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sshbpodcast · 1 year

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Put a cork in it: Bottle episodes in Star Trek

By Ames

“Good Lord, didn't anybody here build ships in bottles when they were boys?” Well, Star Trek sure did, and quite frequently! According to Memory Alpha, bottle shows are “episodes which take place mostly on existing sets and do not generally involve major guest stars.” Basically, any time we never leave the ship so that the show can save money for more expensive future episodes that have bigger sets, more special effects, or most frequently, the Borg.

But even in that definition, there’s still a lot of vaguery. “Mostly” on existing sets. Do not “generally” involve major guest stars. Many listicles of the best bottle episodes across the internet include instances that don’t fit all the components, but fulfill at least some of them. Look at it like a four-set Venn Diagram (which I learned is best arranged like this):

So let’s climb inside the bottle. What episodes perfectly satisfy all the elements and sit in that much sought-after place in the center of the Venn Diagram? Read on below for A Star to Steer Her By’s favorites and listen to our almost certainly contradictory discussion on this week’s podcast episode (jump to 1:04:49) to find out if we’re suckups who’ve built ships in bottles like O’Brien, or if we don’t play with toys like Worf.

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Bottle Episodes with a Central Guest Star

Probably the most common kind of bottle episode is one with a simple plot, a physical confinement to the ship or station, and a non-crew character around whom the plot revolves in a pivotal way. The guest characters come to us and bring with them some kind of conflict for our main characters to handle. You know, your Richard Daystrom in “The Doomsday Machine,” Charlie Evans in “Charlie X,” Lal in “The Offspring,” Commander MacDuff in “Conundrum,” or Lon Suder in “Meld” (someone avenge that beautiful psychopath!). This list could go on and on because there are so many pretty contained episodes in which the guest of the week propels the plot forward. I’m compelled to include “The Changeling” here as well since I would treat Nomad as a full character even if he wasn’t a physical actor.

Our favorite example of this kind of bottle episode is easily “Duet” from season one of Deep Space Nine. Since so much of that entire series is set on the station, one would assume that most episodes of DS9 qualify as bottle episodes, but there’s frequently some specific budget expense that makes them more expensive than they were meant to be or some other guest stars hogging the spotlight. In this case, casting the extraordinary Harris Yullin as Marritza was well worth it, as this episode shines despite its self-imposed limitations.

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Bottle Episodes that “Leave the Ship”

I call it impressive if the characters can leave the ship and the episode still be considered in the running as a bottle episode due to some kind of shenanigans. For instance, I’d qualify something like “Mirror, Mirror” in this category – technically, it’s not on our Enterprise and yet still reusing the same sets. Similarly, “The Mark of Gideon,” “Where Silence Has Lease,” “Empok Nor,” and “Distant Voices” (wait, I said our “favorite” episodes, didn’t I?) all accomplish this by having the characters visit redresses of their respective sets for various reasons. What a great way to save a couple bucks!

In the The Original Series episode “The Doomsday Machine,” for instance, the starship Constellation is another Constitution class ship. Just turn the lights off in any of the usual sets and move some props around and blamo: instant new bridge! It’s like a whole new starship up in here! Thank Commodore Decker for this quick money-saving tip!

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Bottle Episodes with Other Sets

Sometimes, you can stay on the ship and still need to build a new set, like in TNG’s “Eye of the Beholder” where we see the inside of the nacelles for the first (and last) time and Voyager’s “One” in which we set up the stasis room. Many holodeck episodes might fall into this category as well, since technically we haven’t left the ship, but we see, say, the Bynars’ jazz club in “11001001” or Sandrine’s in “Someone to Watch Over Me,” which we covered this week.

I’d also deign to call episodes with just a brief stop at Planet Hell more bottley than even some episodes that don’t leave the ship at all. Both “The Naked Time” and “The Naked Now” start with a crewman getting infected with space madness outside the ship, but it is that need to quarantine that forces the rest of the episode to focus the story inwards, utilizing every cent wisely thereafter. And episodes like TOS’s “The Corbomite Maneuver” and DS9’s “Whispers” and “The Sound of Her Voice” are off the ship so briefly at the very end that they might as well have been strict bottle episodes.

Possibly the most controversial thing I’ll include in this list is one of A Star to Steer Her By’s favorite cost-cutting episodes: the TOS third-season money saver “The Empath.” Sure, they leave the Enterprise for a whole new set, but it’s the cheapest set you’ll ever see. Nothing but black walls and spotlights for the actors to stand in. Like our previous category about central guest stars, this episode features a Gem (literally!), but I still think it’s worth bringing up because of how it told a decent story on a shoestring budget.

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Bottle Episodes with Significant Effects

Frequently, it seems like an episode is conceived as a bottle episode, but then ends up going over budget anyway because the design scope increased without expectation. You don’t have to leave the ship to spend a lot of money on special effects, costumes, and just blowing things up. Tell that to Janeway in “Deadlock,” which was a clever reuse of the Voyager set… until someone got a hold of the destruct codes. Similarly, if it weren’t for the Bozeman and the Enterprise colliding (and whatever it cost to get Kelsey Grammer on camera for all of sixty seconds), “Cause and Effect” would make it on more bottle episode lists. You can similarly go overboard with costumes and makeup in shipbound episodes like TOS’s “Journey to Babel” and SNW’s “The Elysian Kingdom.”

I’ve seen a whole bunch of listicles that all include the Discovery season one episode “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad” as a candidate for a bottle episode. Which is an interesting choice because I don’t think ANY the currently running Trek series are scrimping to keep on a budget because of the sheer number of effects. And “Magic…” is a good example of this while also keeping all of the action to the Discovery. Who knows, maybe with how modern CGI has improved, it’s actually cheaper? Until you have to pay Rainn Wilson, that is.

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The Pure Bottle Episodes

Are episodes that fulfill every element of being a bottle episode better than the preceding? Well, you tell us because we did, in fact, find a number of pure bottle episodes! They can be as refreshing as fresh spring water because they keep very simple and focused. Having just our usual characters (and maybe some extras and repeated guest stars) really allows the writers to dig into character work without relying on spectacle, constant set changes, or a big planetside adventure.

So episodes like TOS’s “The Immunity Syndrome,” TNG’s “Disaster” and “Clues,” DS9’s “Babel,” VOY’s “Worst Case Scenario,” and ENT’s “Shuttlepod One” and “Doctor’s Orders” succeed in telling a simple shipside story focused on their respective existing characters. Little episodes with big payoffs!

Here’s my pick of the whole blogpost: Give it up for Dr. Crusher in The Next Generation’s “Remember Me”! This episode has got it all – or rather, has got so very little – that it might be the ultimate bottle episode. The number of characters diminishes as the episode goes on because the whole world around Bev is constricting, but she’s still hard at work solving the riddle put to her. She’s quite literally in her own pocket universe – how much more bottley can you get than that? Effects are minimal, guest stars are most noteworthy in their absence, and it’s all confined to a couple of sets while still being a story that is impressive and, dare I say, memorable.

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We’ve finally corked this bottle and put it on display in our ready room! The humble bottle episode displays some of the best qualities of Star Trek: stories in small spaces that encompass huge universes. A Star to Steer Her By is back to exploring more of the Trek universe every Thursday on SoundCloud or wherever you get your podcasts. Keep up with our voyage through Voyager, raise your glasses with us over on Facebook and Twitter, and chug chug chug chug!

#star trek #star trek podcast #podcast #bottle episodes #bottle shows #ship in a bottle #the original series #the next generation #deep space nine #voyager #enterprise #discovery #strange new worlds #duet #the doomsday machine #the empath #magic to make the sanest man go mad #remember me

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woundjob · 3 years

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honestly i think the problem with jily (and snily especially and any lily ship really) is that nobody loves lily. they love james. and it’s nobody’s fault because rowling didn’t love lily either but if you love james and not lily it becomes a “shitty dude wins the girl” story and not a compelling like, growing up and changing and falling in love for real story. and so it’s lame.

and honestly even if rowling herself didn’t write them to be all about james, fandoms are generally more interested in male characters than they are in the ladies. it’s accidental sexism but it’s still sexism. when the story is all about james, lily becomes a vapid one sided cardboard cutout of a woman. we know nothing about her, just that she’s a prize to be won when james finally grows up. she’s not even really a character at that point, and it’s sad.

we know that lily was exceptionally kind and uniquely brilliant. we know that she was muggleborn and never truly felt at home in wizarding society but also didn’t feel at home at home either, because from the second she got into hogwarts her parents treated her like a token and her sister regarded her with a cruel misguided jealousy. we know she had a toxic codependent obsessive best friend for most of her childhood (which some might consider a quintessential lgbt experience) and we know that she was close with remus and with the gryffindor girls.

it’s really not much to work with here, because for rowling she was the hero’s prize to james and the bambi’s mom to harry, but it’s enough to not make jily into something lame i think. id like to once again recommend Going To See The Folks I Dig, which is a wolfstar fanfiction with the most compelling lily evans characterization i’ve ever seen. she’s badass and doesn’t take shit from anybody. genuinely, this turned lily around for me and made me question why lily has to be polite and studious and mature when james gets to be a goofball.

anyway, i love jily, because i love the spin that my little corner of fandom has put on it. we all know if you make lily the main focus of your work and james her devoted little malewife it’s better AND ALSO saying fuck you to jily and making her a lesbian also rules. i love lily evans so fucking much and she deserves better than the shit she’s been served

#lily evans #love you guys show me more Good Jily and Gay Lily fics asap

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crispyjenkins · 3 years

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Rexobi. I really just wanna see Rex and Obi-wan drinking together and complaining about the disaster that is Anakin Skywalker. They decide to team up to get anakin to calm the heck down and to talk about his feelings. Anakin doesn’t realize what’s going on but gets the idea he needs to play matchmaker with his master and his captain. He thinks he’s the smart one but he’s really not

(i have once again chickened out of your full prompt and instead give you the leadup to rexobi getting anakin to talk about his feelings.

i uhhh may be unable to think of anything but a rexobi au à la this post by @norcumii and @dharmaavocado about roleswap-ish senior padawan obi hella vibing with this mutant clone that can’t get above the rank of captain even as an arc trooper because the kaminoans are Like That, and qui-gon is going spare, because between anakin somehow being allowed to be in charge of a whole battalion and obi-wan picking fights with every single seperatist leader, he and cody never get a moment of peace. and like. just obi and rex being dumbass 20 year olds trying to deal with a general/master like anakin in the middle of a war. i don’t have TIME for that though

thank you for the prompt as always, i think this is the only rexobi/obex prompt i’ve ever gotten and this ship is criminally underappreciated. like?? kadavo?? anyways here’s whatever this is)

Alt+R to Quick Reblog on Desktop, Hold the Reblog Symbol to Quick Reblog on Mobile

Not for the first time, Rex wishes Kote were the one here dealing with this, because “how to comfort your favorite Jedi” hadn’t exactly been covered in ARC training – actually, Alpha probably withheld the information on purpose, the fucker.

But Kote is on the other side of the galaxy with the 187th and just as upset they’re not here in Rex’s stead: it’s barely a month off General Kenobi returning to his own face, and Rex knows his vod would strangle the entire Senate if given even half a chance for deploying them separately on their general’s first mission back after the Hardeen... incident.

And Fett’s Ghost knows Rex’s own general is going to pitch a fit when he finds out Rex is here instead of taking leave like the rest of the 501st, but Kote certainly wasn’t about to let Kenobi go all the way to Alderaan unguarded so soon after his supposed death; and honestly, Rex would have been offended if they had asked anybody else to do it. Thankfully, Kenobi hadn’t seemed offended when Rex had shown up at the Jedi Temple’s flight hangar before he could take off; instead, he had been rather amused.

Even luckier, Alderaan is barely a day’s jump from Coruscant, so they don’t have to spend too much time awkwardly pretending that Rex hadn’t attended the man’s funeral in Kote's place (that he would have attended anyways), or that Rex doesn’t know Anakin hasn’t spoken to his former master since their debrief to the High Council about Cad Bane. Which Rex should absolutely not know in the first place, but Anakin is his friend, for better or for worse, and Ahsoka thinks her master airs far too many of his grievances to his captain.

It isn't until their cruiser is making the descent over Alderaan that Kenobi finally addresses the tension between them, which only proves that Kenobi is well aware of it, but had put it off as long as he could. It's a humanising observation, that Rex wishes he could have had when he isn't the only vod in a ten mile radius that isn't the pilot, because at least then he wouldn't be the sole receiver of the soft smile Kenobi gives him as he joins Rex to wait by the shuttle's access hatch.

Rex thanks his progenitor's laughing corpse he has his bucket on, because all he can do is stare.

"You are worried about Anakin," Kenobi says matter of factly, though not unkindly, and Rex lets out a breath that's almost a laugh.

"I promise I am far more discrete with my thoughts in the field, sir."

