#hp victorian age

[legilimenace]

Introducing...Charis Northmoor

Born in Britain yet having emigrated back and forth to the US after birth, Charis always felt as though she was a part of an extensive apprenticeship as she accompanied her father and sister on a near-decade long traversal through the Americas alongside a group of other wizards that she had come to see as her family, and some others that she regarded as her dearest friends. Little did she know of the ties that bound them farther than her memory could sustain and deeper than she could ever imagine. When her father decides that it's time Charis and her sister rejoin the polite and pureblood British wizarding society (and attend Hogwarts), her re-adjustment to her new/old life is quite a shock, and not necessarily a welcome one...

Full Name: Charis Northmoor

Birthdate: March 3rd, 1881

Hair Color: Blonde

Eye Color: Blue-green

Family: Elchion Northmoor (father), Drusilla Northmoor née Max (mother), Amantha Northmoor (younger sister)

Friends: Kenway family, Fenwick family

House: Slytherin

Blood Status: Pureblood

Likes: Ancient Runes (a family trait, it would seem), fairytales and folklore, insects—fireflies especially, powder blue, hydrangeas, discovery, mooncalves, wood nymphs, bread and butter pudding, cherry cordial

Dislikes: Hodags, remaining indoors for long, being out-done, impractical homework, sea creatures, floral teas, dragonhide

Personality: Direct, curious, friendly, humored, impatient, sharp-tongued, adventurous, discerning, deceptive, selfish, determined, pragmatic, proactive

Faceclaim: Ashleigh Stewart

[thicc-astronaut]

If I was in charge of designing printers I wouldn’t fool around with the ink cartridge thing. An opaque ink container so you can’t see how much ink is in there, and instead you create a system of computerized parts to let you know how much ink is in there? And they aren’t even reusable? That’s stupid and terrible.

What I would do is make the ink containers transparent glass jars on the side of the printer, so you can easily see how much ink is in there with the naked eye. These jars, when empty, could be unscrewed and refilled with the appropriate colored ink. No computers, no annoying pop-up windows that “you’re out of ink!”, no brand incompatibility. You could purchase ink in bulk if you wanted like how you can get those big bottles of Elmer’s Glue for refills

Only downsides I could see for this is places like offices (where the printer may be far away from the workstation, so someone may tell it to print without knowing the ink is out until they arrive at the printer) or maybe some people have unreliable eyesight and wouldn’t be able to see that the ink jar is empty. I guess for situations like that maybe you could put an electronic eye on the printer itself, looking through the glass jars, in order to tell you that one of the jars is low.

Other potential downside would be putting the wrong ink color into a jar but. That can be solved with labels.

Printers today are not at all user-friendly. I think with my ideas they would be much easier to use, as well as more environmentally friendly since they won’t use so much plastic.

[coinandcandle]

Occult Topics to Look Into

This is less of a witchy post and more of an occultist post. While they do tend to mingle, most of these topics should not be viewed as things to incorporate into your practice.

These are meant to be read and researched with a discerning eye and a solid ability to understand context and nuance so keep that in mind.

General Topics

Alchemy (history of + modern) Sacred-text's Alchemy index

Victorian Spiritualism & Occultism

Theosophy (Sacred-text's Theosophy Index)

Thelema (Sacred-text's Thelema Index)

Hermes Trismegistus

Philosophy (history of + modern)

Books/Texts

Jakob Böhme's The Signature of All Things

Agrippa's Philosophy of Occult Magic

Francis Barrett's The Magus

Manly P. Hall's Secret Teachings of All Ages

People

Austin Osman Spare

Éliphas Lévi

Paracelsus

Roger Bacon

John Dee

HP Blavatsky

Henry Cornelius Agrippa

[potionboy3]

mordred hart | wizard sociologist | hp victorian era

mordred is interested in the social life of the wizarding community and how it works. he is fascinated how people's actions as individuals differ from their actions as part of the community and how these ideas change the world around them.

facts about him:

he's a half-blood wizard.

his family owns a bakery in the streets of london.

since young age he's been interested on class differences and people's behavior in social relationships.

sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior. mordred became interested about sociology because of the muggle world and he quickly started to reflect the things he learned into the wizarding world, noticing similar patterns and ideologies.

possibly a ravenclaw or a gryffindor, yet to be determined.

clever, thoughtful, socially awkward, dedicated, sympathetic.

he's a bookworm who often gets lost inside his own mind.

he's easily bored with things that he finds uninteresting .

kind of inspired by milo thatch from disney's atlantis.

[beardedmrbean]

Oh thank you for liking my American wizards ideas

And about guns, okay modern trick a lot of writers use that magic is often uncomfortable with modern technology.

Now my Americans wizards gun magic is that they use mainly colonial muskets, revolvers, and recent advancements allow WW1-2 guns to be used.

Also like for the modern AK-47 and desert eagles, okay gamifying a bit. But american wizards enchantments get slow to change the type of bullets the guns use, ie a enchantment take make the bullets releasing posion gas after hitting the target and such

Actually I notice something I notice in post hp fantasy settings and especially after Rings of Power. A lot of modern creators try to put modern or globalized characters into middle age inspired settings

Like the push for black rep in fantasy…the problem is that the type of fantasy people that could resembled modern black people is if the fantasy setting take place in colonial or industrial eras.

