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thedrarrylibrarian · 1 day

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When I first started Happy Hour, @crazybutgood made me the cutest origami mug that resembles the foamy butterbeer in my Happy Hour image. I had been so nervous to try something new and write recs instead of just do lists and seeing that someone had enjoyed my rec enough to sit and fold paper into art was really touching to me. Since then, our whole fandom has been privileged to enjoy this unique and creative art that @crazybutgood has contributed. It's a joy to invite her to Happy Hour to give her own rec.

Thank you to @thedrarrylibrarian for this opportunity and for thinking of me!

The fic I’d like to rec is A Christmas Miracle by @sleepstxtic (E, 39k)

Draco is a world-renowned Magi-Diagnostician and Harry is a Cursebreaking Healer, both working in St. Mungo's. They're not- quite-friends, not-quite-lovers, who argue at work and have sex on the weekends. And they're both fine with it, thank you very much. But when a mysterious attack in the hospital leaves Draco trapped in a coma, Harry must do all he can to save him. All the while, an inexplicable, deadly, children's illness is spreading through wizarding London. Oh, and there's some Time Magic thrown into the mix.

A Christmas Carol with a Drarry twist.

Though this 25 Days of Drarry fic is set during Christmas, it’s a perfect read for any season. @sleepstxtic (Kat) uses her own wonderful take on A Christmas Carol to weave together a gripping medical thriller with Draco racing against time to save Teddy, after himself going on a journey of self-reflection as he travels through time with his Ghosts of Christmas. The scenes Kat writes for the time-travel are as emotional and gripping as the suspenseful case in the present, as Draco, moved by his eye-opening experience, navigates his duty – and expressing his feelings for Harry. The characters’ (including great OCs) dynamics, personalities – especially Draco’s growth – and dialogues are deliberate, on point, and a delight to read. Plus, Kat gives an especially wonderful snark and demeanour to Draco that are not only reminiscent of her inspiration of House M.D., but is also uniquely him. Of course, Harry too has his own sassy moments thrown in with his softness towards Draco.

Why I especially rec this fic (apart from Kat's brilliant writing that I always love) is that by December 2023, I had been on-and-off and down about a lot of things, including fandom. Though I wasn't sure where I stood then, one thing I knew was that I could always count on Kat’s amazing stories cheering me up. This one came at a time when I appreciated anything to rely on as an escape and a treat, and adding it to my list of subscriptions to daily updating fics last winter was a joy. The anticipation and thrill of following a daily WIP is something else; I eagerly read as the story unfolded each day, especially mulling over what might happen next after each cliffhanger, which Kat is infuriatingly good at. Her story is a wonderful unique blend of concepts and feelings of despair, fear, hope, and love, gelling into a plot that'll definitely have you hooked. Whether you choose to savour a chapter a day in your free time, or treat yourself to a late-night binge, I hope you enjoy unravelling the mysteries of the puzzling illness, what happened to Draco, and his and Harry’s future.

❤️ As always, if you find a fic you enjoy, please leave the author a kudos or a comment! ❤️

#crazybutgood #happy hour #happy hour rec #happy hour guest rec #friday fic rec #happy hour guest fic rec #lots of love and happy friday

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tumblingxelian · 20 hours

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Trope - Disney Princess Syndrome

"Disney Princess Syndrome" is my personal name for the trope of a rich or powerful character portrayed as "Nice", "Good" or "Down to earth". Because they want to hang around "Normal/Real people" and want to be treated like a "Regular person" or otherwise does not think their phenomenal wealth makes them abnormal.

This trope/character concept is usually contrasted against another rich or powerful persons who flaunts their wealth intentionally, is aware they are rich and tends to be snooty, cocky or otherwise act in a manner that is more reflective of their phenomenal wealth.

Usually these characters are contrasted so that we like the former but hate the latter but weirdly… I often find myself either disliking both or liking the latter more. Largely cos they at least seem self aware of their circumstances and so come off as less frustratingly flippant or willfully ignorant.

Examples will be drawn from, Miraculous Ladybug.

I will largely avoid talking about how X character was raised, or trauma that might influence this behavior. But keep in mind people with bad home lives can often act out in ways that don't make them a "good" victim.

