#so I will abstain from changing her traits just yet

[nightmareonpeachstreet]

She is beauty, she is grace, she will punch you in the fucking face

[innovativestruggles]

Extra thoughts on Daisuke x Suzue (Anime and Novel)

I was prompted to write this when a friend asked me several prodding questions on Daizue’s relationship and feminism several days ago. Obviously my friend knew where to hit the right nerve LOL

So I thought about it and I’d like to share my thoughts. I don’t know whether my DaiSuzu followers are still hanging around, but if you see this, then this is for you. This post is very opinionated of course so you may not agree with what I have to say. 

I took the initiative to go back and watch some of the FKBU episodes, and then top it off with the novel. As I mentioned in numerous older posts, the novel is the original and was written sometime in the 1970s. If you can read Japanese, I strongly recommend you grab a copy and read it for yourself. It goes into a lot more depth with regards to Daizue’s relationship and there is a lot more development between the two.

Novel and anime are different yet there are similarities. What I am going to write here is purely about DaiSuzu and because there are only minute differences in their interactions in both novel and anime, I will combine the two elements together. But before I do that, I want to talk a little about Suzue.

Suzue

I absolutely love Suzue’s character - in almost every single aspect. She is strong, clever, independent and defies all odds. Her personality and interests are definitely more pronounced in the anime in terms of strength and defying the odds. She does the hard yard - a mechanic, an engineer, a creator, a pilot, a spy, an intelligence operator - she is a one stop shop and she is not just a pretty face. Then we have her novel counterpart, who shares similar traits that concerns intelligence and independence. She does intelligence and spy work for Daisuke as well, and the only thing that was absent would be her ‘mechanics and gadget development role.’ Given that the book was written in the 70s by a misogynistic piece of shit, I am surprised the author gave Suzue that level of prominence. 

When I saw the promotional materials and then the second episode of FKBU, I was so excited! Finally, a strong female character who has all the ‘male dominated’ traits! I was looking forward to what the anime had to offer her, considering the creators were talking about giving Suzue an ‘important’ role in the anime.  And throughout the series, her character in that sense did not disappointment. She did a lot of work for Daisuke and she was the backbone of everything. She even had to rescue him at times. What an incredible woman.

In comparison, novel Suzue, although a prominent, intelligent character, still had some level of submissiveness to her that screamed ‘I need a man to save me and do things for me’ kind of way. Unsurprising of course being written by an old fashioned man in the 70s. So the anime in a sense was a breath of fresh air.

Then we see the lack of screen time. Although Suzue was just a supporting character, she was quite prominent in the novel. The anime went through all this trouble to create such an incredibly strong female character, but gave her such little screen time. Disappointment doesn’t even begin to describe it. I’m just frustrated that it is always the bloody male characters that gets a lot of screen time. I don’t give two fucks about your need for a fanservice or to appease fujos, we need more female characters who are strong, clever, independent, does not need a man to save her, is not overly sexualised and gets plenty of screen time. If it’s not one, it’s another. Can’t they just bloody do it all together? Also, have three main characters, Daisuke, Suzue and Haru ffs.

Feminism & Anime

If you trawl through my blog, there are a lot of posts about women, feminism, misogyny, toxic fandoms and a lot of het ships. Although I do absolutely love my M/M and F/F ships, there is a reason for my interest in anime het ships. I am a social worker who specialises in working with victim/survivors of family/domestic violence and sexual assault (DVSA), and complex trauma. Considering the majority of perpetrators are men, and the majority of victim/survivors are women, it is important to emphasise the need for a healthy and respectful relationship. I enjoy bringing my feminist perspective to film and fiction because they are an extension of society. Film and fiction (including anime and manga) are based on societal perceptions, and characters are still, unfortunately, heavily gendered. 

The anime fandom consists of real people and if you look all over social media, people talk about the characters all the time and their thoughts on them. It comes from somewhere. So when I watch anime, and when I see a male and female character get together in a manner that is healthy and respectful, they get a standing ovation from me. In particular, is when a male character treats his female partner in a way that empowers her or if he abstains from using his male entitlement to demean her. Because in society, there is still a large proportion of men who continues to abuse women in every way possible. If fans are constantly viewing content (yes, even ‘cartoons’) where women are objectified and disrespected comparatively to men, that rigid stereotype is reinforced and ingrained. 

I just want to add a note here that the LGBTQIA+ community do experience DVSA as well and this post does not disregard or invalidate them in any way. The focus of this discussion however, pertains to men, who make up the majority of perpetrators and, women, who are the majority of victim/survivors.

Daisuke and Suzue

I answered an ask sometime ago about why I ship DaiSuzu and although that has not changed, I have given a lot more thought to the reasoning behind it. The one thing I dislike about Suzue is her obsession with Daisuke, both in the novel and anime. It does take away her cool, independent like character, and submit her to the idea that she is nothing without first appeasing a man (Daisuke in this case). I don’t want to put too much dislike into her character in the anime, because we never got to see what her history was like with Daisuke. In the novel, I do see elements as to why she can be a bit obsessive, and that was most likely to do with her being ‘adopted’ and given a second chance. It was her way of showing appreciation. Yet she does have romantic feelings for Daisuke, so in essence, her character was emphasised as a typical lovestruck woman 😒

Again, she was incredibly loyal and forgiving towards Daisuke in the anime, despite his shitty attitude towards her at times. You’re probably wondering, after all that I wrote about feminism, why I would still ship DaiSuzu? In the anime, that comes down to Daisuke’s trauma. It added an extra layer of complexity. Daisuke’s standoffish, cold behaviour towards Suzue was not out of a sense of male entitlement and disrespect towards Suzue being a woman, rather, it was a manifestation of his trauma. Of course, it does not excuse his behaviour, but this is the reason why I really enjoyed watching their relationship. There was a lot of mutual trust going on (which I wrote about), covert appreciation of Suzue’s skills and abilities and Daisuke’s own way of making amends with her. 

In the novel, however, Daisuke does not have a history of any traumatic experiences. His personality was a lot more animated and though he does exhibit some weird behaviour towards Suzue, he does not do it out of male privilege or misogyny. He was just dense (and an idiot).  

Regardless, DaiSuzu’s relationship isn’t just as simple as black and white. There are elements of feminism that intertwines the anime and what I love a lot about Daisuke was that he never put Suzue down, felt intimidated, or tried to make her feel inadequate for being more clever and more intelligent than him. He relied on her knowledge, her skills and her expertise to guide him through his missions, because not only did he trust her with his life, he believed in her skills. He quietly allowed her to do her job without questioning her abilities or intervening.

I won’t discuss how shit the anime was and how much they shat on Suzue’s character by making her Daisuke’s relative, but like I said, I was pretty impressed with the way they turned Suzue into a strong character, and Daisuke’s perception of Suzue as a woman.

And yes, Daisuke doesn’t deserve Queen Suzue. And if you were again to ask me about Daisuke’s true feelings for Suzue? I am pretty damn certain that he loves her to death - in both novel AND anime.

[fluffysvt]

𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 ✞ 𝟎𝟐

✘ 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 : joshua hong x reader

✘ 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞 : bad boy au, corruption, religious themes

✘ 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 : angst, light smut?, graphic depictions of abuse (i’m sorry in advance this chapter is a bit dark)

✘ 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 : 2.2k

the kiss lingers in your mind long after you’ve returned home. laying under pink sheets, you helplessly replay it over and over again, blushing in the dark. he took his time with you, leading with care, a tang of vanilla cream left on his tongue.

the truth is, you find joshua intriguing. you want to dive deep into every nook and cranny of him, to hear his thoughts, fears, desires. he’s like eating dessert before dinner -- delectable and sweet, yet against the rules.

but you want it anyway.

this is crazy, though, and you would be ridiculous to idealize him so quickly. for all you know, this could be some huge joke to him. why would someone like him want to date someone like me? you wonder, and your heart grows heavy in your chest. you two are extremes of one another: your whole life has always revolved around religion, whereas joshua denounces it almost entirely. so why, then?

maybe he just wants sex. after all he did mention sexual freedom, and you can only assume that means sex before marriage. your skin prickles at the thought of it, shame overcoming you.

your mind helplessly wanders back to the night you slept over at neji’s, when she confessed to giving her boyfriend her virginity. it struck you that she didn’t even sound sorry while soliciting every tiny, unwanted detail. neji has always been bold, yes, but it’s been hard trying to register this information. she said she really, truly loves him. that it felt... right.

it’s always been easy for you to maintain abstinence, considering you’ve never dated anyone seriously, but can one person honestly change that? and could it be someone like joshua?

it feels as though the fluffy, cotton candy cloud 9 you fell asleep on last night is a distant memory when you wake with a start. it’s still dark outside and your arms are quickly collecting goosebumps, bedsheets crumpled up in a heap on the floor.

“get up,” your mother demands through gritted teeth. it’s then that you notice her silhouette standing at the foot of the bed, arms crossed and eyes ablaze with a fury you’ve only seen a handful of times. you can feel your body tense.

“what?”

“on your knees. now.” a rosary is tightly knotted around her hand, bible clutched tightly to her chest as she makes her way to your side of the bed. hurriedly, you scramble onto the floor, palms pressed together as you resist eye contact.

she stops when she’s directly behind you. “you know how the people talk in this town.” the clicking of her belt buckle rings through the room as she loosens it. “did you think you could sneak around with that... that boy, without me knowing?”

your entire chest seizes in fear; how could she know, and so quickly?

as soon as you question it, the answer seems so obvious you could strangle yourself with it. mr. walker, the ice cream shop owner - he’s known your mother for years. stupid, stupid girl. 

“i-i’m sorry-”

your head snaps back as she tugs you by a fistful of hair. “you evil, ungodly child. boys like him are wicked. immoral. he wants to taint your purity.” her grip tightens and you scream, reaching backwards to grab onto her hands.

“no, mama,” you’re sobbing now. “h-he isn’t like that-”

“how dare you disrespect the lord this way!” she shouts, “now pray.”

your lips tremble; you know you have crossed the line, that the belt is coming. so softly, almost under your breath, you begin.

“forgive me, father, for i have sinned.”

crack.

“i-if we confess our sins,” your voice shakes, tears dripping from your cheeks. “he is faithful, and j-just, and will forgive us our sins, a-and-”

crack.

your eyes fall closed. “and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

days turn into weeks that turn into months, and all your time spent with joshua quickly blurs together. your mother’s threats haven’t stopped you from seeing him; they simply taught you to lie. sneaking out to see him at night gives you a rush you've never experienced before, and you're addicted. thoughts of him undeniably dominate your mind throughout the day, though you hate to admit it. surely it's sinful to think of him as much as you do, the way that you do.

but how can you not when he squeezes into the diner booth beside you at 1am, an arm slung around your shoulders and a hand resting on your thigh? in the afternoon when he meets you in the empty church, legs straddling his waist as he kisses you breathless between the pews? the thought of him is simply maddening, and despite your brain telling you no, you want him. constantly.

with summer over, neji had to go back to living with her mother a few states over. not that it matters much - you’re always calling to update her on joshua anyway (as well as to conjure up new, creative ways of sneaking out of the house). “you do realize you’re basically living that avril lavigne song, right? like, ‘he was a punk, she did ballet’ or whatever,” she points out one night.

“okay, but... i don’t do ballet.”

“oh please, you know what i mean.” her eye roll is almost palpable, even from miles away. you smile to yourself regardless, absently fiddling with the new necklace around your neck. it was a gift from joshua - a delicate gold chain with a small J in the center. “do you think your mom suspects anything still?”

you hum for a moment before responding, “no, i don’t think so. i told her i started seeing this new boy at church. adam.”

neji laughs loudly over the line. “wow, she must be happy about that one.”

“oh, she’s overjoyed. trust me.”

later that night, you pass your mother on the stairs going up to bed. she lulls, peering at the new choker around your neck. “what does the J stand for, sweetie?”

you smile.

“jesus.”

“so,” joshua picks up your hand, threading his fingers through yours. “are you saving yourself for marriage and all that bullshit?”

no matter how well you’ve come to know joshua over the past few months, his bluntness is a trait that is continually difficult for you to summit. you’re laying in the backseat of his car with your head in his lap, innocent eyes twinkling up at him in the peachy glow of the sunset. you can’t help thinking he’s absolutely divine with what looks like a wispy orange halo around his head.

“you mean... sex?” your cheeks immediately flush against your will. it’s alright, though, joshua has become familiar with this phenomenon. and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t go out of his way to make you flustered at times...

the fingers on his tattooed hand play with the hair around your face, occasionally brushing over your cheekbones and lips. “i mean whatever you want it to mean.”

you hesitate, unsure if you should confide this information in joshua. does he genuinely care to know, or is he just asking for... unholy reasons?

clearing your throat, you decide you may as well be transparent with him. “when i was eleven, my mother made me vow that i would abstain. but, to be honest, i didn’t even know what that meant. i hadn’t even gotten my period yet, let alone thought of boys... sinfully.” his full attention is on you, lapping up every single word with dark, unreadable eyes. you blush and turn your head away, only for him to cup your cheek and bring your gaze back to him.

your heart just about stops dead in your ribcage when he opens his mouth to speak, his voice unusually low. “and what, exactly, are you abstaining from?”

“i don’t even know,” you whisper. if he wasn’t enticing before, he’s certainly beginning to crawl right underneath your skin now. “i don’t know what’s allowed, and what’s not.”

“it’s your body, angel. you get to decide what’s allowed,” he bites down on his lip. “and what’s not.”

his thumb pauses over your mouth and you kiss it without thinking, wrapping your plump lips around it.

“do you want to have sex with me, joshua?”

you thought the question was innocent enough, but joshua visibly stiffens at your behavior; maybe he hadn’t anticipated his little angel to be capable of misbehaving like this.

he says your name as a warning. "this isn't about me."

you feel yourself frown; so he doesn't want sex? confusion overwhelms you and suddenly you feel silly, eyes welling in embarrassment as you sit up. “i-i’m sorry, that was too forward and clearly you don’t want me like that.”

now it’s his turn to frown, eyebrows drawing together as he grabs your wrist and gingerly pulls you to sit on his lap. “no, baby, it’s not that. i just- fuck. i don’t know how to say this.” you wince a little at his language, though you keep your head bowed in shame.

with two fingers he lifts your chin, his intense stare meeting your own. “i don’t care that we believe in drastically different things. i will respect any and every promise you’ve made to yourself. yourself - not your mother, or some religious construct you’ve been manipulated into thinking is right.”

all you can do is blink, and it feels like an eternity passes before you can gather your thoughts. “joshua,” you start, and you instantly hate how frightened you sound. “please. tell me what’s right.”

“this is the problem,” his voice raises ever so slightly in volume, exasperated. although when a tear escapes your eyelids he’s quick to wipe it away, calming himself down. “you’ve only ever had people telling you what’s right and wrong. you need to think for yourself, angel. really, what do you think is right?”

“i-i think,” you pause to readjust, settling a knee on either side of his lap. at this rate you might pass out from how fast your mind is spinning. “if something feels good... it must be right.” you swear there’s the tiniest of glints in his eyes, appearing for a mere second before it’s gone.

“do you know what good feels like, angel?” you suck in a breath, placing your shaking hands on his shoulders for some semblance of stability. his fingers brush some of your hair off your collarbone, revealing your neck to him.

it’s as if you’ve suddenly left your own body when you reach for his hands, bringing them to rest on your exposed thighs. a silent dare screaming touch me; for the first time, joshua is the one with a blush on his cheeks.

“i want you to show me.”

all the air disappears from your lungs when he kisses you, the action jarring and unlike any kiss you’ve shared before. his hands tightly grab the backs of your thighs, jerking you forward so your crotch grinds down directly onto his. an unfamiliar, white-hot fire explodes inside you at the contact, its flames impatiently lapping at your insides.

whining, you pull back for air and he wastes no time in attaching his mouth to your throat. “josh,” you grip his hair, pulling a groan from his chest. when he finally looks up at you his eyes are as good as black.

“none of those church boys get to touch you like this, do they?” he murmurs breathlessly, lifting you at the waist with ease before laying you flat on your back, splayed out against his black leather seats. “is this all for me?” he hikes your dress up around your hips.