But I think a lot of black activists in these progressive circles never realize or took the hard pill that the average black American and the modern Yoruba people are strangers to each other. We have no pagan cultural roots to Africa

Yeah it’s sucks…but it sure as hell will help you in the long wrong

And as you know I’m a Midwestern. This tweet made me realize my fantasy ideas is so different

https://x.com/oliverjia1014/status/1770085801113849979?s=46

It was a fun read

Now my Americans wizards gun magic is that they use mainly colonial muskets, revolvers, and recent advancements allow WW1-2 guns to be used.

You were talking about a steampunk type visual, you'll see a lot of old flintlock, wheel lock, and cap and ball type with the people that do steampunk, it's Victorian era so basically if it existed prior to to 1901 you're good.

Actually I notice something I notice in post hp fantasy settings and especially after Rings of Power. A lot of modern creators try to put modern or globalized characters into middle age inspired settings

Ya it's getting old, fantasy setting is not bad that and how they explained Morgan Freeman's character in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves worked great.

Moorish man that Robin had befriended instead of killed while out on the Crusade, came back to see England with Robin. It had a few 'magic negro' moments but not really magic other than the magic of his voice.

Just a inspirational speech, telescope thing too iirc been a while not really magic but a great vehicle for inserting someone who would not appear normally in that area at that time into a story.

But I think a lot of black activists in these progressive circles never realize or took the hard pill that the average black American and the modern Yoruba people are strangers to each other. We have no pagan cultural roots to Africa

Some are acutely aware of it

It's the 'they took our jobs' that everyone says it racist when you're talking about immigrants, but this is slots in college admissions and not racist at all if you ask them.

Xenophobic would be closer.

And as you know I’m a Midwestern. This tweet made me realize my fantasy ideas is so different

Guy moves to farm country and find out that farmers aren't actually the racist hicks he thought they were, many such cases.

There's a imageset from a post from FB or twitter or something, black woman breaks down in the middle of farm country on her way somewhere and her worst nightmare comes true when a white dude with confederate flag and maga stickers pulls up.

Guy was friendly and polite, helped to get her car functional and showed her where was a good place close by where a more permanent fix could happen.

There's a few, variations on who was driving and one I'm thinking of their bumper came loose, others with flat tires and what not.

They all end the same way, preconceived notions wind up being shown to be incredibly wrong.

[liminalhub]

*ੈ✩˚⊹RP information*ੈ✩˚⊹

Welcome. Here you can find all the important information, if you wish to RP with me.

✧˚₊ ABOUT ME ✧˚₊

Adult. Minors DNI 🚫

She/her

GMT +2 (not USA)

1 x 1 and discord only

Making friends ✔️

Long-term

Collaborative, cooperative and always willing to brain-storm

Semi-rapid, once a day, or once every other day replies (depending on life and timezone)

❗Want a basic vibe? Read the summary❗

RPing is a hobby of mine, but a hobby I put passion and effort into. It's nice to see it returned both IC and OOC.

Replies vary from short and sweet paragraphs, cozy medium ones, to long ones (over discord limit) - all depends on what is happening and if I can bounce off a given reply.

Frequency depends on timezones and schedule mostly, bu that said, if you know you like to take a week / a month to return with a reply, I am not your person.

I try to always be fair and equal in replies, but am not going to count words/paragraphs every time - quality, fluidity and fun over white noise quantity.

I always try to give heads up about being busy / wanting changes / needing a break. It's nice to see the effort returned.

I enjoy RP plotline like in books. Improvisation mixed with planning (no single scenes or singular one-shots).

Everyone has HC for their CCs - so do I. Both for mine, and for those I would like to interact with.

Vibe checks out? Make sure you keep reading then - quite important stuff under the cut...

ABOUT STYLE:

3rd person past only

Novella style + clean paragraphs

Semi-literate / literate / flexible literate

Trying to be grammatically and stylistically correct

I love building worlds, OCs, lore etc, BUT I will not carry the weight of the RP by myself.

No godmodding

ABOUT DISCORD:

RP ONLY over discord (will share in private over DMs)

My discord serves have some very basic rules (mostly about godmodding, communication, inactivity etc.), but I am nothing but accommodating and flexible when needed. They are there to help both you and me.

I don't use discord bots, and prefer to divide everything by roles

Can RP in one thread with the story flowing like in a book (switching)

Can RP in two threads or more, where the story focuses on parings at the same time / different times from each other (doubling)

ABOUT WHAT I RP:

Parings: mxm and mxf (LGBTQ+ friendly)

Paring types: OC x OC, CC x CC, OC x CC

Character types: top!m, top!f, switch!f

Content: SFW and NSFW only after we get to know each other more and get comfortable with the RP (no PwP or pure smutfishing, 70:30 or 80:20 ratio if the vibe is good)

OK with populating the world with NPCs and side characters, but require effort in return

OK with meaningful, thought out parings, with chemistry, romance, hurt/comfort, fluff, many shades of slow-burn etc.

