#as a sort of horcrux I guess

[ploompkin]

So I got this random urge to play little big planet after all these years and I was reminded of how much I like to torment Newton <3

[pasukiyo]

Hey, I loved your Tom Riddle fanfic, Addiction! Can you please write a part 2 of this where he starts ignoring her after this cuz the ✨scary feelings are getting out of control✨ so she tries to make him jealous and *you can guess what happens next*?

𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 | tom riddle

tom riddle x f!ravenclaw prefect reader 4,221 words notes; this can be read as its own imagine. but, for a little more context, you can read addiction here. warnings; smut and a little angst

 “I see you’ve been spending a lot of time with that Ravenclaw prefect, my Lord.”

 Tom said nothing, only glanced Avery’s way in acknowledgement over the top of his Potions book. Avery and Lestrange shared an amused grin as they eyed their friend, and Lestrange leaned forward, resting his elbows against his knees. “She’s pretty,” he said, and again, Tom said nothing but he could feel his muscles tense, his jaw locking at Lestrange’s words. 

 Avery smirked over at Lestrange and scooted towards the edge of his seat, tilting his chin down so that Tom may hear what he said next. “She seems to fancy you, you know,” Avery whispered, and Tom glanced over at him again. His brow furrowed at their smirks, but again, he remained silent. “And forgive me if I’m wrong but… it seems that you… feel the same.”

 Tom set his Potions book down onto the table in front of him and leaned back into the cushions of his seat, clasping his hands together in his lap. He eyed the two boys before him, expression blank but still, his actions seemed calculated, as if everything he did was carefully planned. 

 “Since when did how I feel become either of your concerns?” Tom asked, and the two boys in front of him seemed to flush at this, and they both shared a look. A silence ensued, and Tom felt relieved to think that the conversation was over. That was, until Lestrange cleared his throat and leaned forward again. 

 “Forgive me, my Lord, but…” he trailed off and glanced at Tom, his gaze sharp and daring him to continue. “…you’ve been spending quite some time with her lately. It almost seems to me, to us, that… you’ve gone soft.”

 Tom blinked at this, could feel his jaw tense again, his fingers curling into his palms to form fists. It was true that he had been spending more and more time with her lately but for them to think that he could’ve gone soft? 

 Foolish. They were foolish to think that he, Tom Marvolo Riddle, did not have his priorities sorted. His priority, of course, was seeking information about Horcruxes, and to even begin thinking that she could deter him from this path made him so… so… 

 Tom blinked. What if Avery and Lestrange were right? What if this thing he felt for her— whether that be love or simply infatuation— was making him soft? The feelings he had only really acknowledged just weeks before on the top of the Astronomy Tower, the fluttery feeling he got in his chest when she was near, the panic and dread he felt at the idea that something could happen to her— it was a weakness. He told her that very night, and still, he couldn’t push her away, couldn’t resist the urge to have her as close as possible. 

 It was sickening, the way he felt, that he was even capable of feeling such things. Tom Riddle was many things, but a coward, he was not. But this premonition that he could potentially be falling in love… It frightened him. 

 He cleared his throat and quickly regained his composure, pushing himself off of the sofa cushion to look down at the two boys still sitting before him. “I think… that the two of you must be foolish to think so poorly of me,” Tom said, and Avery and Lestrange scrambled to their feet, shaking their heads. “My Lord, that was not our intention—“

 Tom raised a hand to silence them, and the two boys pressed their lips together, practically shriveling away where they stood. “You are to never question where my priorities lie from now on,” Tom stated, and the two boys bowed their heads, their bodies shaking. “And please, don’t the both of you have essays for Professor Slughorn to write?”

 And with that, Tom strode off, heading for his dormitory, leaving both Avery and Lestrange shaking in the Slytherin common room. 

 Tom found that the easiest way to ignore her presence was to not look her way at all. He would usually avoid walking down the same corridor as her altogether, which was easy enough the first few days. But as time went on, he suspected she began to grow worried, and avoiding her seemingly became more and more difficult. So instead, he would walk by without so much as sparing her a glance, always leaving her dumbfounded and confused, wondering whether or not she’d done him wrong.

 She watched as Tom walked by, his expression blank, his eyes set to the hallway ahead. He didn’t even acknowledge her, and she could feel her heart stutter in her chest, and she swore she could even feel a few fragments tear from it and flutter down to the depths of her stomach. 

 Could she perhaps have done something wrong? She searched her brain for anything, anything she said or done that could’ve possibly upset him, but turned up with nothing. She couldn’t help but feel insecure, worried even that she messed up the beautiful thing she thought they had. 

 She had to talk to Tom. It was the only way to ease her growing concern, the only way to piece her heart back together. 

 However, trying to flag Tom down proved more difficult than she anticipated. It certainly was no help that she had no classes with him, since he was a year ahead, and couldn’t even rely on lunch or dinner since he never seemed to stick around for long after she arrived in the Great Hall. He never seemed to be on duty at night when she was, and it wasn’t like she could enter the Slytherin common room herself to track him down. 

 She felt helpless, with absolutely no way of finding Tom or grabbing his attention. 

 Until one night, as she patrolled up and down one of Hogwarts’ many corridors when she swore she saw the end of a student’s robes up ahead. She picked up her pace with the intent of catching whomever it was out of bed, only to find that it was none other than Tom Riddle himself, walking down the hallway. 

 “Tom!” She exclaimed, and she swore she could see his shoulders tense at the sound of her voice, his feet stopping in their tracks. She rushed towards him, stepping in front of him before he could even think to hurry away. For the first time in days, she gazed up into Tom Riddle’s dark eyes, and for a moment, she seemed to relax. Her lips curved up into a smile at the sight of him, and she stepped closer. “You’ve been terribly difficult to catch lately.”

 Tom said nothing, his jaw clenching as he stared down at her, and her smile quickly faded. She tilted her head, her hand reaching for his but he did not let her hold him, slipping his fingers away from hers before she could grab ahold of them. She flinched at the action, gazing back up at him. “Is everything alright?” She asked. “You seem to have been ignoring me as of late.”

 Tom’s brow wrinkled as he watched her, her fingers now locked together and fondling with each other, her eyes darting from his down to the floor. “Have I… have I done something wrong?” She questioned, blinking up at him. He noticed the way tears brimmed the outskirts of her sockets, and he noticed the way she tried to blink them away. 

 His heart thud against his chest. Why did he want to hold her? Why did he want to draw her into his chest and feel her close? Why did he feel angry at her tears? Why did he hate that he was seemingly breaking her heart? Wasn’t this what he wanted all along? To keep her away? 

 “Tom?” She said after a while of silence, but she didn’t dare make any more moves to touch him. With the same blank and unchanging expression, he glimpsed down at her, pushing down every sick and wretched feeling he felt towards her. 

 “No,” he finally said. “You’ve done absolutely nothing wrong.”

 And with that, Tom walked away, leaving her to stand alone in the hallway more puzzled than ever. 

 Tears made her eyes sting and she rubbed at her eyes, desperate to make them go away. All she could feel now was anger, red hot anger at the boy she was watching walk away. Her eyes narrowed and she glared at his back as he turned the corner, and she glared at the place he once was too. 

 How could he do this to her? To practically admit to her just a few weeks before that he loved her— albeit, in his own strange and confusing way— on the top of the Astronomy Tower, to make love to her and to kiss her and hold her only to push her away? How could he play with her feelings like this, like they meant nothing? How could he be so selfish?

 She pressed her lips together in a firm line as she turned and walked away, patrolling the other empty corridors instead. She had to do something, something to grab his attention, something to make him regret ever taking her and the way she felt for granted. She was not going to let him throw away this thing they had, this thing that she knew had the potential to blossom into something beautiful. 

 And the next day when she caught the eye of a handsome Gryffindor named Warren Collins, she began to work on the blueprint of her plan. 

 Warren Collins was a year above her, a seventh year and Gryffindor’s Seeker. He was tall, not as tall as Tom was but still towered over most of the school. His eyes could make anyone melt, and she’d admit, she felt a little weak-kneed when she first gazed into his dark, angular eyes. They weren't as dark as Tom’s, and certainly didn’t seem almost sinister like his. No, Warren’s irises were warm, like a steaming cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter’s day. 

 She caught another glimpse at Warren Collins as he and the other players on Gryffindor’s Quidditch team headed towards the Quidditch pitch for practice, and she knew that this was her chance. She made her way over to the pitch and made her way up into the stands where a few other girls sat, and she wondered how many of them were there to watch Warren in action, like herself. 

 She sat alone at the top and in the far right corner, her hands clasping together between her thighs for warmth. She watched as the Gryffindor team huddled together at the very bottom of the pitch, and her eyes were immediately drawn to the top of Warren’s head, his hair wavy yet well-groomed and as black as a raven. She wondered if he could feel her eyes on him when he looked up, staring seemingly in her direction. Her lips curved into a smile when he did, and he may have been far away, but she swore she could see his full, pink lips smile too. 