Kenobi chuckles warmly, tucking his arms behind his back to watch the planet under them grow larger as they approach. "Do try not to worry so much, my dear, this will all resolve itself in time."

It's hard to stare right at his gentle assuredness, so Rex looks away. "You have far more faith in his ability to forgive than I, sir."

That laugh strains at the edges. "Yes, well, I'm afraid some of my lessons seem to have been... lacking."

Rex has regs carbon-printed on his brain, he knows that even without the direct chain of command, the soft push and pull of his relationship with Kenobi, the steady, serene growth of it, is... problematic, for so many reasons that he wouldn't know where to start. Not least of all is rank, how much more important a Jedi is than a replaceable CC-track washout, but, well, Rex had washed out for being too emotional, so it's not as if he's exactly unused to reacting to things inappropriately for a good little soldier.

"It's not my place, sir," he murmurs, remembering Kadavo, remembering Umbara, remembering the hand Kenobi had laid on his shoulder for far too long after the Blue Shadow virus, and has Rex really been this gone since then? "just say the word and I won't mention it again. But just because Kote isn't here doesn't mean you have to... shoulder all of this alone."

In fact, it's wildly not his place to make such an offer, however implicit, but that month on Kadavo did happen, and Rex isn't so self-deprecating to believe he hadn't had a heavy hand in helping Kenobi make it out on the other side as well as he did. He doesn't think so little of the bond they had formed then, to believe that Obi-Wan is unaware of it.

Not when he smiles at Rex like that, like he's a warm cup of caf after a week in the trenches, like Rex is... worthy of such sincere affection.

As the shuttle settles around them and the pilot announces their arrival over comm, Obi-Wan simply says, "I did not for a moment believe I was, my dear."

"You and Rex seem close."

Normally Obi-Wan can feel Anakin coming from an entire corridor away, but he also knows Quinlan has been teaching him a few Shadow tricks, so he isn't entirely surprised when Anakin appears at his elbow in the empty bridge looking like a smug necu.

Aside from eating firstmeal with Kote in the mess, Obi-Wan hasn't even seen Rex today, much less interacted with him: as he understands it, Rex is trying to round up the remaining 501st shinies that are running around the Negotiator, so Obi-Wan really doesn't know where Anakin had gotten that notion. Recently, at least.

Anakin rolls his eyes and scoffs, leaning back on the railing next to him and crossing his arms. "Please, Master, even Snips has noticed."

Obi-Wan refrains from telling him that anyone with a modicum more self-awareness than him has noticed. Be that as it may, "This is one of those times where I truly don't know what you're trying to say, my dear: I have been close with Rex since he was in the 212th."

It isn't even an exaggeration, that there had been... something between them before Anakin whisked Rex away to his own battalion after his knighting, though back then it had been nothing more than friendship. If he recalls correctly, and he does, the cleanup of the Ryloth capitol had been the first time since then that they had worked closely, while Anakin had been on the ground with the locals and Mace had been with General Syndulla, and Obi-Wan had found he still quite enjoyed the way they worked together. Their time on Naboo combating the Blue Shadow virus had only endeared the captain more to him —he does remember a slip in propriety in his relief that Rex had been rescued safely with Padmé and Ahsoka, a hand left too long on the captain's shoulder until Kote had called him away— enough that Obi-Wan had been both relieved and horrified that it was Rex there to support him on Kadavo.

"Cody said Rex was the one to go with you to Alderaan; you sure nothing 'happened' while you were there?" Anakin chuckles to himself like he's being incredibly clever, like there isn’t a hickey visible over the collar of his under tunic.

Obi-Wan raises a brow slowly and refrains from rolling his eyes. "Despite what you may believe, Anakin, not everyone leaps into committed relationships after life-threatening situations." Not that Alderaan had been life-threatening, it had actually been as close to actual leave as Obi-Wan has had the entire war.

"Please, it took Padmé and I ages to–"

Anakin seems to swallow his tongue, then, face rapidly going purple, and it really is a miracle the entire Republic doesn’t know about his marriage; the GAR certainly does.

Sighing, Obi-Wan checks the chrono and decides it isn't too early for another cup of tea. "If you have a specific question about my relationship with Captain Rex, I do wish you’d be direct, my dear."

Anakin splutters. "Relationship?!"

"Great Maker, Anakin, you’re easier to spook than a half-starved blurrg." He pats Anakin’s arm, his sonbrother floundering for anything other than abject confoundment, as Obi-Wan turns away from the bridge to go locate both tea, and his commander to hopefully finalise their newest mission orders. "Don't worry," he calls over his shoulder, "I'll actually let you come to the wedding, unlike someone."

Not that Obi-Wan has any such plans, Maker knows he and Rex have yet to address their feelings in the first place, but he'd be lying if part of him doesn't want to conspire with the captain in question —and perhaps Ahsoka— to see just how far they could take this before Anakin realises they're stringing him along.

Remarkably, Rex is waiting by Obi-Wan’s office with a flimsi cup of tea and a harried smile that promised quite the day chasing after shinies, and Obi-Wan decides conning his former apprentice can wait.

Mando’a: vod/e — “brother/s”, “comrade/s”, “sibling/s”, technically gender neutral but used most often in fandom as “brother/s”

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niniane17 · 2 years

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I've just stumbled across yet another essay stating that "Harry Potter was never good".

I dislike Rowling intensively these days, but I find this kind of purity-driven "literary criticism" deeply dangerous.

My position on this has always been that it doesn't really matter whether Rowling's books are good or not or whether her fame and money is deserved; what matters is that she uses her wealth and fame to hurt trans people. Whatever grievance people might have with her writings (and trust me, I have many of them myself) is completely irrelevant to her political ideas.

If, indeed, her books were every bit as good as they are regarded, would that make her hatred towards trans people justified? Of course not. What is the point of harshly critiquing the books if you want to show that they were written by a bad person? A bad person can produce good art, and vice versa.

For example, Snyder's works are certainly not feminist masterpieces, yet the actresses he worked with have nothing but nice things to say about him. On the contrary, Joss Whedon's works strive to include many feminist themes, yet we all know how he treated the real women in his life. Is anybody out there trying to argue that Roman Polanski or Woody Allen are bad directors, and none of the movies they made were ever any good, and that we all collectively deluded ourselves into thinking they were? No, there isn't, because that would be stupid. But it doesn't erase what they did, nor it should.

(And no, my use of male examples is NOT accidental. We all know that women are subject to a deeper level of scrutiny than men)

Besides, I've noticed that a lot of this criticism heavily relies on subjective feelings about the text. A shining example of this is the attitude towards Snape: I lost a lot of faith in Twitter activists the day I saw BOTH pro-trans people and TERFS discussing how stanning Snape meant being a terrible person, even if for wildly different reasons.

That doesn't mean that none of Rowling's bad ideas are reflected in the text; art, as we all know, is not created in a vacuum. But it's not as obvious as somebody might think and, crucially, it's not the same for everyone. As I showed above, people of opposite sides of the political spectrum might agree that something is problematic, while two people on the same side might not.

This is what I mean when I say that shipping or fandom in general is not activism. Arguing that, say, Voldemort's death was inconsistent with the books' previously established rules is many things, but activism is not one of them. Neither is hating Snape, or whatever character you happen not to like.

And, not to brag or anything, but I did notice the books' deep British parochial approach all the way back in 2001, while reading The Goblet of Fire for the first time. While I was reading, I realized that there was no Italian School of Magic mentioned and I was sad for weeks about it. Where was a little girl like me supposed to go, then? By the time the Deathly Hallows came out, a few years later, I was downright laughing at the books' poorly thought-out International Wizarding community, and not in a good way.

(Like. What language do they even speak at Durmstrang? German? Bulgarian?)

Does that mean I was engaging in deep political activism? Nope. It just meant I thought the books had bad world building and the author was not willing to explore it more. It sucks and it's a pity, but she had other things going for her.

TL; DR: Stop conflating criticizing the books and criticizing her political ideas. These two things may overlap, sometimes, but often they don't, or not in a way we would expect.

#harry potter #anti jk rowling

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wewon · 3 years

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Supernatural: through my eyes

I’m a viewer first and then a shipper. I’m very much aware it’s a fictional show therefore; mixing it with real life expectations would be a foolish job. Anybody who has watched the show from season 1 would agree, that Sam & Dean are the heart and soul of Supernatural. I never watched the show with the intent to search for shipping material. Even when they mentioned slash fans in 4x18, “The Monster at the End of This Book”, it went straight over my head. Same with the 200th episode. Maybe that’s why I LOVED the ending so much. As a general audience, I felt validated and happy with the knowledge that my observations of Sam & Dean Winchester were always right.

I’ve always felt that Dean loves Sam too much, in the most purest way possible. Sam would sacrifice everything for the world but Dean would sacrifice everything for Sam because Sammy is his whole world. One doesn’t need to romanticize it to see the truth. The constant declarations from Dean of him putting Sam above all was always a blatant indication that nothing can come in between them and Dean’s mission to keep Sam safe. That was always his only priority. Dean’s love for Sam is not limited to any specific quality of Sam’s personality or physicality. He loves all of him, the purest form of love.

Dean always showed extreme emotions whenever there was a girl in the picture with Sam. That’s because if you take away the purpose of living from someone, what’d that person do? In Dean’s words, Sam’s happy ending is Dean’s happy ending (8.14 Trial and Error). That guy doesn’t even have any other specific dream but he also doesn’t want to lose Sam in that process. It’s extremely obvious when one watches 2x20 “What Is and What Should Never Be.” That’s why he’d always showed either of these bellow mentioned emotions;

excessive enthusiasm

extreme hatred (Very much justified regarding Ruby)

paranoia

suspicion

eavesdropping

Sam on the other hand has more control over his own emotions but when those explodes, there’s no stopping it. Sam doesn’t like it when Dean considers anyone else his brother. Whether it’s a vampire, human or an angel. He might say “we can’t be brothers” but if another guy comes into the picture to take Sam’s place, he’d either show,

pure hatred (Benny)

Passive aggressive behavior

Silent treatment (his favorite in others situations also)

Keeps it to himself till he can’t (”Another ANGEL, another vampire … 8x23 Sacrifice)

It’s impossible for Dean to imagine himself being happy without Sam being in the picture (6.1 Exile on Main St). Whenever Sam came close to dying Dean felt like giving up everything. From season 1, he’d either say that he’s tired to carry on and/ or try to kill himself or sell his soul. The thought of a world without Sam is unimaginable for Dean. That’s why even in heaven, his soul wasn’t feeling truly happy until Sam’s soul appeared.

I wish I could care about supporting characters as much as I do for Sam & Dean, but for me, those characters were always the necessary plot devices who were used in spn to show the audience the story of the Winchester brothers.

For example, in Harry Potter, there are so many amazing supporting characters but in the end, it’s always been the story about of the wizard boy. If you erase Harry from the books/movie then there will be no Harry Potter movies. Plot wise, Supernatural has some amazing parallels with Harry Potter.

Also, I must confess that, there was a time when I tried to hate Sam. There was a time I tried to hate Dean too. Then I realized my concern for their emotional well beings is nothing in front of their codependency. They’re like superglue, separating them neither works for the Winchester brothers nor for the ratings of the show.

From 1.1 Pilot to 15.20 Carry On, 327 episodes are the proof of that.

#supernatural #Sam Winchester #samdean #deanwinchtser #the epic love story of sam and dean #My observations #My views #I hope more people read this and realize that the series finale was LOVED by people outside social media #samndean #spn: 15x20 #spn: carry on

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miwtual · 2 years

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fandom wise HMMMM naruto and character wise Tasm!Peter cuz im evil >:) i don't have alot of ships for you atm so no #2 here dgtfdgh

alright this is going under the cut because its gonna get long lmao

send me 1, 2, and/or 3!

fandom: naruto

Favorite character: ill be basic and say naruto like i love so many of the characters but naruto i will always go back to <3

Least Favorite character: danzo all the homies hATE DANZO

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): (in no particular order) nejiten, sakuhina, kakaguy........ dude i never ship anyone lmao this is hard so thats all ur getting rn HJBSDKF

Character I find most attractive: kakashi. call me basic but that mf FINE and i feel VERY strongly about it

Character I would marry: shino my beloved <3

Character I would be best friends with: SAKURA

a random thought: naruto and jjk are not the same. yeah they have a lot of similar aspects to them but i think thats more the fault of shounen animanga in general and its tropes rather than "jjk is trying to "copy" naruto!1!!!!!'11!!!!"

An unpopular opinion: i dont think boruto should exist!!!!! the show or the child!!!!!!! naruto should have just ended and maybe gotten a short epilogue thing but other than that i feel very strongly that boruto is just boring and is a rehash of naruto where it doesnt even take away the characters FROM naruto!!!!!!!!!!!!! if it was something more like legend of korra where a lot of time has passed and things have changed pretty drastically in the world THEN it would be fine ig but it just isnt!!!!!!!!!!! its boring! if i wanted to watch boruto have adventures like his dad I WOULD JUST WATCH HIS DADS ADVENTURES!!!!!! AND I HAVE!!!!!!