ABOUT WHAT I WON'T RP:

Dead dove tropes

Underage

Any form of non-con

Unsanitary kinks and other similar

NOT OK with 'uwu submissive one-dimensional bottoms' or 'bottom brats who constantly rebel and oppose for the sake of it'

Hardcore gore (SFW-time gore during fights - ok, NFSW gore -not ok)

Pretty 'vanilla' when it comes to more gruesome or dark kinks (click to see more)

GENRES:

YES: fantasy, urban-fantasy, science-fiction (light, heavy, mecha, aliens etc.) wild west, ancient, apocalypse, post-apocalypse, horror (halloween, slashers etc.), monsters (vampires, werewolves etc.), modern (with a twist), superheroes, victorian, historic, dark, psychological, romance+ (slow-burn)

NO: celebrity rp, real people rp, self-inserts, only slice-of-life, only domestic

If you arrived this far, it means you actually read my bio, so please tell me so by using the code word : kopytko

FANDOMS (and possible parings - bolded italics is what I want to play):

Mass Effect (fem!Shep x Garrus)

Baldur's Gate 3 (fem!OC x Halsin)

Dragon Age (fem!Inky x Cullen)

Watch Dogs 2 (Marcus x Wrench)

HP (OC x OC / maybe OC x CC)

Avatar the Last Airbender (animated) (OC x OC)

Legend of Korra (OC x OC / maybe OC x CC)

Witcher (OC x OC)

will add more when I remember them

[literaticat]

Sorry for another question that features Harry Potter. It's my best example to help frame my question. In your expert opinion, would you consider HP a portal fantasy? Technically, he gets transported to another world via the Hogwarts Express, and the wizarding world is separate from the muggle world but there's overlap. If you don't consider it a portal fantasy, what subgenre would you consider it? I'm asking because I know portal fantasies are a hard sell, and although the MC in my latest manuscript gets transported to another world that is separate from our world, there's also overlap with fantasy creatures being out and about among the humans (who are unaware). So I'm figuring out if I can pitch it without using the words "portal fantasy" or "transported to another world". Thanks for your insight. I'm a big fan of your Tumblr. PS - I read some Reddit threads to see if I could suss out an answer to my question, and it was all over the place, so that's why I want to ask an expert!

IMO, a portal fantasy involves a LITERAL PORTAL to a LITERAL DIFFERENT WORLD. Like, you're in a mansion in England -- you go through a wardrobe -- and on the other side isn't the wooden back of the wardrobe, it's in fact a different world entirely. You're standing by a puddle in Yorkshire. You jump into the puddle. You come out in a lake in a different world. There's a door in the woods. You go through the door and enter a different world. Etc.

You notice I said IMO -- that's because hey, if you consider something that doesn't have an actual portal a portal fantasy, whatever, I guess, no skin off my nose, but I personally do not.

My argument for HP not being one: he isn't "transported to another world via the Hogwarts Express" -- he's transported to SCHOOL via the Hogwarts Express. The Wizarding World is in London, it's in Edinburgh, it's in Paris, it's in the countryside and the city, it's everywhere the Muggle World is, Muggles just can't usually see it, it's not "another world" it's just a hidden part of our world, and wizards can move freely between being hidden or not hidden, taking regular transport or magical transport, etc.

So if I was selling a book like HP, I'd just call it a MG Fantasy. Straight up. The end. Zero need to add any kind of subgenre. If I were feeling my oats I might call it a "Magical School" story -- because it is that, also, and people do understand what that means -- but that isn't really a subgenre, it's just a kind of a trope, and it would also be obvious from how I describe the book, so, whatever.

I would never call it a portal fantasy for two reasons: First, as above, I don't think it is one. Second, because as you note, people have a thing against "portal fantasy", it's "a hard sell" -- so why would I call it that if I don't have to?

And you DON'T have to, to be clear -- MG Fantasy is perfectly apropos, there's nothing wrong with NOT getting super granular about subgenres for kids books, that's just not something that kids or kid's book publishers spend a lot of time caring about. In fact, I'd argue that being hyper-specific about kids book subgenres could HINDER the book rather than helping it. Don't make a book feel niche!

(Another example: I also would never call a steampunk book "steampunk" even if it very clearly IS steampunk. For some reason kids book publishers seem to have a thing against the word steampunk - no I don't know why, don't ask -- though they don't really seem to mind if the actual story has steampunkish elements -- so if I was selling a steampunk book, I'd just call it "alternate history with magic" or "fantasy set in an alternate victorian age" or some such.)

[shakespearefreak]

New friend! Meet Virginia Wilde, from the late 1880s - early 1890s.

