#it's post hogwarts so like it doesn't matter too much but i'm just like what no

[sheeezu]

Yes, this is a new account, I just made this. I don't care if people question the authenticity of my post, my experience as a shifter, or whatever I'm about to say.

I don't know how to use Tumblr, nor do I know how to make my post reach people who need it, nor would I be a narcissist and say "you're lucky if you found my post!" I don't mind if this reaches an audience or not, I'm glad to get everything off my chest.

Yes. I've shifted.

I have shifted realities, more times than I can count on my fingers, and that is for a very specific reason, which I'll explain later.

I'm writing this because I'm about to permashift, and no, I won't hear out any antishifters or people who don't like permashifting in general, I don't care about your opinion so don't waste my time.

Before I start, I'd like to say one thing:

I was irrational minded, I lacked belief in myself and shifting. Shifting often times felt like a chore more than a fun activity, and i have to admit, it became an unhealthy habit.

So? Why did I mention this?

Because I had been lurking around shifting communities and I realised everyone feels like this, a very (mentally) painful feeling where the lack of shifts starts acting as your biggest enemy, and the phrase:

"Shifting needs practice!"

Sounds like poison when it comes from an experienced shifter.

Though, is the phrase actually true?

No, not at all.

Shifting does not need practice!!

Here's why:

(BTW, I will explain my "method", no matter if I have time or not. Also, I don't call this reality "Current Reality", instead I call it Void reality, so don't get confused.)

The "practice" you're doing is only affecting your void reality (taking time out of your day, making you constantly think you're in your learning phase, so it doesn't exactly lead to your desired reality, does it?)

Of course, if you view it as a skill, it will in some way act like that, it'll become a skill for you, and you can never succeed on your first, second, third, hundredth try, because in your brain you have registered the fact that shifting is this grand, universal task, and that it is very difficult (because its common sense that you practice difficult things to get good at them)

Practice is a very humane and earthly act, if people have succeeded doing just practice, then good for then, they're right in their own way, but it didn't work for me, and in my opinion it's the worst way to view shifting, and often times it is demotivating, and you'll mess up you're entire journey.

Shifting is not a skill, shifting is a universal law.

I'll become more clear as I explain my journey:

My journey:

I found shifting from a random YouTube video 3 years ago. I might have only said cool and moved along.

A year later something traumatic happened in my life, which shook me so badly I needed an escape.

First of all, I chose astral projecting, but I realised I was too much of a coward to do so.

Then I came towards shifting, first DR was very typical, it was Hogwarts.

Having no knowledge whatsoever in the topics of spirituality, meditation, I went straight to methods, because they were like guides for me, I was very inexperienced, of course, and looked at other people and what they were doing for guidance.

Alice in wonderland method didn't do much, raven method was too uncomfortable (side note, all this raven method does is make you too focused on your void reality, cmon, in your DR are you laying down like a starfish?) And I was having terrible trouble with my intrusive thoughts (which made the floor disappear from under my feet, made the stairs for the stairs method too short to climb or straight up made them dissappear as well)

I didn't have any luck that year, no mini shifts, no lucid dreams, or sleep paralysis. And my DRs never remained constant. They always changed on a daily basis.

I was big on methods, I couldn't realize they never worked for me.

Although, this year of failure led me to finally figure out where I belonged.

A DR made out of scratch, which I spend much effort in putting the pieces of it together.

The DR, which was called "Home reality" really made me feel settled in my journey.

LOA, and the consciousness theory were the leading factors which made me shift.

And don't worry, it isn't what you're tired of being told, I didn't just apply any orthodox definition of LOA and succeeded.

Background to my first shift:

It was a particularly stressful day, I really missed my home.

I was studying at my college (I still am, but...) and I was dreading giving a chemistry test, I did not prepare. In my mind, one thing was constantly looping in my head.

The scenario of the chemistry teacher coming in, and taking the test, and the next day I get it handed back with a big fat zero.

But then I stopped and wondered, having already known about the consciousness theory, so according to it:

"I am constantly letting this thought run in my mind, and constantly letting this reality dictate what happens next."

Basically, I realized what was about to happen next was indirectly in my control, but with my line of thinking, I was letting this reality control it directly.

I stopped, like actually stopped thinking.

And with a blank mind I thought.

"I won't have to take any test today."

And went around telling my classmates this with a confident tone.

The teacher came in, said we'll instead do some practicals in lab.

So the test got cancelled.

Going home, I got excited, i felt powerful.

I decided to apply this to shifting.

Before shifting, I took a nap during the day, (if you're tired your body insists on sleeping, so your mind will get hazy and you will start acting lazy towards your goal)

And after living how I normally would, before bedtime, I listened to some songs, and look at a Pinterest board which reminded me of my home reality.

My method and what happened next:

First phase of shifting:

When I laid down on the bed to start shifting, I first got comfy (for me, if I feel sleepy for some reason, I laid on my back, I can't fall asleep in that position, but if I think ill stay awake until I reach a "detached state" then I sleep on my side, it's comfortable)

I obviously wasn't checking the time, but I spent about 10 minutes getting relaxed, all I do to relax is:

a) look at the blackness (closed eyes, looks like starry skies) and try to believe I'm looking at the milky way.

b) think about my home reality, just faces of my loved ones, and nostalgia inducing images.

c) Affirm, but don't focus entirely on affirming, usually in the back of my mind I'm repeating "I have shifted to my home reality" "I have shifted my senses to my home reality" "I have stopped sensing the void reality" "I am smelling, tasting, feeling, hearing and seeing my home reality" no other fancy affirmations required. (Now that I think about it, you need to affirm NOW because this method has two phases, one where you are shifting, and one where you have shifted, and you are in the 3D, where you are occupying your DR self, their thoughts, and memories, and popular method usually only have one phase, either you are shifting, or have shifted. So my point is if you affirm later and you'll be affirming when you're supposed to be in your DR, and obviously, your DR self won't be spouting out affirmations about shifting to a random reality for no reason.)

During this time, you'll feel tingly all over. It's a good sign.

And you'll feel a certain detachment, like you aren't exactly here, you have no idea what position you're lying in, and where your feet are. (Please, for the love of God do not start counting your feet or get freaked out that you can't feel your leg, you'll come back to the void reality.)

So you can start the next phase.

Middle phase (optional):

To prepare for the next and last phase, you can do this to get ready, or don't (First read the third phase)

This is all about connection to your DR.

Think about memories from your DR, focus on the faces of your loved ones, the way you act, talk, your mannerisms in your DR, or you can simply say affirmations like these one:

My name is ___.

I work as a ___.

My age is ___.

Don't try to imagine vividly or anything, lightly touch upon the basic details of your DR, the construction and foundation of any reality and the person, who has existed there for their entire life.

(That's you!)

Phase three:

Take a sudden, abrupt stop from your stream of thoughts. (Yes intrusive thoughts will still pop up but don't give any importance to them) when you're in a blank state of mind, not longer than 30 seconds, you need to build up to the last step of your shifting method, and journey.

a) start imagining hearing the voices of your loved ones or just any voice, calling your DR name, your nicknames, with different tones. (For example, i heard my name in an angry tone from my father when he was scolding me, I heard my name followed by a laughter when my S/O teased me.)

OK, for me, I started feeling intense, groundshaking symptoms at this moment. Sudden flashing of lights, extreme feeling of floating, and ofcourse, feeling tingliness so much that it felt like pins and needle on my entire body. (I did ignore the symptoms)

b) plan the rest of your day in your DR, which you will be spending.

AGAIN, PLEASE DON'T SAY IT LIKE THIS.

❌️When I reach my DR ❌️ I will have to go to that eye specialist for that appointment.

Instead: (and the more you personalize it, the better)

Ughhh, I have to go to that appointment- this day will suck.

(Don't mind my example, that was the only thing I could think of at the moment)

c) in this reality, you are constantly thinking of something, your thoughts are definitely what constructs this reality, and your current thoughts are affecting your subconscious. (By this point, your subconscious is grounded in your DR, so don't worry about that bastard.)

Now, you're going to start thinking, thoughts which are going on in your DR self's mind, start with one sentence, with which you'll be able to start consciously thinking like your DR self.

And think in the style, tone, and mood of your DR self, and keep the thoughts strictly related to your DR.

Thats it, but what happens afterwards? And what happened to me?

So for me, I started feeling weird while I was thinking.

And I remember I thought this:

"Ugh, I don't want eggs for breakfast."

(I'm not saying this is the key to shifting, at this point, I had covered various topics, including, weather, my upcoming work assignment, and praised my S/O for a good 5 minutes.)

And I started panting, like suddenly I was trying to catch my breath, the room felt bright, so I opened my eyes, and well, I was in my home reality :)

I was delirious for a few second, my S/O was looking at me worriedly, but surprisingly, it didn't even take me a minute to adjust, it felt all so natural and I wasn't scared.

I didn't even feel emotional, at all, and didn't hug my S/O with tears in my eyes, I straight up asked to be served breakfast, incase anyone was wondering.

So that's it.

Although i have much to say, I'm tired of writing, but I'm more than willing to answer each and every one of your questions, although I only have 7 hours left till I permashift, I'll remain mostly active till then.

And no, I'm not rereading this to fix my grammar, so just ask if anything confused you.

Ask away.

I'm still not sure if this'll reach anyone or not.

[autumnrory]

me reading this 1d harry potter au: but you got the houses all wrong

[hogwartslegacyreactions2]

Hey, I'm pretty sure that this was asked before, but I can't find the post.

What if MC died in the repository instead of professor Fig?

(I'm sorry, but I'm in an angsty mood)

I love your posts, and thanks

A/N: I do have vague recollection of answering a similar prompt once upon a time, but nothing wrong with a reprisal!

HLC REACT TO MC DYING IN THE REPOSITORY

WARNING: angst, death, grief

Dark ancient magic flew violently through the air around MC. The whirlwind of human agony consumed them as they released silver blue light from their wand. The magic thrashed and roared as MC expelled more and more effort to contain the chaos. Cracks started to form along the length of their wand.

Time slowed for them. MC could see Fig's silhouette just beyond the veil. The hundreds of young souls above them weighed heavy on their conscience. If they can't do this, everyone will die. They had to use all of it.

MC closed their eyes and whispered their goodbye. A light even brighter than the one from their wand emerged from their chest. The ancient magic within them burst forth with the fury of dragonfire. The silver light merged with the darkness, and as quickly as it had appeared, the magic vanished.

MC was gone. Their broken wand was all that remained.

