#or like remember how u can dislike a ship and just like.....ignore it and move on ???????

[satorugojoswiife]

Fie my dude just delete twitter as an app. It does so much good for your mental health tbh (also the way I can tell you’re taking about the way the satosugu/gojohime people go at it non stop) like you’re ships not canon and if the author specifies if it is or not it will never be. like just chill😭

Funnily enough it was actually ship discourse surrounding maki this time. I have no idea how it got on my timeline, but nobamakis and yutamakis were tearing eachother apart over whether maki was a lesbian or straight (rip bi/pan people) stsg and gh are also both really bad too :( its so weird how some people get so worked up and obsess over the sexualities over fictional characters 😭 and ur right anon I should delete, but the artists on there are what keep me coming back

[spade-riddles]

Submission:

Hi there! I’m the anon who asked for a conversation about what we (as Kaylors) actually fear from Karlie and Taylor letting the world assume Jerk is the baby’s bio dad. Switched to submission format because the Tumblr word count is tiny and asks get eaten and muddled, which makes it really hard to express yourself properly 😅

First I wanted to say thank you for engaging in a mature discussion about this. I really appreciate it. A lot of other blogs have either stopped believing Karlie and Taylor are together any more, or are more idealistic and don’t want to even talk about a less than perfect outcome to this story. It’s frustrating because while I understand the need for optimism (I feel that need too!) I don’t want us living in la la land and feeling disproportionately upset if we don’t get our perfect ending. 

So. I should probably lay out where I stand: I think there is a high likelihood Karlie and Taylor will let people assume the baby is Jerk’s, at least at first. My reasons are simple. 

1) The baby is due very soon. Taylor is used to sneaking around and we’ve talked before about how she is able to live in secrecy. The pandemic has definitely made that easier for her. But a baby is a whole different ball game. It will be frankly exhausting to sneak around pretending she’s not a mom, hiding her baby. And the more she hides it, the higher the risk of it being exposed by social media and becoming a huge gossip story. Taylor Swift’s secret baby! Kissgate was bad enough, I don’t think Taylor would want to risk a Babygate.

For this reason, she’s going to move soon to incorporate Karlie back into her life. Probably as a new single mom friend who is staying with / spending a lot of time with her after her marriage break up. The story may even go out that the feud rumors were bogus all along and the girls were good friends the whole time, and Taylor gave  Karlie the strength to leave her bad relationship. I expect Tay to be named godmother, which will allow her to be seen more with bub while the full picture is waiting to fall into place. 

2) So Taylor and Karlie are being seen together once more. Taylor looks like a great friend, Karlie’s image is slowly being rehabilitated as Taylor goes on a charm offensive, and the baby is a fixture in Taylor’s life that people think is sweet, but don’t really question because she’s supposedly still with J*e. 

No-one talks about J*sh at this stage. No-one interacts with him on social media, and they do their best to limit any media mentions of him as “Karlie Kloss’s baby daddy”. This is easier than it seems. Taylor has connections at Vogue, Karlie owns W, and Tree is an expert at shutting down unwanted stories. Any publication that wants future access to Taylor or Karlie will play ball, because why wouldn’t they? No-one is that invested in linking Karlie to a past beard forever, and no-one wants to bully a newborn child over a connection insiders will know isn’t even real. Sure, Scooter and his Page Six sock puppets will probably churn out articles stirring the pot, but that’s nothing new. The girls can ignore it or deflect attention, as they do now. 

3) Stage three of the plan sees the resurgence of “Kaylor” as a thing people are shipping. Hardcore fans will obviously know they’ve been together all along, but the wider public will start to wonder if Taylor has deeper feelings for Karlie, or if Karlie left her husband because she hopes to “get back together with” Taylor and take another go at their 2014 relationship. People start to link past songs to Karlie and speculate that lingering feelings for her “best friend” are what has stopped Taylor locking it down with J*e. J*e is boring and only seen on miserable pap walks with Taylor, but Karlie is seen hanging out with her and their friends in happy, seeming domesticity. People begin to talk about how much like the old carefree Taylor Tay seems again. The sunshine effect in full swing. 

4) Eventually Toe break up and Kaylor are revealed to be in a relationship. You’ll never please the homophobes but by now most fans are happy for Taylor. Taylor, who has de facto raised the baby since birth, jokes that she’s “daddy”. Karlie gives a more serious interview about what a wonderful parent Taylor is and how she has always considered her as much the baby’s mom as she is, because she was there all along and never gave up or walked away. She won’t be drawn on her ex husband but does make a statement about “what a great influence” Taylor is on their child. Etc etc. By now we’re a few years out from the Trump administration and J*sh is still known and disliked, but is hardly a household name. He was only ever “famous” (I use the term loosely) for being Karlie’s beard. 

People can disagree with me on this. Yes, his family are odious and will be in trouble for years to come, probably. But J*sh has always been a fringe member. He’s not Jared or Ivanka, who people really know and hate. He’s more like his father - people know he’s shady like the rest of them, but most people couldn’t immediately pick his face out of a line up, and they don’t know the details. I’m sorry, but it’s true. The general public don’t care about Jerk half as much as Kaylors do. Once he loses his celebrity connections he’ll fade from public consciousness. You think I’m kidding, but I’m not. How many people reading this right now would know if Dick Cheney passed them in the street? Not many, I’m guessing. Time passes and memory fades. People will “know” he’s the father, but in a fuzzy way, and soon enough it will fade to the point where this is brought up as surprising information. People won’t even remember she was married to him. It’ll become weird trivia that no-one really wants to talk about anyway, because it seems disrespectful. 

5) At this point, people either assume Jerk has a private relationship with the child, or they notice how Karlie never ever talks about him and speculate that he’s estranged from the child. It’s likely Karlie and Taylor would then go down the route of having Taylor officially adopt the baby at this point, though a public marriage would probably predate that, and all these things take time to roll out and seem natural. Even U-Hauling it!

If J*sh is smart, he’ll keep quiet during all of this. If Kaylor were smart, they would have engineered reciprocal NDAs, where Karlie can’t reveal their marriage was fake, but Jerk can never speak about the baby in return. And I think he might go along with this policy of silence. Remember, what he was always getting out of the arrangement with Karlie was that he appeared straight. Why throw all that away? He won’t want any real involvement with the baby, because it isn’t actually his. But it suits him that people think he got a woman pregnant, and it suits him that he can pretend to be a dad. Just “a private dad” who doesn’t see his kid much. Yes, we might get some annoying stunts where he tries to pretend, but if Karlie and Taylor continue to never give him any oxygen, it’ll eventually reach a stage where people can choose their own version of reality. Some people will think he’s involved and some won’t, but most people frankly won’t care either way. 

