#see all the people hating on whoever still likes HP but what are they doing to help trans people? Nothing. They're just harassing people lo

[hazbinbabbling4ever]

Every fan of every piece of media made by an actually problematic or just "problematic according to tumblr" author

[sonicexelle-junkary]

Here's my guess as on to why HH sonic and HP sonic can't get along; present/future HH sonic tends to value people he's friend with a lot more than HP sonic who just eats them without caring, completely missing out on the opportunity of being friends with whoever that was. OR maybe HP sonic is just so primal in his ways of handling any confrontation with anyone that it quickly becomes a bloodshed, and they're all beating each others up constantly

You are partly right with the first bit, but that’s not why HH!Sonic doesn’t like HP!Sonic

It’s because he sees HP doing what he’s doing, and he seems normal. He seems happy doing it. His brother isn’t dead, he’s not spiralling out of control (tho he might be already insane). He’s been doing this for years and yet he seems to not care. Actually no, he does, but he still does it

HH despised him for who he is and what he’s done. Why can’t he be like that? Why does he have to be the one to spiral down a path of insanity, why can’t he control his hunger properly but he can?

He hates it. He hates him

[witchthewriter]

Probably a weird question, but which HP characters do you imagine as LGBTQIA or/and POC? (Because let’s make Joke Rollling/She Who Must Not Be Named… ANGRY!! 😏)

I would LOVE TO! J.K.Rowling is Rita Skeeter to me. Also you should look up 'The Worst Witch,' because it's basically Harry Potter.

𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑴𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑬

Most definitely black, or what if she came from an Indian family who wanted her to marry and the Wizarding World was her escape? She studies hard because this new world is a second chance for freedom!

I also wish Hermione was bisexual/pansexual. She and Ginny, or even she and Cho would make such a gorgeous couple!

𝑳𝑼𝑵𝑨

I think it would have been cool if she was an albino (I am so sorry if that's not the right way to say it. I don't want to offend anyone). Her long white hair, pale skin, translucent lashes and brows. With beautiful purple eyes (this is actually how I imagined the Targaryens to look, not just having white hair).

She is definitely demisexual; only feeling attraction after developing a friendship first. I can also see Luna as trans!

𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑹𝒀

I've seen some fancasts and fanart of Harry with his ethnicity being Indian, or Pakistani. Which I'm completely okay with. Maybe even James is half black, and that makes Harry a quarter, so it's still noticeable - and another thing that the Dursley's are horrible to him about.

I think Harry is Bi/Pan - I have this headcanon that he had a crush on Oliver Wood, and Katie Bell when he was in first year.

𝑹𝑶𝑵

I honestly just see Ron as a normal hetero male. Honestly, there's nothing queer about him at all. But he is very supportive of his friends and family as well as the LGBTQIA+ community. He would always be at Pride with whoever asked him, and have anyone's back who needed it.

And the Weasley's are known for their red hair, so I think I would keep their heritage/ethnicity the same!

𝑫𝑼𝑴𝑩𝑬𝑳𝑫𝑶𝑹𝑬

YES, THIS MAN IS A GAY MAN. But I feel as though he's very monogamous; he will love one person, even if they do not love him back, for the rest of his life. Like with Grindelwald, Dumbledore couldn't stop the feelings he had - even though the man was turning into a pretty evil one.

𝑺𝑵𝑨𝑷𝑬

His sexuality always confused him. Because he was in love with Lily, truly in love with her. But sometimes he found James attractive, and he hated himself for it.

Shows himself as straight, but I think he's bisexual or at least bi-curious.

I think for his ethnicity, it can be the same. Pasty white skin, black hair, hooked nose. Maybe his family distantly came from a Mediterranean island?

𝑫𝑹𝑨𝑪𝑶

Oh, I think keeping Draco white ... and maybe all the Death Eaters white would be saying a lot. They're basically Nazi's. So that wouldn't change.

Draco is most definitely bisexual. He was so in love with Harry, feigning it as hate. Knowing everything about him, staring at him from across the room. When he was younger, it was easier to see it as hate. But then when he turned 16, he felt a pang of desire for the Potter boy and the self-loathing began.

𝑮𝑬𝑶𝑹𝑮𝑬

Falls in love very easily, but usually with a woman. Not to say he's completely hetero, I think he would be bi-curious, but I think he wants a wife with a big family.

𝑭𝑹𝑬𝑫

I actually think Fred would be polyamorous. The kind where the girlfriend is allowed another boyfriend, not like Sisterwives. No, no. Fred would be totally cool with having a wife who has a boyfriend, and they all live together. Fred's a little fruity as well. I think he's one of those people that 'don't like to put a label on things.'

𝑺𝑰𝑹𝑰𝑼𝑺

Pansexual. Pansexual. Pansexual. Doesn't care if you're trans, he loves a person for who they are, what they believe in, rather than what their bits are. One of the reasons why he ran away from home. He hates tradition.

I think the Black family could be from Sicily, I know that's not necessarily POC, I think with their darker features, they would easily reign from there. And Sicilians are known for always distinguishing themselves from any other Mediterranean culture.

𝑹𝑬𝑴𝑼𝑺

He always thought of himself as straight. But that was until he met Sirius and he developed such a big crush on him. I think Remus would be Biromantic towards women but Bisexual towards men.

𝑪𝑯𝑶

WHY THE HELL DID ROWLING CALL AN ASIAN PERSON, "CHO CHANG," PUT THEM IN THE "SMARTEST HOUSE". It's racism. That's how I see it. She does this with many characters, and it's ridiculous.

Anyway, I have no problem with Asian representation. But what if Cho was Native American? (I know Rowling made that whole other school but it was really problematic so to me, it doesn't exist).

Or have Cho as Chinese (maybe give her a proper Chinese name), and we can have another main character...like Hermione, or Katie Bell as Native American. I just think it would be interesting to see an exchange student from another country as well.

𝑮𝑰𝑵𝑵𝒀

Lesbian. Poly lesbian. All those boys she went out with in Hogwarts were actually just beards. And she was having a secret relationship with another girl in her year. However, the polyamory doesn't come out until she's in her 20s.

𝑩𝑰𝑳𝑳

Polysexual; sexual or romantic attraction to people with varying genders. Polysexual orientations include bisexuality, pansexuality, omnisexuality, and queer, among many others. Basically, he can be attracted to anyone. But Fleur was the one who captured his heart fully and wholely.

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑳𝑰𝑬

Asexual; I know he isn't in the movies (WHY?!) but he spends all his time with Dragons, and I think that will always be his main love and passion.

[iamthecomet]

@purlty23 tagged me in This game and I'm super excited about it! (I tried to reblog the original post and just tack on but tumblr hates me)

Thanks Blue, this was so fun!

I'm tagging: @amara-among-the-stars, @mac-and-thefox, @littlemoon-beam, @divine-misfortune and whoever else also wants to expose their sins to the internet. Under the cut, because LONG.

Xena Warrior Princess - Passive Enjoyer Only passive because I was too young to be anything else. Barely counts, except that this show was my first real obsession so I have to include it. I dressed up as Xena for halloween when I was like…5. The pictures are incredible.

Good Charlotte - Mostly passive As is a trend with a lot of these, I wrote a little fan fic, and daydreamed a thousand scenarios, but never shared any of it. I was mildy obsessed with Benji Martin, but I didn't really get involved beyond that.

LOTR - Creative Enjoyer The first fan-fic I ever posted on the internet (I was twelve, people were mean). I didn't make any friends within the fandom. But I was so determined to write for it that I had an entire novel planned out--that eventually became an original book idea instead.

Harry Potter- Mostly Passive I read a lot of HP fanfic, but not as much as others. I didn't get involved in online conversations. I did dabble in writing some fics that I hid from the world and never finished.

The Boston Red Sox - Creative Enjoyer Ok. Now you know why I said I was exposing myself. Look I was like 12-14. My best friend and I filled entire notebooks with our MANY chaptered fic that spanned the entire 2004 Red Sox Season, that we started the day they won the world series that year. We hand wrote it all, I transcribed it into my computer where it still exists somewhere. It was our EVERYTHING. And it has never (and will never) see the light of day. I may have posted some Red Sox fic on the internet in my Live Journal days, and I made a bunch of online friends within that community, but they never saw THE fic.

Rammstein - Creative Enjoyer Again, my best friend and I had a notebook with a long form rammstein fic in. We didn't go as far with this one. And I didn't get involved in any online communities. Though, our love for Rammstein lived a lot longer than our fic writing did.