SEBASTIAN SALLOW: He has officially lost everything. After losing his uncle, Anne, Ominis, and MC all at once, he's cracking. They can't be gone. Not them. They were too powerful to just vanish. He just has to find them. Yes. That's what he needs to do. He leaves Hogwarts. He MUST find them. Then Anne will see. Then Ominis will know. What he did was worth it.

OMINIS GAUNT: He rarely speaks anymore. The silence in his life has become so oppressive it took his own voice. The good life he thought he had was nice while it lasted, but now it's all come apart. It's only a matter of time before he loses Anne too, and when that happens...he doesn't know what he's going to do with himself.

ANNE SALLOW: She doesn't know how to feel about MC's death. On the one hand, they were trying to be a good friend to her and her brother but on the other...they also enabled Sebastian in his treachery. She's so very tired of the pain. She just wants to go to sleep.

IMELDA REYES: Well, damn. Mc was the closest thing to a friend she had in years. Someone competitive but friendly and fun to have around. They could dish out as much sass as she could, and she respected them for it. She cries a little at the end of year feast.

NATSAI ONAI: She should have been there. She could've done something! Why didn't they tell her!? She would've had their back! She....she...she breaks down into sobs so intense, even her mother can't comfort her. Her best friend was dead. Her heart was shattered and it would never be whole again without MC.

GARRETH WEASLEY: What? No. Nonono. Not them. That's impossible. They couldn't be dead. They're too strong to be.... He's in denial all the way until the MC's memorial service at the end of year feast. Then he breaks down. A bit of his fire died with MC.

LEANDER PREWETT: He wasn't super close to them, but he was still quite fond of them. They were a real friend. He hopes they're at peace and raises a goblet in their honor.

AMIT THAKKAR: He feels cold and numb all at once when he hears the news that MC died in the attack. He'd grown to care about them. He cursed himself for not spending more time with them when they were around.

EVERETT CLOPTON: He and MC didn't talk much outside of flying class but he had liked them. It was a shame he didn't get to know them more. He doesn't feel like eating when the feast is presented.

POPPY SWEETING: She hadn't cried this much since she left her parents. She finally made a friend, and just like that, they were gone. She doesn't know if she could make another friend again if she wanted to. Was she just doomed to lose every human connection she made?

ELEAZAR FIG: He wholeheartedly and inconsolably blames himself. Even if this fate couldn't be avoided, why did they have to die so young? He can't stand to hear the words "ancient" and "magic" in the same sentence at the same time anymore. It sends him into a dissociative trauma spiral.

He finds MC's wand. It's snapped in the middle with bits of wood frayed outward like the very core of the wand exploded. The two pieces are held together by the slightest sliver of wood.

He retires from teaching at Hogwarts. He doesn't trust himself with the care of students anymore. He doesn't trust his own judgment. He's tortured every night by the survivor's guilt taunting him that he should have done more. He should have protected them. He shouldn't have let them go as far as they did. They weren't ready. They couldn't handle the power they were forced to control. It takes everything in him to not attempt to destroy the map room with the portraits of the Keepers. He just leaves.

But every once in a while... On quiet moonless nights.... When he sees MC's wand displayed with Miriam's, he hears a whisper. A quiet breathy whisper that he could swear on his life sounds like MC. He chalks it up to the fact that he could be going mad from grief, but it's still strikes him as strange... If he looked at the wand hard enough... He could swear he sees a blue glow...

[theresthesnitch]

Thanks for tagging me @r33sespieces!

I started this saying that 2024 was a slow year for me... then realized the numbers don't quite add up to that. It's still true, 2024 was just a *weird* year for it. I'm going to divide these into two sections for that reason.

In 2024, I posted 12 fics as theresthesnitch, for a total 149,829 words. Of that, I'd guess that around 65,000 was written in 2023, including all of my Big Bang fic Falling In Love Without You. My post popular fic (by kudos, hits, or bookmarks) posted under theresthesnitch is Chance would be a fine thing.

In 2024, I also posted fics under the name charmstwit. I posted 19 cowritten fics (with quietlemonhush under the pen name Pigeononacloud), and 1 solo fic, for a total of 691,998 words (17,658 words were solo written). The more than half of this was written in 2023, but I can't even begin to tell you how much were written in 2024. The cowritten fics are all under the series connected to Stay with Me, which comes out as my most popular fic of the year by any measure.

This brings me to a grand total of 841,827 words for 2024 between my two accounts.... mostly written in 2023. So it was a slow year for me, since I normally have a pretty high output. But, let's take a look at what I did do in 2024.

I'm leaving out 18 of the cowritten fics posted under charmstwit. Stay with Me is the only one that matters for this, and the rest fit under that umbrella.

January

Falling In Love Without You, (wolfstar, E, 51.5k, complete)

There is old magic in the House of Black designed to keep errant heirs in line. Magic that has now come calling for Sirius on the eve of his twentieth birthday. Sirius must convince one of his friends to fall in love with him. With Remus’s help to woo them, it should be easy… Right?

Settled (sirius/remus/james/lily, E, 6.3k, complete)

Lily loves these moments, the stolen glances she gets when they are soft together and don’t know they’re being watched. The three of them are so completely, so inextricably linked that nothing could rip them apart, not even if they tried. It took her a while to realize that she is part of this and not an interloper intruding—even when it was just her with James and him with Remus and Sirius, too—that they love her like an extension of them. Lily is so grateful for the way they’ve allowed her to be part of their lives. Now she couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. ~*~ Lily loves all three of her boys, and they've made a lovely life together. Only, things aren't quite completely settled yet.

February

Love and Black Madness as charmstwit (sirius/remus/regulus, E, 17.6k, complete)

Remus doesn't know what to expect when he comes back to the flat he shared with Sirius after the war is over, but it certainly wasn't to find Regulus living with his brother. That is, however, just the start of the revelations for these three, and the rest might just leave them all knotted up.

June

Easier (wolfstar, E, 1.6k, complete)

Sirius visits a glory hole. It's easier this way.

Wisdom of the Oracle (wolfstar, E, 6.1k, complete)

King Remus hopes he is prepared to pay the Oracle's price; however, he may come home with more than he bargained for.

Dancing with a Stranger (wolfstar, M, 1.8k, complete)

In the Fall of 1981, Remus and Sirius are becoming strangers with a painful shared past, but maybe they can find each other again in one last slow dance.

July

Unbreakable (wolfstar, M, 1.7k, complete)

After Remus's worst fears are realized, his friends know just how to take care of him.

August

Stay with Me (wolfstarbucks, E, 471k words (686k in the series), Completed, sequel expected)

Secondary genders have been repressed for generations until one day they are suddenly back. James, Remus, and Sirius are just trying to navigate 7th year at Hogwarts without losing their minds. Luckily for them, they are best friends who are willing to help each other out. It's just a little bit of knotting between friends, right? Totally temporary.

September

Useful (wolfstar+, E, 11k, complete)

“My pet has been very good recently. So good, in fact, that I told him that I would give him anything he wants. Do you know what he said he wanted?” Remus waits. “He said, ‘I just want to be useful, sir.’ So I thought I’d make him useful.” Remus grabs the hem of Sirius’s dress, pulling it over his head and tossing it on the floor. He steps away, giving everyone in the room a clear view of Sirius. “Hands at your side, pet.” Sirius stands there, naked except for the plastic cage on his cock, a fluffy black tail hanging between his legs, and the black marker on his chest that reads FREE USE. His skin flushes pink as murmurs from everyone around them builds. ~~~ Or, Remus offers Sirius for free use.

a sprinkle of stars on your skin (wolfstar, E, 1.3k, completed)

Remus hates Sirius's skirt (he doesn't), and Sirius takes James stargazing (sort of)

love knew me once too (wolfstar, E, 7.9k, WIP)

I know love. And love knew me once too. ~ Ranata Suzuki ~~~ Sirius Black is in love, and he's ready to tell the world. Only, once he finally tells his family, Remus disappears from his life. Where did he go? What made him leave? And what is Sirius going to do when he comes back?

October

See you in class, Professor Potter (jily, E, 3.7k complete)

Professor James Potter is distracted from work by Student Lily Evans trying to earn some extra credit.

Things that go Boo (wolfstar, T, 1.2k, complete)

Sirius definitely isn't afraid of the haunted house, but maybe he'll hold the cute stranger's hand regardless.

Chance would be a fine thing (wolfstar, E, 55.2k, WIP)

Sirius is going into heat, and he is being sold the pureblood family with the best offer. To no one's surprise, Sirius is less than cooperative. In order to show him what his alternative is, Walburga takes him to the middle of an alpha rut facility, and proceeds to lose him to a crowd of rutting alphas. Lucky for Sirius, there's a man with tawny curls who keeps him from being eaten alive--literally. However, even good intentions have consequences, and Sirius and Remus are bound to find out what these consequences are.

So, that's it. Everything I posted in 2024.

For 2025, I'm not sure what you can expect to see. I'm going to continue Chance would be a fine thing and love knew me once too, as well as a few other WIPs that have been itching for more words recently. I've got something crack fic-ish for Knotfest, assuming I can finish in the next month. I spent all of November working on my royal wolfstar arranged marriage au, which unfortunately didn't make as much progress as I'd hoped, but I'm still hoping I can get that done in 2025. I've been having some pretty significant writer's block, and I started a new job in September that's kept me busy, so I'm hoping to find my way back to writing more in 2025.

tagging: @puuvillaa @blitheringmcgonagall @tracingpatternswrites @daydreamerdisease

[jewishvitya]

Rowling had nothing to do with Legacy and I think most people forget that. She wasn't even consulted. WB bought the license and the devs did whatever they wanted. "Sirona" is a beautiful, feminine Celtic name associated with healing, and "Ryan" is an extremely common Irish surname. I feel like people are looking for reasons to be offended, especially when it comes to trans characters and antisemitism. The goblins are not and have never been Jewish stereotypes. They're a fictional race. They're based on Tolkien's goblins and old English folklore dating back to the 1400's, where they have always been depicted and small, ugly, and greedy. Rowling herself was shocked by the antisemitism rumors and staunchly stated they weren't true. Just like the rumors saying lycanthopy is a metaphor for AIDS. Just... who thinks of this stuff?

What's really sad is people have argued that Sirona was never meant to be trans, but a male character that the devs rendered to look "more feminine" at the last minute. People have made fun of her voice and said it's "too masculine", so obviously WB just hired a man to voice her and changed her gender later. But that's not true! Her VA is actually a trans woman and the backlash against the character must be devastating to the VA.