And I do think that’s the ideal scenario for both of them. Sure, Karlie could eventually leak gossip stories suggesting he’s not the dad. But that would be a hit to her reputation at a time when she is actively trying to rebuild it. WE might all be passionately anti-Jerk and gleeful at the idea of a cheating narrative, but I don’t think it would go down so well with the wider public. He may be from a scummy family but he’s always been viewed as “the one who’s not as bad”, and Karlie still made the apparent choice to marry him. Even if he was scum it would look bad to treat him like that after pretending she loved him .To say that she cheated with some meaningless random guy and got knocked up by him, and this other dude has never even been involved with the kid … . I won’t mince words here. It would make Karlie look terrible. People won’t be saying “ha ha he got what he deserved”, they’d be saying “ wow, Karlie is a sloppy mess”, “wow, how cruel to get knocked up behind her husband’s back”, and finally “wow, Karlie seems so unstable, she’ll treat Taylor badly too and bring trouble down on her head. She probably only even got back with her because she didn’t want to be alone. Taylor should RUN!“ 

This is NOT the impression they want people to have of Karlie. Which brings me to: 

6) Karlie’s reputation has suffered enough, and Taylor knows it. Taylor is no stranger to pivots, and she’s no stranger to playing the long game. What’s most important to her at this stage? I think it’s that she gets to live a free and open life with the woman she loves and the child they’re raising together. I don’t think she cares who is assumed to be, basically, the sperm donor. She will be daddy with this plan, and that’s what counts. So yeah, I think she would go for it. It’s a sacrifice I think she would make. 

And really, if he’s not involved in the baby’s life, is it even a sacrifice? We all talk about the “association” around here, but the child won’t have any actual contact with him and Taylor can freeze out any mention of him in the media. There is no actual threat to the child that I can see. Letting people assume he’s the father is NOT the same as letting him into the baby’s life. Kaylor not correcting people’s assumptions doesn’t mean they’re going to actively stunt with him. They can just choose to say nothing, the way they did with the “feud”. 

What’s the worst that will happen if people assume the baby has K*shner DNA but is estranged from the family? Seriously, people. Give me answers.

Not just “I don’t want people to think Taylor’s baby has his icky genes”. Because genes don’t make a person and they don’t necessarily make a family either. Taylor’s love and parenthood would not be ANY less if it was assumed she was the adoptive mom with no biological link to the baby. The baby would not be assumed genetically evil for having a few chromosomes from that awful family. Tr*mp’s own sister has been one of his biggest critics, remember? Genetics don’t dictate your politics or your moral compass.Only a fool would actually seriously accuse an innocent baby of being some kind of devil spawn, just because they thought it was Jerk’s. 

The K*shners can’t claim or take the baby. They can’t force Karlie and Taylor to stunt with them. So there’s no “using the baby to whitewash Jerk’s reputation”. There’s no putting the baby in danger. And the media aren’t going to bully the baby, because it’s poor practice and would make them look terrible, as well as costing them potentially lucrative future relationships with Karlie and Taylor. 

Taylor isn’t “letting Jerk take credit for her baby” either. Not if they refuse to stunt and if it plays out the way I described. Taylor will eventually get recognition as the baby’s real other parent, while Jerk is phased out. Taylor is patient. For the end game I believe she could stand a few months of this. 

 I’ve turned it over and over in my head and this is the only realistic solution I can see. All our other theories - Karlie pretends to be Taylor’s surrogate, Karlie pretends she slept with someone else, Karlie and Taylor expose the fake marriage, all of those theories - they all seem like wishful thinking. They would never be credible outside our tiny fandom of people who want any memory of Jerk purged forever. (Not possible. The Jerklie history will always exist on the internet, just like Taylor’s supposed “relationship” with Calvin.) We just have to let it go. Separate our heightened negative feelings from the actual likely long term consequences. 

This is what will probably happen, if we’re being really sensible and honest with ourselves. We need to stop being so absolutist and thinking it’s the end of the world, because it really doesn’t have to be. It can be just a bump in the road instead. I think we’d all be a lot happier if we adjusted our outlook about this possibility, to be honest. This all or nothing way of thinking is creating so much unhappiness and stress, I hate to see it. We need to just breathe! 

I truly believe we won’t get everything we want - but good things are coming. 

This is so long, sorry! But I had a lot to say. 

Yours, 

let’s call me, Pragmatic Anon

[dickwheelie]

@lady-alys​​ thank you for the prompt! I went with number 2 of course

____________

Flora wasn’t sure what else she could do at this point aside from leaving a bad Yelp review. Apparently, “weird noises at night” and “things moving around when you weren’t looking” were normal on moving cruise ships. “Strange messages left in steam on the bathroom mirror” was less easily explained away by the crew, but it wasn’t grounds for a refund, so Flora had quietly returned to her cabin and sat, grumpily, on the edge of her bed, trying to come up with other solutions to the odd problems that had plagued her in the week since she’d started what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation.

Of course she had already complained about it to her roommate back home, who had unhelpfully advised her that her cabin might be haunted. Flora, who was a practical sort of person, had laughed this off, but the more she thought about it the more she found she couldn’t come up with any other conclusion.

The messages in the mirror were particularly damning; they appeared anytime the bathroom mirror fogged up, usually when Flora was showering and absolutely sure all her doors were locked. They had started with an innocuous “Hi there :)” and had only gotten more presumptuous from there:

“My name’s Penny, what’s yours?”

“Ur cute”

“If it was weird I called u cute I’m sorry”

“Heyyyyy”

“How are u still ignoring these”

“Listen to ur friend”

“I’m a GHOST silly”

“GHOST. ME. THE ONE WHO’S WRITING THESE”

“Why do I always pick the stubborn ones”

“Ur lucky ur so cute”

In retrospect, it was rather obvious. But Flora didn’t believe in ghosts. She never had; there was always some scientific explanation for any strange phenomena people found. There had to be another explanation for the messages in the mirror.

Flora sat up in bed. That was it--she’d just have to do her own little scientific investigation.

She went into the bathroom and locked the door behind her, then scoured every inch of the place to make sure no one was hiding in a cabinet or behind the shower curtain. Then she turned the shower on full blast at the hottest it would run. Within a couple of minutes, the mirror had fogged up, and Flora watched it carefully.

To her great surprise, letters began appearing on the glass, as though drawn by an invisible finger:

“Took u long enough :)”

Again, Flora was a practical person. More than anyone else, practical people have a way of bouncing back from such seemingly impractical situations by simply throwing all of their practicality at them, which usually causes them to behave rather more reasonably than less practical people.

This being the case, Flora crossed her arms and said aloud, “So you are a ghost, then.”

The previous message erased itself, wiped away by an unseen hand. After a moment or two, the glass was suitably fogged up again for a reply:

“Duh”

“Well,” Flora huffed, “there’s no need to be so smug about it.”

“Kidding,” said the mirror below the previous word. “I’m glad to finally talk to u though!”

“Penny, was it? I’m glad to talk to you, too. I’m embarrassed to say, you’re the first ghost I’ve been acquainted with.”

“No, really? ;)” said the mirror.

Flora rolled her eyes. “Ha, ha.”

The mirror wasn’t large, and the ghost kept running out of space and having to wait for the glass to fog up again to continue to write.

“There’s got to be a better way of doing this,” said Flora.

“Can’t speak :’(”

“You can write on the mirror, though,” said Flora, quite practically. “And move things around. Can you use a pen and paper?”

Within a few minutes, Flora was back on her bed and had produced a pen and one of her many blank notebooks. She watched, still rather surprised as the pen levitated off of the blanket and began scribbling in the notebook:

“This is soooo much easier! Great idea!!” Then, after a second of thoughtful hovering, the pen wrote, “Now will you tell me your name?”

“Oh, yes--it’s Flora. Very nice to meet you, Penny.”

