#the wizarding world is a dumpster fire

[rampanttheories]

On the Order of the Phoenix

At some point in time between the third task in GoF and Harry getting picked up during the summer the Order of the Phoenix was called back into existence and subsequently moved into Grimmauld Place.

Presumably, Dumbledore vouched for Sirius' innocence around that time as otherwise I doubt Molly Weasley would allow her children in that place and Sirius would probably get attacked by three competent aurors at varying stages of their careers.

Speaking of which:

Three competent aurors with a drive to do good (as evident in their joining a militia against Riddle) learned of Sirius' innocence and wrongful incarceration. And not one of them did anything about the gross miscarriage of justice under their noses. Which sounds off to me.

We have a very young auror at the beginning of her career and a blood relation to Sirius, so overall with very limited influence on the topic in Tonks. A retired auror known to be close with Dumbledore, who is subject to a smear campaign at that point, and a known paranoid bastard in Mad-Eye Moody. And an auror established in his career in Kingsley Shaklebolt. In my eyes the most likely candidate to attempt something.

From what we see of Kingsley he is well respected in the Ministry and regarded by the Minister himself. Fudge brings him along to try and arrest Dumbledore later in the year which speaks to a certain level of social and political aptitute. Additional evidence in this direction are Kingsley being appointed magical bodyguard to the muggle PM during Scrimgeour's term and Kingsley's own election to Minister of Magic following the Battle of Hogwarts. So we can assume him to be well-connected and able to raise topics at opportune moments in a way accessible to his audience.

The Ministry at this point in time is having an awful time and has been for pretty exactly two years. Starting with Sirius' escape, which rattled faith in Azkaban, the dementors and the aurors specifically who failed to re-apprehend him. Continuing with the repeated issues with the dementors at Hogwarts. Continuing on further with the embarassment of the Quidditch World Cup being overrun by deatheaters. And finally, most recently, the desaster the Triwizard Tournament ended up being with the UK having two champions, audience-unfriendly tasks, a judge disappearing, a champion dying and finally the claims the magical world's latest terrorist was returning from the presumed dead. And of course, the initial escapee was still on the run. The Ministry was scrambling to at least appear in control of everything, both domestically and internationally. Hence the attempts to discredit Dumbledore and Harry as the other regional public figures and seize control over Hogwarts.

Kingsley could absolutely go up to the ambitious Scrimgeour, I doubt his aspirations were unknown, and suggest building a small task force to catch Sirius Black. After all, the Ministry and especially the Aurors needed a win in the public eye and with all the other things going on Black wouldn't expect it. So if he could maybe have access to all files pertaining Black? The potential for Fudge becoming the scapegoat for all the recent troubles and Scrimgeour emerging as a new and trusted leader based on achievements remains unsaid yet is understood by all.

Potentially Scrimgeour takes the idea and runs with it himself. After all, the Ministry is adamant about aurors not being actively needed at the moment, he has the time. And he reads every single document on the case Black. Including any trial records and evidence filed. Which is astonishingly little.

Concerningly little.

Promisingly little.

Especially since Fudge was personally involved in the case and has been publicly bragging about it (see PoA in the Three Broomsticks). So it would very naturally reflect badly especially on Fudge and his administration if Black's guilt were to be re-exmined. And Scrimgeour himself would not only be a fresh face, but one righting the wrongs of his predecessors. With the support of a notorious house if the only surviving bearer of the name Black owed him a favour. It would also neatly subvert the issue called Potter. He'd probably be very busy getting acclimated to a new godfather if custody was transferred from that muggle family. Fewer claims of a second coming of that bloody bastard. All the better. Smear campaigns against children were never a good look on anyone. Now to get that innocence established, weren't there statements Fudge ignored last year...

Kingsley is very happy to stand back and watch self-interest get the right thing done. Scrimgeour would remember who gave him the idea and the Order would gain a powerful supporter and fighter. Wins across the board in his book.

TL;DR: Kingsley not doing something about Sirius' innocence is bullshit. Especially not when at that point everybody was ready to see Fudge go and establishing Sirius as innocent would be a perfect thing for him to fall over. Political intrigue accidentally fixing problems ensues

[rampanttheories]

*builds your soap box into an entire stage with spotlights, a GOOD sound system and what have you*

That is such an excellent point on how inconsistent attitudes in the Harry Potter verse are. Talking diary? EVIL. Literally screaming books in the library? Yeah sure. Sentient surveillance map? Awesome.

The regularity of sentient portraits in strategic places also throws me off. Portraits can wander around into any and every frame or another painting of themselves AND hold a level of awareness that allows them to meaningfully interact with their real-life environment. You cannot tell me they are incapable of forming their own agendas and intentions.

The issue of spying portraits is raised in Deathly Hallows with Hermione having to blindfold and deafen the portrait of that one Black headmaster (Phineas Nigellus or something?). So it REALLY should be an issue. Why then are portraits so widely spread and allowed outside their frames? Limiting them to their own canvas seems to be possible if you look at Walburga Black’s screaming portrait.

On the point of Ginny having been done dirty. YES. REPEATEDLY. and then there are the movies, but let’s not even go there

But what truly irks me is how quickly her having been possessed and used to harm others is so quickly forgotten. By how caring the Weasleys (especially Arthur, but also Ron) are portrayed, it’s incredible to me that we don’t see explicit check-ins. Or Ron drawing Ginny into the trio’s shenanigans. All the Hogwarts age Weasleys would have to deal with the guilt of “one of us got regularly possessed and kidnapped for hours and we did. not. notice”.

That should leave serious traces on everybody involved. And it is a disservice to all of them, but especially Ginny, that the impact and repercussions of what happened to her were ignored that easily.

Saw a post on Reddit, and now I have feelings. Allow me to stand on this here soap box for a minute.

JKR has stated that Fred and George figured out the passphrase for the Maurader's Map by being coached through it by the map itself. This makes me all the more irritated with the line "Never trust anything if you can't tell where it keeps its brain" and I absolutely hate that she made Arthur Weasley say it. It's a moment completely out of character for him, a man who offers soft comfort and encouragement to his children every day. A man who only ever raised his voice once in 7 books when his sons took a prank too far and intentionally caused harm. There's no way he would berate his daughter, who is clearly torn up about what happened, for getting manipulated, especially not as the first words he speaks to her after she was minutes away from death.