Okay, so, I don't think you're here in good faith. You're here to be dismissive. But I'll reply anyway, just in case I'm wrong.

One thing at a time.

I'll start with the one point you made that I agree with: the VA. She doesn't deserve to have her voice scrutinized and criticized. That's horrible, no one deserves that. I did see - and share - the misinformation that Sirona Ryan was voiced by a man, and I regret that. I edited it out of my post as soon as I knew, but this is tumblr and unedited versions do go around. I hope more people will see that corrected, and leave the VA's voice alone.

Now for the mess you threw at me.

Hogwarts Legacy is related to Rowling by virtue of existing within the world she created. It's still her goblins, since she gave her permission to create this, and she let it be added to the canon.

Rowling's world is the context.

I don't care that she wasn't consulted about the details, that just means the other creators are bigots too. When you build within a world that has such large issues, where so much time and effort was devoted to highlighting and criticizing those issues, and you create a story that continues all the problems from the original canon and adds to them - that's a choice that I have a right to criticize. They had the benefit of being a google search away from knowing how to be respectful about all of this, and they did the opposite.

Sirona Ryan IS a beautiful real name, that's not the issue. I already wrote this post where I tried to explain the reaction, but I accept that maybe my feelings about this name come from cultural ignorance. If that's the case, I apologize, and I'd love to be corrected.

My real issue with the game is the antisemitism.

You say "folklore dating back to the 1400's" as if that's far too old to be influenced by antisemitism. Fun fact: antisemitism is older than goblins. Antisemitism is literally millennia old. At least as old as Christianity, which is the root of many antisemitic ideas. It's older than many European mythological creatures, and it infuses a lot of European folklore and mythology, down to the depictions of witches with their pointy hats. Stories about goblins being used as a way to dehumanize Jewish people is not new. And using a fictional race of non-humans as stand-ins for real groups of marginalized people - either intentionally or not - is a very common practice in storytelling. Most fantasy races have those roots to them. But even then, where, in the original lore of the goblins, did they control the banks?

It doesn't matter if Rowling was shocked by the claims of antisemitism and it doesn't matter if she denied them. The reality of her story is that she created an antisemitic depiction. I can believe that it wasn't her intention, but that doesn't mean it's not what she did.

You don't get to look at an antagonistic group that embodies EVERY SINGLE TRAIT THAT WAS ASSIGNED TO MY PEOPLE TO DEMONIZE US and tell me that's not antisemitic.

I already made this list, but let's do it again. All antisemitic traits that can be found in Rowling's goblins. I'll break it down to the original book canon, the movies, and the game.

Books - Rowling's actual canon:

Short, with clever swarthy faces, sallow skin and pointed beards

A guttural language

Ruthless and known for their greed

Pursue someone who owes them money with violent threats

Have cultural differences that make them impossible to trust

Harmed by dark wizard but still suspected to support them

Only worth associating with for their metalworking and control of the economy

She placed a goblin's rebellion in 1612 - the same year as the events that led to the Fettmilch uprising, which resulted in pogroms and Jewish deaths. Rowling stated that wars and political unrest parallel between the muggle world and the wizarding world as the two societies influence each other

The most prominent named goblin character, Griphook, betrays Harry. Harry is a Christ allegory - literally sacrifices himself to save everyone, and then comes back to life

Movies:

Hooked noses - the best known antisemitic feature

A six pointed star in the building they chose for the bank - I don't believe this was intentional, but it's an unfortunate choice and they could have covered it

Here end the parts I blame on Rowling directly. And the game was built on these foundations.

Game:

A historical time frame of pogroms, where our people were murdered in large massacres that often had support from authorities

Explicit ties between the goblins and the dark wizards

Aiming to undermine wizard society - the goal assigned to us in every antisemitic conspiracy theory

Kidnapping of children for their magic - literally just look up blood libel

A character says the goblins can't appreciate art. It’s absurd to say considering the quality and coveted status of goblin-made artifacts. In the real world, this is a claim that was made against Jews by the Nazis (and it targets other groups hated by white supremacists as well)

A ram’s horn artifact that strongly resembles a silver plated Shofar - a Jewish ritual item. Said horn is from 1612, from the same rebellion mentioned above. According to the item’s description, it was blown to rally the goblins and to annoy witches and wizards. It was stuffed with gorgonzola to mute it, a specifically non-kosher cheese (most kinds of cheese are kosher). It's so disrespectful I still don't have the words to fully convey it

Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, those traits became associated with Jewish people as a group through hateful propaganda. Putting all of them on a non-human race isn't better. It just adds to the dehumanization of it. It's not just Rowling's fault. That's shared by every single person who had a hand in the creation of this story. For the issues in the game, I blame the people named here more. I see no reason to extend grace to far-right bigots.

But to focus on Rowling. You brought up lycanthropy. You seem to think we made up the idea that it's a metaphor for HIV. We didn't. She said that. In the ebook Short Stories From Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship, and Dangerous Hobbies - she said that. She said it before that, on Pottermore.

Lupin's condition of lycanthropy (being a werewolf) was a metaphor for those illnesses that carry a stigma, like HIV and AIDS. [...] The wizarding community is as prone to hysteria and prejudice as the Muggle one, and the character of Lupin gave me a chance to examine those attitudes.

This is a quote of her thoughts. It still exists on Lupin's page on her Wizarding World website.

And it's actually a pretty good example of how it's absolutely possible to be awful about depicting a stigmatized minority through a fantasy stand-in.

HIV+ people are stigmatized through no fault of their own. But in her books, it seems reasonable for the wizards to fear werewolves. And she did that, she made prejudice reasonable. We have: Remus Lupin, a named werewolf who is good and kind, and tries to avoid hurting people. Even then, he nearly does cause harm more than once. He turns in front of our heroes and spends a night loose in the forest. He tells the heroes that as a student, he almost bit people while out with his friends. So even while well-intentioned, he's a danger. That means we don't have a single safe HIV+ allegory in her work. The other named werewolf is Fenrir Greyback, who intentionally targets children to turn them young and raise them to hate the society they came from - which is fucking homophobic, whatever she intended, because of the way HIV gets associated with homosexuality. And the rest? A whole community of werewolves who side with the Death Eaters.

Did she mean to make a whole community of marginalized people into wizard Nazis? I DON'T CARE. SHE DID THAT.

I don't care to argue about her intentions while writing the text. I can't read minds. I can read the text she wrote. I can see what was put into the game that was added into her world. I can read about the history of my people and their persecution. I can see how disturbingly similar this game's story is to the propaganda that led to my grandparents suffering through the holocaust and losing their families to it.

If she cared about the antisemitism in her works, she wouldn't just act horrified and say "No, of course I wasn't being hateful to Jews!" - she'd look at whatever she lets people put into her IP, to prevent further harm. I do blame the other writers of the game more than I blame her for that plot, but it's not better that she gave her approval without being consulted. It's her IP, it carries her name, she gets royalties, it's her responsibility.

And at the very least, she doesn't care about antisemitism enough to worry about minimizing harm. I know that, because I know her friends. I know TERFs and Gender Criticals. Rowling saw an anti-trans event with white supremacist speakers, and she chose to criticize the counter-protesters. She went out to eat with Maya Forstater and Helen Joyce, who participated and spoke in events organized by Posie Parker - who explicitly includes far right groups in her events, and shares platforms with white supremacists. Rowling bought merch from Posie Parker. She wrote about Magdalen Berns as a "brave young feminist" - as if she didn't push the antisemitic George Soros conspiracy theory and share Breitbart articles. She praised MATT WALSH. The people she associates with now, read from Mein Kampf in their rallies.

She didn't put the antisemitism in the game, but she's very comfortable with antisemitism. Don't tell me she was horrified by the idea that her goblins could be called antisemitic. She just didn't want the label applied to her. If you willingly associate with Nazis, you're a Nazi. And enough of her friends don't seem to mind that.

I stand by what I said: playing this game, even pirated, is like printing out an antisemitic caricature and hanging it on your wall, saying “well, I didn’t pay the artist, I just like this art.”

[saintsenara]

Hey!

My main takeaway from your unhinged ships series - which provides me with limitless entertainment btw so thank you for your service - is how intricate your knowledge of the HP series is!

I'm kind of in a weird limbo rn where I have a great love for this world and the series but JKR's behaviour in recent years has completely turned me off the whole thing. I've been too disheartened to engage with the canon material in any real sense for years, but your exploration of it is kind of rekindling my interest. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Also, is HP like your niche or do you possess an encyclopaedic knowledge on any other works of literature or pop culture phenomena? This is just pure curiosity on my end.

thank you very much for this anon! it's extremely sweet.

how to reconcile being a part of this fandom - and, especially, how to be in a corner of the fandom which places more emphasis on the text than others - with jkr's decision to become a bigot is a question i'm sure we've all spent a lot of time on, and it's one which is going to have an inherently subjective answer.

my personal view is that she'll never get another penny out of me - i'm persevering with my original copies of the books, judiciously sellotaped; i won't engage at all with the upcoming television adaptation; i've not seen the fantastic beasts films; i wouldn't go and see cursed child; i wouldn't play hogwarts legacy; i don't buy merch and so on - but that writing my little stories and yapping away on my little tumblr is fine, because it's an engagement with the series which, no matter how much it focuses on the text she wrote, is still mine rather than hers.

but - of course - there are entirely reasonable arguments against this position, in either direction. someone who does engage more with jkr's post-radicalisation output could justifiably say that - since i've written stories involving delphini, who only exists because of cursed child, the fact that i've never seen or read the play is irrelevant and my insistence that there's a meaningful distinction between enjoying the expanded world of the series and enjoying the expanded world of the series in a way jkr materially benefits from is performative nonsense. someone else could justifiably say that jkr benefits [directly and indirectly] from all fandom engagement, even if that fandom engagement is critical of her and even if it doesn't financially support her - the upcoming television adaptation, for example, wouldn't have been greenlit if hbo didn't think it would get an audience, and the continued vitality of the harry potter fandom undoubtedly contributed to their belief that it would.

neither of these arguments are wrong - although neither is objectively correct either. each of us has to form a subjective opinion, be ok with it, and be open to changing it as time passes.

and i do genuinely think that engaging with the text as a text - something else i bang on about all the time - is helpful when it comes to reconciling everything.

i know it sounds very pretentious [and i also suspect that many people think the series isn't "well-written" enough to justify such pretension...] to say that the fandom needs to get better at embracing a variety of methods of reading the text and understanding the author's relationship to it.

this isn't me saying that anyone who wants to get into fandom needs to be able to rattle of the names of literary theorists, or be able to give an answer to "the series is historiographic metafiction: discuss".