My Canon OTP: i dont really have a canon otp. i do think sasusaku is cute tho so ig i'll put them here JHBSDKFJ

My Non-canon OTP: nejiten theyre canon to ME and thats what matters

Most Badass Character: sakura idc

Most Epic Villain: orochimaru tbh SJFL hes just funny to me

Pairing I am not a fan of: naruhina, its just hard for me to believe that they fell in love or whatever after she literally said like. 6 words to him ever JHBKDF

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): literally all of the ladies + shino, need i explain

Favourite Friendship: team kurenai theyre so sweet ok

Character I most identify with: probably hinata tbh

Character I wish I could be: sakura <3

character: peter parker (tasm)

How I feel about this character: because of personal trauma reasons from Bad People in my life who literally were OBSESSED with this version of peter i. cant say i like him very much JSBHKDFN not in a bad way tho just in a personal trauma type of way

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: ngl i dont think i ship him romantically with anybody, like him and gwen are cute and all but i feel like gwen is just. way too good for him HSDNFL

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: him and his aunt may are so sweet <3

My unpopular opinion about this character: hes a better peter parker than he is spiderman. it makes sense in MY head ok

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: i wish we got to see what he meant by how he "got dark" when he mentioned it in nwh.......... like what do u mean got dark peter? did u become more of a batman vigilante type who was more violent and didnt care about who got hurt in the process??? what do u MEAN peter TELL US

Favorite friendship for this character: i feel like if we were given more time with harry they'd be such cooler friends......... i want them to be besties i just dont think 1 movie did it SKDFL

My crossover ship: this variant of peter and kirsten dunst's mj watson just makes sense to me dont ask me why alright. they just Make Sense

#kai.answer #ask game #ali 😈

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glowstar826 · 3 years

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for the character ask, Albus Dumbledore and Violet Crawley

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE:

I like Albus Dumbledore a lot. The way he thinks intrigues me. I’m fascinated by how his covers his ruthlessness with a grandfatherly façade.

I ship him with Gellert Grindelwald. I feel like Grindelwald was his first and only love, and when Grindelwald tore Albus’s family apart, he was very careful to never fall in love ever again.

My non-romantic OTP for this character is with Severus Snape. I love their complicated yet genuine friendship. Sometimes, I feel like Albus saw Severus as a son, of sorts. Even though he used Severus horribly, he still had affection for him. @professorss19 writes mighty good and accurate fanfics on their father-son relationship. My other non-romantic OTP for Albus is Minerva McGonagall. In fact, I like Albus, Minerva, and Severus together as a little family. It’s sweet, seeing how Albus and Minerva get the son he never had and Severus gets the father and mother he never had.

My unpopular opinion is that Dumbledore wasn’t a bad person, but he was very gray (I say unpopular because there’s a lot of Dumbledore hate in the fandom). In fact, I think he’s grayer than Severus Snape is proclaimed to be. He was the war general, so he had to make tough decisions.

I wish Dumbledore took Harry out of his abusive situation and let him live with Sirius. Perhaps the blood wards protected Harry from Death Eaters, but it did no shit for the abuse he suffered at the hands of his aunt, uncle, and cousin. Growing up fearing an outside threat is always more preferable to living with said threat.

VIOLET CRAWLEY:

I love her! She’s pretty badass in her own way and has all these amazing one-liners. Her sense of self and her confidence is also something to admire.

I would say Prince Kuragin, but even he’s meh. I don’t ship her with anybody.

My non-romantic OTP for her is with Isobel Crawley. Though they clashed very much, they became great friends later. That’s what mattered.

I don’t have any opinions on Violet, I don’t think. Nor do I have anything that I wish happened in canon.

Thanks for the second set of character asks, @downton-not-downtown-smh!

#character asks #harry potter series #albus dumbledore #gellert grindelwald #severus snape #downton abbey #minerva mcgonagall #violet crawley #prince kuragin #isobel crawley

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someone-worth-racing-for · 3 years

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Hey there!

I am quite new here and I was wondering how you got into this fandom. Specially the carlandofandom :)

Also, when did you start writing? I saw your posts the other day about not being able to write all of it, so it somehow triggered me to write some stuff myself (some requests were just too cute).

Havent been properly writing for ages though and I am not quite sure if anybody wants to read my stuff...any advice? Im so indecisive...

Thanks for all your great stories and have nice day :)

Hey you, anonym and especially – welcome to the fandom! 🤗❤️

Oh my God, believe me – you actually don’t want to know how I got to this fandom, it’s such a long story.. You better grab yourself some Coke and popcorn, because this will be a longer one.. 🥤🍿

But alright, everything has begun with that the TWD (The Walking Dead) fandom has started to annoy/boring me, also because the show has become pretty bad and I wanted to leave the sinking ship before it will be too late. That must have been around autumn/winter 2018. During the winter months I really, really love to watch ski jumping, also because it’s pretty popular in my country (Austria). I was already a fan of it since many, many years, but I only became a real fan at that time. I always say I love this sport so much, because those jumps are always so “quickly over” – meaning that I don’t have to wait for too long to find out the results. Yeah, the competition itself isn't that short, but the individual jumps of each athlete are. That’s why I actually “hate” F1 so much, because I have to wait freaking two hours of pure stress, several mental breakdowns and heart attacks later to finally find out who will win, and also because so much can happen during a race, while those ski jumpers are practicing individual – does that make any sense!? However, so I got pretty deep into the ski jumping fandom over that time, especially also here on Tumblr, where I have met a pretty nice girl back then, who had been as thrilled about the fandom as me. But you know, during the summer there aren’t any competitions, so it had been pretty boring in the ski jumping fandom and then suddenly that girl came up with F1.

The first thing I have thought was ‘NO WAY! NEVER EVER!’ – you have to know, I have really hated F1 with a passion before August 2019. I was always making fun of my boyfriend watching those cars driving in circles for two hours. I just couldn’t understand it how someone can watch that voluntary (I sometimes still can’t..😅) and I really, really hated it with everything I had. My boyfriend even was at the Austrian GP in 2019 and back then my biggest nightmare would have been if he would have forced me to come with him (he got there with his father in the end – today I would give everything to get there!)

I remember, we have been on vacation during the beginning of August 2019. We were in a theme park, when my boyfriend said at one point that he will get over to that bench in the shadow under the tree now and watch the qualifying. I have really thought he was kidding me, because I couldn’t understand how the hell someone would watch something so stupid like F1, while being in a freaking theme park. Well, today I would be the one sitting there on the bench, while my boyfriend would probably urge me to please finally stand up so we could go on 😅

That was at the beginning of August 2019 – so I must have slowly but sure fallen for the fandom around 15th of August. And if you believe me or not, but I have neither fallen for Lando nor for Carlos at the first place. It was actually Max, also because he was one of the less drivers I have known next to Lewis, Sebastian, Valtteri (I always had to think about Harry Potter because of Bottas..😂) and probably Nico. But I have actually began to “stalk” when I have got to know about that Max has a little sister and I have found those sweet pics of him with her together (Do you know which pics I mean? You should really check them out – they are so cute). And somehow Lando came into the play as well and so my first story for this fandom resulted. Back then I have really, really thought it would be the first and also last story I will ever publish for this fandom. Well, that didn’t aged well..😅 Somehow my interest grew and grew with every more day stalking the internet for content and by the time of the first race after the summer break, I was already a fan. Spa 2019 has been the first F1 race I have ever watched from the start till the end and I have to say that this weekend has broken me (literally). Of course, because of Anthoine, but also because this time of the year is since 2017 never easy for me and on that weekend also Carlando finally came into the play. Check out this post from a few weeks ago – Carlos’ birthday on Sunday and that Lando has supposedly hugged Carlos after his DNF has really, really touched my heart and since that day these two boys own my heart and I remember, that the next day after the race I have got up at five in the morning to write “Tomorrow will be kinder” – because writing is sometimes my only way to deal with things, so I just had to write my thoughts/feelings down and it was the beginning of something beautiful actually.

But there is one more little story I have to tell you about my F1 past – this story right here is actually one of @hurtsprincess favourite ones. Because back in 2015, when F1 was finally back in Austria again, I was there by the race as probably the biggest F1-hater under all of them. Half of our town and so also most of our friends has got there, so it was kind of peer pressure, why I have finally joined them as well. We had to stand up really, really early – actually it was still in the middle of the night (I think it was three in the morning or so) and got to Spielberg with the bus. It was one of the hottest day of the year back then and after watching “the race of generations” with Niki Lauda, Gerhard Berger and some others and then following also the F3 and F2 races (Me, back in 2015: What do you mean there are races before the actual race? What the hell is F3 and F2?) and because we were so damn tired after standing up so early, most of us, including myself, were sleeping in the meadow during the F1 race. So I have missed over half of the race and I really can’t even remember anymore who has won 😅 But it had still been a funny day for my as a F1-hater, but believe me - if I should ever get to a GP again, this won’t ever happen to me again! 😅 I promise! 🤞🏼

Wow, this has turned out longer than you have actually wanted it, right anonym?!

Your first question about how I have got into the Carlando fandom is probably answered now and also half of your second question. But I have actually started writing fanfictions back in autumn 2016 for the TWD fandom. I have written overall 16 stories for that fandom and 4 stories in German for the ski jumping fandom, but as much as I have already loved to write fanfictions back then, it only really became my passion and biggest hobby with Carlando. I just can’t stop writing about them, also because they make me so happy and for me so easy with those dorks just being them 😊

Yeah, I’m still very sorry about that I just can’t write stories to all of these great requests, even tho I would really, really like to do - but if you have got inspired by one of these, you should give it a try!

But if you are really that indecisive and shy, you could use the anonymity of the internet for your favor (in this case this posibilty is a good thing - as long as you use your anonymity not for spreading hate/attacking/bullying someone) You know what I mean? I actually did/do that as well. Only three people here on Tumblr know who I really am. Some of you may know from where I am (because I don’t make a secret out of it) and some here even know my name, but that’s it. I don’t share any more personal things about my identity, because I also prefer to stay anonymous here, especially because only my boyfriend, my best friend and my mother know about that I’m writing fanfictions. All those other people I call “friends” don’t know about it or me having this account here and I also don’t want them to know, because they simply wouldn’t understand it.

What I’m trying to say here - if it makes you feel better and also more secure, you could upload your story on AO3 without telling anyone it’s you. Or if you don’t want to post it on AO3 and you also don’t want to post it on your Tumblr account, I offer you to send me your story anonymous. I would post it in your “name” aka anonym, saying that this story isn't mine and you could watch/read the reactions.

You don’t have to lose anything, anonym 😉 I would really, really like to read your story, no matter if you will decide to publish it with your name or anonymous. Because there won’t ever be enough writers out there, blessing us with their great stories. Also because I am as much a passionate reader than a writer. And I’m also pretty sure about that you are talented and also about that your story would be more than just worth reading it 😊

Thank you so much for your message, anonym and I’m sorry my answer turned out to be so long 😅 but I really hope my words have helped you in some way, because I’m pretty sure about that you actually don’t have to have a reason to be that shy and indecisive 😉 Just give it a try, as long as it makes you happy 🤗❤️

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ushiwakaout · 4 years

Text

Lead Singer! Tamaki Amajiki with tattoo artist & lead guitarist S/O || MHA

Genre: Rock Star AU || Fluff || Self-Indulgent angst ||

⚠️ Warnings: Drug Use || Nsfw || Orgy || Mommy kink? ||

Words: 2k+

A/N: very self indulgent bc i love rockstar aus i’ve never seen one of tamaki so here it is!

Gender Neutral Reader

Dude, don’t even get me started

HE SINGS LIKE JESSE THE GUY WHO SING SWEATHER WEATHER AND DADDY ISSUES

Can you imagine his singing devils advocate, holy shit he’d look so good MA’AM PLEASE

YOU CANNOT TELL ME THAT HE WOULDN’T DRESS LIKE HARRY STYLES

He’s still shy and still has stage fright the first few times but your his lead guitar player (dated before the band was together)

Mirio is on the drums while Nejire is the bass player

It’s so hard not to pounce on him once he gets into his music like wow

ESPECIALLY IF HE SUNG DEVILS ADVOCATE

You guys wear a matching matte black rings and people assume you’re married, y’all never say no so you’re gonna let people assume bc you’re fine with it.