Twilight - Creative Enjoyer In that I wrote and posted a single fic about Alice.

Lost - Passive Enjoyer. I read a billion Skate fics. Probably thought about writing my own, but I don't think I ever actually did. Was obsessed with this show until the last season. I still have never seen the last episode.

Vampire Academy (THE BOOKS) - Passive Enjoyer. Not a lot online. Read some fic. Was so obsessed with this book that I started to write a fanfic where we got to see some of the story from Dimitri's persepective and accidentally created and entire new plot and new characters and accidentally created my own CHILD of an original novel because of it.

Grishaverse (Shadow and Bone/Six of Crows/Rule of Wolves) - Passive Enjoyer Loved these books. Loved every single character. Read as much fanfic as I could find. Accidentally spoiled a death in one of the books with fanfiction.

Avenged Sevenfold - Creative Enjoyer Short lived. Read some INCREDIBLE fics on the basically defunct site Mibba and thought "I can do that" and was fighting for my life in college. Wrote a few chapters of a fic. Got decent feedback. Got bored immediately.

Supernatural - passive enjoyer Read some fic. Took me like 15 tries to actually get through the whole show. Adored it, never went very far with it.

Marvel (Specifically The Winter Soldier) - Passive Enjoyer. I should have been a creative enjoyer, but was too afraid to write anything or put myself out there. (I spent all of my time after high school/college thinking that fanfic was a waste of time and I should never write it because I needed to be serious. What a waste). Still mildly obsessed with BuckyNat. I adore Bucky and Black Widow. If they put out another good movie I could see myself falling down that rabbit hole and actually letting myself land. The trailer for The Winter Soldier changed my brain chemistry (nevermind the whole move).

Fallout 4 - Passive Enjoyer I could read Sole Survivor/Paladin Danse fics every day forever. I know that's insane. Stop looking at me like that.

Ghost - Creative Enjoyer. Finally allowed myself to write whatever the fuck I want and have fun with it and it has changed my entire fucking life. Wish I'd done it sooner. So glad I got to do it now and with all of you. ♥

[khaleesiofalicante]

I was randomly thinking about the firstprince 'discourse' on Star Wars and how that would manifest in the rwrb au. I genuinely can't see David being interested in Star Wars (you do you, babygirl) and I didn't want to include Harry Potter (since Casey McQuiston also removed the HP references in the rwrb new versions). So, I was thinking about what film/media Mavid would both really enjoy but still disagree on. And I found it!

It's Disney! These are Disney bitches!

The following snippet was written at 4 a.m. after I was bullied by @springlily25 via WhatsApp.

“Cinderella and Snow White?” Max asked furiously. “You’d prefer Cinderella and Snow White over Moana and Coco?” 

“Yes,” David replied. 

“The fuck is wrong with you?” Max demanded. He was kinda used to yelling at David over their late night phone calls now. The other man is absolutely ridiculous. The yelling was warranted. 

“Can’t a man like classics?” David asked him. 

“Those classics are outdated as fuck,” Max growled into the phone. “They are not inclusive, they are so stereotypical and not to mention it’s all so anti-feminist.” 

“Anti-feminist?” David asked. 

“Oh, look at me. I’m a helpless little girl who only cares about dresses and going to balls,” Max whispered in a feminine voice. “Come on, dude. It’s so not feminist.” 

“So, what does that mean then?” David asked. “The point of feminism is to be independent and fierce and bold?” 

“Duh,” Max said. 

“I don’t think that’s true,” David said after a short pause. “ Feminism is about making sure you can be whoever you want to be. Feminism means that there is no right way to be a woman and regardless of what kind of woman you want to be, there will always be systematic barriers. Whether you’re a woman who wants to go to war and be a badass or whether you’re a woman who wants to stay at home and take care of babies, you are still going to suffer and you’re still going to be held back because you are a woman. If feminism dictates, what women should do and shouldn’t do, that’s not feminism at all. That’s still the patriarchy. For the record, I think it was absolutely badass of Cinderella to go to a ball. She never went to the ball to see the prince. She went to the ball because she wanted to have fun. She just wanted to go to a party, Max, why would you be mad at her for that?” 

Max was quiet for a long time. Partly because he never heard David so many words in a row and never so quite passionately. And he didn’t expect to like all the words as much as he did. 

Maybe he was wrong. Maybe David could teach him a thing or two. 

“I’m sorry,” Max said, because his parents raised him with right. “You’re right.” 

If the situation was reversed, Max would have laughed loudly, and made fun of David. But David didn’t do any of that. When he spoke, he sounded a little embarrassed. 

“I’m sorry too,” David said. “I didn’t mean to get quite so intense and passionate.” 

“ I like you intense and passionate,” Max quipped and David coughed on the other end of the call. “Reminds me that you’re not a robot.”  

David huffed at that. “But I went on a rant. That was a rant, wasn’t it? I’m not exactly allowed to talk about things like that, so when I do get the opportunity, I tend to babble a bit.” 

“You should babble more,” Max hummed. 

“I literally can’t,” David chuckled dryly.

“Why not?” Max demanded. “Do you know how many people look up to you? Especially little kids! You’re a fucking prince. It’s important that people like you share your opinion on stuff like this.” 

“I… I realize that, but as I said, I can’t,” David said quietly. 

“Why the fuck not?” Max pushed, he was good at that. “You are allowed to have opinions and talk about things too.” 

“I’m a prince,” David chuckled, his tone drier than before. “The moment an opinion leaves my mouth, it turns into a statement.” 

Max knew that. He was the son of the President for crying out loud. Of course he knew that. And he hated that. 

“Well,” Max said eventually. “That’s just sad.” 

David was quiet for a moment before he finally responded. “Yes, that is indeed sad.”

[thessalian]

Thess vs The Patch/Hotfix Cycle

So ... okay, much as I love Larian, and how much they've grown and developed as a studio between Divinity: Original Sin 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 ... does anyone else feel like we're still somehow in early access, just because of the Patch/Hotfix Cycle?

It's like ... they do a patch. And these patches are huge, with big quality of life improvements, and that's great and everything? But the more they tinker with the code, the more chance you're going to have of coming out with a game-breaking bug somewhere along the line. Patch 6 in particular, with all of its significant QOL changes, somehow brushed up against a change in ... *checks* ah, yeah, Patch 5 ... and completely broke the game for some of us in the process.

See, there's a condition that you can pick up - "Enemy of Justice". It's supposed to be for killing a guard or something. I'm assuming some kind of criminal activity. Thing is, even if you're not doing any criming, you can pick this status up - specifically if you want to try to recruit Minthara on a good playthrough. Because if you kill anything before you knock her unconscious (including, apparently, the 5hp Scrying Eye which'll get you everybody's attention if you're not careful, and the low hp goblins everywhere), whoever struck the knockout blow gets Enemy of Justice. Which I guess makes sense. You assaulted her and killed her guards. She's going to take issue with that, and probably know that you're not as devoted to the Absolute as you pretended to be early on. (Though why anyone should believe her at that point, no idea.)

The problem is ... apparently Enemy of Justice doesn't discriminate. If you killed any kind of guard, anywhere, and left a witness ... everyone will be after you. Look, I first found this out because Lady Esther over in the Rosymorn Monastery literally attacked me on sight. She doesn't know jack from shit about the whole Absolute cultist bullshit, and probably doesn't care because it's not her assignment. So she has no valid reason to attack me. However, Enemy of Justice says that I am Public Enemy Number One for ... killing minions of the big bad, okay. And somehow everyone in Faerun knows this.

And I mean that literally, as some people have gone into Act 2 and found that everyone in the entire zone wants them dead. The Harpers at the Last Light Inn and the Absolutists at Moonrise Towers will both auto-aggro if you've got the bug that sticks that fucking Enemy of Justice to you. It's a pain in the arse, and basically makes the game unplayable. I mean, the worst part is, this only seems to really come into force when you come out of the Underdark and into what's ostensibly Act 2-adjacent content, so you go through the Underdark thinking all's cool and then boom! Just ... everyone hates you. Apparently it all goes away when you kill a certain Big Bad at the end of Act 2, but ... I mean, how do you get to that point if everyone wants to kill you?