[although if anyone would like to try and argue in favour of that proposition... i'd shriek.]

what it is is me saying that the dominant way of reading the text in the fandom - which is to focus on the reader's emotional response [and, above all, the reader's emotional response in childhood] - can end up giving jkr quite a bit more authority in how we engage with the series than she deserves. it's why many of us might say that we feel she's "betrayed" or "taken something away from" us, for example - and it's why many of us might feel that she's forced us into approaching the series in ways which decentre the canon material.

and this is - obviously - a completely legitimate way of engaging and responding. but there's also a lot to be gained from thinking outside of our emotional responses about things like the genre conventions which govern the series, the tropes and archetypes it uses, its language and syntax, its existence as something standalone, the other works of literature which influence it, and the social and historical context in which it was written. treating the series as "just" some books reduces jkr's authority over our response to it - and while the argument that this doesn't mean anything in the real world, since all she's going to care about is that people are reading her stuff, is an inherently reasonable one, i do think it has real-world benefits to us in how we square the circle of enjoying the text.

more controversially, though, i think it's also worth thinking about the personal context in which the series was written.

for me, the author is dead based on whether or not i need her to be. i don't think that the only valid interpretation of a text is the author's intended one, and i don't think that the only valid interpretation of a text is one dependent on matching parts of the story onto the author's biography. but i do think it's important for readers to know both what jkr understands the text as saying and what has happened in her life that bleeds through into it [such as the way her difficult relationship with her father and her experience of her mother's terminal illness undeniably influences the series' prioritisation of sacrifical motherhood and certain coolness towards fathers]. this doesn't mean agreeing with - or even empathising with - her by any means, it's just another tool in our arsenal when it comes to thinking of the series as no more or less special than any other piece of literature, and jkr no more or less important to our interpretation of it than any other author.

and i think it's worth saying that she doesn't seem to be someone who's bothered when fans say that she doesn't understand her own text or that she's lost the right to speak about it or that the fandom has taken it back from her - which is also why when people say that non-canon shipping [especially of queer pairings] must piss her off i think it's just cope - because she can spin that as these people being childish and unwilling to face reality.

but she does seem to be bothered by people who say "yeah, i know that's what you think and i know that's what you intended... but i disagree and you don't have the right to dictate otherwise".

[this is why - i think - she gets so frothingly pissed-off by daniel radcliffe's immaculate stance against her anti-trans bigotry. he's always very firm in saying "she can think what she wants, but - firstly - this isn't about what she thinks privately, it's about what she does publicly and - secondly - i think she's completely wrong and i'm not going to change my mind just because she wants me to", and she obviously doesn't like the fact that this is much harder to spin into the narrative that she's being "oppressed" and "victimised" than she'd like...]

the text is just a text, and she's just one woman, but our ways of reading are infinite and important and ours. the new horizon in literary theory is "fuck her, we ball".

[when it comes to "do i have a good memory?" the answer is "yes, but for purely useless information". when the question is whether that good memory relates to other pieces of pop culture, i'm either very lucky or very unlucky - depending on where you stand on such things - that the fandoms for hit millennial sitcoms don't seem to be large... otherwise i'd clearly be spending all my time writing epic nick/schmidt or liz lemon/jenna maroney romances and/or being cancelled for being in george michael/maeby nation...]

[iamnmbr3]

Maaaaaaan ever since I followed you you've brought up such good points I never even considered.

like how Snape actually SHOULD be allowed to remain bitter about his childhood and the abuse from James because it was genuinely awful

or the fact that Tom's genuinely terrified reactions to dumbledor when they first met essentially made him even more resentful of adults and possibly beyond the point of no return on that front considering how he feels and reacts later on. (Which honestly that whole scene just from dumbledors perspective sounded very biased to manipulate Harry and if Harry wasn't so focused on trying to stop Tom he probably would have empathized with Tom there)

I low key kinda feel like JKR forgot what she wrote halfway through the books because she actually did write some interesting characters just not in the way her current self agrees with (also how does someone's own opinions of characters change that much and that bad??? I still don't understand, tho the guy who wrote Ender's game was homophobic and he literally wrote a book about the gay experience soooo who knows anymore)

Anyway thanks for your interesting takes!

What a delightful message to get!! Thank you so much! I'm really glad you've having a good time with this blog and that my posts have been thought provoking and enjoyable for you. That's so nice to hear.

I definitely think if Harry had witnessed the memory of Tom and Dumbledore's first meeting in a different context he probably would've reacted very differently - especially given his own history of unhappy experiences with adults arounds him during his pre-Hogwarts childhood. Harry is primed to be biased against Tom for the very understandable reason that Voldemort killed his parents, tried to kill him in 1st and 4th year and caused the death of his godfather in 5th year and on top of all that he met diary!Tom in second year and that didn't go well either. So of course the memory Harry sees is filtered through the lens of those experiences and traumas and doesn't raise any red flags.

If the diary had shown him that memory in an attempt to turn him against Dumbledore or he'd seen it in another context without knowing who Tom Riddle became things might well have been different.

And yeah. It's weird. The characterization in the books is actually very good and interesting. It's the strongest aspect of the series in my opinion and why I feel so drawn to the fandom surrounding these characters. The interesting thing is in general the characterization is internally consistent and complex. So it's not just a matter of wasted potential (though there is some of that too) where a character is shallow but could've been interesting or even a case of wildly inconsistent characterization that can be fixed with fandom.

Rather, it seems that what she created was accidental and wildly at odds with her intent. So what she wrote, isn't what she meant, but it's also a lot more interesting than what she meant.

[orchideous-nox]

I couldn’t decide on a character so I’m just asking for both lmaoo,,, Aurora and Peter 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 25

< 3 some of these are more relevant to either character than others so feel free to take some liberties there lol

Of course you made this difficult for me ugghhhh

Peter

5 - What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

i'm not falling for the expected answer. I'd mentioned in a headcanons post that I think Pete would listen to Madness so I'm gonna go with Baggy Trousers. Either that or Not Strong Enough by boygenius specifically for "always an angel, never a god". Possibly Fat Funny Friend by Maddie Zahm? I know it said first song but I just needed to add more.

6 - What's something you have in common with this character?

Hitting hard already, damn. I think I can relate to Peter never feeling like the first choice. He's never the best friend just a best friend, never the special one, he's never unique or inspiring, he's just Pete. I've always felt like this too and we're not going to linger on this, don't worry if we're friends I'm not selling you out to Voldemort.

7 - What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

Not a lot. I think making Peter friends with Marlene pre-Hogwarts is something I really like. I've spoken about this before I think but it's a common enough headcanon that I think I can say the fandom did this right. Most other things I'm not a fan of when it comes to the fandom's treatment of Peter, but I have spoken in length about that before.

8 - What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

Oh wonderful, I didn't see that this was the next question. Like I just said, the fandom's treatment of Peter as a character leaves much to be desired to put it nicely. I've spoken about the fatphobia and reduction to being a background underdeveloped character that Peter has suffered, how people don't give him a personality because they don't want to make him likeable and he's often the only character made aroace to avoid shipping him because he's also canonically the only fat character in the Marauders.

14 - Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

I don't knoowwwww, I'm bad at aesthetics and I don't know how to describe it except just....suburban dad-core. Man's rocking polo shirts, he's popping the collar like my stepdad does, he's wearing cargo shorts and has multiple pairs.

15 - What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

PEBILL (or ratseer if we're feeling fancy)

25 - What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

When I was a kid I hated Peter but that's because I always loved Remus, whereas now I've grown to appreciate that there was a time before the betrayal when they were all friends, because that's how it has to be for the betrayal to work. He's not just a rat, he was Wormtail.

Aurora

5 - What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

I am struggling with this because I'm still acclimatising myself when it comes to Aurora. The way my brain was like "what songs mention stars" and came up with A Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay which is just a shit answer but it's the answer you're getting.

6 - What's something you have in common with this character?

Autism. I also like stars.

7 - What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

Make her more than just a background character. Like she is one of the few canon people of colour in the fandom and I like that people want to give her more of a personality.

8 - What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

I haven't really seen anything about her that I disagree with or despise so I'm going to assume this one was in there more for Peter's sake. I'd like to see more of Aurora though. Like we see her in the films, we know she's a teacher, so why is she so rarely used?

14 - Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

I don't want to lean into the obvious but celestial (again, I'm bad at aesthetics). She wears a lot of blue and gold, maybe like jewel tones

15 - What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

I like starrynight which is Aurora and Severus, but I guess I don't hate Aurora and Pandora, but it's not like my top ship because I ship Pandora with other people normally.

25 - What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

I can't remember my first impression of her, just that I didn't know who she was for the longest time because they never used her in the films so I was like "who's that teacher sat next to Dumbledore?". But now I like her, I think she's cool and has lured me in with her shiny stars. My neurodivergent is showing....

Anyway, thanks for the asks dickhead < 3

[bartletslesbians]

Emmeline headcanons or fav ships?

Oh oh oh! I love her!

So canonically what we know about Emmeline Vance is that she was a part of the order of the phoenix in both wars, she was a part of the group that escorted Harry from Privet Drive in OOTP, and she died in the summer between OOTP and HBP after Snape passed on information to the Death Eaters that led to her murder (described as brutal).

Age wise, house wise, blood-status wise, friend wise, we have no damn clue and it's all up to interpretation.

Now I have headcanons that I tend to use when writing her (like the way she is in my dorcissa fic and this emmary oneshot), and I have some other thoughts that I enjoy thinking about. Generally, I make her Narcissa's age (just like Dorcas), and a Slytherin, because I like playing with her as halfblood witch in the Slytherin girls dorm.

But since we don't know her age (just like Marlene and Dorcas, she could be Regulus' age as easily as she could be Voldemort's age), I also like to imagine her being closer to Minerva and Poppy's or even Dumbledore's or Voldemort's age. An old friend to the older characters we know, a respected witch, someone firmly established in the community before the first war ever breaks out. Someone the younger members of the order of the phoenix can look up to, and someone who maybe even remembers the fight with Grindelwald.

That's not how I tend to write her though, because as much as I like to picture these characters as older than the whole "every order member was a teenager when they joined" thing, it does just make more sense storytelling wise to include more characters around the ages of those we know from canon. So for the sake of my headcanons, she's around the age of Narcissa (who for similar reasons, I tend to put in the same year as the marauders just because it's fun, but for Emmeline's story that really doesn't matter at all. It just matters that she's the same age as Narcissa and Dorcas, as well as Emma Vanity and my OC Elaheh Shafiq.)