Inconsistent world building leads to inconsistent characters. It's literally never addressed that the map is sentient, just like the fucking diary. Nope, we're just told talking diary = evil, and dumb Ginny should have known better; meanwhile, talking map = funny and brilliant piece of magic.

Fred and George fucked around with a parchment that coached them how to reveal enchantments on it and nothing happened to them. How the hell was an 11yo girl supposed to assume her talking diary was nefarious??? She lives in a literal world of magic where letters scream at you and mirrors offer encouragement and grooming tips. Why the fuck *wouldn't* a magical diary offer sympathy and soothing words, friendship and camaraderie??

I have to step off this soap box, I could ramble on forever, so I'll part with these words - JKR did Ginny dirty

[maxdibert]

Alright, let’s dive into the dumpster fire that the Marauders fandom has become last years and threw any sense of canon or character integrity out the window. Because let’s be real, the way this fandom has twisted the characters of the Marauders and the Death Eaters, all while turning Severus Snape into some one-note “creepy stalker,” is embarrassing. The fandom seems obsessed with scrubbing characters clean, romanticizing abusers, inventing tragic backstories for literal sociopaths, and piling up headcanons that turn a few lines in canon into fully fleshed-out, fanon-only OCs. And somehow, the only character who gets relentlessly dragged and demonized is Severus Snape—a character who has actual complexity and trauma. It’s hypocritical, classist, and downright gross.

Let’s start with Severus. Canon Snape is a guy who came from nothing: poor background, abusive father, dead-end town. He didn’t fit into the wizarding world, was relentlessly bullied by privileged Marauders, and still somehow managed to survive and make something of himself. But instead of acknowledging any of that, the fandom loves to reduce him to this “creepy obsessive” stereotype. People act like he spent every waking moment pining for Lily and never did anything else, as if that’s all his character is. Never mind the fact that he was actively trying to get out of a miserable life, or that he was, you know, bullied on a daily basis by James and Sirius, who had wealth, status, and freedom to do whatever they wanted. Nope, to the Marauders fandom, Snape is just the “weird stalker”—because acknowledging his struggles would mean admitting that their golden boys were actually kind of awful.

Meanwhile, the same people are out here bending over backward to make people like Barty Crouch Jr., Evan Rosier, and Regulus Black look like misunderstood anti-heroes. Let’s be clear: in canon, Barty Crouch Jr. was a straight-up torturer, Evan Rosier died laughing as he fought Aurors, and Regulus was a kid raised with a silver spoon who only started doubting Voldemort when he realized he’d been signed up as snake chow. But no, fanon has turned these guys into “tragic, complex Slytherins” who were “just trying to survive.” It’s like they’re desperate for some tortured prince narrative, so they invent personalities out of thin air to give us this dreamy aesthetic of sad, beautiful Death Eaters who “didn’t really want to be evil.” Apparently, actually following the text is too much to ask when you’ve got fanon fantasies to uphold.

Regulus Black, in particular, has become this absurd fanon martyr. In canon, Regulus was a kid indoctrinated into pureblood ideology, who joined the Death Eaters without much hesitation. Maybe he had a change of heart eventually, but it wasn’t out of some grand moral revelation; he just realized Voldemort’s loyalty was to himself alone. Yet, according to the current fandom, Regulus is some misunderstood hero who was only “pretending” to go along with Voldemort and was “forced” into his choices. They’ve built this tragic romance around a character who, in the actual books, doesn’t have even half this depth. This Regulus in fanon is practically an OC at this point, and people cling to this made-up version of him so hard that they’ll defend it like it’s canon. It’s hilarious, and it’s also just plain wrong.

And let’s talk about the Marauders themselves. In canon, James and Sirius were rich, spoiled brats who spent their school years bullying anyone who didn’t fit into their world. They were kids with every privilege, and they used it to torment people like Snape, who had nothing. But the Marauders’ fandom has turned them into these fluffy, “good-hearted” rebels who just made “a few mistakes.” I’m sorry, but nearly killing someone as a “prank” is a bit more than a mistake. Yet people will ignore that or wave it away as “boys will be boys” just to keep up the illusion that James and Sirius were lovable scamps. It’s maddening—and it’s also classist as hell. They erase all the ugly realities of the Marauders’ behavior and then turn around and judge Snape for being “obsessive” and “weird” when he was just trying to survive in a world stacked against him.

The classism in this fandom is so blatant it’s laughable. Snape is written off as creepy and unworthy of sympathy because he didn’t have a cushy upbringing or the social standing to make him likable. Meanwhile, characters like Barty and Regulus, who came from wealthy pureblood families, get excused and romanticized to no end. It’s like the fandom is saying, “Well, Snape deserved it because he was poor and awkward, but the rich kids? They’re just misunderstood.” It’s the kind of privilege blindness that makes you wonder if people actually read the books or if they’re just projecting their own biases onto the characters.

And let’s not forget the army of new OCs the Marauders fandom has invented just to justify this headcanon universe (Mary, Marlene, Dorcas, that that Pandora no one knows why suddenly appears here lol) You’ve got random “best friends” for Sirius, unnamed Slytherins who magically have no ties to pureblood supremacy, and love interests for Regulus who supposedly saw the “real” him. All these characters are based on nothing more than a few throwaway lines, yet people have fleshed them out to a level that they’re practically new characters in the universe. It’s like they need this entourage of made-up people to back up their version of the Marauders and Death Eaters because, without them, their headcanons would fall apart. And all of this, while they keep painting Snape as this creepy loner with no real friends or worth. The hypocrisy is unreal.

At the end of the day, the Marauders fandom has taken a bunch of characters with clear flaws and complexities and rewritten them into these sanitized, tortured souls while dumping all their scorn onto Snape. They’ll go out of their way to redeem a literal torturer like Barty Crouch Jr. or turn Regulus into some tragic hero, but they can’t bring themselves to even consider Snape’s trauma or the systematic abuse he endured. It’s all about maintaining this fantasy where their favorite characters are perfect and untouchable, even if it means twisting canon and ignoring the ugly truths about class, privilege, and abuse that is reflected into the story. And that, honestly, just makes the fandom look shallow, hypocritical, and completely disconnected from the reality.

[aeolianblues]

You all seemed to like the idea of the weekly poll to take a lesser-known song along with you as you scroll, so here comes the first of these new music Fridays!

Choose songs based on the 30-second Spotify snippets if you don’t know them (I’ve tried to make sure there’s something you won’t know), and if you like them they’re yours* to carry along on your trip!