“yes,” you whimper, lost in the way he can handle you so delicately and dominantly at the same time.

his tattooed arm snakes underneath you, bringing your chest flush to his as he kisses you messily again. “i need to hear you say it, angel. tell me you want it,” he rasps, ducking down to kiss the necklace resting at the base of your throat. “tell me you’re mine, and i’m yours.”

never in a million years would you have expected to be here - warm and needy beneath a satanist, complete with an upside-down cross tattooed on his chest. all the times you imagined this scenario in your head, you expected to feel shy and embarrassed in front of joshua’s hungry eyes. yet, strangely enough, you feel... invigorated. empowered. free.

“i am yours,” you look joshua dead in the eyes, leading his hand to the waistband of your panties, “and you are mine.”

forgive me, father, for i am sinning.

[halothenthehorns]

TLTNL- THE LION AND THE SERPENT

Lily wished she had a whistle herself to get the boys attention sometimes, but finally she'd wrangled them all around one table which did nothing to cease their desire to talk about that room.

She even engaged in a few of their more reasonable questions, like speculation of what would happen if more than one person asked for different things of the room for something at the same time. Harry and his friends were all asking for a similar request, but would the room have two doors appear, combine the two requests as it did for the trio, or remain empty until one more solid thing was asked of. While no one had an actual answer for any of this, it was still fun to speculate. When the meal was over Lily happily nursed baby Harry and laid him down for a proper nap, and when she finally settled down to continue it took the boys a moment to realize she was reading without their even paying attention. It took James pleading with her to start over so they could all hear.

Harry felt as though he were carrying some kind of talisman inside his chest over the following two weeks.

"A worthy secret then," Sirius grinned for his old memories of feeling the same.

A secret that kept him smiling through Umbridge's useless lessons as he easily met her bulging eyes.

"A miracle I'm not sure I could share," Remus crinkled his nose.

The DA's magical ability only grew from their first meeting, Harry often reflecting on their progress while pretending to read the assigned text for his Defence class.

Lily was watching Harry preen with more pride than she'd yet seen, and it was for others accomplishments. She'd loved her son the moment he was born, and seeing him glow with pride at seeing others accomplishments after just a little bit of help from himself truly made her realize he may have found his own calling in this field.

  It became nearly impossible for their group to have a fixed schedule what with accompanying three separate Quidditch team practices and the paralleling weather, but this Harry supposed as a good thing. If anyone was watching them, it would be impossible to pin down a non existent schedule for their meetings.

"Indeed, unpredictability is always better," Sirius agreed enthusiastically.

Hermione even came up with a better method of communicating when these would occur by handing out fake Galleons at the end of their third meeting, causing Ron some excitement at first.

"Did he think she'd come into inheritance and was being generous, donating to a worthy cause?" James chuckled.

Lily shushed him and kept going curiously how a coin helped with this.

Hermione explained to the whole group about the numbers around the edge, normally just a serial number, but she'd designed them to all be exactly the same. When Harry changed his numbers, that would be the corresponding date of the next meeting, and the Protean charm she'd placed on them would make all of them change with his.

Lily finished with utter exasperation at herself for still being so impressed with Hermione. Doing a sixth year potion in her second year had been impressive enough, now Hermione was showing how advanced she was in Charms as well, was there any subject, anything she couldn't do without putting her mind to it?

The Marauders were just as impressed. They'd never thought they'd find anything more impressive than fifth years being able to pull off becoming animagus', but it was clear enough to them Hermione would have already been able to do this as well if she'd set her mind to it, and that meant far more to them than any grade she'd ever get.

Hermione was met with stunned silence from the DA, Terry Boot from Ravenclaw demanding how she could perform a Protean Charm, that was NEWT level magic, how come she wasn't in his house.

"We've all been wondering that since her first year," Remus rolled his eye.

"I suppose she asked the hat for Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw and got Gryffindor anyways?" Harry recalled a previous conversation about how the Marauders guessed people got put into houses.

"That would be our guess," Sirius agreed. "As far as I can tell, even after everything we've seen of her, she still seems to value intelligence over, well everything."

Harry said back in defense of his friend, "After the rules she's broken? The laws? I know Hermione puts much more value into our friendship than her grades ever could."

"That's not just a Gryffindor trait though, Ravenclaw's have strong bonds of friendship as well," Remus shrugged. "It's what the hat perceives as the way you'd learn best, and being brave enough to put up your opinion put her in with her lot."

James and Sirius exchanged an amused look but stopped arguing the point. Lily had kept her mouth shut because she'd never liked the idea of sorting at all. One particular Gryffindor coming to mind who most anyone would have called a Slytherin if they knew what he'd done, Lockhart was a blithering idiot, Zacharias Smith had already proven to be an arrogant little thing from the humble house, and her favorite teacher in school had been all the qualities Slytherin house prided itself on without turning into a Death Eater. She would never think of anyone as something just because of what house they were in.

Hermione agreed the Sorting Hat had seriously considered putting her into Ravenclaw,

"Why would she call me the Sorting Hat?" Sirius asked while ducking on instinct, though Remus only rolled his eyes that time.

but obviously she'd been put in Gryffindor instead. Then she kept focus, asking if everyone agreed on using the coins. There was no argument, and as they each took one and Harry examined his own, he told Hermione these reminded him of the Death Eater's marks, how Voldemort touched one and they all reacted.

"Maybe the Order should invest in something like this," James said as he thought it through. "These really can come in handy, so long as you don't lose them."

"Or accidentally sell them," Sirius chuckled.

"How do you know about meetings now?" Harry asked.

"Fawkes appears to us when we're alone with a note," Remus grinned. "How he always knows when to appear away from everyone I've only been able to guess at."

Hermione agreed she'd gotten the idea from that, but she'd seen this better than branding members.

"So much more deniability if you get caught with it," Lily said grimly.

Harry agreed he liked this better, only danger in these was a chance of spending them.

Ron said sullenly he wasn't worried about that, he didn't have another one to mix it up with.

They all winced hard for that line, wishing there was something they could say, knowing there wasn't.

DA meetings were put on hold two weeks before the first match as Angelina was demanding nightly practices. Tension between Gryffindor and Slytherin was always high, but was now turning into daily scuffles as well between the two houses. The teachers were trying to show they weren't taking sides, but Harry realized how much McGonagall cared about this game when she abstained from giving them homework in the week leading up to the match.

Sirius and James whooped with laughter at Harry's face as he got to partake in their old head of house's favor for her Quidditch team. Both of them were giddy with such excitement for finally getting another game they'd yet to complain about the fact they hadn't gotten this chapter.

When this announcement was met with stunned faces in class, she turned grim eyes to Harry and Ron and told them to use this extra time to train hard, she'd grown too accustomed to seeing the Cup in her office.

The other three joined in the laughter as well, all imagining how many times McGonagall had looked to that Cup and smirked.

Snape was no less obviously partisan;

"But that part's not unusual," James grumbled less harsh than normal because he was still grinning for his own head of house.

he had booked the Quidditch pitch for Slytherin practice so often that the Gryffindor's had difficulty getting on it to play.

"Wait, I thought you said the staff couldn't book the pitch for the team!" Harry yelped furiously.

"I, thought they couldn't," James's euphoria was instantly wiped clean in frustration. "At least, they used to not be able to, I can't imagine why Madam Hooch is letting him."

"I wouldn't even be that surprised if he was doing it around her noticing," Sirius grumbled in disgust.

He was also the worst in pretending no such fights ever took place, such as when Alicia Spinnet got put in the hospital wing because her hair was growing so thick and fast it was obscuring her eyes and mouth. Snape refused to punish the Slytherin who'd done it, despite the fourteen witnesses saying Bletchley had. He instead insisted the girl must have put a hair-thickening charm on herself and messed up.

Harry scowled in agitation that McGonagall hadn't been able to do anything either because the complaint had been set to Snape, though he didn't know why Alicia had done such a thing.

Lily saw red for a moment, hating this vile creature who continued to act like the very thing he'd hated as a child.

Harry still felt optimistic about their chances, as he'd never lost to Malfoy. Ron still wasn't up to Wood's old standards, but he performed very well when not under pressure. The problem turning out to be when he blundered once, he was far more likely to continue doing so.

"That is a really, really bad start," James muttered, bouncing in place as he tried to work on some advice in his head he'd offer Ron for that.

When he was on point though, Ron had shown off some spectacular saves, such as one memorable practice where he'd swung free from his broom and kicked the Quaffle so far away it went into the other team's hoop instead.

"Wow, sounds like Ron pulled off a Starfish and Stick," Sirius grinned for the talent.

The whole team had praised this, comparing it to the Irish International Keeper who'd performed this move. Fred and George had been so proud, they'd even seriously considered admitting Ron was related to them,

"I would never deny my relation to the Weasley's, it's one I'm actually proud of," Sirius grinned.

something they assured him they had been trying to deny for four years.

Lily tisked while the boys chuckled at the jab.

The closer the game approached though, the worse Ron continued to get. As Harry had been on the team for years now, he was well used to the buildup and resulting snide comments in the corridors, such as Pansy's whispered threat that Warrington was promising to knock Potter clear from his broom. Harry responded by laughing that Warrington's aim was so bad, he'd be more worried for the person next to him.

Harry grinned as it caused those around him to laugh as well, nothing pleased him more than watching them laugh, at least when he was in on the joke.

Ron however had yet to respond in kind, instead turning green at every insult, or else shaking so bad he'd likely drop whatever he was holding.

"And here I thought Ron always wanted attention," Remus sighed.

"Clearly not this kind," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Well then this is a good lesson for him to learn, you don't just get one kind of attention," James said a little sourly.

The morning of the match dawned bright and cold.

James and Sirius groaned in unison they'd missed out on a Quidditch chapter, but both kept their mouths silent from complaint, for now.

Harry awoke to find Ron in bed, knees pressed to his chest, his eyes gazing at nothing. Harry insisted he'd loosen up as soon as he ate some breakfast.

"Food does seem to make him feel better usually," Remus agreed.

The Great Hall seemed noisier than usual with so many talking excitedly about one thing. As they passed the Slytherin table, they all jeered as usual, but many of them waved at Ron while pointing at tiny little silver crown badges they were wearing and then laughing.

"More scare tactics," James scoffed.

Harry could tell there was something written on the badges, but was walking too fast to get Ron away from them to read what.

"Maybe Umbridge approved some new club," Lily said without much care, though she'd already rather hear about that than spend another chapter on a game where her son was likely to be injured, so she supposed she should enjoy the boredom while it lasted.

They received a much more welcoming arrival by fellow Gryffindor's, but if possible Ron found the cheer more depressing as he sank into his seat as if it were his last meal.

"And all he's going to get is cereal, what a disappointment," Sirius chuckled.

Whispering hoarsely to Harry he'd been mental to think he could do this.

"He's being too hard on himself, the first game is always the hardest," James said with honest sympathy this time.

Harry said he'd be great, it was normal to be nervous, and reminded him of his brilliant save even Fred and George had admired.

"The highest praise that can be offered," Sirius grinned.

Ron turned miserable eyes on his best mate as he admitted that had been an accident, he'd almost fallen off and hadn't even realized the Quaffle had been coming towards him.

Remus couldn't help snorting in surprise even while the other three boys huffed in disappointment, James and Sirius at least thinking they never would have admitted that and instead Ron should have learned how he'd done that and practiced more.

Harry had to scramble a moment to recover from shock before saying a few more accidents like that and the game was made.

Remus and Lily started giggling this time while the old players chose to ignore them.

Ginny and Hermione arrived as Harry finished his own bowl of cereal, Ron watching the dregs as if seriously considering drowning himself in them.

"I've never considered drowning myself in milk," Sirius said with his head cocked to the side, this time ignoring altogether as Remus smacked him upside the head as he continued, "but that one's original at least."

They asked how he was doing, and when he didn't answer, Harry assured he was just nervous. Hermione said that was normal, she was always anxious before exams.

"Because bringing up homework right now is really the way to make him feel better," James scoffed.

They were called from behind, and turned to see Luna smiling at them with a peculiar item on her head, a life size lion's head hat.

Lily paused for a moment to take that one in while Sirius immediately clapped his hand to his forehead and cried, "how could I never have thought of that?!"

"Because you were on the team with me," James was grinning even as he rolled his eyes at Sirius, "why would you ever think to make something like that?"

"Because it's brilliant!" Sirius' grin kept stretching wider by the second the more he thought about this, before swatting Remus on the arm and demanding, "Moony, why didn't you ever think of this?!"

"I apologize," Remus said, and Harry couldn't tell how much sarcasm was in that.

She gestured to the hat as if they'd missed it while informing them she was supporting Gryffindor for this match.

"You think she has one for Ravenclaw?" James chuckled.

"I think Harry would have noticed before now if he'd ever played against Ravenclaw and a student was wearing an eagle on their head," Lily smiled.

She'd even magicked it to roar like a lion, demonstrating as much when she tapped her wand against it and the whole hall jumped from the noise.*

Sirius gave an exaggerated yawn at the idea as he watched Lily's cat lick itself, he'd never been afraid of a cat in his life. The lion head had been a cool idea to support his team, but the sound effect would have just made him laugh.

Luna asked if they liked it.

"Yes," Remus agreed at once. "I'm curious what she made it out of."

"I'm sorry I didn't ask," Harry said honestly.

Then continued on saying she'd wanted to recreate a serpent tail being eaten to represent Slytherin, but she hadn't the time.

"Now there's an excellent use of crafts!" James beamed, "I think I finally see why some kids wanted an art class."

"Well when Harry beats Slytherin and they have a slight chance at a rematch, Luna can put it on in the meantime," Sirius chuckled, both boys missing the pained look Harry got for imagining himself in the next game...

Then she gave Ron a good luck wave as she walked off.

The three Chasers came over to collect the boys, but Harry assured they'd be down soon, he still wanted Ron to have some breakfast.

"Remember your first match and how you were too nervous to eat," Lily reminded him, "I don't think it's going to work dear."

"Well we finally found the way to make Ron not want food," Remus muttered to Sirius.

After ten more minutes though, it was clear Ron wasn't having it, so Harry moved to get him out of the Great Hall. Hermione gave him a hurried whisper before he left not to let Ron see those Slytherin badges.

"Why?" All five muttered to themselves, trying to figure out what that had to do with anything.

Then she wished both boys good luck, before standing on tiptoe and giving Ron a kiss on the cheek. Ron now looked more bewildered than ever as he touched the place as they left the Great Hall.

"Oh, so she didn't kiss you on the cheek as well?" Sirius switched to snickering about this now.

"Here's hoping that puts Ron in a better mood," Remus said cheerfully.

"Or it might just distract him," James scolded much to his friends amusement, now remembering how he'd reacted when Lily kissed him before his last game.

He was now so distracted Harry had the chance to read a badge as he passed the table even while getting Ron outside quickly as possible, and saw the tiny words Weasley is our King.

"I'm confused," Sirius said slowly, knowing he was supposed to be angry but not sure at what yet.

Lily however kept reading while beaming, and it took the boys a minute to guess what she thought those were. Lily was probably hoping some of the Slytherin's were finally starting to show some equal support for both houses, and none of them were going to be the one to burst her bubble, though they were all thinking if it was anything like that Hermione wouldn't have told Harry not to let Ron see them. Lily was probably just discounting what Hermione thought they were though like she was to them.

Harry at once knew they weren't anything good as he led Ron outside. The frost covered grass crunched under their feet, the weak sun above making all visible without being cumbersome, and there was no wind.

"Sounds like perfect conditions," James said wistfully, he really was looking forward to a game soon that he could play in again.

Even when Harry pointed all these things out, Ron still seemed more distracted than anything, and this kept up even as they went into the locker rooms to change and Ron tried to put his uniform on backwards for several minutes before Alicia took pity on him.

"I don't see why they couldn't have been left like that," Remus couldn't help but poke fun just as he always did to his friends when they needed it whether Ron was here or not.

The crowd outside was already thundering into the stadiums as Angelina began telling them she'd only just gotten the final line-up for the Slytherin team.

"Typical of any team to hand that over last minute," James rolled his eyes.