“Aw, you remembered my name!” Penny wrote.

“Of course. And I also remember that you, ah . . .” Flora cleared her throat self-consciously. “You said you thought I was cute.”

“Well you ARE cute”

“Oh, well . . . thank you,” said Flora.

“Just stating the obvious”

“I’m sure . . . I’m sure you’re very cute, too. I wish I could see what you look like. Or--looked like?” An awful thought dawned on Flora. “Are you . . . dead?”

Penny didn’t miss a beat. “Don’t know another way to be a ghost!”

“Oh, I’m--I’m so sorry,” said Flora, who really was. She disliked the thought of such a spirited person being, well, a spirit.

“Don’t be. Got over it a loooong time ago”

“Is it impolite to ask--why are you stuck here, on a cruise ship?” Flora blanched. “Did--did you die in this cabin?”

Penny quickly wrote, “Not in THIS cabin specifically. I died on this boat a long time ago but been hanging out since, keeping up with the living world. Usually don’t bother anyone. But you caught my eye ;)”

There was a pause where the pen hovered just above the paper for a moment, and then Penny wrote, “And I was getting kinda lonely.”

“I can imagine,” said Flora, and she patted the blanket comfortingly, in the vague direction of where Penny might have been sitting. “Well,” she said, “I’m on this ship for another week, at least. And I’d like to get to know my new cabinmate better. Get ready to use up a lot of notebook paper, Penny.”

“Aww Flora, I can’t wait!”

[serpentsapple]

(This post includes major spoilers for The Grisha Trilogy and the Shades of Magic series.)

@dykeblight replied to our introductory post with the following:

alright bud since u decided to put this in the main tags of the books ur critiquing ur ready to hear my take on this. first of all the wording in this post is pretentious as hell and it bothered me all thru out reading it. second of all, let’s lay some shit down: the only books ive read discussed in this post are adsom and tgt, and while i agree that tgt isn’t the most radically feminist book series out there, i have to ask: why are u focused on women writing this? why is this post generalizing

horrible male authors but name dropping female ones? alinas journey was largely about her realizing that she could make her own choices. about her not needing to be queen or supreme ruler or some shit. about how she could literally settle down with the worlds most boring dude and still be happy. anyways, beyond that: adsom. first of all, whenever someone pulls the “not like other girls” card for lila, i have to pull the “she’s genderfluid” card. it wasn’t Explicitly stated in the series, and v

has expressed regret for that, so it’s probably going to be more obvious in the next series. also, adsom is very much a period piece. you couldn’t be a woman in the early nineteenth century doing what lila did without like, yknow, *not being a woman.* the threat she got on that first ship— a period piece! if it was a male author, then that’s gross. but it’s not, a woman wrote it! lila also proceeded to burn the whole goddamn ship down. sometimes authors don’t want to write traditionally feminine

characters!!! sometimes women want to write about what THEY can relate to! and ve schwab, as a queer woman, probably did that. so now we come back to the question of WHY are you calling out only female authors for this? you could have accomplished the same goal by just including books and authors that you deemed Respectable. not to be that bitch, but there was literally no reason for you to post this lmfao. i think we should first tackle the issue that is men having access to keyboards, and

maybe then we can broaden our horizons by critiquing everything women do thats decidedly not perfect.                            

We created this blog to discuss these topics, so we welcome other opinions and interpretations!

To reiterate our goal and perhaps clarify... male authors already receive enough publicity and analysis - to the point they eclipse, at times, their female peers, even when it comes to writing female characters. How wonderful of them to treat fictional women as fellow human beings! (How shameless of others to treat them as their personal sexual fantasy!) Yet we would like to hear what women have to say about themselves. It is why we focus exclusively on their works.

Furthermore, we believe these works as worthy of analysis as any text written by a man. And it is precisely because of this conviction - their books potentially as grandiose, as mediocre as any man’s - that we will not refrain from criticising them. To treat them differently would be implicitly agreeing with the notion they aren’t as intellectually engaging as men’s writings.

Moreover, we are not advocating for “feminist” books from women. In fact, we dislike this qualifier: too often misattributed, rarely useful, always commercial. We desire convincing female characters, as talented as they are flawed, as just as they can be immoral. Thus, while we have grown tired of uncreative, unnecessary sexism in fantasy, we are not expecting perfect little militants in every story. We expect to be moved and stunned, to be left inspired or reflecting on what we read.

I hope this has cleared up our intent with the blog. Now, for the specific series discussed...

While I could see this be Bardugo’s aim for Alina’s journey, I disagree with it being well executed. Narratively speaking, I do not think Alina was treated fairly and was able to make true choices. Throughout all three books, Alina remained unobservant and somewhat self-centered, never challenging the affirmations of others and instead regarding them as truth. Let’s take the example of the Darkling: she accepts his supposed initial good intentions and views him, to the very end, as some kind of lost and anguished “boy”. Yet that isn’t what the text shows - on the contrary, the Darkling is a hollow character that spent centuries sitting on his behind, doing nothing for his fellow Grisha. Alina is never given the chance to realise this and reevalute what happened to her.

Beyond this, I feel like Alina’s journey was contrived from the start. Bardugo does not allow her to see beyond the words of others, nor does she allow her to actually grow. Alina’s crush on Mal and her fixation on remaining with him - despite him disliking what she is! - stems from a child’s anxiety and solitude. Instead of becoming her own woman, making her own choices and yes, having to face losing relationships, Alina regresses to the safety of her childhood, powerless and normal, just like Mal. Let us remember that, to remain with him, she sealed her powers within herself, endangering her health! So symbolically, it is a slap in the face: just when she embraced her powers - meaning letting go of her fears, of Mal -, she loses it all and go back to square one.

This is why I don’t find Alina’s journey satisfying. Even if it hurts, I wish to see female characters confronted to their fears and their flaws, and grow from them*. That is not what we witnessed with Alina. And: why is it that female characters must be “depowered”? Why does the Darkling (and Ilya Morozova) get to keep his immense powers, must live with his guilt, yet Alina loses every and any scrap of magic? Why is she punished for her greed so much, when she hardly is the greediest? (This echoes also Genya’s “punishment”, so heavily tied to her being a beautiful woman and beauty being, in Bardugo’s world, a key quality for women. Nikolai’s monstruous transformation is cruel but never specifically targeted at his sex.)

Why is it female characters only whose “happy” ending involve going back to their boyfriend’s house, complete with potential children? In a fantasy world, is it the best we can offer to these characters? Why does “making her own choice” usually involve them being unambitious and - I am barely caricaturing - happy housewives? Where are the female characters being greedy, powerful to the point of madness, and fascinatingly ruthless? Where are the genius, the good but scheming inventors and princesses? Where are the female Darklings and the female Nikolais?

Yes, it may not be Alina’s story and that’s alright. But reading the story she received, I could not help wondering: is it truly her story, or is it her story in a narrative unfair to women?

As for Lila... what Schwab stated confusingly in interviews or twitter threads cannot be used to analyse the text itself, though it may help. In this case, it holds a very different perspective from what she may affirm outside of it, so let’s keep close to what she wrote.