I've wanted Truly Me #115 for a while now, and I found a very good deal on her recently. I originally had intended to make her into Luna Lovegood (in fact, I'd already bought a fan-made Ravenclaw uniform for her), but as a trans person with trans and Jewish friends, Harry Potter has become... much more complicated for me the last few years. There's still a lot I really love about the series, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that (as long as I don't buy official merchandise etc.), but a lot of people I know are starting to see HP as a signal that someone isn't safe to be around (which, to be fair, makes a decent amount of sense, especially given Rowling's comments about the fanbase supposedly supporting her agenda). Anyways, the point to all this is to say that while I was planning to make #115 Luna, I also knew that for the comfort of those around me, I couldn't post a lot of photos of her or bring her out in public as I do my other dolls. I also was very torn on having a reminder of how betrayed I feel by Rowling in my room for me to see on a daily basis. Every time I find myself thinking of the Potterverse, it makes me happy, then immediately sad and angry when I remember how Rowling has harmed and continues to harm people like me. I was considering maybe keeping her stored away in her box part of the time.

But here's the thing... when she arrived, I took one look at her face and knew I couldn't do that; I loved her too much. So... now I had a very, very beautiful doll and no idea who she was. And I'd never, even as a child, bought an AG just because she was pretty and made up a character for her later. I definitely wanted to keep her though, so I just decided to wait until she told me who she was.

The first one I got came with a manufacturing defect, so I returned her to the seller and got a replacement. While the replacement was in transit, I racked my brain trying to decide who she should be. I had some vague ideas, but a lot of them seemed contradictory: I kept picturing her in historical gowns, but also found myself thinking of her in contemporary gothic alt fashion. In my mind, she was both a cheerful, creative artist type and an unusual “old soul” who made many people uncomfortable. Then, when the replacement arrived, I found myself thinking of her physical features: her pale skin, wide cloud-gray eyes, and flaxen hair, and tried associating her with pre-existing characters with similar attributes; and suddenly it clicked. She’s a Victorian gothic heroine; her biggest influences are Virginia Otis from “The Canterville Ghost” (which is also where her name came from: “Virginia” from the character herself, “Wilde” from the author), Edith Cushing from Crimson Peak, and Johanna Barker from Sweeney Todd.

She’s a little older than the rest of my dolls (15). Her father died shortly before her story starts, which is why her Meet Outfit is a mourning gown (I also want to get her some accessories inspired by Victorian mourning jewelry). She was quite close to her father, and became interested in the paranormal after his passing. She also loves art (especially painting). She’s quiet but cheerful, despite her more morbid interests, and friendly when you get to know her. Like Samantha, some of the dress codes of her time period frustrate her, and she surreptitiously rebels against them when she can.

I wanted her to be from 1884 originally (because of the old AG tradition of starting each story in years that end in 4), but then I had the idea of giving her a doll-sized Ouija board (which I’d found on Etsy ages ago, but never found a good use for!), and while spirit boards were used at the time, the Ouija board specifically was invented in 1890, so I’m leaning towards 1891 (I know I could use 1894, but then only a decade would separate her story from Samantha’s). I’ve been having trouble finding affordable era-appropriate doll clothing on Etsy, and I don’t know too much about the fashion from that period myself, so I’m kind of kicking myself for choosing this backstory, but now that I’ve seen it I can’t unsee it. (Any information about the time period any of you have, or any ideas for where to get outfits/furniture/accessories for her, would be more than welcome; thanks in advance!)

Since I don’t have a black Victorian-style gown (yet), for this photo I put her in the nightgown my mother made for Samantha when I was a child. I think it suits her more than it ever did Sam, so it’s hers now.

[fulgursmediaanalysisdrama]

If you're like me you might have read or got read to the Bartimäus trilogy. And if you're even more like me you read it a bunch of times. (I don't remember much about the Ring of Salomon so I'll refrain from commenting on it myself, quotes may happen tho)

And if you're even more like me, you didn't notice how much in this book is jewish coded. Mainly the Czech and the Golems. I, later after finding out about the story of the golem, checked and found out that Stroud openly was heavily inspired by it after visiting Prague. (Also a main featured in the books) That on top of general racism/discrimination allegories, anti imperialist messaging and talking truth to power shit.

That doesn't mean that everything is good tho, or that certain things were handled well. I'll add the links for all quotes I put immediately after them.

"The Bartimaeus books are also, in their own way, as ideologically coded as the adventure stories of Howard and H. Rider Haggard I discussed in the previous post. In particular, they align with the anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist sentiments of the protest left between the 2003 Iraq invasion and Occupy Wall Street protests, their demons and magicians part of a magical class war."

"The representation of Jews in Stroud’s series is intertwined with the books’ politics. On the one hand, Jews are mentioned directly in The Golem’s Eye, the second book of the original trilogy. There we learn that, in its Victorian period, Stroud’s fantasy Britain, ruled by a dictatorial and magical Gladstone, defeated a rival magical empire based in Prague."

"Naturally, the Czech magicians (with a chief minister named Meyrink) used golems. The immense power and off-putting ugliness of these constructs are described wonderfully by Stroud. We learn that these golems were originally created by the Jews of Prague and “the great magician Loew.” In Loew’s time, “the Jewish community” of Prague “supplied the Emperor with most of his money and much of his magic. Forcibly restricted to the crowded alleys of the ghetto, and at once distrusted and relied upon by the rest of Prague society, the Jewish magicians grew powerful for a time.”"