*as in add them to your library etc., if you like them a lot come ask me and I’ll try and dig up a Bandcamp like for you, hee hee

Poll’s open for a week, so if you miss this one, I’ll hopefully be back with another one by next Friday!

Happy scrolling!

(Edit: yup I scheduled it too early, the poll has the wrong Connie Constance song aaaa. I do mean Kamikaze. Both are great songs)

[angelbambisworld]

I saw these cool orbs and knew I had to incorporate magical orbs into Glam Metal Heart somehow.

Trouble is, idk who to give them to. I have a few ideas tho...

1. Cinderella(Cuz yknow, fairy tale motifs and whatnot. Their whole villain backstory is that after Cinderella became inactive, they lost their magic powers and they were kinda angsty about that and their inability to be as big as other glam metal bands. And then in 2021, Jeff LaBar died and that just added more angst to the angsty emotional dumpster fire.

And then Traci Michaelz from Peppermint Creeps(I'll elaborate on his role in the story in another long post but TL;DR he came back from the dead because "GRRR I died before my time UGH all these other bands that came before and after me are alive and well RAWWWR I'll show them!" Something like that)shows up and is like "Now this looks like a job for me." and does some evil magic bullshit to help give Cinderella back their powers and bring Jeff LaBar back from the dead.

But Traci's magic(And the magical orb too, if I decide to give the band one)corrupts the band, turning them evil.

2. Michael Monroe(He's got crystal powers in this AU and the battle between him and Angel take place in an crystal-like setting, so I see no reason why he shouldn't have a very cool crystal ball of his own)

3. Steel Panther(They're basically evil wizards in this AU. I'm sure there's a ball joke I could make here.)

4. Vinnie Vincent(He's a pretty princess and he deserves all the pretty orbs in the world and a pretty little castle to lock Angel away in...Oops, I'm spoiling his chapter, aren't I?)

5. Blackie Lawless(As per my last update, I'm still keeping Blackie in my AU but he won't be joining the main cast. I think it'd be funny for him to watch them from his crystal ball and be like "Oooh I'm gonna destroy them oooh I'm so evil!" Or something dumb like that lol)

Tagging: @peanutbutter-doodles @ravenh37 @ladyshandioftheendless @spacedoutman @gh0stfl0ra

[catastrophic-crisis]

It's the February Steam Next Fest, so here's some potential game demos to check out this weekend!

Hollowbody | Press Kit

It's a Shipper's biggest fear. You're grounded in the exclusion zone, twenty miles of death and decay sealed off by the towering, suffocating walls erected after the collapse.

Hollowbody offers early 2000s-style survival horror, citing titles like Silent Hill 2 and 3, Rule of Rose, and Kuon as inspiration. As you ascend the apartment building to try and make contact with outside of the exclusion zone, the demo makes use of a blend of dynamic and fixed camera angles. This approach extends to combat, which strikes a nice balance between a more classic style in which you must work with the camera angles, striking fear in you when you can't quite see what is in the room with you, just offscreen, and making movement and fighting feel natural.

If you were craving horror of a particular period, Hollowbody strives to capture that with its visual presentation, and with a particular update to the demo, Hollowbody now has the option for tank controls.

Rusty's Retirement | Press Kit

For a more casual player, Rusty's Retirement is an idle-farming simulator that lives at the bottom of your screen while you work, watch, chat, or play. Automate your farm with the help of robots, and produce biofuel for them with the plants you grow.

The game includes a cameo from Haiku the Robot, as the two games share a creator. Haiku can be found helping your automated farm :)

Crow Country | Website

The year is 1990. It’s been two years since the mysterious disappearance of Edward Crow and the abrupt closure of his theme park, Crow Country. But your arrival has broken the silence, Mara Forest. If you want answers, you’ll have to venture deep into the darkness of Crow Country to find them…

Another throwback third person survival horror game with an armed female protagonist, Crow Country establishes an atmosphere switching between "tension and tranquillity", trying to steady your aim at the head of a shivering, approaching enemy and the warm glow of the fire in a save room. The game places an increased emphasis on puzzles and riddles, and as you try and manage your resources and slip past enemies (the game emphasizes that you don't have to defeat every enemy you come across, which could bring trouble later) you'll be able to absorb the whimsy and detail of every region and room.

If the creatures around every corner frighten you, or you'd just like to be able to absorb every detail of the theme park uninterrupted, the game offers an "Exploration Mode" difficulty for you to enjoy.

Trash of the Titans | itch.io

What if your turn-based fantasy tactics had an urban mammal element and was very, very purple?

Enter this roguelite to fight a rat gang over dumpsters, upgrade your skills, and play trash-eating Tetris to get stronger. Learn your abilities and how to utilize the antics you can pull against the waves of rats (large rats, small rats, caster rats summoning demon rats).

Your party is a Badger Barbarian with a charge attack that increases damage the further away she is, a Raccoon Rogue that uses stealth to rack up kills and move across the map, a Skunk Wizard that casts more than just poison spells, and a Possum Ranger with a ricochet that will stack up the RAT CRUE kills.

Find surprises like the fact that your Possum Ranger's "turrets" in fact refer to possum babies, and their ability to retreat along a path back to her upon defeat can be used to your advantage.

Magical Delicacy | Press Kit

A wholesome pixel art platformer. Cook magical delicacies from a vast collection of ingredients in your own shop. Explore an unfamiliar town and deliver tasty treats to the townsfolk. Learn new ways to traverse, discover secrets, and experience a unique witchy world.

If you like cute titles where you cook and manage a shop but craved a little more verticality, Magical Delicacy offers you a platformer with witches and a dash of intrigue. The game offers cooking, gardening, shop management, and double jumping your way across a surprisingly formatted town.

Hey, you're a witch with a red bow going out for deliveries. Sounds familiar.

[rosemaidenvixen]

Tales of Arcadia fic recs-Rise of the Titans fix it edition

This project's been a long time coming and I'm super happy to finish at last. Here we have a compilation of written responses to the complete dumpster fire that was supposed to be the franchise finale for Tales of Arcadia. Now this is not a comprehensive list by any means, just a collection of my personal favorites and what I consider the best fix-it takes of Rise of the Titans, broken down into several categories.

Bits and Pieces-Not full fix its, but some short little one shots and alternate takes that make the worst parts of of RotT easier to swallow.

Let’s Try That Again-Jim uses the Krohnisfere only to go back to earlier parts of RotT, not the entire franchise.