You used to be a tattoo artist so many tattoos Tamaki has or will have, it’s done by you, he won’t want

After every set he’ll either kiss you or your hand, it just depends if you go straight into the next set or not

He sings pretty boy dedicated to you bc if it where all to end, he’d be okay if it was by your side

The fans either ship you or they don’t

It’s a little hard thinking that people don’t think you’re a good match but Tamaki always says that you’re his angel and he’d never fall in love with anyone else bc you’re his soulmate

Some fans ship him with mirio and they both think its funny bc they’ve been best friends since they where kids so they don’t have a problem

But Tamaki does not, DOES NOT like it when they ship him with Nejire. Not that he doesn’t like her bc she, along with mirio, got him out of his comfort zone a lot (in a good way).

He sees the way you’re smile fades when you see a post about their ship, people saying that they look good and all. It’s gotten to a point of wanting to break up with Tamaki just to make a handfull of fans happy

You’d do anything for his music to rise up the ranks, even if it meant losing your relationship

You’ve gone to mirio sobbing about this, it kinda hurt Tamaki that you didn’t go to him but you just couldn’t face him without the reminder of those stupid post

There was one day where a post said “look at the way he looks at her, he looks at her like he’s in love with her.” You looked at the picture for a long time and didn’t even realize the water works

You didn’t really mention it to anybody but when tamaki sang pretty boy, everyone could tell that it had a different feel to it

the set was over and before tamaki could look at you, you had already gone off the stage and ran towards the back locking yourself into the bathroom and kinda just letting it all out

god you hated this feeling, the ache in your chest

Tamaki basically broke into the bathroom and froze when he saw you crying. He was so worry and so angry at the same time.

You both ended up crying on the bathroom floor together proclaiming your love for each other in such a snotty mess that it ended in laughter.

After that incident there was a long thread tweet of Tamaki explaining politely why he doesn’t like when people ship him with someone else other than his s/o or mirio (bc you don’t mind it either) people could tell that he was angry through the tweet and it was a lil scary bc tamaki DOES NOT GET ANGRY

anygays- angst is over, sorry very self-indulgent.

YOU CANNOT TELL ME THIS MAN DOESN’T SMOKE DUE TO ANXIETY

You guys have 21+ concerts bc it’s those type of concerts where u can smoke weed legally and drink

SHOT GUN SMOKE WITH TAMAKI HOT HOT HOT

Tamaki’s a lil high so he does it with mirio too and u end up doing it with nejire (your relationship def gets a lot better after the whole shipping situation bc yall talk about it and nejire ends up outing herself to you guys as a lesbian)

so if you’re a girl, Tamaki will def. tell her to watch herself when it comes to his girl but if you’re a dude- you guys are like oh... cool, good for you.

MMM tourbus sex

YOU CANNOT TELL ME THAT AS A BAND YALL DIDN’T DO SOMETHING TOGETHER

you don’t Nejire anywhere near Tamaki tho, def a small cat fight while it happens

TAMAKI GOT REALLY JELOUS WHEN MIRIO KISSED YOU OH MAN

Tamaki def fucked you several times while Mirio was listening bc TAMAKI WANTS HIM TOO KNOW WHO YOU BELONG TOO (cannon amajiki is a bottom and probably a pillow prince but fannon tamaki is a switch but in my head in this au TAMAKI IS A HARDCORE TOP)

Several occasions where you have to sit down during concerts bc tamaki ruined you minutes beforehand

FOR A FUCKING FACT yall do it in the dressing room and he just cums inside you and slips you’re underwear back on minutes before set AND U HAVE NO TIME TO CLEAN YOURSELF SO YOU’RE LIKE FUCK

mmm i love me some dom tamaki

Okay lets get to award shows

B E S T D R E S S E D C O U P L E A W A R D

its something like this: female / male

if y’all win something tamaki will NOT speak, way too many people are looking at him at the moment and he almost died during the pictures.

“some many flashing cameras”

holds your hand tighter and y’all ask to get escorted out

If y’all live together like only you and him, you’re house def is the definition of dark decor

if you guys every do get married, you aren’t getting a live band, everyone thought you did but it turns out it’s you guys in wedding attire- they love it.

Also very small wedding, somehow able to hide it from the pap and its like 50 people or so, mostly friends and like 1/3 family

100% LIKE PEWDIEPIES WEDDING. very very private but very nature/dark decor

do y’all get wedding tattoos. yes. but not matching, not really.

do y’all tattoo each-other at the wedding... yes.

on your ring finger you have a sun and he has the moon.

you are the light that guides his threw the darkness and he is your sun, always lighting up your life you know bc the sun lights up the moon

y’all just love eachother sorry

you don’t break up and y’all don’t expect to

BABIES Fem version

do you still play while pregnant yes

are people surprised, yell yeah

you gotta sit down tho bc your feet are killing you

around the 6 to 9 month mark, the band goes on a break tamaki ends up going solo for a bit during the break and he makes you sing with him AND WOW do you get a larger fanbase bc of it. yes

angelic voice of a pregnant mother

it made tamaki horny, like how the fuck are are you so fucking great at fucking everything please let me fuck you god please

will whine, WILL CALL YOU MOMMY god yes

BABIES Male version.

Yall really wanted to adopt w one baby but the baby you liked had a twin so youre like HOW CAN U TAKE ONE AND NOT THE OTHER

they are twins but ones a boy and one is a girl

god you love them with all your heart

BABIES IN GENERAL (fem version yall have twins too, boy and girl)

they grow up to be band geeks, yall love it but your boy learns piano and the girl ends up playing the guitar (def not the outcome you guys thought it would be but you really dont care)

Let set names Mizuki for a girl, Haru for a boy. (legit beautiful moon and the sun)

Mizuki is very alternative meets fairy academia/ loves plants. probably a baby witch: has the same attitude as Tamaki

Haru is Dark Academia meets city pop / loves record, old gadgets and reading books: very much more like their other parent

If y’all ever retire to just making music at home the kids are def. gonna take the band name and just put “The new gen” after it. You guys make fun of them for being unoriginal and they get pouty

but they had you guys crying the first time they got a gig. they both sing, make music like billie and finneas and y’all just so proud.

when you guys start getting older they will take you to award shows as their date to flex the fact that they are gen celebs who actually made something off of their parent success unlike some people

y’all just flex you’re kid bc they doing so well

just for shits and giggles (kids are like 22 at this point, you guys are like 46) :

Haru would probably get a girl pregnant during a one night stand and end up in a baby daddy situation

Mizuki probably steals Tamakis weeb and smokes it w lavander, you catch her and you’re like.... is it good? mother/father daughter smoke sesh

Haru is like “where’s mom, i need her to run by some notes- are you guys smoking? I’m telling dad.”

“It’s not like you’re dad doesn’t smoke either.”

Haru and Mizuki are like “WHAT?! SINCE WHEN?!”

“Since always... how’d you think he got over his stage fright? It’s not like i could go down on you’re dad every time before a concert to lift his nerves.”

Fake gagging from the two kids.

You guys a def the parents who kinda don’t care about your image but you don’t let your kids go off easy

They are good kids who kept good grades and never got caught while doing trouble- so they are well respected and have liberty to do what they like.

There ends up being an article about your family and the cover is you guys- all of you with your nails painted and eyemakeup

very very controversial interview with strict and non liberals calling you guys bad parents and such

and you guys also talked about the topic about how you cared for your children. explaining that you guys stopped smoking, stopped drinking, kept a healty diet until they where 15. once they became 18 it was a very open enviroment, letting your kids grow the way they want and not suffocating them. not shoving down their beliefs and likes- they grew up the way they wanted to with the care of their parents.

parents kinda hate you ngl, yall too great sksksksk

yall also play the game where they ask you questions and if you don’t answer you have to take a shot

Mizuki: “Oh ew, please don’t answer this question... Have you ever had- *clears throat* have you guys ever had sex while we where in the house

Tamaki gets all red and shoves a shot down your throat and now you don’t get to answer “But I wanted to answer!” Haru is cringing hard and he takes a shot himself “You guys are gross”

Haru asks a question and just HATES IT “Oh god... Okay- Only because I wanna know I’m asking parent number 2 (you’re parent #2) Is the rumor of you guys doing the dirty with your band true. Did you guys have an orgy.”

You start to laugh your ass off but Mizuki and Tamaki are looking at eachother bc they cant believe they’ve done this Haru def is out of his shy bubble and now Mizuki has it

“You want a shot papa?” She asked tamaki, he just nodds and she fills it to the brim, “I think thats enough.” But before he’s able to reach for it, She shoots it down and put another one full for him

“Oh yeah, that’s true. Kinda i guess, it wasn’t really an orgy- It was more like two couples doing it in the same room while doing it but you’re uncle mirio did kiss me.”

Kids: Forever gagging

Tamaki: Forever blushing

You: Ah sweet memories :)

Request are open! You can request anyone from My Hero Academia (low key wont write for tsu or uraraka. Will not write for mineta), Haikyuu, Attack on Titan or Balance Unlimited!

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greenerteacups · 9 days

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do you have any thoughts on luna and harry as a potential couple post-canon? i was reading your post on harry/ginny and i really loved your perspective on it, especially when you said your vision for harry post war was basically just lots and lots of big dogs (i LOVE that mental image and i agree it would be SO good for him!!) but i was wondering if you'd consider luna and harry to be a good match for each other? personally i have a sort of soft spot for the pairing because of how fond harry is of her in canon, and i think if anyone was going to understand and be unfazed by all the difficult trauma responses and long healing process he's going to be dealing with for years after the war, luna seems like a good fit :)

My love for Harry as a character is kind of unusual to me, considering I go pearl-diving for ships when I read things, and I fall in love with dynamics as a conduit to falling in love with characters. That said, I don't really ship him with anybody. I just genuinely adore That Weird Little Dude. Same with Ron; I'm just as pleased to see them with a range of people, because (A) I believe they're good partners and can have great relationships with many people (Ron Weasley get behind me they could never make me hate you Ron Weasley), but also (B) I don't see either of their canon relationships as Definitive. Some characters I ship together because I sincerely believe they are (non-deterministic) soulmates, in that they bring out parts of each other that make them the freshest, happiest, most interesting versions of themselves. With other characters, I'll look at a couple and go: "Huh. Could work!" and smack my giant rubber [APPROVED] stamp on it, then get back to work on my blorbos.

Luna and Harry are one of those couples for me. As I mentioned in that other post, I think Harry's primary requirement in a partner is someone who can treat him normally, i.e. will be generally chill about the Became Wizard Jesus Twice situation. Which is a big ask. Luna is uniquely capable of doing that because Luna is not normal at all, and so treats all things, extraordinary and ordinary both, as uniformly dazzling and delightful. I believe this is why Harry enjoys her so much in their friendship, because he gets to feel valued and treasured without feeling unusual or othered — a hard line to toe, and one even Ron and Hermione occasionally trip up on. He seems to like hanging out with her a great deal, and I think it says something sweet that he asks her to the Slug Club party instead of any of the girls in Gryffindor from his year, whom he'd ostensibly know better.

Luna is a bit of a cipher to me, I admit. We know she's the daughter of an eccentric and probably traumatized single father, raised without a mother; deeply lonely, because of how she's been ostracized for her beliefs and hobbies, and the victim of some degree of bullying for it; and yet full of a passionate, almost effortless wonder and joie de vivre. She's also intensely loving (cf. painting her friends' faces on her bedroom ceiling) and very hard to embarrass. She likes Harry for understandable reasons; they share most of those qualities (Harry's more sensitive to others' opinions, understandably so), and the only point where they diverge is their actual hobbies and interests. Harry seems pretty fond of her nonsense, and I bet she could sell him on crumple-horned snorkacks given some time — maybe if Hermione took a vacation to Switzerland and left them alone together.

In general, what I find sweet about the idea of these two is they're so chill. These are two people whose chief ambition is to hang out, enjoy their hobbies, and see some cool magical shit. Date night is so fucking easy for these two. Plus, Harry is a hothead a lot of the time, and Luna just... vibes. Literally never bothered. Insane levels of not fussed at all times. Very helpful for Harry, who has a bad tendency to bottle up his feelings and then blow up at the first person to sneeze at him. Conversely, I'd hope that Harry would age into the kind of genial, confident dude who would be able to rock up with a function where people were talking shit about Luna and be like :) My wife? You mean my wise and beautiful wife? Surely you are not talking about my wise and beautiful wife. :) instead of doing what he'd do from age 15-17, which is get mad and stomp around sulking. Which, again: teenager. Orphan. Non-stop trauma gauntlet from age 2-18. Excuses are made. But still. Would think it best if Luna's husband were not perhaps so keenly sensitive to gossip, for Luna's sake.

Anyway, these are just some dissembled thoughts. There's also something in there about Harry, boy under the staircase, falling in love with the magical world and ending up the Most Magical person, i.e., the person who took believing in magic to such an extreme that she imagines magic that doesn't exist yet. And Luna ends up with the one person who's inarguably stranger than she is.

