#and no I'm not saying all people who join a cult are idiots bc it could truly happen to any of us

[spurgie-cousin]

scientology is such a good example of how being rich doesn't mean you're smart, like i think it's so important to remember how many wildly rich idiots there are out there.

someone really looked these people in the eyes, told them an elementary school level sci fi story, and they were like sounds good, here is my entire life and millions of dollars forever!!!

it's one thing if they were born into it but John Travolta? Idiot. Tom Cruise?? Such a moron that he found a way to weaponize that stupidity

[fireemblems24]

Scarlet Blaze Ch 13

Someone should've renamed this "backtracking, the plot."

MAIN STORY

I'm actually excited for this chapter because Ferdinand is the most interesting part of it.

Ok, so TWSITD didn't want to avoid unification (which I'm sure they either want or don't care about), but only caused the ruckus to try and take the Empire over.

She's . . . pink. Why is she pink? (some random Empire general)

Is it wrong to see Ferdinand's looks in the future when I see Aegir? Seems like baldness runs in the family. As long as he avoids that mustache . . .

Can someone remind me, did Edelgard not arrest Aegir or not kill him? Or did he run away.

Aegir kinda twisted. Insisting Ferdinand kills him. That's fucked up.

Oh, kk, he escaped. (Aegir)

This is like a giant teaser of what SB could've been if it stuck to Empire and TWSITD stuff and wasn't "Edelgard backtracks: the conquest 2.0 - the boring as fuck version).

MAP/SIDE BATTLES

Can Edelgard just once have a plan for her government before invading all the other nations and getting a lot of innocent people killed (Dorothea said she's still working out what to replace nobles with)

Hunh, I'm impressed. Not going to lie, but Balthus wasn't making a great impression on me, but he's worried that a man he owes a debt too will fall in battle while fighting alongside the enemy. He actually wants to pay the man back and not this get out of jail free card. I like that.

Ashe asked Shez for help restoring Hrym territory. Ashe wants them to have their lives back. I was a dick and said no though bc I could and found that funny.

Fort Mercius has a convenient sneaky point, bc of course it does. Otherwise we'd have to siege warfare which was boring as fuck in real life.

Of course, only Dorothea cares about the hostages. Ferdinand will magically not let it happen. How? Who knows.

SHEZ & MONICA A

Ugh.

Monica keeps track of how many times Edelgard drinks tea, what she eats, when she eats, all her sighs, etc . . .

She needs a restraining order.

Edelgard did the world a favor when she let TWSITD kill Monica.

SHEZ & DOROTHEA B

Nobles gave Shez a tea party after he helped them out, and he doesn't know what to make of it and can't tell if he likes it.

Dorothea ties that to arguing that commoners should get to enjoy all of life's goods. Shez can counterpoint that they don't miss it if they don't know what they're missing.

Dorothea then talks about her love of singing and laments that only rich people get to hear her sing.

This is actually kind of interesting (if it goes there, but I doubt it). Dorothea wants the commoners to enjoy everything the rich get, yet benefits from an organization that raises the prices so high only the rich gets to enjoy her voice. Dorothea could just as easily go sing in taverns or more accessible places, but she doesn't. And because she doesn't she got wealthy and well connected. So she's actively choosing to participate in and benefit from the system that gatekeeps poor people from enjoying things. I don't hate the player, but it will be cool to see if she has some level of self-awareness about this.

SHEZ & EDELGARD A

They talk about how Shez having the same powers as TWSITD helps him identify TWSITD better than anyone else.

Edelgard credits this with her ability to get rid of them in SB (obviously contrasting to Byleth and CF)

So Edelgard had 2 choices: she could either focus on getting rid of TWSITD and sparing her citizens from their cruelty or start a war and choose the later, lamo. Like, imagine looking at your country and seeing that it's corrupted by an insane death cult running experiments on your own citizens and think "yeah, this is solid foundation to rely on for rebuilding a new world and rule over all the other countries." It's so idiotic. TWSITD really hurts Edelgard's writing and this game really exposes that. Which is funny since they likely got invented to shift blame away from her lol.

