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lanadelreyscokewhor3 · 2 days ago

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I CAN FIX HIM- P.B PARKER

Pairing- Jock! Peter x Nerd! Reader (enemies to lovers)

Word Count: 1.7k

Summary: You and Peter become closer after your successful final project is finished, and you realize perhaps Peter isn't as bad as you've made him out to be. A night out at the bar with him leads to... a date in the near future?

Warnings: swearing, sexual tension, alcohol and drug use

come close, i'll show you heaven/ if you'll be an angel all night / trust me, i can handle me a dangerous man / no really i can …

- i can fix him (no really i can), taylor swift

part one... part two

You could barely see him from the haze that seemed to linger over the crowd of people in the bar, its presence almost suffocating.

But you could hear him.

Even over the steady thud of music and peoples bustling conversations, his laugh rang loud and true in your ears, as if he had been talking about you behind your back.

Your ears seemed to ring as you let your head loll against the cool brick wall, gripping your glass of wine to try and stay cool.

It was stuffy and hot in this cheaply lit, dimmed rundown college bar, and yet it was completely packed- nonetheless.

And yes, you ordered wine at a college bar. You would be damned if you’d be influenced to try some foamy, warm beer- or a gross shot of liquor that would burn the back of your throat like wildfire.

No, you were quite content with your lukewarm glass of red, the same deep red as the lipstick you had boldly applied tonight.

You hoped it functioned as a fluorescent traffic cone in the sea of white shirts and blue jeans- an eyesore to anyone who bothered to glance your way. Your scowl steered everyone in the other direction anyways.

This was not your scene, and you had no plans of blending into it.

A bead of sweat trickled between your breasts, skin seeming dewy and sticky to the touch.

You had to get out here. You were drunk, and hot, and needy.

The longer you stuck by yourself, the more you got in your head about things. Peter had invited you out with some friends to celebrate the praise you received on your presentation, and the good grade that came with it.

Not that you were surprised by any means, you had worked your ass off- and you had worked it off whilst being partners with the most insufferable man alive.

Or so you thought.

Your once conflicting feelings about the man had turned for the worst- and you actually… liked him. Like really, really liked him. And it wasn't just the sex that had sold it.

He was a genuinely funny, charming and smart man. Behind all the jokes and the sass, he had real intelligent ideas.

You hated the fact you liked him.

It was a classic trope, the whole enemies to lovers, the one night stand and then acting like nothing had happened, that no feelings were shared, or had even been felt in the first place.

It was pathetic actually, the way you had let yourself go.

He was the reason you were on the opposite side of the bar. You were afraid if you were near him for too long, you wouldn't be able to stop talking to him- and that wasn't good. Because then he would entrance you, with his charming- boyish grin, and you'd melt into his arms like cotton candy.

Trying to pretend you still hated Parker was impossible though, to anyone who had eyes. You had given up on that act after the presentation- the raised eyebrows and smirks from Peter's friends telling you everything you needed to know.

They knew your little facade of hate was over. The mask had slipped clean off and shattered on the ground, your heart on your sleeve like a lovesick puppy.

You wanted to stay home with your roommates- as none of them would come to this, much preferring a movie night instead. You didn't blame them. You’d be snuggled right alongside them if it wasn't for your little crush, that didn't seem so little anymore.

So here you were, longing for a man you wanted to loathe, on the opposite side of the bar- despite him inviting you. Your head was thudding so loud it felt like a snare drum was directly inside your skull, the endless buzz of people making you woozy.

You gripped your wine glass, shoving past people as polite as you possibly could, making a beeline for the smokers pit. You couldn't take it any longer. It was too much.

The end was in sight, the door just in front of you, so close you could practically feel your fingers brush the crinkled old posters taped all over it.

“Excuse me ma’am- you can’t take that outside.” a man, presumably a worker called to you, and you slipped from his grip, swinging the door open.

“I’m just taking a smoke.” you called, doubting he could hear you over the loud music. The cool night breeze washed over you like a salty ocean wave, and you let out a sigh of relief.

The bouncer eyed you suspiciously as you clenched the wine glass tighter, slipping over to the side of the building, where there was a group of guys huddled, puff like train smoke, a cloud in their wake.

It was too dimly lit to tell who was who. You sighed, pulling a joint and lighter from your purse. You leaned against the brick, perching the joint between your lips, groaning in frustration as you flicked your lighter- nothing but a small spark emerging from it.

“Hey lady, I told you you can’t bring that out here.” that same man yelled, and you just about drunkenly lost your shit.

“Listen man, I’m not gonna steal your four dollar wine glass okay?! I’m just trying to have a joint and a girl cant even get a light!” you stretched, loud enough to alert the group next to you, feeling five sets of eyes on your frame, some shaking with laughter.

The man's face flushed as red as your wine, and you knew you wouldn't be allowed back here again. You couldn't give less of a shit.

“You need help with that?” a familiar voice sounded beside you, making you jump. Peter leaned against the wall next to you, holding a lit lighter to your face, motioning towards your joint.

“Thanks.” you nodded, leaning in and covering it from the wind. You let out a sigh of relief as you inhaled the smoke, the burn in your lungs leaving you fuzzy as you coughed.

“I’ll take care of her man, don’t worry.” he called to the owner, waving him away. His gaze turned back to you, full of charm and sass.

“Well I’ll be damned. Y/L/N smoking a joint? Who would've thought?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, yeah whatever. I’m drunk and stressed. Big whoop.” you rolled your eyes, taking another inhale.

“I can see that, from the sass you gave the owner. Or maybe thats just normal, I’m not too sure since thats how you always talk to me.” he shrugged.

“Its called flirting, asshole. I was securing a second date at the establishment.”

“Flirting by taking his glasses? I’m not sure I’ve heard of that one before.”

You snorted. “Yeah, I’m in need of souvenirs of this place. Its so beautiful, I just had to take something back with me so I wouldnt forget it.”