Instinct of Self-Preservation-Undoes Strickler's pointless death and Jim doesn't go back in time.

Remembering and Honoring a Hero-In a world where the Krohnisfere doesn't exist, the city of Arcadia gathers to remember the fallen hero, Toby Domalski.

Hope Overture-Canon compliant Stricklake, in the new timeline Barbara and Strickler are hit with memories they shouldn't rightly have.

Technically canon compliant-These fics don’t contradict any of the events of RotT, rather pick up where RotT left off with the new timeline of Toby being the Trollhunter. In general I'm not a fan of this particular type of fic. RotT was such a mess all around I don't like the idea of building on it, but the stories below are exceptions for a reason. Not only do these fics work as continuations, each of them is enjoyable on their own merits.

Challenging Destiny @pinkytoothlesso11-Picks up where canon left off, but with the twist of Jim and Toby sharing the amulet as co Trollhunters. From there it grows to include wizards, changelings, and Akiridions working together to bring back magic and create a better future for all. Not only is this story fantastic as it navigates the benefits and pitfalls of knowledge of the future, but the buildup to an eventual post-Masquerade world is set up so well. And this might be a continuation of canon but don't let that fool you, this story never misses an opportunity to throw well deserved shade at the source material.

Trollhunters: Becoming yeeterparker-A fun, fast paced romp that has the characters using their knowledge of the future to speedrun though obstacles while flipping the baddies off on the way. And not only are they able to turn some foes into friends, but troll Jim is back and he's here to stay. All the character interactions are so warm and caring, showing their strong bonds with each other in a way RotT wishes it did.

Atlas through the aftermath @atlasthroughtheaftermath-Jim went back in time, but from the very first morning in the past everything starts going wrong. The amulet was never supposed to choose Toby. Now Jim is forced to walk the line between truth and lies in order to use his knowledge of the future to ensure a better outcome. But as things drift further and further from the timeline he knows he finds himself adrift in uncharted waters. If you like fics that go into all the nitty gritty details with heartbreakingly realistic fight scenes and depictions of armor/sword fighting, this is the fic for you.

RotT fix its-Just like it says on the tin folks, fics that are complete rewrites of Rise of the Titans. But with better characterization, plot points that aren't hamfisted, no time travel retcon; and most importantly, no Steve mpreg.

Rise of the Titans-Secundo Ire @nickelwick-Part two in a series already containing a fabulous Wizards rewrite. Follows the same events of Rise of the Titans, only with the characters actually acting in character. But with the twist of someone else wielding Excalibur, and Jim going through a magical problem of his own. Not only do these changes make for a very interesting read but every character, even the minor ones, is well fleshed out and true to their established characters. All coming together to create an incredible franchise finale.

Fall of the Titans @purplerose244 This one's more a character study than anything else, but holy hell what a character study! This story goes through and analyzes each character's perspective and journey as they struggle against the titans, with plenty of Akiridion worldbuilding and a very interesting twist on the Arcane order's lore, and who gets Excalibur. Salty about how Jim-centric RotT was and the lack of compelling character arcs? Give this a read.

Tales of Arcadia: The Final Becoming @nikibogwater-Rather than focusing on Jim, the main arcs center on Douxie and Nari's relationship, but without sidelining any of the other characters. A rewrite that's short and sweet that never fails to deliver an epic finale with a satisfying conclusion.

The Eternal Day:Tales of Arcadia @rikalovesrice-An epic rewrite that really delivers on the promise to unite the worlds of trolls, aliens, and wizards. Along with some fascinating original lore and some killer redesigns of the Titans themselves (art on author's tumblr). Takes the bare bones of RotT and builds an incredible story on them. Brilliantly weaving the worlds of trolls, Akiridions, and wizards together all leading up to a final battle of epic magical proportions and a brave new world on the other side.

Entire series rewrites-Kind of a cheat category, which is why it's the largest, in that technically none of these fics are RotT rewrites. They're au takes on canon, and many of them were well in progress before RotT was released. Some haven't been updated in a while and some are on full blown hiatus, but they're all worth a read and all have been confirmed by the authors that they will be concluding differently than RotT does.

Becoming the Mask @magic-and-moonlit-wings-Possibly one of the most well known fics in the TOA fandom, and for darn good reason. Starts at the very beginning of Trollhunters with the premise, what if Jim was a changeling all along? Not a half-changeling or a sleeper agent, but a full blown self aware member of the Janus Order. An excellent highly detailed read, juggles a large cast of complex characters, and subtly addresses plot holes as they come along with care and attention.

What the Night Brings @blund3r-bust3r-When Jim has a chance encounter with a creature of the night he barely escapes with his life. Now less than human himself, he's introduced to a vast world below his feet full of danger and wonder, and sets churning gears that have been spinning for centuries. A wonderfully dark, fantastical au that stays true to a lot of existing TOA lore while still being very much its own story.

Sunshine through the Clouds aka shameless self promotion @rockymaidenvixen-Through events neither fated nor accidental, at five years old Jim Lake starts transforming into a troll with each sunset, and back into a human at sunrise. An ability both a gift and a curse that he carries with him through his childhood into adolescence. Changing nothing and everything once he's chosen as the Trollhunter (more about this au under the tag "sunshine au" on my blog).

Tulips of Time @avirxy-Starts with the events of Wizards, but with two major twists. Toby falls through the time rift with the rest of the gang, and Claire's the one with a shard of evil in her heart. Really this story does the trio's characters justice in a way Wizards wishes it did. The trio struggles to make their way in Camelot and find their way back to the future, but medieval Camelot is a harsh time for trolls and humans alike, with the line between good and evil getting blurrier by the day. And their greatest threat may just come from within.

A Brief Reliving of Troll Lore @i-am-gun-robot-This one's just getting started, and hasn't been updated in a long time, but is definitely worth a read. Did you enjoy Wizards but hate what it did for the overall TOA continuity? Then this is the fic for you. A very different take on Camelot of the past, with worldbuilding that can be dark, but is so very rich and nuanced.

Blue Moon Rising @tunafishprincess-On indefinate hiatus, but definitely worth a read. A half changeling Jim au with a dark twist. What if Jim was stolen from Barbara and found by the Janus order, and raised by the top changeling himself under the new name Atlas. Atlas though his fate was certain, but then on his first real mission a certain amulet calls a hauntingly familiar name.

