), but i'm still proud of it to this day—especially the arc i created for stiles and scott's friendship and the dynamics between stiles, john, and derek. forever toying with the idea of a companion piece from derek's POV, but i doubt there's really any interest for that these days.

02. finding our way (back home) (5/5 | 91k+ | M) buddie; alternating POV; post s5a; minor buck/taylor; slow burn; mutual pining

when eddie left the 118, he promised buck that nothing would change. but six weeks later, things were strained between them as eddie tried to adjust to his new role at dispatch while buck decided to take a major step forward in his relationship. after a series of revelations forced buck and eddie to confront what they really wanted out of life, it was up to them to find their way back to each other. back home.

notes: THIS was a feat for me in the sense that i got an idea right after the winter finale aired and i completed the fic basically in time for the second half of the season to start airing (ok i was late by, like, 2 episodes). there are some things i LOVE about this fic, including how i handled buck/taylor, and some things that i'm like. ehhh i could have expanded on that more (looking at you, diaz parents). i hope one day i can pull off another fic like this.

03. so show me (family) (1/1 | 16k+ | T) buddie; alternating POV; post s3; buckley parents; protective!eddie; getting together

eddie’s heard these stories before. buck has a lot of them. the random, wild nonsense that he got up to as a kid. but eddie’s never considered who's missing from the stories until it’s pointed out to him: buck’s parents. they should have been there to reassure him, to hold his hand. but they weren't. buck was alone growing up. all alone. eddie never wants buck to have to be alone again.

notes: before the buckley parents ever showed up on screen there was A LOT of speculation about what kind of parents they must have been like. this fic was my attempt at figuring that out. written in the summer of 2020 after i'd first gotten in the fandom, i'm still pretty proud of how i captured them, and i'm pretty partial to the eddie POV scenes. obviously written before s4 had ever aired, if you ever read it you'll just have to deal with the parents and the madney baby having wildly incorrect names lol.

04. take my hand (take my everything) (1/1 | 10k+ | T) buddie; alternating POV; post s3; getting together; injured buck

when buck has another near death experience, he decides the smartest thing to do is update his will. it's not a big deal, really—he just wants to take care of the people who matter most to him: eddie and chris. but to eddie? to eddie that's a pretty huge deal.

notes: the first fic i ever wrote in the fandom in june 2020! also a fic involving a will reveal BEFORE eddie's canonical will reveal which still kind of blows my mind lol. fun fact, when i was writing this fic i almost had eddie update his will to make buck chris's legal guardian, but i changed my mind bc i thought that was too fanfic-y and not believable. imagine my face a year later when we saw what happened!! i'm still pretty proud of this fic and always happy when people stumble across it.

05. you never said a word (1/1 | 6k+ | T) sterek; derek POV; AU–no werewolves; mute!derek; group therapy; angst w/ a happy ending

slowly, but surely, they worked themselves around the circle of chairs until eight sessions after the first they finally found themselves sitting next to each other. (or the one where derek and stiles meet in a counseling support group for teens)

notes: a fic i wrote in college that i'm still pretty proud of! it was one i kept posting to livejournal prompt threads but no one picked up, until eventually i was frustrated enough that i decided to write it for myself. like all fics, there are some things i'd change nowadays, but it's a pretty nice time capsule and i still think there's merit to it. i LOVE the scene when derek finally speaks for the first time and that it's to laura. the sterek of it all kind of takes a backseat to derek's healing, but that's because derek's my favorite character and he deserved Better™ than canon ever gave him.

and then, because it's more a drabble than fic, here's an extra one i'm proud of:

BONUS: so far from who i was (1/1 | 1k+ | T) gen; margaret buckley POV; character study; pre-canon; grief

the other mother's looked at margaret—at her dyed hair and her crow’s feet—and assumed to know that evan was unplanned. when in fact he was anything but. evan was the most carefully considered decision that she and phillip had ever made.

notes: is it clear i'm a little fascinated by the buckley parents?? this character study wouldn't leave me alone after buck begins aired until i finally got it all on the page. i tried to really make sense of margaret's grief and her shame and her guilt and her feelings about everything that happened with daniel. i'm pretty proud of what ended up on the page, and honestly, if you ever read and like this—please tell me??? it's maybe one of the works i'm most proud of to be honest.

i've written fics for other fandoms, but most of those were written in my teens or early 20s, and i tend to cringe a little when i re-read them. if anyone actually reads any of these fics because of this post...let me know! i'd love to hear your thoughts.

also: basically none of these fics would have gotten written without the help of @crazyassmurdererwall and @woodchoc-magnum so a HUGE thank you to both of them 🥰

thanks so much for sending this to me anon!! it was v fun to put together

[pjtraveller]

avpsy sentence starters, act one

feel free to change stuff around!

✧ “I consider myself to be a very reasonable uptight bitch.”

✧ “It’s about a... hungry! withholding person who won’t kiss their partner!”

✧ “Oh yeah, hot stuff! Have you read them? Have you even read a book?”

✧ “Have you ever not read a book?”

✧ “The light! I can see the light! It’s my time to move on... looks like I won’t be able to do the dishes... you’ll have to cover for me!”

✧ “Woah, wipe out!”

✧ “In the name of stuffy old ninnies everywhere, what’s all the hubbub in here?”

✧ “I just want to point out that I now hold your fate in the palm of my tiny hand.”

✧ “Brimstone and boil, this’ll have to do.”

✧ “You’re a little to kind for your own good, and a little too foxy for mine.”

✧ “Why don’t you have a signed copy of my country album?”

✧ “My adventures aren’t repetitive, they’re familiar and comforting!”

✧ “Why would you look at that wonder boy when you could be looking at a wonder man?”

✧ “It’s like a ‘drag,’ man, but much worse.”

✧ “I’m sorry. We gotta break up.”

✧ “Sorry man, but I just broke up with your sibling.”

✧ “I hated having to pretend to be nice to your partner, ‘cause I can’t stand my little sibling!”

✧ “Hey, people are trying to use this bathroom and they’re not! And I think it’s your fault!”

✧ “Does baby want some whine with that cheese? Fuck you!”

✧ “The last thing this place needs is a whiny bitch stuck in the hallways and the bathrooms!”

✧ “Sometimes, when I’m really happy, I can shoot sparkles out of my fingers.”

✧ “You look as gay as the fourth of July!”

✧ “I’m magic! I’m gay!”

✧ “When I grow up, I wanna be a Rockette!”

✧ “If that small man were to fall from a chair, he could die.”

✧ “This is absolutely depraved, I love it!”

✧ “They better remember to do my essay, ‘cause it’s due tomorrow.”

✧ “You stink! And not just ‘cause of your toots.”

✧ “Then we’ll see who checks your Tumblr!”

✧ “Oh, hey! You washing blood off your hands, too?”

✧ “You won’t get away with this, you villain!”

✧ “You guys are going to make a nice weirdo sandwich... with a side of moron!”

✧ “Oh, god dammit, (name), I think my nose got broken!”

✧ “I’m not a kid anymore! I’m seventeen years old!”

✧ “None of you jive-ass bobbies are going to follow, you dig?”

✧ “Y’all should’ve let me know the minute you heard some funky shit was going down here!”

✧ “None of your beeswax, thunder-butt!”

✧ “Sorry my partner couldn’t be here, everyone, but the Wi-Fi, just couldn’t get it to work.”

✧ “As in, get your poopy butt outta here!”

✧ “’Tis with a heavy heart that I accept this civic duty.”

✧ “It takes a real man to tickle the ivories.”

✧ “Everybody likes you even if nobody likes you anymore.”

✧ “But I need you! My BODY needs you!”

✧ “I will never throw out all the shit you bought me.”

✧ “I’m sure you will never forget how hard I rocked your world.”

✧ “So this is it? Just like this? Just a good-bye?”

✧ “This isn’t like ‘good-bye,’ this is ‘you’re cramping my style.’“

✧ “Just stop shouting, Mr. Man!”

✧ “Sometimes you accidentally kill your family.”

✧ “Gasp! What a man!”

✧ “Care for a friendly dance off?”

✧ “You feel anxious and confused. You have funny thoughts about your guy friends that upset you, and you take it out on the world.”

✧ “How were you supposed to learn to love when you had nobody there to teach you?”

✧ “Oh no. I cheated on my partner.”

✧ “You know what, (name)? We got beef now!”

✧ “You never did my essay! Because of that, I had to do it! So it never got done! And I failed!”