#another e.g. for a Definitive couple would be Annabeth and Percy for instance.#like I think Nico and Will are cute but I'm fine if they date other people! I don't *root* for that but I'd be chill and open to it #if Percy and Annabeth break up I'm setting the book on fire and doing a Cursed Child brainwipe. it isn't happening.#they are Definitive. they are narrative complements. they need to kiss for Thematic Purposes (read: pretentious)#greenteacup asks #Harry and Ginny also exist in the rubberstamp box for me #I think Ginny does different things for Harry and has different strengths/faults #sidebar naming their daughter after luna is SO cute and lily luna is the one potterchild I'm okay with the name of #but it also makes me think about harry/luna kids and. you know what. I think it would go better #harry would be like 'perhaps... albus severus' and luna would be like :D great idea! I was Thinking Of Lysander Philodemus Crantor.#and then she would negotiate him down to like. 'katherine' but with a byzantine combination of Y's and E's

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whitewolfofwinterfell · 3 years

Text

Harry Potter re-read: thoughts and ranking my favourite books

In 2020 I completed a full re-read of Harry Potter for the first time since I was a child. It was a rollercoaster experience of highs and lows; excitement, nostalgia, frustration, joy, boredom and everything in between. It took the whole year (in between reading other books) and I hit a wall in the sumer, but I’m glad I persevered and made it to the end. This series will always hold a special place in my heart and as much as I love the movies, there’s so much detail that is missed from them. I didn’t realise just how much my memories of the HP universe had been shaped by the movies until I read the books. I feel like I’ve reconnected with the universe and characters in an authentic way and lots of my opinions have changed as a result.

Before we get to the ranking, some disclaimers:

If it wasn’t already obvious SPOILERS BELOW FOR THE HARRY POTTER SERIES (at this point I’d be surprised if there’s anybody that needs this warning, but better safe than sorry!).

This ranking is completely subjective and very changable. I love all of the books and I’ve based the ranking solely on my enjoyment of reading them.

In writing this post I am in no way supporting or endorsing J.K. Rowling’s works. Her ignorance and hatred is intolerable and abhorrent. I discuss this more in the conclusion of this post.

None of the images or gifs featured were made by me, all credit goes to the creators.

7. The Goblet of Fire

One of my favourite movies, but my least favourite book. This one hasn’t aged well for me. It’s too long, there’s much too filler and it has the disadvantage of coming after The Prisoner of Azkaban. I like the idea of the Triwizard Tournament in theory, but the execution is dull. We spend chapters upon chapters upon chapters with Harry and Hermione researching and preparing for the tasks and the tasks themselves are very anti-climatic. It’s also difficult to ignore the fact that the second and third tasks take part underwater and in a maze, and the audience can’t even see what’s going on. Apparently there’s no spell that can allow the audience to see underwater or inside a maze, not even those Muggle inventions called cameras *face palm*

The sub-plot with S.P.E.W was equally dull and didn’t add much to the story. I also found it deeply uncomfortable and upsetting to read about the enslavement of elves and the way that slavery was portrayed in general. The one positive I took from it was seeing Dobby with his crazy jumpers and socks. Dobby is The Best.

(credit to xbirdyblue on DeviantArt for this wonderful fanart image of Dobby)

The reactions to Harry’s name coming out of the Goblet of Fire is what infuriated me most in this book because it doesn’t even make sense. Firstly, does anybody really believe Harry’s capable of overcoming such powerful magic to put his name in? Secondly, why the fudging hell would Harry want to put his name in the Goblet? He’s a 14 year old child who has endured endless trauma; he’s spent most of his life living in an abusive household and the 3 years he’d been at Hogwarts fighting against Voldemort. He doesn’t want fame or glory, he just wants to live a normal, peaceful life and hang out with his best friends. Ron’s reaction is particularly annoying because he of all people should know Harry wouldn’t put his name in the Goblet. I understand why Ron felt that way and I love him but...

The one thing I did enjoy about this book is the evolution of Harry’s friendships with Ron and Hermione. Hermione is fiercely loyal to Harry and devoted every waking second to helping him succeed in the tasks. Despite Ron’s silly tantrum and their divide through most of the book, their falling out really does cement Harry’s love for Ron.

"He thought he could have coped with the rest of the school's behaviour if he could just have Ron back as his friend."

Harry liked Hermione very much, but she just wasn't the same as Ron. There was much less laughter and a lot more hanging round in the library."

"The thing Harry Potter will miss the most, sir!"

"Harry didn't care, he wouldn't have cared if Karkaroff had given him zero; Ron's indignation on his behalf was worth a hundred points to him."

What can I say? Ron is Harry’s platonic soul mate. That is all.

Barty Crouch’s escape from Azkaban and transformation into Moody is more cunning and intelligent than it was in the movies - this dude switched places with his mother and left her in Azkaban in his place!!

Fred and George were by far the highlight of this book for me. Their characters are great in the movies, but in the books they’re just--

Their antics, wit and banter are top notch. I’d actually forgotten that Harry gave his prize winnings from the Tournament to Fred and George, and it seems like such a huge injustice!! This act of kindness and selflessness on Harry’s part is largely why Fred and George are able to set up Wizard Wheezes. It’s a testament to Harry’s love for Fred and George that he gave them his winnings. Harry may not have needed the money but he could’ve done literally anything with it, and chose to give it to the twins because he believed in their ideas and wanted to give them the opportunity they needed.

GOF was always one of my favourite movies because of this moment:

Voldemort’s return was one of the most chilling, terrifying and shocking moments for me as a kid. The scene in the graveyard still stands out as being one of my favourite scenes from the movies. In the books, it didn’t have the same impact, unfortunately. In fact, this is what was noticeable to me all the way through reading this book - I like the movie more. The movie cuts out the filler, takes the interesting aspects of the book and does them better.

Overall, despite being at the bottom of my list, I still like GOF. It’s a huge step up in world-building and is an entertaining book with a great premise; I loved the Golden Trio’s friendship, the appearances from Dobby and Fred and George’s antics. Unfortunately, this book is let down by the sheer amount of filler, the underwhelming execution of the main plot and too much focus on sub-plots like S.P.E.W.

6. The Sorcerer’s Philosopher’s Stone

It was really difficult to rank Phliosopher’s Stone, because it holds a special place in my heart because it’s where the series began. This book does a great job at introducing Hogwarts and it captures those nostalgic, magical Hogwarts vibes unlike any of the other books. This book is all about the wonder and the joy of Hogwarts, and Hogwarts lives in my heart, so stepping into this magical world with Harry for the first time again was a joy to read.

I love the time spent in this book on experiencing the smaller wonders of the magical world with Harry - Platform 9 3/4, Hogwarts Express, Diagon Alley, Ollivanders, the Sorting Hat, Great Hall feasts, ghosts etc. It’s exciting and fun to read about, and truly a gem of a book for children.

Seeing Harry go from living in a cupboard and suffering abuse and neglect to an incredible world full of wonder and people who want to get to know him and show him kindness was a joy to read. I love the development of Harry, Ron and Hermione’s friendship and how, despite how short the book is, it’s developed properly. Their friendship with Hermione doesn’t happen overnight, but by the end there’s a genuine bond and trust between them.

But of course, as the first book in the series, the plot is lacking and the writing isn’t at its strongest. Also, despite how short it is I did feel a little bored reading the second half. It’s a great entry to the series and does a wonderful job at establishing the world, main trio and other characters, but in the grander scheme of the series it’s quite bland a forgettable.

5. The Deathly Hallows

Now this one came as a big surprise to me, because before my re-read I considered The Deathly Hallows to be my favourite book, but I just didn’t enjoy it this time around. The first 50-60% of this book got me like:

I was bored as hell. The travelling, the hunting for Horcruxes, Dumbledore’s backstory, the bickering between Harry, Ron and Hermione...it was tiresome. Fortunately, amongst that there were a lot of isolated things that I enjoyed.

Firstly, I adore the Tale of the Three Brothers, it’s interesting and I love the depiction of it in the movies - it’s just so cool!

Secondly, Ron and Hermione are very cute in this book, and for the first time I appreciated them as a romantic ship.

Thirdly, Harry looking through Sirius’ room and finding a letter from Lily broke my heart. This moment is so touching and completely unexpected, since I’d forgotten about it over the years.

(credit to alessiatrunifo for this stunning fanart)

Fourthly, LUNA LOVEGOOD. You know what? I have no qualms in saying Luna is one of my new favourite characters since my re-read. I always liked her, but she never stood out to me, and that’s changed. It’s not just that she’s unique and wacky, but that she’s fiercely independent, moral, kind and loyal. Luna has such a strong sense of who she is and she doesn’t let anyone or anything contradict that.

Can I also admit that I might slightly ship Harry and Luna now? 🙊 Luna seeing through Harry’s disguise as “Barney Weasley” based on his facial expressions alone and their reactions to the possibility of the other being in danger touched my heart.

"'She will [survive],' said Harry. He could not bear to contemplate the alternative. 'She's tough Luna, much tougher than you'd think. She's probably teaching all the inmates about Wrackspurts and Nargles.'"

"Oh, no, I didn't want you to be caught!"

They’re cute, okay?

Finally, Kreacher! This was perhaps one of the biggest surprises from reading this book, because I’d completely forgotten about Kreacher’s story. And boy, oh, boy did this pull on my heartstrings. Kreacher has one of the most tragic backstories in the HP universe and he absolutely deserves the redemption he got in this book. I loved seeing him develop a genine relationship with Harry, Ron and Hermione, and the fact that they never went back for him made me so sad. Poor Kreacher!

I enjoyed all of these elements of the first half of the book, and then I got to The Sacking of Severus Snape and it was like:

This is where the book finally took off for me (unfortunately, it took 30 chapters to get there) and as soon as Harry, Ron and Hermione are back in Hogwarts I couldn’t put it down. There are so many brilliant moments and things I loved that all I can really do is bullet point them:

The character reunions.

Percy finally redeeming himself!!!!

McGonnagal being the most badass to ever badass.

Neville Longbottom owns my heart ❤❤❤

Neville's grandmother's response to finding out Neville was fighting in the battle - "Naturally [he is]. Excuse me, I must go and assist him."

Ron and Hermione's first kiss!! and Harry’s reaction to it - "Is this the moment? OI! There's a war going on here!"

Percy handing in his resignation whilst Stupefy-ing his boss - "Hello, Minister! Did I mention I'm resigning?"

The Forest Again was such an emotional chapter. It got me good.

"You'll stay with me?" "Until the very end." 😭

"Harry, you wonderful boy. You brave, brave man."

"Perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those, who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well."

Did I mention that Neville is bloomin' amazing?

Kreacher!!!!!! "Fight! Fight! Fight for my master, defender of the house-elves! Fight the Dark Lord in the name of brave Regalus! Fight!"

Reading The Flaw in the Plan was soooo much more satisfying than watching it play out on-screen in the movie.

In many ways DH has some of the best, most satisfying moments of any of the books. It’s a strong conclusion to the series and there’s so much that I loved about it; so many memorable and emotional moments (Dobby and Fred’s deaths still hit hard 20 years later). Unfortunately, it was dragged down by the first half of the book and the epilogue. I tried so hard to keep an open mind about the epilogue, but the truth is it still BLOWS. And the more time that passes the more I resent the decisions that were made about character deaths. I understand that the stakes were high and we needed to lose characters close to our hearts but Fred?? Dobby??? Remus??? NO! Just no, okay? I don’t accept that.

4. The Order of the Phoenix

Now, The Order of the Phoenix had similar issues as DH for me - it had a very slow start but a great ending. I did take a couple of months break in the middle of reading this one and distinctly remember slogging my way through the first half and devouring the second half.

I’ve made no secret over the years that Sirius and Remus are two of favourite HP characters, so I expected to enjoy OOTP a lot for that reason. I did really enjoy all the smatterings of Sirius and Remus we go throughout this book. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough for me. This book really highlighted for me how limited Harry’s POV was, because I wanted more of an insight into the Order but Harry was kept in the dark the entire time which was frustrating.

One of the main character highlights of this book is the legend Minverva McGonnagal. Her sass, strength and determination to defend Hogwarts and its students against Dolores is astounding. Here are some of my favourite McGonnagal moments:

"Well, usually when a person shakes their head they mean 'no.'"

"Can I offer you a cough drop, Dolores?"

"I should have made my meaning plainer. [Harry] has achieved high marks in all Defence Against the Dark Arts tests set by a compotent teacher."

Defending Hagrid against Umbridge.

And of course:

(Still can’t believe the movie robbed us of this!)