 It wasn’t long after this that the Gryffindor team hopped onto their brooms and began to practice. She watched as the Gryffindor captain released a used Snitch, and Warren soared through the air like a bird, tracking it down. She tilted her head up as he soared over her head, her skin littering with goosebumps at the chill his broom left in his wake. The other girls on the stands squealed and tried to tame their hair back down to their heads, adjusting their robes as they giggled. 

 And when the practice was over, she made certain that she was the first one to leave the stands, and she sauntered her way over to the entrance of the pitch, trying to make it less obvious that she was waiting for someone. The other girls from the stands soon joined behind her, giggling and murmuring amongst themselves about the players, Warren’s name definitely amongst their uttering. 

 And it wasn’t long after that that the team emerged from the pitch, and so did Warren. 

 She smiled when she saw him, his fingers weaving through his tresses, taming the black waves back down on his head. His skin glistened with sweat and he appeared the slightest bit winded, but he was all smiles, his grin only growing when he found her amongst the small crowd of girls. Two of the other boys teased and shoved at him when they saw her, and she giggled when Warren pushed them away, making sure to flutter her eyelashes as he jogged towards her, broomstick in hand. 

 “First time I’ve seen you out here for a practice,” he commented and she giggled, swiping a loose strand of hair behind her ear and faking shyness as she glanced towards the ground. “I hope I didn’t fly too close to you earlier,” he added, and she shook her head. “Not at all. And I enjoyed it, watching you practice, I mean,” she said and he smiled, cocking an eyebrow. 

 “Yeah?”

 She nodded. He pressed his lips together and hummed, looking her up and down. 

 “Well, maybe you should come to practice more often then.”

 She grinned, ignoring the dirty looks from the other girls when Warren gestured for her to follow him. “Perhaps I should,” she replied, following at his side back towards the castle. His smile widened, and he seemed to be staring, perhaps even a moment too long. She giggled at him and playfully shoved at his arm. “Why are you looking at me like that?” She questioned and he laughed, shaking his head towards the ground. 

 “It’s nothing, I just…” he trailed off, as if trying to find the right words. “…it’s just funny. We haven’t once spoken to each other in all our time at Hogwarts,” he said, and she tittered. “Plus, I was sure you had a thing for the Head Boy.”

 She flushed at the mention of Tom but made a quick recovery, shifting a little closer towards Warren so that their arms could occasionally touch. “You mean Tom Riddle?” She tittered. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. What I do know for sure is that he’s arrogant and definitely has a stick up his arse.”

 Warren threw his head back and laughed at this, and she noticed the way his eyes crinkled when he did so, how his entire face seemed to illuminate when he laughed. “Finally, somebody says it,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “Only been trying to convince the others for seven years now.”

 She smiled, it wasn’t like what she said wasn’t the truth. Tom Riddle was arrogant, and definitely did have a stick up the arse. She didn’t realize that there could be others who noticed it too, however. 

 She and Warren made their way to one of Hogwarts’ many entrances and pushed through the double doors, entering the warmth of the castle. “So, what’d you think of the team, then?” Warren asked as they made their way through the corridor. “You think Gryffindor may have a shot at winning the House Cup this year?”

 She cocked an eyebrow. “You forget I’m in Ravenclaw?” She questioned. “Surely you remember I don’t particularly want you to win?” Warren’s eyes glimmered with amusement at this, and just as he replied with some sort of snarky, but playful remark, she saw him. 

 There Tom Riddle was, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest as Avery and Lestrange talked to him. But she knew he wasn’t paying attention. Not when his eyes seemed to immediately find hers, flicking back and forth between her and Warren. 

 As Warren talked, she snaked her arm around his and pressed herself closer into his side, which seemed to take him aback at first, the pale skin of his cheeks turning scarlet but his smile widening all the same. She watched as Tom straightened his posture and his jaw clenched at this, and she sank her teeth into her bottom lip to suppress her smile.  

 Everything was going so smoothly, so beautifully. 

 Tom couldn’t believe what he was seeing. 

 She certainly didn’t waste any time, did she?

 Her arm locked with Warren Collins’… it made his blood boil. He knew what she was doing, he knew by the way she locked eyes with him, by the way she kept looking at him as she nestled closer into Warren’s side, by the way she laughed a little too hard at whatever it was Warren was saying. He knew this must be her idea of some game, of some way to tease him and to make him angry. 

 He was ashamed that he was playing into her hands, that the way he felt now was exactly the way she wanted him to feel. His chest burned, it ached with the unmistakable feeling of jealousy. He cursed himself for feeling this way, for wanting her so badly even though he knew he shouldn’t. 

 He cursed himself for waiting in the shadows outside of the Ravenclaw common room later that night, for feeling so obsessed with her that he’d wait for her to come out, which she did, and follow her as she made her way to the prefects’ bathroom. 

 He watched from the shadows as she slipped inside, and after a moment or two, he slipped inside as well. 

 He leaned back against the door and crossed his arms over his chest as he watched her turn on the faucets to the bath, as she ran her fingers through her hair and set her towel down on the edge of the bath. He watched as she began to slip off her dress robes, leaving her in only her undergarments before he cleared his throat and she jumped, her arms instinctively hiding herself as she turned towards where he stood. 

 His eyes were darker than ever now. In the shadows, he looked nefarious. 

 “Tom?” She gasped as he pushed himself off of the door, taking slow, calculated strides towards where she stood, frozen. “What— what are you—“

 “Do you think I didn’t notice the little game you were trying to play earlier?” He asked, and she blinked, her initial shock melting away to give way for the amused smirk tugging at the corner of her lips, her eyebrows raising. “I didn’t think you’d notice, thought you were still avoiding me,” she replied coolly as Tom stopped before her, towering over her and eclipsing the light behind him. 

 “Really? You think I and the rest of the school wouldn’t notice the way you were practically throwing yourself onto Warren Collins?” Tom scoffed, and she flushed at the comment. “I was not—“

 “You were,” Tom interrupted her, his hand grabbing at her waist and tugging her closer until his breath loomed over her face like fog, until their noses were almost touching when he looked down. “And if you think for a second that I’m going to let Warren Collins of all people think that he has a chance with you, then you are gravely mistaken.”

 For once, she felt intimidated standing in his presence, and she found it hard to breathe all of a sudden, as if Tom just being there made all the air escape her lungs. She kept her lips pressed together and held his heated gaze, but he knew he had already won. She watched as the corner of his lips tugged into a smirk. 

 Damn him. 

 “Yeah?” She muttered. “Then show me who I belong to.”

 Tom inhaled sharply through his nose as he searched her eyes, a raging sea of emotion mixed with anger, with love, with lust. With the hand already on her hip, he tugged her in closer until his lips were on hers, and she knew had lost the second he kissed her. 

 Tom never kissed her like this before, not even on the top of the Astronomy Tower. Never had he kissed her with such fervor, he never did anything that his brain hadn’t already calculated. But he kissed her now with reckless abandon, without any care in the world. 

 He kissed her as if his life depended on it. 

 She mewled into his mouth as he stripped her of her undergarments and he made quick work of stripping his own self down. She grabbed at his hand and guided him down into the bubble bath, his lips finding the sensitive spot on her neck as they settled down into the bath. Her fingers wove through the dark tresses on the back of his head as his tongue dragged along her throat down to her collarbone and down to her breasts, her chest heaving when he collected one of her nipples into his mouth. 

 “Oh, Tom,” she moaned, throwing her head back as he flicked the tip of his tongue against her nipple, kissing his way between the valley of her breasts to give her other breast attention. She could feel his cock against her thigh when one of his hands trailed down her waist, forcing its way between her legs. She tugged at the roots of his hair when the pads of his fingers rubbed against her clit, and all she knew now was that she needed more. “Please Tom, please I need… I need…”

 Tom hummed against her collarbone as he let his fingers slide up and down her slit, teasing her entrance, teasing her aching clit. “What do you need, hm?” He asked and she tried to answer, she really did but when he touched her like this— Merlin, she couldn’t even form coherent sentences in her head. “Do you need me to show you who you belong to? Just like you said earlier?”

 All she could do was nod, and Tom hummed against her throat, kissing her skin, leaving not even an inch untouched. She panted when he drew his fingers away, only to be filled up with his cock in one impatient thrust, and she tugged harder at his scalp. He drew her into his chest and panted as tears brimmed her eyes, droplets beading down her cheeks.

 Tom’s eyebrows knit together as she leaned back against the wall of the bath, and he grabbed at her hips, fucking into her with the image of her and Warren Collins together like the fuel to his fire. Her moans were bordering screams, and her incoherent mumbling permeated the bathroom, bouncing off of each of the walls and playing like a symphony in his ears. He wanted to hear more, to hear his name and his name only from her lips. 