"Such tropes cut across left and right. The 99%-versus-1% politics of Occupy Wall Street and much left-wing activism during the years in which the Bartimaeus books were published often incorporated anti-Jewish slander, a trend which persists."

https://investigationsandfantasies.com/2022/07/18/jews-and-politics-in-the-bartimaeus-series/

(author also talks about rowling + her influence over current age fantasy stories. So here's another link https://investigationsandfantasies.com/2022/07/05/the-occult-jew-pt-8/ I was generally interested in looking up more related to Rowlings and HPs impact on literature/fantasy after finding out that tv tropes lists muggles (as in non magical people being treated differently from non magical folks, often in a belittling or similar way) as a trope. This also exists in Bartimäus as non magicians are called commoners. But you might also know about fantasy that calls them mortals or such)

"But in fact the deepest conflict in the Bartimaeus books isn’t between magician and commoner but between magician and djinni. And I’d say that’s not so much a class system as a colonial one. The wizards exploit the resources and bodies of the djinn they can control. Those djinn are a different race of being from an Other Place, ancient and yet bound to serve their British masters.

It’s notable that Bartimaeus and his magical peers include no leprechauns, elves, ogres, or the other enchanting creatures from European fairy tales. He doesn’t tell many stories about Arthur, Archimedes, Daedalus, Roland, Siegfried, Heracles, or other European heroes of the distant past. Instead, Bartimaeus talks at length about Gilgamesh of Mesopotamia, Solomon of Israel, Ptolemy of Egypt. He speaks of tasks in Uruk (Sumer), Karnak (Egypt), and--when forced to--Jericho (Palestine). The amulet that provides the title for the first book comes from Uzbekistan."

"Despite his books’ picture of British governors exploiting Asian power, Stroud seems to steer away from addressing parallels to real history. In resurrecting the British Empire as a magical superpower, he emphasizes its power over continental Europe and North America only. The Golem’s Eye depicts a Czech immigrant underclass in London, but we never see the Asian, African, and Caribbean minorities of today’s Britain. The Amulet of Samarkand makes a brief mention of weavers in Basra toiling to create a magnificent carpet, but the books aren’t clear about whether their British Empire is contiguous with “all the pink bits” that used to appear on British school maps. Perhaps that past is too recent and too awkward."

http://ozandends.blogspot.com/2007/03/bartimaeus-and-british-empire.html?m=1

"In a modern-day alternate universe, London rules the British Empire and magicians rather than monarchs rule London. That’s been true ever since the great William Gladstone defeated the rival sorcerers of Prague. But the glory days are gone. War with the American colonies is draining patience and resources, the commoners are resentful and the government has become a bureaucracy of second-raters. Magicians procreate, at least professionally, by taking bright young schoolchildren into their homes to train in the magic arts. Arthur Underwood, a magician of middling status and competence, accepts a six-year-old boy named Nathaniel as apprentice. No one knows his last name, because his parents have disappeared after selling him into the service. And no one is ever to know his birth name because that knowledge would give his enemies power over him.

Enemies are a given; there’s no Hogwarts-style collegiality among the guild. Magicians are the most conniving, jealous, duplicitous group of people on earth, even including lawyers and academics. They worship power and the wielding thereof, and seek every chance they can to undercut their rivals. This is according to Bartimaeus, in a footnote.* He should know. Though a spirit of considerable power, he is continually at the beck and call of climbers and posers who can summon him from “the other place” merely by learning his name and the appropriate words. When he’s called to London by an unknown magician who turns out to be a mere kid, it’s only the beginning of five very challenging years."

Here, I felt this was important

"Nathaniel is only twelve when he first summons Bartimaeus (in the passage quoted at the head of this post); when the series ends, he is seventeen. In each volume, he and his djinni must defeat a cabal whose overweening ambition threatens the social order, but Nathaniel himself has ambition to spare. He’s interesting that way. Young fantasy heroes like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson almost always possess an essential decency–though tempted, one senses that they are not corruptible. Nathaniel (who takes the professional name of John Mandrake) is corruptible: not only proud but vengeful, and embittered by the humiliating treatment he receives from his master and other magicians."

"What does paganism have to do with this? There are at least two kinds of “magic.” One kind seeks to control inanimate forces, dramatized by Harry Potter with his wands and spells (and bearing some resemblance to modern science). The other seeks to control personal spirits, and is also known as shamanism or necromancy. That’s the system imagined in Bartimaeus: an unknowable Ultimate Spirit or First Cause has spun off lower manifestations of itself, which in turn generate lower and lower forms, all the way down to rock and clay and the pathetic beings that crawl on it (i.e., us). Though arranged in a hierarchy, spirits (known as “gods,” in other cultures) have no controlling ethic. And, outside of their own personal favorites, they despise humans."