Time for a less popular opinion - I loved Harry in this book. In general, this book made me feel very protective of Harry, because Harry is bloomin’ incredible and deserves so much better than what he gets in this book. He’s always had a bad rep in OOTP for being an annoying, angsty teenager, but in my opinion, this is Harry at his most relatable and lovable. After everything Harry went through, he’s entitled to be angry with the world. He endured everything that he did and took the responsibility of the world onto his shoulders with little complaint, and in OOTP he reaches breaking point. Honestly, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. The adults in Harry’s life are glaringly irresponsible in this book. Not only do they force him back to the Dursley’s after the hugely traumatic events of GOF based on some bull about “blood magic”, but they purposefully hide the truth from him even though that puts him at greater risk and adds to his emotional distress. Everyone around Harry expects him to be mature and act like an adult when he’s fighting against the darkest wizard of all time, yet don’t give him the courtesy or respect of telling him the truth about significant things that impact him and the people he loves. Sirius os the only person that refuses to belittle Harry, but in some ways, his behaviour is just as damaging as those that tried to shelter Harry from the truth, because he expects too much of Harry and projects James’ personality onto him. The adults around Harry fail him to such an extent in this book that he establishes the DA because he can’t even rely on the adults around him to keep him and his friends safe. Harry’s emotions in this book aren’t only understandable, but justified and I felt an even deeper connection to him as a result. His vulnerability shows his strength and courage more than ever before. This is the point where he goes from the Chosen One to a true champion, because even when he reaches rock bottom and wants to give up, he doesn’t walk away. I love Harry so much.

The Department of Mysteries is by far one of my favourite sections from any of the books. I love the friendship dynamics, Luna, Neville and Ginny are given the chance to really shine, the stakes are high, the action is great and despite the trauma of Sirius’ death, that moment is so hard-hitting and memorable. This section of the book just took it to a new level for me. It was really great.

The emotion of Sirius’ death was captured so perfectly, and is such a huge turning point for Harry. Like I said above, choosing to go on even after losing Sirius proves that Harry is a true hero; that he isn’t just doing what he was doing out of obligation or has been told to but because he believes in doing the right thing. I best move on before I continue to speak about how amazing Harry James Potter is.

Now we come to Neville. Can you believe that I’d actually forgot the details of Neville being the Chosen One? It was a blast learning about that again and how he’s connected to the prophecy. I also loved that we got to see his family and not just be told about it via dialogue. Neville is by far one of the most loveable and interesting minor characters in the series. He has so many great moments in books 1-4, but he really shines in OOTP.

The more I write about this book, the more I find things to love. It’s just a shame that the first half lets it down, because overall, I think there’s a lot of great material here in terms of plot and character development.

3. The Chamber of Secrets

I know that The Chamber of Secrets is generally ranked low amongst most fans, but I love it. At this point, the books were more simplistic and just fun, and I like that. I also have to acknowledge that I have a deep affinity for the COS movie - I grew up watching it over and over, and of all the movies it’s still the one I know best and always come back to (still can’t believe the “Why couldn’t it be follow the butterflies line?” wasn’t even in the books!)

I love all of the different elements in this book:

Dobby

The Burrow

The flying car

Whomping Willow

Moaning Myrtle

This idiot

Gilderoy Lockhart is one of my favourite antagonists in the entire series, because he isn’t intentionally bad, he’s just an arrogant fool. His primary concern is his image and reputation and he was willing to go to any lengths to maintain it. He’s a bad person in a subtle and hilarious way.

Generally speaking, there are too many fun and entertaining moments to count in this book. I love the childish-ness of this book in comparison to the darker tone the series adopts from POA onwards. For me, COS still has the silliness and merriment that I really associate HP with. Entertainment value aside, the plot in COS is actually well executed.

As a short, concise and effective plot, Tom Riddle’s diary and the Chamber of Secrets works incredibly well. I liked the mystery and suspense of the culprit of the Muggle born attacks, and the big moments connected to it - finding out that Hagrid might be the perpetrator, Ginny being possessed by Voldemort, Hermione being petrified, Harry speaking Parceltongue. The stakes are high and this plot is strong enough to keep momentum going between the more light hearted moments.

Overall, COS is a quick, easy and fun read. It may not be the best written or complex book in the series, but I’m a huge advocate for it. Not only is it highly entertaining, but it also introduced a lot of great and important aspects to the series (Horcruxes, Tom Riddle being the heir of Slytherin, Harry being connected to Voldemort, polyjuice potion and Dobby), and built very well on what was established in PS.

2. The Half Blood Prince

The biggest surprise of this re-read was how much I bloomin’ loved Half Blood Prince. It has the perfect balance of plot, character development, mystery, humour and emotion. Out of the bigger books in the series, this was the one I finished the fastest (2 days), because it was quite literally un-put-downable (yes, that’s a word).

First, let’s talk about the plot, because wow, it’s a good ‘un. In my opinion, it’s the strongest and best written plot from any of the books. There’s Voldemort’s backstory, the development of Harry and Dumbledore’s relationship, Snape’s backstory, the mystery of the Half Blood Prince, Harry’s rivalry/suspicion of Malfoy, hunting Horcruxes and Dumbledore’s death. This book feels like an incredible pay-off for things that have been built up in the previous 5 books. We learn so much about certain characters - Dumbledore, Snape, Malfoy, Voldemort, Ginny - and regardless of whether I liked those characters or not, I was invested. The clues that Snape is the Half Blood Prince are cleverly interwoven within the narrative and the mystery keeps you guessing, even when you know who it is.

The last part of this book from Chapter 26 onwards was just explosive. Although I knew what was coming, I was surprised at the level of emotion I felt when Dumbledore and Harry were in the cave and when Dumbledore died. My heart was racing and I had tears in my eyes.

This book just doesn’t let up for a second. If we aren’t learning more about Voldemort, we’re following Draco to see what he’s up to or unravelling mysteries around the Half Blood Prince or trying to get information from Slughorn about horcruxes. Even the down time is enjoyable to read in this book (Chapter 9 was one of my favourite chapters to read) and the friendships and banter are stellar.

In terms of character development, this is also one of the strongest books. Dumbledore is finally developed beyond the omnipotent Gandalf-esque archetype and we learn bout his past and his flaws.

"I have already proven to you, I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being - forgive me - rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger."

The focus on Dumbledore also sets it up for his death, and you know what? It works. If we’d lost Dumbledore prior to HBP, I would’ve been shocked and upset, but losing him at this point hurts that much more because we learn so much more about him, see how important he is to Harry and how vital his guidance is in defeating Voldemort. Dumbledore’s death feels like all hope is lost, and so soon after losing Sirius it feels even harsher.

Insight into Snape’s back-story finally explains some of his motivations and actions (though it does not condone them).

Although Voldemort’s backstory doesn’t necessarily add to our understanding of him, it’s interesting to see how he came into the world, and learn about his family background. What this demonstrated most to me is that a lot of the time there is no reason for evil. Voldemort didn’t really have any motivations for what he did. Sure, he didn’t have the perfect, happy childhood but there isn’t really enough substance there to try to explain how or why he became the monster that he did.

More could’ve been done with Malfoy, but I enjoyed him having a bigger presence in this book and how the idea that family shapes who we are isn’t always true. Draco does what is expected of him from his family, but ultimately, he has his own conscience and inner turmoil that forces him to question things.

As for Harry...he goes to a dark place in this book. OOTP has always been cpnsidered as the “angsty Harry”, but HBP takes Harry to new places. Harry feels more ruthless, reckless and determined in this book than any other. There’s an underlying sense of apathy that lingers from Sirius’ death. He obsesses about his mission to extract the memory from Slughorn and his lessons with Dumbledore, and fixates on his hatred for Draco and Snape. The fact that Harry uses Sectumsempra on Draco is honestly the most alarming thing that Harry does because it shows how dark a place Harry has gone to. He knows the spell is going to inflict serious harm and yet he uses it anyway.

Generally, Harry abuses the potions book and manipulates, lies and takes advantage of almost everyone around him. I really see his dependency on that book and his choice to exploit it for his own benefit as adverse effects of the grief and trauma he endured. For once, he has the upper hand and I’d even argue that despite the Half Blood Prince being anonymous stranger to him, he relies on him as a mentor or parental figure. Yet despite it being a dark book for Harry, he also seems to get some genuine peace with Ginny. Although I’m not a Hinny shipper, it was so nice to see Harry experience some normality and contentment. No matter what he goes through, he remains kind hearted. I actually feel like this book more than any other emphasises that point - Harry could just as easily have gone down the same path as Vodlemort, but he made a choice not to.

“In spite of all the temptation you have endured, all the suffering, you remain pure of heart, just as pure as you were at the age of eleven, when you stared into a mirror that reflected your hears desire and it showed you the only way to thwart Lord Voldement, and not immortality or riches. Harry, have you any idea how few wizards could have seen what you saw in the mirror?"

Plot and character development aside, the comedy in this book is gold and I appreciate the movie (and Daniel Radcliffe) for maximising on that to create some of the best and funniest scenes in the movie franchise. Chapter 18 in particular was hilarious.

Now I have to speak about one of my favourite moments from this book:

Since GoF, Fleur was grossly mistreated and discriminated against by the Weasley’s (Molly and Ginny in particular). The way they treated her was sexist and xenophobic pure and simple. They had no reason to dislike her and all of their reasons seemed to be built on some flimsy notion that she was full of herself (why, just because she was beautiful? and even if she was, what’s wrong with confidence?!) and that she was annoying and loud because she was French. Seeing Fleur finally stand up to their bigotry was fantastic. It’s a moment I’d been waiting for for so long and I’m so glad we got it, because frankly, Molly and Ginny’s beahviour towards Fleur needed to be addressed because it was disgusting.

Overall, HBP demonstrates the strengths of HP as a series. In comparison to the other books, I don’t really have anything to crituqe I enjoyed all of it from beginning to end, which is why it almost took the top spot in this ranking.

1. The Prisoner of Azkaban

It was really close between first and second place, but Prisoner of Azkaban just managed it. This is where the HP series truly takes off and starts to shine. In comparison to what we got in PS and COS it’s richer - the plot is complex, the world building is more developed, the characters are great and it’s generally an entertaining read but with added complexity in comparison to its predecessors.

I like that POA allows us to spend so much time in Hogwarts hanging out, but that the plot comes to the forefront more. We’re all so familiar with HP at this point that it’s easy to forget the impact the plot-twists must’ve punched the first time we read them. But for me, it’d been so long since I’d read the series, that it really was like reading them for the first time and POA was one of the ones that surprised me at various points.

I’d forgot details like:

The Shrieking Shack got its name and reputation because Lupin locked himself up there during transformations; The Whomping Willow was planted to hide the secret passage to the Shrieking Shack and prevent Lupin from escaping and hurting people in his werewolf form

Crookshanks was Sirius’ ally

Sirius escaped Azkaban in his dog form

Unsurprisingly, Remus and Sirius were the highlight of this book for me. I know it’s basic but I really love them and the two of them having such a focus in this book really makes it.

Remus truly shines in this book. He’s a lovable character – a great teacher, a supportive mentor and a loyal friend. His tragic backstory only adds to his character. Snape tries to villainise Remus for being a werewolf, but the reality is that he’s a victim. He was an innocent child that was bitten by a vicious, cruel monster and has to live with the consequences of that for the rest of his life. He carries so much self-loathing, fear and insecurity because of what he is and he doesn’t deserve it. Dumbledore is the only one that separates the man from the wolf and takes Remus on his merits. He knows that Remus is a genuinely good person and a talented teacher, and he’s willing to make the necessary adjustments to enable Remus equal opportunity. Not only does it benefit Remus for Dumbledore to do this, but the students too, because let’s face it, Remus is a bloody damn good teacher.

Remus is arguably the most decent and responsible adult character in the entire HP universe. He respects Harry’s agency but also acknowledges that he’s still a child that needs protection and guidance. Instead of lying to Harry or throwing him into dangerous situations, he does perhaps the most helpful thing any adult ever does for Harry – he teaches him how to defend himself. I love that Lupin and Harry’s relationship in this book foreshadows the formation of the DA in OOTP; Lupin is the only one that teaches Harry practical DATDA skills and in the absence of Lupin as a teacher, Harry then takes on that role as a mentor and provides his friends with the skills to defend themselves.

Now we come to Sirius. Introducing Sirius as the enemy – a dangerously, mad criminal who is conspiring with Voldemort and wants Harry dead – and then revealing him to be the complete opposite was genius. Part of me wished I could completely forget so that I could experience the utter shock of finding that out for the first time. The fact that Harry saw his parents in the Mirror of Erised in PS and then finds Sirius and Lupin in this book touches my heart. Sirius is a direct link to Harry’s parents unlike anything he’s ever had. Although on the surface, their bond develops too quickly, considering that Harry is 13 years old and all he wants more than anything is to have parents and/or a connection to his parents, his quick attachment to Sirius makes sense. The thought of living with Sirius makes Harry so happy that he used it to power his patronus!!! Likewise, Sirius clings to Harry knowing that he’s the son of his best friends. He spent the entirety of his time in Azkaban knowing Harry was still out there somewhere without James and Lily and in danger from Voldemort. Immediately, Sirius provides Harry with the type of comfort about his parents that he’s never received before.