Shez says he joined Edelgard because the Empire was rich and she complimented him, unlike other nobles (but pretty sure EVERYONE complimented him because self-insert). So the game's got nothing.

SHEZ & HUBERT A

So many Shez supports back-to-back

Hubert scares/surprises Shez, then questions him about TWSITD.

Hubert's upset that they didn't reach out to Shez as an ally, and I can get mad at his mistrust. Def picking that one.

Hubert owns it at least.

He tries to complement Shez, but I'm able to not believe him, so I don't.

Hubert can sense Arval and is concerned about it. Shez doesn't trust Hubert about Arval.

Does that mean Hubert senses Sothis? Or is this a plot-hole? Or can he only sense TWSITD?

SHEZ & CONSTANCE C

Constance is talking his ear off about restoring House Nuvelle by discovering more magic. And Shez is the test subject of her research lol.

Shez refuses and Constance can't comprehend.

Shez suggests she try to establish herself in battle instead. But Constance turns that down.

I think it's because of her night-day thing. Also, I may have seen this support before? I'm not sure.

MERCEDES & LYSITHEA C

Funny, you can only get this support in SB and neither are Black Eagles.

"I'm not a child!!!" vs mothering everyone

Lysithea trained so hard she collapsed and Mercedes took care of her. Lysithea is horrified to learn that she slept too long.

Mercie backed her cookies, because of course she did. And sweets are Lysithea's secret weakness so . . .

Lysithea assumes Mercie has bad intentions. Why is she always so insufferable?

Mercie's cookies are good. Lysithea acts like a complete brat, demanding Mercie train her right now how to make the cookies.

PETRA & CASPAR A

Ok, this one should be better. I love Mercie, but that support had 0 new things in it.

Petra challenges Caspar's father to a duel. Yeah, way more intense than the first one.

And . . . the asshole won't even show up. Or, I guess Caspar stole is before his dad saw it. Petra's pissed. Rightfully so.

Caspar also assumes Petra would just lose. What an ass.

So Petra says she'll just kill Caspar instead.

She takes him down, but won't strike the killing blow.

Petra's upset she lost control of her emotions.

Petra decides to pull back because she's a queen (in secret) and she can't act on her personal feelings.

She doesn't fully understand why she challenged his father to a duel.

Caspar volunteers to let Petra dump her negative emotions about this on Caspar. Petra's not sure she wants a friendship like that, but says she'll give it thought.

I did like that support, but I wish she was allowed to call out the Empire more.

SHEZ & JERITZA A

Jeritza is hunting a cat that raided the pantry because she was injured.

Last time they talked, Shez assumed Jeritza was talking about a person, not a cat.

Jeritza likes cats because he used to have one. And now he wants to own this one. But she dislikes Jeritza.

HUBERT & BERNADETTA C

Bummed this is their only support. They were cute together in House.

Bernadetta is moving boxes of documents around. They're about bandit activity in the area. Hubert's investigating.

He's annoyed at the army's inability to catch them. Bernadetta assumes he's angry with her, but calms down.

Funniest line is Hubert telling her that her persistence often leads to exactly what she's trying to avoid lol. His VA is so good.

Hubert calls them rats. Like Dimitri did lamo.

Hubert is upset they may go back into hiding. Bernadetta sympathizes with the bandits lol.

It inspires Hubert to set something up that would make them come out.

HUBERT & LYSITHEA A

Isn't this the support chain that told us the Imperial army won't eat their veggies? lamo

Lysithea is enjoying sweets. Hubert offers her coffee. She turns it down because it's not sweet. Hubert baits her into drinking it by implying that drinking coffee means you're not a child.

She doesn't like drinking it black, but Hubert tells her that sweeten it up and she may like it.

Lysithea asks Hubert why he's nice to her since he's mean to everyone else. It's because he has a younger sister that Lysithea reminds him of.