In ML, you have "Wants to be a normal boy" Adrien, "Wants to meet sincere people" Princes Ali, and "This is all so artificial" Musician Jagged Stone. They are contrasted against hotel heiress, Mayors daughter & smug about it Chloe.

Now:

Chloe's a brat, a jerk & a snob to be sure, however I still somehow find her less hypocritical or deluded than these other three because at least she seems aware of her circumstances and what they mean for her VS others. Jagged treats doing a small autograph session with the mayor like its some horrible imposition and he flips out at being expected to follow trends he deems artificial. But he also drags his literal assistant with him everywhere to manage his life, keeps a pet alligator on him at all times & can be extremely rude and demanding. But it never feels acknowledged in the same way as with Chloe, because he's 'real'. Prince Ali acts like its weird for people to try and charm or otherwise please him when assigned to give him a tour for a whole event about himself. He also seems to neglect what would be fairly typical greetings for someone of his class & position despite likely being taught them. This again ties into making him seem 'genuine' but comes off as just odd. Adrien balances it best by wanting his father to be less controlling and his father is indeed controlling. But he's also only bothered by Chloe, her parents or his fathers haughty behavior if it alienates him or people he wants to be friends with. He laughs it off or otherwise tends to ignore it with staff but is meant to be better.

This isn't to say a character 'can't' want these things, or find the trappings of wealth utterly unsatisfying. Especially children who are not themselves actually rich and exist at the whims of their parents who are often functionally immune to the law.

Its more an issue with how the trope tends to be executed. Both in terms of the "Disney Princess" who wants to be "Out there" having no self awareness of their wealth, or internal hypocrisy. With this being framed as more endearing than anything, despite often coming off as entitled or selfish by accident.

Or in how the rich jerk just ends up feeling more grounded, or accidentally becomes sympathetic because they are usually an antagonist. Thus meaning they not only have to lose, but usually are surrounded by people like themselves. Leaving the impression their behavior is less to do with having the money to get away with t and more born of mistreatment.

& that as they say is that.

#Meta #Text Post #Miraculous Ladybug #Disney Princess Syndrome

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tsams-confessions · 17 days

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People who, rather than claiming that Sun is suicidal and an alcoholic, WISH he was, infuriate me, it's as if they wish the character bad just because of his unpleasant adoration of cheap drama 😠

#sun and moon show #the sun and moon show #tsams #sams #tsams confession #< block this if you dont want to see these #mod 1blood #suicide cw #ask to tag #tbh the whole concept of sun being suicidal is incredibly uncomfortable for me #both for personal reasons and because mixing that topic with children's media just doesnt entirely sit right with me #totally just a me thing but! yeah

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cosmicwhoreo · 1 year

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Don't think I ever posted Ishtanul on here so uh- BEHOLD! A malevolent, eldritch entropy god that was fired (+mutilated) and got depression.

#Just kinda took the whole Lovecraftian “apathetic universe and gods” concept and just made it more human in a mental illness type sense #cuz depression'll do that too you #don't feel sorry for her tho. she deserved every bit of it #she's awful #basically if A.M and Glados had a somehow fleshy hate-baby #Ishtanul #original character #character development #character design #eldritch #doodles #Cosmic's children

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everyneji · 1 year

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What's your opinion on the Hyuga clan slavery aspect?

Well, I can't say I'm a fan, but I assume you're not so much asking if I think it's horrible but about the place it has in the narrative.

In text, the Hyūga system is only called a matter of 'main' and 'branch' families. This reflects many real life noble clans -- but in real life, cadet branches were not so rigidly restricted. If a bunch of people dropped dead, for example, a random cousin could end up inheriting a great deal of wealth and power, which we know is a no-go here:

What makes the Hyūga clan unique is that it's really more of a caste system. It's hereditary discrimination that sees them as inherently lesser because of the situation of their birth. Then we get into the slavery by the fact they are branded and are forced to assume a subservient role under threat of death or torture.

Why do they do this? That gets into more speculative territory. We have the generalized answer (people enjoy power and having a stratified social system allows them to better exploit that power in a way they feel creates 'order') and the in-text explanation from Hizashi:

Neji further explains to Naruto that the branch family are to "shield the main branch ... and never disobey them."