Last year's Beaters had graduated, but the two new guys didn't look much different than the old gorillas, named Crabbe and Goyle.

"Wow, wondering if Malfoy got them the latest Nimbus models again to let his friends on the team," Sirius scoffed.

Harry said he knew them well enough, and they were of the same mold as the old dunces.

Angelina nodded, and then called them all to line up to head outside, wishing them all one last good luck.

"It sounds like they're going to need it," Remus couldn't help mutter.

A roar of noise greeted them from the cheering and booing of both sides, also what sounded oddly like singing.

James was starting to get a nervous feeling about that song the more it was mentioned, if it had anything to do with the Slytherin's he just couldn't hold out hope it would be a good thing.

The Slytherin's were lined up and waiting, Malfoy at once catching sight of Ron and tapping his badge while smirking.

Lily sighed deeply, any hope for her idea gone already if Malfoy was wearing one. Now she read on grimly, somehow looking forward to getting through this less every line.

Hooch instructed both captains to shake hands, and if Montague's tense frame was any indication, he was trying to crush Angelina's fingers, who never winced.

"Tough girl, it's not hard to see why Fred likes her," Sirius grinned. "Hey Harry, did her and Fred keep together after the Yule Ball?"

"I never asked them," Harry shrugged, "but I had seen George hanging around with Lee once or twice without Fred around, so maybe."

The fourteen players mounted their brooms, and the game began. Harry and Malfoy at once streaking to opposite ends of the field to find the lone gold snitch.

"Is he not going to try following you around with lame insults anymore?" James chuckled.

Commentation at once began with Johnson with the Quaffle,

"Honestly Lily, how can you read that sounding so bored," Sirius groaned as she read out for the commentator as if reading the morning paper.

Lily simply shrugged, but Remus suddenly wished Sirius hadn't said anything, as Lily continued if possible in an even more flat voice, much to both his friends annoyance.

he'd been saying for years how good she was and she should go out with him-

"Maybe I was wrong about Angelina and Fred though," Harry said good naturedly.

"Or the friends messing with one of the twins," Sirius brushed off, still glaring at Lily more every second as she tried to make her voice as monotone as possible.

but McGonagall finally cut in on Jordan and told him to focus. Lee agreed at once and went back to more details on the game, the Quaffle passing between Montague, then hit with a Bludger by a Weasley twin, then to Katie, Alicia and she was off for the Slytherin post-

"Alright, that's it," James made a lunge for the book, which Lily neatly dodged and kept the book close to her chest, now full blown grinning at her husband.

"What, I'm not allowed to have a bit of fun?"

"This is the opposite of fun woman!" Sirius groaned. "I've never heard someone be so dull about a sport in my life."

Lily's giggling increased while James kept muttering at her side and eyeing the book with longing, he'd clearly  been out of practice to long, but when she kept going it was clearly getting harder by the moment to hold a blank face as her own amusement kept rising.

Harry was listening intently to Lee's commentary as he continued his own search, only hearing about Alicia avoiding a Bludger and Warrington, but pausing in confusion when he heard singing.

While Harry had been enjoying the show, both his mum messing with the two and his old Quidditch memories, he could already feel a stirring of unease for whatever was fixing to come. Lily clearly felt it as well as she couldn't quite keep up a bored tone anymore, wondering at who could be singing during the game.

Lee paused so that the lyrics could ring out, insert Slytherin version of Weasley is our King.

Lily had blanched in shock upon the first line, but she'd managed to stutter the whole thing out in the thick, heavy silence before coming to a screeching halt when she'd finally run out of insults.

"I-that is the lowest-" Remus looked too disgusted for words at what they were doing to Ron.

"Wow, I have seen a lot of backhanded things to mess with a player, but never a song dedicated to them," James's face was scrunched up with derision even as a very tiny part of him vaguely admired the dedication that went into something so elaborate.

"Really makes you wonder what Malfoy does with the rest of his free time, sings ballads to Hermione's parents, or poems to Harry's fame." Sirius snapped, his face twisted with dislike as he knew he'd have cursed Malfoy out of the air if he'd been there.

There was no longer any fun in Lily continuing with much less enthusiasm than anyone else, they all would have felt the same forcing themselves to read this bit no matter their love of the sport.

The moment Lee had realized what was being sung he'd tried to launch back into even louder and more detailed comments, but Alicia had passed to Angelina, who'd missed, making the ball Slytherin's as the song erupted again louder than ever.

James was practically vibrating in place, wanting to snap on a burst of speed and deck Malfoy where he flew, wanting to say something that would make Ron put that stupid song out of his head, but both were lost to him.

Warrington was heading back up the pitch with the Quaffle, finally putting a test to the new Keeper blood Ron Weasley, brother to Beaters Fred and George.

"The twins friend is doing a terrible job of helping them deny relation," Remus randomly muttered as anything else to think about, fighting back the impulse to press his hands to his ears in worry for this to come.

Even as Lee cheered on Ron, his wild dive saved nothing, it was ten zero to Slytherin.

All five of them cursed in sync for this misfortune, Lily denying doing any such thing by reading on loudly so as not to let the boys miserate for too long.

The singing burst through even louder, more people seeming to join in with every rendition.

"That can not be allowed!" Harry finally burst with frustration. "Can you put a whole house in detention! McGonagall, or someone shouldn't be letting them say that about him!"

The others remained completely silent with frustration, no one wanted to be the one to tell Harry what he already knew, there was nothing that could be done, it would be impossible to halt the whole game and kick those singing out of the stands.

Gryffindor continued the game with the ball in hand, as Harry continued more desperately now for the search of the Snitch, the chorus still thundering through the stadium.

Lily was forcing herself to keep reading this in a flat rage now, what she wouldn't give to put silencing charms on the lot of them for ever turning someone's life into such a cruel joke of a song.

The pattern continued as the ball continued passing hands, even out of the immediate action the song still being belted in the background.

Remus was twitching with unease in the tense room, wishing he could go back to laughing along with his friends about something as fun as a Quidditch game, why couldn't they ever go one of these without something terrible happening every time.

Harry refused to watch the actual action as he passed by the Slytherin Keeper, who was singing along with the lyrics.

"I'm going to imagine for a moment they skipped on some practices to all memorize this rubbish," James hissed under his breath.

Soon enough though, Ron was once again at bat, and the groan from his side of the crowd below was all Harry needed as answer. Still, twenty-nil was nothing, a few goals and they'd be back on even.

Sirius gave Harry an absent pat on the shoulder, absolutely agreeing with him this could all turn around any moment. The score wouldn't even feel as bad as it did if that wretched song would quit being passed around, but though Lily looked like she was considering skipping any more lines of it, that wasn't making it vanish.

After two more goals got through though, Harry really felt the beginnings of panic. He needed to finish the game quickly, and then no one would remember the rest of this mess. Angelina gave the Gryffindor's below something to cheer on soon, making the score forty-ten to Slytherin. Harry was ducking a Bludger sent his way

"Hooch didn't call that?" James snapped. "Could have used that penalty, Harry wasn't showing any signs of having seen the Snitch!"

"That's such an arguable call hardly anyone goes for it," Remus disagreed, James opening his mouth to argue the point but Lily ignored them both.

and keeping an eye on Malfoy as the game continued around them with those lines still being shouted.

Finally Harry saw the Snitch at the bottom of the Slytherin's goal posts, he dived, and in seconds Malfoy was on his tail, the two neck in neck,

Had Lily's joke at the start of this game not been interrupted she still wouldn't have had it in her to mime carelessness now, even with that horrid song echoing in the back of her mind she was edging in her seat with excitement.

It was over in one breathless swipe, Harry's fingers encasing the struggling, minute ball as Malfoy's fingers scrabbled at the back of his hand, and Harry stopped short to wave to the roaring approval of the Gryffindor crowd.

"YES!"

The echoing cheer of excitement could have woken neighbors. This was exactly what they needed to shove in those stupid Slytherin faces just how useless they were, how some hateful song wouldn't be enough to stop such a magnificent team!

Harry glowed for a moment in their praise, but the smile never quite reached his eyes as he watched them bounce with excitement for him. He wasn't sure he wanted to understand this feeling of dread, of something heavy just waiting to pounce on him for this win. Was it to do with Ron? Surely no one was really going to hold that against him, it was his first game after all...

WHAM.

Harry felt a Bludger punch the small of his back, flinging him off his broom.

Lily jerked in surprise as she read that, whatever victory she'd been holding before in that small moment blown away as effectively as a cannonball. The game was over, and Lily was hoping Ron got his revenge by clocking whichever Beater that was for pulling that stunt.

Harry was still only five feet off the ground, so the tumble forward merely winded him. Hooch at once flew up to begin shouting at the Slytherin Beater while Angelina landed near him, asking if he was alright.

Harry said of course he was while getting to his feet.**

"Oh yes, just a solid metal ball slamming into your spine, walk it off," Lily grumbled under her breath as she eyed her child, then turned sharp eyes on her husband who looked no more pleased but certainly not worried about injury.

Angelina explained it was Crabbe who'd done it. Then she began cheering they'd won!

A derisive snort from behind showed that Malfoy had not landed far away, now furiously telling Harry it was a miracle he'd saved Weasley's neck, but of course he'd be rubbish, he was born in a bin, then asked Harry if he liked the lyrics, he'd done them himself.

"He's wasting his talents as a slimeball," Sirius snarled, "he needs to pass on already and become a poltergeist."

"So long as he doesn't haunt Hogwarts," James agreed.

Harry refused to answer, turning away as the rest of the team landed around him except Ron, who landed over by his goals and was walking towards the changing room alone.

"I hope you go after him Harry," Lily couldn't help but urge, "you're only giving Malfoy what he wants by hanging back and listening to him."

Harry didn't answer, his face growing tighter by the minute as that feeling of anger continued to pound through him.

Malfoy kept going, pretending he had an audience as he explained he'd wanted to add some more in about being fat and ugly, for the Weasley's mother of course,

Harry's eyes flashed, he tensed and would have shot a curse at nothing if Sirius hadn't laid a restraining hand on his shoulder and whispered a calm reminder there was nothing for it now. It didn't make anyone feel any better, even though some of them held a dislike for Molly now they could never condone saying such a thing about her.

as well as loser for his father.

Lily was trying to read this quickly, so as to get the feel of sandpaper off her tongue from pure frustration. It never angered her any less when Malfoy continued using the same insults.

Fred and George tensed as they watched Malfoy with disgust, but even as Malfoy began backing away he was still talking about why this wouldn't bother Potter of course, the stank of the blood-traitors house must be similar to the Muggles who'd dragged him up.

No one ever appreciated any reminder of the Dursley's, but putting them in any kind of comparison which was the safe house of the Burrow like that truly was the most insulting thing they'd yet heard.

Harry grabbed hold of George to stop him doing anything, while the three Chasers were doing the same to Fred.

"I don't know why they're bothering," Sirius articulated through gritted teeth, "Malfoy's gone past where a detention would be worth it."

Malfoy clearly didn't care as he kept going, saying Potter must remember the stench from his own mother's house, she'd been even worse off being a-

James moved so fast Lily didn't realize the book had been wrenched away until she was staring at her empty hands, a slight burn in her palms from how tight she'd been holding the cover the only imprint of it. Maybe he'd just been going easy on her before then.

 She turned to snap at him, but he was too busy jabbing his wand at the offending page. "James!" She protested, trying to push her hand in the way to stop him before he did permanent damage.

"I am sick of that little scumbag insulting everyone, especially you," he said in a scary calm voice.

"Well doing whatever you're trying to do to that won't fix anything," she snapped as she pulled it back to her.

He gave in with a hateful scowl still in place, and Lily turned back to see the spell he'd managed to put in place, where Malfoy's name had been replaced with, well a colorful swear word Lily wasn't going to be saying. She fixed it and then kept going while James grumbled that hadn't been nearly enough payback.

Harry had no memory of releasing George, the two running side by side on their path to Malfoy, nor the shouts from his fellow teammates telling them to stop. All he knew was the fist drawn back, punching at Malfoy as hard as he could.

Lily stopped for a moment to look at her son, nibbling softly on her lip, but not a word could she find to speak against this. She couldn't claim to be much better if someone had been speaking of her mother.

The two only stopped when they fall off after the shout of the Impedimenta curse.

"I don't see why that was a reason to stop," Remus said quietly, "now's the time to go for the wand when the Muggle way stops working."

Sirius nodded in absolute agreement, his hand had long since been on his wand, just aching for something to curse.

Madam Hooch was in a towering temper above them, her wand out meaning she'd performed the jinx. Malfoy was still curled up in the grass, whimpering and nose bleeding.

"Clearly you didn't bash it into his skull, so I don't know what he's crying about," James snarled.

Hooch demanded the two go to McGonagall's office at once. They stormed off, Fred still being pinned beneath the Chasers and immune to anything else around them. It was only when they got to the office door did Harry start to feel something, and he glanced at his hand in surprise to see the one he'd been punching Malfoy with had still been holding the Snitch.

James struggled for a moment, but the compulsion to share his life with his son won out after his anger as he burst into speech, "I convinced our Seeker, Shilling, to keep the Snitch after every match and she passed it along to me. One of my favorite past times when I was bored was to pull it out and keep my reflexes up. Even I never thought of that though!"

"One of your very many annoying habits," Lily sniffed, her old angry bleeding tone giving James even more flashbacks. "You looked like such a show off."

"I was showing off," James agreed without remorse.

Harry couldn't marshal up much of a smile for the two, there was something about this day that promised to get even worse for him, and he had a feeling it wasn't about detention. There was also something else, a smaller memory that didn't align with this day, but promised he somehow had a first hand account of knowing those things his parents had just said, but that was ridiculous of course, how could he have known that?

They only stood there for a second when McGonagall came marching into view wearing a red and gold scarf, which she at once tore off as she pointed into the room looking livid.

"Damn, and I always loved it when she showed our house colors," Sirius winced.

"We're past flattery to make this better Padfoot," Remus rolled his eyes.

"Never stopped me from trying," Sirius shrugged.

She threw the scarf to the ground as she rounded the desk and on them.

"Now that was just uncalled for violence," James grumbled.

She demanded an explanation, and Harry quickly said they'd been provoked, which McGonagall did not find excusable as she pounded her fist on the desk, knocking over her tray of Ginger Newts.

"I think she needs to have one of her own biscuits and breathe for a moment," Lily said grimly, knowing Harry would get a chance to explain, but also knowing as well as anyone it wouldn't get him out of trouble no matter how much Malfoy had deserved it.

She snapped of course he had, he'd just lost, but nothing he could have said should have justified the two-

George cut in to say the insults, but McGonagall still said they should have gone to Hooch instead of displaying Muggle dueling.

"A very educational performance with splendid end results, really they should be getting thanks at least from Burbag," Sirius said flatly.

"There's that extra week we always got," Remus muttered.

Nothing further could be said before a hem, hem, entered the room.

"No!" Lily groaned as she gazed at that stupid little noise. "No, no, no-"

"Oh Lily, please tell me you're doing a terrible impression of a joke," James groaned into his fingers, he couldn't even look to her face for confirmation.

"What on earth is that roadkill doing there!" Sirius all but exploded. "She's nothing to do with any of this!"

Harry's horrible impression was growing more sickly by the moment. Somehow, this was all about to get terribly worse.

Harry and George turned in surprise to see Umbridge in the doorway wearing a green cloak, only further enhancing her resemblance to a toad as her pudgy eyes gleamed with a sickly ominous way Harry had come to associate with imminent misery.

"A face only my mother would love," Sirius groaned, digging his heels into his eyes so that he wouldn't have to keep watching Lily's face turn red from frustration of having to read about this woman in the same vicinity as her son again.

Umbridge offered McGonagall help in a poisonously sweet voice.

"You can help yourself off the astronomy tower," Remus snapped.

McGonagall actually grew more furious in the face of this, asking what help.

Umbridge insisted she'd thought McGonagall would be grateful for a little extra authority.

"I'd be more grateful if you dove headfirst into the black lake, meet the local population," Sirius promised.

Harry would not have been surprised to see sparks fly from Professor McGonagall's nostrils.