Did he have one in Houses? Or did they just pop up when convenient like Edelgard's siblings?

Hubert doesn't tell anyone about the siblings. I wonder if Edelgard knows.

Because he sees her like a little sister, Lysithea accepts it.

MERCEDES & CASPAR C

Hope this goes like - Murder isn't funny, Caspar. It isn't? No. Because he's awful in this route.

No, he's just asking Mercedes about Jeritza because he keeps defeating Caspar in bouts.

So Caspar still being painfully one-note and boring.

Mercedes says he can beat Jeritza with baking. Caspar is confused. Until Mercedes clarifies that Jeritza sucks at baking, so Caspar can beat him at baking.

Caspar's upset bc that doesn't matter to him.

LINHARDT & CONSTANCE A

Linhardt has to ask her a question, but she's in the sunlight. He wants to experiments on crests. Constance is fine with it.

Until she's inside. Then she's upset.

Linhardt is taking advantage of her dual personality, avoiding confident Constance because she's difficult to work with.

Kinda skeevy, Linhardt.

Constance demands more equality. If she helps Linhardt with his research, then he must help with hers.

He's actually interested until he learns she wants to find ways for eyes to emit a golden light, and loses interest.

FERDINAND & LYSITHEA A

Ferdinand is worried about Lysithea's future, specifically throwing away her nobility.

He tried to understand her thought process. She's irritated with him. Honestly, same, I think that may be my issue with Ferdinand. I find him irritating.

Ferdinand uncovered Lysithea's secret. She's understandably upset and wants him to leave it be.

Ferdinand wants a solution, Lysithea's like do you think I haven't tried? And do-do bird is like "take action!" Like, this seems like things not to tell someone terminally ill 101.

Though, he brings up magical research. So this may be different.

He found the research on her and they could use that as a way to solve her problem.

She wants to help.

DOROTHEA & MONICA A

Dorothea is wounded, and Monica is worried that Dorothea will get scars to damage her skin.

Creepy moment when Dorothea asks Monica how she knows she has scars. So does this confirm that Monica peeps on people?

Dorothea hesitates to kill a child in battle.

So Dorothea cannonly killed children. I wonder how every Edel-stan who used that to smear Dimitri feels, lamo.

I wish Dimitri and Dorothea got a support. Both hate killing, but keep doing it anyways.

Monica asks why Dorothea keeps killing people. Dorothea feels too tied to her position to go back.

Dorothea admits she could've been that child in another life. So she has no right to run away and hide when the children the Empire is slaughtering don't have that option.

I know some people take issue with this side to Dorothea, but this is what makes me love her. She's the only one who realizes the brutality her side is forcing on other people, she just believes in the cause enough to keep doing it. That conflict makes her so interesting, and if Edelgad had a more justified cause or well-written government plan, Dorothea may have been in competition for my fav, but man does Edelgard's flimsy reasoning for war and bare-bones ideas make this conflict flat-line a bit.

Then they spend the rest of the support simiping for Edelgard. So, Monica's entire personality. That was interesting for like 3 seconds. So a new record for a Monica support.

PETRA & RAPHAEL B

You know it's bad when I fully expect Raphael to have deeper thoughts than Monica.

Raphael fails to hunt. Petra isn't surprised.

Raphael thinks being a bear will help him hunt rabbits, and is shocked when she tells him bears don't hunt.

Petra says Brigid people hunt with subtleness. But Fodlan people use hounds for hunting, which might suit Raphael better.

Raphael now thinks being a wolf will help him hunt instead of bear. So, yeah, deeper thoughts than Monica is capable of.

MAIN BATTLE

Time to kill the rebels.

Try to make sure hostages don't die.

Monica and Hubert have a fight over who gets to suck on Edelgard's toes after the battle (not literally, but might as well). The only non-grating part of it was Monica calling Hubert a coffin-dweller. Which, I mean, accurate.