"Dispatching the monster stops the destruction and clears the way for an alliance of magicians and commoners, but there’s no guarantee that the new order will be much improvement on the old. Maybe; maybe not. Nothing has changed but the circumstances."

https://redeemedreader.com/2011/03/among-the-pagans-bartimaeus/ (I don't know how valuable this analysis is ngl. Also I'm running out of time for today)

Adding this not because it features any analysis but just for flavor ngl (and to share some positivity. Any shortcomings the series might have don't make everything positive about it disappear. However little you think it is)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bartimaeus/comments/nt8uo0/jewish_mythology_in_the_series/

[phantomato]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💙

Thank you. ❤️

I could have sworn I did one of these this year, but I can’t find it in the post history, so… 2023 fics only! I only have four that stand out.

In Fealty to Apollo (HP/Narnia, Tom Riddle/Edmund Pevensie)

I dedicated the month of May to this! Writing it was so rewarding. One of my all-time OTPs, meeting as middle-aged adults. It’s the sort of slow relationship growth, with many setbacks along the way, that I most love.

How Do You Start, Where Do You Go? (M/M Original Work)

This will almost certainly define 2023 for me. I don’t get to write a lot of stories set in America, but I live here, and I have so many big, wistful feelings about various parts of it.

My Darling Nephew (Uncle/Nephew incest based on a Victorian story)

Each year of my writing should contain at least one great pastiche, I think. I had such a great time emulating the Victorian first-person POV of the original, and I feel extremely proud of this as both a sequel to the canon and as something that works on its own as a sexy, incestuous homage to the style.

A Sense of Self in Decline (HP, Tom Riddle/Nott Sr)

I felt pretty terrible when I wrote this piece, especially the second chapter, which nets its inclusion on the 2023 list. It’s beautiful, though, and I love it for helping me see that I can still make art that feels worthwhile when I am at a low point in life.

[legilimenace]

Kenway Family: HP Victorian Era

[viictorvandort]

Hey, my name is Starry! Thanks for checking out my rules. I only RP with mutuals (and those who are over the age of twenty) but will check out your blog when you follow. This is just to keep my dash organised and know who is interested in roleplaying. I encourage plotting, so please let me know if you would like to share ideas! I won’t follow blogs of the same muse (unless it’s a multi) because plots with “twins” or magic that allows two of the same character to meet just doesn’t make sense to me, but I commend you on your amazing taste in muse.

I prefer to write multi-paragraph, but I’ll sometimes have a few smaller threads. You don’t have to match my length — just give me enough to work with. This blog uses the beta editor and trim reblogs extension.

I am happy to place my muse in different settings. There may be some that require plotting, but if we can make it work, then that’s fine. I feel anything can be worked out with proper discussion beforehand to make the verses match.

This interpretation will be darker than the movie, so please be aware of that.

Victor is open to shipping as long as there's chemistry! Due to being from Victorian era England, Victor presents himself as heterosexual but is secretly bi-demisexual. Any shipping between himself and another man would be kept a secret from his family (and society) unless it takes place in a verse where same-sex relationships are more accepted. But please feel free to discuss with me! I'm good at adapting to various verses and situations.

Speaking of shipping, I am also open to nsfw threads. However, due to Victor's nature, he needs time to get to know someone, so smut won't happen right away.

I don’t send in passwords. Please know that if I follow you, I have read your rules. I will read over them again once we start a thread.

I will send you memes when I see any that fit our muses. I love receiving them in return and encourage you to send as many as you like! I will reply to them as soon as I can. If you would like to continue an interaction from an ask, you can either reblog the ask (since the beta editor lets you trim asks now) or make a new post and tag me in it.

I will check out your blog and browse your muse pages if you are a multi to see if any of your muses work with Victor. I only request that you actively take part in plotting with me so that we can come up with a good plot that will keep our thread going. It doesn’t have to be plotted out in great detail, but a general idea of what we want to do will be appreciated. It’s also a great way to keep writing fresh and ensure that the thread doesn’t get stale before it’s even gotten started.

I use small text and icons. Both animated and live-action icons are available!

I will not tolerate abusive behavior or hate speech of any kind.

I am anti-JKR but will still interact with HP muses as long as you state in your rules that you don't support her.

I live in Scotland, which is the GMT or BST timezone.

[crowandmoonwriting]

Happy STS!

How much did you notice your style evolving since you've started writing? Is it what you want it to be or are there aspects of it you'd like to change?

Hi, Sam, happy STS!

I began writing seriously at the age of 12. I developed a very imagery-laden style, rather like that of Anne Rice or HP Lovecraft. It was very Victorian as well, somewhat restrained and I was afraid of writing topics that were taboo with anything other than strict propriety. As I grew up, I loosened up a little on those things, lol. I focused more in the characters' inner lives. Later I learned to tailor my style to whatever story/genre I was writing. For example, my southern gothic style is more visceral and stripped down than my fantasy work, which has a more Renaissance style of restraint.

[wordrage]

Yes! I have so many feelings about how much fun and campy wizard fashion could be. Break away from Modernity and embrace the Spectacle.

This might be referring to thereisareaper's excellent meta on Hogwarts robes here and how they cite examples from the text that support the school uniform being a type of garment thou pull over/off your head to wear instead of using a closure in the front. That and that they wear the hats. Hogwarts uniforms seemed like they were designed during the Middle Ages and remained static, I mean traditional, ever since.