"Ah the twisted irony, Umbridge is actually doing more good than harm arriving then, because now McGonagall might go slightly easier on you in front of her," Lily sighed.

McGonagall snapped she'd thought wrong, trying to turn back to the two boys and giving them a week of detentions, but Umbridge would not be so easily deterred as she again made the hem, hem noise.

McGonagall closed her eyes as if praying for patience before slowly looking back to Umbridge.

"Merlin himself couldn't have offered any support for this except some toad-be-gone," James snipped.

Umbridge insisted she thought they deserved more than a detention for this display.

Harry was starting to twitch uncontrollably in his seat with unease, fighting the urge to either bury himself under the couch from a reaction he could sense coming, or tear the cushions in half from his own mounting anger. It helped nothing his family might just join in with McGonagall breathing fire soon, they all knew what Umbridge meant about her 'detentions.'

McGonagall's eyes flashed with outrage as she snapped that as these two were in her house, it was only her decision that mattered.

Umbridge oh so politely corrected that her decision did matter more while reaching for something.

"No..." Remus trailed off, too appalled to manage anything else in fear of where this was headed.

She pulled out something Cornelius had sent her, before correcting herself the Minister of course,

Lily only absently noted the lack and then use of the title as Umbridge's own self-importance in thinking she could be so informal, she was far more keyed into the new level of horror of where this could be going.

and unfurled a paper declaring it as Educational Decree Number Twenty-five-

though McGonagall interrupted in exasperation not another one!

"My sentiments exactly," James snarled.

Umbridge looked to her in surprise, saying McGonagall had given her the inspiration for this one as she'd overstepped and had Dumbledore intervene about putting the Gryffindor team back in play. Umbridge couldn't have that.

"No good deed goes unpunished," Remus said faintly, his two friends going bone white as they suddenly feared why this was being brought up again. Surely, no it wasn't possible, Umbridge couldn't have found a way to force the team to disband again, could she?!

Umbridge had contacted the Minister after this of course, the High Inquisitor couldn't be superseded like that or she'd have no more power than a common teacher.

"You shouldn't have any more authority than a sack of dung!" Lily screeched. She didn't want to keep going, was almost tempted to hand the book back over to James just so she wouldn't have to be the one to find out what this monster was going to do to her son next.

Then she went back to reading the amendment, that the High Inquisitor would henceforth have supreme authority over all punishments in school.

Lily had found it hard to believe the audacity of those first few amendments, and they somehow got worse every single time. This woman was creating these as she went along, and no one was stopping her!

She folded it back and put it away, before turning to the two boys and decided a life long ban on Quidditch for these two seemed sufficient enough punishment.

Harry's mind went blank. He heard shouting, he saw something get tossed across the room, but it was impossible to understand details as he struggled to wrap his mind around what he'd just heard.

Lily watched as the book thunked onto the mantel above the fireplace without regret, her fingers still twitching to throw something much bigger. She wasn't even a fan of her son being on the team and that was too far! She only held herself back from saying this by watching her husband work himself into a rampage with the only background thought being she should find a way to record this moment, otherwise there would be no record of Umbridge left when James was threw with her.

"-youngest Seeker in a century, she can't do that to him!"

Then again, what did they need a record of her for except an example of a transfiguration spell gone terribly wrong.

Sirius was too busy running scenarios in his head about something far too violent to be put into words, he needed action to get this one out of his system. Remus couldn't get his mind to act much better, as affronted as his friends and more than willing to enact whatever revenge they came up with.

Lily watched the lot of them try to find some way to work off their temper without destroying the house in vain, she really couldn't see a way to call their attention back even if she'd wanted to. So it was to her surprise when James finally found something resembling his normal voice and forced himself not to shout at his wife, "Lily would you keep going please. I'd like to get to the end of this book and find out how she's leaving this school." Then he trailed off into more hateful mutters about how that wasn't going to happen fast enough, and he couldn't believe his son was missing this sport for a whole year until that walking wart left.

"If it isn't Remus tearing her head off to replace her than it's not going to be as satisfactory," Sirius said grimly.

Lily silently agreed as she summoned the book back and pressed on for more horror.

Harry went numb in shock as he gazed at Umbridge telling herself this was for the best, terrible tempers the both of them, and for good measure Fred Weasley should be taken off as well as surely he'd have joined in the malay if he hadn't been restrained. She also wanted their brooms in her office, to make sure her ban was being enforced.

"She's gone from crossing the line into a whole new abyss!" Sirius howled in frustration. "She's, that's not, there's no-"

"She can't do that," Lily said in opposition. Quietly, a dangerous predator about to strike. "That's his private property, it's not against school rules to have."

"Well don't tell her that, or she'll ban brooms from the school next," Remus threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.

Then she addressed McGonagall that she was not being unreasonable,

"You are something that I have only called one person, and you deserve the term far more than them," Remus growled.

she would allow the other members to continue playing, while McGonagall gazed at her as if carved from ice.

"I need McGonagall to understand that her life purpose now needs to be revenge for this," James pleaded with the universe. "Someone in that castle must understand this!"

"I'm worried there will be someone who does," Remus suddenly said with a touch of worry, looking to a still fuming Sirius. If he heard about Umbridge doing this, he may come up to the school and give her what he'd promised Harry Prongs and Padfoot would do in their own time.

With a look of satisfaction, Umbridge left the horrified room with silence in her wake.

Angelina was beside herself with anger when she heard there were no more Beaters or a Seeker on her team. Harry looked around the rest of the morose common room, it was as if they hadn't won at all.

"This woman is the physical embodiment of a mood killer," Lily groaned.

"I honestly believe she's a demon sent from hell at this point," Remus agreed.

Angelina was the only one with energy, shouting about the injustice of this. Fred didn't even deserve it, he hadn't done anything!

Fred snapped back in anger that was only because he was being held back from punching that scumbag to a pulp.

"Hey, the twins," Sirius suddenly snapped his fingers, giving Remus a pleased enough smirk. "Stop your worrying about me Moony, I can guarantee the twins won't be taking this one lying down."

Remus nodded grudgingly. It didn't make anyone's anger disappear by one level, but it did ease the misery of watching Harry's face as he relieved this moment.

Harry could only gaze out the dark window where snow was falling again. The Snitch had made its way back to the common room with him and was now flitting about chairs with Crookshanks chasing it.

James sighed as he imagined the old grin he could put on people's faces as he did this same thing nights in a row, of the party that should be going on, of simpler and fun times in his school, was it truly impossible for his son to enjoy that?

Angelina finally slumped off to bed, wishing this was all a bad dream and they hadn't even played yet.

"I don't ever want to relive this day, considering I'm struggling to come up with a worse outcome than this," Sirius huffed.

Remus gave a commiserating nod of agreement, Lily frowning pityingly at all of the boys in the room, but even she couldn't imagine how this could have gone a better way, the end results seemed inevitable by this point.

The common room slowly dispersed as well, only Harry and Hermione lingering because Ron had yet to make an appearance. When he finally did come edging in, he was covered in snow and just as pale as it.

Hermione quickly ushered him to the fireplace, asking where he'd been.

Ron just said on a walk, then told Harry he was going to resign first thing in the morning.

Lily truly pitied him, but couldn't help wondering if that wasn't for the best. Just because you were good at something didn't mean you could do it in front of a crowd, and that's clearly where Ron was sitting. She'd hate to see him ever feel so low again.

James absolutely disagreed, setting his shoulders and wishing he could drag Ron onto the pitch right now, already an idea forming in his head of how he'd help him to work through this. First he'd put one person in the stands until Ron could easily ignore that no matter what was said, and then keep adding people until Ron could block them all out. He didn't care how long it took, he'd find a way so that Ron would never let someone get the better of him like this. There was no such thing as quitting with dignity as far as he was concerned.

Harry snapped at him if he did that then there'd only be three players left. Ron looked at him in confusion,

"He hadn't heard of this!?" Remus said in surprise.

"I was wondering why he didn't question why the common room wasn't in party mode," Sirius grumbled, "clearly he hasn't heard much of anything."

before Hermione explained what had happened.

Ron looked even more anguished as he said this was all his fault.

"Oh it's nothing of the sort," Lily snapped, wondering if Hermione would whack Ron upside the head for his thinking something so stupid.

Harry said it was nothing of the sort, while Ron returned if he hadn't been so bad at Quidditch,

"Malfoy would have caused all this no matter how Ron played," Sirius snapped.

the two going back and forth like this until Harry burst loudest of all for Ron to stop blaming himself for everything.

Remus winced for Ron, sympathizing with him more than anyone else as he could really see why Ron did. People telling you you were something long enough tended to leave a mark.

Ron remained in a silent misery for a moment longer before saying this was the worst he'd ever felt in his life.

Remus had watched the exaggerations of his friends all his life long enough to know better than to pick on Ron for that statement. Though he was hard pressed to really not ask if this was worse than thinking his sister was dead.

Harry snapped he could join the club.

Hermione had gotten to her feet to stare at something out the window before telling them she'd found something to cheer them both up.

"Umbridge's tombstone," James snapped.

"His Firebolt back," Sirius sighed.

Harry asked what that could be skeptically, and Hermione said with a brilliant smile that Hagrid was back.

"He what?" Harry demanded, jumping to his feet in joy as Lily eagerly pressed the book into James' hands now so he could read more about that!

HPHPHPHPHP

The Lily reads a Quidditch game in a monotone voice idea was offered by, DjuulLOVEhp!

*Fun fact, most lion roars in movies are actually done by tigers. Ever heard a lion roar? You should, it sounds like their hacking up a hairball, not exactly intimidating to watch on a computer screen, more funny than anything, but I'm sure it's plenty scary in the wild. Now tigers, those guys will make you piss yourself through an enclosure.

** Reports say a Bludger weighs 149 pounds! I don't need to be a scientist to know that is more than enough to not only break a spine but go right through the human body if dropped on someone, let alone hit with force from a distance. In second year one of these was enough to break his elbow at a glancing blow! I'm not sure whether to call bull on inconsistency, or wonder if Harry died in this moment and the rest is all some twisted version of hell.

[love-takes-work]

Ace/Aro Amethyst headcanons

Some people headcanon Amethyst as asexual and/or aromantic. I think that's pretty cool.

Unfortunately, some people are really hostile to this idea. Sometimes in a way that's problematic.

No, I'm not going to tell you you have to headcanon Amethyst as asexual and aromantic or else you're an acephobe. That's silly. Here's the problem: I recently came across a post on Reddit where a member of the Steven Universe subreddit demanded to know where the "stupid" headcanon of ace Amethyst came from and opined that it's ridiculous because that orientation does not "fit her personality."

Think about that for a sec, y'all.

Sexualities don't have personalities. This is a problem.

If you follow some of the interviews Rebecca Sugar has done over the years, especially lately, she sometimes talks about her growth toward understanding herself as bisexual and why it took her so long to figure it out. It was partly because media representation of characters follows a certain system, and as a result she'd been led to believe bisexual people were aggressively sexual, greedy, unfaithful, and extremely desirous of attention.

"I didn't know you could be a SHY bisexual," she said, and you can hear the wonder in her voice at that idea.

So let's really consider that, please. Any orientation can have any type of personality. And if you pigeonhole someone into what their orientation is likely to be because of how you interpret their personality and what messages you've internalized about what traits go with the way they are, you are probably contributing to this damaging message.

Moving on: full disclosure. I'm an asexual Steven Universe fan. I'm also aromantic. And anybody who says asexual people wouldn't have a personality like Amethyst has probably never hung out in a room full of asexual people. (Uh, I have.) 

There are shy people in the groups. There are conservative people in the groups. There are easily offended and sensitive people in the groups. But you will also find bawdy asexual people cracking gross jokes, asexual people who nevertheless turn everything into a sex joke, asexual people who are sex positive and even occasionally promiscuous or interested in sex. (If you don't understand how that's not a contradiction, I'll just leave you on your own to read some asexual education, because I'm not actually trying to go there with this post.)

Personally, I was raised by a rather crass mom whose sense of humor led her to blurt "IS IT A PENIS? BWAHAHAHA!" at the start of every round of Pictionary. She taught her daughters sex education early because she wanted us to know the facts, and though she joked about sex a lot, she also made it very clear that she expected us to make sex a part of our lives when we were older, and didn’t want us to think it was shameful or should be hidden. She gave us access to birth control in our mid teens and made sure we had the resources to make good choices about sex. It wasn't embarrassing or weird in our house. And even though I turned out ace, my siblings are straight and married. I grew up making ridiculous sex jokes and not being at all shocked by sexual humor or sexual situations. It was all just a good time and an accepting atmosphere. It was also okay that I didn't desire it myself. It didn't mean I couldn't dish out the innuendo with the best of them.

And yet, sometimes when I've come out as ace to someone and then they notice I use swear words, or am not horrified into covering my face during the movie's kissing scene, or have done things they really don't expect asexual people to enjoy, I'm treated to this weird mixture of shock-and-mock:

"Whaaaaat? Aren't you too PURE to use language like that, young lady?" "Plug your virgin ears, girl, we're talking about ADULT THINGS." "Don't worry, I won't mention S-E-X. LOL triggered." "She wouldn't be interested. It's about relationships and she thinks that's ICKY." "GASP! You just used the F word! Wait isn't that ironic?"

No, having a vocabulary that includes vulgarities and being tolerant of other people's desires is not inconsistent with being asexual. Being asexual means I don't feel sexually attracted to other people. It says absolutely zero about my behavior, and nothing I do is "wrong" behavior for an asexual person, because I am doing it.

Back to Amethyst.

Asexuality is a dicey issue for discussing Gems because technically they're all asexual. They are not a sexually reproducing species, so there really shouldn't be any reason for them to desire each other sexually. But they do seem to want intimacy and closeness in some situations, and there's definitely romantic attraction between some of them. It's sometimes hard to tell whether "sex" would be a concept available to them (besides Gems who shapeshift to mimic how humans do it), because it is after all a family show and sometimes you have to wonder if the relative chastity of some of the romantic scenes is due to the intended audience.

Amethyst has been more than once described by Rebecca Sugar as Dionysian. She was set up as an opposite to Pearl's Apollonian nature. If you don't know, Apollo vs. Dionysus is a concept of Greek origin that's often used in literature to set characters at odds with each other. Apollo is everything Pearl is: rational, clean, proper, perfect. Dionysus instead embraces the mess, just like Amethyst: Dionysian characters are sloppy, unruly, chaotic, and (this is important) hedonistic. They do what feels good.

Given this, I understand the root of why some people feel asexuality and Amethyst wouldn't go together well. And all things considered, it's true: Amethyst seems, to me, like the kind of Gem who would try anything, especially if other people seemed to enjoy it and especially if abstaining is portrayed as prudent and restrained. She's a let-it-loose kind of character. It's hard to imagine someone like her, who loves to eat, sleep, hoard, and be lazy, wouldn't have tried a few rolls in the hay, right?

Well, sure. Maybe.

And yet we've seen no specific evidence of it.

She could choose any form but she's never seen trying to change herself to look sexy; she's displayed no particular intimate or romantic interest in anyone beyond casual physicality and warmth; she's the only main-four Crystal Gem who hasn't been pursued romantically by a human; she's a little insecure and seems to crave attention sometimes but never spins it as a need to be fulfilled by romantic attention; she never expresses that she wishes she was someone's partner. Who knows? Maybe she's tried it out, found nothing she liked, said "Eh," and decided it's not her bag.

Hedonism is about embracing what feels good. If those kinds of relationships just didn’t feel good for her, I could see her just deciding they were boring and still fully embracing her other Dionysian qualities. She can indulge in naps and eat all the food in the fridge and hoard all the garbage she wants . . . without that indicating she must also possess and pursue amorous relations.

There’s also the fact that a minority of asexual people are like “eh, screw it, I’ll try it,” and don’t find sex completely objectionable or might even like it. (Not all, not most, not me, but this does exist.) They still may not desire it the way non-asexual people do, or may experience no attraction despite having neutral or positive feelings about the act itself. Who knows? Amethyst could be like that. We’ve seen her eat food that she doesn’t even like, just ‘cause it’s there. Some people take or leave sex like that.