✧ “You’re acting way too angsty for your age!”

✧ “Oh shit! I think that kid hears me!”

✧ “Why don’t you go snog (name) or something!”

✧ “Baby, I cannot breathe without you inside of me.”

✧ I’ll teach you what it’s like to party with me!”

✧ “It’s going to eat me and I’m going to be so tasty!”

✧ “Oh, (name), you’re such a mouthkill!”

✧ “I haven’t cleaned up or showered since you were last here.”

✧ “Oh, it’s nothing, (name), life just sucks!

✧ “You might be wee, but you’ve got a greatness in you.”

✧ “For some of us, you’re the light at the end of a very dark, lonely, shameful tunnel.”

✧ “Battleborgs are shite!”

✧ “But when you love something so much, and you see it slipping through your fingers, you’ve just got to hold on tighter!”

✧ “My advice to you is: never change.”

✧ “Once we’re burned, we’re toast.”

✧ “Nobody told me to dab!”

✧ “She was gross! She didn’t even have a nose!”

✧ “Bebop was fit!”

✧ “But she was beautiful on the inside, and that’s why you loved her so much!”

✧ “I never liked that Ms. Piggy character one bit.”

✧ “What kind of drugs are you on?”

✧ “I don’t like SNICKERS!”

✧ “I’m gonna kick your butt so hard you’re gonna burp out farts!”

✧ “I never was, and I never will be, your friend.”

✧ “I hate you.”

✧ “At last I know exactly where I stand.”

✧ “You are just a shadow of a tale from years ago.”

✧ “Oh babe, you really shine!”

✧ “You just need to be the main character of everyone’s life, don’t you?”

✧ “We’ve all moved on. Why can’t you?”

✧ “Welcome to my nightmare.”

✧ “You may not be popular anymore, but people still need your help!”

✧ “There was a time when I was happy.”

✧ “There was a time when things were fine.”

✧ “I’ve fallen from up high. The world has said good-bye.” 

✧ “I’m not the answer.”

✧ “I’m just going nowhere faster.”

✧ “That hero’s gone.”

✧ “Who would care about a loser like me?”

✧ “How did life become one disaster?”

✧ “SPARKLES!”

✧ “Wizard god, help us all!”

[dropofgoldensun]

omg hiiiii i am here from cat (@luvdsc) wondering if you could offer any advice about college apps 🙏 especially about the uc piqs? thank you so much i hope ur doing well!!!!!!!!

yes yes hello friend !! 💝 miss cat directed you to me because i did my college apps last year !!! (yikes one year passed already?? why does that feel ages ago 🤧)

first of all, congratulations on making the decision to apply to college !! i know it’s been hard for a lot of people our age to figure out the college situation recently, so i’m proud of you for choosing to take the extra step this summer to buckle up and write those essays 💞

i’ve compiled a few tips on answering the PIQs (i was actually in the middle of typing this up when i received your ask haha), but some of them can be applied to other essays, as well !! they’re all under the cut (because, unfortunately, being brief is not my forte) 😊

(and for reference, the prompts i chose were #2 (creativity), #6 (subject), #7 (community), and #8 (anything) !!)

tip #1: understand the prompt.

before you even begin writing, it’s important to understand what the question is really asking. for the UC PIQs, this will look different depending on which four prompts you decide to do.

in question one, for example, they want to know about your skills in leading others, but notice that they’re also curious about your resolution abilities and teamwork experience. or in question two, they don’t want to know that you paint and that you love painting—they could be asking how resourceful you are, how you think outside the box when you have an idea.

once you know the question you’re going to be answering, you can move on to brainstorming!

tip #2: write down three (3) key takeaways.

these are like the most basic, not-even-a-sentence answers you would give to each question. so for me, in response to question eight (“what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for the UCs?”), my answers were perseverance, courage, and character. i had a story about that, so i wrote about my experience with martial arts.

i recommend you do something similar. decide on three things that you want to communicate to your audience, and write them in the footnote of your document. your goal is to cover all three points so that, if anyone were to read your essay, they would walk away understanding those three things about you.

i found this strategy really helpful for keeping my essay streamlined while writing—if a sentence didn’t relate to any of those main points, i would cut it since those words would take up valuable space in the word count. stay focused on what needs to be in this essay, and if you have extra words left in the word count later, you can add those details back in.

and once you’re done with your essay, make sure to refer back to your takeaways and check that you covered all of them sufficiently!

tip #3: highlight your stories.

i sent cat an ask a couple days ago with a few pictures of my response to an end-of-year college counseling survey that referenced this tip (you can find it here). basically i said that, when choosing what topics to write about, pick things that interest you! if you get excited talking about it, your audience should get excited about reading it, because they’ll pick up on the passions you have and then everyone’s excited !!! :D

i’ll tell you a secret: everyone you meet, everyone you see, has countless unique experiences that few others may have. me? i spend hours making mashups out of kpop songs. i earned my black belt years after a traumatizing experience during training. i get russian harry potter and spanish dr. seuss books from the library. and i created a collaborative online google photos album for my classmates that now has thousands of entries. although these aren’t necessarily unique to only me, they’re still special enough to the point where, when you put them all together, you get a better image of the person i am, and what i value.

so find a story, a habit, a hobby that makes you different, because i believe that everyone has them. give them some food for thought, or that one-liner that sticks in their brain and won’t go away. and remember: these stories don’t all have to be extraordinary—they should be about people or moments of special value to you, because that’s what matters.

personal tip: when i was brainstorming ideas, i decided that the best way to get ideas out there was to go on a rant (because sometimes it helps to just have a conversation with yourself !!) and i recorded myself, so i could replay what i said !! this was so so crucial to me finding my own voice for writing essays. notice the way you word things when you talk—a good line or two may make it into the final draft :)

i found it helpful to read sample essays as well! they give a lot of great ideas on the kinds of topics people write about. (also, it’s kind of fun, because who doesn’t love a good story?)

but the people reading your essay won’t be there to just enjoy your story; what they really want you to do is to tell them what you learned from your experience. they want to know whether you’re teachable and willing to grow both as a student and as a young adult. so make sure to take note of the life lessons you learned, experience you gained, character you built, etc.

minor tip on ending your essay: if you’re telling a story that happened in the past, then close with what you learned and how you can apply that to your life moving forward. if you’re telling a story that has no definite end yet (like a passion or dream you have), you probably don’t have everything figured out (and you can say that in your essay!), so it might be better to close with your hopes for the future.

tip #4: ask your family for help.

peer-editing is one of the most effective ways to detect errors and inconsistencies in your writing, because, after staring at your essay for so long, you might gloss over glaring contradictions. for all of my essays, i printed them out and asked my parents to help me revise them. we’d meet every other night (or every night, depending on how much time was left) to review and discuss improvements.

i actually kept some of those printed drafts (only the first and the final ones for comparison), and let me tell you from experience—you’re probably going to have a lot of drafts (i think the most i did was seven? but you don’t need to go that far!). this part of the process does take some time, so remember to be patient and kind to yourself :) these essays won’t happen overnight!

enlisting the help of others also helps keep you accountable. one of the struggles many seniors face while writing essays is just... setting aside time to do them. and even though the constant reminders from your parents will definitely get repetitive and a bit stress-inducing, i can tell you from personal experience that i’m so glad they did; otherwise, i don’t think i’d have my essays done in time :’)

while writing college essays is challenging, your family will be there supporting you each step of the way. chances are that they’ll have their own pointers to pass on to you, since they probably remember doing this process themselves! and, out of everyone in your life, they probably remember the most about you (because you probably don’t remember much when you were four or five), so they might have a couple starter ideas for topics when brainstorming. you can rely on them for their advice and their experience.

tip #5: self-editing.

here’s the part that takes the longest time.

use action words. this is probably something you’ve heard all throughout elementary school where they didn’t like you to say “said” because it was “boring”… but honestly, the difference between “doing my own version” and “infusing it with my personality” could go a long way. also, use words that you would actually use in an essay—then it’ll have your own special flair, and not sound like it’s taken from some stuffy 80s textbook!

here are some of the words i used (once again, you shouldn’t use these words if they don’t sound like something you’d write/say): potential, overlay, wrestle, launch, analogous, weave, infuse, experiment, outlet, revel, fascinate, satisfaction, pursue, expand, distinction, capture, range, archive, engage, beyond, build, adversity, cultivate, preserve, commit, explore, convey, naturally

also, be on the lookout for repeated words. i once wrote an essay without noticing that i used “hope” three times in the same paragraph. don’t do that! use synonyms :) personally, i tended to run short on synonyms, so i always kept a tab or two open on my computer reserved for searching up new words.

