#my parents didn't necessarily punish me

[darkbluekies]

OMG SILAS WEDDING? YES PLZ THAT SOUNDS SO GOOD

Saying 'I do' is like a death sentence

Yandere!mafia OC x reader

Sumamry: Silas gets you to marry him

Warnings: threats, mentions of murder, guns, forced marriage, dubcon kiss?, violence, mentions of punishment, trauma from said punishments, possessiveness, jealousy, family drama

Word count: 3.5k

Things have been awfully quiet these last days and you've noticed a certain spark in Silas’s eyes. You didn't think much of it before seeing his second in command — whose eyes are normally dead — light up. But no one has talked to you.

You’re sitting in the window, looking out over the front yard and the houses down the street. You’ve seen school children come home from school and their parents join them with grocery bags. They’re living so … normally.

There's a knock on the door, which makes you even more confused. Silas doesn't knock on his own bedroom door. His second in command walks in.

“Y/N, you're going to come with me”, he says.

“Why?” you question.

“You will see. Come.”

You hesitate. Silas has told you countless times to never listen to any of his men, never walk somewhere with them. The only one you should listen to is Silas, the only one you should ever walk somewhere with is Silas. He has tested you before to see if you would leave the house with any of his members … and you’ve been greatly punished for it.

But Silas’s trusts his second in command … you know that he would never betray Silas.

“You don’t need to be afraid”, the second in command says and waves at you to come over.

“I don’t want to be punished …”, you whisper.

He takes a step forward. You press yourself closer to the window. It’s another trap, you’re certain of it. Silas is standing outside the room, waiting for you to take the bait. This is the final level, to see if you would listen to the man he trusts the most, one that you think that you can listen to. You shake your head quickly.

“Y/N, you can trust me”, his second in command says and puts his hand on his chest. “I swear on my mother’s life that I won’t get you into trouble.”

“Has Silas told you to get me?” you question carefully.

“Yes.”

Slowly, you get down from the window and walk over to him. He puts his hand on your back to guide you out of the room, into the corridor and down the stairs. Your heart is beating loudly against your ribs. What if the second in command is lying?

“Where is he?” you ask as you make your way down to the first floor.

“I am taking you to him”, the second in command says calmly.

You stop and turn to him. “Please promise me that this isn’t a test, and that I’m not going to get punished.”

“Y/N, I’m not lying to you. Silas have asked me personally to drive you to him.”

“Why?”

“You will find out once we get there.”

“Okay …”

You follow him out to a car. He holds the backseat door open and lets you jump in.

“Put on a seatbelt or else Silas will kill me”, he tells you.

You pull the seatbelt over your body and clicks it into place while the second in command walks around the car to sit down in the driver’s seat. You watch the houses as you drive by.

“I really thought that this was going to be one of those tests …”, you admitted hesitantly while scratching your nails. “I really don’t want to go down to the basement again.”

“I understand that.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Depends.”

“Don’t you ever feel bad for … what happens in the basement? To any of the people unfortunate to end down there?”

“Not necessarily. Most of the people that gets thrown down there has done something to deserve it. You see, Y/N, Silas never hurts anyone without a reason. If he could have it his way he wouldn’t hurt anyone, but people are stupid enough to cross and challenge him.”

“What would he do without it? Isn’t that how you’re supposed to survive and climb the ladder in this world?”

“He would do his business and trading without hurting anyone. In a perfect world, people pay on time and doesn’t try to steal territory. No human likes hurting anyone else — unless they’re psychopaths, but that’s rare. Even the most gruesome killers have guilt.”

“But how can he hurt someone he loves? I could never do what he does to someone I love.”

“I won’t meddle in your relationship, because that’s not my business, but things aren’t black and white.”

“I wish things could be colorful for once.”

The second in command sighs and turns on the radio. You listen to the music as the landscape outside the car swishes by. You don’t recognise anything, except for a supermarket chain that you used to shop at. Soon, you start to think that the silence between you two feels sickening. You can’t stop thinking about what awaits you once the car stops.

“I know that you’re not allowed to actually conversate with me, but can we just … talk about anything?” you sigh and shrug while trying to find a suitable conversation topic. “Could be about the weather.”

“The weather?” the second in command scoffs and smiles in amusement. “Fuck no.”

“How far is it left?”

“Around fifteen minutes.”

“You don't talk much normally, don't you?”

“I talk when I have important things to say. Otherwise, why should I? I get paid to act, not to talk.”

“I don’t get paid at all.”

The second in command tugs at his smile. “You still have it better than the majority of us.”

When the car finally stops, you look around to see that you’re by the beach. The second in command opens the door for you and helps you out. You look around and feel your heart sink when you see where Silas is, and what’s surrounding him. Candles and flower petals. You stop right in your tracks as you go stone cold. You’ve feared for this day.

“What are you stopping for?” the second in command asks and gives you a small push. “Come on.”

You notice a gun in his hands. On stiff, frozen legs you stumble towards Silas. The sand feels heavy under your feet. Silas smiles and takes your hand.

“I think you can guess what I’m going to do”, he says cheekily and takes up a small, black box out his pocket.

You shake your head, but Silas doesn’t seem to notice — or care. He gets down on one knee. You try to pull your hand out of his grip, but he tightens it.

“I don’t think words can explain the amount of love I feel for you”, he starts.

It’s not love. It simply can’t be.

“I know that I want to spend my entire life with you”, he says, looking up at you in awe.

“N-No … wait-”

He opens the box. “Will you marry me?”

You can’t breathe. You know that if you answer no, you might get to taste the gun in the second in command’s hands and you’ll definitely end up in the basement. But you can’t answer yes. If you do, you will be bound to Silas for all eternity. You will have to wear a ring claimed by him, take his name, officially be his. You will be known as his husband/wife forever.

“Y/N, I think that you better want to answer ‘yes’”, he whispers warningly, “for your own sake.”

You hesitate, going through every possible scenario. Every scenario where you decline him ends in physical and mental pain — not only to you, but probably to your family as well. If you accept his proposal, you will trap yourself deeper into his spider web and get tortured for the rest of your life, but you won’t piss him off. You can’t win, no matter what you choose.

“Okay …”, you whisper in defeat. “I will.”

Silas’s face lights up. He shoots up from his knee, wraps his muscular arms around you and devours your lips with his. He pulls your hand to him and places a ring on your finger. The ring is made of a shimmering gold and multiple glistening diamonds. You can’t help but stare at it.

“Congratulations, boss”, his second in command smiles. “You’re going to have a marvelous wedding.”

“Let’s go to a restaurant to celebrate this”, Silas smiles and start to walk with you in his arms. He gives his second in command a tap on the shoulder. “You too.”

The man smiles and follows.

You eat at his favorite restaurant, but you can’t seem to swallow any of the food. A lump has formed in the back of your mouth, preventing anything from passing it. Silas conversates with his second in command, only noticing your sulking after finishing his own food.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” he asks, touching your cheek. “Are you not hungry?”

You shake your head.

“That’s okay”, Silas says softly and caresses your shoulder. “Do you want to take it in a togo-bag?”

You nod.

That evening when you get back home, you’re allowed to sit at Silas’s place at the end of the long rectangular table in the dining room with your heated food. You can hear Silas’s men move through the house. Silas and his second in command are in his office to plan the wedding.

You notice that someone is about to sit down on the first chair of the long side of the table. A man you have never spoken to before.

“Hi, care if I keep you company?” he asks.

Too shocked to answer, he takes your silence as ‘yes’ and sits down. You glance at the open door towards the hall and swallow thickly.

“You shouldn’t-”, you try to tell him, to warn him about Silas, but he cuts you off.

“I heard that you got engaged today”, the man says slowly and looks down at your ring. “I guess that I have to say ‘congratulations’.”

“Yeah … thanks …”, you mumble dreadfully. “But you really should-”

Your sentence is cut off by the man in the chair getting ripped up by a harsh force. You hadn’t heard Silas and his second in command leave the office.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Silas questions and pushes the man away from you. “Do you have a death wish?!”

He signals for his second in command to get rid of the man. Silas sighs heavily, runs his hand through his black hair and sinks down on the same chair he had ripped his worker from. You avoid his eyes.

“Are you okay, little thing?” he asks and you can hear how he’s trying to stay calm. “Why didn’t you tell him to walk the fuck away?”

“I tried”, you mumble. “Twice.”

“He knows better than to talk to you. Seems like you’re even more irresistible now that you have a ring on your finger.” He sighs and rubs your back. “You’re mine, and soon they all will know.”

Days go by. Silas’s second in command takes you to try dresses/suits, but for the most of the time you’re in your bedroom, waiting. Every day takes you closer to your wedding day, that horrifying moment.

And finally, one day, it’s time. Silas’s second in command has taken you to a venue where you’ve gotten your own room to get ready in, but when the time is due for you to walk out and say your vowels, you refuse to come out of the room. There’s nothing you want less than to get married in front of people that you hate. You can’t imagine anything more humiliating.

“Y/N, come on”, the second in command says as he opens the door. “Everyone is waiting!”

“I don’t want to do it!” you burst out, full on panic.

“Silas have spent a lot of time and thought about this for you. He has even invited your family. Would be a shame if they came here for nothing, don’t you think? Don’t you think that they want to see you again? Don’t you want to see them one last time?”

You give the second in command a glare. He walks over and grabs your arm, helping you up on your feet.

“Come on”, he says. “We don’t have all day.”

He’s going to walk you down the aisle to deliver you over to Silas, as planned and try to pull your arm away from the second in command, but his grip on you tightens. The second you get into the venue and see the rows of chairs filled with Silas’s men, his family and your family, you stop, eyes tearing up when seeing your parents. Realization hits you again. You’re not only getting married, you’re also saying goodbye to your old life — a life that you will never get to live again. The second in command drags you past all the guests, over to Silas. You stare at your family, taking them in. Haven’t they changed since last you’ve seen them? Aren’t they looking older? Do they think that you’re different? Do they still recognize you as their little boy/girl? Silently wishing that they would stand up and object to everything happening, you continue your way down the aisle, towards Silas. Surely they have to understand that you’re not doing this by your own will? You would rather be at home with them.