And if you say her "type" necessarily incorporates promiscuity or a large sexual appetite, or you say she couldn't be ace because she's not uptight and strait laced, you're buying right into the damaging stereotypes about asexual people.

It's certainly not acephobic to headcanon Amethyst as bisexual or pansexual or lesbian or whatever you want. And it's fine if you believe the closeness she’s displayed with others that I interpret as friendship or non-romantic intimacy is actually a different flavor. What's NOT fine is saying Amethyst CANNOT be asexual or aromantic because of weird beliefs you have about what ace/aro people would be like.

Further, asexual people unfortunately don't have that much representation, and usually we're reduced to embracing absence as evidence. If a character isn't shown to "like" anyone that way, whoa, they might be ace! It's so very rare that a character does actively say or do something that indicates their lack of attraction. We often have to see ourselves in the "not yet" if we want any representation at all, running the risk of having our headcanons smashed as soon as a writer decides a certain type of attraction in a relationship will make that character interesting. But at least we're in the same boat as every other fan there. What we want to happen isn't necessarily what will happen.

And for those who think Amethyst might be ace and/or aro, she's such a great example of someone who isn't defined by the overly cautious, conservative germophobe who's obsessed with logic and conflates their abstention with purity and righteousness. I get really tired of asexuality being tied in with those traits because non-ace writers can't imagine ace people without sucking fun and flexibility out of their souls. (And on the flip side, isn't it wonderful to have the logical, organized, clean, perfect character be a giant lesbian? This is one box queer women rarely see themselves put in, but I know they're out there. I'm friends with a few.)

As for me, do I headcanon Amethyst as asexual or aromantic? Honestly, I am not very invested in this theory. 

I can see it and I could support it in a debate if someone asked me to. But I think Amethyst could turn out to be anything; really, the most likely thing for her to be is fluid. I think she's cute with Pearl sometimes, though Pearl having a mom vibe and being so much older and having other attractions does give me pause. I think the idea of her with Peridot or Vidalia is interesting, though Peridot more than Amethyst reads as possibly ace and there's more built up between her and Lapis now. I could even see her with another tertiary character someday; I wouldn't bat an eye.

But Amethyst as ace and/or aro would also make complete sense to me and might even fit best with her livin' free and unbound attitude, and when you look at the asexual flag, Amethyst is certainly dressed for it.

[lukes-writing]

Character Introduction: Whisper Johanna Archer-Gutenberg

Project: The Dreamcatcher series Name: Whisper Johanna Archer-Gutenberg Age: 19 Height: 161 cm (5″ 3,4′) MBTI: ENFP

Continue reading below

Appearance

Whisper is a slight girl of average height with fair skin and flat chest which is sometimes a target of mockery. She has dreamy, faraway hazel eyes and a winsome, mysterious smile; the combination of these traits lends her a slightly otherworldly, uncanny appearance. Apart from her face, her most prominent feature is her fair hair tied into long dreadlocks.

Whisper's style of clothing is as eccentric as her hairstyle and personality. She usually dresses in loose-fitting clothes of bright colors and floral patterns including long skirts, sundresses and airy blouses. She feels the best walking barefoot.

Whisper also wears excessive, flashy jewelry and plentiful of talismans, magical amulets and lucky charms. She has also several tattoos, the most prominent being a large dreamcatcher on her upper back. Due to her eccentric appearance and style of dressing, she's nicknamed "the hippie girl" by her friends and she doesn't mind it

Personality

Whisper is a difficult person to understand. Even though she's generally kind, caring and positive person, it takes a careful, delicate approach to reach into her comfort zone and gain her trust. She is whimsical, even erratic, and nobody knows what's going on in her mind at the moment. That makes her difficult to lead and control, even though her spontaneous and impulsive behavior can offer a solution to many challenging situations.

She is generally an extroverted person who enjoys company, but like most aspects of her personality, her temperament is a subject of frequent changes. She enjoys time alone, spent by relaxing, meditation or long walks. She is the happiest when she's at peace with herself and the world and values all kinds of harmony.

Whisper is also very sincere about her feelings and is not hesitant to express them, no matter how harsh it may sound. She is also open about which people she dislikes and tends to avoid them at all costs, even if it means getting into more conflicts which is frequent because of her stubbornness and quirky nature. On the other hand, when she gets on well with someone, she quickly becomes attached and makes a great friend.

Even though Whisper seems timid at first, she is open about nudity and sexuality, claiming it's a natural part of life. On the contrary, she strictly condemns any kind of intolerance, hate, bigotry or unnecessary violence. Her opinions are liberal and she has trouble accepting authority, especially when the person is trying to assert their dominance using force.

She abstains from alcohol, but rather frequently smokes marijuana which helps her unwind and focus. She claims it also enhances her ability of astral traveling. She is open to experimentation of all kinds, but she's also rational enough to not let it go too far.

Skills, talents and weaknesses

While Sienna is the team's most valuable member when it comes to logical thinking and far-sighted decisions, Whisper is appreciated for her intuition and creative approach to problems. She always follows the voice of her feelings rather than cold logic which can end up with various results.

Whisper is artistically gifted - she is able to paint, compose poems and play several musical instruments, which takes a toll on her practical abilities such as the knowledge of technology or the ability to do manual work. Since she is usually lost in her thoughts, she's also forgetful and scatterbrained.

Another of Whisper's strengths is her empathy and ability to understand people. She can see the person's true nature and intentions just by spending a few minutes with them. She's extremely sensitive to body language and can perceive the person's aura to some degree, making her an efficient lie detector.

Whisper's greatest weakness is the lack of physical strength. She's not proficient in any kind of martial art and neither can she handle a firearm or a weapon. This is partially caused by her strictly pacifistic nature and also by her slight, delicate frame not suited for physical combat. Moreover, in stressful situations, she often tends to panic and rushes into stupid decisions. That's why she usually counts on her battle-skilled teammates when it's going tough.

Special powers

Whisper's special power is astral traveling, an ability to detach her soul from her body and travel through the astral realm. This allows her to travel unseen to dangerous or restricted areas without the risk of getting hurt. During the detach, the body and soul are connected by a silver astral rope called a "Lifeline" by the travelers.

Her ability requires years of training in the form of meditation and relaxation techniques and has several levels of mastery:

Out of Body - the traveler can detach their soul from their body and roam the astral realm;

Out of Space - the traveler's soul isn't affected by space, allowing them to immediately transfer the soul to any place in the world;

Out of Time - while traveling, the traveler's soul is unaffected by time, able to change the subjective perception of it.

The ability also has several drawbacks. The most obvious one is that Whisper's physical body is unconscious when her astral body is detached. That requires her to either perform the detach on a safe, isolated place or to have someone to look after the senseless body and protect it from harm. Also, to perform the detach, Whisper has to remain relaxed and focused for a while, making it hard to detach in the middle of the fray. Another danger are the immaterial astral beings known as "Hunters" which possess a potential threat to the detached soul.

Her abilities allow Whisper to serve as an efficient spy since physical boundaries don't affect the detached soul. Also, while on the Out of Space level, she can immediately contact any other person able to tap into the astral realm anywhere in the world.

Questions

Favorite color? Green

Favourite artist? 

Favourite animal? Dog

Least favourite animal? Toads (because they’re slimy)

What element would they be? Wind

Theme song? Waiting on the Sky to Change by Downplay

Alignment? Chaotic Good

Deadly sin that best represents them? Lust

Which animal would they be? A swallow bird

Socioeconomic level? Comes from a rich family, but money doesn’t mean much to her

Hobbies? Reading, poetry, music, walks in nature

Patience level? Variable, according to her current mood

Favourite place? Anywhere green and calm

Role model? Her uncle Wiccan Salisbury

Favourite foods? Grilled salmon with vegetables, sushi

Favourite book? The Harry Potter series

Pets? Four budgies (Godric, Rowenna, Helga, Salazar) and three dogs (Arwen, Frodo, Gandalf)

Most appropriate TV trope(s)? “Granola Girl”, “Does Not Like Shoes”, “Cloudcuckoolander”

Smells like? Spring air and a soft perfume

How do they feel about love? She believes in true love and soulmates, but her urge to seek variety and new things in life makes her doubt she would be able to stay with just one person for the rest of her life

Quote/catchphrase: She sometimes tends to replace profanity in a sentence with some more innocent word, creating expressions like “What the twig is going on here?”

Least favorite color? Gray

Fears or phobias? She suffers from mild claustrophobia; being in a closed, isolated room makes her anxious

Music they listen to? Ambient music, soft rock

Bad habits? She occasionally smokes marijuana

What turns them on? Quiet, affectionate talk, soft touches, neck kisses

What turns them off? Roughness, insensitivity

Religious and to what extent? Any spiritual beliefs? She firmly believes in some kind of higher power, but is not a part of any organized religious movement

Kind of student if they attend/were to attend school? (e.g. class clown, straight A) Her grades varied greatly according to the subject and her current mood. She wasn’t too eager to study as she preferred to groom her artistic side.

Random fact!

What ONE item would they take to an uninhabited island? A notebook to write down all kinds of ideas she would come up with

Outlook on life? Always positive, “happy accidents” outlook

Favorite object? Her decorative brooch shaped like a key with wings - she considers it her lucky charm

What was your character like as a child? She tried to be well-behaved to her parents’ image, but her erratic, moody personality sometimes caused discords

What is something other people assume about your character? Judging from her look, the people can guess her loony personality and inclination to art, but they also often assume she does drugs and/or takes sex very irresponsibly

Nervous habits? Talking to herself

Addictions? Apart from harmless addictions like tea, books and music, she has no harmful addcition

Enneagram type? 4

Siblings? Knight Edward (older brother), Liberty Camilla (older sister)

Wears jewelry? Yes, she wears a lot of excessive, flashy jewelry

First kiss? (when and with whom) When she was 18, she experienced her first kiss and first intimate experience with her best friend, Noelle

Glass half full or half empty? Half full

Belief in an afterlife? Yes

Views on gambling, lying, killing, etc...? Strictly negative. She is a person of firm morals and she hates people with questionable moral code.

Do they stand up for what they believe in? Always, firmly

How much do they value money? Not much. It can buy nice things, but it’s not the most important thing in the world.

Wants to get married? Indifferent

Wants to have kids, raise a family? Indifferent; not yet decided

Cat or dog person? Dog

Is there one fictional character (print/stage/screen) you could compare them to? She has a part of Luna Lovegood in her, but there are a lot of differences

Anyone they really hate? Bigots and hateful people

How has their look/design changed over time? Not really, I’ve always wanted her to be like this, so I created her this way. She was maybe more timid in the early stages of development.

What brings them the most joy? Being herself; people accepting her for who she is

Do they play any instruments? Violin, piano, flute

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff

Favorite holiday? Christmas

Nickname(s)? Often nicknamed “hippie girl”

Would they dare kill someone? Only if there was no other way to save a friend/family member in danger

Body modifications? (Piercings, implants, tattoos, etc.) She has several tattoos, with the most prominent being a large dreamcatcher on her back

Author’s Note

So this is my first character introduction (with more to come in the future), of course I’ve picked my favorite in my current project ^^ If you have any further questions for/about Whisper, or if you have any feedback about her, please send me an ask or post a comment! If you enjoy my work, you can consider a small donation at www.paypal.me/lukassladky. Thank you for stopping by!

[gaycrouton]

from the prompt list: x files, 47

“Hold my hand until it’s over?” Set during the IVF time period. Not going to lie, this was partially inspired by the lovely admiralities’ story “Manu Ad Coxus” which you need to go check out if you haven’t. It just punched my heart and I keep thinking about it and I wanted to write a little something, and this prompt just worked. (I took liberties there at the end, but hey, it’s fanfiction.)

It struck him as odd. If there was one word that summed Mulder up, without a doubt, it would be ‘Believer.’ He couldn’t remember a time where he wasn’t expecting the unexpected or looking to the sky for answers. He wasn’t usually rattled either. Alien sighting? Of course. Pig were flying? Predictable. Large-scale government conspiracies? An average Tuesday.

Of course it would be Scully to shake his foundation.

He couldn’t believe she was asking him to do this; be the father of her child. Years of thinking outside the realm of extreme possibility hadn’t prepared him for that one. Yet here she was, so vulnerable in front of him that he felt looking at her was an intrusion, but so enamoured he couldn’t take his eyes off her. It wasn’t even out of desperation. She genuinely wanted him for this, and he’d never questioned her rationality more.

Sure he’d thought about it, especially when he saw couples with their children. A physical manifestation of a metaphysical bond. A side effect of love. Was that what their child could be considered? Could he call it their child? Regardless, that’s what he would think every time he saw the baby. His love for Scully in the flesh. What traits of Scully’s would shine over his own? Would their child have her red hair and freckles? Eyes that shine like a beacon of light, anchoring him to shore. Would their kid be cursed with his nose and existential crises? Probably not. When Scully was with him she seemed to bring out the best in him. He couldn’t wait to see the truth of that fact in front of his face, nuzzled in her arms.

Taking her hand a few days later, he tries not to look like this is the best proposition he’d ever been offered before, “Well…the answer is yes.”

xxxxxxxxx

He couldn’t believe she wanted him in the room with her. Since being asked, he was curious if she assumed his role would extend no further than doing what he did best; thinking about her with his cock in his hand. Only this time with a cup in front of him. Even if it was, he’d accept that. He even abstained from coming for two weeks so he’d have a better sample for her. The biggest gap he’d taken since a certain redhead walked into his office seven years ago and established a permanent residency in his mind.

He finished the sample, trying his best to keep any contents from spilling out before getting the lid on. When he walked out he walked out he was shocked to see she was standing right there, and he hoped the idle sounds of the hospital had been louder to her ears than the stifling of her name on his lips as he made his donation.

He doesn’t have a chance to ask before the doctor comes out and asks for the parents to follow him. He couldn’t hide the surprise when she motioned for him to follow, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. A chance to see their child conceived would probably be one of the best moments of his life. It would only be better if the conception happened the ol’ fashioned way, but beggars can’t be choosers.

He sits in the chair in the corner and puts his hands dramatically over his eyes as she changes into the crisp paper gown that matches the antiseptic smell of the room. The completely sterile room.

God, he hopes this works.

She tells him to open his eyes and he’s met with the sight of Scully sitting back on the hospital chair. Her legs are in those stirrups and the image is startlingly familiar. He sees it a lot in his dreams, but instead of stirrups it’s his shoulders and his heart is pounding in desire instead of anxiety.

The doctor comes shortly after that with a table full of tools that made Mulder want to clench his legs shut in sympathy. He sees Scully shift in her seat and he’s reminded just how in sync they are. The doctor explains the process in medical terms and he’s positive Scully already knows all of this, but she’s hanging off every word like it’s gospel and, with how much faith and reverence they have in this process, it might as well be.

Then just like that, the man’s working in between her legs and her face contorts in discomfort. It pains him to see, and he’s on the edge of his seat, already embodying the role of nervous, doting father. His attention is drawn away from her face as her hand reaches out to him.

“Hold my hand until it’s over?”

He takes it greedily, and, as simple as that, he feels relieved. She looks at him and gives him a shy smile that he returns happily. This is not under the circumstances he would have wanted, but, just like in his fantasies, it’s them. Dana Scully and Fox Mulder, skin grasping onto skin like it’s the only thing keeping them from floating away, locking eyes as they became one.

xxxxxxxxx

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Red. The size of a rose petal and just as vibrant. Like she was bleeding from a bullet wound, but the only thing that was shot was their dream. Their dream. There would be no red haired, freckled little love child running around looking for UFOs in the sky. There would just be menstrual blood staining the ivory fabric of her skirt. There would just be his shaky voice telling her he thought she sat in something when he knew in his heart she didn’t.

Just tears in her eyes as she tried to pretend her heart isn’t bleeding the same crimson blossoming on her skirt.

He tried to reach out and grab her hand, but she rushed out of the office before his skin had a chance to graze hers, leaving his hand raised as he grasped at nothing.

Isn’t that what they’d been doing this whole time?

The cruel fate of that was easier to believe.

[crimsonrevolt]

Congratulations Chloe you’ve been accepted to Crimson Revolt as Sybill Trewlawney!