This comes down the real issue which is: the branch families may have always existed for reasons of clear inheritance, but the sealing practise (and the dominance of the main family it represents) can't be accepted at face value of 'protecting the family's techniques' -- and so we get into a chicken/egg thing about the function of oppression and the seal in the clan's hierarchy. In other words, what came first: the oppression, or the seal?

The sealing practise is illogical as we see it applied. After all, main family members become shinobi and go on missions without a protective detail of branch family members or a seal to protect their eyes. I discuss it more at length in this post here, but to sum my view up: I believe the branch family's duty is to take on the most dangerous or difficult work the village demands of their citizens so the clan can retain its honour, without risking people of the main family as often or as thoroughly.

So, in this more speculative territory that combines our real life explanation and the in-text explanation, the answer to "Why do they do this?" seems to be "Because the main family wants to feel powerful and important without doing any of the actual work, using the branch family as a prop and a resource."

Now, I wouldn't say their fears about their kekkei genkai being stolen aren't valid -- between them and the Uchiha, we see how desirable dōjutsu in particular are. This is where the second question of 'what came first' crops up again. Perhaps the seal started life as a genuine desire to protect their clan, but the whole 'brain melting' aspect make this suspicious. Neji's phrasing here is interesting:

You have to ask yourself, Does the the way the seal interact with their brain/eyes just naturally result in death and pain, but sealing the eyes on death was the only original purpose? Was it intended only as a killswitch (which could have a pragmatic purpose in wartime, if a battle was lost and an enemy nin was about to go for the eyes) and the torture was later discovered as a bonus perk? Was it developed for punishment and control and then they realized "Oh, the horrific brain frying can also kill if we push it far enough! Neat!" Were all of these applications discovered and/or developed together?

We don't know, but while in the first scenario you can see the seal existing outside a rigid oppressive structure, it only gets more telling from there. It's also telling that another person could ever even have the ability to activate or manipulate someone's seal.

My headcanon is that in the long warring eras before the villages were founded, the cadet branches were the vanguards of the Hyūga, and did the fighting while the main family hung back and handled things of a more political or financial nature -- like, Kishimoto doesn't really get into it, but there's a daimyō and a capital where he presumably lives and more going on in this world than just shinobi politics. We know that the warring countries hired shinobi clans to fight their wars for them, and that the Land of Fire was established as a political power well before the village:

Where were the Hyūga before the forming of Konoha? Who did they fight for? Who were their major enemies? How old is the sealing practise? We don't know any of this, but whatever the case, life was dangerous, and like most clans, they were likely either a militia or PMC. A lot of my theorized structure -- the idea of having 'forward forces' who are more expendable, accept orders without question, and who can conveniently have their most valuable secrets destroyed on death -- tracks with them being a militarized outfit.

Consider also that the kaiten is stated to be only taught to the heir of the clan. The idea that only the most important person in the clan would learn this incredibly useful defensive jutsu -- it suggests both that others are disposable, and that the clan head and heir need a panic button if an enemy ever did get too close. If it was purely about being a field ready combat technique, why keep it so secret? It's not like it's an incredible offensive power like the trigrams. The cadet branch and the kaiten are both shields, and that says a lot about how the primary concern of the Hyūga was not their clan head being some kind of ninja war god, but someone who stays protected.

This creates a divide between 'protecting the clan head' (i.e. the main family) and 'protecting the clan itself', despite some Hyūga main family members trying to link them:

Like, okay gramps, if protecting the Byakugan is so important, why don't all of you go get sealed right now?

It's interesting to consider that maybe once upon a time, everyone in the Hyūga family did have such a seal -- but regardless, the eventual evolution of its use to brand only part of the family tells us that it's about control. It's depressingly realistic to have a powerful social caste invent excuses to oppress another caste, and then when those of that lower caste become angry at this treatment, suddenly their resentment and potential for lashing out is also reason to need to control or suppress them.