You feel how the second in command moves you over to Silas. The ceremony seem to go by in a fuzzy daze. Words are being said but you're not sure who says them. You're brought back to reality when you hear Silas say ‘I do’. Your first instinct is to pull yourself away from him, but he doesn't let you.

“Your turn, Y/N”, he whispers with a tilted smile. “Tell everyone how you're giving yourself to me.”

Time seems to have stopped. You look out over the audience, at your poor family. They look nauseous. You wonder what kind of threats they have been told to keep them silent in their seats.

And you notice someone else — someone you never thought Silas would invite. Ares. You know that he hates his little brother with all his might, why would he invite him to his wedding? The day that's supposed to be his best day ever. You guess that the older couple by him are Silas's and Ares's parents. You have never met them before, but it's clear who Silas’s has gotten his face from. He's a spitting image of his father. Ares resembles their mother more.

Silas opens up his blazer to show you a gun, which you don't have to doubt is loaded.

“If you — or anyone — tries to object in this marriage, Y/N”, he starts with a dark voice, dangerously close to your face to make sure that no one will hear, “they'll die. Do you understand that?”

You nod unnoticeably, too mortified to do anything else. You understand him very well, and you believe him.

“You better say ‘I do’”, he whispers, voice even darker. “You belong to me. You are mine. Do not ever forget that.”

“Promise me that they won't get hurt”, you whisper as quietly as you can.

He takes your hand.

“I promise”, he says and kisses your knuckles harshly. “Say it.”

You clear your throat to make sure everyone will hear you, so that you don't have to repeat yourself. Giving yourself to this man once is enough.

“I do”, you say.

Everyone but your family and Ares claps. You're puzzled by the look on Silas's parents faces, as if they're not happy but still want to support their son. The rest of the cheering guests wear bright smiles, happy for their boss. You don't dare look at your family.

A new, bigger and more flashy ring gets placed on your finger and you put Silas’s new ring on his with shaking hands. You try to pull the collar of your clothing to the side, to be able to breathe.

You've kissed Silas’s before, but never like this. Never in front of so many people. You don't have time to think before his lips are on yours and you accept it, knowing that you've already signed your life away, refusing to kiss him won't change a thing.

The afterparty goes on without you. You don’t want to see everyone celebrating you when you never want this in the first place. You are allowed to go back to the room where you had gotten ready and sit in your solitude. You can’t help the tears running down your cheeks in silence. What have you done? Could you have done something differently? No, you couldn't. If you did, your family would get hurt. Instead, you’ve trapped yourself in a venomous spider’s trap.

You hear the door open and hurry to wipe your tears.

“Uh … hi”, a familiar voice says.

You turn to watch Ares close the door behind him. You freeze. If Silas finds him here, your wedding will be even worse … and frankly, after everything Ares have done to you, you don’t want to be alone with him either. You stand up and try to leave the room, but he stops you.

“Wait, let me talk to you”, he says.

“Don’t touch me”, you hiss.

He pulls his hand back and sighs.

“It shouldn’t be you and Silas”, he says in defeat. “You didn’t want to marry him, I saw that. We can run away now and you’ll never have to see him again.”

The proposition alone makes you scoff.

“And why would I want to go anywhere with you?” you spit angrily. “You’re as sick as Silas! I don’t want anything to do with any of you. It’s bad enough that I’m stuck with one … I don’t need the other. Leave.”

Ares twitches his black eyebrows and pokes the inside of his cheek with his tongue. “Alright then. Guess I’ll have to force you with me.”

“If you touch me I will scream.”

He gives you a glance as if he’s weighing the outcomes. In a quick motion, he grabs you, trying to pull you over his shoulder. You scream and hit him, causing enough commotion for the door to swing open and for Ares to be ripped off of you. Your vision is blocked by someone dressed in black.

“Get the fuck away before I kill you”, you hear the man in front of you say. “I mean it.”

You expected it to be Silas, but it’s his second in command.

“Touch my boss’ wife/husband again and I’m breaking your neck”, he warns and rolls up his sleeve.

“Why don’t you get the fuck away and let me do what I want to do, hm?” Ares responds harshly.

“You’re really asking for it, aren’t you? This is a wedding, don’t be stupid like usual, Ares.”

“I’m stupid? Have you seen my brother?!”

“Leave, Ares. I don’t want to cause your parents any more pain.”

“What’s going on?”

Silas’s voice makes you want to crawl into a hole and never come out again.

“What have you done, Ares?” Silas asks coldly.

“You’re just going to assume that I’ve done something, huh?” Ares growls.

“Why would my man waste time talking with you unless you’ve done something completely idiotic?”

“I heard Y/N scream and found Ares trying to kidnap them”, the second in command says and reaches back a hand to make sure that you’re still there, or to console you.

Silas turns his face towards his brother, his black eyes burning with anger. Before Ares has time to defend himself or throw an insult, Silas has hit him. Hard. You watch how blood seeps from his nose.

“Don’t think that you can ever try to take them from me”, he warns. “They’re mine. See the ring on their finger? Belong to me. I have all the legal rights to say that now. Don’t fucking think a thing.”

Silas puts his arm around your shoulders.

“The only one that gets to touch them is me, so put your greasy little hands away before I cut them off and force you to eat them”, Silas warns him coldly. He turns to his second in command. “Let’s go home, I don’t want to sabotage the after party.”

You’re pulled along out to Silas’s car.

“I should have known that this wedding would have drama”, the second in command sighs. “Why did you even invite Ares from the start?”

“Because I wanted him to see Y/N giving themself to me”, Silas smirks. “To annoy him.”

“You’re supposed to be older than him.”

“Oh shut up, let me have some fun.” He turns to you, growing softer. “Are you okay, little thing? Did he hurt you?”

You shake your head. If anything, you hurt him when clawing at him.

“Good”, Silas smiles and caresses your cheek. “Let’s go home.”

In the car, he takes your hand, inspecting the ring with a cocky smile.

“Now you're officially mine”, he whispered, looking at you with intense, dark eyes. “Forever. And there's nothing you can do to separate us.”

[hyperlexichypatia]

One time, when I was younger, I had an unpleasant encounter with an (apparently neurotypical) older man who wouldn't take "no" for an answer.

Now, I was fine. But I was scared.

Not so much because I was afraid the man would come after me -- although given the statistics around violence against women who refuse men's advances, that would be an entirely reasonable fear -- but because I was afraid that someone would find out what had happened.

Because, you see, if someone found out that I had been assaulted, I would be a Vulnerable Young Girl.

And the thing about being a Vulnerable Young Girl is that it doesn't matter if you said "yes" or "no."

It's not necessarily that people would have sided with my assailant -- this is a different flavor of rape culture. Most people would have agreed that what my assailant did was wrong. But they would have considered it equally wrong -- maybe more wrong -- if he were my chosen, consensual boyfriend I actively wanted to be with.

Because his crime was not disregarding my "no" and violating my bodily autonomy. His crime was Taking Advantage of a Vulnerable Young Girl. Preying on a Vulnerable Young Girl. Corrupting a Vulnerable Young Girl.

If you're a Vulnerable Young Girl, you don't have the right to say "yes," which means you don't really meaningfully have the right to say "no" either. You need to be Protected, and, of course, you don't have the right to say "no" to that, either.

And, look, once again, I was fine. I'm making the specific assault sound worse than it was. That's not the point. I wouldn't mention it at all, except that The Discourse is such that if you don't disclose a relevant personal experience, you're assumed to Not Care About Real People. But I am not alone in this.

I've heard multiple instances of the specific scenario "I was assaulted in college but I didn't report it because my parents would have made me leave school." Or "I was date raped and didn't report it because then my family would have never let me go out again." Or "I'm a psychiatric survivor and if I reported being assaulted I'd be put back into treatment."

These are real things I've heard or read assault victims say.

Framing assault victims as Vulnerable Young Girls actively discourages victims from reporting assaults.

Yet the people who use this framing seem to think it's somehow necessary to get assaults taken seriously, even though it does the opposite.

Feminists largely understand this when it's in the context of purity culture. When people say, "In purity culture, it doesn't matter if you say 'yes' or 'no,' sexual assault and consensual sex are considered equally bad, and that underlying premise minimizes the actual wrongdoing of sexual assault, discourages assault victims from reporting their assaults, and allows assailants to get away with their crimes," this is understood as a problem.

But the Vulnerable Young Girls framing comes from self-identified feminists. Who think they're helping. In the name of feminism and justice. They don't understand why being framed as a Vulnerable Young Girl would make a woman reluctant to come forward, because the coercive control she would be subjected to "isn't punishment". They're seemingly baffled by why young and/or disabled women don't want to be framed as Vulnerable Young Girls, even if they've been assaulted. Especially if they've been assaulted. Why are you so offended when we say that your wishes for your own body don't matter?

And... why? Why is this framing necessary? What is the purpose? What is the benefit?

If you hear about someone committing sexual assault against a young and/or disabled woman -- without her consent, against her will, disregarding her "no" -- what, exactly, are you trying to accomplish by jumping in and saying "Even if she said yes, that's still predatory! He's still Taking Advantage of a Vulnerable Young Girl!"?

What is the purpose of saying that?

If a young and/or disabled woman chooses a sexual and/or romantic relationship that you think is "bad for her," and you proclaim "Just because she agreed to it doesn't make it okay! It's still wrong!" -- well, I vehemently disagree with you, but at least you're responding to the actual situation that exists.