So ... yeah, sometimes it feels like we're still in early access, because we're still seeing such massive patches that, just because of how much the code's being tinkered with, is an open invitation for more game-breaking bugs. I do love Larian trying to polish the game to make it the best game it possibly can be. But ... I mean, I would like to be able to play it at some point. And I can't do that if I'm stuck just a bit before the Grym fight, unable to continue because if I'm going to kill Lady Esther (and make no mistake - I am going to kill Lady Esther), I want Lae'zel approval for it. Which I don't get if she just runs at me screaming.

Larian ... please. Make it actually playable, and then stop trying to polish it. Let it be finished. It's a great game. Stop breaking it trying to make it somehow better. We can't play it when you do this.

[missjessefantastico]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

Starting a new thread bc the original was getting long

Thanks so much for the tag to the bestie @reallyreal-madeingold

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 5

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 54,497, going to get way longer once i finish and post paper dolls, which i'm still working on but yet...

3. What fandoms do you write for? i have only been writing for btvs these days, i once wrote a sanders sides fic i never got around to writing the sequel for bc i went thorugh a years long period of burnout

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? this is... basically just a list of my ao3 fics lmao

Shelter - sanders sides. it's a human au where roman is trans an tbh i don't really remember the plot, sorry lol. it has light analogical tho

Paper stars, empty caskets - btvs. it's the start of my vamp willow origin story and it's the most canon compliant part of the series

Paper cloud, open windows - btvs. second part of paper stars and uh... remember those kids that got possesed by hyenas? this is about the blonde girl and vamp willow kissing (kinda)

Paper butterflies, something amiss - btvs. third part of the vamp willow origin story, it deals with some flashbacks about jesse willow and xander, but also about some of the things we didn't get to see vamp willow do in part 2

it was an hp fic so here's a link to donate to help trans youth instead

5. Do you respond to comments? yes, i love them, i in fact eat them yum yum

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? paper butterflies for sure

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? it depends on what you want from happy, shelter has a hopeful ending, paper stars has a gory yet cathartic ending imo, paper clouds... well... it has a fade to black but i promise you they were very happy

8. Do you get hate on fics? i don't think so, the closest it ever got to it was when i was posting one of my original stories to a forum and someone gave me recommendations, but it was very constructive and polite

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? does it count if i never actually write it down? lmao

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? i don't think this counts as a crossover, but i used to write rpf for was used to be my favorite band and i would just... insert other famous people in it

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?  nope

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? i feel like i have but im not entirely sure. i remember a friend helped me with a chapter of an rpf fic so i just added her as a cowriter, then when i started to write another fic she just assumed she was a cowriter for that one too? i never finished either of those fics and they weren't on ao3 tho

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? to write? whatever fits the story i guess, but otherwise i just like almost any willow ship, she can do whoever she wants and i will support her

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? can't think of one, the ones i abandoned are better off abandoned and the other unfinished story i have is paper stars and i do intend to finish that one

16. What are your writing strengths? by virtue of "i just re-read a scene of paper clouds where heidi is spiralling and i liked it very much", im going to say that writing spiralls is my strength

17. What are your writing weaknesses? dialog, idk how to mix it with inner thoughts, working on it tho

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? i like it, i havent done it in a long while but im not against it, i think it's cool

19. First fandom you wrote for? it's either that band i mentioned earlier, or phineas and ferb, except i never posted the pnf one and i did end up turning it into an original story (that i never finished)

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? so far it's paper clouds, idk if paper dolls will surpass it, i'll have to wait and see bc my love is getting stronger

this is very long so these tags have even less pressure than usual: @haikyuupaladin @meddlelyn @juniperhillpatient @mrsmarymorstan @sinomin @siriwesen and anyone who wants to do it, tag you're it

[fanfic-lover-girl]

I'm sorry if me saying that you only read fanon depictions somehow hurt your feelings. You post for some reason came up on my feed and I saw you saying you don't read HP (the books) while I've seen you do analysis on HP mostly just hating on characters??? That just made me sad like you keep bashing characters without knowing them???? That was why sent you the ask. Since, why hate on things you don't know about? But yes, I know I sounded rude back then so I'd like to apologize for that. And

You're right, I'm sorry if I sounded rude in my last two asks (I was talking about Hermione), you should be allowed to dislike whoever you want to want to. But you have to understand, this is a story about kids going through actual wars. They literally had a giant snake trying to kill them last year and your Draco laughed at Hermione's face and hoped Hermione will be next? And also the jar thing was really inhumane but also they were kids and no ONE was actually helping them. At that point, Hermione did whatever she could to stop Rita from destroying THEIR lives. The kids literally had no one looking out for them, Harry NEARLY dies every year but does ANYONE really try to do anything about it? No. Also, Rita went out of her way to spy ON children, have you considered how horrific that sounds? Do you realize how scary it would be to have someone always spying at you, and you would be none the wiser and knowing everything about you? What Hermione did was utterly ruthless and the narrative? It didn't paint it as anything. Rather, it was left to the readers to interpret. So yes, what she did might have been utterly cruel but what Draco was doing before he chickened out after realizing what being death eater ensued was utter horrid as well. You are always ready to defend draco on every action but are always willing to put down others. They were all children in a war, and they were all fighting for their lives. If you hold them in the same regard as real world morals then I have nothing to say. That is just my two cents but other than that hope you have an amazing, I'm sorry I sounded condescending in anyway but I am a draco fan myself and I hate when fandom baby his bullying tendency. He was an asshole that's why he is a complex character. Hermione can be absolutely ruthless when it's in the name of justice and that doesn't mean that's right or good. It means she also flawed and can cruel as well. I hope you have a good day and please understand this isn't me trying to be mean to you but rather me disagreeing with some of your stance.

I thought about whether to delete these two anon asks but I don't like leaving matters unresolved. I'm like Hermione in that way. My post earlier today still applies to any more anon asks sent.

First, anon I get you are trying to be respectful but you are falling flat, unfortunately. If you respected my feelings, you would have honored my request to not engage me again. The very least you could do is come off anon so I could block you instead of having to wake up in the morning and see these.

Anyway, let me address each point line by line as I usually do.

I'm sorry if me saying that you only read fanon depictions somehow hurt your feelings.

What an insincere fake apology. What you should be apologizing for is lying. This statement is not true. Fanfiction is what brought me into HP but immediately I began learning about canon. As I have indicated SEVERAL times, I have read book snippets. I have watched/read hours worth of analyses and review content about the books. Including fan essays on world-building and characters. I have watched several movie clips. In college, I tried to watch the first movie but I was bored like 10 mins in. So that's why I can talk about HP on a high level but I can't comment on minute details which I state clearly when I get anon asks so I don't mislead people.

You post for some reason came up on my feed and I saw you saying you don't read HP (the books) while I've seen you do analysis on HP mostly just hating on characters??? That just made me sad like you keep bashing characters without knowing them???? That was why sent you the ask. Since, why hate on things you don't know about?

Tumblr sucks - I have had unwanted posts come on my feed sometimes. But do you know what I do when that happens? I ignore them. Or I modify my filters. Or I reblog it with my disagreement. Or I screenshot it and talk about it on my personal blog so I don't have to engage with the OP.

I certainly felt your sadness when you repeatedly came to my inbox and acted all high and mighty. When you said I give fanfic readers a bad name. When you asked if I was ok for a joke post I made. When you accused me of not knowing what I was talking about. Your first ask was not an ask but a scolding comment along the lines of 'You DON'T read the books but hate on the characters? WTF!!!'. How edifying.

I hope you have a good day and please understand this isn't me trying to be mean to you but rather me disagreeing with some of your stance.

If you truly wanted discourse, why not just reblog the posts you had an issue with and respectfully share your disagreement with me? At least then, I would know the full context of what you're coming at me with instead of making blanket statements. I am open to being corrected. I can be stubborn on some things but I am willing to learn.

It's actually funny. People like you who supposedly read the books spread misinformation as well in fandom. You claim to be a Draco fan and come to me saying Draco tried to kill Ron like Draco intended Ron as his target. Even as a newbie who never read one book snippet, I knew better.

Now moving on to the Draco vs Hermione parts.

I am going to ignore all the parts where you compare Draco and Hermione's sins. Because I already acknowledged my feelings on that how many times.

At that point, Hermione did whatever she could to stop Rita from destroying THEIR lives. The kids literally had no one looking out for them

I'm still lost as to why capturing Rita and taking her to the Aurors was not an option?? Harry may be disenfranchised but is Hermione? I thought Queen Hermione was smart? Does she need an adult to hold her hand to go to the police? When it comes down to it, this and the Marietta incident prove that Hermione cares more about revenge than justice. She enjoys hurting people.