↳ please refer to our character checklist

Your application was such a treat to find in our inbox, Chloe! From the expanded traits to the wonderful headcanons you gave, your Sybill is so wonderfully fleshed out. The love you have for her is amazing and we all loved just how well you captured her - ‘she’s always been unafraid to march to the beat of her own drum‘ completely sold us. It’s so clear to see from you application just how much you’ve thought about the role that Sybill has to play in the war and gone into so much detail about her involvement with Aversio it’s such a pleasure to see! We think that Sybill will fit in just wonderfully and we cannot wait to have you both in our roleplay!

Application beneath the cut 

OUT OF CHARACTER

INTRODUCTION  

Chloe, she/her, GMT, from England  

ACTIVITY  

Well it’s been a little while since I’ve actively roleplayed so I might start out a little rusty, but given the preference you have for longer threads and your lenient activity limit I’m sure I’ll be around fairly often, like three times a week at least. (to give you a number I’d say like 7/10 on the active scale)

TRIGGERS

*removed for privacy

HOW DID YOU FIND US?  

I was looking through the hp rp tag, and to be honest I was looking specifically for a Sybill Trelawney to play that I felt was actually a good representation of her character and also sat within an rp that had a good plot aha

WHAT HARRY POTTER CHARACTER DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH MOST?

Maybe a cliché but I really loved Ginny (in the books of course, don’t EVER get me started with the mess they made of her character in the movies dear god) she was spunky and confident (and ginger like myself, which tbqh has made me slightly bias in favour of the whole Weasley clan. Like you’re telling me not only do they deal w/ shit for being blood traitors but they redheads too??? Hard knock life, my man.) And of course my dear Sybill, who was just trying to be understood in a world that wasn’t quite ready for her.

ANYTHING ELSE?

Nope

IN CHARACTER

DESIRED CHARACTER  

Sybill Trelawney  

FACE CLAIM

Alycia Debnam Carey isn’t an fc I’ve ever worked with before but after browsing her tag and doing a little research she seems an excellent choice for Sybill in my opinion, and since she’s your chosen fc too I’m sure you’d have no problem with me picking her. (I am also partial to Juno Temple as Sybill, but I kinda feel that’s getting a little overdone)

REASON FOR CHOSEN CHARACTER  

Uhhhh this is just a general comment but I really love that you’ve made Sybill a big of a fighter and actually self confident like all the time I see her portrayed as this scared little thing and I don’t think that’s accurate, like I’ve always felt that (at least in her younger years, before the world beat her down a bit) Sybill would have been a passionate and confident woman with faith in her gift and a desire to set the world to rights. Her words aren’t always tactful, sure, but I think everything Sybill says she says because she thinks it needs to be heard.

When I first read about this Aversio group you’d created I wasn’t sure that putting Sybill in with such people was the right choice but after a little thought the idea really grew on me. I think Sybill’s visions have forced her to witness so much death and destruction that she has been powerless to prevent, and who wouldn’t be made angry like that? Who wouldn’t grab the first chance that came along to take back some of that power, to try and defend the people she loved? Sybill is part of this group for all the right reasons. She’s fighting for freedom and safety, but she’s not naïve, she doesn’t think the order sitting around and just waiting to form counter attacks are doing enough. I also feel she was something of a loner in school and despite being quite clever was never really invited into or considered for the order and so perhaps this comes from the ever so slight niggling urge she has to prove herself, because despite being a hippy dippy seer she’s also capable of affecting change and taking part in things. (If anything her visions and prophecies have only made her more determined to change the world, for she will have seen how truly tits up everything could go.)

I just have a longstanding love for Sybill, she’s always been unafraid to march to the beat of her own drum. Like, refusing to take on the name ‘higglebottom’ and so causing the end of your own marriage?? That’s hardcore. That’s a woman who won’t take no shit. Yeah, I love Sybill and I am forever searching for an rp with what I feel is an accurate representation of her. This is getting long so I’ll wind it down now, but if you’d like to hear anything more about my love for Syb pls just do message me lmao.

PREFERRED SHIPS // CHARACTER SEXUALITY // GENDER & PRONOUNS

Sybill has always been wary of romance and love. With her gift it is easy to see the multitude of ways things can fall apart. Not only that, but it is hard to find someone with complete faith in this gift of hers, someone who truly believes all her madcap ramblings and feels the power of nature and the universe as much as she does. (Of course, she would only ever settle down with someone who believed in this power as much as she did and yet like her was not afraid to question it.) Sex is different to romance, though, I think Sybill views sex as something much simpler and it’s very much a pleasure she indulges in without ever feeling guilty about it. Honestly I think she can be quite the flirt when she wants, not ashamed of her desire to lure a man or woman into her bed for the night, because why should we deny ourselves such a simple craving? We shouldn’t.

As far as ships go I’m very happy just to go with the flow, nothing prioritised. Sybill goes by she/her pronouns, did consider them/they for a while but after some contemplation in the forest realised her energy was decidedly feminine in its nurturing and care, even if it was a little wilder and more adventurous. (Sexuality I touched on a little above, i feel like she’d be very fluid about it and call herself bisexual if pushed on the subject)

CREATE ONE (OR MORE!) OF THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR CHARACTER:

-EXPAND ON THE TRAITS

Self-assured- Sybill has gotten comfortable with her gift of sight, and by extension- since she’s long felt like that was the most drastic aspect of her personality- the rest of herself. She’s confident in who she is and the doubts of others can no longer throw her off her chosen course.

Free-spirited- spends a lot of time out in nature, but its much more than that. Sybill is very unassuming and so as long as what/who you are is not a cause of harm (for example, unless you are a death eater) she is quite happy to not only let you continue with your life and hobbies, but likely also interested in learning about it. She is happy for you to be in love, she is happy for you to mindlessly fuck, she is happy for you to abstain and spend all your time writing. As long as your soul is good and warm, you can be counted as a friend of Sybill’s.

Crafty- well, there’s the obvious definition of her being artistic which is true, Sybill likes to paint and tell fanciful stories and take one mans trash to make into her own treasure. But her crafty mind also  makes her quite statistical, she can wriggle her way out of almost any problem and really earns her keep as one of the strategic minds of Aversio.

Genuine- Another fairly obvious I feel. Some of the stuff Sybill says may be odd, but she means every word of it. This applies to her actions too. She has not one conniving or manipulative bone in her body, she never lies. Everything Sybill does is honest and true to the core of who she is.

Dreamer- constantly lost in her own world. Idealistic almost to a fault, often too optimistic about the future. Sometimes too optimistic about the present and so gets herself into dangerous situations just because she underestimated the circumstances.

Emotional- oh GOD if you criticise Sybill’s shoes she will CRY for a week. If you call her pretty in passing it will make her smile all year. Let me be clear here I don’t think Sybill holds grudges or has preferences, but I think she remembers everything that people do and everything impacts her as much as it did at the time it truly happened (does that make sense? Every time she remembers that Lily once complimented her hair it fills her with the same joy as the initial compliment did, for example.) I think this is why her gift takes such a toll on her, every bad thing that happens (whether it really ends up happening or not) affects her psyche terribly.

Dramatic- it’s very up and down with Sybill. I think being dramatic is good and bad, because every small show of kindness is an absolute joy but also every little negative moment or action is the worst betrayal imaginable. Nothing is done in halves by Sybill.

Weird- I mean self explanatory. She talks to plants, she’s constantly blabbering on about the energies of nature and the universe. She relies too heavily on her inner eye to guide her rather than just watching and responding. It’s a weirdness she’s comfortable with but that doesn’t mean everyone else is so ok with it, sometimes she makes people uncomfortable with her frank statements and odd habits.

-A FEW HEADCANONS

Sybill can play guitar. Yeah, she loves music, I think she plays guitar really very well and finds it quite relaxing (can’t think about anything else if you’re trying to master difficult songs y’know) but it isn’t a talent she often shares.

She writes poetry too, doesn’t call it that, just calls it writing. Often times her visions and prophecies can be a lot to digest and so writing about it all can help to sort her crazy imaginings from what might actually be possible.

Not adverse to substance abuse. She lives alone, and sometimes being part of Aversio leaves her incredibly amped up and angry, so it can be difficult to sleep. A few glasses of whiskey or a couple of joints sort that problem out, though.

Can get aggressive with fellow Aversio members. See she knows they can handle it and all the negative energy has to go somewhere (where else would she take it out? Nature? Absolutely not.)

She meditates because it helps focus her inner eye.

-A FEW POTENTIAL PLOT POINTS

This aggression with Aversio members might be an interesting one- like, does she think some of them are really just death eaters afraid to admit that? Are some of them scared of her? Do they think she’s too pushy with the people she’s supposedly aligned with? Yeah, lots interesting to say there.

Of course as an Aversio member there’s always the chance that the order or DE might find out that she’s part of such a group and try to sway her one such way (the DE would have no chance, and i don’t really see the order being much luckier, though she may be willing to form some kind of cooperation with them.)

There’s always the chance of her abandoning everything to just live in the forest.

More prophecies or visions! Are they always accurate? Who knows?!?!?! No one really.

IN CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE

The following section should be looked at like a survey for your character. Answer them in character and feel free to use gifs. Or, if you’d rather, answer them in third person or OOC without gifs. Answers do not have to be extremely lengthy.

♔ If you were able to invent one spell, potion, or charm, what would it do, what would you use it for or how would you use it? Feel free to name it:

I think I’d like to invent a potion that would make me immune to all poisons. To be honest, that’s one of the few things that forces me to buy actual food from shops and stops me from living purely off the foods nature provides. I’m quite worried about being poisoned by something not meant for me you see, so if I had a potion that meant no such poisons affected me I would live only off the bounty provided by nature.

♔ You have to venture deep into the Forbidden Forest one night. Pick one other character and one object (muggle or magical), besides your wand, that you’d want with you:

I think Xenophilius Lovegood would make for very good company. He’s easy on the eye and we’re both the types who see more in the world than most people do. I don’t suppose i’d pick anyone for their ability to keep me safe- I’m quite capable of that, thank you. Rather I think I’d pick Xenophilius because we would not run out of things to talk about. Ad far as objects go, maybe a sword? They fascinate me to be perfectly honest- so violent, so pretty- and I think it would be most useful should magic fail me.

♔ What kinds of decisions are the most difficult for you to make?

Who to send on missions or counter attacks. It’s never very easy to decide if you need stealth and logic or aggression and strength, you know? And always I am so fearful that by sending the wrong type we will do more harm than good.

♔ What is one thing you would never want said about you?

That I am a liar. That’s easy, people can say much about me as long as they always believe I am true.

WRITING SAMPLE

Sybill could not sleep. This was not a rare occurrence. More often than not she’d use alcohol or drugs to knock herself out for the night, acutely aware of all the work that there was to be done the next day and so too focused on being alert for that to be concerned with her own body. Tonight, however, she chose the forest. And drugs. There was a lovely little wood right by her house (would Sybill move anywhere without nature close by? Of course not.) And so she meandered through the trees until a small clearing came about, settling herself with a joint and her notebook for a sleepless night.  

See, tomorrows attack did not directly involve her. It was more an urban stealth mission, not really her style, and so she saw no harm in turning up to the meeting a little tired and out of it. Hey, she was usually ‘out of it’ as far as the others thought anyway, and so what was the harm really. So for this plan she had taken more a strategic role, using her gift to her advantage to help plan the timing, who she be where and when they should be there. It was something of an arduous task to be honest, left her a little drained to look so closely at individuals, but Sybill would never complain about it. Her inner eye was a gift very few possessed and she intended to use it to it’s full potential.

Besides being out here among nature’s glory with her writing and a joint would be sufficient to restore the balance of her energy. She took a drag and sighed into the quiet night, shifting to lay on her back and feel the full flow of the earth against her body. Her fingertips tingled and her toes curled. God, you know what would really help her sleep? Sex. But so few were as interested in no strings in the same way she was. Still willing to form a connection and truly bon with each other, just not so insistent that such a bond be permanent. It was okay to need someone only for a night or two. The summer she’d bounced around muggle music festivals had spoiled her, obviously. Maybe most wizards were so interested in commitment because it carried on the family name.

Not that she could blame them for such. Cassandra Trelawney had claimed the gift skipped three generations after all and by golly the family had seen to it that her point be proved. The idea made her giggle, bright energy pushing out against a dark sky.

Whatever the case, she was antsy and restless and worried about tomorrows plans. Worried about tomorrows’ people. If things went wrong those few were the ones who would pay most dearly. She closed her eyes, trying to feel the influence of the universe move through her and search for the answers she desired. Would tomorrow be okay? Had they chosen well? The universe, as it so often was in what it considered small affairs, had little more to offer than a small reassurance that Sybill wasn’t driving towards utter disaster.

[classysmrtassy]

I am THAT girl. I’m the church girl. I’m the good girl. I’m the ‘don’t invite her, she doesn’t drink", girl. I’m the do your job girl. Work harder than anyone else girl. You’re athletic, you’re smart, you’re “not those” girls… girl I’m the “don’t have sex” girl. The… you’re not a SINNER girl. I’m the don’t shame, don’t fuck up, don’t disappoint them girl. I’m the … you’re 21 girl, the ‘you can live now’ girl, the your parents are going crazy, do whatever you want now’ girl. I’m the swearing is FUN girl, your brother in law thinks this is funny, girl… I’m the … let’s get married girl. I’m the MOM girl. I’m the … this shit is so much harder than I thought, girl. I’m the —– I want more love than this girl. I’m the WOMAN girl… the … maybe I deserve more than this, girl. I’m the - ‘there’s nothing wrong with me, this is just a universally difficult time’ girl. I’m the fuck this, girl. I’m the— someone else can love me, this can be better, girl. I’m the oops, I was wrong girl- this JOB will save me girl. This job will validate me and make me believe that I’m ok, girl. I’m the I need wine every night, girl. I’m the life is kicking my ass, girl. I’m the … there’s no one who will put up with my reality, girl. I’m the bandaid girl. I’m the “I can fix this” girl. I’m the “if I don’t drink, no one will like me”, girl. I’m the fix-it girl. I’m the “I’ve fucked up so much shit, I have to try to fix it, again” girl. I’m the … “this is better” … “this looks pretty” girl… this looks like the life that my 17 year old self was certain I need to make happen and so… it must be right, girl. …wine….vodka…wine….vodka…vodka… vodka… One single person who I thought cared for me came forward and said … Martha has a problem, Martha is a bad person, Martha is LESS THAN. And suddenly, something changed. It wasn’t what you’d think. It wasn’t a positive - it was an effort to prove to this person that they were wrong. That I was NORMAL. That I was that sweet little abstaining high school dame. But… I wasn’t. And the inside betrayal only made the addiction grow. It only made me dig deeper to prove I was fine. But… truth be told, I wasn’t fine. I dug for reinforcements - I RUN, I’m FINE. I’m a marathoner, IM FINE, I’ve had an entire year of PRs, I’m fine, I’m a wonderful mother (as confirmed by many ladies) I’M FINE, I’m FIT, I’m FINE. I have a JOB, I’m fine. People like me, I’M fine. All the while… I’m NOT fine. Me and alcohol, honestly, we’ve never been fine. From my first night of drinking I’ve been a self proclaimed hot mess. My bother in law probably tagged it lost accurately early on… “You don’t know how to just maintain a buzz” I’m sure he didn’t know at the time, but that’s code for an alcoholic… we always want… more. I always needed to take it one step further. That one step honestly never raised a flag. If you asked my best friend, my closest family member or even my sister for the majority of the years - I was FINE. I was actually better than fine. I was the buddy who was always ok. I was ok to drive, I wasn’t sloppy drunk, I could keep my shit together no mattter how many glasses of merlot, or … later in the game … vodka waters I had downed. No matter what… I was fine. Except for … when I wasn’t. Except for when I needed my mom to come talk my off the ledge. Except for when I got home, but wasn’t sure how. Except for when I woke up so hungover that my long run had to be canceled because I “had an upset stomach” all night. This couldn’t be me… it literally couldn’t. I was too holy, I didn’t have any of the signs … my parents were good, we never had a drop of alcohol in our house. My high school years were good, I didn’t even get invited to the “bad” parties because everyone knew I was a “good girl”. My college years were sober, likely saving me from many regretful decisions … And yet … here I am… almost 34 years old and knowing - without a doubt, that somehow alcohol took the upper hand in my life. Alcohol made some decisions that I wish I could deflect, but most of all, knowing that no matter how many years you spend thinking you’ve taken the moral higher ground, things can go wrong. And because of that, and because of so many stories I have left to share, I know that LOVE and acceptance are such an important part of being a human being— and I pray that we can all find those traits somehow. More to come… #MD

[yogaadvise]

Finding Deeper Wisdom Through Discernment

A smart individual knows she's only ever before alone with God. Even if she doesn't believe in God, she knows, no matter where she is or what borders her, she's always interfacing with the divine, with spirit, with right stuff from which the world is made.