But if you hear about an assault, against the victim's will, without her consent, and feel the need to denounce the counterfactual scenario in which it was a consensual encounter... what are you even trying to accomplish? Is the sole purpose just to convey to the victims (and any other assault survivors and/or young and/or disabled women in the vicinity) "I need to make it unambiguously clear that my objection to this assault has nothing to do with the violation of your bodily autonomy. I actively do not care about that."?

[the-elusive-soleil]

Instructions

Maglor sat the children down in front of him, then bit his lip, unsure of where to begin. 

He didn't want to have this conversation at all, but it had to happen. The other night, Maedhros had...slipped again, been dangerous; it was nothing that Maglor couldn't handle, but the same wouldn't necessarily be true of anyone else. Particularly not of the peredhil, and if anything were to befall them, Maedhros would never forgive himself.

“You remember,” he said slowly, “that I once told you to always listen to me and Maedhros, and trust us, because your safety could depend on it?”

Elros and Elrond nodded, looking uncertain as to where this is going.

Maglor took a deep breath. “You need to know that there are times when that...may not be true. When your safety will depend on not listening to us, on disobeying us, even. You should not have to make that distinction--I do not want to have to burden you with this--but I want even less for you to be put in harm’s way because I failed to speak about this.”

Elrond pursed his lips. Elros frowned, head tilted. “How will we know the difference?” he asked. “Between when to listen and when not to?”

Maglor bowed his head. “If we are ever trying to hurt you, or cause you distress, either because we are...not ourselves or because of the Oath,” he said. “You must stop us, then, however you have to.”

“You wouldn’t,” Elrond insisted. “Whatever happened, you’d never do anything to hurt us.”

Given the circumstances under which they’d ended up in his custody, Maglor found that statement ironic enough to be laughable, if he’d been in any mood to laugh. Instead, he just shook his head. “I would rather have the assurance, all the same,” he said. “Promise me that you will do this. Please.”

The twins exchanged looks.

“We promise, Atya.”

***

“Elrond, what are you doing here?”

Maglor couldn’t help but stare. He’d successfully avoided his one surviving son former kidnapee for two Ages, or thought he had, and had only let his guard down at all because he’d thought Elrond was on his way to the Grey Havens. Apparently, he’d been mistaken, because Elrond was right there, standing in the middle of the woods with him, a look that might have been fond exasperation on his face. 

“Coming after you, of course,” Elrond said, folding his arms. “I am set to sail West soon, with several of my household and some others, and I have come to make sure you go with me.”

“I am not meant to sail,” Maglor said, shaking his head, “and my presence would do you no good, here or across the Sea."

"I beg to differ."

"You are too kind." Maglor took a step back, then another. "Let me alone, and do not worry for me. This exile is no more than I deserve."

Elrond's voice was oddly calm. "And what of what I deserve? What your family in Aman deserves?"

Maglor bowed his head. "I am no longer the person whose return they wish for," he said, "and you ought to have the chance to know your true parents without my shadow over everything."

He turned to walk away, but found himself arrested by Elrond's hand on his arm. "I won't let you, Atya," he said firmly. "You are coming West with me, and if you hate me for it, we can work through it on the way." With a raised eyebrow, he added, "This is what you told me to do in such a situation, after all. If you wished me to leave you to fade in self-punishment, you should not have made me promise to stop you from causing me distress."

Maglor did not quite see the connection there, but in the next moment, Elrond sang out a cascade of familiar notes, meant to send someone into unconsciousness, and he was forced to put the question aside for later.

[snarky-magpie]

My Black family headcanons. Possibly unpopular again, because I draw from canon a lot—look, power to everyone who chooses to disregard completely, but it hurts my OCD brain that grew up with the books. So. Here goes.

Orion and Walburga weren't as physically and magically abusive as the fandom makes them out to be. This is a big one. Possibly my biggest disagreement with fanon. That doesn't mean they were good parents at any rate. No. Just that they weren't physically abusive. Why do I think that? First, Sirius tells Harry many awful things about his family, but he never brings up being tortured, either by regular means or by magic. He does his best to paint his family as monsters and relay the contempt and hate he holds for every member of the Black clan (with a couple of exceptions). If his parents were abusive toward him, he wouldn't have hesitated to use it as further proof of what monsters they were. Second, he was allowed to decorate his room in Gryffindor colors and generally flaunt his differences, which once again suggests that his parents couldn't have punished him too severely for minor transgressions.

Any abuse going on was more likely psychological in nature. Arguably, this causes even more damage in the long run, and unlike physical abuse, it's not always obvious at first glance, or second, or tenth, which makes it particularly tricky to approach. And it's probably also the reason why fic writers choose to depict physical or magical abuse—it's just easier to describe and effective at gaining sympathy for the characters going through it from the readers. I think Orion and Walburga had strict rules for their children (they had to behave as befitted the children of the noble house of Black), and put a lot of pressure on them. Despite not being physically abusive, they would dole out punishment without mercy when the children displeased them. Withdrawing affection, depriving them of their favorite toys or activities, subjecting them to rants about their uselessness and insults, forced isolation, and so on. They were likely rather volatile, prone to going into fits of anger for no reason apart from feeling irritated with her children (Walburga) and cold and detached (Orion). Also, last but not least, they played mind games with the children, pitting one brother against the other. Lifting Sirius up when they wanted to punish Regulus, and vice versa. Which brings me to my next point.

Sirius was the favorite son, until the Sorting at least. Yes, he himself mentioned Regulus was the favorite, "a much better son" according to his parents, but the thing with abusive parents is that they often pit one kid against the other and thrive on their misery. Handsome, brilliant, magically gifted Sirius was everything the Blacks might have wished from their heir. Until, of course, his infamous sorting into Gryffindor, where he was influenced by muggle-borns and, most notably, James Potter, the known blood traitor. From that point onward, Regulus became the preferred child, but rather out of necessity than choice. If we're to believe Harry, Regulus wasn't as handsome as Sirius (and as generally brilliant). We have no clue about his magical prowess or intelligence, although the fact he discovered the truth about Horcruxes points to him being clever. His parents visibly favoring Regulus and repeatedly telling Sirius that 'Regulus was the good son' were not necessarily what they actually thought. More likely, they were their misguided attempts at making Sirius see reason and bringing him back into the fold.

The brothers probably didn't like each other much. I know we all love fics where they love each other and have each other's back, but realistically, I don't think that was the case. Most likely, they stayed out of each other's way, which was easy since they were in different houses. It's not a stretch to assume that Sirius felt embarrassed (and possibly angry) about his Death Eater brother. Likewise, Regulus would feel mortified about a blood-traitor brother. Maybe over time, it would grow into something close to contempt, with his parents and his Death Eater pals whispering in his ear. Similarly, I don't think Sirius would blame himself for leaving Regulus behind or not helping him leave Grimmauld Place. At his core, Sirius is a character with strong morals who believes in personal accountability. So, according to him, Regulus deserved to reap the consequences of his decisions. (That's not saying he didn't mourn his brother or the potential of them mending fences in the future. Who knows, maybe he'd eventually realize neither he nor Regulus were to blame for their strained relationship and that the fault lay with their parents if he didn't die prematurely.)

Sirius would hate Jegulus (and I say this with love as a jegulus shipper). Once again, yes, I love fics where Sirius is a supportive brother and friend. I've even written a few. But in my heart of hearts, I don't think that would be Sirius' go-to reaction. Sibling dynamics can be complicated in the best of cases, with jealousy often playing a significant role. The Black Brothers are not the best of cases, and James belongs to Sirius. He is his best friend, his other half, the cornerstone of his new reality, and, in a way, his moral compass because James helped Sirius renounce his family beliefs. If James did a sudden one-eighty and started dating a person with a completely different worldview, not to mention a person close to Sirius, one belonging to the family James helped him leave, Sirius would see it as a profound betrayal of their friendship. He'd probably also feel disappointed in James and his sudden hypocrisy (because we know he loathed the Dark Arts, so for him to date a Death Eater would be out of character—which is why I love Jegulus, the inherent drama of it) and possessive over his best friend.

If you read the whole thing, I commend you :D Anyway, these are just my thoughts based on canon. Obviously, I'm aware fanfic exists for us to explore different scenarios, and they are fun to write and read. But sometimes (at least for me), it feels like it's too easy to drift too far away from what makes the characters, well, them, during these explorations.

[donnerpartyofone]

This has been a really hard one to talk about. I'm always very ambivalent about mourning celebrities. I try to remember that I don't know these people, that what is really mourned by most of us is the person's ongoing work, which in the best cases has helped us understand ourselves and the world in which we live. Unavoidably, though, you can start to develop the sense that you know these people personally, which isn't true or even appropriate necessarily, I mean you have no idea whether you would even like someone you've only seen on a screen or received an autograph from; but at the same time, I don't know if you can really force yourself not to feel like the deceased celebrity is a dear friend you will never get to talk to again (the last time I tried and failed was the passing of Lux Interior). Maybe this is more forgivable, and also more inevitable, if you feel like you grew up with the person.

Of course this is all about ME now, but my mother (who also died from cancer) was an extremely hip, brilliant, funny individual who for whatever reason refused to form a relationship with me. This was pretty strange, because we liked a lot of the same things--B movies, old comics, all types of camp and kitsch--but when I liked those things, it was in poor taste and punishable by exile, whereas when she liked those things, it was evidence of her cultural genius. Before I make anybody too mad I should say that I'm being a little bit unfairly reductive just so I can get to the point, which is that one of the few things we could share was Pee-Wee's Playhouse. I didn't know anything about the show's more adult origins or the fact that Paul Reubens was sort of a performance artist, but I didn't have to. Pee-Wee's Playhouse was a feast for any child's senses: stylish, hilarious, and on some subliminal level, really sophisticated. I was clued into some of what was going on just because I watched it with my mom, who always laughed at Pee-Wee's winks and nudges to the hep parents in the audience. The show might have been my first encounter with the kind of anthropological humor favored by people like David Byrne and Laurie Anderson, artists who engage subversively with cliches, stereotypes, and other memetic parts of popular culture. In Pee-Wee's Playhouse, with its sharp, edgy cast and crew, kids like me were getting into fine art without even knowing it--which is possibly the best way to learn about art anyway.