Again, I am ok with characters doing bad things. My problem is when fandom glorifies it. And someone scolds me for not clapping like a seal as well. In that comment section, people painted Rita's kidnapping as a GOOD thing. She deserved worse they said! Instead of something terrible that a child felt forced to do. It's funny how every single annoying HP anon ask has been about Hermione. Like this overrated bitch is exempt from all criticism. As I told another anon: why do I need to bash Draco in the same post in order to bash Hermione?

That is just my two cents but other than that hope you have an amazing, I'm sorry I sounded condescending in anyway but I am a draco fan myself and I hate when fandom baby his bullying tendency. He was an asshole that's why he is a complex character.

Anon, I don't baby his bullying tendency. Here are some of the feelings I have expressed off the top of my head:

Draco should have been punished for using 'mudblood' at school.

Canon Draco > Fanon Draco. Fanon Draco is a mega victim and his horrible actions are waved away by abuse. Plus Fanon Draco is a gay soy boy.

Draco harasses the trio.

Snape enables his obnoxious behaviour.

I want Draco to have a meaningful redemption arc not based on a love interest (anti Drastoria).

I dislike Draco mocking Ron's poverty.

I can be defensive but at no point in my memory do I ever say Draco's bullying was ok. I may think some scenes are funny and entertaining but not ok.

Anyway, I have heard your stance. My mind has not changed. Please, just leave me alone. If my anti-posts make you that sad, then just block me. Or change your filters. If you were truly sincere, then I am sorry for my snarky tone. I know plain text can have misleading tones. I appreciate your apologies for what they are worth, now let's just move on.

[elisedonut]

fic author interview

Thank you for the tag @mirrorofliterature I'm tagging whoever feels like doing it!

How many works do you have on AO3?

33.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

42,741 words.

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Raspberry Muffin Flintley - 139 

at least we're trying Flintley - 104

Rhododendrons and False Indigo Harry/George - 102 (why its only been up a week wtf)

Anyone But You Draco/Percy - 98 

Storytime Naps Perciver - 96 

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yeah! unless it's just asking me to make more then i tend to get annoyed and ignore it but i don't get very many at the moment so i tend to stay on top of it pretty well

5. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Deceased. i guess? it's really the only one I got

i don't write angsty stuff much

6. What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

most of what i write barely even has AN ending I do a lot of open endings

i think the closest I've gotten to a complete story story have been A Shell for a Mate and Camera Cutie and they both end pretty happy

7. Do you write a cross-overs?

I have not as of yet! if I ever do it's probably going to be an isekai type scenario because it seems like the most fun to me

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I still have not shockingly

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Sometimes im not very good at it and am still learning on that front most of it tends to cut before smut really happens or is just jacking off

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

12. Have you co-written a fic before?

Also no.

13. What's your all time favourite ship?

I'm a big multi shipper so don't really even have one within one single fandom and you want an overall??

right now 99% of what i think about is Percy ships

14. What's a WIP that you want to finish but think you never will?

hmm if i say all of them do i lose my writer card?

jkjk

but i do have alot of things I've started because the mood hit that i just can't see myself going back to like i have 3k for an amnesia memories au that has just been gathering dust since that original sprint of inspo hit

15. What are your writing strengths?

??? i come up with fun concepts i think? or at least they're fun to me

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

the writing part really I come up with far more ideas then I would ever be able to write hence why I still post alot on here but also like making the idea an actual story story and not just a small slice of a story

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in fic?

I'm too lazy for it overall.

18. What's the first fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter so far it's the only fandom I've written for

19. What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

I'm not sure i ofc have a list of Percy ships i want to try which is currently

Dudley, Seamus, Justin and then ofc the two that constantly give me trouble when i try to pair them with Percy, Remus and Harry

but like outside of Percy ??

i have fandoms but most are dormant as of now like i love Idolmaster and stay caught up on the music but the idea of writing fics for it is like eh if anything it would be Makio/Soichiro tbh i miss them

I finished rwrb and enjoyed it a ton but with the firstprince being canon my brain just doesn't care that much to even seek out content for it because that's how my brain works

its canon so i don't feel the need to read (or by extension write) like 1000 different scenario's for them to get together

like people who stay fully invested in canon couples are powerful because my interest in them in a fanon sense goes out the window every time

i feel like if i ever did do something with rwrb it be an isekai since they are both into HP so it be a very typical get transported into your favorite series story i think that would be fun

i will never do it but fun idea

the ships i like for Danganronpa would probably get me killed/j

like i am with Percy now i was a big Chihiro multi shipper in my DR days before settling on ChiMaru as my favorite for them

20. What's your favourite fic that you've written?

controversial pick but Secret Fantasy 

i put so much work into it KNOWING no one was going to care about it because it's incest but i care about it damn it!! its the longest fic ive written as of now and i had so much fun with it and still think about it alot

less controversial pick is Camera Cutie  because I'm Colin kick at the moment though it is a bit more like messy since it was a pretty early one

[thenicestthingiveseen]

20 Questions

thanks for the tag! @displayheartcode

tagging @takearisk-ao3, @corneliaavenue-ao3 + anyone else who'd like to participate :)

How many works do you have on AO3?

40 little bitty bits of my brain

2. What's your total AO3 words count? 73,518

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mainly HP, but I've been dipping my toe into RWRB.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

i think he knows (he doesn't) (shoutout to RWRB popularity)

just the (three) of us (the people love canon and sometimes I oblige)

you are beautiful (sweet bi-racial Hallie learning self love in 90s britain as a witch)

Crazy Little Thing Called Love (a personal favorite) (everyone lives but Hallie's still a hot mess sometimes)

oh, and it kills me (first story for several sunlit daylights!!!!)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try my best to respond to every comment. I love external validation, but also love hearing how people have interpreted what i've written out of the little ideas that come into my head. It's very exciting and I've always been a fan of community so to share that with people in the comments is really special to me. I've admittedly been kind of bad at it because life was really "life-ing" but now that I'm on the other side of my mental breakdown I'm trying to get back into writing and engaging with people :)

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

oh - you mean the story that wasn't supposed to have any follow up?

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

uh.....i think all have fairly happy endings idk if I can pick one that's happier than any other? maybe Crazy Little Thing Called Love?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I got a sorta mean comment on FFN so I stopped uploading on there because why you gotta be mean to Hallie? What'd she do to you?

9. Do you write smut. If so what kind?

I've alluded to it. But I'm frankly terrified to write it. Love to read it though lmao

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I do not

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but if anyone feels moved to do so, I'm just a DM/comment away!!!!

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I have not. I'm just a baby (fanfic writer)

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Hinny

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

there are way too many that I may never get to, but never say never I guess. Once I finish 'Chaos' there might be time for a lot of the other Hinny fics I have thoughts about.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I answered 17 first so, in the opposite vein while I want to write more prose I do like my ability to get to the damn point sometimes. Like, in the last line game I just did a lot of people really like "Whoever said falling in love made you feel at peace, lied." and like I think that's really powerful and sets the stage for what I want to convey emotionally for the rest of the fic?? idk. I'm really bad at celebrating me and seeing my strengths.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?'

is it a cop-out to say: "lots of things"? I'm obviously my biggest critic and I am constantly working to get better with things in terms of pacing, story arcs, and description, I love reading prose/flowery writing and I want to be able to sprinkle that into my works but I'm a flowery(?) person by nature (I'm working on my whole mindset on things needing to be productive to be "worth it") so if one day i can spend a paragraph or two just describing a single moment and gut punch someone I'd love to be able to do that.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I tend to not do it just because slang, grammar, dialects are all different and I'd be damned if I mess up and say something totally outta pocket lol

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

the two weddings and an owl funeral universe (RIP Pig)

[persephoneed]

Sounds like you were pretty ignorant then if you didn’t have all the mass of super explicit and easy to see racism and Jew hate in hp. She literally says black people are inferior, Asian girls are objects, and goblin bankers are like jews word for word in the books.

I’m not going to pretend that there isn’t racism, antisemitic Jewish-coding, and fatphobia present in the HP series but I’m also not going to pretend it was as “explicit” or “word for word” as you (so smugly!) say. I think JRK and HP would’ve lost fans a lot sooner if those were direct quotes rather than micro-aggressive subtext. Also, I’ve been on this site a long time; we used to interact with problematic texts very differently back then.