 “Say my name,” Tom murmured into her ear and she cried when he picked up his pace, his thrusts animalistic, inhumane. “Tom! Oh fuck, Tom!” She cried and with one of his hands, he gripped her chin and forced her to stare into his dark, narrowing eyes, his thrusts never once faltering. 

 “No,” he shook his head. “That’s not my name,” he said again and she shook her own head, not understanding as he fucked her closer and closer to her end. “I want you to say my name. My true name,” he whispered against her cheek, his lips right next to ear. “I want you to call me Voldemort. Lord Voldemort.”

 She panted and nuzzled her cheek against his, his lips pressing kisses to the shell of her ear. “Say it,” he whispered. “Call me by my name. Call me your Lord.”

 Her chest heaved as her cunt clenched around him, squeezing him so tight that he almost lost his composure for a moment, dropping his head to her shoulder. “SAY IT!” He shouted this time, and she cried out once more. “Please! Let me come, my Lord. Make me yours, Lord Voldemort.”

 Oh, how his name, his true name, tumbling from her lips made him happy, the happiest he thought he ever felt. He thrusted his hips into her harder, harder and harder until her body began to writhe and spasm with quake of her orgasm, and he fucked her through that too, chasing his own. 

 “Tom— Lord! Lord Voldemort!” She cried as he felt himself coming closer to the edge, closer and closer and closer until he spilled himself inside of her, his hips stuttering as they slammed into hers one final time. Tears streamed down her cheeks like rivers and her fingernails were etched so deep into the skin of his shoulders, she knew they would leave marks. 

 Lord Voldemort held her body close, breathed her in like she was the air itself. His palms soothed over the small of her back and her waist, over either of her hips. To think that she could have ever been his weakness seemed foolish to him…

 …because right now, he felt the most powerful he’d ever been.

 She whimpered as she let herself fall deeper into him, let him hold her as she tried to chase air back into her lungs. Lord Voldemort only held her to his chest, whispering into her ear how she was his, and if anyone, Warren Collins included, ever tried to take her away from him, it would be the last thing they’d ever do. 

a/n; i wasn’t originally planning on writing a part two but i actually liked this idea and… ngl i feel kind of proud of my writing here 🙈 ps… thank you for the request anon! i’m so glad you liked addiction!

🥹🤍✨

[eatanorange]

marauders do the candy trauma salad trend since I JUST saw a fantastic one for pjo (highly encourage y'all to add your versions/to this pls I don't have solid hcs of everyone) (evan's is fully me projecting btw)(a lot of them are me projecting <3).

Upon completion I want to add up here n not just the tags that these do reference various traumas/bigotry so be careful and mind what headspace ur in n all that pls take care of urselves k thanks love u.

Sirius: Hi I'm sirius and every time my mother considered something I did 'impure', like experience joy or get sorted in to gryffindor, she took my mouth away! *momentary zone out from the horrors* I brought milk duds!

Barty: bazooka bubblegum. *vid cuts* I'm barty and I hate my dad for all of the reasons you can imagine and I think it would be fun if he blew up. good?

Lily: Hi I'm Lily and after I got sent to magic school, all emotional ties with my muggle sister, who regards me as a freak, and my mother, who was more sensitive to her side, were severed. They didn't tell me when my dad died. I brought 3 musketeers.

Remus: Hi I'm remus and I got bit by a werewolf when I was 5, then my dad offed himself because of it. I brought moon pies.

James: Hi I'm James and I fell into limerence with someone and incessantly pursued them for over a year in ways that were detrimental to both of our mental states. I was so public about it I don't even need to say who it was. My mother sat me down one day and said "was it something your father and I did, something we said, that convinced you you need to beg someone to love you? to let you show them love?" and that broke something in me. We're chill now though, and I have coping techniques that work for me while still allowing me to be my expressive self, so I brought mr. goodbars.

Peter: Hi I'm peter and my animagus is literally a rat. I brought sour patch kids.

Dorcas: Hi I'm dorcas and my pureblood parents will never say it to my face but they wanted me to be a boy. To compensate I was sure to always get top marks, be well liked, and experience gender dysphoria. I burnt out before our 5th year, and learning radical acceptance in the place of trying to guess unspoken rules saved my life. I brought smarties.

Regulus: Hi I'm regulus and in order to be sure my mother didn't assassinate my brother for running away, I stayed behind in the abusive household and eventually became a deatheater to keep my cover, hunting down one bald headed bitch's horcruxes until it literally almost killed me. I think it did kill me in some lives. and I brought the starburst.

Mary: Hi I'm Mary and due to blood supremacist bigots, I have to go to school with people who want me to die just for having the audacity to exist. The muggle world is also like this. The school I go to does not matter in this scenario. I brought mentos for the salad and a bottle of soda for the show.

Evan: Hi I'm evan and my ex went on holiday to another country for 3 months, told me we could write to stay connected, they didn't, broke up with me via owl while still on said vacation, and then came to talk to me in person about that, denied that it was an active choice to disconnect from me, then tried to put the onus of any friendship to follow on just me. We haven't spoken since. Also I'm a sex positive, but also trauma affected ace, it was an open relationship, and they somehow still managed to be shady/inconsiderate about hooking up with someone on the vacation. I brought blow pops.

Pandora: Hi I'm pandora and sometimes I get prophetic dreams so vivid I can't tell when I wake up. Sometimes, though the future is not stagnant, I see my friends die :) I brought airheads.

Marlene: Hi I'm marlene and I have 5 brothers. 3 of them accept my nonbinary identity. The rest, and my parents, blatantly ignore that I use they/them pronouns. Then they told me if I don't have children as an adult I won't be worth visiting because it's my job as a pureblood to produce an heir. So I went to St. Mungos and got sterilized. I brought baby ruth candy.

Hope you enjoy! and thanks if you read them all! This was fun for me.

[therealvinelle]

Would Carlisle/Alphard work? (Platonic or romantic)

... curse tumblr for I had drafted my reply to you. ALAS.

No.

Carlisle is not for Alphard

Alphard is an extremely cynical person who admires Tom Riddle for his strength and infallibility. Tom is the most extraordinary person in the room at any given time, and always true to himself. As far as Alphard is concerned Tom is a demigod among men, the sort of natural force who doesn't live by the same rules the rest of us do and wanting him to change is the last thing on Alphard's mind.

Would he admit this to Tom's face, never, Tom has enough of an ego. Alphard will call him a lunatic and ridiculous, and mean every syllable. Did he fall in love with a violent lunatic with impure blood who was beating up not just Alphard, but his closest relatives and all his friends in school, also yes.

It's the whole package of Tom that makes him appeal to Alphard, from the physical beauty to the uncompromising personality, to the way he can't ever be fully predicted, and the tragically romantic backstory. Being in love with him is just a point of fact for Alphard at this point.

Even becoming Lord Voldemort is something Tom never claims is anything but what it is, and while Alphard is horrified and heartbroken Tom remains the person he always was. Readers of The Man Who Would Be King will remember Alphard lasted one week before being married to Tom again.

Carlisle, by contrast, while unbelievably beautiful and just as extraordinary, is a man who has made self-delusion a cornerstone of his life. He loves his family and wants them to care about human life as much as he does, so he'll give them little nudges like going to their victims' funerals or have family votes where thankfully the majority voted against killing an innocent girl, and not think about what it says about Edward that he killed people for pleasure for four years because- well, he came back.

And he walks around talking about how great, how humane, how wonderful his family and their way of life is. While living among humans, thereby risking the deaths of innocents for no reason other than "it's our lifestyle!" (and the even worse, underlying reason of "if they don't live with humans they might forget humans aren't food...")

Loss of control isn't even a hypothetical, this happens to the Cullens semi-frequently.

Alphard would think he's a fool and a killer by proxy, and despise and pity him. To him, Carlisle is easily worse than Voldemort.

Alphard is not for Carlisle

The trouble with Alphard is that he is what Caius would be if Caius was worse. He's mean, he's judgmental, and he's cynical, all qualities Caius shares only Alphard is somehow worse. He's just so mean.

More troubling yet, he is very principled and harsh on himself but lives cease to matter to him where his loved ones are concerned. Had Aro said "Here is my Horcrux, it's a fifteen-year-old Aro who must be fed a soul to gain a body" Carlisle would have pressured him to either repair his soul, and left when Aro didn't do so. Alphard, by contrast, "Ope, guess we're finding him a soul then."

Alphard is a very ruthless person, he may be principled but should his line of reasoning lead him to murder being the solution to a problem a loved one is having then murder it is.

Alphard also reacts to Tom becoming Voldemort much the same way he would infidelity, as it's not really the suffering Tom inflicted that bothers him but the betrayal of his own character as Alphard knew it (and he'd have had a much harder time getting past actual infidelity. That would have been a crisis). His faith is restored because he sees enough of the goodness he fell in love with. His niece Bellatrix is much the same, of sure she's done bad things, Alphard is intellectually aware of this fact. It's getting hard to deny that she probably has tortured and killed people, and delights in it. Well, have you considered the fact that she's precious and perfect?