Self Determination @appendingfic-A completed series rewrite that diverges from canon very early on. It starts with the premise, what if the Trollhunter was always human? Spinning out and crossing over with multiple other properties colliding on an epic scale. To say any more would spoil some of the truly earth shattering twists and turns this story has going for it. For those put off by all the crossovers this is a Tales of Arcadia story more than anything else, and you can still follow along and get fully immersed without knowing anything about the other properties tied into it.

You can check out my original TOA fanfic rec list here, and @feather-dancer has made several much more comprehensive fic rec lists all compiled here.

[dark-elf-writes]

WHEEZE!!!

I didn't even think about how they'd react to the moving paintings bits!!! That would be a dumpster fire!! LMAO

OI!! WHAT IF GARY WAS A DESCENDANT OF THAT SQUIB FROM THE BLACK FAMILY!! MARIUS OR SOMETHING!! HE COULD BE A METAMORPHMAGUS!!!

AMKDNSKSJSJS

I was already planning on Garry being Old Money Rich in the muggle world both because I think it would be very fully for him to be the kind of guy that doesn’t look rich but is obnoxiously wealthy and to give him a reason for how he is able to adopt Harry at like… max 20 years old, but him being Old Money Rich because he is a Black family squib is so much funnier AND it gives him a foot in the door to Wizard Politics where he would cause so much chaos tbh.

[fictitiousfanfics]

Selfarious fic Selfarious fic pleaseeeeee

thine art a fan of thee classics... yeeess.... yees... i shalleth oblidge! I shall move the stars and the planets

A character-selection x nefarious wizard story! now including fluff Short story

I am evil, horrendous and mischievous... some say... im quite... nefarious but still... through all of my loud proclaims and evil shenanigans. he had stuck with me. Even played along, enjoying it just as much as I did. He was everything I could've asked for and more... So that is why I'm at the door, dressed as formally as I can whilst holding a bouquet of canniblistic flowers that drooled. never before have I been so nervous, but it made the outside feel 10 degrees hotter. It was night. fixing my wizard robe I taped a flower onto for presentability, I tap my foot anxiously against the floor. minute felt like hours. thoughts ran wild in my head. What if he doesnt think I look good. what if I make even more of a fool of myself and he ends up leaving me for such things But all of those stop. taking a deep breath I figure... What's there to be nervous of... im hot as fuck! Then, He comes out. Dressed in a nice casual clothing that dresses all his curves. fitting snuggly around his torso and waist. A small Flower tucked in the pocket of his shirt. He's perfect "You don't look to bad.." select muttered somewhat bashfully. "youuu look like the main course of dinner tonight" I retort just to make him blush. It works. Seeing selects face flush red makes it all worth it. "w-whatever..." select sputtered out half hazardly. "well my dear-" I present the bouquet of flowers that chomp and snap at him but never truly touch him. only I can do that. Select smiles. thats what im after... the smile he has. He took the bouquet and went inside to put it in a vase before coming back out. "where are we going first...?" he questions with intrigue. I pull him close by the Hips, peppering a few light kisses on his cheek. "Dumpster fire, They have the best foods my love" I whisper to him sweetly. Select turns red once more but doesn't stop my advances. "ooorrrr mmaybe we could star gaze...?" he offers up shyly. I raise a brow inquisitively. "Hm, Not a bad idea. But I'd rather gaze at you~" yet again flirting with the already flustered love of mine. Select seemingly buries his head into my shoulder. I wrap my arms around him slowly rubbing his back and feeling the marks I had done on him. "My love... You know I'll make sure nothing bad happens to you right..?" My voice became a bit quieter in tone. unusual for me. Select faces me. "y-yeah...?" "meaning Nothing in this world will stop me from loving you" I coo warmly. "yeah yeah-... i'd make time stop for you..." select fumbled out quietly. "I'd move the Stars and planets for you" I purr out before picking select up and spinning him around. my voice returning to its loud state. "You are far to good of a subject to work on!" I joke teasingly Select laughs and holds onto me. his voice echoing in my heart which skips a few beats... probably because of all the weird shit i do. but i'll chalk it up to my love for him. That night we ended up staying home. sitting on the rooftop and watching the stars. comets going by as if they were in a hurry to get to somewhere. but we.... we had eternity in this moment. the end

[ladywildwood]

My D&D Campaigns

Since I'll likely most definitely be posting about my D&D campaigns and characters a fair bit, I figured I'd throw a post together about them so that anyone who decides this dumpster fire of a blog is worth reading has a clue what I'm going on (and on) about.

So here we go! Fair warning, some spoilers ahead for two official modules.

Curse of Strahd / Nimalia Nimalia, a 200+ Wood Elf Druid (Circle of Stars). Her clan has been at odds with the town of Daggerford forever, so she has to suck it up and make nice when a bunch of human and elvish kids go missing. She meets the other PCs at the temple, they agree to help her investigate a lead, and it's been all downhill from there.

(art by necromandi on IG)

Since coming to Barovia, Nim has been nearly killed several times (one which earned her the attention of a Dark Power known as the Evening Glory), found out another PC, Theodora, is her great-great-granddaughter, boned Rahadin several times, and been turned into a werewolf. I also recently found out that Ismark is the reincarnation of her human husband that she abandoned forever ago. He and their daughter tried to find her and wound up trapped in Barovia. Who knows if Nim will ever figure this out though because she gave up the memory of him in order to reconsecrate one of the fanes. So that's absolutely heart-breaking.

We started in December of 2021 and are closing in on the finale (maybe. we do a lot of roleplaying - on more than one occasion we spent an entire session in one room)!

(art by NoGlory on YCH.commishes)

Descent Into Avernus / Teya > Kallan > Tyshara > Kallan again Technically I had three characters throughout this campaign, but two of them were the same (sort of), and those are the two I'm going to gush about most. My Divination Wizard, Tyshara, might get an honorable mention here and there, but this was not the campaign for her. We tried, girlie.

I started the campaign with Teya Amell, an early twenties Aasimar Paladin of Ilmater. Her family is part of the nobility of Baldur's Gate, and her father spent her whole life leveraging the fact that she's angelic to Get Places. She was a high-ranking member of the city's guard (because of her family name, not actual ability). She died during a fight in the secret sewer shrine? to the Dead Three, and that's how Kallan was brought into the game. Kallan's soul was forced into Teya's body by Bane. Kallan has no memories of a life before joining Teya and Feels Bad about stealing her body.