side note: unfortunately, during my search for synonyms, i discovered that thesaurus.com just didn’t give me what i was looking for. i highly recommend using wordhippo instead; it has so many more options and they’re grouped by the different definitions of your word! i found the synonyms i needed really quickly and it was very satisfying!

avoid the passive voice! my teacher gave me this tip for theses or any other college-level writing. here’s an example of the passive voice: “there was a large part of me that wanted to turn back.” that’s twelve words taking up precious space in your word count! instead, say something like, “i considered turning back.” you’ve just freed up eight words :)

tip #6: final revisions.

this is the step where you fine-tune your essays. meet that word count.

read your writing out loud. does it sound like you? it should. every writer has a different voice, and you need to ensure that yours is pervasive throughout your essay. feel free to use contractions—not only do they reduce your word count (this was a good thing for me, since i had a problem with getting under 350 words), but they also give a more casual tone to your essay, as if you’re telling a story to someone in the room.

next, pretend to be an admissions officer and have someone else read your essay to you. do you get excited hearing about this student who shares your name? if you do, there’s a good chance the real admissions officers will love your essays, too. this also gives you a chance to review to your essay as a whole. pay attention to the overall flow. is there a clear beginning and end? do you resolve the issues and overcome the trials you brought up? listen to it as if it’s a story, and take this time to enjoy what you’ve written. you worked hard!

final thoughts / encouragements.

oh my goodness, did we make it to the end? honestly if you did, thank you so much 🥺

okay but despite my relatively optimistic tone throughout this post, i’m still going to be honest with you—the college essay writing process is difficult. it requires you to look inside yourself and analyze the “why” behind some of the things that you love, and that isn’t easy to do at all. it’s intellectually and emotionally challenging, because not only do you need to use so much energy writing, but you also have to dig deeper to understand yourself, and that’s not easy, either.

but i wanted to encourage you, too. no matter what you may think of yourself at 12am, 2am, 4am writing these essays, believe you have a personality that others love and will love when they meet you. you are an interesting person with unique experiences who deserves to share your thoughts with others. you have so many people behind you, supporting you during these next few months. and when you find that you can’t write any more, remember to take time to care for yourself. have a warm shower. go to bed early. i could go on and on about why sleep is good for your brain but i’ll spare you the details in this post 😉

one last thing: keep the bigger picture in focus. remember, by december or january, you will be finished with most of the application process. that’s no small accomplishment. you can do it. 💝

i really hope you found tips that you were looking for, and that they’re applicable to your own PIQs and other essays !! if you have any other questions, feel free to send in another ask (i promise my response won’t be this lengthy LOL) 💘💓

oh, and if you feel comfortable enough reaching out about anything in particular, i’m only a DM away 💕 i wish you the best of luck on writing your essays and i hope you enjoy your final year of high school !! 💗🌸💟💖

[auradonsxking]

@ladymalevxlent​ liked for a lyrical starter || Everything Ends ~ A Very Potter Senior Year

“You don’t know what you’re fighting for, what you came here for.” 

[whoisleft-rp]

GRADUATION CEREMONIES & EXIT INTERVIEWS || JUNE 1978 || [THE ROAD TO GRADUATION #003 & #004]

The Gryffindors’ Quidditch Cup celebration lasted throughout the entire night, and the castle’s stock of Pepper-up Potions and other home-brewed hangover remedies were quickly depleted. A hearty breakfast was had by all, nervous and excited chattering reaching even the senior seventh years’ spots at their respective tables; the graduation ceremony was only a few hours away.

It was looking to be an absolutely gorgeous day for it - blue skies, only a few clouds, not too hot even for the graduates in their dark Hogwarts robes. Albus Dumbledore’s speech was guaranteed to be a tearjerker; “we are so proud of each and every one of you - yes, all of you, I see the shock on your face, Mister Potter - and know Hogwarts will always be your home to return to. These are dark times we are living in, and I sincerely hope our exiting seventh years go out to shine their lights on the world.”

Muggle cameras (allowed to work for only that special occasion) and magical ones alike made sure to capture just about every moment, each graduating seventh years’ walk across the stage and each tearful embrace with their friends and loved ones committed to film. 

Because there is still time left for students to say goodbye, enjoy the castle and grounds for another week, and make the most of their halcyon school days before moving on to the unknowable world beyond its walls, the school could not leave ALL their remaining time unstructured. The morning after the graduation ceremonies – after families have taken their leave but before the first trunks are packed – Headmaster Dumbledore reminded all of the outgoing seventh years of their exit interviews. 

Given the unprecedented change and turmoil of the past few years, the school has established this new tradition: a confidential way for each and every graduating student to speak one-on-one with the Headmaster about anything at all. The highs and lows of their schooling experience, their plans and hopes and fears for the future...when the plan was announced, the Headmaster was quite clear that ANYTHING was on the table. 

This was, of course, because he already had a subject in mind for a very select few. 

For months now, the Order of the Phoenix has been keeping tabs on some of Hogwarts best, brightest, and most endearingly troublesome. Using the cover of exit interviews for all, Dumbledore will be using his one on one time with these handpicked students to invite them into the Order’s secret creed. No further instructions will be given to them at this time except for one, all-important instruction: DO NOT TELL ANYONE ELSE ABOUT THE ORDER, OR YOUR INVITATION TO JOIN IT. 

Roommate against roommate, friend against friend – nobody should know who else received this secret and honorable invitation until the first Order meeting in July. 

Unless, of course, they REALLY trust the people around them enough to venture a guess and ask without getting caught… 

This post covers only the graduation ceremonies and the exit interviews. Separate event posts will be doled out for each event (see list below). Events in this series…

[#001] Parents Weekend

[#002] Quidditch Final – Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw, to be played while parents are still on campus

[#003] Graduation Ceremonies – To be conducted while parents are still on campus

[#004] Seventh Year Student Exit Interviews (slash Order Recruitment, for some!)

[#005 – Upcoming] Post-Graduation/Pre-Departure Packing, Partying & Goodbyes

[#006 – Upcoming] The Hogwarts Express Ride Back To King’s Cross

* Note: Events #005 and #006 will each be their own separate events, with a two-week window for starters per our new policy. In terms of an OOC time window, that means the King’s Cross event will END on the evening of July 20th. 

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

WHO: All students - graduating or otherwise - are present for the ceremonies as well as all the parents and family members who came for the weekend, which means you can keep writing parent threads if you wish. Anyone can start a general graduation day thread, and ANY seventh year student can write their exit interview with Dumbledore if they wish to do so - we STRONGLY encourage the students who are getting an offer for the Order (whether they accept or reject that offer), to write that self-para as part of their participation in the event!

WHERE: The graduation ceremonies are taking place on the Great Lawn, though threads can take place anywhere outside or, if the muse strikes you, immediately before or after the ceremonies on Hogwarts grounds. 

WHEN: The exit interviews take place the morning after graduation in Dumbledore’s office and then in Hogwarts immediately after - this is basically two separate events taking place around the same time! The visitors for the long weekend are being ushered home after the graduation ceremonies, so the castle belongs to just the students and professors (and a couple of Dumbledore’s invited Order guests…) again at that point.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

The masterlist of parent and sibling FCs can be found here. Feel free to, if you have not done so already, send your choices to the main–– it’s not too late to decide you want in on writing these characters!

All starters must be posted between now, Monday, June 8th and 11:59 P.M. EST on Monday, June 22nd.

You can write as your character, your character’s parent(s), or your character’s sibling(s), etc. and post starters as them - but the focus is on the graduating students and their final days at Hogwarts as pupils. If your character has a good reason to be at the castle for the graduation - and Hogwarts graduation ceremonies are always a big deal! - please have them there!

Order members have been invited to the castle as well, for their opinions on potential recruits. 

Players are strongly encouraged to both post starters and hop on the starters of others.

Gif chats, paras, self-paras, three-way conversations, etc. are all welcome

Please use the tags WhoIsLeftStarter, WhoIsLeftGraduation and WhoIsLeftInterview as appropriate 

STUDENTS INVITED TO JOIN THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

LILY EVANS

SIRIUS BLACK

MARLENE MCKINNON

JAMES POTTER 

MARY MACDONALD

PETER PETTIGREW

REMUS LUPIN 

STURGIS PODMORE

CARADOC DEARBORN

DORCAS MEADOWES

EMMELINE VANCE

BENJY FENWICK

[officialsporkintheroad]

Tomione modern high school AU for headcanons thank you!