In fact, on the other side of our house, I became obsessed with Gary Panter's incredible punk opus Jimbo In Paradise, a Dantesque comic book about an innocent young guy living in a dystopian future, where he is occasionally joined by guest stars such as Nancy and Hedorah. I was about 7 when I started reading Jimbo over and over again even though I could barely understand it, and I had no idea that Gary had pretty much designed Pee-Wee's Playhouse. I'm speaking about him so familiarly because I got to know him a little bit as a grownup. I remember Gary talking about how private Paul Reubens could be. He used to do this thing where he would accept a dinner invitation from anybody who asked, as sort of a stunt, but he had to stop doing it because people became so intrusive and entitled with him. Gary said that they'd be walking around in New York and when they saw an obvious Pee-Wee fan gearing up for an offensive, Paul Reubens would sort of transform into this totally different person, putting out an aura that let you know not to fuck with him. It's crazy-making to think that someone who was so protective of the boundary between his private and public selves had to suffer that ridiculous arrest, but it's heartening that most of society eventually grew the fuck up and forgot about it. It's also helpful to remember when he turned up later on the MTV Music Video Awards and started off by asking the audience, "HEARD ANY GOOD JOKES LATELY??"

I'm glad we got one more Pee-Wee special in the past several years, but I always wished that we would see Paul Reubens in more movies. He was such a cool actor, funny, convincing, and naturally charismatic. While people are cycling through their favorite roles of his, I want to point out that he had a great role on a recent HBO miniseries called Mosaic, an intense, engrossing crime drama that I definitely recommend if you have access. Maybe I'll rewatch it, too. In closing, here's a great story that I grabbed from Facebook that should warm everybody's heart, along with the heartbreaking statement (inappropriately cropped by Instagram of course) released upon the death of the very private Pee-Wee Herman. It makes you wish you could thank him in person, for everything. The best we can do is just remember him.

[animentality]

gosh I really love your ideas about Gortash they make me kick my little feetsies!!!! How do you think Gortash would react if he was revived after he got killed by the brain. Do you think he would change? Not necessarily for the better but change how he treats people for better of for worse and see if he continues down the path of tyranny. I think it would definitely depend on if he is revived by Tav or Durge tho! I really want to know your thoughts because I like what you come up with <3

Depends on if it was a scroll of revivify or a scroll of true resurrection.

if just a scroll of revivify, then no, he wouldn't change much. he'd say yeah you can get those at walmart. no effort on your part. i'm gonna go kill more people.

but a scroll of true resurrection?

he'd see what you mean to him, since it's a very rare scroll. you only get one.

and also only if he'd gone to the house of hope first.

see, i just know that he would never ever redeem himself if he just went to bane, and got tortured for failing him. he'd see it as just, he failed to be a proper tyrant, and this is his punishment.

the house of hope, though.

a lifetime spent, running from himself, his own fear. chasing power, embracing blind ambition. damning others, to save himself from being damned. deluding himself into thinking he was a lord and a tyrant, an authority figure, someone important and special, too strong and unique to be but a mere slave...

and then finding out. at the end of the day. at the end of his life.

it didn't matter at all.

his life didn't matter. his grandiosity was nil, his ambition and his intelligence couldn't save him.

he would be trapped in the hells for an eternity, with the devil he hated most. the place he swore he'd never return to.

a place that his parents forced him into.

his parents, weak willed and unspecial, specters of his childhood, taunting him with their mediocrity.

oh, that would fucking change him. i know it would.

you would bring him back, and he would clutch you around the KNEES and thank you for giving him a second chance...

and he might be able to redeem himself, or at least start the path to redemption, if you agree to help him kill Raphael...to go back, but only this one time...for him.

Hm.

HMMMMMM.

[aihoshiino]

i wonder how different the story would have gone if, instead of sending ryosuke, kamiki would have visited ai on his own.

the part of me that needs them to be happy says that while he isn't necessarily enamored with the twins at first, he still tries to his best with them. maybe they think he's their new babysitter at first, that'd be funny.

anyways, kamiki awkwardly co-parenting with ai and both of them fumbling through being exes and parents and still caring so deeply for eachother but also being too traumatized to properly communicate.

aqua and ruby are first hostile when they realize that this is the man that got ai pregante™, and then they become the twos biggest shippers. cue incredibly convoluted attempts to get them together again. (i feel that it is important to point out that they're still toddlers at that time, which would make this extra funny)

So the thing about HKAI and the mess that was their relationship is that Hikaru sending Ryosuke in his place is ultimately a symptom, not a cause. It is a consequence of his arrested development in regards to Ai and his inability to conceive of a world where the two of them exist separate of their relationship. To a degree, asking 'could Hikaru and Ai be happy if he didn't send Ryosuke' is kind of asking for Hikaru to be a different character, because at the place he's at at the moment he makes that decision, he can't not make that choice. I've described Ai's tragedy in the past as being simultaneously preventable and unavoidable and the same goes for Hikaru. It's like a fucked up reverse Oroborous - in order to create the conditions for him to be a happier and healthier person, he must already have started taking the steps towards becoming that person - or at least to be further down the road than he is at the equivalent point in canon.

Even if we remove Ryosuke from the picture, I can't really imagine things going that well. I kind of touched on it in a previous ask but even the one-sided conversation we hear that seals Ai's fate raises a lot of red flags for me. He leaps to assuming that Ai is trying to get back together with him and when gently turned down romantically but still offered an opening back into her life as the father of her children, he chooses to betray her trust and send someone to terrorize and potentially hurt Ai and their children so she could 'feel his despair'. Even if we believe his insistence that he really didn't think Ryosuke would kill her, this is still an utterly reprehensible thing to do. It implies a level of not just desire but outright entitlement - that he feels he has the right to 'punish' Ai for… what? Not wanting to rush back into a relationship with him after like, five years of minimal-to-no contact? When he's gone right ahead and proved that the issues that caused their breakup have not been resolved?

Obviously, this is not to say that Hikaru doesn't sincerely love Ai with all his heart or that he doesn't care for her at all. I actually think that contradiction between his clearly observable feelings for her and the actions he nevertheless chooses to take is really fascinating in what it adds to him as a character. A big part of the reason why Hikaru's so fucked up is because he's so deeply in love with Ai and so utterly unable to cultivate a nuanced or healthy relationship with his idea of her.

So… I guess if I'm honest, my vision of it is more Hikaru using visiting the twins as a way of leveraging his way back into Ai's life, successfully or otherwise. I don't really see a scenario where Hikaru is able to work out his shit and become a decent father or partner for Ai, just because too many of his issues are tangled up in this longed-for codependence with her. Maybe this older and wiser Ai could find a way to save him like she wished for, but… is it really fair to put that weight on her shoulders? Why should she, a person with her own desperate struggles and lack of support, go right back to performing the backbreaking emotional labor that contributed to that all-consuming codependence in the first place?

To be clear, I'm saying this as a proud HikaAi shipper who loves a fucked up life-warping codependent romance, but in the context of Oshi no Ko and when we're talking about what would actually make these characters happy, I think Hikaru and Ai, at the place they are at the time of the tragedy, are not in a position to make each other truly fulfilled and happy.

askslmdslkdlsmdsl i'm so sorry anon you sent me such a cute prompt and got this utterly harrowing essay in response 😭 I'M SORRY THAT'S JUST HOW IT CAME OUT

[lutawolf]

Dear Lutha,

Thank you very much for your kind and quick response to my previous (and very first) question, which was about 'caging' in D/s relationships. I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to reading your post on the topic.

Since I appreciate your thoughts so much, I am writing to you on another topic. In some dramas with strong D/s elements (such as Cutie Pie, Love in the Air, My Personal Weatherman, You are mine and even sometimes in KinnPorsche), infantilization dynamics are to be seen. This element is all the stronger as the age gap is marked, even though it can still show up anytime.

I'm not necessarily talking about the Dad/little dynamics, but of a more general Adult/minor type relationship, where the former leads and protects the latter through the usual parental tools (like scolding, giving lessons, correcting, punishing, rewarding etc.. .).

For me, this pattern is for example very strong in a series like My Personal Weatherman, where Segasaki assumes a parental role towards Yoh, who often acts and speaks like a child (either spontaneously or in reaction to his partner's attitude). If I understand them correctly, @notfreetoday's detailed and fascinating posts on language(s) in My Personal Weatherman tend to validate this impression.

So, I wanted to ask you a/ if you would also describe parts of these relationships as consensual infantilization and, b/ if so, if they are in your opinion different from common D/s dynamics. Or whether they should be seen as a particular expression of a mere D/s dynamics.

If you have time, I would be happy to read your thoughts on this matter. Thank you once again for your delightful posts.

Best,

Yassa

Hey Yassa!!!

I'm so glad you enjoy my writing. It means a lot!

"Where the former leads and protects the latter through the usual parental tools (like scolding, giving lessons, correcting, punishing, rewarding etc...)."

Labeling discipline as infantile is limiting. We use corrective tools even in the work place. If you mess up then you get scolded, given a lesson, correcting, and so on. We all need correction at any stage of age. It just depends on your hierarchy on how that correction is given. With a D/s relationship, the hierarchy places the Dom at the top. Therefor, if a Dom just like a Boss is found to be wrong, the consequences will be far different from those given to a sub or subordinate. It's an imbalance in power control.