Also my thoughts on ships differ a lot and the headcanons vary and I don't wanna make this post too long. My favourite ships for her are Emmeline/Mary, Emmeline/Narcissa, and Emmeline/Hestia/Amelia, so I might make separate posts about those later if anyone's interested but I'm not including too much of any of them in the basic headcanons. There's some emmary in here, but it's not the focus.

So: Emmeline Vance.

Halfblood witch: Halfblood dad and muggleborn mother. Her dad died when she was young and her mother raised her in the muggle world, secretly hoping Emmeline would be a squib. Magic wasn't something Emmeline was excited about, but something she feared recognising in herself.

Intimidated by the thought of going to Hogwarts, even more so when she got sorted into Slytherin. Her mother told her to stay away from purebloods and their antics, and now she found herself surrounded by them.

Her best friend is Elaheh Shafiq, the youngest and most talkative daughter of the Shafiq family. She's pureblood, with three Hufflepuff sisters and a heart of gold that's never read a social cue in her damn life. Emmeline is quiet and attentive, notices everything and says very little. They click immediately.

They share a dorm with Emma Vanity (a halfblood witch who's determined to become famous and marry a pureblood wizard so everyone will forget her bloodstatus) and Dorcas Meadowes (a pureblood witch who's struggling to find a line between appreciating her ancestry and staying away from pureblood fanatics), later joined by trans girl Narcissa Black.

Emmeline gets along with Narcissa much more than she expected to, but it doesn't last long after they get a bit older. They share a relatively close friendship for two years, and then never again.

She intends to stay out of the war because she doesn't want to worry her mum any more, but as they get to the later years of school and she sees more and more cases of murder in the Prophet, and she hears more other students talk about wanting to fight (or, worse and in Slytherin more common too, becoming death eaters), she changes her mind.

Seventh year Emmeline starts preparing for an auror training with all that she has. She ignores most of her (some former) friends, refusing to play nice with anyone in allegiance with future death eaters any longer, and is very very sad that this includes Emma Vanity and Narcissa Black.

As soon as she graduates, she's accepted into an auror's program. Here she becomes friends with Frank Longbottom, Hestia Jones, and is happy to reconnect with slightly older Slytherin Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Through Frank and Kingsley, she joins the order as soon as Moody thinks she's up for it, and she becomes a valuable asset to the fight. She stays to herself, not trying to make too many new friends after her training is done. When everyone starts dying, she's quite grateful for that.

Emmeline finds it incredibly difficult to stop feeling like she's at war even after the first war is over. She becomes a feared and infamous auror, working closely with Moody to round up any escaped death eaters, and she's one of the few people who totally understands his extreme paranoia.

This is what starts and ends her relationship with Mary MacDonald. She meets Mary because she wants to check on fellow surviving order members after the war, and they fall in love through shared trauma and a desire to find something positive in everything they've gone through.

They break up because Mary can't continue to stay up every night wondering if Emmeline's gonna come home from auror's missions alive, and Emmeline can't bring herself to stop fighting because every moment she doesn't spend trying do fix the world feels like a moment she wastes the sacrifices of those who didn't survive the war.

It takes her years to stop fighting. She eventually manages to gain a position high up in the auror's office where she doesn't have to be in the field as much, and she finally gets herself to feel alive even when she's not putting herself in harm's way.

Shortly after that, the second war begins. She's approached to rejoin the order, and Mary MacDonald goes as far as to seek her out to beg her not to, but the decision's been made before the question's officially asked.

Emmeline has complete faith in the order's and Harry's ability to stop Voldemort for real this time, and she's determined to help them in whichever way she can. She starts going through old order member's journals and belongings, those she can manage to retrieve.

She promises herself that after the second war ends, she'll live a quiet life. By then, surely she can say that she's done enough and she can live peacefully, maybe even find a way to reconnect with Mary. Maybe get a hobby. Live in the muggle world for a while, even.

Emmeline never expects that she's going to be betrayed. She's really tried to tone down her mistrust and paranoia towards everyone around her. She doesn't see Snape's betrayal coming.

She gets brutally murdered a year into the second war. The last thing she thinks is that she ought to have listened to her mother (who's still alive) more carefully.

[witchthewriter]

I hope this isn't a weird question but do you have a list of sjm characters that you headcanon as poc? Because I want to see what you think and if they line up with my own. I had never seen manon fan casted as asian, but im in love with it!!

I love this question! I've been re-reading the three series, getting ready for CC3 to come out. I have so many things to say, but I'll leave all that to another post - also thank you for this question, it's awesome. Please comment how you feel/what you think in the comments xx

𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐑

First of all, the Bat Boys are NOT white. If I see another person fancast Matthew Daddario as Ariel, I will implode! I know it's difficult getting the perfect cast for a story we all adore.

Another point, the Bat Boys are Illyrian, and they are actual real people. Their usual features are tan skin, brown eyes and brown/black hair.

Also, Lucien - who I have fancasted in the past with Martin Sensmeier. I thought it was an interesting idea for a Native American to have that role.

And Amren is MOST DEFINITELY Asian. Without a doubt. There is no ifs, buts or maybes about it. She is most definitely Asian, and I will take offense if someone thinks otherwise.

Also, I don't want the Archerons to be so conventionally pretty, or petite. That's why Alycia Debnam-Carey is my Feyre, Dagmara Bryzek as Elain and Jessica Brown-Findlay as Nesta. I want women who aren't models!

The Valkyries;l Emerie is described as brown, as she is an Illyrian woman. And I'm completely fine with Gwen being red-haired, freckled and pale.

I'm curious about Mor, her physical features are fine - but her 'power' has yet to be revealed. Because it doesn't make sense???

𝐓𝐎𝐆

There are a lot more cultures in this series than the others. For me, it was so interesting because I'm desperate to know how different countries/continents, experience magic.

Learning about the Ruk's, with Nesryn and Sartaq, that was amazing.

I thought Manon was Asian, I always thought she was?! I mean from that link, that's how I imagined her. Whenever I see fanart where she isn't Asian, I just don't see them as Manon.

I definitely think the Cadre could be more than "tanned from hours of training in the sun." I think Lorcan could be a black man! And I def think Fenrys is half-black. Maybe with a white mother though. I hope I'm not coming off as insensitive! Please tell me if I am, because that isn't my intent.

Honestly, I don't care about what's 'canon,' I think there are way too many white characters in every part of literature. I know about history and when it comes down to fantasy worlds, I think black people should be allowed to indulge themselves as much as they want, without having to think about their awful history and what their culture has gone through.

𝐂𝐂

I actually thought Danika was black, it was a surprise to see fanart and she isn't??? For some reason, it doesn't sit right with me to have a white Danika.

Again, I feel like there aren't enough people of colour. We have little fire sprites, we have a lion-dog pet, a serpent queen, angels, and barely anyone who isn't beyond tan.

I don't think this series has a black character ... other than a few background characters that are only mentioned here and there ... if anyone wants to weigh in - I'm still learning about cc, I forget A LOT.

But in no way has SJM been as horrible as J.K. Rowling. Not only was she racist, but cliche', and a pick me. There was too much pick-me energy among the female characters. I'd like to think that at Hogwarts, the girls stick together no matter what (for me, female friendships are so important. It's sisterhood).

[as-thra]

some goldenpage hcs post bc i have No Art only hundreds of wips 🫶

goldenpage pairing name because its their last names together and i thought it was cute :] aslans last name is actually aureus but it means golden so ! close enough

CHILDHOOD FRIENDS !! we know this, childhood friends to lovers trope 🫶 since aslan isn't the mc in our silly hpma universe, they met when they were 5 during one of the aureus's vacation trips instead, after aslan's parents saw how enthusiastic and happy he is with his new friend they decided that there was no harm in frequently coming back there for their vacations

anyone with ears that come close to little aslan had definitely heard about this daniel at least thrice . boy would not stop talking about the adorable friend he made, cassandra suffered through it the most and when she first encountered daniel in hogwarts still not knowing its aslan's daniel she went "god, you share the name of the boy aslan wouldn't stop talking about. of course you do"

they used to play house when they were itty bitty, asked aslan's mom for one of her rings because she and her husband wore one and things clicked in her mind . got them their own custom pair that'll fit them when they're older and once they are they use it as their real marriage rings

charlotte and arthur, aslan's parents, actually had to halt all arranged marriage proposals to save themselves the trouble of having to cancel when the two did get together, they had an intuition (charlotte used to look at arthur the same way, still does ! they just Knew)

they had a shared frog named mrs. ribbit-ton, they had found her together and aslan decided he wanted to keep her (the start of his finding animals and deciding to keep them habit)

aslan truly really absolutely is capable of doing many-a-things himself but his parents had taught him that love can be conveyed beyond words and through actions and thoughts as well and thaaaaat lead to aslan happily asking daniel for help with the little things, poor boy has to straighten out aslan's tie and brush back his hair in the mornings, this doesnt go without unserious teasing over how aslan would be helpless without daniel of course

extension from that, goldenpage can absolutely understand each other without words, someone could be speaking and one would make the slightest expression change and the other would accidentally burst out laughing

they formed a habit of hand holding :] !! aslan would sometimes look at his hand and daniel would instinctively come to hold it, sometimes aslan would just be writing and looking at what he's jotted down when daniel comes to lace their fingers together

aslan often asks daniel for help with his potions because no matter how well he gets the rest of it he always puts in too much magic </3 spells genius Can Not Potions

aslan sleeps over daniel's dorm more often than his own ! the other ravenclaw's joke that they're stealing him away from slytherin, it doesn't help that he frequently forgets to bring a change of slytherin uniform and has to go through the day in ravenclaw ones.. !

daniel's why aslan decides he wants to be a healer ! take that as you will

the "would you still love me if i was a worm" question but . its asked every time they accidentally fuck up a spell or potion, daniel's "would you still love me if i accidentally spilled an experimental potion on myself and shrank 30 times smaller" and aslan's "would you still love me if a spell went awry and i'm half beast as a result"

aslan first drunkenly confesses to daniel after the yule ball during year 4 after octavian spiked their group's drinks but it wasn't taken seriously not because of some sad miscommunication but because it was drunkenly said, they both know this and all is well

he does confess again for reals late into the same year though ! but aslan did not want daniel to feel like he had to give back and reciprocate just because of their history and daniel figured it would indeed be better if he thought on it for a while too, things resume as usual for them both ! the usual friend things they do that can in no way be interpreted as couple things /sarc

daniel does reciprocate by early sixth year ! their friends telling them that they Do Know because it was the only time they tried to be sneaky with their hand holding when they had thoughtlessly done it before and to their credit, nothing really changed, they were just as affectionate years before the confession is all 🫶 some people were surprised that they weren't already dating beforehand actually

they took a blood pact after graduation and before the am war (a major event in our little hpma universe) started because they both knew it was coming and what roles they'll be playing, "a blood pact, for wherever our paths may take us it'll never lead us against each other" and aslan jokes it sounded like a proposal . it is and he realizes this when daniel gives him an exasperated yet amused look

[servin-up-surveys]

survey #206

Do you like hot chocolate? Yeah, especially when made with milk.