Andromeda's marriage to Ted is on par with Tom and Bellatrix's life choices in that Alphard's not thrilled with it, but he can look past it because he loves her that much.

To Carlisle this man is genuinely insane and terrifying. Carlisle can move past his friends killing to live because it's what they've always known and he sees the good in them in spite of that. Alphard would frighten him, there is plenty good in him but Carlisle would correctly put together that the man is one line of reasoning away from killing anybody at all.

Carlisle stays as far out of his way as he can, and warns others to keep their distance from this one.

Can these two even be in a room together?

I think if they meet in the library and only talk about books, they'll have a grand time. Just don't let them talk about anything personal, at all.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

my personal pet peeves in HP is whole second book, and medicine. especially medicine

starting with the sewers that Salazar invented about half a millennium before the Muggles and beyond. but these things have almost no effect on the overall effect, but hospitals do. the school infirmary and St. Mungus. it feels like jkr came up with Saint Mongoose only for book 5, because before when students suffered serious injuries (Basilisk and cat hair for polyjuice, I mean you) they were treated at school. the students literally waited half a year for the mandrakes to ripen! but for some reason the teachers are transferred to Mungos (McGonagall did not stay at the school after 4 spells).

either these are plot holes or I don't understand something

Like with many things in HP, you can read it as a plot hole, or you can read it as Dumbledore's manipulations at it again (which is what I always do).

If we're talking specifically about year 2, we know Dumbledore knows what the Chamber is and what the monster is. He was a professor the first time around 50 years ago when Myrtle died. He knew it was Tom back then so it's not that he has no clue.

I think he doesn't know for certain who Tom is possessing at first or how, and he lets it play out to both:

Learn more about Voldy

Test & teach Harry

Additionally, even if petrification isn't serious enough to be sent to St Mongos (playing devil's advocate a little), I refuse to believe mandrake leaves can't be imported year-round. I mean, they are a common enough potion ingredient and are used in sleeping potions and healing potions. So there must be a supplier for potioners from where they buy the specific parts of the mandrake they need.

So, I think there was a wee bit of a coverup going on so Harry could be the one to figure it out and face Voldemort. Like in first year:

“No, it isn’t,” said Harry thoughtfully. “He’s a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don’t think it was an accident he let me find out how the mirror worked. It’s almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could. ...” “Yeah, Dumbledore’s off his rocker, all right,” said Ron proudly.

(PS)

“You see what you expect to see, Severus,” said Dumbledore, without raising his eyes from a copy of Transfiguration Today. “Other teachers report that the boy is modest, likable, and reasonably talented. Personally, I find him an engaging child.” Dumbledore turned a page, and said, without looking up, “Keep an eye on Quirrell, won’t you?”

(DH)

Dumbledore is testing Harry in his first 3 years. The first time Dumbledore isn't fully in on what's going on at Hogwarts and isn't aware of all of it is 4th year (and even then I'm pretty certain he knew Moody was an imposter, but I digress).

In general, I think, 2nd year is just another example of Dumbledore endangering students and sacrificing their education (by hiring Lockhart) to teach Harry a lesson and test if Harry is truly a Horcrux, which he suspected before:

“Couldn’t you do something about it, Dumbledore?” “Even if I could, I wouldn’t. Scars can come in handy...”

(PS) - when talking to McGonagall about Harry's lightning scar.

“I guessed, fifteen years ago,” said Dumbledore, “when I saw the scar upon your forehead, what it might mean. I guessed that it might be the sign of a connection forged between you and Voldemort.” “You’ve told me this before, Professor,” said Harry bluntly. He did not care about being rude. He did not care about anything very much anymore. “Yes,” said Dumbledore apologetically. “Yes, but you see — it is necessary to start with your scar. For it became apparent, shortly after you rejoined the magical world, that I was correct, and that your scar was giving you warnings when Voldemort was close to you, or else feeling powerful emotion.”

(OotP)

But second-year proved it to him:

“You can speak Parseltongue, Harry,” said Dumbledore calmly, “because Lord Voldemort — who is the last remaining descendant of Salazar Slytherin — can speak Parseltongue. Unless I’m much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he intended to do, I’m sure. . . .”

(CoS)

It allowed him to test his Horcruxes theory (the diary) and also test Harry. It accomplished a lot of things Dumbledore needed anyway, so he probably thanked Lucius in his head as he let it all play out.

I mean, we see how little concern Dumbledore shows over Katie and Ron who got hurt by Draco trying to kill him:

“You gave me your word, Severus. And while we are talking about services you owe me, I thought you agreed to keep a close eye on our young Slytherin friend?” Snape looked angry, mutinous. Dumbledore sighed.

(DH) - this is all Dumbledore really says about Draco endangering students.

“You have had a busy time while I have been away,” Dumbledore said. “I believe you witnessed Katie’s accident.” “Yes, sir. How is she?” “Still very unwell, although she was relatively lucky. She appears to have brushed the necklace with the smallest possible amount of skin: There was a tiny hole in her glove. Had she put it on, had she even held it in her ungloved hand, she would have died, perhaps instantly.

(HBP) - even when talking to Harry he is incredibly cold about it.

And in book 2, the board of governors did get involved and removed Dumbledore from the school because they, quite reasonably, were concerned he wasn't dealing with the danger seriously. Like, I know it was Lucius Malfoy who engineered it and he's not supposed to be in the right, but he kinda accidentally was in this case. Dumbledore probably hid a lot of information from the board and was weird about the whole deal, I mean, Lucius can bribe to his heart's content but I don't think the board would remove Dumbledore so readily unless Dumbledore's behavior supported what Lucius was saying in some capacity.

We know Dumbledore is incredibly cold and calculated and we know it's not out of character for Dumbledore to endanger students if it advances his goals and doesn't hurt anyone too much by his standards. What's a few petrifications if it means he can be sure he can kill Voldemort and learn more about his connection to Harry?

(Regarding Hermione and the Polyjuice in year 2 is even easier. Because I don't believe Hermione told her parents and Hogwarts wouldn't tell muggles about what's going on at school, so it would be quite easy to hush down for the sake of the grander plan. Also, it protects her, Harry, and Ron since what they did is kinda illegal, so Dumbledore not sending Hermione to St Mongos protects them from punishment, which works well for them and him in this case)

[quillkiller]

do u think if regulus somehow survived the cave and, once free, barty learned of his betrayal to voldemort would barty stick with regulus despite feeling himself betrayed or would they end up fighting eachother every chance they get. a bit like sirius and reg who end up on different sides of the war and seek eachother out in every duel just to see eachother. Like they still can’t stay away from eachother but now they hate eachother so everything is more complicated. tbh i think that’d be pretty one sided because regulus does not see how betraying voldemort could hurt barty at all, i think he’d be kind of compassionate.. would even pity him for what he went through

me & and kara had a meeting over this ask and here’s out conclusion…

we don’t really know what happens with bartylus if reg somehow survived the cave… we don’t necessarily think he’s with voldy out of some kind of loyalty, but for a lot of other complex reasons mostly to do with barty sr and his upbringing. barty is revenge personified. to me however there could ever be hatred or spite between bartylus no matter the betrayal. they always always always regress to their adolescent teenage selves when they’re together, it can’t be helped.

we also don’t see regulus on the field ?? i have a hard time picturing regulus like out on all the raids…. i think his role as a death eater is something completely different. and, if they were in the field, i think regulus and sirius would always avoid each other, knowing that neglect and silence cuts deeper. and because they don’t actually want to hurt each other. if anyone wants to hurt anyone its reg wanting to hurt sirius, and sirius defending himself. i don’t see them seeking each other out though. sirius would seek bella out on the battlefield, but never regulus. sirius can and does stay away from regulus and he proved that when he left home. even if it hurts ! the sacrifices we make to save our own lives and what not :/ i dont see either of them trying to reach out in any sort of way, both too proud and stubborn, and knowing that silence will hurt more

we also don’t think that regulus’ betrayal with the locket is an indicator that he’s now a good person / or that he would join the order. similar in how i dont think narcissas act of betrayal isn’t an indicator that she’s good either. it was personal for both of them. a way to (hopefully) save their loved ones (draco & sirius) and a defiance against voldemort. fighting against voldemort doesn’t equal being on the good side. and if that’s the case i can see barty choosing regulus over voldy. he’ll find other ways to get his revenge / the reason (to me) that he was so devoted to voldemort in the end is because all his friends died and he had nothing left BUT revenge. now he has regulus, and where regulus goes barty follows.

not to go on and on about dil’s masterpiece bartylus microfic but it really changed my life forever when barty runs away w reg and reg says ’you’re hardly the first one to ask’ and barty says ’i didn’t ask’ <- HE DIDNT ASK. i dont think he’d question regs betrayal, wouldn’t take it personal, wouldn’t pity him for it. reg survives and decides to leave / maybe try to find the other horcruxes and barty is like ’cool, guess that’s what we’re doing then’ and invites himself. and regulus would never, could never, tell him no. they’re childhood best friends and their carnal weird fucking need for each other will always outweigh anything else between them. they’re not strategic or calculating in their relationship, aren’t capable of it <- and they’re both strategic and calculating people, barty especially. it’s like that post ’when you’ve known someone for too long you’re doomed to always see them as a person.”

so if regulus survives and decides to continue to fight against voldemort, i think the natural transgression for barty is to leave with him <- lap dog tendencies. i don’t think either of them do it out of the goodness of their hearts or join the order.