I disagree that it is a period piece. Her series is firmly set in a fantasy version of our world, with four alternate but equally real Londons, and with interactions between them that differentiate her England from ours. She chose to keep this England similar to ours, so the departure from it could be obvious; she chose, again, to have Lila threatened with rape by sailors even in Red London, her full invention. She chose, still, to never mention the miserable reality of lots of poor women like Lila in our England - namely, prostitution. She picked what suited her, as authors do, yet could not come up with any other plot than sexual assault. That she is a woman does not excuse her utter lack of imagination on that front! I find the notion that female characters are condemned to sexual threats depressing, on top of insulting towards authors who still strive to be creative.

And this is all ignoring what Schwab forced her other female characters to endure, which is sexual slavery, somewhat coerced pregnancies and social isolation, plus being sexist caricatures and butchered so men could be sad about it. In that context, what is Schwab exactly saying about women, if even her heroine is misogynistic and desperately trying to escape this reality? If Lila isn’t a woman - which she is in the text, she never denies being one, she only affirms being different, meaning a full human being! -, does that mean women’s place is in caricature and distress and death? If she is, then must they reject their womanhood and deride other women to be in the spotlight?

And this is all, again, ignoring that Schwab who, yes, admitted wanting to write a female character she wished to see in fiction, that resembled her... had Lila’s whole development derailed in favour of male characters. Lila’s ambition and excessiveness vanished in a third book dedicated to temptation! Lila’s anger and recklessness receded in front of Holland, all so we could learn about his sad backstory. Which involved, as salt to the wound, the stereotypes of a greedy girlfriend and the ever failing mother Schwab is so fond of.

Our post never suggested that women should not write non traditionally feminine women. Rather, that would be quite refreshing! I would love to read about these women that we hardly see.

Is it what Schwab wrote, though? Lila indeed crossdresses and appears androgynous enough to sometimes pass as a man (not always, in a manner that is most convenient to the author). Yet: she constantly mocks other women for being vapid, gossiping, feminine, in a word weak. Yet: Schwab has her, in the second book, attend a ball dressed femininely and feeling insecure about it, all to state she is - quoting! - “not most girls” and have Kell, her love interest, compliments her. She has the happy tomboy reaffirmed as able to be feminine and beautiful that way! How is that not depressing for every woman and girl who never want to be feminine? Why did Schwab choose to have her in a dress instead of a suit, like Lila would probably have preferred? Why did Schwab choose to strictly divide women and men into two categories, dress-wearing and not-dress-wearing? Why is Lila alone in her plight as an androgynous woman? Why didn’t this fantasy world have women and men dressed in a way they felt comfortable with?

This isn’t a period piece. Schwab was free to make that choice... and she did not. I would add, too, that women in real life have always struggled and fought against misogyny. They were women and they were still complex human beings and they still tried to live as comfortably as they could. Sometimes they failed, yes, because society wouldn’t want them to. But women like Lila have existed, and behaved like her, and dressed like her, and dreamed as big as her. Why should not we expect as much of fiction, then?

Sidenote: I am especially critical of that awful “tomboy turns into a lady” trope that fandom will seize it and run. It is disheartening to see countless edits and fanarts of Lila depicting her as feminine instead of androgynous as she was written, and often in feminine clothing at that. So if even the narrative later ends up confirming it...

*Or perhaps spiral down, willingfully blind. Alina’s story isn’t supposed to be a tragedy, however, so this does not apply here.

(If you don’t mind, I would like to hear why you found the post’s wording pretentious?)

[beverlyr0ad]

crimes of grindelwald thoughts

alright obvious spoilers not that it matters bc i have one follower lmao but !! i need somewhere to scream abt this movie

first of all i love jacob and newt so much. best parts of this movie honestly i love them and i want them to be happy 

but to be fair i actually rlly rlly enjoyed watching this movie!! like,, there are a looot of things i dont understand about it and i have no idea how they happened or why theyre happening but thats Okay i would still recommend everyone watch it! its so good!!!

good things:

- grindelwald !! i mean,, no hes not a good thing but i really liked how they wrote his character. like i can UNDERSTAND the power he has over people and how hes manipulating them. hes really not just a Voldemort 2.0 and i respect that a lot bc thats not what an entirely different villain should be like. but casting issues and all aside i really liked this

- i also liked the interaction between leta lestrange and dumbledore that was some good stuff and the actors were rlly good too !!! - i like the direction queenie is going in. i mean i dont actually of course but it seems realistic and i think its important and its good character development n stuff so hhh hope that works out later tho !! i am Suspense

- jacob walked into that movie and i was like !!!!!!!!! :DDDDDDDDDDDDD i love him so much and it was rlly nice to see him back even if i dont think it was that neat to have him lose his memory of everything that happened for significance and in this movie have everything go like WHOOMP hes back but i uhhhh loved it anyway so this is not a complaint its a good thing - i still loved newt and having a good main character makes the whole movie a better watch in general. ive seen sequels where i just Cant get attatched to the new characters but wow i didnt really have much of a problem with that here

- it was also never boring and i really just loved n enjoyed this movie a lot!!!  okay hhh bad things/things that i personally disliked:

- ive seen different opinions on this but??? what was that blood pact????? what are u doing??????????????? i cant even be coherent properly so here are the main reasons that was rlly dumb

1- w-who does that in a romantic relationship ever :o and yes jkr has literally said dumbledore n grindelwald were in LOVE HELLO feel free to correct me if im wrong on anything but if ur gonna say it u should show it,,,, Continuity Please. anyway separate issue but if u love someone youre not gonna be like “hey lets make SURE we dont fight each other ever” because youll trust that the other person?? isnt gonna fight u???!!!???? im

2- thats literally not the reason he “cannot move against grindelwald” okay like it shouldnt be. this conversation literally happens in dh and dumbledore says he was scared of facing what rlly happened when ariana died!! there was no actual physical thing stopping him!!! the only acceptable justification is that he doesnt want to face this ghosts of his past and that moment and he is SCARED okay so COME ON give dumbledore his faults! hes scared of his past and that IS the reason!!

3- wait how did grindelwald, aberforth, and albus fight if they had already entered a blood pact. like i dont think albus would aim for his own brother EVER but could he even attack grindelwald if they had a blood pact?? not sure how this works lol but who was he aiming for then??? just firing everywhere randomly without intention cause that sounds,,, significantly harder to believe and makes that scene loads messier esp if grindelwald couldnt aim for albus either so

4- the blood pact was so frickin unnecessary im sobbing. like there was the scene where its all like “oh some say you were as close as brothers” and dumbledore is like “oh we were closer than brothers...” and im like OK! the little scene in the air doesnt explicitly reveal anything either so thats ok but the closer than brothers line was rlly revealing for me. at least for like two minutes and then dumbledore looked in the mirror and saw himself making a blood pact w grindelwald. like ok is That what u meant by closer than brothers bc thats what everythings pointing to but it shouldnt be and i.............ugh

5- im honestly just kind of hhhhhhhhhhhh. i can concede that the blood pact might be significant in later films and i look forward to watching them! but. at the same time i. wish that if you were going to say dumbledore was gay it would actually be explicitly referenced in the movie, instead of dancing around that and dropping it in hints and pieces that fans of the series who know this information will understand and others can just dismiss as friendship! there were So Many good places in this movie to include this fact (altho feel free to disagree w me haha) and i think that not including this fact was honestly tiring.