(a/n: OOOOH BOOOI am I excited or WHAT!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you for such a great prompt, and I’m sorry it’s taking me so long to get to them! Also, this is based on American high school since I know nothing about high schools in the UK—honestly these came out more like starter prompt ideas than cohesive headcanons, oops)

Tom and Hermione can’t stand each other because they’re each used to being the best, having the highest test scores, getting the best GPA, but they’re always tied for being first and have been since 9th grade

But now that it’s senior year, it really, really, really matters (of course, it’s always mattered, but now there are stakes) because whoever has the highest GPA is going to be valedictorian, so tensions are HIGH

And Hermione is already so pissed that Tom is class president, she’s not going to let him steal valedictorian from her

And Tom is just infuriated that Hermione’s SAT scores were higher than his by 2 fucking points, he’ll be damned if he lets her be valedictorian instead of him

Constantly one-upping each other in class, everything is a competition

They both packed on the extra-curriculars for college applications, so naturally they’re appointed as co-captains for the school’s debate team, and the whole team lets out a simultaneous groan because god, they’re never going to stop debating each other long enough to get anywhere in practice

Except. Except then it turns out that they work really well together. Or, more accurately, they balance each other out. Because Tom is all about charisma, all about putting a spin on horrible things to make them sound less horrible. And Hermione is all about facts, all about obscure knowledge and getting information that their opponents just don’t have. 

And yeah, Hermione hates that Tom is maybe a little better at debate if only because he has “literally no morals” and counts lung disease as a negligible side-effect in coal-mining towns

Tom hates Hermione’s holier-than-thou attitude, but low-key loves how underhanded she can get when pushed (like that time in chem when she definitely sabotaged his experiment and almost caused the lab to explode, even if he can’t prove it)

Ron and Harry trying to pair up with Hermione for their final group presentation in McGonagall’s class, but of course McGonagall has wised up over the past four years, so she assigns partners instead so Weasley and Potter can’t slack off, and neither can Malfoy and Nott. Because Hermione ends up paired with Tom. 

Slughorn starts a teacher betting pool on when Tom and Hermione are going to get together, and at first all the other professors think he’s insane

“But Horace,” Pamona said slowly, as if trying to gauge the man’s level of cognizance. “They hate each other.”

He laughed. “Do they, though? Do they?” 

McGonagall is the only other teacher to place a bet at first (hence why she threw them together in the group project), but after a few months, Flitwick concedes that there might be something there, and soon after, most of the professors are in on it

FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENT VIKTOR KRUM, who is always in the library when Hermione and Tom are trying to work on their project, and Tom just hates him (doesn’t realize it’s jealousy at first, and writes it off as Krum being annoying/distracting) 

Hermione and Tom growing closer over studying, and debating, and one night their group project forces Tom to stay at the Grangers house for dinner, and Hermione realizes she kinda, maybe, really likes Tom

Tom offering to drive Hermione home when her car won’t start, and slowly finding that they’re just spending time together even when they’re not working on a project together, and when they get their college acceptance letters, Tom realizes there’s a very real possibility that they won’t go to the same school (or even to schools that are somewhat nearby) and that’s when he realize that he maybe, kinda, really likes Hermione

Senior Prom Confusion, where Hermione has been waiting for Tom to ask her because he really seemed like he would, except then he didn’t (because it took him a really long time to realize that he actually liked her), and then Krum actually asks Hermione first & Hermione has never been the type to wait around for some guy,moping, so she accepts

And then Tom is like, wait no, shit. And then he thinks Hermione maybe doesn’t feel anything for him at all, so he asks someone else & he’s really snippy/petty towards Hermione for the week or two leading up to prom

AND THEN AT PROM THINGS GET RESOLVED LIKE A TEEN ROMCOM, where Tom cuts in for a dance and they have a semi-heated argument and there’s confessions of feelings and eventually A KISS (omg)

Hermione ends up being valedictorian, which only grates on Tom’s nerves a bit (he’s still class president, so there)

They’d agreed not to influence each other’s college decisions, so they sit down together only after they’ve already decided where they’re going and reveal at the same time that they’re both going to Harvard 

(a/n: There you go! I think I might actually want to write this whole fic out at some point because I really like how this turned out!)

[shanisaur]

High School Soccer AU

So... I haven’t written any fanfic for the fanders yet, and this is my first one! This is just some headcanons to set the scene. I only wrote oneshots when I wrote Supernatural fanfic, but I’m really excited about this and plan on writing multiple chapters. So, here ya go! 

Relationships: Platonic moxiety, possible romantic logince, familial logicality

Oakwood High School (OHS) was known for their amazing soccer program. They won 7 state championships in a row. Two years before, there was a large senior class that graduated. Sophomore (at the time) Logan Walsh was chosen to be team captain for the next year. The next year, the 7 year state championship streak was broken. In fact, they didn’t even qualify for state championships. River Rock High School (RRHS), the next town over, won that year. It was an extra harsh loss as River Rock High School is their biggest rival. This year there are only two seniors on the team, captain Logan Walsh and Roman Ally. Though the team is dejected from last years major loss, Logan and Roman hope to win a state championship their senior year.

Patton Walsh (sophomore)

Goalie

Logan’s little brother

He was the starting goalie his freshman year, because the other goalie was a senior and graduated the year before

Patton had some pretty big shoes to fill because the other goalie was AMAZING (He got first team all state for all four years of high school and got a full ride scholarship to Duke for soccer) 

He was under a lot of pressure that year and it uh… didn’t go well to say the least

He cries when he lets in a lot of goals (that’s not based on me whatsoever, what are you talking about?) 

He’s still really disapointed in himself that on his first year on the team, they lost their state championship streak

He’s like the team cheerleader most of the time, always yelling positive encouragement

Though when he gets aggressive, he get AGGRESSIVE

If anyone hurts one of his players, he will possible use a little more force than necessary when coming in contact with the other teams players

The team is his family

Virgil Orr (sophomore)

Defender

This is his first year at OHS and Coach Sanders makes him a starting varsity defender because he is so good

At his old high school, he made varsity but he spent all his time on the bench because the other players refused to play with him (we’ll get to that later) 

He’s super anxious about letting his new team down

The team goes to a team camp at Penn State every summer at Patton is Virgil’s roommate this year

Patton is his first (and only) friends at Oakwood

Logan Walsh (senior)

Midfielder 

He’s been team captain since junior year 

Though he understands the rivalry with River Rock high, he doesn’t play into as much as others at OHS

On top of being captain of the soccer team, he is also the student council president, head of chemistry club, and head of Dumbledore’s Army (Harry Potter Club). 

He is very stressed for college (He’s taking all AP’s) 

Very protective of Patton

Roman Ally (senior)

Striker

He’s been the starting varsity star since freshman year, making him SUPER popular

Little bit of a party animal

He’s still a little salty that Logan was made team captain. He thinks it should have been him because he’s been a starter longer and Logan has so many other extracurriculars to worry about.

REALLY into the rivalry with RRHS, that leads to arguments with Logan because some of the comments about RRHS made by other students at OHS are rather homophobic (that’s not based on my school at all what are you talking about) 

Declan (Deceit) Walsh (senior)

Team captain for River Rock High School soccer team

Logan and Patton’s cousin (there’s some very tense family gatherings) 

[a-blonde-with-batons-blog]

Plotter

BOBBI MORSE also known as MOCKINGBIRD is TWENTY-FOUR and is a SENIOR at SU. Practice makes perfect and SHE is no exception being best known for her MARTIAL ART SKILLS, BIOLOGY KNOWLEDGE, and  BATON SKILLS. SHE belong[s] to the  SCIENCE CLUB on campus and are a member of CHI OMEGA SOCIETY. Many people say that she is LOYAL and STUBBORN but she can also be SARCASTIC and GUARDED. SHE considers herself to be a HERO.

BRIEF HISTORY: 

Age 15: Started staying after school to work on extra biology projects.

Age 16: SHIELD agents came to Bobbi’s home to discuss her biology experiments and work. They offered her an internship at SHIELD.

Age 17: Bobbi decided to attend SU after she graduated.

Age 18: Tension between Bobbi and her parents, who don’t want her to enter into any sort of military organization, as they were both in the army.

Age 20: Her younger sister chose to go to a different college, creating some distance between the two.