He laughed, the sound echoing through the air, interminling with the smoke from your half smoked joint.

“You’re lucky I know him sweetheart. Or you’d never be allowed back tothis beautiful bar.”

You rolled your eyes again, fighting the urge not to let your cheeks heat up. Before you could make a snarky comeback- a voice interrupted your thoughts.

“Hey Y/L/N. Funny seeing you here, without your little school girl getup.” Bucky smirked, peering alongside Peter, patting his shoulder.

“Harty har. Its vintage Chanel, I’ll have you know.”

“You look good.” he commented, both him and Peter checking you out, and you couldnt help but scoff.

“You should see whats under the dress.”

Bucky laughed and Peters eyes widened, stuck like a deer in headlights between you and Bucky. “Shes feisty when shes drunk, eh Parker? I like her. Good choice.”

He saluted you, him and the rest of Peters group heading back inside the bar, probably off to get more shitty tasting beers. You glared at him as he walked off before sharply turning your gaze to Peters, eyes narrowed like a hawks.

You were bold when you drank. Too bold.

“If you’re gonna look at me like that, ask me on a date at least.” you said, tossing the butt to the side and taking a sip of wine.

You felt buzzed. You felt as free as a bird. Anything could happen. You could say anything, and forget it ever happened in the morning.

So why not play him up a little?

“Would you like me to ask you on a date? Cause I will.” he stated.

“No.”

“So no, don’t ask you on a date?”

“No.” you replied again, shrugging your shoulders.

“I’m gonna ask you on a date now.”

You raised your eyebrow, pursing your lips. “And what if I say no?”

“Well I hope you don't since I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while now, but if you did we’d just pretend it never happened.”

Your heart fluttered at his words. He had wanted to ask you out?

“And what, just do this? Have sex once and then act like we aren't interested when we are?”

“Whose we? You are interested then?”

You silently stared at him, glint in your eye as you took another long, drawn out sip. It was nice to have the upper hand and annoy him for once. Suddenly, this whole dynamic wasn't so bad afterall.

“Not sure yet. I’d have to go on a date to find out.”

“Then go out with me, next Saturday. Please.” His voice turned to begging, eyes pleading at you- as if he wasnt the one who played you like a fucking fiddle, teasing you and getting you so riled up youd have to take breaks just from talking to him so you wouldn't lose your mind and kiss him.

He was staring at you, as if you were worth begging over. Like you were above him.

“Please?”

“Please.”

You smiled, hand reaching up to tuck a loose strand of hair back behind his ear, watching as it just fell forward again. Maybe that was too intimate. But he didn't seem to mind.

Encouraged it- actually.

You noticed every little move he made, inching closer and closer towards you- as if your red lips were a magnet.

“Fine. But don't make me wait. Pick me up at 6 o'clock sharp. And I don't like rocks being tossed at my window. A handkerchief wave will do just fine.”

“Just a wave?”

“Just a wave."

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kaiserin-erzsebet · 2 days ago

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So, here are my long thoughts on The Last Voyage of the Demeter because I'm jetlagged and trying to keep myself awake.

I'm going to organize it from my biggest issues to my smallest nitpicks. Because I am aware that some of the things that bother me are nitpicks. Also this movie is old enough that I don't think spoilers are out of line.

Anyway, here are my thoughts:

I don't think I can fairly judge the movie as an adaptation of Dracula. This would be a short review if that was my standard, because it is a bad adaptation. There's a laundry list of reasons why, and I'll get back to one of them because I think it is indicative of how this movie fumbled the story. It takes a very loose approach to the book, and that wouldn't be entirely fair to fixate on. But I will point out where I think the book executed a theme or tone element more effectively.

I fully went into the movie ready to judge it on its own merits as a self-contained horror story. That's why I was surprised that I disliked it so much, because it doesn't hold up as a piece of horror media. I think the core issue is that the screenplay fundamentally was thinking of itself as a movie about people fighting a monster.

In that respect, it does away with something that makes the Captain's log such an effective part of the original book: The mystery.

The original section is an exercise in dramatic irony. You, as the reader, have already seen the thing making the crew vanish, because you read Jonathan's diary and know what is in the boxes (even if you were reading it for the first time and didn't have the cultural osmosis of knowing who Dracula). You know why they are in danger. The captain doesn't. He spends most of the log trying to figure out what is going on and if it is misfortune or something really on board with them. He only sees Dracula at the very end of the log, when there is little he can do except tie himself to the wheel.

The book answers the question of "why don't they make port or throw the boxes overboard?" with saying that the captain doesn't know for sure if it is actually something malicious related to the cargo. The Romanian first mate has to slowly come to the realization that he does know, because he's resisting believing in superstition. Only when the knife passes through Dracula without harming him does he panic because it's undeniable that he's facing a folklore monster.

That build up is entirely absent from The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Anna just tells them within the first half hour of the movie (she's also a very inconsistent character, but I'll get back to that), and within days the crew has literally seen Dracula multiple times. People aren't mysteriously vanishing; they've been killed pretty clearly and there are survivors with bite marks. The deck is littered with body parts at points. It makes the voiceovers about "some doom" being on the ship seem comical, because the captain has seen with his own eyes what is going on.

The only reason given for why they can't make port to deal with the issue is that they're too far away, I guess? Which is also not the case for a ship sailing that route. This isn't an open sea voyage.

While the pacing of a movie and the pacing of a show are different, The Terror did this so much better. You don't get to see the Tuunbaq clearly until quite late in the series. People just vanish or get mauled by...something. That sense of mystery is just gone in The Last Voyage. And it is disappointing because that was a huge opportunity to nail the tone.

If I had to come up with the key elements of what the Demeter section is, it would be: A Horror Story about a ship with a tragic ending.

They didn't nail the horror, but what about the other two?