Who was the last person to promise you something, and what was it? shrug

Who is someone you’ve made a bad first impression on? I dunno.

Who is your best guy friend? My boyfriend, but idk if he counts 'cuz like, of course he's my best friend.

Do you think walruses are cute? lol I do

Do you read cereal boxes while you’re eating? No.

What’s the last thing you accidentally (or purposely) burnt? Uhhh good question. I don't cook or anything, so...

Have you ever given birth? Nope, never plan to. Even in the wild world where I have a child, I'd almost certainly have a c-section. I cannot handle abdominal pain, it's the pain I tolerate the absolute worst. I also panic too much for labor to go even remotely well.

Do you enjoy making out? If I'm in the mood to.

What’s your favorite food to put ketchup on? Ummm probably chicken nuggets.

Do you know anyone who works in a laboratory? I might, but I'm not aware of this.

What was the very first social media site you signed up for? MySpace.

Can you see yourself marrying your current partner? (if you have a partner) I can easily envision this and I hope it happens. But if it doesn't, I'll survive.

Do you have commitment issues? Not at all, this is an issue I've thankfully never dealt with.

Are there any flowers planted outside your house? No. Well, not planted by us, because on one side of the house, there's a line of azalea bushes that blooms yearly.

Does anyone in your family smoke? I know my dad and his wife do. Realistically, I'm sure there's more.

What’s an opinion you find impossible to take seriously? Dinosaurs never existing. I try to be very tolerant of this sorta stuff, opinions that really don't matter, but no, you're just fucking ignorant if you say anything like fossils being a scam from Satan or whatthefuckever. My half-sister's husband is one of these people and he's a fuckin lunatic.

What is the highest name-brand thing you own? Hell if I know. Nothing pricey.

What are you scared to death of? Parasites, especially internal ones.

Where is your favorite place to go out to eat? The Cheesecake Factory.

What is one thing that you constantly think about (other than material things)? The future.

Does your job allow visible tattoos? I'm unemployed, and call it petty, but I wouldn't work anywhere that didn't allow tattoos. My job isn't keeping me from decorating my body in ways that make me enjoy my body more.

What Hogwarts House are you in? ew, the invention of a violent transphobe

Do you delete people from Facebook if their views are vastly different than yours? This depends on how verbal you are about it, really. I have no shame in this; if seeing your bullshit beliefs adds even a moment of "bleh" to my day, bye, I don't want to follow you. Social media is meant to be fun, and I've gotten much more serious about making my social media experiences truly enjoyable. That's what it's meant for. It's not meant to annoy me.

What are three things you have been a victim of? Poverty, I'm sure sexism at some point (what woman hasn't, let's be real), and fat-shaming.

What is your passion? Nature; wildlife and habitat conservation and education probably top the list. Also devillainizing reptiles and arachnids. Photography, of course, with nature being my favorite focus.

Are you dating someone? Yeah, he's the dopest.

Does your first crush know you liked them? He probably had an inkling.

Have you been bullied? I'm VERY grateful that I've never been properly bullied. Sure, I've had people be mean to me, but not chronically or anything.

Do you still cross paths with your first crush ever? No, I removed him from my Facebook for religious fanaticism/shaming non-believers. He got some royal shit for that post, but I didn't hang around to see it all.

Who are some of the most selfish people you have ever met? Colleen, somehow a former best friend, is easily the most selfish person I've ever met. She was so needlessly mean to people. One of her most unattractive traits was her "let me talk to the manager" tendency, like she was so rude to people who worked with the public, and for ZERO reason. Where I am now, I'm ashamed that I ever let my loneliness warrant our friendship, we were nothing alike, and never were.

Have you ever seen a spirit/ghost/shadowy figure, etc.? I've absolutely seen something that was not normal.

Do you have regrets? I do.

Do you have an ex-friend that you miss? There are multiple.

What is something a lot of people like but you don’t? Pie.

How many people have you kissed? Four.

How many of those people are you still friends with? I'm dating one; he's the only one I'm still "friends" with.

Where did you go, the last time you left your house? I went to see my psychiatrist.

Who has the nicest singing voice, that you know personally? Girt.

Are you afraid to sing in front of people? Yes.

Do you enjoy the presence of children? Eh, sometimes. I have to be in the mood to deal with them. I never really enjoy the presence of random children I have no bond with.

Do you know anyone who has changed their first name? Yeah, I've a number of trans friends.

What was the last necklace you wore? I think it was a silver one with a meerkat charm? I hate that I can't wear it all the time, I'm just allergic to the material; it turns my skin green and itchy.

What was the last carbonated drink you had? Mountain Dew.

Does anyone in your family have schizophrenia? My half-sister Tiffany that I've never met.

What was your favorite book you ever read for a school assignment? The Outsiders and The Handmaid's Tale.

Have you ever been in an abandoned house? Yes. My sister and our childhood neighbor used to play on the property; there was an almost entirely dilapidated shack where we spent most of our time, and then there was also two other buildings that more accurately resembled proper houses, but we were ballsy enough to only go into one, the smaller one that was more like a shed. It didn't have rooms, it was just a large square, and FULL of newspapers and other miscellaneous stuff. Eventually, after a streak of spending days there playing and exploring, a neighboring old lady eventually warned us to stay away because it wasn't safe, and we were never brave enough to go back lmao.

Do you have any plans for tomorrow? Yes, it's my sister's birthday and we're going out to dinner.

Do you like cucumber? As much as I can like a vegetable, lol. I love cucumbers with vinegar, though.

What’s the last sitcom you watched? Young Sheldon, probably.

What was the last thing you wrote down in the notes app on your phone? I wanna say a drawing idea. Or a gift idea for Girt.

Do you still have Facebook? If so, how often do you check it? Yeah, I check it daily.

How many times in your life have you been in love? Twice.

Do you like your name? I do, actually.

Do you know anyone who had to have tubes put in their ears as a baby? Yeah, me.

Were either of your parents baptized? There is absolutely zero chance my mom wasn't (her mom was a raging Catholic), but I have no idea about my dad.

The last concert that you were at, was there a mosh pit? No, it was a pretty small gig. Nearly no one in eastern NC is going to a classic rock concert.

Has anyone killed one of your pets before? In my childhood, we had cats run over by cars, but I'm sure that wasn't intentional. I would at least hope not.

Does your bathroom have a theme to it? No.

Are any rooms in your house themed? No. I WANT to give my bedroom a nature theme, but it's a very slow process since I've had to buy new decor and we're poor.

When you are eating fast food, do you tend to get burgers or chicken? Usually burgers, sometimes chicken tenders. It depends on the restaurant; I have different go-tos depending on the location.

If you were to join one of the armed forces, which would it be? *points at the "I'd rather be served rat poison than serve this country" meme*

Have you ever been to see stand up comedy? No. It'd be nice to go at least once, though, to see someone I enjoy. I like stand-up.

Do you believe there used to be dragons? No. Sadly, lol.

Who’s your favorite god from ancient history? I'm not sure, my mythology class was waaaaaaaay too long ago, lol.

What was the last present you received? Our family friend Tobey gave me a bag of Twinkies for Easter, lol.

Could you ever have an affair with a married person? Big no, I ain't fuckin with that kinda stuff.

When was the last time you climbed a tree? I've actually never done this. My childhood home only involved pine trees, and most trees in this area ARE pine trees, and you can't just climb those, the branches are far too high.

Are you cool with swimming in a lake? I was fine with it as a kid, but now as an adult that's aware of risks that come with that, I feel like it would depend on the lake and also how I felt at that moment.

Do you listen to any talk shows or podcasts? No. I've tried podcasts a few times, I just can't get into them.

Are you waiting to have sex until you’re married? No.

Do you believe the Holocaust happened? Y'know, I don't consider myself the smartest, but I damn sure am intelligent enough to know the Holocaust was very real and should never, ever happen again. I had the absolute privilege to listen to a survivor's story in high school.

Are you someone who actually likes to babysit children? NO. I've done this only twice (once very against my will) and did not like it. The second time I had to suppress an anxiety attack.

Are you waiting for something to arrive in the mail? No.

Do you like coconut flavored things? Very rarely. It can't be a high concentration.

Have you ever met a famous author before? No.

[TW: RAPE] Do you know anybody who has been raped before? Yes.

List all the stores you’ve been in this past month. I think just a dollar store. I ride with Mom when she picks up her Walmart orders, but we don't go in, it's brought out to us.

Does/did either of your parents serve in the military? No.

Do you like sour candy? Yes, I love sour candy.

Do you like McDonalds? I feel like I'm the only adult that genuinely enjoys McD's lmao

Do you have a Steam account? I do.

What do you think of Fifty Shades of Grey? Never read the book, never seen the movie, completely disinterested in doing either.

Do you swear in front of children? No. I don't believe in "bad" words (save for things like racial slurs and stuff that were completely made to be hateful towards certain groups), but I also don't at all think it's a good idea to encourage children to throw around profanity willy-nilly. They're kids, they're not going to understand when and where it's just not appropriate.

Have you ever had an STD? No.

What do you hear right now? I'm having a paranormal investigation videos binge, I've been watching OVERNIGHT shit for days lol.

Have you ever been ice skating? No.

How many pillows do you sleep with? Two.

What’s the worst thing you have ever done? I consider it to be telling Jason no one could ever love him like I did. I DID genuinely believe this, I didn't INTEND it to be manipulative, but it absolutely, factually was, and I'm permanently humiliated that I ever did such a thing. I don't even like sharing it, it's disgusting.

Have you been to an escape room? Was it a success? No, but they sound very fun.

Ever performed on stage? Was it scary or amazing or both? Yeah, many times for dance recitals and competitions. It was really neither for me. I was always a bit nervous, sure, but I never performed alone and the anxiety wasn't overwhelming.