Shez is the only one that remembers poor Ferdinand's going to kill his dad, lol. Ferdinand says he's ready though.

Oh, cut scene. Ferdinand and Hubert teaming up on Aegir. Hubert "let's" Ferdinand give the final blow.

So Ferdinand kills his bad. This game likes people killing their families. And I bet Aegir's death will get more sympathy than the actually innocent people Edelgard and co mow down every chapter.

Ferdinand needs a moment.

Edelgard is like, could you choose how to punish the traitors and choose the next Duke. Shockingly, the title goes to his son. So much for merit-based promotions, lamo.

So do we go back to beating up poor people in Faerghus now?

Caspar's like, fighting traitors serving a death cults sucks because they're from the Empire. Let's go kill the innocent people in the Kingdom instead! Because that's fun!

Edelgard still suspects Shez. The vibes for Shez are so different in Faerghus. No one gives a shit about Shez in SB.

Oh, yeah, I forgot I didn't get Byleth in this route, lamo.

Arval feels like a proud parent of Shez, lamo.

xxx

[clubatsumu]

heyaaa! how are you? i'm the anon who sent you that ask about "first love" aaah i just wanted to say thank you for the author recs!! i recently finished emily henry's "beach read" and i???? havent read a book this fast since i was a teenager??? lol i'm honestly just REELING i was not prepared for how good it was. the romance, banter, and chemistry was *chefs kiss* they literally had me giggling and kicking my feet o(>ω<)o but!! i also appreciate how it dealt with grief and heartbreak and hopelessness and all the feelings associated with them. (def cried at the ending) i get what you mean when you said “books that go inside rather than outside” …idk i loved how well-written january and gus were…just two flawed individuals trying to figure out their own lives while also trying to figure out each other…......yeah

anyway!! do you have a favorite emily henry book? i'm still not over "beach read" but i'm going to try "people we meet on vacation" next, then "book lovers",, going to check out mia vincy's books as well after i finish emily's!! hehe i also heard she’s releasing a new one this year and i think it's exes-to-lovers/second-chance?? now i cant help but think of "first love late spring" lol brb rereading it for the nth time (╥﹏╥)….

aahh i apologize for rambling but i hope the new year's treating you well!! sending u good vibes!!

BEACH READ!!!!! join the emily henry cult with me friend! i would die for her actually. im so happy you liked it!!:) she has that kind of introspection that hits Just Right and also her books have so many references it's such a fun time to spot them all. tell u what, if u loved the first one, you'll love the rest too, most likely. poppy+alex are SO dear to me, (alex actually makes me feral), and rn they hit the closest to my heart. sometimes though, it's january gus. and book lovers had me CRYING i swear. im so excited for you to go read the rest bc there's really nothing like reading her work the first time.

and mia vincy!!!! her books are much more... somber? in a way. and what i recommend when u read her is to space her work out bc sometimes her characters get so tiring bc they're legit Idiots like pls seek Therapy, but she's also on that character-understanding-driven tier.

EH's new book is called happy place duuude i requested an arc and realized my goodreads hasnt been updated in MONTHS so i legit wrote 10 reviews for 10 different books in a span of an hour so i could send in a request. (i was denied) oh well.

come back and tell me what u think when youve finished them bc id love to hear YOUR ranking 🥺 thank u for this, i hope 2023 sees your vibes and treats me better! sending good vibes right back!

[soopysoap]

Uh, I read your post about having an 80's au for the foreigen kids. And since I'm a Foreigen kids stan, can you tell me more about it?

HI. ANON? ILY.