There's also a puzzling lack of understanding of the dynamics on a ship throughout the movie. One glaring example is that the First Mate and Clemens make the decision to sink the ship without even asking the captain first. I know this is the merchant navy and not the navy, but that is still a galling lack of discipline. The captain is in charge and his duty is to the whole ship and the crew.

The original captain's log makes use of this. Dracula more or less kills his way up the chain of command because he's a sadist. He's forcing the commanding officers to feel more desperation as they fail in their duty to protect their crew.

The Last Voyage makes the captain a very minor character, which at least to me reveals a misunderstanding of how hierarchy works in a ship. While I don't think including new characters is necessarily bad, Clemens and Anna make most of the important decisions, and neither of them particularly have standing with the crew. It undercuts the idea of responsibility and letting people come to harm under your care (which carries through later to Lucy and Mina).

I'll return to other ways the ship setting feels incorrect later, because those are closer to nitpicks.

So, third element: is it a tragedy? Does everyone on board die by the end?

The opening scene may make you think so. But no, actually they don't. Clemens escapes and ends the movie vowing to hunt down Dracula. For one, this is where it is a bad Dracula adaptation because that simply cannot happen and maintain the plot of Dracula. Unless he was rather dense when he read about the Bloofer Lady in the paper and decided that wasn't related. But additionally, the tone of the ending radically changes. It isn't a tragedy where the last act of a brave man is to stay at the wheel, because he isn't the lone survivor left to be battered to death by either the storm or Dracula anymore. In fact most of the crew is still there for the multiple people vs Dracula fight.

This is where the tone really failed for me: the story has a winner, a hero, someone who can make it out alive. And it's the new character. That just did not sit well with me when the original is such a poignant tragedy.

The First Mate, who is the character most primed to come to a realization, hardly has an arc in The Last Voyage.

The insistence that they can fight and maybe even win also makes both Clemens and Anna incredibly inconsistent characters. She especially suffers from this, because she should in theory have the knowledge of how to repel a vampire (the villagers certainly have some idea in the book), but then she says things like "do you think I have the faintest idea how to kill him?" and in the next breath is urging the crew to kill him before he reaches London. She also says Dracula is going to London because "there is no one left in my home country to feed on" but her backstory is that she's on the ship as a deal so Drac can have a snack. So, clearly, he can get people to feed on if he wants.

Clemens is the "too smart and rational" character. But he also never thinks maybe they should expose the boxes to sunlight even after seeing people combust in sunlight after turning. It's all terribly inconsistent.

The decision to not write the story as a tragedy ends up cascading, and that's the root of the issue. They can't win and kill the monster without completely changing the story of the novel, so they are only competent to a point. It makes it a worse horror movie, even disregarding it as an adaptation.

Now for the nitpicks, including quite a few about boats that probably only I noticed:

The aesthetics are all over the place in terms of period. Clemens spends a large part of the movie (which is set in the 1890s) running around in a lace up pirate shirt. No one on this ship owns a period appropriate boat cloak. None of their shirts have remotely the right collars, giving the sense that nautical fashion was sort of vaguely consulted over the long 18th to 19th century-ish.

Please look at this and tell me that it is even remotely late 19th century:

Here's Olek from 1899 for comparison (note the correct high collar and undershirt):

The dialogue suffers from this too. More than one person uses the word "heathen" which just feels wildly out of place in something that is supposed to have rationality and superstition as the key touchpoints (at least if it wants to be like Dracula). It sounds weird coming from a time period 20 years before World War 1. Sailors especially were more likely to be vaguely Christian but mostly superstitious, not zealots using terms like "heathen."

Additional aesthetic nitpick: The ship looks way too old for the period. That is an early to mid 19th century ship sailing in the 1890s without any retrofitting. There's a throwaway line about the captain not wanting a fancy new steamship, but that doesn't account for how antique the captain's quarters are or the lack of metal on the hull. Again, the nautical aesthetics are all skewing too early. If this ship was still a Russian ship like the original, an older sailing vessel might have said something about the lag in Russian shipbuilding, it works less with an English merchant ship.

There's some functional issues about understanding sailing: The ship is way too spacious inside. Really tall men are standing up straight and walking around the hold with no trouble. That may seem like a small point, but imagine what actually exploiting the claustrophobic feeling below decks could have done for the ambiance.

The ship is definitely undercrewed given the number of masts they are showing. That many men would really struggle to reef all of the sails in a timely manner (which would matter in a storm). The writers put a crew of a small fishing vessel on a ship that is much larger and requires more hands. And it is puzzling because more people would mean: more kills and disappearances as well as giving a progression of being unable to raise and lower the sails and also keep someone at the wheel. Which, I will note, the original log does.

My first red flag about this movie was having seemingly no Slavic characters on a ship that was Russian in the original. But now that I've seen it, I'm even more annoyed that the one Russian character exists to: call a woman a slur, call a black man a slur (a rather British one imo), and then immediately be murdered on screen. Can't have nuance in how we portray Slavic people in Western media, huh?

I also get the sense that the screenwriter didn't know the difference between Romanian and Romani, because the first mate is vaguely hinted to be Romani (the kid mentions "Wojchek taught me some words in Romani") and has a Western Slavic first name, not a Romanian one. When in the book he is explicitly Romanian.

Rapid fire ways the movie gets the book wrong on a nitpicky level: Dracula doesn't get more human looking as he nears London, a vampire who prides himself on being aristocratic isn't going to drink from pigs or rats, the vampires in the book can go in sunlight but are weaker, religious artifacts are way more powerful deterrents in the book, and Clemens is way too casual about transfusions. It makes Van Helsing doing it seem less like an act of desperation. Anna gets Mina's ability to sense Dracula without putting in the effort to reverse engineer the connection.

Someone please tell me that Nosferatu is better. This was honestly very frustrating.