However, I think I'm capturing what you are really trying to ask. All the shows you just mentioned are BT/b relationships. Which is a D/s relationship involving a Brat Tamer Dom and a brat submissive. This is the type of Dom that I am. We are typically very cool, calm, and collected. We are protective but much more loose on the leash than other Doms. We will often engage in romantic play or play fighting, but push us too far, and you will see an intensity in us that will send shivers down your spine. Regardless of how gentle we seem, we will gladly give it to you if you deserve punishment. Due to our submissives liking to push our buttons, you'll see a more tug of war relationship. Depending on if we want to get ahead of it or let it play out is how you'll see us lead. Which is why you see more disciplining in a BT/b relationship.

The Brat Submissive - Brats in general are overly-aggressive, sarcastic, sassy, and your general coyote. They have no intentions of submitting to anyone's authority or discipline if you have not earned their respect.

The SAM Submissive - The SAM is a type of brat. A SAM type submissive, also known as a Smart-Assed Masochist, is just that, a smart-talking submissive with a quick tongue. Usually, their Sammie behavior isn't actually a cry for attention; it's just their way of being playful. In fact, most SAMs when actually threatened with punishment will back off, saying that they were only playing and that they didn't mean anything by it. Occasionally, this behavior can be incredibly frustrating to their partners, but the rewards far out weigh the negatives.

My Beautiful Man: Starts out as M/s which is Master slave and moves into a deep D/s. No BT/t in this relationship.

Not Me: This is a soft D/s relationship, but it's there. White is a little bit of a brat but much more subservient.

Love In The Air: Very much BT/b relationship. With a Primitive Brat Taming Dom and SAM submissive.

Until We Meet Again: I recommend this one for seeing the difference between a deeper D/s relationship that is Dean and Pharm. In comparison to Win and Team who are BT/b.

Between Us: WinTeam's story. Brat Tamer with a SAM submissive. The difference in Team is that he is a Dom outside of their relationship. So what is called a Sexual Submissive Only.

I Will Knock You: Deep D/s with large age gap. The youngest being the Dom.

Stay By My Side: D/s relationship with a stricter Dom but a brat of a sub.

My Personal Weatherman: A Deep Brat Tamer with a brat submissive.

Hope this was helpful! 💜💜💜

[lantur]

day two updates,

Today was heavy on religious sites, since they are one of my favorite places to visit whenever I go anywhere--

I loved Rustem Pasha Mosque, perched above a very busy bazaar area. I walked past it three times before finding the entrance. It reminded me of a couple of temples in Taipei - one was nestled almost hidden in the middle of a busy city street, and one was in the midst of a night market. I love when religious sites are just interwoven into the fabric of daily life like that.

This was the least busy of the four mosques I've been to so far, and I just got to sit there and enjoy the peace, silence, and beauty. It was covered in bright blue tiles with tulip motifs.

I was raised Muslim, my family are Indian Muslims, but my parents made Islam the least fun, most punishing, restrictive thing ever (or so I felt growing up). It was all about what I couldn't do - eat pork, dance, wear shorts, show my shoulders, wear anything that showed my chest, date/marry outside the religion, etc. I felt nothing on the rare occasion I properly did Namaz. I chafed against all the restrictions and stopped identifying as Muslim by the time I was in my late teen years.

It's been lovely to recognize the beauty in Islam through appreciating the incredible beauty of Islamic art and architecture. It's showcased so spectacularly in Istanbul (which, now that I think of it, is the only Muslim-majority city I've ever been in). The domes of the mosque and minarets against the sky. The sound of the call to prayer throughout the day. I love it. The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia were much busier, but at the Rustem Pasha Mosque and the Suleymaniye Mosque, I got to sit down on the floor and reflect.

I love temples, churches, cathedrals, mosques, etc. I don't know if I feel God's presence in them necessarily, but I love that humans across the world and religions and time have spent years and great amounts of effort and created these beautiful spaces as places of worship. They do have an energy of peace and serenity and awe, maybe because of the love that was put into their creation.

Suleymaniye Mosque was perched up at the top of the city, with lovely views. Kariye Mosque / Chora Church had stunning mosaics and frescoes from the Byzantine era. I've never seen anything like it. I wish I could have stayed in both for hours.

Other highlights: I visited St. George's Cathedral and St. Stephen's Church, which were special in their own ways. I also :)) got my Istanbulkart public transit card and successfully navigated on the bus and metro! Mastering public transit whenever I go someplace new is a small thing that helps me feel like I "fit in" more with local life :)

The Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar were underwhelming (I think I'm kind of over shopping for most things), but they were just quick stops and I didn't have high hopes - and besides, I got a good amount of free baklava samples at the Spice Bazaar :)

Looking forward to more adventures tomorrow!

[beginningobserver]

I watched The Beginning in English when it released in Theaters and really enjoyed it. One plot bit Im still confused about is what exactly happened to Rui's parents? I'm not sure if the sub elaborated, but did they actually die because of Ukkomon or something else? Love your blog!

Oh hey, thank you! (someone just... finally sent an ask to this blog after months without one... i'm thankful)

Anyway... There's multiple answers to that question, the shortest answer is yeah, it's deliberately ambiguous (as a friend put) -- so we don't know whether Ukkomon did kill them or not.

But, pulling my Ace Attorney skills (be nice to me, i only played it a bit on NO$GBA emulator and my config didn't let me save my files so i never got to finish it) is that, in my opinion... Ukkomon's power does not instantly kill the target.

To quote wikimon, Ukkomon's attack, "Liar Dream" is described as:

[...] and hijacking the consciousness of an opponent that meets its gaze (Liar Dream).

You will notice that the description does not mention "tentacles" at all, or that this ability instantly kills the opponent, unlike other digimon's profiles say. For example, check Cyberdramon's "Erase Claw" description below:

Its Special Move is producing a super-oscillatory wave from both of its arms that destroys configuration data, completely erasing each of the opponents in the surrounding space (Erase Claw). If you suffer this attack, you are annihilated without leaving behind a single scrap of data.

Cyberdramon's "Erase Claw" has an effect in which it immediately destroys the opponent. But Ukkomon's "Liar Dream" does not present an effect besides "getting your mind hijacked". Therefore, Ukkomon's victims wouldn't die by it.

But why then Rui's parents died while Ukkomon was controlling them? And what was the purpose of those tentacles showed in-scene? Well... The tentacles weren't for the brainwashing technique, they were to keep up the bodies healthy and functional.

But the other thing which i dunno how many people noticed was that Rui's parents were sooner perish due to some reasons: One, Rui's dad was already between life-and-death and being kept alive by those machines... And Two, Rui's mom was TOO STRESSED enough to one day just die by overwork. So yeah, you see... The victims were already in a fragile health state, so one push and then... they would've died at any instant.

Ukkomon had no intent to kill them, as well. Idk what went through Ukko's head when he started playing with them like dolls, but I assume he didn't want to make Rui sad (especially because he was being kinda paranoid about making Rui happy and such...)

There's also another thing, i'll quote my convo with a friend who went full into Iori-ish when we were discussing about the same subject:

on the grounds of 1) intent to protect Rui from child abuse 2) high urgency (she was literally going to hit him on the spot) 3) clear lack of intent to harm 4) Rui being a minor the case would most likely be dismissed even if we somehow classify Ukkomon as an adult, the fact it's done "in defense of another person's rights", and especially in defense of a child, would be considered not punishable under Japanese law looking at what would be the most ambiguous parts it seems like Japanese law prioritizes "urgency" and does not necessarily require that the act be the only solution, so even if you could argue "but he could have done things besides kill Rui's mom" this won't fly because "she was going to freeze him to death and beat him, this was too urgent to not do something" and then there's the theory of "excessive defense" which is that the actions are disproportionately unreasonable compared to the danger the party was put in. but considering Ukkomon didn't seem to have any awareness that this might kill them, I don't think this would be ruled as unreasonable

So the conclusion is...

Ukkomon had no intent to kill, acted in order to protect a minor from corporal abuse, said victims were already in a bad health situation so they probably died somewhere between 1996 and 2003 thanks to the little "push" of Ukkomon's technique and then Ukkomon started to use them as puppets, maintaining their bodies with something he injected into their bodies... Until Rui discovered the truth, snapped at Ukkomon and had a real bad fight, all of them exaggerated, Ukkomon then melted and disappeared -- leaving no proof of the crime left.

The case is unsolved and archived because yeah, you can't prove that Ukkomon had killed Rui's parents at all.

It would be more concerning for them to deal with the crimes they committed in 2012 though, like Climbing the Tokyo Tower or the public disorder BigUkkomon caused lol.