They're really just random n messy ideas and i forget how many there are but i'm throwing them all here

so the whole thing takes place in highschool and mainly surrounds the cockswolds cotswolds (mainly mark but rebecca is usually there too)

most of them are seniors, rebecca's a junior

mark is an unpopular nerd, therefore the main character because it's the 80s. so is rebecca but she's not the main character

uhh everyone else is kinda just there

like there are no side characters all the foreign kids are kinda equal focus- wise but the main one is mark i guess

like the leader of their group idk idk

estella is the stereotypical rich popular girl, but she's also a closeted lesbian they're all closeted tbh so she's trying to hide that from her mom. Her mom, instead of being all 'Blah blah blah brrak hearts to fuel my life' or something she's just obsessed with status and how popular Estella is. She's always pleased when Estella has a boyfriend, but it's not often. Basically Estella is more smiley and happy than she usually is, but she's stil usually indifferent. Smiles either when she's genuinely happy or wants something. Most of the time she's deadpan or rolling her eyes

Gaydamien is the rich popular jock, his ego is huge. His dad (since he cant be the son of satan in this one) is the principal of their school. He usually gets what he wants, no matter what. Instead of "You dare [insert something here] to the Prince of Hell????" its that but with "Damien Thorn???" yknow because of his last name. He's been dating Estella to boost his ego, mainly. Doesn't realize he likes guys yet. Estella and Damien hate each other, but everyone believes they're dating because they're too scared to say otherwise. They complain about each other to each other AND to people in private.

Pip is just- he's less of a nerd but more of a kid that's just. There. He isn't nerdy but he definitely isn't popular. At all. He's just a pushover man idk what to tell you. He's usually being bullied. He has a huge crush on Damien, because he got him out of trouble with some other jock like. Once. Always gets giggly around him, it's funny to watch. Also very passive aggressive @ Estella because she's dating him. They have very few classes together, but whenever they do he's always like "hey :) so hows damien" and she responds with "why would i know" and he's like "because??? youre dating him???" and she looks really confused for a second and then is like "OH- Oh yeah okay uh. I don't know. So." and then she starts complaining about him or something and pip is all ":) why not just break up?"

Pip also hates Christophe

Which, speaking of, Christophe is also an annoying egotistical jock who plays football with Damien. Damien and Christophe are best friends. Christophe and Gregory are dating in secret

Gregory is the stereotypical gay kid. No other way to put this. If Ryan Evans from High School Musical had a superiority complex. He's a theatre kid, and takes pride in tha- OH MY GOD. Rachel??? Maybe he's Rachel Berry from Glee??? it would kind of work idk,, ok uh anyway yeah he's always bullied for being openly gay and it sucks but he took defense classes in Yardale (yes he's still a transfer from Yardale, yes he constantly mentions it) so he's able to hold his own. But Christophe usually steps in to get Gregory out of there and tend to his wounds.

Rebeccaaaaaa she's the unpopular girl, just started school and doesnt know shit about it after being homeschooled almost her whole life. Has a little crush on Estella, but Estella "Doesn't" notice her. (Estella just thinks of her as some pretty girl who isnt worth her time) Rebecca usually keeps to herself, is usually gossiped about. Estella never gets involved, but whenever she'd get asked about it, instead of defending Rebecca she just says "I hardly believe any of the rumors. She was homeschooled, not taught in witchcraft or satanisim. Or whatever else everyone's saying. Everyone should really calm themselves, if they were so worried about what people thought of them when Rebecca started going here then they should get that in order first before ruining Rebecca's social life. God. You all have to grow up." So, not necessarily a defense but also not an insult. Rebecca still finds it sweet.

Mark is a neerrrrrrd 80s main character. Minus the popular love interest and yearning 😩 And also if the main character had a god/superiority complex.. he's bullied the most other than Gregory, mostly by Damien n Christophe. Girls don't like him, guys don't like him, he really only had Pip and Rebecca for a while. Pip because he's overly nice to almost everyone and wanted to befriend Mark immediately. Usually during lunch Mark sits with Pip and Rebecca. Mark has to hear about Damien all the time from Pip though, so that's annoying.