- nagini...........obv this isnt a huge problem bc idk where her story will go next n it might develop n become important but as of rn, i have no idea what her role in this movie is. i wonder if her reappearance in the harry potter series will actually be of significance and if itll be explained how she will end up under servitude to voldemort bc i genuinely dont understand right now. it just seems like a cameo to draw attention in the trailer ghgdjh

- leta lestrange’s death didnt feel right or impactful and im sad . definitely a huge opinion here but it felt like a mandatory character snuff to make the movie sad and ghdsjgfh oh well :(

- little continuity issues?? dumbledore being DADA professor instead of transfiguration bc Boggarts Are Important For Foreshadowing. also how is mcgonagall an adult or actually how is she even alive and um of course the fact that this movie doesnt confirm what jkr has said about dumbledore and grindelwald beforehand. 

- im actually going to totally repeat myself bc this deserves a separate point umm why arent dumbledore and grindelwald actually shown as in love with each other as young men. its completely relevant to the movie and its not hard to put it in there instead of the bLOOD PACT (ask anyone irl ive been screaming abt the blood pact ever since i came out of that movie). anyway i know david yates said he wouldnt be including that as part of the movie as fans are aware of that aNyway but its not that hard to understand. people are asking for actual representation?? not smt vague??? because this is just here to Please People. if u refuse to see this ship, ure just gonna see them as having a friendship! maybe u havent heard about what jkr said or maybe ure choosing to ignore it bc,, idk that says smt about u, or maybe another reason idk! but if u go into this knowing they were In Love and hoping to see confirmation of dumbledore being canonically gay, youre going to hear that “oh, we were more than brothers” line and be like oh yeah we been knew, or more seriously like hey! maybe we’re getting a canon confirmation, not just floaty young people leaning towards each other! like when he looked in the mirror i was like okay This Is It this is gna be confirmation but then it wasnt oop. it was the !!! bloooood paaact !!! which means that people could interpret the “closer than brothers” line as meaning oh we done did a blood pact that means we blood related look at us go! Wow! so this is basically just a half azzed attempt at pleasing people w stereotypical viewpoints and people happy to see representation. hmmmmmmmmmm.. (psst if u actually ship older dumbledore n grindelwald tho What Are You Doing Stop !! thats not a healthy relationship, grindelwald is an awful person and dumbledore deserves to grow from the person he was before!!! he deserves so much better!!! im not saying to ship them but im saying that if we’re gonna say they were in love as young men and if we are going to confirm that dumbledore is gay well,,, lets put that in canon pls!!!! we need canon representation but we dont need to pretend this ship is healthy or good bc its representation either. this isnt shipping this is asking to acknowledge that dumbledore was gay and in love with grindelwald and its confirmed that grindelwald was in love with him too. in the place the story of tcog is now, that relationship is not ever going to happen again and if u actually think it is ure suffering from some next-level delusion. just be definitive and acknowledge that your characters are LGBT tho pls!! u said they were!!! actually i would be so much happier to see a Happy And Healthy LGBT Pairing can we have that? please?)

- big spoiler but hOW IS CREDENCE ALBUS’ BROTHER WHAT IS HAPPENING DKFJDKSH i need to separate my thoughts again

1- AGE DIFFERENCE........apparently dumbledore is like 46 in this movie right?? credence doesnt look over 20. okay percival dumbledore is put in azkaban before albus starts school right?? so the maximum age albus can be is 11. now im gonna say that kendra was not having any more kids w anyone else after that incident fs so the oldest albus can be when ariana is born is 12, leaving room for some other stuff okay. ALBUS AND CREDENCE DONT LOOK LIKE THEY HAVE A 12 YEAR AGE GAP WHAT IS HAPPENINF

2- i saw people theorizing that credence is ariana’s son and NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO PLS NO

3- not an actual issue but i thought grindelwald said his name was berrylius dumbledore which i later remembered as berrylium dumbledore and anyway thank god for the internet

4- okay at this point i cant tell if this has just been brought in for shock value or smt like. is this relevant to the plot. is grindelwald even telling the truth. w-why did the movie end there. help....... i think thats it but i do want to say that i respect the rights of the creator jkr to do whatever she wants w these characters. its her world! but i can have a whole bunch of opinions n feelings about this movie and still support it. after all, i love harry potter and the whole wizarding world w my whole heart. 

did anyone even read that LOOOL that was so long sorry

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

A - Z (Fandom ‘Come At Me, Friend’ Meme)

WELL THEN *cracks knuckles* HERE WE GO 

(all 26 letters behind a cut bc this is very long)

A - Your current OTP(s)/OT3(s)/OTX(s)

As of this hour, my top OTPs are Penelope/Schneider from ODAAT and Joyce/Hopper from Stranger Things. But I have endless numbers of them, even within each fandom.

B - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind

Jean/Alice from TDBM. 

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will (be nice)

Um…hmm. I’m such a multishipper, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about my NOTPs. I’ve never been onboard the Keens from The Blacklist, though. Not even a little. I only enjoyed Tom in his original villainous state.

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t (again: be nice)

A couple of my spouse’s faves, I really wish I liked too, especially Sam/Josh and Mal/Simon. I don’t like one of the characters in each very much, so I’ve never been able to get into them–even though I understand them, and have had fun writing them…I just don’t love them too.

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom, if so, what

Yeah, mostly graphics, though. I don’t think I’ve ever written crackfic. I did New York Times Minus Content edits for TDBM, a ton of those. Also Sext Message Error sets for Lizzington and for Josh/Donna. And Welcome To Nightvale sets for iZombie and Lizzington. And OTP Bot sets for Lizzington.

And this isn’t EXACTLY crack, but my original tumblr claim to fame was this Hamilton/TWW crossover that got reblogged by Lin himself.

F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom

Mm, the first time I actively joined a fandom was Buffy, and I was about 14 when that started for me…so as of this year I’ll have been in that fandom for 20 years! But I’ve been a fangirl literally my whole life, I just didn’t really join fandoms before the internet, and I started using the internet more in junior high and HS.

G - Do you remember your first OTP, if so who was in it

Lou/Joey from Brotherly Love, or Claire/Trevor from Cupid (original run), or Dharma and Greg, or Allison/Wade from CryBaby, or Idgie/Ruth from Fried Green Tomatoes. I was a shipping prodigy, and the couples I was obsessed with as a literal child blur together a bit in the timeline, so I’m not completely sure which came first.

H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., tv shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.) 

TV shows.

I - Has tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why

The Aaron Tveit fandom made me uncomfortable watching BrainDead before I even had the chance to decide if I liked it or not. Most fandoms I love, though. I prefer to ignore the drama and focus on the people I actually like. 

J - Name a fandom you didn’t care/think about until you saw it all over tumblr

SO MANY. Parks and Rec, TDBM, Stranger Things…a significant portion of my watchlist comes from this hellsite by now–I have friends with good taste.

K -Say something nice about someone in any of your fandoms

@mossdonnatella is in a lot of my fandoms. She is a much better fic writer than she thinks she is!!

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves (chars you’re neutral on are fair game, as are chars you dislike)

I really ended up disliking Jacob a lot, on Grace and Frankie. But I will say that in the beginning he is very respectful of Frankie’s boundaries and tries to be patient with her, and I did like that.