Anyway, for the crimes Ohwada Rui and Ukkomon had committed on Feb 28 & 29 of 2012:

[mettywiththenotes]

I don't think people are really taking into account the baby Bakugou flashback. Because a couple of chapters ago we had the baby AFO flashback and I think it tells us a lot more about the people in this battle in that comparison

AFO was born into this world with no one to take care of him. His mother died in labour, no father there to help and his brother was born weak and fragile. Whereas Bakugou was born with love, both his parents alive and already in a position to take care of him

That's not me saying "AFO was born with no one to take care of him so of course he's the villain in this battle" and "Bakugou was born with love so of course he's the hero in this battle"

But throughout their lives, we're shown how one character has changed and the other hasn't. The circumstances of birth don't necessarily matter for how a person turns out

AFO was born without anyone to take care of him, and while Yoichi did care for him and tried to convince him to stop, hoping that he could become a kind person who wields a powerful quirk, AFO didn't change. His love for Yoichi was always something twisted, possessive. He never learnt to be better and frankly didn't want to. Of course part of that is due to the world he lived in at the time, a world that punished him for having powers, but even as society got better about quirks, he still didn't change. Even after he died and came back to life again, he still continued to do horrible things

Bakugou was born with love and care, but he was a bully. He hurt Izuku and pushed him away and told him to jump off a roof and couldn't stand to see Izuku progress despite it all, undeterred from his dreams with a new advantage. But the point is Bakugou did change. He took a good look at himself and decided he didn't want to be like that anymore. He recognized his own weaknesses and decided to get better, that meaning that he couldn't be the kind of person who always looked down on people anymore if he wanted to be an actual hero. We see evidence of this throughout the rest of bnha, with how he motivates Izuku as a rival and helps him train with One For All, how he pushes Izuku aside to sacrifice himself, but especially and most importantly so when he finally apologizes to Izuku. The courage he had to face the victim of his bullying and say he's sorry and explain why he did the things he did but emphasize it was wrong is something Early Bakugou would not have had or resolved to do

And though there's the connection with Izuku, there is also very noticeable development with how he treats others, shown in the A vs B joint training and the class band and many more. Even as he delivers the blow to AFO in the last page of 409, he does not take the credit for himself. "This is OUR story. I could have never done this on my own.", also something Early Bakugou would not have said, which shows how far he has come

The dedication he has to look at himself and actively improve how he looks at being a hero and a person to others is what makes him an admirable person

Point of this post being that whether they were loved from birth is not a necessary factor to look at in their roles, even when you compare both flashbacks. As you grow older, naturally, you change. Maybe you used to do bad things, unforgivable things. Maybe you were just trying to survive in your environment, or maybe you were wrestling with your own emotions regardless of your circumstances. Whether you acknowledge it or not, we as people are supposed to change at some point in our lives

AFO has not changed. Has had an incredibly long life enough to have that choice to stop doing bad things and hasn't. He is the villain of this battle. Not because of birth, not because of circumstances, but because he chooses to be

Bakugou has changed. He's 17 years old and has already reflected enough to know there's no excuse for his behaviour back then, has set himself and apologized roughly a year after being aware of that fact. He is the hero of this battle. Not because of birth, not because of circumstances, not just because he is the only one who can physically fight right now, but because he chooses to be. He chooses to be better than he was before

In conclusion, I believe showing AFO's birth and Bakugou's birth one after the other is an intentional contrast and what follows in their lives shows the differences in their characters to this point

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 1 - Side A

Propaganda below ⬇️

Claude Frollo Propaganda:

This man got horny and his response was “that woman must burn”

I love him so much. More seriously Book Frollo is much more ambivalent than Disney Movie Frollo which makes sense because we're talking about Victor Hugo VS a children's movie. He didn't kill Quasimodo's mom, he took him in (when himself was only nineteen and already in charge of his own baby brother since their parents had died not long before) when he was left on the church's doorstep. I mean, he does quite a few reprehensible and slightly evil stuff afterwards but he had a good start, you know ? He taught Quasi to communicate by signs when he became deaf because of the bells. He was also very much into alchemy which was pretty cool. His behavior towards Esmeralda was still very much not okay but I'd like to point out that Phoebus is also a jerk in this one. And Quasi's quite a bit amoral because no intelligent enough to understand some stuff

I actually haven't gotten very far through the book yet but from the musical (not the disney one the other one it's SO GOOD) I can confirm he sucks at being catholic. literally tells a child over and over that he's ugly and unlovable until he fully believes it and won't let the kid go outside. https://genius.com/Alan-menken-out-there-lyrics (lyrics to the song in which frollo convinces quasimodo he's unlovable. ableist as hell and shitty in every way you can possibly imagine and it breaks my heart every time. feel free to listen to the actual track but it doesn’t get good until about 40 seconds in) frollo keeps saying it's good and right to punish sinners himself, and it's not right that the wicked go unpunished. there's a really satisfying moment in the musical where quasimodo sees him for what he is and repeats his words back to him (7:45 - 8:54, frollo is the one with the insanely deep voice) and it gives me goosebumps every time to hear that "yes you do" link to that video: https://youtu.be/HL7WZcTIgus

I honestly wrote this submission because I suffered from severe insomnia for being reminded that I might have poor taste when it comes to enjoying media since I enjoy Disney version of Frollo even after I watched other versions of this character. (I am so sorry the host yes I am that annoying anon lying in the dark little corner of your ask box. I have no other thing to do in my life so hello again) His character is different from the original novel version, and to be honest as an adoption, that is NOT necessarily WRONG. He had more struggles with his pride and his self-imagine in the Catholic framework. "Beata Maria, you know I am a righteous man, of my virtue I am justly proud" as the opening line of his villain song, clearly states his main struggle throughout the movie--pride and self-imagine (super-ego) vs lust and instinct (id). Once his self-imagine in the Catholic framework was on shaking ground, he bent his twisted sense of "righteous" to make him less painful. Tbh, the novel version used the example of Bruno d’Ast to justify his hornyness, so it's just classical Frollo behaviour no matter which version it is. (SMASH THE TABLE) HAVE YOU READ~~THE NOVEL~~ I REPEAT: HIS CHARACTER IS NOT JUST "I HATE WITCHCRAFT AND I AM HORNY AND RACIST". I REPEAT: HIS CHARACTER IS NOT JUST "I HATE WITCHCRAFT AND I AM HORNY AND RACIST". I REPEAT: HIS CHARACTER IS NOT JUST "I HATE WITCHCRAFT AND I AM HORNY AND RACIST". I am sorry for the noise pollution in your submission Google form. I should have taken my sedatives regularly. I am truly sorry. Also please don't bully me in the debate, novel/musical enjoyers. LOOK, I AIN'T YOUR ENEMY. I LOVE NOVEL/MUSICAL FROLLO, I JUST LOVE DISNEY VERSION AS WELL, I AM AS TORMENTED AS YOUR FAVORITE CATHOLIC PRIEST. I am not a native tongue, so I tried my best to express my thoughts/feelings/justification why Disney version should be a qualified candidate as well. If you tried to debate with me, I would be drowned in my poor English. Sorry again.

Javert Propaganda:

His whole deal is like, “can someone still be good even if they’ve broken the law? Can you still be godly if you’re a felon” He really believes that by upholding the law, he is absolutely in the moral right all the time. And when he realizes that’s not true, it absolutely destroys him

he is the law and the law is not mocked <3 he is also. so gay. i'm sorry i refuse to believe you're even a little heterosexual if you chase jean valjean for like over 20 years for breaking parole and/or bread theft and recognise him by his muscles and have a major moral crisis as soon as he's nice to you one (1) time also he gets called out by a child that one time?? that was fun ALSO HE UHH???? THINKS HE SCREWED UP ONE TIME AND LIKE. ASKS HIS BOSS TO FIRE HIM???? (the boss is valjean he doesn't know that yet dw abt it) also uh uhm. he jumps into a river,,,, but before he does that he feels the need to put his hat on the fence nearby so it doesn't get wet lmao he's so silly goofy <3333

[deadpool15]

Ch.2 To be loved

Seeing him was the highlight of my day. I remembered when I was nothing but an orphan, though I can't remember my biological parents. I sometimes like to think they died. It was the best way for me when I was just a kid. To accept the fact that even the ones who gave you life viewed as nothing but a mistake was difficult. My mother viewed her destiny as saving her country, getting rid of the drugs that were taking lives. In my opinion, people died all the time. Life was hard. We have no idea what someone is going through until they are pushed to the end. She would never understand that struggle. That pain. When I heard it was si-o behind all this, I had to know why. People have reasons, I had to be the one to see the good in him. Even if no one else could. I was falling in love, love makes you do dumb things.

Whether I was dumb or hopeless, I wanted to know him. Not the version he showed to the public, the fake smiles meant nothing to me. I wanted to see him truly smile, to be happy. I happened to be at one of my mothers many chain restaurants. And to my luck sitting there was the man I had hoped for, now I hadn't prepared myself to speak to him and I realized that when he had made eye contact with me. Stern, serious glare like he knew I was watching him. Talking to people wasn't necessarily the issue. I talked my way out of parking tickets, jail, and even school punishments as a child. I was a smooth talker, one thing I developed from my mom. Though he made me nervous, my hands were sweating, and I had the urge to convert into oxygen. I wanted to cry because as much as I hated to admit it, his opinion of me meant a lot. One accidental interaction, and I was hooked. He knew me as Tseg tseg rich spoiled friend. I wanted him to see me. It already pissed me off that he had eyes for my sister. She took everything from me without even fucking trying. I had to man up and fight for what I wanted.

"Hello sir, you probably don't know me, but my name is Danny. We kinda met before when I bumped into you at your company." He smiled though I could tell it was fake, after years of faking happiness myself. I knew a fake smile from a mile away. "Right, your Tseg's little friend, correct?" Irritation couldn't even be used as the word for what I felt in that moment, I wanted him to see me. "Technically, that's how we met, though I just wanted to say something t-to you. Please." I stood up drawing attention to myself truly not what I needed right now, but I had to tell him before anything else happened. My anxiety was through the roof, I wanted to crawl into a hole and die right then and there standing under his intimidating stare. I had to do this, though. He was the first person I felt genuine feelings for, and I didn't even know him personally. The effect he had on me was outrageous.

"I wanted to go out with you. I want to get to know you, and I know I'm not korean, and your parents may have an issue with that, but I mean Nationality vise I am. Everyone thinks I'm just this spoiled rich assshole, but i im not, and i want to show you that there is more to me than my money or parents' money. I have korean parents, so that counts, I'm well accounted for, and I have seen you before, and you're all I think about no matter what. I try to get my mind off of you, and my brain proceeds to show different connections to you. And if you p-plan to reject me, just sit here and silence, and I won't ever bother you again. Well, I hope so, I can try." He was astonished but my speech. Everyone had turned their attention towards us and started clapping. I hadn't even noticed at first. I couldn't handle rejection, especially not by him. I wanted to be with him, breathe in his scent, and help him with anything. Live a life with him. Silence was what I got, and I took the message. I had embarrassed him and myself.