#dracula #last voyage of the demeter #I was actually hyped about this movie when it was first announced #this brings me no joy

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hollowed-theory-hall · 1 day ago

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About Hogwarts Castle's Architecture

I think the history is wrong... Like, stone castles only became a thing in Britain when the Normans brought the practice over with them from France (Norman rule was officially established in 1066). And the first stone castles in Scotland were only built around the 1100s. Hogwarts was built around the 990s... so what's up with that?

(Like, there were some fortified stone structures in Scotland pre-normans (brochs), but no one would really call them a typical castle. Also, they were built in the Iron Age (Brochs were specifically built between 400 BC and 200 AD), so not the founders' times)

Also, many of the architectural details of Hogwarts in the movies/Hogwarts Legacy/any other video games/illustrations have much later influences, what with the Gothic architecture (which only came around in the 1200s) and elements from Victorian restored castles (I'll go more about what this means later).

And I have a Watsonian theory/headcanon to make it make sense.

What I think, is that the Hogwarts castle we (and the characters) experience, has been heavily reconstructed over the past thousand years. So Hogwarts likely started as a simpler, wooden structure (as was common in Scotland around the 10th century) and it changed and grew and evolved throughout the centuries.

So we'll walk through the history of castle architecture in Scotland and explain how Hogwats evolved over the years. (Becouse I'm an architecture and history nerd, sue me).

Pre Founders

Hogwarts is legend to have been built where the founders found a pensive:

The Hogwarts Pensieve is made of ornately carved stone and is engraved with modified Saxon runes, which mark it as an artefact of immense antiquity that pre-dates the creation of the school. One (unsubstantiated) legend says that the founders discovered the Pensieve half-buried in the ground on the very spot where they decided to erect their school.

(Pottermore)

So, the location probably wasn't empty, but had some evidence of past wizarding residence there. How much is unclear, but it was a place magic was practiced in before the founders.

990s

Hogwarts is founded as a school and sanctuary. Muggles at the time didn't really believe in witchcraft (the church considers believing in witchcraft heresy). So, it's not really to protect themselves together, but more to allow wizards to build a united community.

There is an element of hiding magic from muggles:

Why didn’t we choose to produce flying barrels, flying armchairs, flying bathtubs – why brooms? Shrewd enough to see that their Muggle neighbours would seek to exploit their powers if they knew their full extent, witches and wizards kept themselves to themselves long before the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy came into effect.

(Quidditch Through the Ages)

But it's not for the same reason as the later witch hunts. At this time, people who confessed to witchcraft would need to repent (not via execution, mind) because they'd be seen as delusional. After all, magic doesn't exist according to church doctrine at the time. and as mentioned in the book, the concern was to be bothered to help muggles with everything, not because they were hunted at the time.

Around this time there is the magical government in England at least, is the Wizard Council, also known as the Wizengamot. Due to the similar name, the muggle Wittengamot (the council of lords that chose the king of England) might be aware of their wizard equivalent, but they might also be completely unaware (explained in the next section).

Castles, in this time period in the UK, looked something like this:

Hogwarts, when founded, probably looked like this combination of buildings and not what we imagine as a castle.

with the Chamber of Secrets as a basement. It's canon that a Gaunt later added the pipe entrance from the bathroom, so it's original entrance lay elsewhere.

Note that this means it wasn't the founders who but the Common Rooms, Room of Requirement, or the moving staircases and that the in-universe history books are wrong.

Since Hogsmeade was founded by Hengist of Woodcroft who was a student of Helga Hufflepuff when she was alive, the village was probably founded in the century following the school's founding.

1000s-1100s

Here we get the Norman Conquest of England, and while Scotland wasn't Norman, the culture in Scotland was influenced by the changes down south. Specifically, castle architecture is something they copied from the Normans.

The reason I mentioned earlier the muggle Witengamot might've not been aware of the wizarding community is because we know William brought with him wizards in his army, like the Malfoys:

Like many other progenitors of noble English families, the wizard Armand Malfoy arrived in Britain with William the Conqueror as part of the invading Norman army. Having rendered unknown, shady (and almost certainly magical) services to King William I, Malfoy was given a prime piece of land in Wiltshire, seized from local landowners, upon which his descendants have lived for ten consecutive centuries.

(Pottermore)

But many other pureblood wizard family names we can date back to the Norman invasion. Such as: Lestrange, Peverell, Wealey, Gaunt, etc. So, it's somewhat implied William won England with the help of wizards that the local Anglo-Saxon English didn't have fighting with them.

Due to these Norman wizards clearly getting positions of influence in the wizarding community (talked a bit more about this here[]), it's likely they or even William himself wanted to improve Hogwarts to keep the wizardibg population onside.

So, around the later 1000s or early 1100 Hogwarts would've looked something like this:

So, basically, the same structure as before, but the keep (where the Great Hall is, is built from stone. The Great Hall (AKA the most defensible place in the castle everyone fell back to in the Battle of Hogwarts) was the first built.

As for the inside:

We have geometric details on the columns and archways (which are round, it's not yet the pointed gothic arches we all know and love). The walls would all be painted white and then colorful and vibrant colors over it (somewhat visible in the picture on the left).

1200s-1300s

Throughout the next two centuries, more and more wings would be added to the castle. Many of the classrooms and dorms that were outside the keep in the outer buildings moved to these new wings inside the main stone castle. The outer walls & fortifications would also be improved and extended from the former ones and a proper gatehouse would likely be built:

And a few churches, since they tended to be more decorated on the outside and I want to explain this is when gothic architecture was a thing and that most of the styles we recognize for castles are from this period:

This is when the Room of Requirement, the moving staircases, the towers (the Astronomy Tower, the Headmaster's Tower, and perhaps the Owlery), and the various common rooms would be built.

(Note the castle on the left would've likely had a whitewash on all of the exterior back in the day)

At this point, the Great Hall, and the quad if we think of the typical Hogwarts castle would be built:

(Image from Hogwarts Legacy)

There would be no transfiguration courtyard area yet and no clocktower yet as they are likely later additions.