Uh I know that Pocket is TECHNICALLY a foreign kid but idk shit about him and dont really think about him but he's Estella's cousin and often hangs out with her since he doesn't really have a friend group. He's also really good friends with Pip. BUT since this is a horror au he dies off early

After theyre all friends some stuff happens yada yada yada Gaymien realizes he's pan and has a crush on Pip, Estella takes Rebecca out for a makeover , Christophe gets severely injured because this is a horror au as well, Damien and Pip make out at some point-

Estella and Rebecca both know that theyre Lesbians but they refuse to admit that they like each other

Kinda thinking of this as if it was stranger things or something so i definitely want there to be like... a series of bad events. everyone thinks everythings cool and fine and whatever and there are moments where our group kinda just get to chill n' be kids. idk i just want there to be a falling out in the group and then they all realize they need each other or something dumb like that

also for some fun chill moments we can have estella and rebecca walking around holding hands and laughing n' stuff bc they love each other idk idk

and after the falling out when they all join together again estella is the first to see some scary stuff but she was also the first to drop everyone except damien and christophe (because of her mother) and so she blames herself and doesnt think she can go to them and just has to deal with it on her own

eventually she tells damien who immediately tells pip who immediately wants to get the group together again

everyone's (the cockswolds) are reluctant to hang out again because of the way they were just forgotten so easily, but they go anyway. because of the horror stuff. they both are pissed at estella though

at some point estella gets badly hurt and rebecca saves her and starts nursing her back to health

estella: why are you... why are you doing this. dont you hate me?

rebecca: i'm doing it because i actually care for you, idiot.

estella: i care for you i just... couldnt...

rebecca: what? spend time with a lowlife like me?

estella: you know thats not what i meant-

they go on like that for a little while longer until they wind up confessing to each other "Because I love you! Is that so fucking hard to believe?!" Would be rebecca's and Estella's would probably be "I don't hate you! You're my favorite person, and I hated having to stop hanging out with you! I love you, okay?!" it would be :) fun

damien and estella come out to each other first. well- damien doesnt really come out he just tells her how confused he is and they hug it out and estella tells him she's a lesbian and they both talk a little while longer and decide that breaking up would be the best idea

thats all i've really figured out for sure,, i have some more ideas but this is. a lot already so. i'm just gonna stop before i write too much 👉👉 anyway, anon ily ty for this. also sidenote: the horror stuff has to do with weird sacrificial cults. i know i have nothing for that and really only talked about how everything starts and drama instead of the interesting stuff but 🥴 i have no defense i just love my kids ok drama is fun

[canimal]

I wanted to write a time travel fanfic and about Evan Rosier/Hermione Granger as a main pairing but... I'm stuck. I didn't choose the most redeemable character (Rosier was killed by Moody after a magical fight) and it's complicated bc how Hermione can fall in love with someone like Evan no matter how charming and smart he is ? How did you deal with that (Hermione, Death Eater and their ideology) ? All I can see is something like Jaime/Brienne (GoT) and a very slow burn. But it still feel wrong.

(Please bear with me as this is going to be a super long response.  I’ll put it underneath the cut so those who want to read it can read it and those who want to scroll past it can do so quickly.)

To be perfectly honest, if a story feels “wrong”, you shouldn’t be writing it.  Trying to force something that you don’t feel comfortable writing and don't fully believe in will not only make for a story that feels forced and unnatural to the reader, but it will also become a story that you will not enjoy writing.  (Never forget that this is our hobby, not our job.). Eventually, you would likely hit a wall where the story was unable to progress further and you’d be stuck.  Lots of writers try to write a story with certain elements or pairings that are “trendy” and end up stuck because they forced a story.  Writing should flow fairly smoothly.  I’m not saying that writers should never stumble or feel blocked, but I am saying that if you’re not allowing a story to remain organic and grow naturally, you will find you quality and likely your own enthusiasm and enjoyment in writing the story suffer.

Why do you want to write a story with Evan Rosier?  Is it because you find his character fascinating or you want to uncover more about him?  Or is it because he’s not a character that’s written about a lot and you’re hoping to stand out in a growing sea of Death Eater stories?  