I was seven years old when I first started reading the books so yes I was very blind to all of it for a long time. When I joined tumblr I learned so much about the series’ failings through various posts and discourse (shoutout to the poc fans who often wrote these posts and did so much legwork and education for the fandom), but it was still a story that, at the time, we could all love and enjoy. We wrote fanfiction and headcanons and theories and analysis - so many people were creating beautiful art and visual interpretations of the characters; the series was finished so we all made it our own. We knew and acknowledged the problematic aspects of the series. But my little corner of the fandom improved upon the series if you ask me. We created our own mythology surrounding the Marauders the JKR could never do justice herself. And so much diversity was added to HP which JKR later tried to pretend was there all along but I cannot stress enough how much this was pioneered by the poc (particularly the woc!) members of our community. If HP was ever a loving and accepting space for all different types of people, it was because the fans made it that way. (Not to completely gloss over any of the problems we had within the fandom because that did unfortunately exist as well)

Things became different once JKR started releasing new content on Pottermore that mishandled real indigenous cultures in the United States as well as fictional wizarding cultures outside of Europe. I have never watched the Fantastic Beasts series but I have heard about the issues there are well. It was getting pretty obvious to many of us then that she had not grown or educated herself in the time since the series had ended, and that her previous offenses could not be explained away as youthful ignorance or a sign of the times.

Then she began openly/loudly/happily attacking the trans community and their rights; that’s when I jumped ship and a majority of my mutuals did as well. Maybe in hindsight it could be said that the writing was always on the wall, but, if you were there when it all went down, trust me there was no “I saw this coming a mile away.” And to act like that’s the case is an insult and cruelty to all of the trans people who were fans at the time and the most betrayed out of all of us by her words and actions.

In short, a huge fuck you to JKR for ruining what was previously a safe and beautiful space for a lot of us. But also fuck YOU, whoever you are, for belittling what we had and what we lost.

EDIT: my main point here is a diverse group of fans from all over the world put their blood, sweat, and tears into building and flourishing the fandom only for the creator to burn the whole house down. No one is interested in your superiority complex.

[velvethopewrites]

I was tagged by @katherinewilliams221b to answer the following Writing Questions - thank you! 🥰

Writer’s 20 Questions!

1) How many works do you have on A03?

13. However, I probably have closer to 30+ stories or so? A lot of my stuff disappeared from when I wrote the first time around, back in the early 2000s but I was pretty prolific, lol

2) What’s your total A03 word count?

1, 446,983

3) What fandoms do you write for?

I *did* write for Harry Potter, but I haven’t done that in more than a year. And unless JKR walks it back and apologizes for everything I probably won’t return anytime soon. Every time I even think of continuing to write HP I get physically ill to my stomach.

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Moments to Come

Loving Is A Journey

Moving the Goalposts

In Essence: Undivided

17, Clumsy & Shy

5) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Of course!! Well, it depends on the comment, sometimes I have nothing to add, especially if the comment is short or just rude. I get/got a lot rude comments.

6) What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don’t really do angsty endings (happy ending girlie here all the way) but I suppose In Essence, because yay, some people lived! But pooh, some people died. 💁🏼‍♀️

7) What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably Moving the Goalposts, it ended with a 10,000+ worded smut chapter, lol

8) Do you get hate on fics?

I do, I did. And people were really mean about it too. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Whatever.

9) Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes! I was once known as the Queen of Smut. What kind? I am not sure what that means… I mean, I think it was pretty hot. LOL But I have written both het and gay (and also threesomes).

10) Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nope.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes. In Chinese (which blows my mind) and Russian.

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No! I always thought it would be cool to try, but I don’t know how that would even work - I am chaotic enough and insane enough by myself. Also even for a writer, I have extremely bad habits.

14) What’s your all time favorite ship?

It was Harry and Ginny, and a part of me still does love them, will always love them…but now it’s Dean & Cas.

15) What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Crossroads. And also Possession. Two different stories with two different vibes and I poured my heart into one and lost interest in the other. C’est la vie.

16) What are your writing strengths?

I do good dialogue. I do fairly well with plot. See the aforementioned smut title. I think I do okay with description but alway feel like I could do more. I do pretty well with humor.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

I’m wordy. I do tend to go on a bit. I’m a perfectionist to the point where I worry about all of it far too much. I tend to think I suck and that no likes my writing, so why bother? I lack confidence in it. You know, the usual.

18) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I like it. But I do tend to only try it with languages I actually know, like French. Make less mistakes that way.

19) First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter.

20) Favorite fic you’ve written?

Crossroads. No one else liked it (lol) but I did!

I tag @late-to-the-fandom and whoever else wants to!

[mariautistic]

Anyways uh. There's probably a bunch of endgame shit I've missed and. The Alan Wake part of the game that i guess i have to go play. So i wouldn't considered it "over" but the main story is uh. A little lacking tbh. It's very straightforward despite how much they invest on it being a mystery/horror/thriller and doesn't particularly care to invest in any character? I guess Jesse is there but she's so Nothing despite them constantly trying to tell you she's weird and Dylan. But the story doesn't rly do much for their relationship at All and overall the character writing is just not there. And the themes it has going on are really lacking or rarely end up anywhere interesting. I feel if you're gonna make a game about how the one thought you think is interesting is about how little we actually know of the world then like. I don't know do something with that? The "life is a prison with a poster on it" is more about how in the universe there's so much Shit that you just never know and people are just content with their poster and not just that life sucks but at least make Jesse an actively interested person in the supernatural then??? Instead of being annoyed every time she learns something new.

The combat has a lot of variation depending on which skills you find and level but i honestly just leveled upmy hp and telekinesis and had almost no trouble finishing the game right up to the end game. It's a shame how many weapon variations they give you only to let you just gloss over them, but i don't particularly cry over it because I hate shooters.

The ambience is very impecable and really like how scared i am of every new area despite never having struggled with fights particularly. Also an addendum to my complains about the combat is that the AI is particularly bad at doing its job and you rarely get hit if you just run in one straight direction. The only enemies i struggled much against where those floaty guys with shields bc i couldn't spam telekinesis but then I found out you actually CAN but you just gotta repeatedly throw things until they can't dodge them. So there's that.

I liked a lot the things you find around the place i think it's really funny seeing the daily complaints between departments and how toxic of a work environment it is, but after a certain point i was just inundated with the content and it felt like a chore rather than fun addendums to read. Specially the board/landline calls where i just had to watch the whole thing and couldn't just skip through some of the dialogue -_-

The level up system is just kind of bad for a lot of reasons, mainly that i just think it's stupid that i could do what i did and simply level HP and telekinesis and skip through most of the game without much struggling, and the fact the items you get are rarely relevant unless you want to level up the guns much and the in game money system is just. Ever used and there's not much punishment for dying and losing 10% of your whatever the hell if you have more than you can spend at any point in the game

The graphics are both really good in the building portion and the monsters have fun designs. However the animations leave a lot to be desired and wanting to go for an impressive realism always carries the cost that it might look stupid. Also Jesus Christ they need help from a cinema guy the shots in this game are fucking awful every cinematic where they focus on anything makes me feel crazy. The overdone close shots every time Jesse has an inner thought or the shot to shot back and forth between Jesse and whoever she's talking to is so bad i feel like if you want it to be ~cinematic~ you actually have to know about movies. At all. Literally just hire an annoying film guy to ask him what he thinks of the talking portions. Anything.

All of this to say that it's a bit of a lackluster game that tried to do a very big concept and to be fair. They did a lot of justice to it and it was fun to play despite all of this I'm complaining about. I still think that it's not a very good game for a lot lot lot of reasons but i would be lying if i didn't see the amount of effort put into it and how much i enjoyed the things it did well so i have a hard time writing it off as subpar or anything like that

[i-need-air]

Hybrid!AU Wolf!Bakugou Katsuki HCs.

Summary: How would Hybrid!Bakugou would react to being adopted by the reader and their domestic life together. Headcanons and believe me, it's a long one... [2k WORDS OF HCS psjxksdj stop me pls] PLATONIC/ROOMMATES HCS, will do a part two later on with continuation and romance cuz 2kwordsbro...