(tealin and sadfishkid drew the uniforms based on book descriptions and are probably the most accurate, but I do love to see people's interpretations)

Anyway, considering that magicfolk didn't formally separate from Muggle society until the 1690s, that probably did follow local fashion trends and wear the same clothing as their Muggle neighbors. This would have been the tail end of the Elizabethan and Renaissance era, so fashion was all about the bling!! Starched fabrics, puffed sleeves and breeches. The embroidery!! The jewelry and swag for both men and women. The ribbons and brightly colored fabric?

The industrial revolution was about to kick off so printed patterns on fabric was about to be all the rage; as well as stacking stiffened petticoats (to the eventual hoop/crinoline skirts) and puffy sleeves we see take us to the Victorian Era. (Not to mention the clutch Regency/Georgian period where sheer fabric and form fitting silhouettes were IN).

Like, modern clothing has shifted from adorned heritage pieces you would have had customized and altered to keep up with trends to the mass-produced nylon and polyester generic clothing designed to stretch to fit most rather than be created for one person. Yet the potential for the HP wizarding world, where Enlarging and Shrinking spells exist probably wouldn't need to transition to the Muggle clothing unless they really like trousers over breeches/hose. Why wouldn't charms or Transfiguration spells be woven into wizard and witch clothing? There's so much fun to have with it. Like Dumbledore's star patterned robe twinkling it's stars at you, for instance. IN THIS ESSAY I WILL—

You asked about wizarding fashion which is something that lives rent free in my mind at all times so pls excuse the wordvomit

I always imagined it as a very mixed thing. Muggleborns would keep up at least a little with modern muggle fashion for whenever they are visiting family etc so there are probably (muggleborn) tailors who incorporate necklines, sleeves/shoulders/silhouettes that match current or recent muggle fashion. I can imagine these being popular with halfbloods too.

For more .. conservative (racist) wizards and witches it is possible that fashion developed completely seperately from muggle influences. Or even as a direct opposite of muggle influences. They could have seen a new trend come up with muggleborns and decide they want the exact opposite.

I do imagine that some purebloods would dress in clothing more like the boring robes, but that fabrics and embroidery etc could spice it up (moving embroidered birds etc). It's also possible that they have very different ideas on what silhouettes are desirable and they might use boning/petticoats/crinoline/shoulderpads/etc mixed with magic to achieve shapes muggles would never be able to achieve.

Another route is going completely magic oriented and then I imagine Iris van Herpen type styles with movement and floating bits etc

I hope this was somewhat understandable whoops

(I also imagine that Hogwarts uniform Is the really boring plain sword in the stone robes and everyone no matter their background hates them cause they're so outdated and stupid looking)

Ahhhh so much to consider here! And I don’t disagree with any of it.

I love the idea of Iris van Herpen inspired robes!

Oddly enough, I never considered embroidery that’s, like, enchanted to move. There are so many things magic could do with clothing. This idea reminds me a bit of the rejected concept of Elsa’s live fur coat in Frozen.

This is making me realize how uncreative I’ve been thinking about wizard robes—and ALSO. So many missed opportunities in the HP films to really play with this concept.

Also, also. Hogwarts robes are, to me, definitely the Sword in the Stone type. Very much NOT cute. There’s an ancient post about this that I could probably dig up, but if you know Tealin’s art from the early 2000s, that’s what I think the Hogwarts uniform probably looks like, at least in canon.

[catofadifferentcolor]

Terrible Fic Ideas #13: Harry Potter, but make it Tudor

As anyone who knows me will tell you, I'm fascinated by domestic history. It's part of why I tend to rewatch Victorian Farm, Tudor Monastery Farm, and the like at least once a year, and why I'm currently reading Judith Flanders' brilliant Inside the Victorian Home.

All of which, naturally, made me wonder: what if the wizarding world really was that backwards? Or more accurately: what if the wizarding world doesn't just look backwards? What if almost everything about it failed to move past, say, the year 1500?

Bear with me:

If you go back and read the accounts of just what it took to maintain a household even as late as 1899, it quickly becomes very clear that magic in place of a small army of servants and/or farm laborers is not only exceptionally efficient, it is possibly the only way to maintain the level of aspiration the guidebooks of the time suggest.

Contrariwise, there is very little that modern technology can do re: housekeeping and/or farm labor can do that magic can do substantially better. (For one example, any muggle has the means to handle any vermin problem that may occur in their home, whereas pre-1900 magic might be the only way to not have a vermin problem.)

Ergo, given the separation between wizards and muggles, its not inconceivable for wizards to believe they truly have it better - and, indeed, are better, because they don't spend half their life living in their own filth &c.

So just imagine what an HP that followed this logic might be like:

Much of the early years at Hogwarts are spent teaching children household and/or farming charms - things students would really have needed to survive even 100 years ago - or things that help build up skills needed to do household charms. As a consequence, the average Third Year student knows spells to black a stove, separate coals from cinders, chop vegetables, keep knives sharp, do the washing, and keep soot and ash in the chimney, but knows very little of magical theory, or indeed how to do much of anything with magic that can't be done as quickly and just as well with modern technology.