What was the last animal/pet that you met? Shadow, Girt's cat that has 1,000% become his child. He just showed up on his porch on a rainy day, and initially he didn't intend on keeping him, but he sure did and he's completely obsessed with him, it's adorable. Apparently Shadow is his first truly personal pet, and it shows.

[pebblysand]

Heyyyy Pebbles! Just read your latest chapter and believe me it's just so so so well written! You're a legend really. So i also had a few questions, about Dean. How do you think he felt once ginny and harry got together? Are there some underlying feelings for her still? Also I thought it was a bit rude on Dean's end to just asked harry if he's sleeping with her. Does he think Harry's just messing with her? Also how do you imagine the Weasley's to react to these two getting back together? I'm not sure they'd be a hundred percent pleased with this development since they don't know how how hinny was at hogwarts and have only got a glimpse of post war hinny.

I understand if these are a lotttt of questions, but uk I think you'll always be the best source for post war hinny metas ans headcannons. I love your works so much and as a non native English speaker I'm sooo in awe with your writing. It's of another level altogether. Amd yeah, I hope everything else is great, it's so amazing how you take time out of your busy schedule to write for us. Thanks so much for that!

hello!! thank you! that is so sweet! 🥹

.

okay, so to answer your questions, regarding Dean: yeah, he totally is being a bit of an arsehole there. i don't think he has feelings for ginny, necessarily. i think he likes her, as a person, and he is worried about her. you might not remember this but there's a scene in chapter 11 where this happens:

[Harry] keeps his thoughts to himself because he already got into a near-altercation with a couple of blokes at the Auror office the other day, and doesn’t need to get into arguments with her, too. They were walking down a corridor, bent over and laughing coarsely at a magazine held between each other - ‘Well, yeah she’s fit but wouldn’t fuck that you know, don’t know where she’s been -’ From behind them, Harry raised his arm without even thinking about it - Dean was quick, grabbed his wrist and held it down before he could aim. Thank Merlin, Ron was off work, that day.  ‘Leave it,’ Dean said. ‘Not worth your job.’  Harry set his jaw and bit his tongue and almost screamed that yes it was worth his bloody job, as a matter of fact, but by the time Dean finally loosened his grip, the two idiots had already turned the corner.  Harry didn’t ask, but he did wonder, later, what Dean thought of it all.

i think Dean feels about Ginny a little bit like Harry feels about Mia. the kind of relationship that didn't work out and it's probably for the best, but that doesn't mean he doesn't respect her or get angry when people disrespect her. the way he holds harry's wrist down in this scene, in my opinion, sort of shows that he's considered hexing them too, you know? and, i think he doesn't know what's happened to ginny during DH (obviously) but he's probably heard from seamus that it all wasn't butterflies and roses, so he feels protective. he doesn't like that people are saying shit about her, and he thinks she's clearly hurting through something. he likely reckons that harry and she being together the summer of 98 and subsequently breaking up didn't help so i think he's a bit hostile towards harry.

also, like, and this is more the fault in faulty manufacturing intertextuality so i appreciate this might not be something everyone on here has read, but harry and dean&seamus aren't, like, friends. they're acquaintances and their relationships sort of go back and forth throughout the years but they don't always get on (for various reasons, not all of them to do with ginny, obviously). and also, if you think of the timeline of both fics and where they overlap, this is happening just as seamus has basically told dean to date other people because he's not ready for a relationship, post-war. dean is obviously very much in love with seamus and so that sucks. and so he's protective of ginny and generally annoyed at life, and so i think that's what comes out in him "confronting" harry in chapter 16. he's being a bit of a dick, but it's sort of calming his nerves, you know?

.

regarding the weasleys, it's funny. it's one of those things where, when i was writing this chapter and decided to take h&g away from everyone the way i did, i knew people were going to come to me and ask lol. what do her parents think? what do her brothers think? etc. it's addressed in the chapter a little bit (what they've told her parents about their relationship, molly's reaction to them going to the US, etc.) but not that much, i agree.

i think there's two reasons for that. first, i already had 22,000 words on this monster of a chapter without addressing the question of the weasleys, and so frankly, there was no space. but second, i also think i'm not a massive family fluff/family angst person. there are people who write this kind of thing much better than i do.

there are personal reasons for this: i'm the only child of a single mother who basically has no family to speak of - writing about family drama and inter-familial relationships requires a certain amount of research and guesswork on my end which, whilst lovely, i don't always have much time for. the "found family" trope also isn't really my cup of tea. i love that harry has found the weasleys and i love that he gets on with them and finds a sense of peace in his relationship with them after the dursleys, but i don't think it's something that fascinates me in the way that i want to write about it all the time. i love harry and ron's relationship. i love harry and hermione's relationship. i obviously love harry and ginny's. but writing about the weasleys as a whole is a fun exercise, sometimes, and i do do it, but it's not something i want to spend most of my time on.

i think (and this obviously shows in the fic), my favourite weasley relationship to explore is ginny and molly. this interest actually stems from a quote from dirgewithoutmusic's the kids who chose themselves, which reads:

This Ginny had never met a diary. But she had still died once, though in a flaming home and not a cold, damp castle basement. She had still been reborn into something her mother would always love and never fully understand. 

this is obviously an AU where the diary doesn't exist, but this quote (and particularly the last sentence) has been engrained into my psyche for years since i first read that fic, and it's given me a lot of thoughts. tbh, i used not to really have a headcanon for ginny and molly's relationship before reading this, and that quote has now sort of become the foundation and the guiding principle of how i see them. i always gravitate back towards it when it comes to ginny and her mother (and, to a certain extent, the whole family). i think there's so much love between ginny and her mother, (and between all of the weasleys in general) but sometimes a lack of true understanding of each other. the love is somewhat unconditional (see how percy was welcomed back) but it's also imperfect. i think ginny's family have values with which, in light of her own personal experiences, she doesn't necessarily adhere to. as such, this creates a level of misunderstanding which doesn't eliminate the love itself, but makes the day to day harder to deal with.

having said all of the above (sorry for the long preamble lol), i think when it comes to harry and ginny's relationship, the truth of how the weasleys feel is also complicated (and diverse). i don't think there's a "how the weasleys feel", there's a "how each individual weasley feels". i think bill, imo, is the most adult of them all. he looks at harry and ginny with caution, but isn't necessarily opposed to it. i don't think he's keen on them going on the trip itself (for similar reasons as his parents - he's quite conservative) but i think he's generally alright with it. i think charlie is cool with everything, cause charlie is just cool and clearly also loves traveling. percy, i think, feels so guilty and conflicted about his own decisions that he wouldn't express any judgment. he might pass judgment in his head but he doesn't express it.

i think when it comes to george, he's actually the one who understands ginny best. the level of grief he's experienced personally has made him a lot more attuned to other people's experiences. i think george is the only one who, whilst not knowing the specifics, kind of has an inkling that "yeah, something happened in hogwarts that year." he doesn't know what that something is, exactly, but he can tell it exists. a little bit like dean above, he can tell ginny is working through something (because he knows what it looks like). so, when she gets together (again) with harry, it's like: please don't get hurt. i think he's, as such, probably quite cold towards harry at the beginning of their relationship, not because he doesn't like harry, or doesn't like harry with ginny, but more like he doesn't want her to get hurt. lastly, as we do see in the chapter, i think ron has been following this train for long enough, by then, that when they get back together it's not really a surprise. he knows why they broke up (sort of) and why they're getting back together (sort of). i think he very much doesn't like the thought of them having sex together, but yeah it's his best friend and his sister, i do agree with him that it's a bit weird lol.

regarding her parents, it's complicated. i think mr weasley sees himself and molly in harry and ginny's relationship a lot. he sees the fun they have together, how much they love each other, how much harry respects her (and obviously he likes harry as a person) so i don't think he really has a problem with it. he understands what it's like to be young and in love. you can kind of see that early on when he gives them the sex talk. i think his view would have been different if ginny has been like "harry was a dick to me and broke up with me," because he obviously wouldn't stand for his daughter being mistreated, but here ginny was the one who broke up with harry and she very much told the family it wasn't his fault. harry was clearly heartbroken, so i think mr weasley doesn't blame him for anything. i also think he has a very good relationship with ginny and trusts her to make her own decisions, knows that they "raised her well", you know? and, i think he's a bit like "well, they're adults." unlike molly, i reckon arthur understands a lot more what it's like to have adult relationships with your adult children. even when harry is a teenager, he never infantilises him. always treats him with respect and indulges his concerns and understands his eagerness to be involved. so, i think generally, he's quite happy harry and ginny got back together, because he can see they love and respect each other and hopes it'll last in the long run. he also understands that young people sometimes make mistakes, and that's okay.

molly... molly adores harry. she thinks he's a great boy who has been through terribly difficult stuff and she just loves him so much. she obviously sees herself as his mother, too. so, i don't think she sees him as a bad "option" for ginny, necessarily. but, by the time they get together, her relationship with ginny has become so difficult and strained, i think she just doesn't know what to do. if she expresses any sort of opinion (about them living together, about them going away together, ect.) she knows ginny is going to go off at her. ginny and molly have very different values when it comes to sex and relationships, and ginny obviously feels very insecure about her past, and feels judged by her mother, which doesn't help much. i think molly interpreted ginny's breaking up with harry and her partying streak as misbehaviour, rather than the sort of cry for help it was, and that caused a lot of tension. and, i think, even if she could tell something was wrong underneath the surface, she didn't quite know how to handle it. her only response was to tell ginny to "just stop," and send howlers, which wasn't much help. she is frustrated, doesn't know why ginny also quit school, doesn't approve of her decision to pursue quidditch, etc. i think what ginny needed, back then, was for her mother to pull her into a hug and rock her to sleep but molly didn't know that, and so she didn't do it. it's a whole misunderstanding.

so, i think molly has a lot of thoughts about harry and ginny, i actually think most of them are positive-though-cautious but she is walking on eggshells and so doesn't really say anything.

.

pfew, sorry this was so long, lol! hope it makes sense.

[myarmadaisgrowing]

Ok so I've seen a bunch of videos on TikTok that sort TS albums into Hogwarts Houses, but I feel like most of them are based on aesthetic instead of the actual song meanings? If anyone wants to hear my apparently unpopular opinions, here they are I suppose????? (Sorry about the long post, I'm on mobile and I don't know how to do a readmore!)