I'd also note the inside of the castle, would look something like this at this point:

The walls would be painted and colorful and vibrant. You might also see wall hangings like we see in the Gryffindor Common room in the movies, that's actually accurate (the wall tapestry/curtain things, not the furniture, the furniture is 17th and 18th century) except the stone would likely not be bear stone and instead have a whitewash over it and tapestries over the whitewashed stone. Bear stone wasn't an all that common look in this era unless they used pretty stones that were meant to be shown off (which was expensive, hence rare).

1500s-1600s

This period is still building in a style called Gothic (12th to 16th century), but we're adding more intricate detail, and the style for furniture changes quite drastically (because we've entered the Tudor area). I believe that around the 1500s and the 1600s, more wings were added, like the clocktower, the transfiguration courtyard, and the viaduct (a bridge was probably there before, but I think it was rebuilt with the new building):

The style of buildings we're looking at now would have this sort of exterior:

(Note the house on the left and castle on the white would've likely had a whitewash on all of the exterior back in the day)

And this is the interior we're talking about:

Also, up until this point, greenhouses weren't really a thing (at least not the glasshouse variety). I assume there was an Herbology Garden or that perhaps a Vegetable Patch Harry mentions exists next to the greenhouses and served as the place where they grew plants because glasshouses like we think of when we read the word "greenhouse" were only started being built in England late in the 16th century. So the Greenhouses are likely a 17th-century addition since the wizards probably adopted them a little later than the muggles.

1700s

This is when indoor plumbing was introduced to Hogwarts and the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was changed:

When first created, the Chamber was accessed through a concealed trapdoor and a series of magical tunnels. However, when Hogwarts’ plumbing became more elaborate in the eighteenth century (this was a rare instance of wizards copying Muggles, because hitherto they simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence), the entrance to the Chamber was threatened, being located on the site of a proposed bathroom. The presence in school at the time of a student called Corvinus Gaunt – direct descendant of Slytherin, and antecedent of Tom Riddle – explains how the simple trapdoor was secretly protected, so that those who knew how could still access the entrance to the Chamber even after newfangled plumbing had been placed on top of it.

(Pottermore)

1800s

Now, back to what I mentioned in the opening paragraph about Victorian castle reconstruction. So, during the Victorian era, many rich people bought castles to restore and preserve them. Victorians in England were kinda obsessed with the Medieval period (and Ancient Egypt, but we're not talking about that right now) so they wanted to be able to walk around castles, and they had a lot of castles in the UK that fell into disrepair and just stood there empty. The thing is, the Victorian people who restored castles had no idea what Medieval castles actually looked like in the Medieval period. So all the castles you see with this sort of interior (which are most reconstructed castles, btw):

That's a Victorian reconstruction. They built how they imagined medieval castles looked like according to their own tastes and aesthetics and what they saw from more recent Todur castles, not how medieval castles actually looked like.

That being said, Hogwarts was continuously used throughout all these years, so I imagine some of these Victorian elements would make their way in, but not to the same level as these reconstructions.

Basically, different locations in the castle would look different depending on when they were built. Most furniture is likely to have been replaced more recently and would at most date back to the 1500s. So, we'll see a lot of dark wood furniture that isn't painted the way they would've painted furniture in the medieval period.

I'd also expect that some of the older walls/ceilings are still painted very vibrantly (which fits with the wizard's sense of style overall).

Basically, I think the Hogwarts we experienced in the books wasn't built in one year as a monolith by the founders. It was added to over time. Rooms that look older Medieval, and ones that look like a Tudor addition would all exist within the same castle. Areas in the older sections would have 18th-century wooden paneling because reconstruction was needed. I personally think that's the right way to go about designing Hogwarts since most castles in Britain are like that (and in the rest of Europe).

Castles changed and grew according to the needs of whoever lived there at the time and the technology available. And since, well, at some point castles weren't needed as fortified structures anymore, they lost fortifications for aesthetics. We have no surviving castles that actually look the way they did back when they were built. All the preserved ones had wings added, walls paneled with wood, and the windows replaced. And in many of them, you can actually see the patchwork in the bricks, the window style changing from one window to the next across a single wall. I think that's part of what makes castles gorgeous and it always made sense to me Hogwarts was like that too.

#harry potter #hp #hp meta #hollowedtheory #harry potter meta #wizarding world #hogwarts #hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry #hogwarts castle #wizarding world of harry potter #hollowedheadcanon #hp headcanon #hollowed hp redesign #historical context #wizarding history

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myokk · 3 days ago

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2024 in Review

I saw @anomalyaly do this & loved seeing it!!! Since I’m a list girl & LOVE thinking back on my year, here is mine♥️ I read some amazing fics and books, and watched a LOT of amazing movies this year!! I read way less than normal though, because I started writing and drawing fanart in my little free time, and this was a CRAZY YEAR !!!!! Lots of personal art growth (started tattooing actual people this year😳🙏), my personal art style is growing in a direction I’m super happy with, and my little bad fanarts are slowly getting better as I learn this style as well♥️

Hopefully in 2025 I find the time to read MORE fics & especially more HL ones bc there are a lot im looking forward to reading!!🫶🫶🫶

FICS

unsphere the stars - cocoartist (my roman empire)

blood and gold - ObsidianPen (roman empire part 2)

this is how you lose the time war - fleabagshair (I screamed on the train as I read this😆)

no glory - ObsidianPen (SO GOOD😭😭😭)

when we’re older - @writing-intheundercroft ♥️♥️♥️ SO SO SO SO GOOD !!! I’m almost done & the only longfic I’ve read in this fandom so far. I LOVE THEO AND HER SWEET SEBASTIAN SO MUCH !!!!!!