[kalegreeneyes]

LOVING burning and buried, but i broke my rule of only reading completed fics so i’m itching for some more wolf star fics to read in between updates. do you have any recs for fics? i feel like i can trust your opinion given how good your work is!

the answer is yes, but the answer is also that i read a LOT of wips, and some of my recs will be bigger fics you may have already read, or have jegulus as another main ship which idk if you're into or not but here!!

completed:

lose yourself by daiver - holy SHIT this fic was so good. remus gets brainwashed into being a death eater and it is sooooo so so angsty and wonderful. it had so many moments that had my heart RACING

the horcrux hunt by lostmy_keys - this is one of my favorite fics of all time. regulus (reluctantly) teams up with remus to hunt horcruxes. it is regulus centric but also remus, MOSTLY platonic moonwater (which if u like burning and buried i assume u like) but they are quite flirty....which may not be your cup of tea, but as someone who has had a flirty close platonic friendship or two i LOVED. slowburn ANGSTY wolfstar. honestly, i might reread this one now that i've been talking about it. so fucking good.

the cadence of part time poets by motswolo- if you haven't read this, you should. its amazing. if you like slow burn wolfstar, plenty of angst, mentally ill remus lupin, and the best oc's i have ever seen in a fic, this is for you. it is a band au, but mostly it is a boarding school preparing to be in a band au and a freshly starting out band au. extremely long, but extremely worth it.

for the love of ducks by viwrites - UGH anything vi writes i love, but this is a wolfstar sickfic that just sort of scoops up your heart into warm hands and holds it. like, don't get me wrong, it's got angst--but in a comforting way? i love this fic. so fucking much.

saccharine by moonymoment - sirius is a ghost in an apartment remus moves into. i was smiling through this whole fic except for when i was crying.

'tis the damn season by moonymoment - wolfstar fake relationship christmas fic - need i say more?

retrial by pheonixgal - remus hosts a true crime podcast and focuses on sirius's case, which is a concept i LOVE.

god i could keep going for a WHILE but I'll move on

WIPs:

godlight by Badhairred - this is my fave wip at the moment. it has SUPER regular updates. it's jegulus and wolfstar, and i LIVE for the wolfstar in this fic. their relationship, the buildup, the backstory, UGH. jegulus is fantastic too in this fic, obvi, but since you're asking abt wolfstar...i love them in this fic.

sirius black's second chance by platypus_and_pen - as you might guess from the title this is a bring back black fic in which he goes back in time to his hogwarts days after going through the veil, and he gets to reconnect with not only himself, but his friends, and also HOPEFULLY right some wrongs.

the middle path of moonlight by asheseverafter - this fic is so long, so well written, and has weekly updates. i will warn you that they are STILL quite young (i think 14/15 right now? i'm not entirely sure) as the author is taking their time with each year (Which i love) but the relationship between sirius and remus (while not explicitly shown, builds into fade to black or is vague) is quite.......advanced. i personally, as a 26 year old adult, have to skip over that stuff just for my own comfort, and there is still a fair bit of overtly sexual flirting/jokes which is kind of impossible to skip over so if that isn't something you'll be comfy with then that's totally fair, BUT. that being said, the writing in this fic is absolutely gorgeous, i get jealous every time i read it. and the moonwater friendship is AMAZING and the black brothers/black family dynamics are some of the best i've ever seen and how in love and dedicated wolfstar are the entire time is very sweet.

cupid's chokehold by lollipopluna - also mainly jegulus and also having a good amount of wolfstar, but i had to recommend because it is just. so. good. it is violent and dirty and everyone is a little rough around the edges (putting it lightly) but no one moreso than reg and remus. there hasn't been too terribly much ACTUAL wolfstar bc of the angst and the slow burn aspect but i am so so excited to see where they go, and where jegulus goes, and where platonic (not even. more like reluctant enemies former friends?? I guess??) moonwater goes. the DRAMA. the INTRIGUE. the INTENSITY. its great.

AND last but not least, on a pillow of blue bonnets by kalegreeneyes (me (: ) - sirius is famous and he's spinning out so james and pete and regulus are like GET OUT OF HERE and they ship him off to remus's ranch in montana where lily and marlene live and work too!! and barty and evan are ranch hands! and it's a slow burn! and there are horses! and cowboy remus wielding an axe! the downside is that i haven't updated it in a really long time and the new chapter is slow going ha ha ha ha ha BUT it isn't abandoned and i have the whole fic loosely planned out!!!

alright that's all for my absurdly long rec. i could have kept going but i had a moment of self awareness and had to stop, lol

ty for asking!!

[iamnmbr3]

Not sure if you’ve answered this before, but if one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes successfully and fully came back, what exactly do you think would’ve happened and what it [the fully formed Horcrux] would’ve done? Would there just be two [or more] Voldemort’s walking around? Do you think any of his horcruxes coming to life was/is a major flaw in his plan—that he only wanted his soul(s) to be safe in the objects he placed them in, not actually come out and walk around freely? 

This is a really fascinating question. It certainly seems that he didn't have any plans for his Horcruxes to be allowed to roam around freely given that he was about 55 when he lost his powers the first time and doesn't seem to have released any of his Horcruxes into the world. Given that they are supposed to be his super secret links to immortality that makes sense. Best to keep them hidden and safe and out of the way.

It's not clear how the Horcruxes feel about this - or if they feel anything about it at all. Are they aware inside their vessels 'I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream' style (sure hope not!) or are they in a sort of stasis unless a potential possession victim picks them up? Obviously if they're awake and aware the whole time they definitely want OUT since I can't imagine any version of Tom being happy to be kept in a cage (not that anyone would like being trapped in that situation).

Also, are they all as sentient as the diary? I've always headcanoned that you have to sacrifice a part of yourself to create a Horcrux and that's why Tom's appearance changes a bit over the years (though I think he didn't get all snake faced till after his Nagini-assisted resurrection) and furthermore that he used a bit of his memories to create the diary.

This could mean that the diary has more of a sense of self than the other Horcruxes. However, Dumbledore certainly seems to think that the degree of awareness and independence that Diary!Tom exhibited was a key indicator that he was a Horcrux. Which suggests that Horcruxes in general are like that. That's also the more interesting reading imho.

I do wish we got to see more interactiveness from the other Horcruxes in book 7. I guess JK Rowling thought a Locket!Tom that was highly interactive and posed a genuine threat and also maybe created a moral quandary because killing him would feel more like killing a real person would detract from the endless camping scenes and low-stakes circular drama by making things too exciting and interesting.

There's also the question of whether diary!Tom could actually have come all the way out of the diary and had a fully corporeal form where he could walk around and use magic and do stuff or if he would've been still bound to the diary in some way. But that's an aside.

As to what they would do. Well, in book 2 diary!Tom doesn't seem that interested in going to the aid of his other self. He knows that he successfully made at least 1 Horcrux and thus isn't actually dead. And he may well know there are more out there too since he planned on it and since his other self may well have written in the diary at some point. And yet he's more interested in escaping the diary and learning about how Harry survived and then trying to finish the job of killing him himself. Rescuing his other self doesn't seem to be high on his list of priorities. He might get around to it eventually, perhaps figuring it would be the pragmatic thing to do. Especially since Dumbledore would definitely recognize him and figure out what he must be, so he can't just blend in as Tom Riddle indefinitely. Then again. Maybe he tries to strike out on his own.

The other Horcruxes might be similar in that regard - with their own agendas first and foremost but still also interested in the wellbeing and goals of their other self/selves. Depending on the exact context and circumstances I feel like Tom would either not get along with himself at all (but also be forced to a sort of uncomfortable stalemate because obviously neither Tom wants to actually destroy the other) or else get along way too well. I think both dynamics are very fun and interesting to explore in fic.

[soup-of-the-daisies]

How much do you think Sirius knows about the blood protection from Lily? If he knows, has he figured it out himself or did Dumbledore tell him? He offers Harry to live with him in PoA, implying he doesn't know, but in OotP, he answers Harry's request to live at grimmauld with "we shall see."

And how much does he know/guess about the horcrux in Harry? He knows occlumency is important, but does he know exactly why?