Taylor Swift — I haven't listened to any songs from Debut for YEARS so I can barely remember it, I'm waiting for the rerecord, but I'm tentatively putting it in Ravenclaw. Something something trying to find a place in the world, something something growing up and learning and understanding that things aren't as simple as you'd thought as a kid?

Fearless — Fearless is Ravenclaw. I think Ravenclaw is very focused on trying to find a purpose that they can dedicate their lives to as early as possible, and sometimes that can get a little messy, especially as a teenager when you're struggling to understand what you want in life and what you're willing to wait for for longer than you'd wanted to. I feel like Ravenclaws are very impatient to get to the future now now now immediately and this album just radiates that.

Speak Now — Gryffindor. It's a total drama queen/theatre kid album and Gryffindor just gives me theatre kid vibes. A few songs are more Slytherin (mostly Castles Crumbling) but it's definitely overall Gryffindor for me.

RED — Hufflepuff. Red's all about the process of having your heart broken, learning from your mistakes and being brave enough to try again with someone new, and that's a very Hufflepuff sentiment.

1989 — Like Debut, I don't know this one massively well and I'm waiting for the rerecord, but I'm tentatively putting it into... Ravenclaw, I think? From my perspective it's about accepting failure as part of life and understanding that it's not necessarily the worst thing that can happen to you. I'm stuck between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor but I eventually went for Ravenclaw because I feel like Gryffindors would take a failed relationship too personally to be so... I don't know, cheerful about it I guess? I feel like they put more of themselves into relationships than Ravenclaws so they struggle with failed relationships more because they see it as something that's their fault? Feel free to tell me if I'm totally barking up the wrong tree, but that's my logic 🤷‍♀️

reputation — Listen. I firmly REFUSE to sort this one into Slytherin. Yes, they both have snakes, what's your point? This album is Gryffindor for SURE. I know this one much better than Debut and 1989 cause it was the first one I was really fully aware of, y'know? I've never listened to the whole album back-to-back and in order, but I'd recognise all the songs. There's a lot of love songs and the concept that she's willing to deal with a bad reputation as long as she has genuine, real love from the people who matter, and that's very Gryffindor-who-puts-their-whole-soul-into-a-relationship-and-doesn't-care-what-outsiders-think.

Lover — this is the first album that I actually followed the release of, listened to from beginning to end, and became a fan from. I feel like a lot of people would put this in Hufflepuff because it's all about a happy romantic relationship, but it's... not very Hufflepuff to me? I'd honestly give this album to Slytherin. I feel like Slytherins would have the most appreciation for little things, domesticity, being able to just entirely trust someone and say exactly what you mean without thinking yourself into loops and being scared of how they'd react, etc etc. The Man is VERY Slytherin, but the way I see it, so is It's Nice To Have A Friend.

folklore - this is the album that has the most songs that aren't explicitly romance-coded, so this is immediately Hufflepuff to me. Of all the houses, Hufflepuff and Slytherin are the ones I think are most likely to value friendships just as much as romantic relationships. I think Hufflepuffs would be likely to overromanticise a relationship and then learn that things aren't as easy as 'if there's enough love anything can work out' the hard way. The complexity of emotions involved in it all, and all of the songs about betrayal and relationships not working out, it's just very Hufflepuff.

evermore - Gryffindor. This is a Gryffindor's outlook on the complex emotions covering how relationships aren't always perfect. This is Gryffindor's version of folklore. Folklore is Hufflepuff's version of evermore. They interlink but they're distinct from each other.

Midnights - You're On Your Own Kid is very Slytherin but the album definitely isn't. This is a Hufflepuff album my guys. This is an album almost entirely dedicated to looking at yourself instead of other people and learning who you are as a person. If a Hufflepuff doesn't reach a point of self-awareness and self-understanding early in life, they'll reach a point where it's necessary when they're learning how to be an adult, and this album is all about how difficult that process is but it's a necessity that will change your world view entirely. A self-aware Hufflepuff would definitely relate to this album most of all the houses.

To summarise;

Debut and 1989 are tentatively Ravenclaw, will update after rerecords come out if necessary.

Fearless is 100% Ravenclaw to me.

Speak Now, reputation and evermore are Gryffindor.

RED, folklore and Midnights are Hufflepuff.

Lover is Slytherin. No question.

[shrimpalbuspotter]

I'm here to help... you don't have to use any of this I was just taking this as an excuse to ramble about Albus

I don't know if this is set in a world where one or the other didn't GO to Hogwarts or something else, so I'll use neutral terms when I'm talking...

Albus would have been bullied, but not as bad. Probably just the occasional push in the hallway and rude name shouted to him, but generally he was just looked at weird or talked about behind his back. He was still failing his studies and only really locked in during his last year, plus he was just an angsty dick who went out of his way to not make friends.

I think post Hogwarts slash general school he'd go to a muggle college before dropping out (possibly revisiting later in his twenties to get some sort of degree, I think he'd make a good lawyer but also he hates the ministry and the muggle government so... a music degree?) he'd live in a small apartment with a job where he doesnt have to actively socialise with anyone, like in a library or working in a warehouse where he just does storage. I can't imagine him being a cashier or a teacher because he seems to habe very brusque and unfriendly personality to people who dont know him well (he has no friends... also he acts like that to everybody... woops) but I COULD imagine him (and this is what I imagine in my own muggle au, too) working backstage in plays, controlling the music and sound effects and all that. I think he'd enjoy it... it's something he cares about and he only has to talk to the same like 4 people everyday.

Personality wise, I already touched upon, but I want to go DEEPER. So like I said before, he has an unfriendly demeanour. Even more so than before. He's snappy, and doesn't go outside if he doesn't need to. Despite this he has extremely good hygiene and is still very handsome. He's short and has a bit of a beer belly (despite not drinking... alot), too... that isn't essential it just felt good to say... anyway. He keeps his sarcastic humor but it isn't as obvious as before (rolling eyes, dramatic movements, etc) and comes across as just mean. When he had Scorpius he was much better at focusing on the humor part of dry humor because he enjoyed making him laugh, but now he's just... dry. He doesn't do it to be funny, he does it to be a git.

I know this isn't the most pleasant thing, it's kinda sad, but it's how I imagine him. He was lonely, he wss pessimistic, and now he find it painstaking to meet people. This isn't to say he doesn't care about anyone, if he does meet someone he likes (which he hasn't, but if he did) he'd probably open up really easy. I've said this before, he thinks with his heart, and if his heart says "this is someone you can trust" he'll trust you no matter what. But he'd also get embarrassed if you asked him something personal and would probably instinctively snap at you.

OH, AND HE STILL HAS A BAD RELATIONSHIP WITH HARRY! Yeah.

OK... that's it sorry this was alot for a probably hypothetical question but I will take ANYYYY excuse to talk about Albus. any.

what do u think albus would grow up to be like had he never met scorpius in hogwarts?? i need to know im running an experiment (writing a fic)

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Lily's friendship with Snape: a character study.

I don't think people talk enough about how much Snape's toxic friendship affected Lily's relationships.

Last time I logged in here was a long time ago and it was super rushed so I couldn't get my point across, but I'm willing to do it now.

I will apologize  in advance for any  possible grammar mistakes seeing that English is not my first language and this will be a very lenghty post.

What I tried to say there is that Snape toxic mindset and views pretty much affected all of Lily's opinions and trust on the people that surrounded them in their early Hogwarts years.

Let's put ourselves in Lily's place for a moment so we can fully understand where I'm coming from: at the time she entered at Hogwarts she only knew Snape, a person who was way more comfortable with their magic than she was, living in a household with a sister that would constantly judge her for being a wizard. Of course she would see him as a safe space for her to be herself, especially being so young (I personally think that 11yo is an extremely young age to enter Hogwarts but I will leave that for another post).

She saw Snape as the only friend that she truly had and logically was afraid of finding new ones because of her blood status. She didn't know how she was going to be treated by other people and at the time Snape was the only person that she could rely on, that she could fully trust.

Apart from loving the headcanon that she was a bit chubby and thought James' advances where only a joke, I also completely could see she hating James just because she let hersefl be led on by Snape's views on the Marauders so much that she started to view them like that too.

When you are in a toxic and so dependent environment, you feel compelled to agree with everything the other person is saying, especially in a place of such emotional vulnerability as I think Lily was at the time. Snape was her childhood best friend, which already make things more complicated and carrying a way bigger emotional baggage. Now, in such a young age, having to discover a completely new side of youself and be constantly surrounded by people full of hate, it can be extremely hard to pick who you can and cannot trust. And Lily unfortunately found that on Snape.

So you can easily imagine the damage and impact that him calling her a mudblood had on her. It must have been almost unbearable to her, seeing someone she trusted so much become only one more of the people seh had to be constantly aware of. All because of a factor that she can't change, can't control, can't do anything about it, her blood status.

Imagine Lily going on a war and fearing for her life only to see her childhood best friend slowly go into the other side, the side that didn't care if she was dead or alive. The side that meant that if you are a muggleborn or a half blood, you don't matter. The side that said that Lily's life didn't matter.

I'm compelled to believe that after Snape called her a mudblood she shut herself down completely. After all how could she easily trust anyone again? Her trust was ripped to shreds and I truly believe that this made her suffer alone for most of the time. Because she couldn't allow people to get close to her and try to help her, afraid that they would be the next, that Snape's "mudblood" wouldn't be the last one she would hear.

And I think this, this is the nail on the coffin that people misinterpret until today on the whole Harry Potter series. Lily didn't reject James advances because she didn't like him or because he was a "bully" and didn't stop bothering her. Lily didn't know the real James, she didn't know if his advances were real or fake because of the walls that Snape had put on her head about James. She couldn't afford to trust James. And I completely understand that, because if Snape, a halfblood, called her a mudblood, what would James do? James Potter, a complete pureblood and a sacred 28 member. It doesn't make sense for Lily to trust him so quickly after blocking Snape from her life.

Snape made Lily become a deeply mistrusting person because he had betrayed her.

I coud go on about Sirius, Remus and the girls, and how that affected their relationships with Lily tok but I wanted this post to be really based on the canon information that we have. Which is practically none but I'm mostyl referring to Lily's disagreement with Snape's new friendships, him calling her a mudblood and she rejecting James before they got together.

I think that we tend to ignore Lily's friendship with Snape or only perceive it by James or Snape's perspective becayse it is what J*R wants us to do, she wants us to pick a side on the fight between the two and not look at the bigger picture. At Lily's side of the story.

I would love to hear some more thoughts and opinions on the matter because Lily deserves so much more and is an awfully underrated character.