Suddenly, walking out, trying to hold back tears, I was 5 years old me again. I'm sitting at my dance recital waiting for my mommy. She promised she would come today since I told her how much this meant to me. Sitting there for the next 4 hours in nothing but silence was the worst feeling a child could feel. The competition was over, I didn't even dance, missing a chance to get picked for a major academy. I saw dad pull up. Why did she hate me so much. "Honey, you didn't tell me you had a competition today, and I found the scouts there as well. I would've shown up, baby." I stared at him. I was a daddy's girl simply because my mother broke my heart before I could ever feel love from her. "I didn't tell you because I told Mommy. I wanted her to come watch me this time. To surprise her with my skills." Just glancing at him, I knew that look, the look of a father who was afraid to break their already broken child. I snapped out of it when I felt someone shaking my shoulders. Looking up, it was him. "I've been calling you for 20 minutes. You almost got hit by that truck. Are you even paying attention?" I stared at him, I didn't know what to say, would he care enough to hear. "You ran out before I could say anything. Scared? You're very pretty. And bold. I've never had someone confess their love for me in a public area at that. I admire that, while I don't really know you, I would like to get to know you. Experience something."

I was so happy at that moment that I completely ignored the world around me. I jumped onto him. He was startled at first but caught me with ease. I leaned back and cupped his face, pecking his cheek, and for that first time, I saw a genuine smile. A real surprise for me, I enjoyed it. "You look beautiful when you smile, like a hidden jem only made for the luckiest humans to gaze at." He stared at me, blushing. From that moment, we slowly got to know each other, getting closer day and night. Developing an unbreakable bond. I didn't care he was a so-called criminal. When I was with him, none of that mattered. I never asked about his business, letting him know if he wanted to tell me he could. I kept this from my family, I knew they would never approve of what we had, especially my mother. She didn't give a shit about me, but in a situation like this, she saw him as an enemy.

We sat at a Korean BBQ shop. It was simply nice to spend time at a place with no worries. "I could've taken you someone nicer, you know." I placed some meat on the grill what grabbing a piece and putting it in front of his mouth. He smiled and opened his mouth to eat it. "Is it good? And you know I don't care about expensive restaurants. I've been to enough in my lifetime. I just want to be with you. To be honest, you could've gotten fried chicken and took to me the beach to eat. It's the thought that counts, babe." He smiled at me, I smiled back until I realized the petname I gave him immediately going to apologize. "It's fine, I actually like it. Babe." Blushing, I gave him more meat. We talked about our days, he was stressed and I wanted to help. Thought he said I shouldn't stress myself. We finished eating and literally had a full-on battle over who would pay the bill. I won, "Maybe I'll let you pay next time." He laughed, grabbing my hand and walking out of the shop. While pda was no foreign concept to me, it still made me feel like it was the first interaction between us each time it happened. "Come home with me, please." I stared at him in shock. He had never asked me this. I had no experience in relationships, but usually, that leads to other things. I didn't know what was gonna happen, but I trusted him.

We showed up to his home. He told me to wash up for the night. I happily got in the shower to think I was happy. A foreign feeling. My shower lasted well over 30 minutes, I looked down and saw a towel and a button-up shirt. Luckily, I always kept a spare thong with me. Putting on the clothes, I walked out of the bathroom to find him already washed up and laying in bed. A blue robe and pajama pants on while he was on the phone. I walked out of the room to got place my clothes in the hamper, then grabbed a glass of water. I was drinking it while examining the home I had never been inside. Eventually, I walked back towards the room where he was done with his phone call. And looked up with a dropped jaw. I smiled at his antics. "You're still so pretty. With and without the makeup. Come here." Walking slowly towards his bed, he gestured for me to move closer. I crawled to him, and apparently, it wasn't close enough because he picked me up and placed me on his lap while holding my hips. I felt nervous. He noticed squeezing my hips with his larm hands.

I grabbed one of his hands, placing them in mine. Comparing the size and then kissing his palms, I looked up at him to see a bright smile. "I'm not tired yet." I told him it usually took me a while to go to sleep. I was just always up. He nodded and pulled me closer in a hug. Affection from si-o was always the best. I could tell he wasn't the most affectionate person, so I didn't push him. Though I craved his touch, I craved everything about him. Looking out the window, I saw the stars. "This reminds me of when my mom took me and my siblings camping once. It was weird, though it was fun." I continued to look at the stars until he spoke up. "You don't talk about your mother much. Actually, you don't talk about her at all. For a second, I thought she had passed." I was shocked by the thought of my mothers absence. Sure, I never spoke about her because there weren't any good memories, to be honest. "It's fine if you don't want to speak about it." I looked at his face full of concern he was so patient with me, but I wanted him to know and trust me like I did him. "It's ok, it's just.....there isn't much to talk about, you know. She was there but not there. She was always focused on my older sister. She was the amazing daughter who could do no wrong. And I was simply the girl that lived in her house, or that's what it felt like. Sometimes, it felt like I didn't have a mom to begin with. To think I used to pray to have a mother that would be there for me. Then my sister went missing, and as much as I hate to say it, I was happy, for once I though she would pay attention to me, realizing she had two daughters but it only got worse. I was just there, and I hated myself for the fact that I was happy my sister was gone. I've always been jealous of her she is better in every way. That's so evil of me, but I was so fucking lonely. She is such a good person, and makes friends so easily and everyone likes her but me they look down on me. I'm nothing more then a spoiled bitch using her parents credit card to fill the void."

Before I noticed, I was full on sobbing in front of him. I broke down, secrets I've never told anyone in my life. I was afraid of what the world would think of me. He grabbed my shaking hands, kissing them slowly, whining, moving up to wipe my tears. "Your feelings are normal baby, you went your entire life playing second place because your mother is a terrible mother, no offense. A bit of a bitch you know. No secret there since she is Hwang Geum Joo." Hearing that part made me laugh. Until I sat there shocked he knew of my parent. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you." It was all I could say at the moment. He looked at me and pressed against my cheeks, letting me know it was ok. And he underdtood the urge to protect her even if she wanst good to me. Or cared for me, it seems."You are so amazing and kind and beautiful. She isn't better than you at all. I wish you could see the way I see you. You have lightened up my world as a whole. I was nothing but a cold, damaged asshole when I met you, then I realized no matter how my life pushes and kicks your ass its your choice to get back up. To keep going, you taught me that baby. All the drug business and shady stuff I do, you don't judge me at all. Sitting by my side supporting me no matter what I choose to do. When I was an orphan and Pavel took me in, trained me to become the person I am today, hit after hit. Missed meal after another, I prayed for a better life. You have provided that life." Hearing those words, my heart was swelled. I felt nothing but love for the first time someone chose me, loves me. I wasn't an option. I was a need. "I'm so glad you chose me or tseg." Hearing that, he laughing pulling me closer if that was possible. "I never liked tseg baby, she is a worker at my company that'd all. If anything, I had my eyes on you since you walked into the building." Similing in pure joy, I leaped forward, causing a groan to come of his mouth. Scared I hurt him, I tried to get up until he forced my hips back down. It was then I realized I hadn't hurt him. In fact, the moment u felt something hard poking me thigh, I blushed.

"How in the world did you get hard, sir?" He simply smiled at my words, moving me forward to the point where I was sitting directly on top of his hard on. My core pushed further into it slowly until he began grinding me against him. I couldn't help but moan. It all felt too good. "Have you seen my beautiful girlfriend sitting right on top of me in nothing but my shirt? If anything, it was difficult not to." Moans slipped from my mouth before I could let out a sarcastic response. Finally, I said the words I had been so afraid to ever tell anyone. "I love y-you." Hearing this, he sped up my hips against his, leaning in to capture my lips into a kiss. "I love you more, baby." We continued until we were left naked and bare before each other, and all the insecurities, abandonment issues, and pain left my mind. Leaving nothing but si-o. The night was a night to remember.

Stay tuned for chapter 3.

[hamliet]

I'm confused why would the Todorokis need to earn Touya's forgiveness? Endeavour and Rei I understand as they are the parents who badly let Touya down. But what did Fuyumi, Natsuo and Shouto do? If anything shouldn't it be Touya earning their forgiveness? It was him who sent someone to kill Natsuo and it was him who tried to kill Shouto on multiple occasions. Isn't it kind of victim blaming saying that Natsuo and Shouto should be the ones earning forgiveness here?

I think you're therapizing this a bit too much, Anon. No, it isn't victim blaming, because this is a story in which characters face consequences for actions/lack thereof, and in which those consequences (in a good story anyways) are not punishments to teach the audience a moral but instead symbolic demonstrations of how much a character has to grow/has grown.

I also don't necessarily think that it's as simple as me saying they need forgiveness, though I can see why you would take that based on what I wrote. But I don't always have time to delve into the nuances. Still, my mistake there. Let me clarify now.

No, I don't think Fuyumi, Natsuo, or Shouto are responsible for what happened to Touya. When I said that what happened didn't mean Touya forgave them, I didn't mean that they need to grovel. What I meant was that the Todoroki family has been portraying themselves as a reconciling unit, albeit with every member in different stages, since the Dabi/Touya reveal. Hence, it should not surprise anyone to think that Touya associates all of them with rejecting him. Shouto defended Enji on the battlefield, after all (and by that I mean he physically fought his brother, which Touya would see as fighting against Touya and for Enji, even if that is not the case). His last contact with his siblings beyond like, TV in which they appear with Enji, was them brushing him off, even if they all love him and aren't morally culpable.

The reality is that Touya has next to no reason to believe that his family care about him surviving. MHA 350 is all about this.

For all he knows, they were there in 390 to save Endeavor, not him. He's literally out of his mind and not able to think rationally; I think that's actually textual in this scene.