Bringing this together, I would say my instinct is that the divide in 'main branch' and 'cadet branch' happened naturally to maintain the line of inheritance, but the oppressive caste system was a result of needing soldiers as vanguards while retaining a strong, protected core of the family. The seal was a wartime strategy to protect family secrets, but deliberately not given to every member of the family in order to reinforce the caste system and keep their soldiers in line -- that the Hyūga deliberately left themselves vulnerable as a whole just because that hierarchy of main family supremacy matters so much to them.

Neji, of course, challenges the main family's assumption of superiority: even Hiashi, who tells Hanabi "The Hyūga blood flows thicker in [Neji's] veins than anyone else's" is shocked by the great heights Neji has reached. Neji proves them wrong; Neji proves that the Hyūga family is weaker for the rigid hierarchy they have implemented.

It would have been nice to get some resolution for this clan beyond just "Don't worry, dead brother, Neji and Hinata are besties now 😊" -- in an ideal world there are reparations for the cadet members, but more realistically, I guess that Hiashi in his soft old age finally outlawed this practise and told everyone to deal with it and they were all riding high on Naruto TnJ peace juice post war so they were like "k."

I'll end this by saying that though we mostly all call it the 'Caged Bird seal', this isn't the name in the manga, only being using in any official respect in the anime. Saying it represents a 'caged bird' is Neji's view of it, and it's just so heartbreaking how he couches it in this poetic imagery. What can the caged bird do? It can't fly -- it can't break its bars -- but it can sing, sharing its pain with the world. This is, unsurprisingly, imagery you see a lot in writing by marginalized peoples. The bird sings until it can't anymore, or until it escapes (if escape from such oppressive social forces is even possible.)

Neji sees his treatment by the clan as an inevitability of fate, and fate is a cage, but I think once he came to feel more in control of his own destiny, he was likely able to more directly confront the real source of his pain. Or, at least, I think it makes for an interesting topic to write on ... the combination of 'the home as source of terror' and 'how do you reconcile your desire to be strong in the way of your family with your family's abusive treatment of you' and 'it's hard and demanding, to love the ones above you.' It's all interesting! I only wish the story of the Hyūga's internal oppression had a more concrete resolution.

Thank you for the question! ♥ I hope I answered the particular aspect you had in mind somewhere in this.

#not everyneji #neji hyuga #naruto meta #.i think the whole warring clan era w clans sacrificing members as pawns #.is also reinforced by the 'throwing children onto the battlefield' thing we see with senju and uchiha #.like this concept of vulnerable or exploited infantry

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beanghostprincess · 5 months

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So I have a Sanuso headcanon that won´t get out of my mind. (utterly your fault!) I think if they had a child Usopp wouldn´t care for the gender at all. Sanji is a bit different. A daughter would not be a problem, he would spoil her and treat her like a little princess. But he would have promblems with a son. It´s not that he would love him less! No, he would just constantly ask himself if he treats him right. On one hand he fears that he is to harsh (thanks to his own childhood with Judge), but he also grew up with Zeff and kicks were just there love language.

Usopp probably has to calm him down when he fears to hurt their son. He will get better and always show his chidren how much he loves them, It just takes time to get over his fears.

This is what I've been saying!! Honestly, I always say Sanuso would have either two daughters or a daughter and enby child because I physically cannot make Sanji go through that torture. Poor man. But if it were the case he would love his kid A LOT and he would just be scared af constantly of hurting him. But tbh I think he'd end up learning how to raise a boy and I think that if Sanuso ended up having one, it'd be the most respectful lil gentleman ever

#they're such a cute family in my head #i have a whole concept for this family i'm mentally unwell #just saying the crew would love these children a lot #one piece #black leg sanji #usopp #sanuso

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egophiliac · 11 months

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hey, do you watch kamen Rider ex aid and kamen rider build?

yep, I've seen them both! Ex-Aid is actually one of my favorites (Poppy 🩷🩷🩷), although admittedly I wasn't super into it until the second half, when it gets less episodic and more into the overarching plot. (I've also heard from other people that they really liked the first half and hated the second, so...it depends on what you like about it, I guess.) some of the execution is messy and it sometimes gets overambitious and doesn't always land, but it has a delightfully weird style/tone that hit me just right, plus a couple of my favorite character arcs! and, like, it's literally a video game creepypasta with superheroes. c'mon.