She is only ever alone with God.

You have actually most likely heard this saying before. You have actually most likely also felt this sensation, when you were holding a grinning child, or gazing at a sunset with individuals you like most. I felt this feeling so greatly when I sat at the enormous rock base of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, watching individuals from all over the globe take selfies with their phones. In that moment I knew every point around me was God in differing types, yet it's hard to keep this feeling every day. It's difficult to bear in mind that you're alone with God when you remain in the center of household drama. When your friend's partner confides that he's unfaithful and also you don't understand just what to claim. It's hard to remember you remain in the existence of God on a 10-hour economy flight as the individual behind you kicks your seat. It's hard to bear in mind you're with God when you're attempting to encourage your boss you are entitled to a raising, or managing colleagues that talk behind your back.

This process of keeping in mind is a kind of discernment.

Almost all religious customs have a training around discernment. Christians depend on something called 'scriptural discernment,' which motivates followers to be essential when examining false teachings that may drift from exactly how Christianity calls them live. The Koran has a comparable teaching, it warns followers that, 'not equivalent are things that misbehave as well as traits that are great, despite the fact that the wealth of the bad might dazzle you.' The Koran calls us to seek wisdom in our obligation as well as commitment to Allah. Christianity tells us to work out perception in the lack of judgment, and when confronted with incorrect teachings consult our Holy bibles. Discernment also shows up in 12-step programs. It could be seen in the Calmness Petition which states: God provide me the calmness to accept the important things I can not change, the guts to alter the important things I can, and the knowledge to recognize the difference. This 'wisdom to understand the difference' is discernment. This is an earnest cry for the need to see things clearly. This is our plea for aid with discerning reality from falsehood.

When we are able to see the truth of all points as divine, the means ahead comes to be obvious. It is an all-natural adverse effects of realizing we are just ever alone with God. The spiritual educator Ram Dass once composed, 'When you know just how to listen, everybody is the expert.' Discernment is understanding the best ways to pay attention. It's not an intellectual exercise through which we choose to abstain or delight, discernment is a deep recognition that we're all made from the very same stuff-we're all the exact same individual hanging around in different rooms. When we acknowledge that we're all constructed out of similarity, discernment ends up being acquired behavior. All courses stand. We must just progress in our individual truth.

How can we be critical in community with others, whose facts show up various from ours? Well, when everybody you satisfy is a divine being, you trust they'll make their own options, and also the have to exert your will comes to be unneeded. When every person you meet is a deity, conflicts between 2 people end up being dharma mentors to aid us grow. When everybody you meet is a deity, then you can let go-knowing that your help might serve, yet you aren't actually required. You could effectively take a breath a sigh of alleviation. Yes, defend justice, yet when every person is a deity, you work towards adjustment, however remain crazy. You'll never ever see on your own as separate from the issues you seek to resolve.

There's a Buddhist verse that checks out discernment in Chapter 20 of the Dhammapada:

When you see with discernment, 'All phenomena are not-self' - you expand disenchanted with stress. This is the path to purity.

I do not know where pureness is. I can not tell you exactly what that looks like, and, quite truthfully, aren't sure if I'll ever before reach a purified state of presence, but here's just what I do know: Discernment is not an activity, it is a viewpoint. From this point of view the points that could have drew us off of our true happiness as well as joy-things like envy, anger, pity, shame, and pettiness-lose their charm. We don't have to rage against them. Rather, we become disenchanted with the dramas we play out, and also a new means of being arises. We outgrow our very own dependency to turmoil, and accept the distinctions and also mayhem that swirls around us. When we see that 'all sensations are not-self,' when we follow a stance of discernment, we recognize the essence of what the wise woman already recognizes: We are only ever in communion with God.

[debparkinson-blog]

Offer Your Lady A Prompt Climax

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To obtain a healthy meal, you need to commit at the very least a few mins in readying the meals - rinsing, dicing, barbecuing. An impressive stable of items to supply helpful and quick solutions to platforms, steps and also ramps. I could find that offering one thing the 5 minute regulation is actually one thing that would work as well as probably change the technique I examine a ton of points. Grass fed meat means that meat which our team obtain from those cattle who essential food is yard rather than other traits. Initially, it gives assistance to the desperate through the contribution of fast offerings, featuring the worth of foods from which we abstain. A few speak as well swiftly as a result of a communication ailment, like cluttering, or perhaps a neurological problem such as Parkinson's ailment. 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In reality, there is a school of idea among physicians that those clients that possess light to mild hypertension as well as are actually also obese need to be urged to swiftly as going on a fast may assist to decrease their blood pressure. If so, take into consideration producing some fliers and uploading them around grounds, as well as any type of college universities near by. Individuals are actually regularly seeking somebody that can style quickly when they remain in a rush and must end up inputting essays or even investigation papers for course. A lot of home-based companies as well as laborers right now have a brand-new streamlined choice to insurance claim deductions for 2013 income taxes (filed in 2014).

[metalpiratequeen]

Godformers Chat

Metalpiratequeen

Currently writing up a whole bunch of "meet the godformer" memes. Just got to Lazarette and I'm not sure whether to go with mermaid persona

http://orig04.deviantart.net/b071/f/2012/190/2/7/sea_goddess_by_james_face-d56lstq.png

Entirely made out of water

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/vsbattles/images/5/5b/Digital_Booklet_-_God_of_War_Blood_7.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160409005113

or giant ass woman

http://www.gameartisans.org/user_uploads/challenges/multiforum/fest-challenges/shawn-zm-142173-fest-challenges-main-image-1377822739.jpg

Deceitfulcharmer

they're all so pretty and perfect ;-;

Vxtum

OMGG SDJKFJKDSFHJKI agree with Katie. ;-; They all look good!

Calypso reminding me of Eris from Sinbad

Deceitfulcharmer

Part of me is a little tempted to take part, but I also know that I wouldn't do anything with it so there's no point asdfghjk

Metalpiratequeen

gently nudges gives us the war/liberator god and blue sky goddess

Vxtum

Could always do what I'm doing? I just made it its separate verse for anytime

Deceitfulcharmer

stop tempting meeeee

that could also work ;-;

Metalpiratequeen

I'm making them seperate verses because I want to keep these going.

Deceitfulcharmer

maybe I'll doodle a couple things when I get home uwu

Vxtum

sdkjhsdfhjk oh god ;-;

-excited for both-

Deceitfulcharmer

I've been practicing muscular males lately so Megatron can be one of my guinea pigs xD

Vxtum

Muscled warlord u-u good, good stuff

Rustedservos

yeah im probs gonna make this a seperate verse also cause i love god formers

Metalpiratequeen

Sweet. Has everyone made a godformer then?

Swordintehswarm

shake head no

Vxtum

Julius says he might make Tetta into a tiny fairy that accompanies Gravitas. (We otherwise are abstaining from Cyclonus, Galvatron, and Scourge having godforms. For Cyclonus, he already has two 'god' verses, and he's from a god in our targetmaster verse. I'm pretty much maxed out with Cyclonus and his herald-self xD)

Metalpiratequeen

Cyclonus-deity whore

But tiny fairy Tetta sounds so cute ;3;

Vxtum

-grins-

Metalpiratequeen

Or an imp. Lazarette sees her as a mischievous I'mp. :p

Swordintheswarm

Fae folk are not nice8'D

Fae folk kill people for fun, no need for imps

Deceitfulcharmer

Grimmjow muse was also very interested in Gravitas' godformers bio, btw uwu

Vxtum

I've no idea if she's a killer. I just know that she puts new flowers in his hair and sleeps in some of the larger blooms strung up on his antlers. She might be nice to him, but for all I know, she could absolutely be this evil thing to everyone else.

omg, was he?? -grins- Come give him a bowl of berries at one of his shrines/alters, and he'll come out to associate with you~

Swordintheswarm

Tetta using Gravitas's antlers to nestle sounds adorable asf

Vxtum

He's a greedy fuck. You leave him an offering, he's there

Swordintheswarm

But I am too cautious about actual medieval fairies to try to approach if it were rl xD

Deceitfulcharmer

when you start thinking of your OC in godformers AU but end up accidentally dragging another two of your OCs into it alongside her ;-;

I started with goddess of wind and rain and now I've ended up with god of thunder and goddess of lightning too

Swordintheswarm

Loool, ikr

MetalPirateQueen

Weather deities!

Deceitfulcharmer

be nice to them or they will flood your village, or start a fire. whatever they feel like

Swordintheswarm

I want to do godformer bug but I’m procrastinating

Vxtum

It took me, like, four days to complete the "meet the godformer" thing, so don't feel bad u-u

Metalpiratequeen

What does my Godformer wear? ....nothing

Vxtum

Instantly the most popular among their peers

Deceitfulcharmer

I'm thinking Electron's Godformer can't/doesn't ever touch the ground, instead hovering on a breeze

Vxtum

I haven't decided yet that when Gravitas takes human form, if he bothers 'magicking' clothes onto himself. He feels like the sort of uncivilized guy to walk around, naked and proud. "Your cultural's obsession with the need to hide the beauty of one's body is not welcome in my presence. I will not humour it."

omg, Katie

Metalpiratequeen

Maybe Electron is a breeze. Like a literal wind with a human outline.You could see a whirlwind inside her. Or a hurricane

Deceitfulcharmer

I was going to go for super flowy clothes but that sounds so beautiful too ;-;

Metalpiratequeen

(Also be warned. LS is a demigod going around demanding quests from gods, Hercules style, so she may obtain godhood and finally meet her father, the god of time. While Lazarette is a vengeful god who hates humans for occupying her domain and rarely ever joins in on deity affairs and politics. Haven't quite decided where the bros stand. Might make Oil Slick a satyr.

Deceitfulcharmer

Megatron sits around, counting down the days until the next war when he's suddenly needed again xD

Metalpiratequeen

God of war gets a lot if holidays xD

Deceitfulcharmer

I have two big questions: 1. How buff do I make him and 2. How much of it do I actually bother to cover with armour

Vxtum

Gravitas actually enjoys humans, preferring to be in the forest, watching them/helping them/revealing himself to them than hanging around the Ethereal Realm (Olympus/Heaven/whatever LOL)), so he pretty much skimps out on most festivities and politics. But fuck, LS. ;-; I love that take you did. It gives her such a good reason to interact with any god she comes across. Fuck, I can't wait to see, man xD

LOL, Katie. Conan arms!

Metalpiratequeen

Go the opposite route and give Megs as little armour as possible. Hell, how about an old collesium match where he battles butt naked!

Deceitfulcharmer

CHARL xD

Vxtum

lmao, I actually agree about the naked part. If you gotta go to war naked to startle the enemy, then more reason to!

Deceitfulcharmer

all these naked gods, how scandalous <3

Metalpiratequeen

They're gods. All they do is fight and have sex anyway.

Deceitfulcharmer

...you have a very good pointwhy not do both at once and save time?

Metalpiratequeen

(Normal verse: Gravitas and Lazarette have a ton of sex. Godformer au: Gravitas and Lazarette have a ton of sex. Only now with bestiality)

Vxtum

Horse cock

Well, not really. Maybe I should still give him his double-cock. Sounds like a god-thing. So fertile he's got two

Decetifulcharmer

yes, give him the double dick

Metalpiratequeen

Well, fish don't really have holes, so they're kinda at a crossroad here. Unless she can also have human legs.

OMG XD

Vxtum

lmao

Metalpiratequeen

My poor girl. Gravitas could only frack her valve as a robot, but now he can actually double penetrate her xD

Vxtum

"CHANGE TO YOUR HUMAN FORM!"

"NO, YOU CHANGE TO SOMETHING ELSE!"

"HOW CAN WE MATE IF WE'RE INCOMPATIBLE? I AM NOT DRY HUMPING YOU, WOMAN."

Metalpiratequeen

LMAO

Already married.

Swordintheswarm

Omfg xD

Vxtum

Everyone hears the argument and just rolls their eyes. Another day as all-powerful gods; another fight between two vastly proud deities, refusing to change form for the other as they try to figure out a solution to have sex

Deceitfulcharmer

-Megatron sits and waits for it to turn into a war-

Vxtum

lmao

So he can come charging it, naked and swords drawn (not just two in this case)

Deceitfulcharmer

His third sword, this time

Vxtum

-pictures Gravitas, mad at Lazarette, exiting a forest to the beach line, and just stomps his hooves and splashes and kicks at the water, knowing it's her domain-

Tailblinking

"Fish pee in you- all day! So... hmph"

Thanks Moana

Vxtum

Ahah!

http://drxgonfly.tumblr.com/post/158552991127/90377-early-rays-by-thomas

- for God!Gravitas

Deceitfulcharmer

Electron is friends with all birds, but her animal form would be a peregrine falcon <3

Aaaahh beautiful forest ;v;

Vxtum

that's awesomeI can even see her in the design of that bird (had to google that xD)

Metalpiratequeen

Beautiful sky goddess ;_;

LS is gonna pester her for a quest. (Or at the very least a free ride)

Deceitfulcharmer

It's an unintentional likeness but I run with it xD

please do <3

Swordintheswarm

Welp now I wanna godformer too

Metalpiratequeen

(Lazarette brings s tidal wave down on Gravitas)

Good!Please join us!

Swordintheswarm

Oh my god 8'D

What do I have to do, I mean I’m not really gonna do anything with it for the event but maybe to keep it as au

Unifyingspark

Clearcut should be the god/protector of orphaned or abandoned kids. Since he has that in his history, poor baby

Swordintheswarm

He's more of a knight than insect, so maybe god of honor instead. God of honor AND insects maybe xD

True LOL

Unifyingspark

honor would do, he is all about the honor

Swordintheswarm

He should take after traits of herbivore insects that fight each other for mates

Aka rhino and stag beetles, and earwigs. Maybe something else

In any case bugs known to 'duel for honor' :'D

Unifyingspark

*huge grin

Vxtum

// lmao.. Lazarette. Coughing, sputtering stagtaur, hair all over his face as he curses her name(edited)

Swordintheswarm

Lol, just this huge rhino beetle with earwig cerci, gilded in gold and jewels. Maybe give him a humanoid face but otherwise he's just a massive damn beetle pursuing evildoers....kind of like khepri from smite, actually

Unifyingspark

sounds gorgeous

Deceitfulcharmer

-gets home in an hour- -really wants to draw her godformers- ;-;

Swordintheswarm

https://images.discordapp.net/.eJwVw1EOwiAMANC7cAAqBTvYAfxXT0AYYTObJbT7Mt7d-JL3MefYzWxW1S4zwLJJ4bFYUR65VduY215z38QWPiCr5rIe9a0C6Mml6K8YIhGhCwEw4XT592miEBMS4P10j-fNvnoz3x__GiHw.5lbRwsqv-Aa3GwbsbG8upq2O3HM?width=728&height=456

Just add browns to that and earwig cerci, and pretty close

Vxtum

I love how the gods could so easily be interconnected and know one another (or know about one another)? CC and his insects in Gravitas' forests; the forest lining against Lazarette's oceans; Electron the air they breathe, the wind that carries in the rain from Lazaratte's seas to Gravitas' forests, to give nourishment for the insects (both as water and healthy foliage to eat) CC's insects are what keep the ecosystem of the forests thriving and healthy

Deceitfulcharmer

They also feed Electron's bird friends <3

Metalpiratequeen

Everything is connected. Hence why most gods are related. It would be nice that each one keeps an eye on the other. Like Electron flying over Lazarette’s domain, keeping watch. Or communicating which each domain’s animals just to hear what is going on

Vxtum

-grins- Always getting into disputes with one another, too. Domain rivalries

Unifyingspark

*throws tiny fairy Tettares around Gravitas' antlersthere's my contribution

Metalpiratequeen

“Your ocean is submerging my land!”