Notes: I love Hybrid AU!s and I want to indulge myself with this. I barely see these in the fandom, so maybe you guys will like it! Also, depending on how it goes, I'm gonna consider making more for other characters, whachu say? Tell me what you thought and I hope you enjoy!~ ♥

Part 2 here!

× he's a wolf hybrid, and the workers at the shelter warn you that he's feral as you pass by where he was locked

× it seems he was in an illegal fighting ring and nobody could get close to him even if his living conditions now were much better than the hell hole he lived in before

× he growled, scratched, yelled, overall he needed so much help

× normally that would've been very intimidating to you but while the workers tried to push you towards some bunny or dog hybrids they had around, you just froze because the mf said they were considering sacrificing him

× like wHat the fuck?? he's a human being?????? sure he has a tail but what????????

× and you just foken went crazy for a moment cuz you didn't even see him in his cage, he was hiding somewhere under the bundle of blankets he had, probably asleep

× so you just went mental, demanding an explanation because hybrid shelters do not and should not sacrifice a person

× and your increasing yelling just made all the hybrids anxious

× and Bakugou heard everything [who wouldn't]

× i shit you not, the employee tried to explain why

× legit said cuz he's aggressive

× Bitch I'd be aggressive too! I'd bite your jugular off

× course, security was called but you already prepared to call the police, Hybrid Protection Services, your lawyer, your friends, the president, you name it

× and that's when you said you're adopting whoever was under the blankets. NOW.

× always hated the word adopting, but you were looking to give a hybrid a chance since you finally had a spare bedroom in your new apartment

× so like security and the worker just look at each other cuz who tf is gonna be the brave soul to go inside the cage to retrieve Bakugou Katsuki and get rid of you both already

× you're just staring at them like u srs bro? so you just send them to do the paperwork while you decide to go in yourself because you needed to get out of that place ASAP to still contact HPS on this shelter

× security stayed by the door while you hesitantly walked towards the blanket bundle [not so brave anymore] cuz why did that dude have his gun out??????

× but when you approached the bundle and kneeled in front of it you noticed movement

× a fluffy sand yellow tail suddenly came to view and it was big, slowly moving from side to side

× so with the gentlest voice you could muster [after screaming your lungs out moments ago] you tried to talk to whoever was underneath

× you introduced yourself and said you're here to take them home but got nothing, just casual tail movement

× Big Hunkus Brutus Security Guardus™ was getting impatient so he told you to just "fuckin put the collar and leash on the stupid beast" and you just 🙃 fucking excuse u?? while turning towards him

× it was a delicate time and you needed to take it slow, and anyway you knew you'd get that crap off your [hopefully] new friend as soon as possible

× what you didn't expect was the guard to freeze and raise his gun again, but was pointing above your head, not even looking in your eyes

× so you turn and meet a naked chest, scarred, with recent bruising on and big

× looking up you see Bakugou Katsuki, ruffled blonde hair, wild in all directions, red eyes harsh and staring at the guy behind you, only some pants on his form and tail still waving very slowly behind him

× while Chunkus Brutus trembled in place, gun shaking in hands, you were in the fuckin middle of it all

× what you didn't expect is the hybrid to take the collar in your hands and wrap it around his neck, now looking at you, expression still harsh but this time it didn't scream murder [and then grabbed a shirt, thank the heavens]

× progress? making friends? good first impressions?

× na lol you wish but that's spoilers 👀

× the process of adoption went smoothly, and when I say smoothly I mean Robustus Dumbus Brutus behind both of you with his hand still on his gun while all the workers gathered around to see the crazy insane person that adopted The Devil™, the guy that told you about the sacrificing was actually filing the paperwork as fast as possible under the intense gaze of the wolf

× and Bakugou was standing very close to you, btw, like i can feel your body heat close

× he was compliant at first, when you got in the car you started rambling about your house and how he has a room while trying to take the collar off him but he grabbed your hands

× like insanely fast, one blink and firm grip on your hands

× "i ain't gon be your fuckin pet, understood?" he growled at you but made no movement to bolt and run away

× and you just wanted to roll your eyes cuz ok he can kill you anytime but like didn't he get the message when you screamed back there? [also there was this sense of security you had around him or maybe you were just really dumb]

× so when you said you weren't looking for a pet but to help someone and maybe a friend and roommate, he just narrowed his eyes at you

× suspish human, wild doggo no trust

× anywho he took the collar off himself [like extra fast] but you explained that you are going to get him a bracelet or something less degrading since he still needed something with the information tag to have on himself so police will know he's no stray and he wouldn't end in the same craphole again

× journey home was silent, like eery silent

× he just looked out the window intensely, you noticed how he focused on every sign and turn

× you considered asking him questions but honestly with his past you doubted he would even answer so you just started to ramble about your home, stuff you could do around the city [which caught his attention], items you'd have to go buy for him, like clothes, shampoo, any special food, the bracelet

× he stopped looking out the window and just looked at you

× ok he was intensely staring at your side, basically drilling a hole in your cheek with those crimson eyes and it was making you N e r v o u s because making new friends is hard when you're just vomiting monologs, all while driving

× buying things was awkward to say at least, special hybrid stores were rare and for a guy his size it was even more difficult to find anything, which ended up in getting normal clothes and deciding to adjust them for his tail

× while grocery shopping you discovered he actually knew very well what he wanted after a lot of questioning from you

× he finally sighed at your persistent act and just threw stuff in the shopping cart, a surprising amount of spices too

× now for the bracelet part... you decided to spend more on a code that could be scanned to identify him rather than the distasteful ones with name and who owns him

× good thing you planned ahead a long time ago and saved money but you did notice his sharp eyes on you whenever you paid

× and his grunts and judgemental looks at other people with hybrids

× it's as if he wanted to say something, anything, but was stopping himself, which lowkey worried you because from what you heard Bakugou's supposed to be very vocal

× maybe he was glad to be out of the shelter, you know you'd be

× you get home and he follows you to your house, again giving him another chance to bolt somewhere away from you but c'mon both of you knew he'd outrun you so why force him, just let him take his time

× "So this is your room" shook him to the core, legit he just stood silent in the hallway as you presented your house calmly

× sniffing around

× so much sniffing around, tail low while he checked every corner

× once he did decide to check his bedroom, he closed the door leaving you to set everything up

× what you didn't know is that he looked around, shaking with anger

× this is what normal people have?

× sat on the edge of the most confortable bed he's ever had and hoped the idiots of his friends managed to get something like this too

× and the shitshow began when you called him for dinner

× not enough salt, not enough spices

× he was a pain in the ass and as he let go, little by little you started to see him for who he was

× this, this was Bakugou Katsuki, the guy that started to scold you because of the seasoning of the food

× it formed a bond between you, the start of you seeing his real personality

× a Mom™

× slowly started owning the house, although you found it hilarious

× next day you found him cooking breakfast with such an ease it shocked you to the core

× "The fuck you lookin' at?" as he puts a plate of pancakes in front of your

× you just lowkey uwu when you realize he's waiting for your approval as you ate and I swear to you, best pancakes ever

× chest puffed when you complimented his food and this was the first time he mentioned something about his past; seems he had to cook for everyone at the fighting ring he was at, but he didn't mention more

× talking about his past took forever, putting together bits and pieces he mentioned, yet they were so little

× he'd go silent after mentioning his [what you assumed] friends

× if you asked or pressed too much he'd click his tongue or snap at you

× not everything was dandy though; yes, he was a good roommate, but he did have THE attitude

× but not as the people at the shelter made it to be, like he'd snap at you from time to time but it would get better as he'd start to trust you

× ok, ok, hear me out,,,,

× play with his hair

× it happened by accident; you started to have this tradition after a couple of months of living together: movie nights

× he really liked action stuff but both your dirty secret was watching those shitty horror movies and make fun of everyone in them, so every Friday Night was Movie Night

× he just threw himself on the couch and his hair looked puffy and those adorable wolf ears were twitching, you straightforwardly asked him if you could play with it

× [ask if you don't want your hand bit off]

× he scoffed

× silence

× when he nodded and looked away, you squealed and started scratching, just playing with his hair, mindlessly doing so while snickering at the TV when movement caught your attention

× he was wiggling his tail softly

× you guys never mentioned it but now he sits down on the sofa head close to you on a pillow and wait for them god sent scratches; will 100% roll his eyes and scoff at you when you start, acting like YOU want this

× TERRITORIAL AS FUCK

× seriously glares at whoever comes inside the house

× has a problem with every single soul since they dirty his home

× you don't notice it first but he finally starts calling your house home and that's the ultimate progress

× boy had a lot of hardships in his life so he appreciates what he has

× yet it is very, very hard to gain his trust at first

× when you finally do though? he's a loyal friend forever

× he's thankful to have you

× will never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever tell you

× his actions speak for him

× you're part of his pack now

× but seriously wash the dishes or you'll die.