Build's story was tighter, but my feelings on it are mixed (no pun intended). it did a couple of things that I really really really loved, and also a bunch of things that I really really hated, though some of it is just that I'm not personally into the kind of story it was! 🤷 overall I didn't care for it, but if you're not me then you'll probably like it a lot more than I did. (and I think we can all agree that whoever put that sticker on the back of Rogue's head is a genius beyond mortal comprehension.)

#children's shows are serious business #i'm assuming this is in anticipation of watching so i'm trying not to mention spoilers :')#i probably just ended up too vague. sorry!#i super loved the entire concept of parad though geeze #i think it was when they started getting into his whole deal was when i started REALLY enjoying it #man. someone once told me that my opinion on rider didn't count because i 'only' liked the fluffy upbeat ones like fourze and ex-aid #which on top of the dumb gatekeeping is like. my dude.#just say you never watched ex-aid

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spurgie-cousin · 15 days

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I always wondered how old Janessa was, I thought 3 because she just upgraded to a toddler bed from a cot. She just turned 6. Is babyfication a thing?

I didn't see the toddler bed thing, but yea I personally think Jill babies the shit out of Janessa and all of her younger kids throughout the years. My personal opinion is that she's one of those people who's obsessed with having little babies, and then immediately needs another one when she notices the previous baby start to grow up a little bit (I think a lot of these kinds of moms have like, a baby addiction for lack of a better term lol).

And yes I know youngest children need more attention and care simply because they're younger than their more independent siblings, but the baby talk towards Janessa, Sofia, and even Sadie and Olivia is just ridiculous to me. Janessa is first grade age at this point and it really seems like Jill just refuses to treat her like an actual person because she wants to keep her as the baby. She even called her "baby Janessa" until she was at least 4 or 5, or maybe she still does idk, but I think she infantalizes the shit out of her kids.

#i get talking like emphatically and I'm an animated way to kids that age i definitely do that sometimes but that high pitched goo goo gaga #shit Jill does is insufferable to me. and i think it's like. insulting lol #kids can almost always understand way more than they're given credit for and i think it benefits them in so many ways to just talk to them #like they're a person and not an infant.#there's also the whole infantilzation of women in general in Jill's corner of Christianity and i think a lot of Jill's treatment of her gir #children come from that kind of thinking. not to mention how that high pitched baby voice gets so ingrained in her kids they even use it #regularly as adults with no concept of how bizarre and off putting it sounds to most people #i could go on and on but i better stop lol #Jill Rodrigues #Janessa Rodrigues

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paragonrobits · 3 months

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"why did Zuko's memories portray Azula Like That? Is he an unreliable narrator? do the authors hate younger sisters"

Azula was openly Ozai's favorite, and even at that age she had enough political savvy to know that she can functionally do no wrong; the only time anyone expresses any kind of open disapproval of her at all is when her mother tells her off or complains about it. A rich child of that age who is also the favored daughter of one of the most powerful men in the country (and as Iroh doesn't seem to have much interest in politicking at all, Ozai likely had more political power than Iroh ever did), she could get away with pretty much anything she felt like doing, and she knew it

the most significant factor being, in addition to that, that she is emulating everything Ozai says and does; even if she doesn't BELIEVE it herself (and based on her other statements and actions at times when she doesn't have anything to gain by toeing the party line, she probably does), that is still going to color her world view and personal decisions

so, assuming Zuko's memories ARE accurate (and the show doesn't really do unreliable narrator that much), its pretty clear why Azula is Like That. It's because she's the openly favored child of a notoriously violent and cruel tyrant, and already a pampered child of the most powerful family in a country that reveres power and ferocity above anything else, and she is actively imitating that violent and cruel tyrant.

Given that we have little reason to believe anyone ever disciplined her in any shape or form beyond Ozai expressing disapproval of her actions (and its quite possible he's never really done that either), her behavior isn't surprising at all; if anything she should be significantly worse.