“You think the dead we have loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble? Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you have need of him. How else could you produce that particular Patronus? Prongs rode again last night.”

One of the highlights of this book is the scene where Snape catches Harry with the Marauders Map. That quote is just legendary.

"Mr Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business. Mr Prongs agrees with Mr Moony, and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git. Mr Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a Professor. Mr Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball."

Admittedly, the time travel in this book is problematic as hell. I’m grateful that Harry and Hermione were able to save Buckbeak and Sirius due to time travel, but if it was up to me, I’d remove time travel from the universe completely. It doesn’t fit, it’s too complicated and creates too many issues. McGonnagal condones the use of time travel for Hermione to attend extra lessons and yet won’t use it to tackle real, important problems, like I don’t know, war, death, disease, disasters etc. Not to mention the entire Voldemort problem and Harry becoming the Chosen One could’ve been resolved by going back to the night of James and Lily’s deaths.

One of my favourite elements of this book was seeing Ron and Hermione’s friendship with Hagrid. A lot of emphasis is placed on Harry’s friendship with Hagrid. but this book shows how devoted Ron and Hermione are to Hagrid. They both spend a lot of their time comforting him and helping him to prepare for Buckbeak’s trial.

This book has a great balance – it’s still on the shorter side but it doesn’t suffer for it. and here’s plenty of plot and character development. Ironically, whilst HBP is my favourite because of the emphasis on the main plot, POA is my favourite because it takes a break from Voldemort. It’s refreshing to take a step away from Voldemort and put the focus onto a new villain in Sirius, and then for the twist to be revealed that he’s not actually a villain but Harry’s godfather. The time-turner is the biggest draw-back in this book, but I can overlook that because there’s so much more to love in this book. It’s definitely the most re-readable book in terms of the length and plot. This book is a happy medium which incorporates the strengths from all of the other books in a smaller package than HBP - it’s fun but expands on the universe, introduces brilliant new characters and has a depth and complexity that the first two lack whilst not having the filler that books 4-7 have.

Conclusion

It’s hard to read these books without it being mingled with childhood nostalgia, so that undoubtedly informed my ranking. Despite being a children's series, the books still hold up reading them as an adult. I enjoyed rediscovering the smaller details I’d forgotten over the years and feel much closer to the universe as a result. The characters and their dynamics are by far my favourite thing about HP. I also enjoy the whimsical magic and how this is offset against the darker tone later in the series. However, in light of JKR’s hateful rhetoric, my attention was drawn to the problematic elements of the books such as the portrayal of slavery in addition to:

Lack of major/well-written characters of color

Anti-semitic caricature of goblin bankers

Cho Chang’s name (which many consider offensive), stereotypical placement in Ravenclaw (the smart house) while being the only East-Asian character in the books, and she functions almost exclusively as a love interest

Ableism all-around

Nagini, an evil snake who gets chopped in half, is actually an Asian woman according to Fantastic Beasts, making her the second of two named East Asian characters in the franchise

“Magic in North America,” a history of magic in North America published on Pottermore that grossly misappropriates and misconstrues Native American cultures

Anthony Goldstein, retconned token Jewish character, also stereotypically named

General stereotypical naming of non-Anglo-Saxon characters

Remus Lupin’s werewolf status as an AIDS metaphor while depicting his condition as making him monstrous, and the man who bit him goes around biting people for kicks

Declaring that Dumbledore is gay with exactly 0 in-canon references, and no other LGBTQ+ representation (article credit: Separating Art from Artist - Thoughts on J.K. Rowling written by Melina List on Medium)

This is the last time I will read these books, partly because I’ve outgrown them, but mostly because I can’t, without a heavy conscience ignore the relationship between JKR’s hateful views and her works. If you want to learn more about this, I’d recommend checking out a post from my_weird_bookish_heart on Instagram which explains why we couldn’t and shouldn’t ignore the problems in these books by adopting a “art is separate from the artist” mentality (if you would like the link to this please message me and I’l be happy to share it. We can all still love and enjoy HP, but we all have a moral duty to acknowledge and take responsibility for this and not feign ignorance. Views like JKR’s directly harm individuals and groups, not just in the trans community but also the Jewish and LGBTQIA+ communities and people of colour. I can’t and won’t accept that in silence. No matter how special HP was to me as a child, the lives of real humans are unquestionably more important.

Thank you for reading.

#hp #harry potter #hp books #harry potter books #hp review #hp book review #hp meta #mine #my meta #reposting from my sideblog cos i spent legit HOURS writing this and adding gifs and don't wanna lose it when i delete the blog

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writingsfromstarfleet · 4 years

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Hopelessly Oblivious - The Doctor X Reader

A/N: My gosh! So many apologies for how late this is, I’ve been well off my game. Though, despite it all, I hope you enjoy this, @tagthetrekkie & all you lot who still read my stuff (I thank you all immensely!) Hugs!! :) x

The medical field was always your calling. When you were younger, you had found a niche for helping others, and decided that you wanted to transfer that passion into a career. You trawled your way through the years at Starfleet Academy and graduated with some of the best scores of your class. Your first assignment came quickly; the USS Voyager.

Voyager was a relatively new ship to Starfleet, and you felt honoured to have been stationed aboard it. Excitement built in you as the day drew closer, and you wondered what it would be like to accompany the crew on their mission.

"Welcome aboard, Y/N," the voice of your captain, Kathryn Janeway, greeted you with a warm smile and a soft tone. Already you felt comfortable. "We're very excited to have you with us, I hope you find it accommodating enough."

You smiled back. "I feel like I've been here for years."

The captain introduced you to another crew member, Harry, who showed you around a little more before taking you to your quarters. He mentioned that you would be working with the Doctor they had aboard, and that piqued your interest. Before that point, you weren't aware there was another doctor. Excitement for the next day at its high, you tried to settle down and relax.

The morning came quick enough, and you rose with a good mindset, ready to start your first shift in the med bay. Getting dressed, you walked with a spring in your step, the closer you got, the nerves built up. Still, the excitement outweighed the anxiety.

Entering the doors, you were shocked to see how big the bay actually was. Inside, there was a young man waiting there for you with a smile.

"Hi there, you must be Y/N?" he asked, and you nodded. "I'm Tom, Lieutenant Paris, but please call me Tom. It's lovely to have you here, finally someone who isn't the Doctor to keep me sane here." You joined in with his laugh; so far, friendly faces all round had greeted you, and it felt like a family.

The Doctor made an appearance, and you were shocked to find he wasn't human, but rather a hologram. Not that it mattered, of course, but you thought someone may have mentioned it in the margin. He greeted you with a quick hello, before showing you round the bay and what everything was. He retreated to his office, leaving you with Tom to show you the rest of the ropes, as it were.

"You'll get used to him," he smiled, setting down her PADD and inviting you to sit alongside her. "He doesn't have the best bedside manner, but you'll warm to it soon enough. It's sort of nice in a really hostile way."

Laughing, you raised your eyebrows and cast your eyes towards his office door, wondering if what Tom had told you was true.

Weeks passed by on Voyager, and you were comfortable and well adjusted, having made some good friends already. Amongst them, to your surprise, was the Doctor. He was standoffish to begin with, as Tom had mentioned, though the more time you spent with him, the more he seemed to relax himself, opening up a little more and laughing with you. You were very glad he had taken a liking to you, as you had to him.

"Ah, ensign Y/N, good morning," he greeted you as you stepped into the medical bay, his usual happy tone lacing his words. "I hope you're in the mood to work, there's much to be done."

Smiling at him, you nodded.

"Good morning, Doctor, I am always ready to work, must just be the good company."

He raised his brows and you chuckled, setting down your things and reading the briefing notes for the tests you were due to run. Lost in the notes, you didn't realise the Doctor was staring at you still, wonder in his eyes as he watched you bury yourself in the task at hand. He was pulled out of his little daydream by your voice a few moments later.

".. over there. Is that right, Doctor?" You lifted your head to see him blink a couple of times; it was clear he hadn't been listening. "Did you catch that, Doc?" You laughed, seeing him visibly cringe at 'Doc'.

"Apologies, I did not, I was rather.. distracted." His tone was flat in his reply, making a statement that said he didn't want the matter pressed. You shook your head with another chuckle, getting back to your work once more. What neither of you saw was Tom and Harry, a knowing look on both their faces that said they could see something you both couldn't.

"So," Tom began, walking to you once the Doctor had left for his office. "Can I come to the wedding?"

"Tom!" you accosted, though you couldn't help but laugh with him.

"Oh come on, Y/N, I can see the way you both look at each other, we're smarter than you'd think," Harry joined in, and nudged your arm playfully. "Besides, I've never seen him take to someone like that; he never acts like that around anybody."

As the pair began to walk away, you found yourself sitting on their words. Did he like you in such a manner? Had you ended up feeling the same? Allowing your mind to wander, you began thinking of the interactions you and the Doctor had over the past month. Fleeting glances here and there that always ended in one shyly looking away, lingering touches when one was handing the other equipment; there were too many subtle signs you had been blind to until Tom and Harry had mentioned it all. Your head began to hurt, and you rubbed it to try and ease the pain.

"Y/N, is everything alright?" The voice of The Doctor brought you out of your thoughts and you smiled, shaking your head slightly.

"Oh, no, Doc, thanks." Looking at him, he seemed very unconvinced, almost a show of care spread across his face. "Really, I'm alright, often I think too much and create problems."

That must have been the first time you heard him laugh, and you'd discovered your new favourite thing. Eyes widening ever so slightly, you watched him laugh and smile at your statement, repeating the same head shake you had done prior, eyebrows raised.

"If you're sure, there isn't much I can do for overthinking, I'm afraid." His voice was calm and soft, much more so than when he addressed others, or when others were around in general. You wondered just how many other people saw this side of him. Titling your head, you spoke up, surprising yourself in the process.

"Hey, any chance you might fancy joining me in the holodeck tonight? I heard Tom has a new program we could try out?" Your voice was confident, throwing him off guard; so rare were the times you were as bold as that. The extended period of silence irked you, and you began to go back on your idea. "It's alright if not, I mean, I, uh-"

You were cut off with a hand on your arm and a calm, rather honest, smile from The Doctor.

"I would love to, Y/N, thank you."

You smiled at each other, perhaps a little too long, stopping only as you both caught sight of two senior officers beaming at you both. As Tom winked at you, you excused yourself, bidding the Doctor a good day and telling him you'd see him that night. Turning on your heels, you sped after Tom down the hall, missing the loving look from the EMH as you left, who smiling to himself before returning to duties.

Hopelessly oblivious, the both of you. In love, and hopelessly oblivious to it all.

#star trek #star trek imagine #star trek x reader #star trek voyager #star trek voy #voyager #voy #emh #the doctor #emh x reader #the doctor x reader #x reader #imagine

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onthevirgeofdestruction · 3 years

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35 Q’s for Fanfic Writers

From this post

I’m having a shitty, rude alter-y, crap night so I’m just going to answer all of these to distract myself and focus and to not bother anybody just making my own post and putting it under the cut btw, notice to anyone not aware: since I’m moving I won’t likely be updating anything until I’m done doing so.

1. From one to five stars, how would you rate your writing? (No downplaying yourself!) 3/5? Could use more editing and description and can be weirdly paced.

2. Why do you write fanfiction? Because it’s better than focusing on pain 24/7.

3. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works? I don’t seem to have a specific narrative voice that people recognize but I’m pretty proud of mostly organic dialogue.

4. Are there any writers that inspire you? as a rule i never look up to anybody for inspiration but there’s some stuff in my ao3 bookmarks I fawn over.

5. What’s the fic you’re most proud of? Right now, none of them. It changes normally, anyway. If get too proud then I’d get my ass kicked by RSD if someone didn’t like it so it’s safer this way

6. What element of writing do you find comes easily? Dialogue.

7. What element of writing do you struggle with most? Organic description, poetic language kind of stuff. I can paint a scene but I’m not so great with bring out out a feeling with description alone.

8. Which character(s) do you find easiest to write? Janus and Virgil are probably tied. They both have things I struggle with but I don’t have to go back and do much adjusting of language and tone with them. Though admittedly my Virgil is signifigantly more foul-mouthed than canon and I tend to prefer pre-AA feral asshole Virgil.

9. Which character(s) do you find most difficult to write? Patton. I write him the least, so people can probably tell. I love Patton, I really do, but it’s so hard to keep away from fanon Patton.

10. What’s your favorite genre to write for? Angst w/ H/C obviously. Or if you’re talking about regular book genres, Fantasy. I fucking love fantasy world building.

11. Who or what do you find yourself writing about most? Trauma. I blame Daeram. As if Ayri isn’t a giant Angst Demon.

12. Tell us about a WIP you’re excited about. Slopes. I’m really into it. I’ve got three one shots running right now. Patrons can read the first part of the unnamed cat remus one, there’s also a coffeeshop au tropey nonsense one like eglantine & lycoris, but Slopes is addiction angst. Mmmmm. Virgil is addicted to coke and alcohol and will listening to his friends even be in time? Who knows, especially not me, but there’s already over 30k.