[thechekhov]

So glad you decided to play Undertale! I think it would really suit you so I’m so happy you got into it! Could I have your thoughts about the game? I would LOVE to hear them. I’m ALL for long essays and rants, that’s my jam, but even just a small review from you would make me ecstatic!

Alright alright alright alright. 

I am ecstatic that someone asked because I have a lot to say AS ALWAYS. 

I’m gonna try to keep this readable, I swear. Will add pictures in between to keep things interesting. 

However, due to the length this will SURELY achieve, AND due to spoilers (and yes, laugh at me all you want, the game has been out for 5 years) I’ll put this under a cut. Read at your own (f)risk.

Metagaming - the game plays YOU

When I first started Undertale, I ‘knew’ these things:

there’s a stabby one with a knife, their name is chara

there’s a flower everyone hates

something something sans something something

and the last, and perhaps most important thing

you can spare your enemies to avoid killing them

The thing is. The THING IS. 

I did not realize how pervasive this strategy was. My thought at first was ‘okay, so I don’t have to kill EVERYONE.’

I had no idea that the reality was that I didn’t have to kill anyone.

I’m sure many others have already said this, but Undertale kind of changes the way you think about other games. It forces to you examine simply fighting your way through the RPG by introducing completely non-murder-y ways to resolve issues. This conversation-based combat style is not the first of its kind, I’m sure, but it’s also incredibly well done. It ties into the story, it ties into your decisions.

It ties into your decisions SO MUCH that it changes everything else in the outcome.

Undertale is a game well known for breaking the 4th wall. However, it does so in a strangely eerie, heart-wrenchingly real way. It teaches us that there are other solutions to conflicts - and it really... it really TEACHES us, you know?

Which is funny because to be honest, it took me a while to get the lesson.

(You may already be fully aware of this but yes, my first True Neutral Route was extremely organic. I legitimately had no idea that there was even more than one ending. I was just stumbling about er... killing. Out of habit.)

The beauty of this is that the game drives home that point even more effectively because I was fully unaware of my own bias. I had assumed that some enemies would require killing - DESPITE TORIEL SPECIFICALLY TELLING ME TO TALK TO THEM, and the entire Ruins tutorial being about Mercy. I killed the Dummy on accident (granted, it was due to me pressing the key too fast a few times) and didn’t think much of Toriel’s disapproval. I killed a few monsters because I saw my level was low and decided to automatically grind a little bit. 

By the time I got to Toriel, I was still not comfortable with the mechanic. I knew I could Spare her somehow - after all, she was a kind monster, and clearly an important character - but the Spare option didn’t yield promising results the first few times I chose it. I ran out of patience and decided that maybe... maybe it was like pokemon! 

Maybe I had to get her health down to a certain level before she would allow me to pass through.

Funny thing though.... you know what happens if you attack Toriel one too many times? Even if she has most of her health left? 

Yeah uh... it activates that one-hit-KO thing from No Mercy Route.

So of course, what happened? I hit her one too many times... and killed her! And of course, immediately panicked and reset. 

I got back to my previous save, Spared Toriel PROPERLY this time, and walked out of the ruins only to be confronted with my own reliance on the magical ‘redo’ button which was... apparently... not that magical.

Because it WASN’T a clean redo. Flowey apparently remembered. 

The idea that the game would KNOW about my previous attempts beyond the save file snapped me out of my casual Undertale playthrough. I realized that something was up - this game was not going to be like the others.

I think it was from this point on that I tried to be more careful, but again - I still hadn’t quite gotten the memo about not killing. I took down a few monsters around Snowdin. And when I got to Papyrus, I grew frustrated about not being able to beat him (I ended up losing several times and coming back to try again) and went off to grind SOME MORE because I figured that could raise my HP and increase my chances of holding off long enough to Spare him. 

(The incredible thing about this game is that actually, raising your level gives you only a slight advantage. You can be level 1 and carrying no items, and as long as you’re relatively proficient at dodging the bullet hell style projectiles you will have no issues.) 

Anyway, the point is that I realized I could spare the big monsters and did so readily - but I didn’t bother to spare many of the smaller ones. 

I figured it didn’t matter. 

And then I successfully evaded Undyne, gave her a cup of water, etc... and then went to her house to meet Papyrus, fully expecting her to befriend me anyway. 

And you know what happened?

“She said she won’t hang out with a murderer.“

I think that probably hit me the hardest at that point in the game. 

I had a bit ‘....oh’ moment at that point because I realized that the game would punish me for killing even the ‘not-important’ civilians of the Underground. It wasn’t about just sparing the ‘boss monsters’. My actions had consequences beyond just the ‘elite’ characters that we all tend to focus on.

Because yes, it made sense. It wasn’t about just Undyne - why WOULD she randomly be my friend after I killed tons of living beings?

From there on, I spared everyone, but didn’t reset. I decided to see how it would unravel.

The thing I want to talk about, which is a little difficult, is that...

It took me that long to learn that kindness was the answer. And that, in itself, ends up being a metaphor. 

It’s difficult to be kind if you have not been show how to be.

It’s difficult to change the way you behave (in a game or out of it) if all you know is using other methods.

It was hard enough to spare Toriel before I realized I had to just be very patient and trust that her attacks wouldn’t hit - though at first I thought she would just kill me! 

It was hard to avoid Papyrus’ attacks and I had to die several times before I successfully got through it. 

It was near impossible to fight Undyne because I legitimately had no idea Fleeing was an option. I struggled for ages at her stage, and I had to ask for help to understand what I could do.

And that’s actually honestly very true to life as well.

Being kind takes risk. Being kind takes effort. And sometimes, being kind means asking others HOW to be kind. 

When you choose to be kind, you risk being hurt, and you risk being trapped (Toriel). When you choose to be kind, you need to expand a lot more energy to succeed (Papyrus). When you choose to be kind, you need to sometimes reach out to others to show you how to properly do it (Undyne).

The rest of the playthrough probably went about as you expect. I completed the game, didn’t kill any Boss Monsters, fought to the end and... got that really unsatisfying Neutral Ending which felt strangely bittersweet. 

And of course, after I was done, I was prompted to go back and do a proper Pacifist Run. Which I did. I learned about the background of Determination, about Chara and Asriel... and about how everything came to be the way it was.

The thing that gets me the most about this game is how it serves as a direct parallel to how we use videogames. In fact, Undertale is a videogame... about videogames. 

Chara appears to be a direct metaphor for the people that use videogames to escape - to cope with whatever happened to them in The Overworld. Bad family life, or bad relationships or whatever we suffer - escapism through games is not, in itself, a new theme. 

Chara arrived in Undertale by dropping themself down a hole in the mountain, perhaps even seeking to end their life. They dropped into a world which offered them comfort and companionship, a new family and a new life - but in the end, their nature was destructive because their means to finding a solution inadvertently used other people as fodder. Asgore, Asriel - they used everyone else to complete their plans. It wasn’t about forming connections - it was about Completing the Quest. 

I wonder - did Chara even HAVE access to a MERCY option? 

Was their world one without the option of sparing someone? Did they only have the choice of acting - and was Mercy in the hands of whoever attacked them? I wonder how difficult it might have been for them. I wonder how that, in itself, shaped their perception of the world. 

I wonder if that’s why, during the No Mercy run, people recognize you as Chara? If they come back and attach themselves to your resonating DETERMINATION?

If this is true, was MERCY perhaps created later, brought into existence once Asriel himself made the choice to NOT fight, to turn back and flee, even after being attacked by humans in the Overworld? 

(It would be a nice parallel to Asgore DESTROYING the Mercy option when you enter the fight with him...)

...

In the end, I think Undertale is about many things, including video games. 

But it’s also hurting - and being hurt. 

It’s about how trauma can shape us, how we deal with feeling grief, and loss, and depression - and not being able to feel anything.

It’s about how we focus on goals and use DETERMINATION to keep going - even when whatever it is that’s driving us no longer has any SOUL. 