#according to family legend when i was a newborn my sister immediately tried to smother me in my sleep #so maybe this kind of infighting among children is just normalized for me?#like i kind of feel that siblings NOT constantly being at each other's throats is highly atypical #but again going by what i've seen in families in general is that this sort of rivalry is the sort of thing that tempers out of time #with the whole 'children are cruel because they have no concept that other people have feelings that matter'#so when you mature and get a better grasp on that sort of thing you see less of it #again in my family we went from my siblings essentially torturing me continously to #tolerating each other's existences basically #so that ALSO pans out with what we see with Azula and her going from taunting her brother over ozai apparently going to kill him #to her genuinely trying to help him in her own weird way #though still doing it in a way that she'll end up in a favorable position #though that might say less about Azula herself #and that's just how the Fire Nation royal court rolls #if family members murdering each other for power ISN'T standard operating procedure in the FN #i'd be REALLY surprised #queued

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strqyr · 29 days

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pretty much all we know about gretchen is what ozpin told oscar: that she enrolled at beacon academy despite her brother's wishes to become a huntress, and that she tragically lost her life on a training mission.

if ozpin knows something more about gretchen that he isn't telling, the show hasn't given much of a reason to suspect anything outside of a general "well, ozpin keeps secrets, so... who knows?" everything about gretchen seems to be rooted in becoming a huntress, whether she was ready for it or not—that is what oscar focuses on and asks hazel about after ozpin's explanation: "did she know the risk of being a huntress?" "she was only a child! she wasn't ready!"—, and thus hazel's desire to see a new world where the academies are no more.

now, ozpin's explanation is vague in a sense that he never states the cause of death. gretchen being a huntress-in-training who lost her life during a training mission implies grimm, but it's never actually stated so; if he is hiding something re: gretchen's death, that's what i'd be focusing on, since if he's blatantly lying, why didn't jinn bring it up? why didn't ozpin come clean later on during their captivity inside monstra, where hazel also played a major role? if hazel knows more, explaining why he blames ozpin so strongly, why never bring it up?

is ozpin hiding the whole truth of what happened to gretchen, or is he hiding a small part of it by omitting a detail or two, and if so, why? is he taking the blame to protect someone else? a question of greater good? the same as lying about lionheart's role in the attack on haven?

and that's why i'm now questioning if gretchen was a maiden. it would neatly explain why she was, supposedly, allowed to attend beacon when she "wasn't ready"—nothing new for ozpin there, and gretchen could be a combination of ruby & jaune in that way—but if that's the case... why never bring it up? they wouldn't need to specify which maiden she was if that's considered to give too much away (i.e. if she was the spring maiden), but any explanation from ozpin akin to "gretchen was a maiden and that's why i allowed her to attend beacon even if she wasn't ready, bc the risk of her being hunted down was too high and beacon was the safest place for her" surely couldn't hurt?

it also has a chance to make "no more gretchens, boy" ring a bit hollow, especially if gretchen was the spring maiden and involved in summer's mission, bc of what happened to penny afterwards; how is anyone supposed to prevent it from happening again, when no one knows what exactly happened to gretchen in the first place?

so. the academies. oscar asks hazel if gretchen knew the risk of being a huntress, to which hazel—who desired to see a world with no huntsmen academies—replies: "she was only a child! she wasn't ready!"

"they're supposed to be the defenders of the world," says glynda. "and they will be," says ozpin, "but right now they're still children. so why not let them play the part?" and it's a nice statement... if they weren't a part of system created by oz that encourages children as young as thirteen to pick up a weapon, and to learn how to fight.

why start training your "defenders of the world" when they're still children? what's the rush, why not wait when they're older?

is there more depth to what happened to gretchen, or is it exactly what it says on the tin: that the system is broken, and it needs fixing?

#rwby #gretchen rainart #gretchen is an interesting case #bc on the other hand it's like YEAH that's makes sense #but there's always something that doesn't quite line up #i mean i guess it's plausible the writers are hiding things to the point of it not making much sense character-wise #for the sake of keeping a plot-twist alive but...#that feels cheap... and the focus is so much on gretchen wanting to be a *huntress*#if she *knew* the risks it came with #whether she was *ready*#and the whole concept that these are *children*#some who started training as young as THIRTEEN #like that's already HORRIFYING who thought this was OKAY????

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