In fact, in this universe Third Year is when OWLs are held and is school leaving age for most. After all, only those with means have use for the magical theory and advanced studies that come after, much as how a very small percentage attended university in the Middle Ages.

As a result, most muggleborns and muggle-raised witches and wizards leave Hogwarts after Third Year and return to the muggle world. There's just nothing in it for them, and with how insular everything is only a handful ever realize there's more to magic than enchanting your brooms to sweep themselves. This does not help the opinion most purebloods have of muggles or muggleborns.

I really don't have much, or anything, of a plot beyond this. Mostly I just want to see an HP that, for all anyone in it is concerned, hasn't moved beyond the early Tudor period.

Perhaps that's all the plot would be: Harry reconciling himself to this strange new old world he's found himself in, wherein no one has ever heard of the Church of England (wizards practice a curious syncretism of Catholicism and Celtic paganism, complete with monasteries and the wheel of the year) and still think plagues strike the muggle world with considerable regularity. The Hogwarts Express remains a painful bone of contention between traditionalists and modernists, with most on both sides absolutely certain it's only magic keeping the muggle invention traveling faster than 20 mph and not exploding at any given moment.

In this world, Hermione and her ilk try to explain that the muggle world has advanced - you don't need spells to keep the heat from the fireplaces circulating throughout the room, central heating is a thing; I can just buy my own cheese, I've never seen a cow in my life; &c - but they are very firmly shot down each time, with some professors going so far as to give them detention for telling tales. Only the most stubborn stay even through Third Year to get to the good stuff.

Harry's not overly fond of more cleaning either, but it's better than the Dursleys, and admittedly with his rich Potter background he's shunted into some of the more interesting classes as well - the ones purebloods with house elves to do the cleaning get to take.

The only reason Weasleys do all seven years is because Mrs Weasley has aspirations for her children, even if they rarely follow it.

Voldemort in this universe is a little less I hate muggles than he is I hate that muggles have advanced beyond what magic can do, and therefore I fear them, though he plays into the first to get followers. There're no Horcruxes, just a Voldemort that advocates complete separation of wizarding and muggle, with muggleborns not being allowed to return to their parents after discovering magic - indeed, being taken away from their parents and raised by wizards after the first expression of accidental magic. He also advocates magical research that will keep wizards ahead of the muggles, which his opponents consider Dark or unnecessary or both.

Dumbledore in this universe is the mirror of Voldemort - he too sees that the muggles are clearly outpacing wizards, but his way of handling this is to make the wizarding world seem unthreatening to muggles. He wants to adapt on the surface - Yule to Christmas - and bide their time until the muggles are no longer a threat, either from successful reintegration or superior magics or the inevitable muggle plague that regresses their society. (In his world, there is no doubt wizards will come out ahead, because they've been at this for millennia whereas muggles only just figured out how not to live in their own filth. The average wizard is superior to the average muggle in every way, &c.)

...Okay, I guess there is some plot, but only in as much as failure to notably advance changes the shape of Voldemort's goals.

Bonuses include: 1) coming to terms with Tudor/Victorian clothing, most notably Hermione ranting at how is she supposed to do anything in a thousand skirts, corset, and heels? to which an adult or older student replies, why would a witch need to do anything? Possibly with the addition of physical exertion is dangerous for young women. 2) Harry taking the top of the class in household charms. 3) Ron letting slip that they learn things like magical theory in upper years after Hermione gets frustrated at it's lack, and instead of SPEW Hermione tries to advocate for teaching anything but household magic before most muggleborns drop out. (Nearly everyone in power thinks she's acting above her station, and what kind of witch fails to realize that household spells are the most useful and important magic separating them from muggles anyway?)

That's really all I have - an HP with a culture that's not so much evolved separately as stalled out of lack of need to evolve, and a plotless exploration of those cultural differences. Or maybe a plot concerned with now that we're faced with the need to evolve, how do we do it?

As always, if anyone choses to adopt, please let me know.

More Terrible Fic Ideas

[galadhremmin]

"they just want to be visually distinctive and not a copy of PJ's aesthetics"

ok fine, if that's all. Show me one important (1) Elf woman with short hair then. I'm talking buzzcut, not a bob. I'll wait.

Anyway, there are ways to do short hair that look like they occur in a culture with somewhat of an attachment to hair (thank Tolkien's Victorian throwback hair fetish for that). US marine cut/econ major/tik tok elvis isn't it. If you take something distinctive away you have to add something sufficiently creative in its stead.

Also still waiting for an older actress to be cast as an Elf, as it seems age-blind casting for ageless beings only applies to men so far. Interesting how that choice to make it look 'distinctive' just happens to make it more generic. Almost like they're trying to appeal to a large audience fresh from GoT!

"let people enjoy things"

I am, to my deep regret, incapable of stopping you or anyone from enjoying things (or there would be no superhero franchise or HP adults in existence at this point). And I enjoy hating on the show, so how about;

let people (me. ♥️) enjoy things (hating on the amazon show).

hope that helps.