(art by anotherliz.art on IG)

She died outside the gates of the High Hall in Hellturel (stabbed by her Not Boyfriend, another PC, that had been charmed by a scary red lady), which is how Tyshara got thrown into the mix, but before that she had a lot of conflicted feelings about things. She even went to Teya's funeral! Towards the end of the campaign she was brought back by Krull, a tortle cleric of Tiamat, and allowed to finish the quest with the party under the agreement that she would then serve Tiamat for the rest of her life. Joke's on him though because Bane overrules Tiamat and he's got dibs on her soul. We just finished this campaign, so I'll probably have a whole big write up about it at some point.

We actually just finished this campaign after a little over two years, but I still fully plan on talking about it.

Unnamed Homebrew Campaign / Primrose My Monday night group is abandoning official modules and heading into our DM's homebrew world! I'm waiting until our DM gives us the player primer he's working on to figure out more of the details, BUT my character is a Primrose (real name currently Karisha Peveki but may change depending on if it's lore-friendly) a late 20's Tiefling Bard who's incredibly shy and anxious. She is an accomplished poet with a reverse pseudonym - she first published under her real name, wanting to prove herself to her family, but when she Made It she realized she absolutely does not want the attention (mostly), so she adopted the name Primrose. She also likes to dive into her cups.

We'll be starting this campaign in early November!

I don't have any art of her yet, but here's her HF mini!

[strazcenter]

Producer’s Brush With Broadway Led to Record-Breaking Success

The Wiz was a Broadway smash, a retelling of The Wizard of Oz with an African-American cast and P.O.V. It had a four-year run, won a shelf-full of Tonys® and introduced the world to Stephanie Mills. The film version was a dumpster fire, swapping the musical’s book for trendy psychobabble, and replacing Mills (17 when The Wiz premiered on Broadway) with 33-year-old Diana Ross. Out of this…

[echotheandroidneko]

I've been thinking a lot about game design in TTRPG's, speciifcally in everyone's favourite dumpster fire 5e, and I've come to the realization that I kinda fucking hate ability scores. Or at least, I hate how 5e does ability scores.

So everyone knows about the martial/caster debate. It's literally been going on since D&D was a thing. Linear Fighter, Quadratic Wizard etc. etc. etc. And sure, spellcasting is incredibly potent. No doubt about that. The fact that you get a class feature that is actuall 16-20 class features in a trenchcoat by the time you're done levelling to 20 while the martials are entirely reliant on their GM for even a modicum of that kind of power by getting magic items is fucking bullshit and everyone knows iot. Buuuut, the thing I see talked about much less in the space is how fucking shafted martials are due to their required ability scores.

Take the skill list in 5e. There are 18 mainline skills in the game. 4 of them use physical ability scores. Three of them are DEX based and one of those is can almost be an outright replacement for the one that uses STR (GM dependant). Add to the fact that martials have a much higher requirement for CON, an ability score that doesn't have any fucking skills attached to it, and you begin to see exactly how fucked martials truley are.

Because the thing is, when I sit down at the table, what I would like for my character to do is have impact. Not just in combat, but on the world as a whole. I'd like from a moment to moment snapshot to have a character that is meaningfully able to contribute in a way that isn't just being a background character granting someone else the help aciton. For spellcasters, they get to do this all of the time. With good spell choices and skills, they're impactful both in and out of combat. They're capable of dishing out comparable damage to a martial and/or controlling the fight to guarentee a strategic victory while also being able to have good chances at succeeding the checks neccessary to progress out of combat (social, information gathering, navigation, etc) but because martials have to invest in STR, DEX and CON in order to be good at the things their class is supposed to be good at, under a standard array/PB they're just much, much worse at everything that doesn't involve hitting things than a spellcaster is.

So, if you're after the fantasy of being a character that uses a sword and doesn't use magic, you're also having to accept the fact that you'll be second fiddle to whatever Bard/Wizard/Sorcerer/Warlock decides to show up if they know even the bare minimum of how to get the most out of their class. Anyway, tl;dr, Rogue is the only non-caster class thats viable for both in and out of combat and Blades in the Dark is a much more elegant solution to how skills work. Or bring back skill ranks, my beloved.

[rosemaidenvixen]

Are there any major changes to canon you think you'll make in the sunshine au, other than the obvious? I've seen you talk about things you didn't like about wizards, and was curious if that meant you were gonna tweak it for the sake of the au

Oh I am definitely going to be doing a lot of tweaking to canon for the sunshine au.

As people have probably guessed already, Mary and Darci will be included in team Trollhunters from day one, and Barbara will be in the know from the start as well. Another major thing is that Douxie will join the main cast during the equivalent of TH season 3 and will be heavily involved in the battle of the eternal night. How the TH crew gets introduced to the Tarron siblings will also happen a little bit differently (Steve finds himself sworn to secrecy by two different groups and is very conflicted before he convinces them to talk to each other).

Then we get to the things I'm changing for salt related reasons...

First off the slaughter of the Janus order won't be just a thing that happens and is immediately forgotten about. The same with changelings in general; the beginnings of gradual acceptance of changelings into mainstream troll society is going to become a big plot point.

For the most part 3Below season 1 will be untouched, but for season 2 I'm planning on unkinking a lot of the major inconsistencies that were introduced (Krel needed to scavenge technology for weeks to build a Daxial array but can MacGyver together a wormhole generator with spare parts? No way. Kubritz's motivations changing on a whim based on what the plot demands? Fuck that.)

Speaking of inconsistencies, while the basic plot for Wizards will stay the same, the gang going back in time to Camelot and to make sure the battle of Kilahead goes as planned, I'm going to tweak events to actually keep a consistent continuity between the events of TH and Wizards. For starters, Merlin gave the amulet to the trolls several thousand years earlier, meaning Deya wasn't the first, and their trip back in time will be foreshadowed and built up for a long time leading up to it. Also Jim's transformation won't be undone, he'll remain a shifting halftroll permanently.

And for RotT I'm going to do what I'm doing to Wizards time a thousand. The Arcane order will actually be built up and foreshadowed as antagonists, that god-awful Steve mp//reg plot will not happen, all the characters and their individual arcs will line up with their journey to this point (no BS "Am I still the Trollhunter without the amulet") and when I say characters I mean characters, plural. Jim is a hero but he's not the hero, they're a team and each character will be given equivalent attention.