M - Say something genuinely nice about a ship that you don’t ship (or its shippers, or anything related to you)

I don’t actively ship Jancy on Stranger Things after seeing S1 (I don’t really ship Steve/Nancy either, though…I think I mostly just ship Nancy x happiness) but the moment when her mom knocks on her bedroom door and they reach for each others’ hands instinctively? That is a damn fine understated sweet connection moment and I really enjoyed and believed it.

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice)

Okay since a lot of my top fandoms are for shows that ended a long time ago, I’m going with One Day At A Time. In fic or in canon, I want to see a lot more of Schneider being Penelope’s BFF and her confidant. I want more serious!Schneider moments bc it turns out the actor rocks at them, and I want to see Pen really get to move on from Victor as her kids get older, I want real confirmation that she’s finally past any possibility of reconciliation with him bc she deserves SO MUCH BETTER.

O - Choose a song at random, which ship or character does it remind you of

Randomizing my music gave me “Quiet” by MiLCK feat. GW Sirens and Capital Blend. 

Sample lyrics:

Cuz no one knows me, no one ever willIf I don’t say something, take that dry blue pillThey may see a monster, they may run awayBut I have to do thisI can’t keep quiet, no A one woman riot

Despite the mature meaning behind the lyrics, and probably because I’m watching Stranger Things right now, it reminds me of Eleven, the tiny badass fighting her way to freedom.

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas)

Alright, I’m gonna invent one right off the top of my head right here and now since you asked. Um… a One Day At A Time AU in which Penelope meets Schneider not as her landlord but as a patient, once she becomes an NP. Doctor/patient “okay if you won’t stop asking me out then get a new doctor so I can say yes” fluff ensues.

Q - A ship you’ve abandoned and why

Lizzington. I’m technically still writing fic for it bc I have a chapter fic to finish, but I haven’t watched the show in years, I avoid content for it, and have no interest in it anymore besides the phantom limb feeling of having been so invested in a ship for that long and making friends around it.

R - A pairing you ship that you don’t think anyone else ships

Well, since I mentioned it earlier, I think I’m the only person ever to watch the scenes Bud and Brianna have together in Grace and Frankie and think “that should really be a thing.” 

Also…Kate/Donna from The West Wing. Based entirely on one scene.

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

I genuinely don’t understand this question, sorry. What’s an ‘example’ of my headcanon, and how does that relate to prompts? If somebody wants to explain this to me, I’ll answer it. 

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending, about anything at all (gender identity, sexual or romantic orientation, extended family, sexual preferences like top/bottom/switch, relationship with poetry, seriously anything)

Yep yep yep. Andy was the leak, not Toby, and that is the hill I will die on always. I’m sure I have others, but that’s the big one.

U - 5 favorite characters from 5 different fandoms

Toby Ziegler (TWW), Alice Harvey (TDBM), Lorelai Gilmore (Gilmore Girls), Jim Hopper (Stranger Things), and Spencer Hastings (from what I just saw of PLL with @actuallylukedanes). 

V - 3 OTPs from 3 different fandoms

Luke/Lorelai, Gilmore Girls. Parker/Hardison/Eliot, Leverage. Joyce/Hopper, Stranger Things.

W - 5 favorite ships and 5 kinks you like best for said ships

Josh/Donna (TWW), Donna in control. Matthew/Alice (TDBM), hurt/comfort sex. Alvareider (ODAAT), “whoops are we kissing wait do we like each other?”Jared/Miss Parker (The Pretender), conflicted kisses up against wallsI’m having trouble thinking of a 5th one but I used to really like Lizzington angry!sex bc damn that ship was angsty

X - top 5-10 characters who are yoUR PRECIOUS BABIES AND YOU WILL DIE DEFENDING THEM

Eleven, Toby Ziegler, Schneider, Lena Luthor, Logan Echolls, literally every main character on The Good Place.

Y - What are your secondhand fandoms (fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)

Game of Thrones, Agents of Shield, Doctor Who (though I finally have started this one!), Jane the Virgin, The Worst Witch, and lots more…I like learning about fandoms secondhand. 

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go (prompts optional but encouraged)

Every single one of these tiny Stranger Things children in S1 is the epitome of epic friendship and I love it. Mike jumps off a cliff to protect Dustin and Dustin’s willing to get his teeth cut out to protect Mike and Lucas offers a sincere apology when he’s wrong, something most adults still suck at, and Will tells Mike the truth even when he would benefit from lying and Eleven chooses death to save them all and they are beautiful and perfect and I love them.

[sometimesrosy]

Hi, I know that there r many theories and parallels out there about bellarke and when some may seem plausible that it is deliberately planted by the writers, some seem a little far fetched to me. When u say that the writers of t100 write carefully and with every word carrying intentions, i was wondering whether it is the case or whether we as bellarke shippers might be the one seeing things that only we want to see.

I never said that EVERY word carries intention. Although, maybe it does, but the intention does not necessarily have to be deep. They’re writing every word to take the story through their vision. It’s craft. Not random. They have a room full of writers deciding on the path and going over every word choice. SO yeah. Every word is made with intention, especially in tv. Every frame has dozens of people working on it, and each of them is serving the intention put forth by the showrunner. The actors are speaking and moving with intention. This is their art and craft. They choose lighting and costumes and sets and music to work with their intentions. They edit to clarify their intentions. The whole show is worked over, at every level by dozens of people. But, not every word is about Bellarke. 

Yes. Bellarke shippers interpret the show through their Bellarke lens. Absolutely and that can affect how accurate their interpretations are. And it can take them off track into a place that no longer reflects canon. That is what happened to a lot of the CL fandom. They watched the show through the CL lens and did not check to make sure it matched what was on screen. Or they erased everything that didn’t fit their theories. Confirmation bias. Only looking at the canon that fits your theories and ignoring everything that disproves it. 

That’s why you should always check yourself and check your interpretations up against canon and other theories and references and whatever. It’s also why you should question other people’s interpretations and hold them up against your own understanding of canon. A good interpretation  doesn’t just make sense separated from canon as a hypothetical. It isn’t a good interpretation until it both makes sense with the canon and ALSO isn’t disproved by canon and logic.  If it only makes sense if you ignore Octavia’s role, then you should probably start over again– or factor her in. Because no matter how you dislike her, she is part of the story they are telling. CLs did this to Bellamy, and it messed their interpretations up. So take the lesson, and consider your bias when you are interpreting and how not liking someone or something might mess you up.

I mean, interpretations of a work of fiction are interpretations. They are a person making meaning of the text/show. They aren’t definitive. They are subjective. We engage with the canon. We make meaning. We express our feelings about the characters and story and ships. But at the same time, if you’re trying to understand the canon, you need to keep it based on the canon.

It’s okay to interpret the show through the Bellarke lens, but we will be happier with the show on screen if we remember that Bellarke as a romance is not the point of the plot and action, for the most part, because it’s not a romance show. It helps us to keep checking our Bellarke interpretation back through the non-romantic canon so we don’t get carried away. That can be harmful to the audience, I think.