All of @holdmymallowsweet writing🥹🫶

my hl fandom roman empire, Birdie by Laney @crushribbons ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

And other various pneshots I’ve read, commented, and reblogged here. The fandom has so much talent & I hope to have more time to read this year😍🤞

Books

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (my yearly reread♥️)

Final del juego - Julio Cortázar (all of these short stories are SO GOOD !!!!!!)

Rayuela - Julio Cortázar (one of the best books ever written tbh) (¿Encontraría a la maga? 😭♥️♥️♥️)

Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry (my favorite book OF ALL TIME…I had to reread it🫶)

A Little Life - I’m not even going to bother putting the author. This book was the biggest piece of garbage, biggest waste of time, worst book I’ve ever read hands down & now I don’t trust what people think is popular these days😆😆😆 it was bizarre fetish torture porn & idk how I even finished it😭 (@choccy-milky can attest to my hatred….she sends me hate YouTube videos about it now😆)

Mansfield Park - Jane Austen. My breath of fresh air 🥹♥️♥️

The Last Picture Show - Larry McMurtry. Amazing end to 2024♥️♥️

Movies

Eyes Wide Shut

Rashomon

The Irishman

The Seventh Seal

American Beauty

Kiki’s Delivery Service (this is my comfort movie I’ve watched it like crazy since like 1999😆)

Inglorious Basterds

Amanece que no es poco (weirdest movie I’ve ever seen😆😆♥️) (ok maybe not but this year definitely)

Porco Rosso

I just love stories so much & all of the different ways they can be told♥️♥️♥️ I hope for an amazing 2025 & here’s to A LOT MORE READING & ART🥹🤞♥️ don’t be surprised if you start getting monster comments from me bc this is the year I *really* start reading hl fics🥰🥰🥰 & leaving comments/interacting with everyone is my favorite thing in the world!!!!

I love you all & I hope this is an amazing year🫶🫶🫶

#ignore the fact I’m kind of late with this😆#in my defense I’ve been on my phone like 10 min a day only these days which is nice #but I miss you all!!! I’ll start commenting/interacting like crazy again next week♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️#I’ve loved seeing the recap posts from all of you though when I AM on here though!!

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click4rainy · 2 days ago

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Syzoth Boyfriend Head Canons

👽: He’s so cutie patootie frfr

⚠️ :freaky lizard man, (up to your interpretation) dual penetration, cunnilingus, biting, edging, idk if I left anything out but he’s so fine isn’t he? OH, and breeding kink kinda implied? (Definitely)

SFW 💚🦎

★ Syzoth is kind and nurturing. Despite going through immense loss—he still holds that aspect of himself. He’ll often check in just to ensure you’re okay.

★ “Are you feeling alright, bug?” “Are you sure?” “Do you need anything?” “Are you hungry?” “Have you drank water today?”

★ He’s open about his grief, but only when he feels safe enough to share it. Sometimes he’ll tell you about his family with a bittersweet tone, grateful that you’re willing to listen.

★ Syzoth never wants to burden you with his immense guilt. No…But in nights when the memories are too much for him, he allows himself to lean on you. He will hold onto you tightly—as if he’s afraid you’ll disappear too. Your touch often the only thing that can ground him from his despair.

★ He isn’t interested in grand gestures or gifts. He thrives on small, intimate moments. Sharing a meal, late night walks, fire fly watching, or simply enjoying a movie in bed together.

★ He’s honestly so thoughtful, like remembering the tiniest details about you, kind of thoughtful. Your favorite flower, the way you like your tea, and even the books you’re reading. “I saw these flowers on the way back…I think they’re the ones you wanted for book marks. I don’t know, either way they made me think of you…”

★ Syzoth knows what it feels like to hide who you are, given his shape shifting ability and the stigma that comes with being Zaterran. With you, he’s completely himself and encourages you to do the same. Your little hype lizard.

★ He’s does this thing (usually when you’re alone and not particularly doing anything important.) where he’ll suddenly get really close to your face and stare at you intently. This habit (even though you’re used to it) catches you off guard from time to time.

★ “you’re doing it again…” You’ll say with a quirked brow. He leans in closer, still staring intently. “I just can’t help it, love. I can’t keep my eyes off of you…” He answers honestly, his eyes tracing every line of your face shamelessly.

★ Syzoth naturally gravitates towards warmth, which often means curling up to you when he’s feeling a bit too cold. He’ll quietly rest his head on your lap or pull you into his arms, justifying it with a cheeky comment. “What..? You’re practically a walking furnace…” he says with a sly grin “let me borrow some of this heat you horde.”

★ He loves soaking up the sunshine. And if you’re outside together, you’ll often find him lying on his back with his eyes closed, taking in the warmth with a gentle smile. It’s one of the few moments where he looks completely at peace. And you’ve learned to just let him bask while you do your own thing nearby.

★ “I don’t understand how you can just stay there like that for hours…” you tease. He smirks, not bothering to open his eyes. “It’s absolute bliss for us cold blooded creatures, bug. Absolute bliss…”

★ This man will use his forked tongue to “taste the air” gauge his surroundings, especially when he’s in his true form. It’s an instinctive behavior. But he’ll use this ability to playfully taunt you as well. Flicking his tongue in your direction—making you roll your eyes. “You smell nervous.” He quips with a smirk.

★ “I smell just fine, thank you very much.” You retort, lightly swatting at him. (for being right.)

★ He isn’t prone to outward displays of anger. But if he’s upset, he’ll let out low rumbling sounds, or even hiss. It’s a subtle but telling sign of his irritation. And it’s cute as hell.

★ If you’re the type to tease back, Syzoth will respond in kind. By playfully stalking you of course. His movements becoming deliberate and slow, almost like a predator.

★He’ll sneak up on you when you least expect it, his footsteps silent as he follows your scent, his eyes fixed on you. When he finally catches you, his touch is light but teasing, his breath fanning against your skin.