So, perception and reality are sometimes different things, and someone who is actively self-harming and losing their mind isn't in a good place to discern which is which, especially when they've dedicated so much time to the narrative that the entire family hates him and is better off without him, a narrative that we know AFO helped plant, too.

So, I think yes, Touya will have to forgive them. That doesn't inherently mean that in reality they wronged him, or that they have to grovel, but it does mean that his perceptions need to be addressed.

I think it's also pretty clear that Fuyumi, Natsuo, and Shouto have forgiven Touya more or less. You don't risk your life to save someone you nurture a grudge against.

[crossdressingdeath]

Sally Flymm: I'm here. But I can't speak. I can't act. I'm trapped. Kyvir: Why would Enver do this to you? Sally Flymm: He said he wanted to make us 'powerless'. Sally Flymm: Still bitter after all these years. But we did what was best for him - for all of us. Sally Flymm: We had debts. World-ending debts, trying to keep this cursed shop afloat. Dangerous lenders who said they'd bury us all if we didn't pay. Sally Flymm: Then, a warlock offered us a pretty penny for Enver's service. He was a smart boy - too smart. It was give him up - and all of us live - or refuse, and die. Sally Flymm: What choice did we have? Kyvir: You had every choice. You sold your son to a warlock - that's unforgivable. Sally Flymm: We got good coin for him. Closed our debts, and all of us kept our lives - Enver included. Sally Flymm: You may disagree. Enver did. But we don't deserve this - this torment. You're the first person who's heard the real me in months. Kyvir: You deserve what you got - and more. Sally Flymm: Maybe. Maybe not. It's for the gods to judge me - not my wicked son. And not you. Kyvir: Why would I help you after what you did to your own son? Sally Flymm: My son! You've seen what he's like. Same now as when he was a boy. Hateful little wretch. Sally Flymm: If you were me, you'd've sent him away too. Believe you me.

I wonder if Sally would've taken a different approach if she'd known she was talking to one of her horrible son's "nearest and dearest". Sure, Kyvir doesn't necessarily remember being Enver's friend ("""friend"""), but that's not the point! He's been going off of vibes since he woke up on the nautiloid anyway. Kyvir's current opinion of Gortash is basically "He called me his favourite <3" because Kyvir has Issues. Also I love how you can actually call him Enver instead of Gortash here, it's probably just because you're talking to his mother who's also calling him Enver but I've fully accepted the headcanon I've seen around that Durge was basically the only one allowed to call Gortash by his first name and so this is delightful to me.

Anyway, though. Imagine actually saying "Yeah, sure, we literally sold our son to this random warlock who happened to come through in order to pay off our debts and have been insisting we didn't do anything wrong ever since, but why would our son be bitter enough to want to punish us for it after all these years?" and expecting people to side with you just because your son also sucks as a person. Gortash is generally horrible but in this he is fully justified! Yes, absolutely, tadpole your shitty parents and dance them around like puppets who just talk about how great you are! A well-deserved tadpoling! But I do feel for Gortash here. Like... he's a shitty person trying to take over the world and he has to be stopped, but also you do feel bad for the child who got sold to a passing warlock by his own parents, who then insisted that it was right to do that. BG3 has so many characters who've been through absolute hell and then went on to do terrible things, the themes of the cycle of abuse are very very good.

[vivithefolle]

What are your thoughts on the bad future in Cursed Child where Hermione basically becomes Snape as a teacher just because she didn't get with Ron?

Oh, I'd written a Quora answer about that! Let me get it-

In the alternated universe in Cursed Child, Hermione became a Snape-like professor because she lost Ron. Is it just bad writing because she'd never be like that? Why?

Au contraire, I think it’s the only bit of characterization in this garbage play that makes sense.

And I’m not saying that because I love Ron, I’m saying that because I know Hermione rather well - I’ve been a very Hermioneish person in my life.

I’ve been that girl who wanted to answer every question I knew the answer to, because I liked to show off what I knew, I liked it when the teacher validated me, I liked to be seen as clever by the adults. The adults were the most important people, after all they were the ones who handed out the punishments. Therefore it was important that I endear myself to the adults considering that they were the only people who could protect me from the other kids’ bullying.

I was bullied. A lot. As a result, I hated my schoolmates. I despised them with all my being. I only trusted the adults and a select few fellow kids who didn’t bully me. My philosophy? “The adults are always right. I’m always right, unless the adults say otherwise. My friends are always right, unless the adults or I say otherwise. Everyone else is stupid and useless.”

Notice a pattern?

It’s quite easy really. The more I was bullied, the tighter I shut myself out. Every new act of bullying was only vindicating me. The world is made of idiots, idiots and more idiots. There’s nothing out there but idiots, and they prey on the smart people like me.

When Hermione made friends with Harry and Ron, thankfully, they stopped her from leaping into misanthropy entirely. They grounded her, gave her something to look forward to other than school. They made her realize that people who don’t care for school aren’t necessarily complete dumbasses who’ll never achieve anything with their lives. They brought some humanity to her. Some much-needed emotion and empathy.

They got her away from her feeling of superiority and made her accept that she wasn’t perfect, something that is incredibly important considering that being perfect is impossible.

[…] Harry headed straight back to the Gryffindor common room, where he found Ron and Hermione playing chess. Chess was the only thing Hermione ever lost at, something Harry and Ron thought was very good for her.

(Lookit those two Dads parenting their perfectionnist daughter. Iconic.)

Okay, so, we know how Hermione reacted when Ron dated Lavender Brown, right?

No, I’m not talking about the birds, I’m talking about after that. After she threw her hissy fit, she went on to bully Ron for months on end.

“Hi, Parvati!” said Hermione, ignoring Ron and Lavender completely. “Are you going to Slughorn’s party tonight?” “No invite,” said Parvati gloomily. “I’d love to go, though, it sounds like it’s going to be really good… You’re going, aren’t you?” “Yes, I’m meeting Cormac at eight, and we’re -” There was a noise like a plunger being withdrawn from a blocked sink and Ron surfaced. Hermione acted as though she had not seen or heard anything. “- we’re going up to the party together.” “Cormac?” said Parvati. “Cormac McLaggen, you mean?” “That’s right,” said Hermione sweetly. “The one who almost” - she put a great deal of emphasis on the word - “became Gryffindor Keeper.” “Are you going out with him, then?” asked Parvati, wide-eyed. “Oh - yes - didn’t you know?” said Hermione, with a most un-Hermione-ish giggle. “No!” said Parvati, looking positively agog at this piece of gossip. “Wow, you like your Quidditch players, don’t you? First Krum, then McLaggen…” “I like really good Quidditch players,” Hermione corrected her, still smiling. “Well, see you… Got to go and get ready for the party…”

And

“How did you do?” asked Ron, hurrying toward Harry. “I think I felt something the last time I tried - a kind of tingling in my feet.” “I expect your trainers are too small, Won-Won,” said a voice behind them, and Hermione stalked past, smirking.

You know how many pages there are between these two happenings? Seventy. 70!! In-universe, it goes from December to freaking March!

And by being away from Ron, Hermione also reduces the time she spends with Harry. Because Harry won’t seek Hermione out, it’s always Hermione who will come see him - and only if she has something to tell him.

So, without Ron, Hermione would consequentially drift away from Harry. Without Ron to bicker with, without Ron to act as a buffer between her controlling tendencies and Harry’s rebellious nature, Hermione would close herself off and ignore other people.

Now, as for why she’s a She-Snape when it comes to students?

Well duh! Have you seen Hermione?

Ron, at the next table, wasn’t having much more luck. “Wingardium Leviosa!” he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill. “You’re saying it wrong.” Harry heard Hermione snap. “It’s Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the ‘gar’ nice and long.”

She loudly points out Ron’s failure, getting everyone’s attention and making him feel humiliated, because she was so sure she knew better than him. That she happens to perform better than him right afterwards just makes Ron feel even worse.

She wasn’t nice, she wasn’t friendly, she wasn’t helpful. She shot him down by snapping at him and only then did she try to help him, but she was already “the aggressor” in Ron’s mind. Of course he wasn’t going to react nicely to anything she’d have to say afterwards!

“All right – I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors,” said Hermione in a sniffly voice. “And you’ve got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?”

Note that here, this is Harry’s narration. Harry thinks of Hermione’s voice as “sniffly”. It’s about on par with Draco’s “sneering” in terms of positive first impressions.

And look at that! “people outside are behaving very childishly”, that’s an 11 years old speaking! She’s just as much of a kid as her peers yet she already has an overinflated sense of her own maturity. *sighs* Believe me, I know from experience that this can only end in tears.

And it’s what would make her miserable should she become a teacher.

Without Harry and Ron with her to remind her that she’s human and faillible, Hermione would ignore other people’s needs as well as her own.

We already see that she can be somewhat gentle to people like Neville, maybe because Neville is kind of the equivalent of a “special needs” kid in the Wizarding World, but with other students like Harry and Ron, whom she assumes are just dumb or not trying hard enough? She’s harsh. Snappish. She can’t understand how they don’t understand stuff that to her is so easy!

Now take Harry and Ron and multiply them by 10. And put Hermione in charge of them all.

She’s gonna go insane in a couple weeks.

A few years and she’ll have lost any sort of enjoyment she may have gotten from passing on her knowledge.

Hermione is not a good pedagogue, like the books show us multiple times - she has an easy time learning because she can memorize her books, but not all students are like this. When someone doesn’t understand what she understands, she makes a snippy remark, act as though they should know and make them feel dumb and in the process snuff out their interest for what she had to say.

Hermione Granger would be a complete nightmare of a teacher, because she has no patience and has a very “if I can do it, so can you” mentality, and she also tends to assume the worst in others. She’s not suited to a role that requires her to interact with people on a daily basis (also why she would make a terrible Minister for Magic).