Another danger comes when you start assuming that your interpretation is canon. Is the ONLY way to interpret a thing. A lot of people do this, where they decide that their interpretation is CORRECT and therefore the only valid one without understanding that this is not the way interpreting fiction works. Interpretation ALLOWS multiple perspectives and many theories and that’s part of why it’s so great. Even worse is when we start telling other people that they are not allowed to have a different interpretation because it is immoral or some sort of crime against… tbh I’m still not sure who interpreting a story differently is a crime against, but it keeps getting treated like this. And then people take it farther into bullying people and sending anon hate and harassing them.

[raynbow-shimmer]

B, C, H, J, L, M, P, T, U, V, Y & Z?

Woo, alright! Thank you! Break because long.

B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.

Ohh, probably Supercorp. I don’t know. I usually stick with what the show or book has until someone dangles something else in front of me. Like, I have to be walked into everything. But once I get ahold of something, I love it and nurture it and guard it like a vicious dog. You just…gotta show me first.

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.

Listen, my buddy, my pal…I will never ship Eowells with anyone. Nope. Can’t really ship Harry with anyone either. Basically, no shipping allowed for any sort of Harrison Wells, unless it’s original Wells with Tess. Other than that, N.O.

H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., TV shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.)?

If this is asking where I draw information and stuff from…uh, definitely comics and comic properties.

J - Name a fandom you didn’t think about until you saw it all over Tumblr. (You don’t have to care about it or follow it; it just has to be something that Tumblr made you aware of.)

STEVEN UNIVERSE. Oh my god, I saw the gemsona craze going around and I had to figure out what in the world was going on. This was like a week after the first Steven Bomb and Jailbreak aired. Google led me to Stronger Than You and I never once looked back. Also Voltron. And Sense8 and Stranger Things.

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.)

H.R. Wells is very good at hiding his true intentions. Also very good at charming people to get them to do what he wants. :|

M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.

Cisco Ramon. I just love his passion and enthusiasm. And his immense knowledge of pop culture offers so many interesting conversations. He could pose so many logical arguments to answer age-old fandom questions. And he just seems down to do almost anything as long as it’s fun. All-around good guy to be friends with. YEP.

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

Dog show AU for the Flash? Ah, hmm…basically, everyone works with dogs? Liiike, Barry and Wally can be dog walkers or trainers, Iris can be the reporter for a pet magazine writing an article about the latest upcoming show, Caitlin could be a groomer or vet, Cisco could own a pet store, H.R. could own a prize-winning dog, Joe could be one of the most prestigious breeders in Central City…yep. They’re all connected. Replace dogs with dragons for maximum fun.

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending?

Alright, I’m aginst canon on this, but that’s ok because canon was wrong. Barry does not own S.T.A.R. Labs. Nope. Uh-uh. S.T.A.R. and all of Eowells’ assets went to Cisco. Why in the world would Eobard leave his stuff to the man he HATES and not the man whom he considered a son (and subsequently killed with little remorse)? Barry didn’t deserve S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco did.

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

The Flash - Cisco Ramon

Bubbly and charming, he’s a caring and loyal soul at his core. You can bet if you’re in trouble, Cisco will there with you, fighting to get you out. He’s intelligent and capable, always making better and smarter tech to solve problems you might not even think of. I mean, have you seen the roster of things he’s created? That man is a genius. Not to mention he has some super awesome powers. Also, his hair. I think that says it all.

Steven Universe - Peridot

Peridot is quintessentially me. Rule-following and a know-it-all, she is going to accomplish the task set out before her with great efficiency and attention to detail. Cold and calculating on the outside, once you break her shell she’s all yours. She has a tendency to flare up with frantic anger when agitated, but only because she don’t know how to properly react to her situation. She might not know everything, but she always takes strides to learn, especially from her mistakes. 

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Guinan

Guinan is wise. She’s seen and experienced a lot in her days. From living through the 20th century on Earth, to the annihilation of her people, to now serving aboard the Enterprise, she’s been through more than most. But she uses the things she’s learned through the years to help others. Always a listening ear, she offers counsel to anyone at her bar who needs it. And you’d be surprised at the number of things she can do. Guinan is a mystery that will never be fully uncovered.

V - Which character do you relate to most?

Peridot. From hissy fits about technology to being utterly confused about emotions, she is someone I really really relate to.

Y - What are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)?

Doctor Who, Stranger Things, Lucifer, Supernatural, Game of Thrones, Assassin's Creed, Sherlock…probably more I can’t think of right now.

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.)

Fandom wars. What even? I feel like I’m approaching thin ice on this, but ugggh. What is the point of fighting over all this stuff? If you like something, great! If you don’t like something, don’t comment on someone else’s post telling them they are wrong for liking the thing. Just ignore the post and move on. In the same way, don’t comment on someone’s dislike for a thing. It’s hard, I know, especially when you feel like a certain post is calling you out for liking something. Vague blog (and I really mean VAGUE) and move on. Ignore said person. Block if you need to. There’s arguing for sport and then there is arguing for spite. Don’t do the later. Also, tag anti’s. Be mindful with your tags. And remember, you never know who you might be attacking, so maybe don’t. Just let people be and move on with life.

Fandom Asks

[vas-ncrmandy]

B A S I C S :

FULL NAME: Iraia Monique Whetu

NICKNAME(S): Iri, to literally everyone. If you’re calling her Iraia, you better be her mother. She’ll accept it from Aiden, but thats just cause his nose scrunches up when he’s mad and its cute. 

DATE OF BIRTH / AGE: June 1st / 19

ORIENTATION: Pansexual

OCCUPATION: The benefits of death are not needing to have a job.

SPECIES: Witch, Pureblood

ETHNICITY: East Islander

NATIONALITY: New Zealand

P H Y S I C A L :

FACE CLAIM: Courtney Eaton

HEIGHT: 5'10’

WEIGHT: 124lbs

EYES: Deep chocolate brown, just like Eli’s

HAIR: Dark Brown/Black

DISTINGUISHING MARKS: There’s a deep, pale, silvered scar along her body - reaching from her left collarbone to her right hip. Its the wound that killed her, and she doesn’t speak about it.

B A C K G R O U N D :

HOMETOWN: Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand.

CURRENT RESIDENCE: The Necropolis with Aiden.

LANGUAGES: English, French, Maori. 

EDUCATION: Informal. She and her sisters were home-schooled, which is why she developed a preference for wandless magic. Her particular brand of nature magic is so deeply ingrained within the physical that its hard for her to concentrate it through a tool.

PARENT: Manu Whetu

PARENT: Monique Whetu

SIBLING(S): Amiria Whetu (deceased), Emiri Whetu (deceased), Eli Whetu

ROMANTIC STATUS: Single. 

PET(S): If you ask her, Aiden totally counts. Other than that, none. She used to collect animals at the Manor, but the only things that grow and thrive around the Necropolis are connected to death. 

T H E A B S T R A C T :

FEARS: Wasting away - losing herself bit by bit until there’s nothing left and no one to remember her. Never making a mark wide enough to have impacted the world. The people she loves never moving on without her. Aiden tiring of her. The silent void that she spent so many years within. Nothingness. Above all else, Iraia fears the absence of life, the loss of sensation, the concept of nothing. 