“Well, the ice is stealing my water!”

“Well, the ice is killing my insects!”

Deceitfulcharmer

Omg yes, if she flooded the forest or her trine mate set fire to it with her lightning ;-;

Swordintheswarm

Omg yes. Theres so much capacity for interaction and strife

Vxtum

oh my god, I'm sure CC and Gravitas would be so angry if a forest caught fire 'cause of a lightening strike.

Swordintheswarm

THEY WOULD

Vxtum

And then they'd be snarling at Electron, "IT WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HAD BROUGHT MORE RAIN FROM THE SEAS" Then they're off courting their Champions to then go to war and 'win' against the champions of the Electron and her trine mates. That's how they ultimately settle disputes. Bringing in mortals'cause they're immortal so nothing gets settled. In comes LS

Deceitfulcharmer

Megatron rubbing his hands in the distance. Yes good, he's been waiting for a good war

Vxtum

Oh man, that would awesome. When they all fucked up when they wake up the God of War

Metalpiratequeen

I'm pretty sure all Olympus meetings are just awkward family reunions where the father and mother god tell their kids to grow up...and as an opportunity to show off their new Demi-god offspring. "Look it's a nominator!” “Well, mine’s a Cyclops.” “Mine are daemon.” “Mines a kraken.”

Deceitfulcharmer

Gives help to whoever gives him the best offerings

Metalpiratequeen

(Now I can't stop imagining LS wielding a giant axe and running into batlle. "I will vanquish the evil naked war god and finally shed my human shell!!!”

Unifyingspark

Galvatron is proud. *hands her his axe* "You can borrow this for now but give it back or Cyclonus will be cross."// or cyclonus will gives me sucha frown

Metalpiratequeen

gladly accepts the battle axe..and instantly collapses under its weight.

Cyclonus of Tetrahex-Today at 5:47 PM

// Make me think of the comment I made a while back, now that it's so relevant to all this god stuff; Galvatron a war god, Scourge and Cyclonus his Valkyries

lmao Charl

This fantastic demigod everyone wants her as their champion. They see that fire in her

Unifyingspark

Galvatron winces and picks her up, "There, there, you will endure."

Metalpiratequeen

Meanwhile Maccadam, her deadbeat dad is seeing every possible future and drinking himself plastered. "Daughter. Please, stop."

Vxtum

I think Gravitas' trial to become his champion ultimate leads to them to hunt /him/; 'cause I wanted that in his bio. That he welcomes the bravest hunter coming to take his antlers as the trophy

Metalpiratequeen

*Intrigued mortal noises.*

No sweetie. No. There are easier trials.

Vxtum

lmaoI haven't decided if he would use his magic or not (like those who cheat often in the greek lore, making the trials /so/ much harder). I like to think he would put away his signalling horn and broadsword. He /makes/ himself the prey. But he keeps his dagger

Metalpiratequeen

LS gets her offering list out. "Alright then. Skinned fur from a successful hunt? Check. Vanilla scented candles. Check. Bowl or berries mixed with chunks of red meat from successful hunt? Check. Night if untamed passion and dominance?...where's auntie Lazarette when you need her?"

Vxtum

LMAO I can already hear her balking at the request. Not wanting to lie down with a flea-bitten, dirty man-deer

Metalpiratequeen

Well, not twice in one week. XD

Vxtum

LOLOH GOD, LOL

-tries to shut him up- He's just smirking and crossing his arms, a hoof pawing idly at the ground. "Back for more already?"

Metalpiratequeen

*throws a squid at him*

Vxtum

lmao

Metalpiratequeen

She loves him really.

Vxtum

-grins- That feeling is absolutely mutual

Metalpiratequeen

Oil Slick is gonna be a god of decay. :3 wearing his goat skull and cloaks. A satyr, and loving all things that rot and grow fungus.

Vxtum

Holy shit. All of the fantastic aestheticism I can already picture ;-; He's easily going to be the prettiest god to me

Unifyingspark

I was just gonna say, well Oil Slick hits all my spots, so I'm sold

Metalpiratequeen

Normal verse Oil Slick would greatly disapprove of his nonchalant to hygiene. His flower symbol is a mushroom (and he also might delve in hallucinations and acid trips xD) He's gonna love a potential war. So many bodies dropping to the floor. So much disease and death

Vxtum

http://babyanimalgifs.tumblr.com/post/158131529309/his-first-attempt-at-howling

If he enjoys everything decay, maybe one of his offerings could be the Corpse Flower xDLure that god down with the beautiful smell of nasty(edited)

Unifyingspark

Pup reminds me of baby Gravitasalso when I look at that puppy I think "cute" and then I think "pain in my ass"

Vxtum

LOL.. when he tries to roar for the first time in his beastmode?

Unifyingspark

he prolly has a lot of vocalizations though I believe his twin wins out on that. voidmonster who somehow is translated into fairy god.

Vxtum

-grins-His little fairy sister ;-;

Unifyingspark

God of nagging

Vxtum

LOLGravitas scowling and waving his hand at her, like she's a fly when she's nagging him

Metalpiratequeen

"Hey, listen. Hey, listen. Hey, listen."

Vxtum

lmao

Unifyingspark

Tiny glowing ball trying to talk to Lazarette, fish jumps out of water and eats her thinking she's a glowbug. Gravitas standing on the shore, all color leaves his face, "GAH!"

Vxtum

OH godGravitas, eyes wide, galloping frantically into the water. "Veritas!"

Explodes on Lazarette when he manages to capture the fish and free her; cuddling her close as he barks, "CONTROL YOUR BLOODTHIRSTY FAUNA!"

Unifyingspark

"Where does she live?" 

"On my head, pretty much."

Metalpiratequeen

Currently on the other side of the world, Lazarette projects a watery image of her head rising out from the ocean, "Get off my lawn."

Vxtum

LMAO

Unifyingspark

God she seriously could live on his head, he could hang a small lantern-style object from an antler like jewerly, when he has to do anything serious, takes her tiny house from him and hangs it on a tree, comes back for her later.

Vxtum

.. omgThat's perfect!

Unifyingspark

she's pretty much the forest gossip queen, collects all the dirt and going-ons, then brings all the chatter back to him

Swordintheswarm

Oh my god

Vxtum

He already has all kinds of other things thrown across his antlers. That would be /perfect/ ;-;"Who is talking shit about me today, sister? Whose people shall I starve today as punishment?"

Unifyingspark

xD I love it

Swordintheswarm

has a mental image of somebody putting festive flags or christmas tree-esque ornaments all over his antlers. There is even a star over his skull. Bloody murder is screamed. It's a bad time to be a mortal in the forest.

Vxtum

LMAO

that would be hilarious

Entire nearby village endures the god's wrath

[pinupgal]

Basic Information

Full Name: Madison Alice Proudmoore

Nickname(s): Maddie

Age: 19

Date of Birth: omg stop

Hometown: Lordaeron Capital, Lordaeron

Current Location: Dalaran

Ethnicity: Lordaeron - human

Nationality: Lordaeronian

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She / her

Orientation: Biromantic and bisexual

Religion: Voodoo (the Voodoo she practices is most similar to Louisiana Voodoo)

Political Affiliation: She doesn’t really appreciate the idea of living in a monarchy (unless she gains privileges from the system, as it was when she lived in Lordaeron lmao). She despises the unfair distribution of resources, the absolutism, etc. That said, she likes Varian and Anduin as people, and would be much more vocal about her political beliefs were she less fond of them.

Occupation: Voodoo Queen, Princess™

Living Arrangements: She has always lived very comfortably.

Language(s) Spoken: Common, Orcish, Thalassian (in process of learning)

Accent: Lordaeronian Common

Physical Appearance

Face Claim: Zoe Kravitz

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Russet

Height: 157 cm/5′1′’ (going by her face claim here, but may change, seeing how both her parents are giants)

Weight: 59 kilograms/120 pounds

Build: Reasonably healthy - not fit or skinny, necessarily. A little chubby.

Tattoos: None, currently

Piercings: (x.)

Clothing Style: She rarely wears armor, even to battles, because she’s Vain And ‘’’’’’Dumb’’’’’’’’’’ As Hell™ so her clothing is more casual and less suited for battle. Her concerns are more whether she looks good, rather than feels good or is safe. She can kind of get away with it though, because she rarely fights so?? The style itself is very versatile, so as to appeal to everyone - she likes pastels and very dark colors and she often dresses revealingly bc what is getting stabbed in the stomach bc you weren’t fit to fight in those clothes. The goal is to make people fall in love with her at first sight, basically. She spends a lot of time on her outfits, hair, and makeup and is very obsessed with maintaining her appearance.

Usual Expression: Approachable. She has a sort of perpetual smile going on, where the corners of her mouth are naturally tilted upwards and her eyes are naturally very bright and full of life.

Distinguishing Characteristics: Prominent forehead, full, thick brows and lashes, captivating eyes, large lips, freckles dusting her nose bridge, Jawline™, eerie resemblence to her mother, Jaina Proudmoore

Health

Physical Ailments: None

Neurological Conditions: I don’t really feel comfortable aligning her with a neurological condition just yet, due to a lack of knowledge over them, so currently none. May change.

Allergies: Dog fur, not being given enough attention tbh

Sleeping Habits: Up to the destruction of Theramore, like an infant. Very healthy yada yada. She had experienced frequent nightmares after Lordaeron was razed to the ground by Dad, but in due time, she developed her drug habits, which took care of that by providing her with dreamless nights. When Theramore was destroyed, however, she began having problems with not sleeping at all and then sleeping too much for days on end.

Eating Habits: She generally tries to abstain from eating too unhealthy, but she has very poor self control. She lives for the adoration of others and pleasures (and the destruction of her enemies), so she doesn’t hold herself back.

Exercise Habits: She does very basic stretching exercises for about 15 minutes before bed, after waking up and sometime during the day.

Emotional Stability: like a -3 tbh. I mean currently it’s not as bad but if she had to step out of her comfort zone (ex. experience isolation, fall in love etc.) she couldn’t handle it.

Sociability: Extremily social and extroverted. Can have a maximum of half an hour alone alone each day. Fears isolation to a point where she’d rather spend time with a complete stranger than alone. Has no real friends tho lol.

Body Temperature: Average, if not slightly above the norm

Addictions: Various drugs and alcohol, love, adoration of others

Drug Use: Frequent

Alcohol Use: Frequent

Personality

Label: the Puppet Master, the Vanity Girl, the Impulsive, the Romantic, the Lustful, the Heartbreaker, the Homewrecker, the Mermaid (not literally), the Magician, the Merciless, the Persuasive, the Provoker, the Performer, the Proficient, the Vain, (I wrote down all that I felt applied to her)

Positive Traits: Adventurous, sociable, romantic, generous, open - minded, friendly, easygoing, intuitive, empathetic, ambitious, charming, heroic, compassionate, brave

Negative Traits: Easily bored, lustful, overly emotional, manipulative, deceptive, liar, arrogant, bitchy, clingy, cunning, dishonest, flirtatious, irresponsible, reckless, inconsistent, unfaithful, impulsive, indecisive, obsessive, selfish, self-centred, self-indulgent, unreliable, unpredictable, untrustworthy, vain, vengful

Goals/Desires: To be loved by e v e r y o n e

Fears: Isolation, not being liked, losing her mother, looking ugly (ikr :((((), her father (:’((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((()

Hobbies: Magic, Voodoo, looking pretty, partying, fashion, talking to people, psychology

Habits: Chews her lips, twirls her hair, wrinkles her nose, licks her teeth, frequent drug and alcohol use

Favourites

Weather: Hot, without a cloud in the sky - night and day

Colour: Pink, White, Black, Red

Music: She has the most basic and also bizzare taste in music lmao. I am not sure what genres they have in Azeroth, but she’d like Pop, Hip Hop, R&B, Punk Rock and Indie Pop.

Movies: Romantic movies are her shit tbh. Thrillers as well

Sport: Tennis ?? idk

Beverage: She seems like a cognac type of gal

Food: Junk food - french fries, burgers, Pizza, hot dogs etc. Chocolate and ice cream as well.

Animal: Bunnies

Family

Father: ugh Arthas Menethil

Mother: Jaina Proudmoore

Sibling(s): none

Children: none

Pet(s): none

Family’s Financial Status: Wealthy

Extra

Zodiac Sign: Cancer

MBTI: ESFP

Enneagram: the Performer/the Romantic

Temperament: Sanguine

Hogwarts House: Gryffrindor/Slytherin

Moral Alignment: Chaotic Good

Primary Vice: Lust

Primary Virtue: Kindness

Element: Fire

[therebelwrites]

A Case Against Picky Eaters

My young nieces are picky eaters. 

Age aside, I’m pretty sure they’ve decided to be super picky simply because they can be; I’ve noticed that U.S. culture portrays it as being an admirable trait for females.. (Ever notice the sense of pride that dances behind the words of people who say, “You’re eating ____?! I don’t eat that. *smirk*)

I must admit that I am doing everything in my power to break every tween who comes in my presence of this very limiting tendency!

Of course it is important to be aware of what we are consuming; this is not about healthy eating habits, food allergies (which are truly unfortunate...) or the personal preferences of adults. (Read: This aint about you.)

What this IS about is my instilling a lifestyle of travel and FREEDOM into the impressionable minds of little Black girls.

But what does food have to do with freedom?

In a word: EVERYTHING.

The truth of the matter as I have personally discovered it is that failing to fully indulge in the varying fruits, adventures and experiences that come with the human existence (due to one’s arbitrary decision to abstain from trying things that are unfamiliar) is simply a life half-lived. Period.

Having traversed the world, I can say with absolute conviction that my being open to eating foreign foods has allowed me to truly connect with and understand cultures different from my own. How can you claim understanding of a culture if you’ve never eaten their staple dish? Eating the food of a culture is akin to learning their language. Do they have a penchant for spicy dishes? Are their traditional meals served hot or cold? Do they eat a lot of soft or crunchy foods?? This information tells you infinitely more about a culture than could reading information on the internet...

But that’s purely philosophical. On a practical level I can tell you that traveling the world with a list of foods that you refuse to sample is an inconvenience--at best. Upon leaving the comfortable confines of the U.S., we find that there are people who eat things that are vastly different from American cuisine. Having lived abroad with a picky eater, it was disheartening to watch as she turned away so many of one culture’s foods that the people literally stopped reaching out to her on a social level. Despite the fact that we were traveling as a duo, the culture’s exasperation with her incessant exclusions became obvious when waitresses stopped offering to take her order (”We already know what she wants; same-same!”) and after I began getting invited to parties that she wasn’t made aware of. (”We didn’t invite her because we already know that she doesn’t eat anything!”) This situation became so extreme that she eventually began to change her tune, for fear of missing out. The bottom line is that people LOVE their foods and the LOVE sharing and talking about them!

On a psychological level, picky eating can be a gateway drug to living a life of (perceived) comfort, predictability and mediocrity. If one goes through life rejecting every food that is available to them, then it is just a matter time before those habits bleed into one’s daily life. (I eat the same foods everyday, take the exact same route to work everyday, wear the exact same colors everyday, meet and hang around the exact same type of people everyday, ad nauseam.) At this level of predictability, people outside of your circle start to perceive you as either BORING or DIFFICULT. (And as an expert in all things social, I can tell you that nobody invites difficult people on wild adventures!) 

Until moving to one country, I had never eaten bugs. Yet there I was, diving into what looked and tasted like pecans, completely oblivious to the fact that my “pecans” had once crawled around. (LMAO!) 

And THAT is what I want for my nieces to experience: international travel as seamless as possible (being a Black female and traveling solo will come with their own inevitable struggles); the willingness to expand their knowledge of the world and its people; the ability to dive head-first into new experiences and at least TRY things that make them squirm; and, at above all, unfettered FREEDOM.

After all, “safe” people die, too!