CONNECTIONS:    Friends: Bobbi would do really well with a few really close friends. She is outgoing and friendly, but still guarded. She’ll talk your ear off to get a feel for you. Once her mind is made up though, it’s hard to change, so if you pass her test, she’ll be your friend for life.    Lovers: Bobbi isn’t looking for a long term relationship, but she could be persuaded into it, if the right person came along. Right now, she likes to have some fun and would definitely be up for a friends with benefits situation.    Enemies: Bobbi could definitely use a few enemies! She isn’t keen on the idea of villains so there’s a lot of potential there!    Other?: Give me all of the connections! I love brainstorming with people so throw anything my way! A training partner would be super fun to explore! IDEAS FOR THREADS/STARTERS: I would love to see Bobbi struggling with Biology. All of her life, she’s been fantastic at it and it’s come very naturally, I would like to have her experience a little difficulty in whatever they’re studying in class.

I would also like to see Bobbi honing her physical skills. She feels the need to work extra hard to keep up with the heroes with powers.

OOC INTRO: I’m Allie, I’m 22. I graduated college last year and am still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life and how to be a real adult. I have RPd for about 5 years, off and on. I’ve only done Harry Potter RPs though, so I am excited to branch out and see what else I can work on.

ACTIVITY: I like to have a good number of threads going, so anywhere from 4-9 is great for me. I love to just sit down and work on them all at once. I work a split shift, so I will be most active during the middle of the day, 10-2 CST usually. I will probably also be on during the evening, but because I work early, I usually go to bed early.

[addierose444]

Sib Week

Sib week is a house tradition where first-years (little sibs) are paired with older students (big sibs). Residents are matched based on academic and nonacademic interests. I will be writing from personal experience, but not too specifically about any of my sibs. It is also worth noting that the sib week experience varies from person to person and from house to house. 

When on campus, the big sibs leave notes and small gifts outside their little’s room. This is done secretly (and sometimes by a friend). The notes are meant to make the littles smile and provide hints as to their big sib’s identity. Since I mentioned liking Harry Potter, my big sib made me a card featuring Hedwig. She also gave me stickers and dark chocolate Reese’s. The daily clues included my sib’s major, her dog’s name, the floor she lived on, and a few of her interests. Analyzing handwriting and artwork was also a key investigative tool. By the end of the week, all residents participating in sib week gathered in the living room for sib reveal. We, the littles, went around the room guessing our big sib. Some people had known the identity of their sib from day one and others had absolutely no idea. I personally figured out who my sib was part way through the week. This was perfect because I still got to enjoy the mystery of it all but was able to come to sib reveal with more than a guess.   

This year, I got to be a big sib! When I got my job in ResLife, I didn’t think I would get to be a big sib. As reality would have it, I actually got to have two little sibs! Today was Parsons sib reveal, which is why I am writing about sib week right now. In virtual sib week, email was the main form of communication. I went back and forth about it, but I eventually decided to just tell my sibs who I was on Wednesday (the first day of our sib week). Other big sibs made separate email accounts or got others to send emails for them. Having two sibs was sort of difficult because I wanted to treat them equally but that was impossible. For starters, I had already started to build a friendship with one of my sibs but knew absolutely nothing about my other sib. (The littles fill out an interest form that we have access to, but the first-years who didn’t fill out the form were still paired with a big sib). This reality also went into my decision of just telling my sibs who I was. Specifically, I couldn't think of good clues for either sib. As luck would have it, my sib who didn’t fill out the interest form is a prospective engineering major! During sib week, I sent my sibs some photos of my dogs and from Smith. At sib reveal, I got the opportunity to chat with my little sibs (separately). Overall, sib week is such a fun tradition as both a big and little sib. Another nice thing about sib week is that while older students aren't required to participate, many do who are otherwise not super active in the house community. 

The sib program isn’t unique to house communities. Last February, Smith’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) had its very own sib program. First-year and sophomore engineering students were matched with juniors and seniors. This sib program was different in that it was just a singular event where you met your sib. My big sib was an engineering and computer science double major which gave me a great opportunity to ask questions and just generally see that such an endeavor was possible. Furthermore she was the president of the organization which inspired me to run for a board position. A fun fact is that both of my big sibs (from Hubbard and SWE) were the presidents of the respective house/organization. 

[crimsonrevolt]

Congratulations Erin you’ve been accepted to Crimson Revolt as Millicent Bagnold!

↳ please refer to our character checklist

The first thing that the admin team said about your app was that we got such a strong sense of the character from your entire app! We could hear Millicent in our heads and really fell in love with her -- especially how much you focused in on her devotion to feminism and girl power! You’ve made her an integral character to the roleplay and it’ll be fascinating to see how she reacts to whatever transpires in this world. We’re so excited to see her on the dash and for you to continue exploring every facet of her personality! 

application beneath the cut

OUT OF CHARACTER

INTRODUCTION

Erin (She/Her), 19, CDT

ACTIVITY

During the summer, probably around a 7-8. I’m currently jobless and my class is online, so I’ll always be near a computer.

TRIGGERS

*removed for privacy

HOW DID YOU FIND US?

The promo blog!

WHAT HARRY POTTER CHARACTER DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH MOST?

Hermione! For starters, she had big, frizzy hair, just like I do. I strongly identified with her love of school and her assertive tendencies. I saw a lot of myself in her, and I also wanted to be her.

ANYTHING ELSE?

None

IN CHARACTER

DESIRED CHARACTER - Millicent Bagnold

Millicent – work, labor, strong

Bagnold – of Badgenhall

FACE CLAIM

Priyanka Chopra

REASON FOR CHOSEN CHARACTER

Millicent is strong-willed, a feminist, and in the political world. All of these things are awesome, and I share all of these traits. I’m majoring in political science, and though political life in the Wizarding World of Great Britain is different from modern America, it is still something we have in common. I share her shortcomings as well. I see so much of myself in Millicent, and I so rarely have the opportunity to write a character to which I feel I have so many commonalities. She’s quick-witted with a sense of humor, even though that humor may not always translate to other people. And oh my goodness, she said, “I assert our inalienable right to party,” after Voldemort fell, and I just love her even more.

Of course, Millicent is different from me as well. She’s way more of a bamf than I could ever be, and she’s got an internal battle raging. Does she abandon everything she’s ever worked for, after the countless hours and sacrifices she made, in order to protect her loved ones, or does she ensure that it was all worth it and she makes it to the top? She’s willing to make sacrifices, but she’s hesitant when it comes to something that could ruin her livelihood.

Basically, she’s so nuanced and interesting, and she’s already so precious to me and I love her and I want to wrap her in bubble wrap until she becomes Minister for Magic.

PREFERRED SHIPS // CHARACTER SEXUALITY // GENDER & PRONOUNS

Millicent is a cisgender, heteroromantic, heterosexual woman.

Ships are Millicent/Chemistry above anything else. She doesn’t take shit from anybody, so she definitely won’t suffer through a relationship where there’s no chemistry.

CREATE ONE (OR MORE!) OF THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR CHARACTER:

-Playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/user/12139182618/playlist/7qJAh2yy20IuieNMSTkseN

-Headcanons:

Millicent has one older brother who is ten years her senior. He accomplished quite both in and out of Hogwarts. She was determined not to live in his shadow, which is why she pushed herself so hard in school. She did find that she enjoyed working at the Ministry, so it became her goal and passion for herself, rather than just a goal to outdo her brother.

Millicent became Junior Assistant to the Minister for Magic at the age of 21, and at 25, she became the youngest person to be granted the title of Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic.

When being sorted, Millicent was a near hatstall. The Sorting Hat spent four and a half minutes debating whether to put her in Slytherin (because of her sheer determination and ambitiousness) and Ravenclaw (because of her desire to use said determination and ambitiousness to acquire knowledge. At this time, she had not yet found her calling – Ministry work.) Eventually, the Sorting Hat settled on Ravenclaw.

- Potential plots:

Something happens that causes the push-and-pull within her to come to the surface. Perhaps she faces a setback at work, or something happens with the Order. She suddenly doubts herself, and finds herself in a limbo, a former shell of herself, as she struggles to determine her course of action. The Minister dying certainly stopped her in her tracks, and though it’s a few months later, perhaps the aftermath of that still has her confused. Or perhaps she immediately regained composure, and something else happened to cause her to suddenly become unconfident or unsure of her path.