★ “Trying to run away from me?” He asks, his voice coming out in a purr. “You’re not fast enough.” he adds, moving closer. “You’re clever, but I’ve never been one to let my prey get away.”

NSFW 🦎💦

★ He doesn’t mind being a bottom if that’s what you want baby! But he’s personally more of a top. He loves whatever you love. He’s gonna make you cum regardless. “mmmh, absolutely.” “Whatever you say, love.” “Is this what you want?” “Must I really keep my hands to myself…?”

★ I’m saying he’s got two of em. Not elaborating.

★ Syzoth, with his love for warmth, is quite touchy. His hands roaming your sides up and down before sliding into your bra, toying with your nipples until they perk.

★ He likes to bite. Sometimes he’ll bite too hard, sending a jolt of pain and pleasure throughout your entire body. you pout, but he softly hushes you with a murmur, licking his lips and finally pulling away, flicking his tongue over the bite mark, soothing the pain slightly.

★ Of course, he loves to worship your body with his long, dexterous tongue, tracing every curve and contour, leaving absolutely no inch of soft skin untouched. Pinning your thighs in place, he eats you out like no tomorrow.

★ Reaching places you never knew could have feeling, your hands gripping the sheets as he looks up at you through his lashes. He moans, barely audible against your pussy. Lapping at your clit before thrusting his tongue back inside of you, just barely tickling that sweet spot to make you desperate and reeling.

★ He gets off on edging you. Until you are a sweating, crying, whimpering mess. “What’s wrong love?” He croons, feigning ignorance while using his index and middle fingers to spread you open—exposing the fleshy, slick heat to his hungry gaze, his breath teasing every nerve that makes you arch and squirm.

★ He takes his time teasing you, bringing you juuust to the brink of ecstasy before backing off, only to start all over again.

★ Syzoth loves it when you give him head. It’s double the fun. Literally. Your soft, plump lips wrapped around one of his thick, pulsing dicks as your fingers stroke and caress the other. The dual sensations of your hot, wet mouth and gentle touch drives him wild.

★ He’ll tangle his fingers in your hair, (or grip the melon you never know) guiding your head and bobbing it on his length. “That’s it, love…mmmh, perfect~” Your muffled moans vibrate around his sensitive flesh, and it only spurs on his onslaught of face fucking.

★ Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, he’ll yank you up and pin you beneath his muscular, cool form, one cock plunging deep into your slicked cunt while the other seeks whichever entrance you’ll allow.

★ “You drive me absolutely mad. I want to ruin you for anyone else…” “ssso good…sso warm…”

★ Rocking into you, desperate and needy, rutting his hips against yours as he fills you utterly, stretching you deliciously while nibbling your shoulder, both cocks fucking into you simultaneously.

★ His tongue snakes out, tracing the curve of your ear before he nips the lobe sharply. “I'm going to fill every inch of you” “Fill you until you’re dripping with my seed.” “When I’m done with you, the only thing you’ll be able to think about is the feeling of me splitting you open.”

★ He will fuck you for hours—relentlessly. Until finally he hilts inside you, twin cocks throbbing and pulsing. He grunts and shudders, picking up pace once again, pounding into you roughly while his claws dig into your hips. his thrusts become more sloppy, less coordinated.

★ “Want to see you round with my brood,” he grunts, or something similar, slamming in one last, merciless time, flooding your insides with his virile seed. He pulls out, a river of pearly white cream oozing from your well fucked hole(s) “Marked you inside and out.” he purrs, watching his semen drip out of you before falling beside you.

★ He immediately pulls you in close, cradling your head against his chest as he tries to catch his breath. But once he regains some composure, he’s the epitome of a cuddle bug. Stroking damp strands away from your face, kissing your forehead, cheeks and nose. He murmurs praise and words of affection.

👽: I LOVE HIM UGHHH. If he gave me a cup of his cum milk I’d drink it.

#headcanon #mk1 #mk1 2023 #mortal kombat 1 #mortal kombat fandom #reptile mortal kombat #syzoth my love #syzoth mk #syzoth x reader #syzoth x you #mk fandom #smutty smut smut #rainyworx #mortal kombat #mk1 x reader #mk1 x y/n #mk1 x you

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willowgarden15 · 1 day ago

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Random thought but there's something that always bothered me about horror in batman comics

The horror represented is always " loud" and "basic":

-Bruce/and or any batfam related character honestly hallucinating about his parents or his now family dying because of his inadequacy and failures.

-Monsters quite typical in pop culture like vampires or werewolves.

- Violence and gore usually being but an unremarkable bloodbath lying in the background.

Nothing inherently wrong in these ways of depicting horror and trauma since comics as a medium of art limits the way you can present things. It lacks the music and visual effects present in movies or the freedom of the readers mind like written literally.

But

When constantly the horror is about blood and death repeating all over it becomes rather expected/familiar to the reader which is all horror shouldn't be. Horror bases itself on the unpredictability of the outcome or the heaviness of the inevitable. Taking one out of the equation only results in senseless and tasteless gore with no real point or direction.

That really undermines the characters both villains and heroes involved as in the story.

Scarecrow being the main THE horror rogue in Gotham in most of his stories uses "loud" horror.

(as well as in the Arkham games)

He's strategic on his planning but on the execution most of the time he leans towards mass psychosis and direct attack.

Horror can be much more. Most of the times it's about the little things.

Something being out of place.

Something being too much off.

Something being too little off.

For example:

Instead of Bruce hallucinating about his parents dying Bruce relives a normal day with them. But something is wrong. He cannot remember their faces . They are blank completely . He "wakes up" but every portrait of them has their faces erased. He tries to draw them but something is always wrong. For a man living in his memories he lost the most precious one.

Another one would be about Dick.

Dick also hallucinated a lot about his parents. As An alternative instead of his hallucinations to be about that they would be the side effects of fear toxin. Neurological issues like losing balance and the sense of touch. Feeling like one's skin isn't right. Memories altered. He cannot longer recall a certain smell or he does constantly.