And most importantly there will be no time travel retcon ending. One of the major themes running through this series is that the world is rarely broken down into black and white options, we just have to choose the choices who's consequences we're able to live with. And I'm f*****g sticking to that. The group's victory will be hard won and bittersweet, not without sacrifice, but in the end they'll create a better world for both the mundane and the magical.

Sorry if I sound so salty I love Tales of Arcadia but it has some deep flaws especially with that dumpster fire movie.

[surfingpichu]

For context for anyone who doesn't understand what this is about:

Wizards of the Coast is celebrating the 30th anniversary of their TCG, Magic the Gathering. Because it's been around so long MTG has a lot of cards that have been out of print for decades now and are considered really rare and valuable (Think $30k+ valuable. These cards are wild)

Now a lot of these cards, because they were printed so early on are also really REALLY powerful because they were printed before a lot of balancing was done on the game mechanics. Enough that people would love to be able to play with them, but getting your hands on one means paying a pretty huge.

Factor in now the Reserve List, which is basically a promise Wizards of the Coast has made to Never Ever Ever reprint cards of a certain value from a certain amount of time back and you have basically locked in the value of these cards in perpetuity. People buy them to speculate and their value tends to only increase with time since there is a guarantee that these are the only copies of these cards in existence.

Enter Magic 30th: A booster set filled with proxy cards with altered backs and modern art that includes ALL the cards from the very first set of Magic in its print run. That means for the first time in 30 years you too can open a pack and pull a Black Lotus (our $30k+ supercard). The only catch is that since these cards have an altered back they are not tournament legal, so you can't bring them to an official tournament and play with them. They're essentially official proxy.

This on its face doesn't seem like a bad thing. So now casual players can open a pack and pull out one of these power cards, just like they could in 1992. As long as your playgroup is cool with it you can probably still play with it, as long as you're not going to an official tournament at least. For the casual player this is seems like a great deal.

Until you find out that the price of a box of Four Packs is going for $999 retail through Wizard's own site.

That is $250 for a 16 card booster pack!!!

And it's not even guaranteed you'll get one of the $30,000 power cards. There are other cards in the alpha set that are not on the reserve list at all, either because they Suck or because the game has moved on and changed so much that they suck NOW. So you could pay $1000 and open cards worth a collective $1.50.

So pretty much everybody is pissed about Magic 30th. Casual players are turned off by the high price point. Collectors and investors are pissed because in reprinting the cards (even as proxies) its caused the value of ALL reserve list cards to take a hit. Game stores are pissed because instead of getting the opportunity to buy these boxes and sell them to their customers, they've been each sent just one box for free as a "Thank You" and then summarily shut out of buying any more product at all to sell. Literally No One liked that.

So these last few weeks have been a mess in Magic world because of this. People are selling their collections of old cards en masse because they don't know how these reprints will effect the market. Hasbro's stock has taken a dive off the edge of the Earth. And pretty much everyone who cares about the game is up in arms about this release.

So this was the fallout of release day. The window to buy these was open for only about 30 minutes before Wizards shuttered it with an "out of stock " message. But their announcement doesn't say they sold out, just that the sale of them has concluded.

So who knows what this means tbh. But yeah, that's the dumpster fire we're working with

Tl;dr- Wizards released a box of 4 booster packs filled with unplayable cards for $1000. Can't figure out why everyone is mad about it. Get called out on Twitter for being greedy bastards.

Magic 30 is for the fans!

[rampanttheories]

What would change if the DMLE was in any way competent?

A likely incomplete and ever expanding list.

Hagrid would not be considered a criminal. He might still be expelled for keeping a dangerous illegal pet in his dorm. But Myrtle clearly did not die from an acromantula bite

the obvious: Sirius doesn’t get framed for long. Priori Incantatem on his wand and at least the murder charge is gone

in Goblet of Fire, even if the ministry didn’t believe Voldemort was back, two students have been kidnapped and one returned dead. That should garner a more detailed investigation, which leads to Death Eaters arrested left and right

students being petrified?????? investigation please????

Quirrell’s death and possession lead to an early discovery of Voldemort’s continued existence

tbc

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

I really like Tequila from Lee's world. What would that weird Tom/Ginny combination be like if Lee had never returned to the HP universe? Would they become more like October Tom? Or something else entirely? How would Tequila handle the mad creature their main soul has become?

Oh man, you give Tequila far more credit than I do.

For simplicity’s sake, I’ll refer to Tequila below as “he”, mostly because it’s really Wizard Trotsky at the wheel in “Minato Namikaze and the Destroyer of Worlds”. He just happens to rock Ginny Weasley’s adolescent body.

Tequila’s a hot mess, a dumpster fire, and it doesn’t matter if he’s pining after Tom Riddle’s childhood friend Ellie Potter, if Tom is stuck in a diary only to be released to confront Ellie/Harry Potter, or if he’s stuck in a diary and released only to find out Ellie Potter isn’t even there. Tequila will always be a mess.

Let’s say Lee never showed back up. Tequila’s life would be one of hilarity and woe.

Wizard Trotsky likely would have continued masquerading as Ginny, i.e. being Tequila, out of a sheer lack of ability to answer the question “what the hell do I do now?” That’s why he stuck around as Ginny in the first place. 

So Tequila goes to Hogwarts, milks “I’m an invalid, woe is me, I can’t go to class cough cough I am traumatized by snakes on planes” excuse for as long as he can get away with it (which is forever) and ends up with decent marks (having gone through Hogwarts twice now) but not nearly as good as he once had or, say, Hermione has because he’s gotten profoundly lazy. Sadly, this still puts him ahead of 50% of Hogwarts’ population.

Similarly, Tequila’s effort at impersonating Ginny Weasley is half-assed at best. However, because Ginny went through an incredibly traumatic experience, no one gives him shit for it or wonders “Hey, is this really Ginny?” Due to this, Tequila’s soul is dying inside even more than usual. He doesn’t even have to try around these assholes. He could walk up to the wall, spray paint “I am Voldemort, bitch!” and they’d probably just try to console him.

Lee showing back up out of the ether is the most exciting that has ever happened to Tequila possibly ever. It’d be better if Lee wanted to do epic ninja battle, so Tequila could prove how cool and not useless he is and defeat his prophesied enemy, but even Lee just being in the castle, insulting everybody, and lighting all of Hagrid’s pets on fire is amazing.

But anyways, Lee never shows up.