IN CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE

The following section should be looked at like a survey for your character. Answer them in character and feel free to use gifs. Or, if you’d rather, answer them in third person or OOC without gifs. Answers do not have to be extremely lengthy.

♔ If you were able to invent one spell, potion, or charm, what would it do, what would you use it for or how would you use it? Feel free to name it:

If I had to invent a potion, I think I’d create a focusing potion. It would allow for short bursts of intense focus, which would of course allow for me to be more efficient at work. I’d use it to catch up on work, or if I had a particularly heavy load of work to do.

♔ You have to venture deep into the Forbidden Forest one night. Pick one other character and one object (muggle or magical), besides your wand, that you’d want with you:

I’d want my brother with me, because he’s an amazing duelist with fast reflexes. And he relaxes me, so I’d feel safer. As far as objects go, I think I’d like to have a sword. The Forbidden Forest is forbidden for a reason, and I’d like to be prepared for anything I might find myself facing.

♔ What kinds of decisions are the most difficult for you to make?

It is difficult for me to make decisions when both options are bad, or one choice would require sacrificing the other. Decisions that are strictly black and white, though nice when it isn’t deeply personal, are difficult when I am very invested in both options. For instance, choosing between my career and my family is difficult. I love my family above all else, but I have also worked my entire life to get to where I am today. I’m the youngest person to be the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic, and knowing that I am so close to being Minister for Magic would make it difficult to choose whether I focus on my career or on my loved ones. Ideally, I could do both – and I try to do both, but that isn’t always possible.

♔ What is one thing you would never want said about you?

I never want it to be said that I quit. I try to make it a point to acquire any knowledge that may help me, regroup, and try again if I fail. I never want to walk away from something, especially if my walking away could have immoral results – such as struggling with a proposed policy that results in the unfair treatment of a minority group. To quit something like that would go against everything I am and everything I believe in.

WRITING SAMPLE

She had awoken to the sound of an owl knocking at her window in the early hours of Christmas morning. The clock read 4 am and the sun had not yet come up as Millicent opened the window to retrieve a hastily tied piece of parchment from the owl. On it, only four words – ‘The Minister is dead.’ Four words had effectively stopped her in her tracks and left her reeling. She couldn’t breathe. Her lungs were collapsing and the world caving in around her. He wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be dead. He was supposed to be found, so he could help her as she navigated the political world. Millicent had just lost her boss and mentor. What would happen now?

Her steely resolve was crumbling. Millicent had been the acting Minister since the 12th of October, when the Minister had been taken. But it was supposed to have been temporary – she wasn’t ready yet. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She was supposed to be voted in when Minister Minchum stepped aside – she wouldn’t dare challenge him if he was running for re-election unless something drastic had happened to suddenly make him incompetent. He had seen her potential and had taken her under his wing. Her rise through the Ministry’s levels, as much as she would like to attribute to her own determination and capability, were undoubtedly aided by an ally in the form of the Minister for Magic.

Quickly, Millicent grabbed a quill and ink and wrote on the other side of the parchment, ‘Press conference at 6.’ A four-worded response to a four-worded message that turned her world upside down was sent away with the owl. She had two hours to collect herself before she faced the press and delivered the news to the rest of the world. Millicent wanted nothing more than to ask to ask Harold how to handle this. She had handled press conferences before, both with the Minister and without him (those occurred after his disappearance). But nothing had quite prepared her for facing the press with the news that the Minister was dead. Formally announcing his disappearance had been difficult enough, but to announce his death – it seemed impossible.

“Stop it, Millicent,” she scolded herself, her voice hoarse. She was Millicent Bagnold. Nothing was impossible for her. She had been through difficult times before, and she had survived and thrived. She would make it through this again, though thriving seemed less likely. Slowly, she left the window and went to her wardrobe. She hastily changed into her dress robes. The mirror at the back of her wardrobe showed the reflection of a tired and confused woman, but Millicent refused to look at it for more than a few moments. She was Millicent Bagnold, and she had a job to do.

[gaylemackey86-blog]

Just how much Suffices And Just how much Is Too Much?

There comes a factor in everyone's life where it is sensible as well as ideal to start preparing for the article fatality division of residential property as well as properties. Sutnar created various typographic as well as iconographic navigational devices that enabled individuals to effectively traverse seas of data. All-or-nothing financing makes it much easier for backers to promise to your task with self-confidence that you'll be able to do the job. Earlier this month Questor, the Daily Telegraph's share-tipping column, was hesitant regarding the count on's new strategy, noting Willis Towers Watson's short record as a multi-manager. Across the UK, the trust's food financial institutions were utilized greater than one million times in 2014/15. If you beloved this report and you would like to receive more information pertaining to visit my webpage kindly pay a visit to the web site. The Count on initially consented to share 1.6 million people' clinical records with DeepMind to deal with a sharp system for severe kidney injuries. If somebody hasn't already paid a cost you sent them, even after you sent a suggestion, speak with them directly instead of swamping them with more tips on the application. Where passions could deviate is around circulation of the sale earnings." Numerous acquiring business will generally try to reserve more of the value for administration as well as staff members of the company also at the cost of the lawful equity possession of the investors. Sir Stuart Etherington, president of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, stated charities have taken a variety of steps to bring back confidence, including developing a fundraising regulatory authority, making it easier for people to opt out of mailings or call listings as well as enhancing governance. Staff members gain an extra $6,450 a year, or 17% even more, at firms in the highest quartile of trust, compared to those in the most affordable quartile. Whether you're an ambitious video game maker or a skilled pro, Kickstarter offers game developers a platform to bring their boldest ideas to life. This is a critical role supplying the Supervisor, Senior Administration Team as well as Trustees with assistance to make sure the efficient administration of the Gallery. Companies that were near pick of the litter simply a few years earlier-- large pharma, big box chains like Walmart, the big four" Chinese financial institutions, oil empires, household names like Nestle or General Electric-- are glaringly missing from the mix. The license doesn't state that this new functionality is for Google Glass, however it does shows the processor and data storage installed into a Harry Potter-esque set of spectacles. Charitable lead trust - ˈlēd- : a rely on which a charity is called as the recipient for an amount of time after which named people do well as recipients charitable remainder annuity count on: a philanthropic remainder rely on which the named recipients get a set settlement of not less compared to 5 percent of the fair market value of the original principal over the course of a specific duration after which the staying principal passes to charity philanthropic remainder trust: a trust in which people are named as recipients to receive earnings for a period of time (as the life times of the beneficiaries) after which the primary passes to charity Editor's note: Charitable rest trust funds qualify for tax obligation exemptions under area 664 of the Internal Income Code. Evaluation of other economic information such as assets, stock turn over, as well as obligations should be carried out. Shipped within the EU. See shipping area for details. In July 2015, Dr Adam Gornall, an obstetrician at the count on, participated in a maternal networking occasion in Manchester arranged by the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA), currently NHS Resolution. TWO limited edition 'The Z' Kickstarter packs and also 2 Swiftpoint GT computer mice. To reveal a celebration without name recognition or a wrapped up schedule, McFarland and Ja Policy personally welcomed 400 influencers in different fields. Holy place T tee shirt featuring David's design of Holy place. Also seeing a name of among the manufacturers is potentially not also reliable," he adds, stating there have actually been records of fake products being marketed through Amazon.com as well as various other online retail websites. This limited-edition solo alternative Feudum development has a Kickstarter MSRP of $30. Gamers already accustomed to the MMO genre of video gaming will certainly grab StarCraft World swiftly, as the core game-play elements are very comparable. In a letter to the Ombudsman seen by this newspaper Mr Titcombe states: Since Joshua's death, no other organisation (including the depend on) has actually caused me as well as my family as much distress as the Ombudsman. We hold our campaign owners responsible, from identity verification to keeping an eye on interaction and openness with backers. That's a 71 percent higher revenue than it reported for this very same duration in 2014. The StarCraft II: Starter Edition, which is FREE, is all you will should play StarCraft World! The benefit of a discretionary count on is that you can keep control, so you can take choices such as offering as well as buying residential property within the trust. The concern for the EU is whether Google utilizes its position as the dominant internet search engine to favor its own organisations, such as Google Buying, over those of its competitors. Kickstarter gathers a 5% fee from the final financing overall if a task is efficiently funded. Szczegółowe informacje na temat używania odpowiednich kont i członkostw w grupach można znaleźć na stronie lokalnych i domenowych grup domyślnych (? LinkId= 83477) (strona może zostać wyświetlona w języku angielskim).) If you are a member of the Inbound Forest Count on Builders group, you could develop one-way, incoming, forest trusts to your woodland.