This is a brilliant ask anon, thank you so much for sending it!! It got Long-ish, so more under the cut. I’ve also added a tldr at the end.

Okay so, I do think Sirius knows some things about the ‘blood protection’ and less about the horcrux, depending on how much he heard about Harry’s experiences with Voldemort in his first and fourth year and how he interprets those meetings. It’s also dependent on how much Sirius knows of ‘strange’ magic in general—if he doesn’t know much, it might be difficult to come to conclusions.

Solely based on canon, we know a number of things about Sirius: he’s intelligent and shrewd, very talented, and a pureblooded scion of the highly eclectic Black family—the majority of whom were very interested in the Dark Arts, as Sirius tells us in OotP. Sirius seems to be knowledgeable on it too, like with the biting snuffbox and how easily he resolved the situation, and how smoothly he weeds through all of the dark and likely cursed objects hiding in Grimmauld Place. He’s also Harry’s godfather and would have been Harry’s legal guardian had he never been arrested and charged, which should technically be enough reason for him to be told about what’s been happening to Harry these past few years. The problem, however, is that Harry’s not really shown to tell anyone about these experiences except Dumbledore, who has his own reasons to keep things about Harry quiet (safety, for one).

I do think Dumbledore told Sirius some things, at least to explain why Harry had to stay with the Dursleys for a while instead of going straight to Grimmauld in the summer before his fifth year. Sirius likely would’ve been quite insistent to have Harry there immediately (emotional support for both Harry and himself), and we know he’s not particularly good with authority (especially people who perceive themselves to be stand-in authority, see The Argument of Sirius vs Molly). He respects Dumbledore, but he rallies against that metaphorical wall anyway. The fact that he caved to not having Harry with them immediately all the time tells me that Dumbledore’s reasoning was, from Sirius’ perspective, rather sound—more than a simple “because I said so”. Especially because Harry notes that Sirius does not seem ‘happy’ with Dumbledore throughout the entire book, but accepts the orders anyway.

So I do think it’s likely that Sirius has been told at that point that Harry’s physically safer (relatively; from DE’s, at least, now that they’re back) at Privet Drive—even if old Orion Black utterly slathered Number Twelve Grimmauld Place in every (best) protective charm known to wizardkind (I have my own thoughts about that), even if Dumbledore has protected Number Twelve further with the Fidilius charm, even if Number Twelve is basically a fortress at this point. There is something in Harry and at Privet Drive that makes Harry safer in a relatively open muggle neighbourhood. And the reasoning has to be good, has to make sense, or Sirius has every right to kick the Order out of his house for keeping him from his godson.

I believe Dumbledore hinted at there being some sort of protection around Harry that keeps him somewhat safe from Voldemort and his followers, to explain to Sirius why Harry couldn’t come immediately. I also believe that told Sirius more than he needed to know. Sirius is more than clever enough to deduce what that protection may be, even after being told bare bones — Lily stepping in front of Harry that night to die in his stead; Harry surviving the killing curse; Voldemort blowing up; Harry burning the Voldemort-possessed Quirrel by touch alone; Voldemort taking Harry’s blood and being able to touch Harry without harm coming to him — and thus accepted the explanation.

There’s something there with familial links, something that Petunia (and Dudley) are accidentally helping with. Lily’s protection coursing Harry’s veins is not exactly weird in a world where the seemingly outlandish and ridiculous is perfectly possible. Sirius grew up in an odd family intellectually interested in the Dark and Dangerous, and he himself loves magic, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he read about something similar once… either in his family library in a fit of boredom, or whilst doing research with the rest of the Marauders.

Regarding the horcrux: it’s the same thing, all based on how much Sirius exactly knows of the Dark Arts. He’s aware of the connection between Harry and Voldemort, and knows that it’s important for Harry to be able to block that connection; I’m unsure whether he thinks that it’s because there’s a piece of Voldemort’s soul lodged in Harry’s forehead, instead of a weird result of the ritual Voldemort and Peter involved Harry in. I’m also unsure whether Sirius even knows horcruxes are a thing, because he doesn’t mention it at all.

At that point it’s up to speculation whether anyone in the House of Black would be aware of the concept of ‘horcruxes’. I generally headcanon that horcruxes are briefly touched upon in their education, as it’s implied that Regulus was aware of what the Locket is—but Kreacher doesn’t know what it is, only that he can’t manage to destroy it, which would imply it’s also not common knowledge in the family itself. That depends on how much Kreacher was willing to overhear.

I do, however, think that the Family would probably have a copy of a manuscript by Herpo the Foul, a copy of Magick Moste Evile, or a copy of The Secrets of the Darkest Arts (both books that mention horcruxes, but only the latter describes horcruxes and the process of making one in detail) in their library. Copies could also be tucked away in a previously unmentioned study/office of Grimmauld Place, a room that a townhouse would 100% have (Orion had to live somewhere).

There’s also the detail that canonically, nobody ever made more than one horcrux. If Sirius knows about horcruxes and knows of the Diary from Harry’s second year, he probably wouldn’t have thought there were more. I also don’t think Sirius ever would’ve imagined (or wanted to imagine) that one of Voldemort’s horcruxes (when believing there were more than one) was Harry, when all he wanted was for Harry to live, be safe, and be loved.

TLDR; I think Sirius would’ve at least heavily suspected that Lily’s sacrifice resulted in a blood protection that had to be maintained through a proximity with a blood-relative. He wants Harry to live with him. Even if he accepts why Dumbledore thinks he can’t, he still wants to. That doesn’t change. He just knows it’s not as simple as moving Harry into Grimmauld, and it makes perfect sense if that is because he knows about the blood protection. I don’t think he would’ve known about the horcrux in Harry’s head though; and since I especially don’t think he wanted to know about that either, actually.

[obsidianpen]

Does Voldemort still hate Harry in NG? Yes, he's possessive and stuff, but Harry could feel genuine emotions of extreme rage and hatred from Vee when he was bent over the basin. I'm surprised it didn't freak Harry out more, but I guess the link between them was pretty distracting. That entire scene does feel like Vee manipulating Harry into simultaneously giving him a way to vent his true feelings while not alienating him and making him think Vee actually cares about him beyond being a Horcrux.

well sure, he was also thinking of all the pieces of his soul that he lost, and that’s probably a pretty long grieving process (anger is a part of that). Sure, it wasn’t really Harry’s fault they were all destroyed but Harry feels/felt guilty about it anyway, and it’s all very fcked up of course but V figured well if he genuinely feels like he should suffer and I happen to be the sort who likes to do that to people then why not

…..I know it goes without saying but I feel the need to reiterate that there is NOtHiNG healthy about this relationship 😅

[maladaptivewriting]

What are your opinions on Dumbledore?

this is such a loaded question and i feel like my opinions aren't going to be popular ones.

first of all, i think dumbledore, like snape, is extremely funny. like even when they make bad choices, i still kind of love them because you can get away with almost anything if you're funny about it.

second of all, i think a lot of the things that people demonize dumbledore for are short sighted. i think dumbledore was an old man who wanted to be a school headmaster as penance for his desire for power when he was a young man (and the bad things that happened bc of that desire for power). i think he took down grindlewald because no one else would, but i don't think he did it because he was some big hero.

i think people give him more political sway than he really had and they portray him as all-knowing and all-powerful, which i think is kind of silly. he does make decisions "for the greater good" and while that can be a bad thing for individual characters, i still think its necessary for plot development and in real life as well.

i guess i just find him to be a complicated man, but i can understand why he makes the choices he did. i understand why he didn't tell harry he was a horcrux until right before he had to die, i understand why he kept so many secrets.

i also think that character bashing makes any fic automatically worse because it means that author is unwilling to examine characters beyond their own personal opinions.

so this was a very long way of saying i sort of empathize with him.

[felassan]

Some more snippets of interest and insight from Mark Darrah PART 1, from a Mark Darrah on Games YouTube video where he is livestreaming playing Dragon Age II [link to Part 2] -

On Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and sort've like, the franchise in general:

A comment in chat asked ''Did you see the new BioWare blogpost about skill trees? Any thoughts on it?'' Mark replied "Yeah, I saw it, nothing particularly world-shattering or controversial there." A comment in chat then said "I wasn't a fan of how that skill tree looked, it seemed too busy" and he explained that "I wouldn't put too much stock in what it looks like, they will definitely do a ton of usability stuff, so I wouldn't be too worried about the actual visual of it".

He observed that none of the things that are presented in the lore as having huge consequences are actually usually shown as such (as having them) in the Dragon Age games. For example, if you're a Grey Warden, the Blight/Taint isn't affecting you very much, and if you're Templar spec, the lyrium isn't affecting you very much - "so it's something that I think legitimately would be good to see a bit more of".

On Flemeth's death in DA:I, chat asked "so it's possible she's still alive after what Solas did to her?" Mark replied "I mean, it's possible, if BioWare wanted her to survive the end of DA:I they could probably do that because they've sort've established the 'she can come back, somehow'" stuff [said in the context of Flemeth's DAII amulet delivery Horcrux scene].