It’s about how our action have consequences, but they also carry the weight of a choice, and how powerful those choices are, and how powerless we feel when we aren’t given a choice - not to fight back, nor show mercy. 

I think that’s probably the reason this game resonated with so many people. It really brings something we love about videogames to the forefront - that ability to fight back, to have full and total control of our own lives...

And it also shows us how having that endless loop of repetitive grinding and fighting with zero consequences can lead to an incredible hollowness and make us numb to how we interact with real-life people. 

Anyway. 

Good game. 

[bluegreenandpurple]

Friends

Hi! Remember the HP Romione Popcorn Drabble thing? I was tagged by @honouraryweasley12 with the prompt "What did you just say to me?".

We're reaching the end of Autumn where I live, so to honour this yellowish season, I tag @thecanadiananimagus with the shedding of leaves as a prompt. Feel free to explore the concept in whichever way suits you, it doesn't have to be literal.

Without further ado, here's the drabble.

I hope you enjoy this Pre-Hogwarts AU, Rating PG-everyonecanreaditssafe .

---------

Hermione Jean Granger was unfriendable.

She was unable to establish a relationship with another kid. In her previous school, she thought she couldn’t befriend anybody because they disliked her since they were toddlers.

But having moved to another town and consequently to a new school, she couldn’t blame anything but herself. Despite all her efforts – and she had tried her best – the children of Ottery St Catchpole hated her. They called her names, they called her horrible words, they even sang her mocking songs.

So at the sweet age of eight, she had concluded that she carried a curse, a condition, a life sentence for loneliness. She could see it so clearly, an older version of herself with the same untamable hair, only grey, surrounded by cats. She would have to prepare herself and read about feline ca–

‘I hate when you’re so quiet, sweetheart.’ Her grandma's voice snapped her out of her head. ‘I know you’ve had some difficult days at school,’ she continued, ‘but you know what never fails to make me feel better when I’m sad.’

‘To do something nice?’

Grandma nodded and turned her head to look across the street, her eyes landing on a red-headed boy that was curled up on a bench. He appeared to be around Hermione’s age, and his face was full of worry.

She groaned internally as she realised what her grandma was thinking. She wanted her to help the boy. But Hermione was wary of talking to him as she didn’t fancy an extra dose of bullying; she’d had enough for the day at school.

School.

The redhead boy didn’t go to school!

So he wouldn’t know any of the names her classmates had given her and seeing that he was alone on a bench instead of playing with the other kids, the chances that he had made any acquaintances appeared to be small. Hermione felt a rush of excitement running through her. If she did well, she could still have a friend.

She would help the boy find his parents. He would see how kind and considerate she was and will want to become her friend. It was perfect! As she walked towards her soon-to-be friend, Hermione prepared a speech, practising many times in her mind until she was close enough to speak to him.

‘Are you lost?’ she asked shyly.

The boy jolted in his spot at the sound of her voice and hastily turned to face her. He looked surprised as if he wasn’t expecting anyone to talk to him. His astonishment, however, was short-lived, for his raised eyebrows went down into a frown as he retorted.

‘I’m not lost! I just don’t know where my mum is!’

‘That is – by definition – being lost!’ Hermione scoffed. Who did he think he was? How dare he talk to her like that when she was only trying to help?

‘S not,’ he mumbled, seemingly ashamed of his previous outburst. Then his eyes opened wide as if he had just had the most brilliant idea, ‘My mum knows where I am! If she didn’t, I’d be lost. But she does, so I’m not. I’m just… in the wrong place.’ He finished with a proud smile.

‘That is not – ‘ the retort died in Hermione’s throat as she processed his words. He was right.

‘See it now, don’t you?’ he said with a wide lopsided grin.

Hermione felt how a smile spread across her face on its own accord. He chuckled as he saw her friendly gesture, and she let out all her nerves in the form of giggles. They locked their eyes and, for a moment, they both froze. Then, as if a switch had been flicked, they burst out in laughter. Hermione felt her knees get weak with the excess of happiness and took a seat on the bench next to the boy.

When the laughter subsided, and they collected themselves, the conversation began to flow. Hermione was eager to get to know him better, so she asked a myriad of questions. She was afraid that he would be annoyed by her but, on the contrary, he seemed to be thrilled by all the attention she was giving him. When she ran out of questions, she talked to him about her life. She felt at ease with him, and somehow they ended up talking about school.

She told him about her classes and her professors, but he didn’t seem particularly interested in them. He then asked her if she had friends, so she shared her experience within her few months of schooling at Ottery St Catchpole. She confided not only how hard it was for her to attend a place where no one liked her but also the atypical events that had been haunting her the last weeks. She was so caught up in her story that she almost lost his following words.

‘You’re a–!’ he stopped mid-sentence and looked around with cautious eyes, then he whispered, ‘You’re a witch!’

‘What did you just say to me?’ she snarled.

He was smiling, but as he took in her face, his eyes went wide open and his grin turned into a grimace. He began to fidget with the edge of the bench, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. Hermione waited a moment, giving him time to take back his words, but as he kept gaping, she felt anger and frustration waving over her.

‘You just called me a–’

‘No, I didn’t!’ he squeaked.

‘You did! You just–’

‘Did not!’ he cried again, shaking his head with short, energetic movements.

‘Yes, don’t deny it!’ she shrieked, ‘You just called me a–’

‘RONALD WEASLEY!’

Both the kids jolted at the roar of a stern, feminine voice. At the same time, they turned to the source to find a short woman with the same flaming red hair as the boy walking in their direction. The woman was angry, Hermione could tell, and she felt relieved not to be the object of her rage. But whoever this Ronald was, he was doomed. She almost felt sorry for him until she turned back to the boy.

Realisation hit her like a train. Ronald was sitting in front of her, resting his elbows on his knees, his face buried in his hands.

‘I’m so dead!’ His voice was muffled, but Hermione could tell he was defeated.

‘If she knows, she will kill me!’ he whined. Then he lifted his head and looked at Hermione ‘Look, I’m sorry, okay?’

She was pleased that he was apologising, but she wouldn’t make it easy for him. So she crossed her arms and frowned. Tucking his hands in his pockets, he began to move his foot, playing with a stone. When he spoke again, his voice was soft and shy.

‘M sorry I called you a witch. I’m not supposed to say that to Mu–people. But I didn’t mean it as an insult. You see, to...to my family, that is not a bad word. It just slipped out.’

Hermione stood still, studying him. His eyes were bright and blue… and honest. And somehow, when she looked at him, she felt calmer. She felt–

‘You never, NEVER, do that to me again! Did you hear me?’ Ronald’s mum had just reached them, and as soon as she had him at hand, she grabbed him by the arm. She was throwing daggers at him with her eyes as she resumed her scolding.

‘You almost killed me! I thought I lost you! I–’

Hermione couldn’t stop the laughter that erupted from her as she saw Ronald’s face contorting in pain, as if his mum’s words were hitting him. It was hilarious. Just then, his mum seemed to become aware of Hermione’s presence. She hastily let go of her son as she turned to the girl, her expression changing from the angry nagging ogre to friendly and welcoming.

‘I’m sorry, dear. But I’m afraid I have to take Ronnie home. I hope he didn’t bother you so much. I apologise for being so rude, but we’re late; we have to leave. Goodbye, sweetheart.’

She made a gesture to her son to follow her as she turned around and began to walk away. Ronald shrugged and waved goodbye before running after his mum.

Hermione felt her chest become heavy as she saw him leave. She couldn’t wait to tell Grandma about Ronald. Would he be as eager as she was to tell his family about her? Would he talk to them about his new friend, Hermio– Oh, no!

She knew his name, but she hadn't told him hers!

Hermione began to run as fast as she could to catch them. She yelled his name, making them stop. He turned, and when he saw her coming, he ran back, meeting her halfway.

‘Hermione,’ she panted, ‘my name is Hermione Granger!’

‘Nice to meet you, then. Hermione Granger.’ He chuckled as he lifted his right hand for a handshake, ‘You can call me Ron.’

‘Nice to meet you too, Ron.’ She said as she grabbed his hand.

‘Will I see you again?’ Hermione asked as their hands broke apart.

‘Of course you will!’ he said as he began to step backwards. ‘You can’t get rid of me now,’ he continued as a wide grin took over his face.

‘We're friends!’ he shouted out in joy before he turned around and jogged back to his mum.

Hermione beamed as his last words echoed in her head.

Friends.