[yes-dal456]

Do We Dare To Eat Lectins?

In The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot’s protagonist asks, chewing on mortality and the pangs of senescence, if he dares to eat a peach. We can all thank Dr. Steven Gundry for upping the ante, and asking if any of us dares to eat chickpeas or eggplant; apples or oats; beans or lentils; or for that matter, almost any fruit, many vegetables, and most beans, legumes, grains, and certain nuts. His answer is: no. His reason is: lectins.

What are lectins? I am tempted to suggest to all Harry Potter fans that they are to us muggles what Nargles are to witches and wizards: an enigmatic if not imaginary threat in unexpected places, of concern only to the eccentric.

But I suppose a bit more explanation is in order. Lectins are a family of proteins found in many plants, dairy, yeast, eggs, and seafood that can bind to other molecules, notably sugar and carbohydrate molecules, that are present both in foods, and in the membranes of our cells. The case made in The Plant Paradox is that the binding of lectins from plant foods to our cells is a major cause of ill health, and thus we must all fear and avoid lectins, and the rather dire foods- like apples- that sinisterly serve as their delivery vehicles. (For whatever it may be worth to you and Prufrock, peaches happen to be a negligible source.)

This, of course, is utter nonsense.

For starters, the reality of lectins is far more nuanced than the sound bites, scapegoats, and silver bullets of formulaic best sellers in the diet category. The scientific literature raises theoretical concerns about the potential toxicity of lectins in certain contexts, but also suggests the possibility of unique health benefits related to cancer prevention, and gastrointestinal metabolism. Lectins are far more active in binding to our cells when consumed at high concentration and in isolation, as they are in experiments, than when consumed in food- as they generally are by actual humans. Cooking often attenuates the binding action of lectins, or causes them to bind to other compounds in food. 

In that regard, perhaps a new dietary fad predicated on misguided lectin-phobia has one redeeming characteristic: it serves up an argument against another faddish concept, nearly as silly. The fiercest proponents of raw food diets contend, falsely, that raw is always better. While some foods are more nutritious raw, others- like chickpeas, beans, and lentils, to name just a few- are decisively so when cooked. The raw food argument, in other words, is itself overcooked, and the lectin scare perhaps does us the modest service of shining its little light there.

As for all the rest, it is instead propagating shadows of doubt where none are warranted.

This is not the first time we have been warned away from fruits and vegetables, beans and legumes, nuts and grains.  Both low-carb and gluten-free diet advocacy foreswear whole grains, despite overwhelming evidence of the health benefits they consistently confer on all but the constitutionally intolerant. Both low-GI and fructose-is-toxic dietary platforms have caused people, intentionally in the first case and perhaps unintentionally in the second, to abandon fruit, despite overwhelming evidence of its role in defending us even against the very concerns associated with high-glycemic foods and excess fructose, notably type 2 diabetes. We abandoned nuts in the throes of misguided applications of advice to reduce dietary fat intake, somehow reaching the conclusion that Snackwells were good for us, while almonds were not.

This decades-long parade of dietary fads and fashions, an incessant sequence of nutritional misadventures demonstrate one thing above all others: there is more than one way to eat badly, and we the people of the United States seem committed to exploring them all. If you have a new version of dietary nonsense to sell, put it in a book- and we will buy it.

Our history is testimony to the triumph of naïve nincompoopery over experience, to the conclusion that desperation breeds gullibility. Sorry, I must be in a timorous mood today; next time, I’ll tell you what I really think.

We have been talked into the claim that gluten and wheat are the source of our many ills, despite the salient presence of wheat in the human diet for 15,000 years or so, it’s nominal role for 100,000 or more; despite the presence of whole wheat in the diets of the world’s most vital and longest-lived populations; and despite a bounty of evidence of every description demonstrating the predominance of benefit. We have been talked into blaming our metabolic misfortunes on all grains, despite an even more compelling body of evidence linking whole grain intake to almost every health benefit imaginable, including marked reductions in the very degenerations of function and cognition for which whole grains have been falsely maligned.

An effort is afoot to talk us into dismissing the liabilities of excess salt consumption on theoretical grounds, even as a massive epidemiologic study looking agnostically at the associations between dietary components and death found salt to top the list. Personally, I don’t think salt, per se, is public nutrition enemy number 1; rather, I think a high concentration of sodium is one of the most consistent indicators of hyper-processed foods that are bad for us in many ways. But that’s a topic for another day.

For now, the new contention that we should avoid all of the most nutritious plant foods, including many vegetables, nearly all fruits, all beans, and all legumes because they contain lectins- takes nutritional nonsense to a whole new level. Following this advice will decimate the quality of your diet, and for anyone who actually sticks with such silliness over time (an unlikely eventuality with any diet)- your health.

The case being made against most of the foods most reliably linked to vitality and longevity suffers from several fallacies common to all manner of nutritional nonsense. One is to prioritize a theoretical concern (or hope) over the prevailing pattern of outcomes among actual people.

Another is the conflation of a change in the dialogue about some threat with a change in the threat itself. In 2015, for instance, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a subsidiary of the World Health Organization, declared processed meat- bacon, pepperoni, and such- a class I carcinogen. There was widespread media coverage, the customary hyperbole, and something nearing panic among the “I have never met a slice of bacon I didn’t like” crowd.

But, of course, such a response made no real sense. Yes, processed meat is bad for you, and yes, you’d be better off not eating it. And yes, eating it is rather bad for our fellow creatures and the planet, too.

But the risk from one day to the next changed not at all. Whatever your risk for cancer had been all along, it remained exactly the same the day after the IARC determination was announced. All that had changed was the official position on the matter of that risk. Similarly, the lectins that are in your hummus this week were there last week, too.

The idea that you should renounce many of the foods most decisively and consistently linked to good health outcomes because they contain a compound that can be called a toxin may be the most egregious example of missing the forest for the trees I’ve ever seen, and I’ve spent my career scrutinizing, and repudiating, just that variety of nonsense. For the sake of false promises dangling from one gilded tree, this is a case of burning the forest down.

The answer to- “should you fear lectins now?” is- yes, if and only if you do the same for oxygen. 

As I recently noted to a colleague, oxygen is not a theoretical toxin with theoretical harms in people; it is a known toxic with established harms. The atmosphere of our planet is thus highly analogous to the dietary sources of lectins: both contain compounds with potentially toxic effects, but net benefit is overwhelming both from eating plants, and breathing.

So, do you need to fear lectins now? Dr. Gundry, who reportedly will be happy to sell you supplements to replace the nutrients present in the foods he is telling you not to eat, says: yes.

I say: hold your breath, and count to a thousand while contemplating the theoretical toxicities of oxygen. Long before you finish, the truth will likely come to you in a gasp.

-fin

David L. Katz

Director, Yale University Prevention Research Center; Griffin Hospital

Immediate Past-President, American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Senior Medical Advisor, Verywell.com

Founder, The True Health Initiative

Follow at: LinkedIN; Twitter; Facebook

Read at: INfluencer Blog; Huffington Post; US News & World Report; Verywell; Forbes

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from http://ift.tt/2s0PHlG from Blogger http://ift.tt/2rIzfDK

[pjtraveller]

avpsy sentence starters, act two

feel free to change stuff around!

✧ “We did some right foolin’ around that year.”

✧ “I don’t think I better be around you anymore.”

✧ “I’m sure you’re good at making things climax.”

✧ “What a fucking idiot.”

✧ “Just the same rules as Death Note.”

✧ “Give me the diary, you spazz!”

✧ “Beside for the fun of it?”

✧ “Now the bitch is back, and there’s hell to pay!”

✧ “I think I’ll just keep you on ice. Save you for later.”

✧ “I’m just a sidekick, but I love being at your side.”

✧ “I wasn’t strong enough to save you from the evil stuff.”

✧ “I know I’m not a leading man.”

✧ “No one can remember my face.”

✧ “I’m the one that’s gonna love you with all of his heart because that’s what I’ve got.”

✧ “You’re the last person I want to talk to right now.”

✧ “I hate you because you have everything I want and you don’t deserve any of it.”

✧ “You and I are the two stupidest people I know.”

✧ “(name), you butthead!”

✧ “This feels groovy, baby.”

✧ “You meddlesome ass!”

✧ “GASP!”

✧ “This is the end of the line!”

✧ “I’m putting my badge on the line here but I don’t care anymore.”