Tequila gets a pretty good idea of who the original Death Eaters were thanks to gossip but there’s not much he can do about it as all the Death Eaters (aside from the ones in prison) have disavowed Voldemort out of self preservation. His showing up as an adolescent schoolgirl just doesn’t have the same effect  and it’d be a little hard to prove who he is given that he doesn’t even really know these people.

Not to mention that Voldemort was this distant thing in the future for him and he has no idea how to actually go about doing any of that. The actual Voldemort has many years experience on him in recruiting, guerilla warfare, logistics, etc. 

Tom Riddle was in dueling club one time, it was great, he learned things.

So Tequila likely wiffle waffles a lot, telling himself, “One day, I’m going to run out on all these assholes, return as Voldemort, and then Granger will cry” only to sigh and realize it’s far more realistic to start from fresh. Besides, why just try to redo what his other half did, he wants to be his own person (a better more competent version! He won’t get blown up by any toddlers!) and that means finding his own cause. And if he can make Dumbledore’s Order his Order, then great.

Not to mention there’s the disturbing possibility that Voldemort’s not quite dead. Now, Tequila can give this credence as being the horcrux, he knows that Voldemort’s not really dead. He’s amazed Voldemort managed to blow himself up with a baby, amazed, embarrassed, and offended, but Tequila isn’t willing to completely throw out the idea that Voldemort’s this evil wraith who occasionally possesses muggle studies professors. Not exactly on Tom Riddle’s bucket list, but clearly, the original screwed up everything and doesn’t even deserve Tequila’s respect.

(Tequila went through a brief, extremely brief, period of wondering if he should seek out the main soul and help him return it to power. Being the horcrux, technically, he should probably serve the original soul.

Then he remembered that asshole had one job, only one job, and he ruined it. Tequila was shoved into a diary for nothing and look what happened. Now there’s a national Harry Potter Day. Clearly, the wrong half of Tom Riddle was put out of commission and if you want it done right you’ve got to do it yourself.)

So, in 1994 without Lee’s involvement, Voldemort returns from the grave. Because I’m realistic, Neville probably dies. Sorry, Neville, you lived a good if short life and I’m sure you gave it the college try. Dumbledore falls into despair and “THE WORLD IS DOOMED!” mode now that all his even remotely prophesied children are MIA and immediately gets the Order of the Phoenix together.

Ginny, being thirteen at the time, isn’t allowed because that would be ridiculous. Despite it being ridiculous to include thirteen year olds, Tequila is pissed that he’ll have to wait another god knows how many years before Molly lets him do what he wants.

Offscreen Dumbledore probably goes through varying levels of extremely horrifying solutions to the Tom Riddle problem.

First, he probably goes horcrux hunting. Unfortunately for Dumbledore, in “Lily and the Art of Being Sisyphus” and “Minato Namikaze and the Destroyer of Worlds” there are only two horcruxes and only one was intentional. Tom had originally planned to make seven but the hangover from the first one was so mind breakingly awful he went “New plan, I will make one horcrux, and then I will think of something else”. He never really got around to thinking of anything else.

Dumbledore, however, doesn’t know this. So he dutifully collects memories, banks on Tom’s ridiculously romantic nature, and starts going to places of importance. Not to reveal too much, but Tom actually laid several traps around for those poking their nose around looking for his horcrux. Dumbledore steps into several of these with not so good results.

Given that one of the horcruxes is Ginny and the other is still stuck in Konoha without any access to magic, Dumbledore is 0 for 2.

More, given that only Neville Longbottom was prophesied to have the ability to defeat the dark lord either Dumbledore has to somehow resurrect Neville or else get himself a new Neville. Because I love terrible, but funny, things let’s say he does both and we get a round of Pet Semetary (sometimes, dead is better, Albus) and pulling in Harry Potters/Neville Longbottoms from other dimensions (but miraculously not Eru Lee somehow, which is great for her because she’s busy having a terrible time in the third shinobi war). 

Back to Lee for a bit and why Dumbledore’s first solution isn’t just to desperately try and find her.

First, she is completely off the map and has been for years. She isn’t even registering as “dead” or “in mortal peril” she’s just gone. Somehow finding her and hoping, miraculously, for her blowing up Voldemort a second time just isn’t on the table.

Second, Lee’s involvement in the prophecy is... a bit wonky. This has been noted a bit in “Lily and the Art of Being Sisyphus” but the prophecy in “Lily and the Art of Being Sisyphus” and “Minato Namikaze and the Destroyer of Worlds” actually explicitly does not refer to her in that it specifies a male child born at the end of July. This is because the universe is falling apart and we’re all doomed, doomed, doomed, but that’s a different story. Point being, especially in this Lee-less version, Albus has no idea what’s up with Lee but he’s putting his money on Neville. Poor, dead, Neville.

Tequila meanwhile gets to read news of how everything’s going to hell in the dumbest way he can imagine. Voldemort clearly came back wrong and missing a lot of brain cells, even with a body he keeps not taking over the ministry even though they’re practically begging him to do it, and everything he does is not only a) very embarrassing but b) it prevents Tequila from rising into power and becoming amazing.

Clearly, he must be stopped, there can only be one Lord of the Rings.

Well, destroying him completely means destroying Tequila first, and we can’t have that. So Tequila comes up with the only reasonable solution: they have to seal Voldemort’s evil spirit away in some magical artifact.

Tequila drops out of Hogwarts, goes adventuring for a few years, finds some exorcism sword or something and learns how to use it. Comes back and anticlimactically defeats Voldemort while everyone else was busy panicking and Hogwarts was being invaded or some nonsense.

Nobody, not even Tequila, knows how to handle Voldemort’s sudden and very anticlimactic defeat.

Then Tequila recovers and shouts “Weasley is our king!”

Tequila, probably eighteen around this point, is voted the youngest Minister of Magic ever. With Dumbledore dead, Tequila strongarms his way into taking over the Order of the Phoenix, and everything’s coming up Tom Riddle. 

Only then Tom Riddle has that terrible sense of deja vu as the, “What now?” question hovers in his brain. Once again, he has absolutely no answer. Tom is the dog who has caught the car.

Congratulations, Tom.

TL;DR: Without Lee, Tequila would probably end up dealing with the original Voldemort himself/herself. He’s still a mess, he’s learned nothing, and at the end just finds out that actually, he didn’t want to be in power, being in power is stupid.

All he figures out is that he has no idea what he wants.

On the plus side, at least Dumbledore’s dead.