About Scarecrow and fear toxin he could have gone the way of slow poisoning (just like Romans ended up with lead).

The city goes slowly off the rails and he can choose which parts do it faster or slower.

A horror setting doesn't need the gore always. Sometimes it just needs one body part being neatly placed on the table .

It's about the little things.

I could think of an example for every batfam member but the rant would be unnecessarily long then.◉⁠‿⁠◉

#random #dcu #dc #batman #batfamily #tw horror #scarecrow dc #scarecrow #rogue gallery #batfam #bruce wayne #jonathan crane #dc comics

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halenhusky309 · 2 days ago

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Okay, I have been dragging Elita-1 from Transformers One too much (I felt catfished about her character okay), so it's time for me to drag on Orion Pax in the second half on the movie for this one scene that bothered me so much: Orion Pax feeling hopeless and defeated after Arachnid and Sentinel's guards captured D-16, Bumblebee and a huge chunk of the High Guards...

The leading up to that scene fakes to me, it's like a plot forcing him into that "hopeless" stage so that he can receive a pep-talk from Elita-1 to get that dumb justification of why he was called Optimus Prime (Since he had such "blind oPTiMIsM", it made "so much sense" he is Optimism with a "‐mus". Get it? What a nice word play). The thing is, the movie did a shit job to frame his actions and attitudes as "blind optimism" because all I see is a reckless punk who is bored of his dangerous job. I see the intention the movie was trying to convey, but the execution just made me feel conflicted about his actions, as sometimes I wonder if he did those things because he wanted to play a hero or he genuinely cared about others. Same thing about that scene when he lamented about his faults for dragging his friends into this mess, resulting in them getting captured, which read more like he was feeling despaired and reaching rockbottom, rather feeling guilty about his thoughtless and reckless choices and actions. Seeing him just folded so fast and needing someone to rouse him up kinda counter the whole blind optimism in Orion Pax so bad. Plus, the situation that he was in was nowhere severe to bring down a bot who was supposed to be very optimistic. He still had Elita-1 and the leftover High Guards to salvage the situation. I don't think he needed to go through the "oh no, it's all my fault and I don't know what to do next. I feel so hopeless and want to give up" phase. I would rather see him just internalize his guilt and concern about his friends' well-beings, especially D-16 as the time was running out and he needed to act fast, rather a Disney channel scene where the protagonist needed to be cheer up by someone in the not-at-all hopeless situation.

#transformers #transformers one #Orion Pax #When you supposed to be the epitome of blind optimism #But your vibe is more a reckless teenager doing dumbshits and disregarding the consequences #Resulting in people questioning whether you are actually a optimistic person or not #Also dear TFO Orion I can't believe you fold so fast after some set back #It makes the blind optimism comment is as cringe as the “I'm better than you in every way”#Uhm somehow Elita-1 showed more optimism than you ever did #Even though she claimed she had none #Which is ironic #And I will give her this

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traciekitten · 2 days ago

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Sonic 3 spoilers!!

DAMMMMN SHADOWW YOU DOIN HIM DIRTY

(footage from here)

just oh my god. wow. this is my favorite scene in the movie, it hasn't stopped bouncing around in my head since i left the theater because there's so much to unpack here. i just HAVE to let the thoughts out of my head. some of these points I wouldn't have even thought of if i hadn't seen other people talking about it.

Starting with the thing i could feel curling up in the deep recesses of my brain while the scene was playing out: Shadow is trying to goad Sonic into killing him. Shadow doesn't even bother trying to fight back once they're on the moon and Sonic has the upper hand. He thinks Sonic is ready to do the final blow, and when he hesitates, shadow just keeps egging him on, telling him to "finish it." He’s not surprised, this is what he expected. it’s exactly what he was trying to accomplish with his taunts. (did he gesture for him to aim for the heart immm very normal and sane)

He's already charged the eclipse cannon. in his mind his life is now pointless, especially since soon it will go off and they'll all die anyway, and he may as well escape the pain of his grief sooner rather than later. He needs therapy DESPERATELY my goodness.

But also, he wants to die at Sonic's hand. He's encouraging Sonic to take revenge on him for hurting Tom. At this point, its a matter of morals and values. Shadow, now that it wont interfere with the plan, will not deny Sonic his revenge now that he's "won" it because he believes Sonic has the right to take it. All these revenge plots are justice to him.

And he wants sonic to take revenge, because it validates that belief. He points out throughout the fight that sonic is betraying his values to pursue revenge, “making the same choice [he] did.” Here's Sonic, someone who opposed his choices, making the same ones he called Shadow out for. Dying by sonic’s hand here would have proven him right in his mindset, and he was smug about it the whole time.

it’s worth noting, too, that if Sonic had chosen to take revenge, Shadow and Gerald’s revenge plot likely would have come to fruition as well. Without Shadow, the eclipse cannon would have destroyed earth. In choosing to stay true to his values, being vulnerable and honest, and showing Shadow that he could choose as well, Sonic stopped that from happening. He saved the earth and Shadow.

this scene is so loaded it blows me away. Also i honestly didn’t expect him to forgive shadow so quickly after that, he didnt even know if Tom was gonna make it. Says a lot about the little blue guy. I also didnt expect him to go off the rails, that was a pleasant surprise. I love when he gets serious!!

Looking at the beginning there again, do you think sonic sped up because he caught sight of shadow? Wouldn't be surprised if super forms come with super senses.

now if youll excuse me im gonna take the next 3-5 business days to finish processing this movie, might talk about it more might not, but i will be listening to other people talk about it definitely

#traciekitten talky #sonic the hedgehog #sonic movie 3 #shadow the hedgehog #sonic movie 3 spoilers #sonic the hedgehog 3 spoilers #sonic 3 spoilers #media analysis

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