✧ “This may come as a surprise to you, but I’m not a very happy person!”

✧ “I didn’t want (name) to end up like me.”

✧ “Tobey McGuire is fucking Spider-Man.”

✧ “If the Spider-Man movies aren’t a big deal, then... what is?”

✧ “Things come and go. Nothing lasts forever, kid.”

✧ “There’s two things in this world that I love. One of them is you.”

✧ “I need you to end this.”

✧ “It must be nice, having someone to come cry to when you can’t do things for yourself.”

✧ “It was nice to have a friend you could rely on.”

✧ “How did life become such a sad song?”

✧ “It just sorta lets your talk to ghosts.”

✧ “Nothing can stop death, (name).”

✧ “You could say we found each other.”

✧ “This is the stupidest thing you’ve ever done!”

✧ “You suck so much, (name)!”

✧ “Man, I hate that guy.”

✧ “You can’t hold on to what’s gone.”

✧ “If I go back to face them, it’ll be my end.”

✧ “Would you rather it end any other way?”

✧ “I’m still alive!”

✧ “Prepare my flying machine!”

✧ “Oh, thanks, babe. It’s been one crazy year!”

✧ “Everything has an end. This is mine.”

✧ “Woah, wipe-out.”

✧ “Shut your fat face, you fart mouth!”

✧ “Okay is wonderful.” 

[imreviewblog]

Do We Dare To Eat Lectins?

In The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot’s protagonist asks, chewing on mortality and the pangs of senescence, if he dares to eat a peach. We can all thank Dr. Steven Gundry for upping the ante, and asking if any of us dares to eat chickpeas or eggplant; apples or oats; beans or lentils; or for that matter, almost any fruit, many vegetables, and most beans, legumes, grains, and certain nuts. His answer is: no. His reason is: lectins.

What are lectins? I am tempted to suggest to all Harry Potter fans that they are to us muggles what Nargles are to witches and wizards: an enigmatic if not imaginary threat in unexpected places, of concern only to the eccentric.

But I suppose a bit more explanation is in order. Lectins are a family of proteins found in many plants, dairy, yeast, eggs, and seafood that can bind to other molecules, notably sugar and carbohydrate molecules, that are present both in foods, and in the membranes of our cells. The case made in The Plant Paradox is that the binding of lectins from plant foods to our cells is a major cause of ill health, and thus we must all fear and avoid lectins, and the rather dire foods- like apples- that sinisterly serve as their delivery vehicles. (For whatever it may be worth to you and Prufrock, peaches happen to be a negligible source.)

This, of course, is utter nonsense.

For starters, the reality of lectins is far more nuanced than the sound bites, scapegoats, and silver bullets of formulaic best sellers in the diet category. The scientific literature raises theoretical concerns about the potential toxicity of lectins in certain contexts, but also suggests the possibility of unique health benefits related to cancer prevention, and gastrointestinal metabolism. Lectins are far more active in binding to our cells when consumed at high concentration and in isolation, as they are in experiments, than when consumed in food- as they generally are by actual humans. Cooking often attenuates the binding action of lectins, or causes them to bind to other compounds in food. 

In that regard, perhaps a new dietary fad predicated on misguided lectin-phobia has one redeeming characteristic: it serves up an argument against another faddish concept, nearly as silly. The fiercest proponents of raw food diets contend, falsely, that raw is always better. While some foods are more nutritious raw, others- like chickpeas, beans, and lentils, to name just a few- are decisively so when cooked. The raw food argument, in other words, is itself overcooked, and the lectin scare perhaps does us the modest service of shining its little light there.

As for all the rest, it is instead propagating shadows of doubt where none are warranted.

This is not the first time we have been warned away from fruits and vegetables, beans and legumes, nuts and grains.  Both low-carb and gluten-free diet advocacy foreswear whole grains, despite overwhelming evidence of the health benefits they consistently confer on all but the constitutionally intolerant. Both low-GI and fructose-is-toxic dietary platforms have caused people, intentionally in the first case and perhaps unintentionally in the second, to abandon fruit, despite overwhelming evidence of its role in defending us even against the very concerns associated with high-glycemic foods and excess fructose, notably type 2 diabetes. We abandoned nuts in the throes of misguided applications of advice to reduce dietary fat intake, somehow reaching the conclusion that Snackwells were good for us, while almonds were not.

This decades-long parade of dietary fads and fashions, an incessant sequence of nutritional misadventures demonstrate one thing above all others: there is more than one way to eat badly, and we the people of the United States seem committed to exploring them all. If you have a new version of dietary nonsense to sell, put it in a book- and we will buy it.

Our history is testimony to the triumph of naïve nincompoopery over experience, to the conclusion that desperation breeds gullibility. Sorry, I must be in a timorous mood today; next time, I’ll tell you what I really think.

We have been talked into the claim that gluten and wheat are the source of our many ills, despite the salient presence of wheat in the human diet for 15,000 years or so, it’s nominal role for 100,000 or more; despite the presence of whole wheat in the diets of the world’s most vital and longest-lived populations; and despite a bounty of evidence of every description demonstrating the predominance of benefit. We have been talked into blaming our metabolic misfortunes on all grains, despite an even more compelling body of evidence linking whole grain intake to almost every health benefit imaginable, including marked reductions in the very degenerations of function and cognition for which whole grains have been falsely maligned.

An effort is afoot to talk us into dismissing the liabilities of excess salt consumption on theoretical grounds, even as a massive epidemiologic study looking agnostically at the associations between dietary components and death found salt to top the list. Personally, I don’t think salt, per se, is public nutrition enemy number 1; rather, I think a high concentration of sodium is one of the most consistent indicators of hyper-processed foods that are bad for us in many ways. But that’s a topic for another day.

For now, the new contention that we should avoid all of the most nutritious plant foods, including many vegetables, nearly all fruits, all beans, and all legumes because they contain lectins- takes nutritional nonsense to a whole new level. Following this advice will decimate the quality of your diet, and for anyone who actually sticks with such silliness over time (an unlikely eventuality with any diet)- your health.

The case being made against most of the foods most reliably linked to vitality and longevity suffers from several fallacies common to all manner of nutritional nonsense. One is to prioritize a theoretical concern (or hope) over the prevailing pattern of outcomes among actual people.

Another is the conflation of a change in the dialogue about some threat with a change in the threat itself. In 2015, for instance, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a subsidiary of the World Health Organization, declared processed meat- bacon, pepperoni, and such- a class I carcinogen. There was widespread media coverage, the customary hyperbole, and something nearing panic among the “I have never met a slice of bacon I didn’t like” crowd.

But, of course, such a response made no real sense. Yes, processed meat is bad for you, and yes, you’d be better off not eating it. And yes, eating it is rather bad for our fellow creatures and the planet, too.

But the risk from one day to the next changed not at all. Whatever your risk for cancer had been all along, it remained exactly the same the day after the IARC determination was announced. All that had changed was the official position on the matter of that risk. Similarly, the lectins that are in your hummus this week were there last week, too.

The idea that you should renounce many of the foods most decisively and consistently linked to good health outcomes because they contain a compound that can be called a toxin may be the most egregious example of missing the forest for the trees I’ve ever seen, and I’ve spent my career scrutinizing, and repudiating, just that variety of nonsense. For the sake of false promises dangling from one gilded tree, this is a case of burning the forest down.

The answer to- “should you fear lectins now?” is- yes, if and only if you do the same for oxygen. 

As I recently noted to a colleague, oxygen is not a theoretical toxin with theoretical harms in people; it is a known toxic with established harms. The atmosphere of our planet is thus highly analogous to the dietary sources of lectins: both contain compounds with potentially toxic effects, but net benefit is overwhelming both from eating plants, and breathing.

So, do you need to fear lectins now? Dr. Gundry, who reportedly will be happy to sell you supplements to replace the nutrients present in the foods he is telling you not to eat, says: yes.

I say: hold your breath, and count to a thousand while contemplating the theoretical toxicities of oxygen. Long before you finish, the truth will likely come to you in a gasp.

-fin

David L. Katz

Director, Yale University Prevention Research Center; Griffin Hospital

Immediate Past-President, American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Senior Medical Advisor, Verywell.com

Founder, The True Health Initiative

Follow at: LinkedIN; Twitter; Facebook

Read at: INfluencer Blog; Huffington Post; US News & World Report; Verywell; Forbes

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from Healthy Living - The Huffington Post http://bit.ly/2sAvv79