I promise I’m not trying to be rude or condescending, even if it seems like it.  This is an honest question.  If your answer is on the first couple, awesome.  Go for it.  

But, if you’re hoping writing about him will get you instant recognition and a large number of followers on your story immediately, I’m sorry to tell you that that probably won’t happen.  Most readers don’t want to take a chance on unknown characters.  They just don’t.  I’ve mentioned this many times, but when I first started writing Thorfinn Rowle as more than just a one-dimensional bad guy in the background in first, The Dark Mage’s Captive and then Parolee and His Princess, I frequently got PMs and reviews asking me who the fuck Thorfinn Rowle even was and that I might actually get more people to read my stories if I didn’t write such weird pairings. 🙄 (Let’s not forget the troll who commented “This should’ve been a Dramione” on literally every single chapter at least twice.  Sigh.) So it’s both amusing and incredibly frustrating to have readers in the fandom announce that Thormione is their OTP when most of them wouldn’t have given my stories the time of day when I was writing them and they were the ONLY Thorfinn stories in existence on FFN for certain and probably everywhere else.  Because so few people were interested in reading a story with Thorfinn as the main love interest when I was actually writing Parolee and His Princess, if I was only writing the story in an attempt to stand out and not because that was the story I wanted to write, then I likely would’ve gotten frustrated and quit before I ever finished.

So, if you’re serious about writing an Evan Rosier story because it’s what you want to write, I wish you the best of luck.  It’s always challenging to write a character with little to no background info in canon.  Challenging can also be a great deal of fun.  If we never challenge ourselves as writers, we won’t ever get any better.  Writers must be willing to learn and try new things if they want to get better.  Practice is crucial.  Too many writers (professional and otherwise) get to a place where they don’t believe they need to improve and their writing gets stagnant.  It’s sad.

Now to your question about how or why Hermione might fall in love with someone with such a different and dangerous ideology... there are many different ways this can be tackled.  I must stress thought that you make sure the decision you make makes sense within your story.  Don’t try to force something.  Let it grow naturally.

First of all, I don’t believe anyone is unredeemable.  (Or irredeemable. Same meaning, right?) Perhaps it’s because of my own personal faith and religious beliefs, but I don’t believe anyone is wholly evil or wholly good.  Yes, even in this hyper-partisan world we now live in, I don’t believe that anyone (even those who might disagree with me) are pure evil.  This has actually gotten me a lot of grief from angry trolls and super sensitive former readers alike.  I’ve been accused of being an “apologist” for all manner of depravity including, but not limited to, rape, violence, murder, racism, all the bad things ever, etc. simply because I believe that no is unredeemable... irredeemable.  Ugh, whatever.  You know what I mean.  

Everyone has good qualities in them, even those who appear to be nothing but evil.  Far fewer good qualities than most certainly, but still there.  I’m also a firm believer that people, even really bad people, can have an existential change of heart and want to be a better person.  Many just have to be given the opportunity to change.  Of course, I don’t believe that they shouldn’t be punished for their crimes or they should be excused just because there’s something good about them.  I’ll never understand why I’ve been accused of being an apologist.  🙄 Some people are truly exhausting.

For every story about a Death Eater falling for Hermione, there’s a different explanation.  If you’ve ready any, you’re probably already familiar.  Because I try very hard to make every story I write unique from the others I’ve already written, I’ve mixed it up.  Antonin only joined for knowledge and power without realizing until too late what was really happening.  Rodolphus was pressured by his wife in one and his grief and depression made him fall further in than he meant to.  Sometimes the Death Eater was pressured by family to follow in their footsteps; others by their peers.  There are countless reasons why people join these kinds of groups.  Disillusionment, looking for a place to belong... you really could make it anything.  I’ve known people who were drawn in and brainwashed by cults because they were desperate for purpose, for belonging, for a feeling like their life actually mattered.  It can be super easy to get sucked into a cult and takes years to get out... if you can.