Chat asked "Does Solas consider modern elves his 'people'?" Mark replied "I don't think Solas considers, I think Solas barely considers anyone his people, at this point." A comment in chat then said "I thought he grew a little more fond of the Dalish after DA:I?" and Mark replied "Yeah, I think he is more fond of them [then] but I still don't think he would consider them his people".

A comment in chat said "​I think it would be nice to get a game set in the ancient history of elven empire". Mark said "I don't think we'll ever get something set in a pre-Fade [Veil] world, I mean, I could see something - [cut off by in-game combat]".

Chat asked about griffon mounts in DA:D. Mark replied "What's the present time period in Last Flight in terms of year? Because I don't know how long it takes for griffons to grow to adulthood." When chat advised that Last Flight happens a year or two after DA:I, so about 8 years before DA:D, Mark replied "Oh, so maybe. I don't know how long it takes griffons to grow up".

Someone in chat expressed in surprise, "DA:D is 10 years after DA:I???" Mark explained that "I think the idea is that, I think, the idea is that Dragon Age advances at roughly the same rate as the time between the games. I mean, I guess that's not what we did in DAII, because we have ten years pass in that game, but. They've definitely been releasing new books and stuff and time has been moving forward with that".

"I don't think a silent protagonist is gonna fly for AAA RPGs. Even Bethesda has moved away from it".

Someone in chat asked, "Is it honestly possible to start the DA series with DA:D? I think it's possible to start at any of the first 3 games but DA:I seems very important". Mark replied, "They'll definitely make it so that you can onboard with DA:D. That would be a big huge mistake for them not to do that. You'd be asking a lot to ask someone to start/onboard by playing a game from 2009." He later continued, "I would say that a significant percentage of DA people, not most, but a significant percentage, have only played DA:I. DA:O wasn't an attractive game even when it came out, now it's very aged".

There has been an active decision made for the franchise away to move away from dark fantasy as a genre (like it was in DA:O) for a couple of reasons. One is that it's kind of soul-crushing for the devs to work on stuff like that. Also, that's the sort of genre that The Witcher is. DA:I was moving away and kind of differentiating itself from The Witcher. (Everything in RPG games was dark fantasy in 2009 to 2011, and now we barely have any dark fantasy games at all.)

Relating to this Mark also pointed out that with the question of what dark fantasy is, a lot of this comes down to what you consider that to be. DAII and DA:I both have lots of dark fantasy themes, but if you consider it purely from a visual perspective, he doesn't think that Dragon Age will ever visually be a dark fantasy game/ever visually be a dark fantasy game again because it has slowly been turning the level of magic up. Dark fantasy typically has very low magic, and the goal for DA for a while has been to slowly turn the magic up. "There are still definitely dark fantasy themes in there though and I think there always will be in Dragon Age. I don't think it will ever be high magic like Final Fantasy though, I think it's more just trying to get it away from the very low levels of magic, which is what we had in DA:O especially, to differentiate itself a bit."

[source]

He also talked more generally about DAII and the previous games in general. These bits are collected under a cut due to length:

Chat asked "​so, if you could ideally redo how blood magic looks in DAII, what would you replace the self-impalement with?''. Mark mentioned that he likes the way blood magic is discussed in DA:I where it's like 'these are the actions of an amateur' and you can be much more subtle (given that mind control is considered blood magic). "I think it's a little too much".

Another reason why some of the Dalish changed to Welsh accents in DAII was probably the fact that they had found a voice actor that they liked for Merrill, who happened to be Welsh

In DA:II, the wave-spawning mechanic of enemy mooks was a time saver for asset creation

Why spiders? They're creepy and otherworldly, but also common irl so there's a ton of reference material for devs to go by. They also have a 3D aspect to them without having to have flying implemented, which is good because flying is a huge design problem

Chat asked about the "Awesome Button" marketing for DA:II. Mark explained that "The idea for DAII was to have two-tiered marketing - 'frat house' marketing (it's a cool action game!), and 'tree house' marketing (for the Dragon Age 'core' [fans]). But the way marketing was run was that effectively, none of the 'tree house' stuff was done. I think it would have been fine if it had been backed up with stuff showing the more RPG elements of the game. As a result of it being all on its own all we got was confirmation from the core that this had been dumbed down for consoles, so a lot of the backlash at launch comes from just confirming peoples' fears. The game isn't so different [to DA:O] that there wasn't opportunity to prepare the audience better. And that wasn't done. I'm not necessarily super against the actual 'Button', I mean it was overdone, I'm not against it as a part of the marketing campaign, but it started to be too much of the marketing campaign. The frat house marketing wasn't supposed to push the DA core out, it was supposed to be delivered with something else, but effectively it did that. There were issues for sure"

Mark said that his biggest complaint about DAII is that one of the messages that comes out of it, to his mind, is that 'everything the Templars believe is right, mages are all going to become abominations given half a chance', because at the end of the game all the mages basically flip. "I think that could have been navigated a little more cleanly. It basically says 'better not be casting a spell and get a papercut because otherwise, demon'. It isn't that you can't make it make rational sense, but it is confirming a lot of the anti-mage propaganda"

He observed that DAII storytelling is like 'you're fighting against the sea'. He said that he really enjoyed that but not everyone did, as you lost a lot of agency as a result

A comment in chat said "Apparently, David Gaider has been saying that DA:O should get a remaster in PC Gamer". Mark replied "David Gaider has no way of knowing that, even less than I do"

A question in chat was "How does BioWare decide on the default canon worldstate?" Mark replied "I think it's a combination of, if we have the telemetry, going with the majority, and also 'we really need this person for some reason so let's write into that'. But I do think it typically goes with majority rules if that data is available"

Chat asked "Has Flemeth been weakened by putting a piece of herself in the amulet? Like permanently." Mark said "I think the answer is as dictated/needed by the story"

Regarding the piece of Flemeth and amulet in DA:II, he said "you could look at it through the 'Archdemon, Corypheus' lens and she's body-hopping, just through a more elaborate ritual probably"

A comment in chat said "We get a peek in Trespasser that before the Fall of Arlathan, the Elves were more or less Tevinter where powerful mages enslaved everyone else". Mark replied "Tevinter is basically the old elven empire, it's a photocopy of a photocopy of the old elven empire, for sure".

A comment in chat said "Do you think they write Solas too convincingly? I saw people legitimately saying he was right." Mark replied, "I think that's what you would want from a villain, I think you want a villain that you can say is right. He definitely believes that he is the only person that can fix everything. He would be a terrible manager. He would be micromanaging you to death. I think Solas believes that we are in the best possible universe currently because he did the best possible thing at the best possible moment, even when it didn't go right. He absolutely has Main Character Complex. He's probably the most Main Character cCmplex of every character ever"

A comment in chat said "it just sounds like Solas thinks the only 'real people' are ancient elves". Mark replied "you're not wrong, I think that's basically where Solas sits, maybe not if he thinks about it, but kind've his default is like, ancient elves are people, everyone else is someone who came along later and is kind've in the way"

Qunlat is a very literal languauge

"The Qunari are the youngest race for sure"

We haven't really yet interacted with any "civilian" Qunari much

The games haven't spent much time on the Qun's concept of gender roles, "so it's kind of half-baked as a result and a lot of people just find it very confusing"

The games often inject different pronunciations for place names depending on the characters' accents

In DAII, Act 1 is more like 2 acts together

Players tend to stick most to the companions that they're used to, so people don't use Sebastian very much because you don't recruit him until Act 2

A question in chat was "How come this game [DAII] is so stingy with money? I always feel like I'm barely scraping by." Mark explained "that's the point, is that, this whole beginning part up until Act 2 is about you not having enough, barely scraping by, like it's supposed to be this refugee story. Even then the balance is kind've off, because you can basically still get the 50 sovereigns in Act 1 doing mainly critpath stuff only"

A person in chat quoted lore: "According to dwarven scholars, surface dwarves may soon outnumber their underground-living peers." Mark replied "the 'according to dwarven scholars' is the perfect example of the unreliable narrator, whether that ends up being true or not, that could just be propaganda on the part of Orzammar itself"

On Branka making golems, if she's left to do so in DA:O, he said "I never got a very clear understanding of how many golems there are if she is. I always assumed it was in the hundreds, not tens of thousands. If it was the latter it would change the balance of power in Thedas dramatically"

In the current timeline, present day Tevinter and the Qunari in Par Vollen are presented as being the two strongest nations. "Everything else is kind of in balance, Orlais and Ferelden were fairly strong but then banged at each other and brought themselves down to the level of about Antiva, the Anderfels etc. They're all kind of recovering powers, though Antiva, not so much, it was never a superpower as it has always used assassins to keep people at bay."