GENERAL LIKES: The feeling of the sun warm on her skin, and the sound of the ocean at play. Her mother singing in the kitchen while she bakes for dinner and Eli’s chubby hands tangling through her hair as they run along land that is inherently her’s. Aiden’s little snores through the night, his hair curled back into the braids her mother once made in her own hair, and the sound of his laugh bouncing through the walls of the Necropolis. The smell of clean linen and wind after a storm, flowers in her hair, and the simple fact that Eli’s heart still beats. 

GENERAL DISLIKES: The scar along her torso, and the way her mother’s eyes are drawn to it more than to her face. The sadness thick and syrupy in Aiden’s gait and along his hands that he pretends she can’t see. Watching Eli walk back to the surface knowing he’s living a whole life beyond her reach. The cold during the winter. Spicy foods she can’t taste, missing her sisters, and knowing she is impermanent. 

USUAL MOOD / EXPRESSION: A broad, mischievous grin. More often than not she’s happy - at peace with the choices she’s made, and grateful to be back with her family, even as a ghost - but every now and then the situation gets the better of her and succumbs to the melancholy of it all. 

POSITIVE TRAITS: Warm and playful, as the middle child would be, and loyal and nurturing as only an older sister knows how. Fearless. Disciplined as her particular form of magic demanded of her. Generous, adventurous, and charismatic. 

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Spoiled and childish, thanks to her lost childhood. Possessive and reckless, prone to self-pity. Blunt and melodramatic. 

HABITS: She has a tendency to drum her fingers when being ignored, and always cut her food into pieces before eating. She’s a back seat driver, gamer, and ... pretty much in every aspect of life. 

HOBBIES: She used to collect polished fragments of glass from their little private beach, and loved watching them shine in the morning light, but now she prefers watching Aiden’s garden grow day by day. 

MORNING ROUTINE: She doesn’t sleep anymore - there’s no reason to, now that she’s dead - but she keeps to the same routines in an attempt to cling to her life as she knew it. She leaves before Aiden wakes to watch the sunrise every morning. It’s different, so much different, than back on the island, but she still finds it beautiful (even when she doesn’t want to) in a sad kind of way. It always reminds her Aiden. Then she heads back to sit on Aiden’s bed until he wakes up. She follows him on his routine, sometimes quietly, sometimes planning their day. 

NIGHTLY ROUTINE: Aiden’s sleep schedule is varied which keeps things interesting. She likes the nights he stays up late with her best, because after he’s asleep and she’s wandered away through the halls, the silence of it all begins to feel too much like the void. She’s aimless at night, when his mind is elsewhere and he’s not with her, and that aimlessness feels so much like death all over again. Mostly she just waits for the sunrise to remind her once again that she really is alive. 

DEADLY SIN: Envy

ZODIAC: Gemini

MORAL ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good

HOGWARTS HOUSE: None, technically, because she was homeschooled; however, she would be Slytherin. 

CLASS & SPECIALIZATION: Rift Mage

S T A T U S :

DEVELOPMENT: In progress.

SHIPPING: None. 

CANON VERSE: Harry Potter, next generation [personal AU-verse with Ari and Katie]

AU VERSE: None yet. 

R E L A T I O N S H I P S :

ELI WHETU: Her little brother. She sang him lullabies when he was a babe, led him by the hand on walks through their lands, taught him the songs of the elders - and he can still feel the kiss she pressed to his cheek before she stepped forward, a calm smile on her face, and called the rains down on the rebels before they slaughtered her.

AIDEN LABHRAICHE: She never thought she’d get a second chance, and not only did Aiden give her a new life, but he gave her a reason to stay. She loves him, pure and simple. As much as a dead girl can love, she will always love Aiden. A life lived for the ones she had left behind doesn’t give her much, but a life lived with someone gives her everything. Aiden has given Iri everything. 

H I S T O R Y :

“’You are going to die,’ the traitorous voice in your heart whispers. ‘I am going to be a martyr,’ your mind corrects,”

There is nothing beyond life, but sleep.

No dreams, and no colors to dart along closed eyelids to break the monotony of the endless dark. No soft sounds to cradle the subconscious into a pleasant break between the busy days. Nothing.

After the initial burst of pain as the body objects to being shut down so abruptly, there is nothing.

Iraia knows this all too well.

She remembers the feel of her magic, thick like syrup along her hands and down her hips, resting heavy on her chest and leeching power from her with every beat of her heart. She remembers smiling through her tears, remembers how she had never felt so alive than in that moment, when, for the first time in her life, she had been allowed to let her magic roll from her uncontrolled, uncaged, and unbowed.

She remembers falling too.

She remembers the burst of pain that started at her left arm and slid, white hot, to her right hip, and remembers crumpling to the ground at an angle that should have hurt more than it did. She remembers the bright red of her blood on the white marble steps as she coughed, and remembers seeing what was left of her father and sisters lying in her eyesight – trampled, beaten, already forgotten and already alone.

She was afraid then, in the face of that oblivion, and she remembers her magic curling around her, hesitating in its lethality to cradle her cheek – a bright warm spot as the rest of her grew cold – before it took the last of her power from the sigh of her last breath and raised itself in vengeance.

While she sank into the blank void, Iraia’s magic devastated the South Island. Carried by her rage and her loss and her desperate sacrifice, it manifested into a howling wilderness that could not be penetrated. As a last gift to the girl it had chosen, the old magics of the dead Sacred Eight encased the land of the dead Whetu’s in a void of its own making – none would enter, until the family it loved returned.

And all the while, Iraia sank.

For a while she could feel the days passing, feel the storm of her magic (now separate from her, now leaving her empty in a way that ached like she never expected she could after death) raging somewhere above her and next to her at the same time. Those were the worst times, when she still felt like a person, like someone alive.

She spent a lot of that time remembering her life – the first time she’d manifested her magic and almost split her father in two with a lightning bolt, and the way he’d stood startled for a moment before sweeping her into his arms and laughing that booming laugh of his. When she’d stood before the Sacred Pacific Eight families and proved to them her connection to the pure magic, and she was shown, for the first time, what it meant to be chosen.

She remembered calling the rains down for the same muggles who would later cleave her body in two, so their crops would grow and they wouldn’t starve. She remembered standing before tidal waves and holding them back with nothing more than force of will so that the same muggles and halfbloods who set her sister alight wouldn’t drown in their homes.

She remembered holding Eli on her shoulders and following her mother father along the path that led to Amiria’s new home with her husband and watching them flirt and kiss in the sun and wondering if she would ever find love like that.

But slowly, as the memories dimmed, she forgot what days were and that time had ever been important and then, just as the void was becoming all that she could remember, a voice called her name.

“Iraia,” he murmured, slipping the name through what was left of her like sunlight playing in the waves, “Iraia, come on, don’t leave him waiting.”

Him? She had thought, what was a him when she was and always had been alone.

“Your brother’s a very large man, Iraia,” the voice had told her, sharper now – more like a volcano threatening to blow than water dapples, “And I’d really rather not disappoint him.”

Brother?

She thought the word and suddenly Eli came back to her in a flood – chubby little hands, sticky with candy, catching in her hair. The half giggle half cry as he came up from skinned knees because his legs were still too short to let him run. Little knots and braids that thickened as he grew, chocolate brown like Mama’s and like Emiri’s and like her’s. His voice breaking as he whispered her name, and the salty taste of tears on his cheek as she kissed him goodbye.

She broke through the veil, gasping for life, and the first thing she did was beg to stay.