JKR wrote the Death Eaters as being simply bad for bad’s sake.  They’re almost all one-dimensional.  No person is actually one-dimensional.  They have hopes and fears and dreams just like everyone else.  Maybe they thought they believed in the sort of pro-Pureblood world that Voldemort imagined, but once they got in they were in over their head.  Reality rarely meets our expectations.  People grow and change.  Even my own beliefs have changed as I’ve grown older.  What I used to think was important no longer is and there are issues I have done a complete 180 on as I’ve grown up and begun to live in what I call “grownup reality”.  (Life is much different for me than it was even when I was just in my twenties and how I see the world has changed drastically in some instances.). So if experience and time has been able to shape and change my beliefs and even my values to a minute degree, why could the same not be said for a Death Eater who discovered all was not as it seemed when they were recruited?

It’s also important to remember that no one thinks, acts, or believes like everyone in their set group one hundred percent of the time.  Each individual has their own thoughts and beliefs.  Maybe they joined because they hated Muggles, but then they realized they were wrong to do so.  Maybe their family pressured them to join but they didn’t agree.  Maybe they were afraid to die so they joined.  I know a lovely man whose father died in World War II fighting for the Nazis - not because he was an admirer of Hitler and believed in everything dreadful and evil the Nazi party believed in.  No, his father was conscripted into the German Army and fought because he would’ve been arrested in the best case scenario and executed in the worst.  His young wife and their two small children could’ve also been in danger had he refused.  It’s a terribly sad story.  And hardly the only one.  That’s just one example.  History has countless other incidents all over the world when scared people fought and fell in line with a terrible leader because they had no other choice. Or at least it seemed like they had no other choice.  Not everyone is strong and brave enough to stand up to injustice and evil when their lives are on the lines.  Humans by our very nature can be quite cowardly at times.

It’s possible that a person who has done evil deeds or believed just absolutely atrocious things could want to change and be a better person.  Though it wouldn’t be easy, someone like Hermione could choose to forgive them for their past.  Especially if they’re truly remorseful.

Of course, it’s also unfortunately true that there are sometimes relationships that are just absolutely toxic.  Love can make idiots of us all.  How many women (and men to an extent though not nearly as often) see the potential in a man and want to change them into something good and perfect?  It happens so often it’s a cliche.  Woman falls in love with bad boy.  Wants to change him.  Stays with him with hopes and dreams that he’ll stop being so awful.  Is disappointed over and over again.  Have you ever known someone who fell in love with a truly terrible person and even though their relationship wasn’t healthy whatsoever never seemed to quit them?  Kept going back for more even when everyone told them it was a terrible idea?  I’m pretty sure you have.  You might’ve even been in one of those relationships yourself.  I know I was.  No, he might not have been a murderous minion of a madman, but he certainly had his terrible qualities that I thought I could help him get past.  Tale as old as time.  

I could go on and on and on about reasons why Hermione might fall in love with a completely unsuitable man who might even wish her dead, but there’s no reason.  It could be for a thousand reasons.  And don’t forget, Hermione isn’t exactly some innocent paragon of virtue herself.  She’s pretty dark even in canon.  Trapping a lady in a jar?  Cursing a girl’s face possibly permanently?  Leading another witch into a forest knowing there are centaurs in there who are dangerous?  And those are just the things that unobservant Harry noticed!  Who knows what she was doing off-stage?  She has her own darkness and her own demons to fight.  She’s not perfect nor is she some pure angelic creature who only uses light magic for good.  Nah, she’s pretty twisted at times. (On a side note - Please don’t try to write her as being all-powerful, perfect, and never do anything the least bit bad.  That’s not her character at all.  It bothers me to see her written as some sort of pearl-clutching virgin who has never done anything bad in her entire life.  That’s NOT the Hermione I read in the books.)

You just have to find the right motivation in your own story.  If you’re not forcing the story and allowing it to develop naturally, you’ll figure it out.  If you’re forcing it, I’m afraid you’re going to stay stuck.

I hope this can be so some help!  Sorry I’m rambled on and on and on.