"Tevinter was the Ottoman Empire back in the day, 'the rest of Europe worries about them and unites to stop them if necessary'. Honestly, a Tevinter-Qunari battle that was on a large enough scale would probably turn into World War One with people picking sides for political reasons. I could totally see Ferelden taking the side opposite of the one Orlais chooses."

At this point I ran out of characters in this post, Part 2 of this post can be found here. :)

(pls note that in places there is a bit of paraphrasing of the info, the best source is always the primary source with full quotes in their original context)

[source]

[racfoam]

I have an entire word document on Harry meeting Locket!Tom that I don't know whether I'll use so I’ll share that scene in here. Spoiler alert for nynn 5th Year I guess. P.S. locket Tom is aware of who Harry is, so he will just go big and go for it, but he'll also be "Me? I'm innocent!" while internally he is the evillest motherfucker of the Horcrux Bunch.

-----------------

“May I help you?” asked a smooth, masculine voice, brushing the threads of Harry’s hair, making the hairs on her nape prickle, standing on end. Momentarily, Harry freezes in fear, noticing something familiar in the lilt, something matured yet vaguely noticeable.

Slowly, Harry turned around.

Tom Riddle stands behind her. Taller than his sixteen-year-old self, inky hair pristine and proper, combed back, inky strands reaching to his earlobes and down his nape, high cheekbones, rosy lips set in a saccharine smile, pristine porcelain skin, he is the most handsome she has seen him thus far. The mid-length hair flatters his prince charming appearance even more.

The first thought Harry manages to think through the blood-curdling terror rushing through her veins is: Fuck.

The next thought she manages is: Don’t look him in the eyes. The third is: Don’t scream.

“Sorry,” said Harry quickly, putting on her own facade (because two can play this game) of a polite, timid girl, keeping her gaze on his neck and chin. “I think I’m lost. I wasn’t supposed to be here.”

Understatement of the century.

Tom stepped closer. Far too close to be appropriate.

“People rarely come here accidentally,” he said politely, while Harry restrained every urge to shove him away from herself, the scent of his soft cologne sweeping over her, an intoxicating aroma luring prey closer. “This is not the sort of shop one enters without looking for something. Something they can’t acquire in the regular shops in Diagon Alley.”

“Er,” trailed Harry, trying to find some believable excuse. What shop was this? The thought of Lord Voldemort, Tom Riddle, the model student, working at a back alley shop, was the farthest thing Harry imagined he would be doing after graduating Hogwarts.

One thing was for sure. She wanted his attention off her. Far away from her. It was never pleasant to be the center of Tom’s attention.

“What sorts of objects do you sell here?”

“We sell all sorts of objects.”

“Mm...” Harry said, using that little opportunity of space to step away from him, hiding the fact she was fleeing by pretending to survey the shelves. There was a crystal ball swirling red mist, and Harry wondered if it was a Remembrall or something much more sinister. There were, as Tom said, all sorts of objects on display. Weapons, objects, chests, spheres of materials, even hands that looked to have been severed. There were a few skulls; she didn’t want to know whether they were fake or real.

“Is this real?” she asked, gazing upon a jar of smaller human skulls.

“Everything we have is real.”

Harry wisely stepped back from the shelf hosting the numerous skulls.

She blushes easily. How sweet. Oh, he just wants to eat her up. Wants to feel the heat he brings to her cheeks under his palms, wants to make them scalding hot to the touch. Wants to make them burn feverishly.

“We have an assortment of lovely jewelry if you’d like any,” he said, buttery soft.

Instantly, Harry was on guard. This Tom was not really alive. Just as the Tom from the diary, this must be the Tom from the locket.

“I don’t wear jewerly,” I’ll shower you in gifts. “That's a shame,” he says sincerely. “How so?”

Harry shrugged. “Never got around to it.”

“Well, then...” Tom muses, a wicked, delighted glint in his dark eyes. “I suppose we’ll have to find you something remarkable to introduce you to the idea. I find that remarkable objects make for remarkable possessions. The more special something is, the more a person craves it. And it is only the truly worthy ones that are offered the honour.”

“The ones with money,” said Harry sadly. How many times did she wish to buy Mrs Weasley and Ginny nice jewelry? Or Ron a new broom?

“No,” said Tom. “I said worthy. Those deserving. Not those who have the means to buy it, but those who earn it.”

“And what about inherited jewelry? You know, passed down in the family? Is that considered earned, too?”

“Of course," said Tom, sounding pleased. “I would argue that is the highest level of worth a piece of jewelry can have. To be passed down in the family. Whether father to son, or mother to daughter.”

“And mother to son, or father to daughter,” said Harry, thinking of the Invisibility Cloak her father left her, thinking of her mum's protection in her blood and the money in Gringotts vault, making sure Harry would never be hungry.

Tom paused for a moment, turning silent.

“Yes,” he whispered after a moment.

[midnightstargazer]

My headcanons for where the Marauders era Slytherins would've been sorted if they weren't in Slytherin:

Lucius Malfoy - Ravenclaw, mostly by process of elimination because he's definitely not courageous or loyal

Severus Snape - Dumbledore pretty much says he should've been a Gryffindor, so I guess I'll go with that? Could make a pretty good case for Ravenclaw, though, as well.

Bellatrix Black - Hufflepuff, because what she seems to value most and take the most pride in is her steadfast loyalty

Andromeda Black - Gryffindor, for having the courage to go her own way even if it meant losing her family

Narcissa Black - I headcanon her as a "sorted the moment the hat touched her head" character

Regulus Black - the star he's named for implies Gryffindor, but I prefer Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff - clever enough to correctly identify a horcrux, dutiful and loyal to the family in contrast to Sirius's rebellion

Barty Crouch Jr. - Ravenclaw, assuming he was a Slytherin at all, since it's never actually said in canon

Evan Rosier - Gryffindor - I imagine him as very bold and confident, certain about what he believes in, and unafraid of dying for it - which is all archetypal Gryffindor stuff, even if what he believes in is ... not great

Mulciber - Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, because my main headcanon for him is that he's a coward who specializes in the Imperius Curse because it allows him to make others do the dirty work/avoid taking risks himself

Avery - Ravenclaw, by process of elimination for the same reasons as Lucius Malfoy

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Hello, I have a question that's partially adjacent to the post about reverse-engineering horcruxes. The main question is: what's your opinion on Voldemort's ability to possess a target?

Broadly speaking, I remember that he possesses Quirrell, Ginny, Nagini, and Harry. I assume he originally obtained permission to share Quirrell's body, and Quirrell seemed to retain autonomy (though this is probably tolerated by Voldemort for practical reasons). As horcruxes, Nagini and Harry's bodies are already bound to a part of Voldemort's soul, so I guess he can fight for conscious autonomy.

Ginny isn't a horcrux, but she's developed some sort of bond with one. How does Voldemort possess her, or otherwise control her (including the ability to open the Chamber by speaking Parseltongue)?

The horcrux-adjacent portion involves the diary draining Ginny's spirit/life-force. The implication is that Voldemort is planning to return to life and regain a body of his own. Do you think that, after draining Ginny's spirit, Voldy would use it to attach his soul to her body? That he would try to take Harry's after killing him? Or that, as the book seems to imply, he'd somehow physically manifest due to something else?

Thanks for your consideration~

Hello, thanks for the ask! I already talked about the different forms of possession we see here and about the diary draining Ginny's life force here and I'm pretty sure I covered all your questions there.

[basiliskinmybed]

okay folks. it's nearly our favorite psychopath's and dark lord's, tom marvolo riddle's birthday. my little meow meow. and!! i wanna talk about tomarrymort!! so, tell me about the things you don't like, least favorite tropes in tomarrymort fics. or, the things that causes you immediately stop reading the fanfiction with a grimace. here are mines:

extremly powerful, out of character harry

dark, death eater harry

slytherin harry. look. he's father's son. a gryffindor through and through. the only reason that sorting hat considered to put him in slytherin was the horcrux inside harry.

handsome voldemort for no reason and mostly unknown how he regained his young body, the author doesn't dwell on it 'cause the only important thing is to give him hot looks. *sighs*

harry taking dark mark willingly or unwillingly. seriously, can we all just agree on voldemort marked him enough? is the scar on his forehead not enough? he isn't some kind of servant, he's his equal.

harry hadrian harrison peverell gryffindor slytherin black gaunt potter the heir of every house— ugh

silent, obeying, defeated harry. where's his foolish bravery? his gryffindor fire? give me my defying harry no matter what situation he's in, no matter how scared he's. (there's one popular fic that everyone adores but i just absolutely dislike... i won't say the name, if you get it you get it.)

master of death harry is such a cool concept to write, he's literally master of the only thing that tom is afraid. but i came across only a few fics that's well written. that's sad.

(edit!! since y'all liked my post so much i wanna add one more thing 😍) bottom, submissive tom/voldemort. can't stand this one, really.

i guess that's it? no lol i'm sure there are other things i'm missing but anyway this post is already long enough.