13. First fandom you ever wrote for? InuYasha. Or was it Harry Potter? Or shit, The Blue Sword? Fuck, I’ve been writing for a long time, I really have no idea.

14. What’s your favorite fandom to write for? Sanders Sides. The characters are the perfect dynamic for writing since they exist in balance of each other and the popular, easy to project on archetypes featured are incredibly fun to do basically any scenario with.

15. What’s the weirdest fandom you’ve ever written for? Weird storywise? Kingdom Hearts? I can’t even follow the plot anymore. Weird Fandomwise? Sanders Sides. Its simultainiously the fluffiest and angstiest nonsense at the same time.

16. Any guilty pleasure trope(s)? Vampires. Gay ones. Gay Vampires. I also love calm tol and angy smol.

17. A trope you’ll never, ever write for. Any tropes that normalize incredibly toxic behaviour or tropes that are inherantly ableist, but I can’t think of any.

18. Wildest fic you’ve ever written? Incorrigible continues to be complete nonsense.

19. Do you prefer canon-compliant, AUs, or something in-between? AUs. I mean closest I even have is canon-divergence other than a single short.

20. Gen fic or shippy stuff? I like it when there is gay nonsense along with a plot that is treated as more important than the relationship the most. But I like both. There’s more shippy stuff in tss so i read more shipping action by default.

21. Favorite pairing to write for? (platonic or romantic!) Anxceit/Sleepxiety, but in general, give me darksides or give me death/j

22. Do you listen to anything while you write? Almost everything I write has a special playlist I listen to to help me write it, but otherwise I listen to my Nyan playlist, an alter is picking the tunes, or a voidfam playlist. I never have music off. When my internet is down I just listen to the songs I own or Anxiety’s theme on loop.

23. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas? I’m fine with all of them. I love working with prompts but I tend to deviate. And I’ve never done a challenge since I can’t do deadlines and bad things happen bingo never sent me a card and I applied three times.

24. One-shots or multi-chaptered works? I am generally multi-chaptered stuff, but I’ve been working on a few one-shots lately that are much longer than most one shots.

25. Have you ever daydreamed about side adventures/spin-offs from your fic? Tell us about them! I was originally thinking of doing some little 13-year-old Dreaming!Roman (y’know, the one with a job) shorts but it turns out I just had an alter of that little bastard and that’s why I inexplicably know more about him then I ever even considered. I still might do them after Dreaming is done. But that’s paced so slowly who knows when that might happen. Otherwise I put stuff in my notes and just do shorts of it if I’m like “oh you know what’s cool???” but since I can’t daydream maybe this question doesn’t apply to me.

26. Is there anything you’ve wanted to write, but you’ve been too scared to try? I want to do more autism stuff, and I’ve had it demanded a few times, but I’m scared of being that explict about it for some reason. Possibly because I might be, possibly because I’m scared of doing it wrong even though I’ve accidentally coded multiple characters autistic. I’m scared of explictly tagging them as such, too.

27. What’s the nicest comment you’ve ever received? That I can remember off the top of my head? I’m going with one from @a-genz-with-trauma-and-kins. It really helped me out and was just so kind and literally the best christmas gift I got in 2020.

28. How well do you handle criticism when it comes to your writing? I can handle it alright but Daeram is a little fucking pissbaby about it. Constructive criticism helps people get better, so I appreciate it. I can’t handle critism that is incomplete, though. “i just don’t get it” or “I don’t know I don’t like it” kind of things. If I can’t understand the why to fix it then things get out of control. And then I spiral and RSD for like four days minimum. If it came from an anon or a troll, too, It might not bother me for as long. Things that are just like “this is shit and you should feel bad” just make me laugh. Couldn’t even bother to read it long enough to insult me proper? I don’t care.

29. Have you ever gone outside of your comfort zone for a fic? How did it turn out? I have a few times. Mostly in shorts and prompts, I think. I think they turned out okay. They’re not particularly inspired or anything.

30. Tooth-rotting fluff or merciless angst? Depends on my mood. Am I triggered? give me the fluff. Am I vibin? Angst.

31. Do you have any OCs? Tell us about them! Fuck, fam, no, I can’t, I have so many. I have multiple original stories and some of them have very large casts and like holy fuck. Or do you mean in Sanders Sides fandom? Um, Morgan and Thorn in PD. The lesbian and her himbo dynamic. I love them. They’re dorks. Morgan is strong person with sharp tongue and soft romantic heart and Thorn is just so kind and so dumb and so exciteable he’s like a puppy. They were just filler characters and I got attached to them. Felton even gets redemption for being an ass later in PD, like oof i never intended to include so much OC content, especially for names I just picked randomly.

32. Summarize a random fic of yours in 10 words or less. nope I’m doing all of them because these are fun plea for my new self: 2 gay vampires, 4 humans, 1 braincell dreaming while I wake: trauma child needs therapy and so do you break: big oof, oh dragons, oh why, go virgil go rebuild: virgil is so not okay there’s more virgil to deal painful death: gay teens drink themselves into a new religion stargazing: whoops we didn’t realize people actually cared whole castle: everyone will throw down for kid!patton, even you incorrigible: found family with a shot of psychological horror and crack dangerous instincts: wholesome crime syndacite action slopes: addict gets mugged and thinks that’s just fine with him conflagration: logan avoids everything ever like a champ cat!remus: bored fae shifts gay pining from one person to another caffeine cyptids: caffinated gay panic goes faster than regular gay panic eglantine & lycoris: more tropes than you can toss a shoe at storytime: overpowered virgil also overreacts literally always

33. Is there anything you wish your audience knew about your writing or writing process? an alter and I write together and I have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen, what I’m writing about, or even what year it is. I often don’t even remember what I wrote. There’s no outline. I have an idea and I pick things at random for it. There’s just notes and an evil gleam in a demon’s eye. The only reason I know more than readers is because I take a long time to edit and some of these stories have fucking alters up in my head who can tell me things. Daeram tells me nothing. The writing demon supposedly has all this knowledge but I have absolutely no clue because he does not talk to me, he just fronts and slams out 9k in a few hours or we cofront to write and I’m like “oh no she didn’t” while typing

34. Copy and paste an excerpt you’re particularly fond of. i’m fond of the entire painful death series and I tried to find something I really liked without spoilers in stargazing and I couldn’t so here’s a random thing from incorrigble: “So, what do you do with your friends?” Patton continued on with a megawatt smile. “Grand larceny,” Virgil deadpanned and glared at Patton, who was taken aback. Remy and Andy just broke out laughing while Virgil tentatively sipped his still-too-hot-cocoa.

35. Ramble about any fic-related thing you want! slopes my dudes slopes i have learned so much about cocaine! like wow! I thought for a minute it was going to end with MCD around 30k but it swtiched from whump to hurt/comfort and I still don’t know if it’s going to be MCD but look at that funky little coke/alcohol addict go, it’s a medical wonder he’s alive! It’s not like there’s what seems to be a little talked about interaction between alcohol and cocaine that causes a toxic chemical to build up in the liver which can result in liver failure and sudden death at basically any moment! Which is part of why it may result in MCD but this time no ghosts! maybe it’ll be h/c with whump elements or maybe it’ll be whump with h/c elements we can’t know for sure

#ayri writes #tw drug mention

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mcustorm · 4 years

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Thoughts on Jamie Johnson 5x08

I actually don’t even know what to think. You guys don’t understand. Do you know how serious this episode was? It was so serious, that my afternoon nap was delayed so I could write this post. And only important things stop my head from hitting the pillow.

Last week was Dillon’s glorious coming out, a beautiful moment to put an apex to all the tension between Dillon and Elliot. This week, Dillon’s coming out continues, for better or for worse.

I love how *all* of this episode centered around Dillon coming to terms with being out/being outed. It underlined the significance and severity of the moment. Somebody check up on Patrick Ward’s back because he was carrying this episode, and I know we’re all here for Dillon but he truly is the most fascinating character on the show.

Delliot getting ready to see each other after the previous day’s shocking events was such a cute scene. We all know that the characters on this show tend not to feel any way about anybody romantically, so just seeing those two try to look/smell nice for somebody they may feel some-kind-of-way about...ah, there goes those memories of mine again, haha.

And of course, I for the most part like Elliot’s role as someone who’s a little bit more experienced and can help out a baby gay like Dillon. Elliot being so different from everybody else we’ve met thus far on the show not only makes him fascinating to us, but to Dillon as well. On the other hand, I did not like that 1) Elliot almost immediately went and told Ruby and 2) after helping out Dillon with his gay journey, he mayhaps yeeted off into the sunset.

Ya know, if Hansard and Harry and Indira and Molly and Savage and Wozza and Jethro and Jack’s awesome dad and the different-somehwat-prominent-black-male-extras-on-the-team-each-season didn’t exist, I would have more faith that Elliot might have more of a role in the story moving forward. But this show has proven time and time again that if the character’s name isn’t Jack, then once the story is done with you it’s done. At this point in his journey, it maybe isn’t the best idea that Dillon get involved in a relationship. That makes sense. But to maaaaaybe reduce Elliot to a m*****l n***o? I don’ like det.

It *seems* from what the show has presented thus far, that the only narrative purpose for Elliot to tell Ruby about Dillon is so that [both in-story and in the writer’s room] Dillon can have a reliable shoulder to lean on who is [and this is the important part] not Elliot. With him out of the picture, now Dillon’s go-to is Ruby if he needs a sounding board. And I have no idea why that’s the story-angle they’re going for. Perhaps Elliot threatens the status quo, which is “all of our characters are hopelessly, eternally single.”

But who knows, maybe I’m completely wrong and these last couple of paragraphs are irrelevant. Maybe not.

SN: Seriously, this show’s ships is definitely an interesting writing decision. Thinking about all the ship inequality thinkpieces that came out of the Andi Mack era, let’s talk about how the only canon het ship on this show that may give you feelings like Delliot is Jack and that rich guy whose name I’ve already forgotten.

Do you wanna know what? Today was the most sympathetic I’ve ever been for Liam, and yet in this episode he did the most despicable thing he’s ever done. Well, maybe I’m not sympathetic per se, but at least I realize that he’s just another victim of his father’s emotional abuse. You know, Joseph’s brothers felt neglected too, and I never said “well maybe their father could’ve treated them better” when they sold their brother into freakin’ slavery. There has to be a line between seeing Liam as a victim and seeing him as just plain evil. Or maybe it’s a Venn Diagram. Either way, I’m still not a fan. I wonder what redemption for this character looks like.

I just like that this show was so unafraid to go there. It is completely unprecedented in any TV show intended for children/young teens...at least to my knowledge. I’m gonna make it very clear that I’m not trying to downplay other shows’ accomplishments, but coming out really is an internal and external journey. One is how you feel about yourself, and the other is how others react. This is my opinion, but some shows have really got the internal part down (DOAFP was GOAT-tier with this one); however, when the time comes to do the external part, the show either doesn’t go there or kinda just limps over the finish line. Does that make sense? Am I just rambling?

I think of all the programs that I’ve watched, this show has already done the best job of reconciling those two aspects of coming out. Besides The Fosters, perchance. Some people will be right by your side, others may need time. Despite all of the blatant and frankly disgusting homophobia that we saw on the program, the show made it clear that this is just what I said: a journey. There may be hope yet.

Also in this episode: Eric feels bad, because he did wrong and also because his “friends” are being generally dickish to him, and Jamie is also here to tell Dillon he did phenomenally at the cup (which, just a portion of that energy would’ve been great yesterday for the entire team, but go awf Mr. Johnson). I guess I should take away that Jamie and Dillon are in a way better place than they’ve been before. Great.

So there ya go. I must say, that was probably a Top 3 episode of this TV show. Which is why that preview for next week made me say, “Okaaaaay…” So wait, are Boggy and Jamie just like BFF’s again? Are we gonna address the nonsense that Jamie was spewing last week? Are Kat and Zoe just friends like that now? Are we gonna address the nonsense that Zoe was up to last week? WAIT, Freddie wants to spend time with just Alba and Eric? ARE WE GOING TO ADDRESS THE NONSENSE Y’ALL WERE ON LAST WEEK?

I will keep going to bat for Eric, idc idc.

See ya next week. Off to take my nap.

#jamie johnson #jamie johnson spoilers #5x08 #dillon simmonds #delliot #elliot

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starkerparkerpony · 4 years

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I Scold Because I Stan Pt.2

AU where Tony (44-45 y/o) meets an aged up (23-24 y/o) Peter after Civil War, Tony is broken up with Pepper and all kinds of sorry for himself. Peter is a ESU graduate and currently has an internship with Oscorp and is a photographer for the Daily Bugle he is also spiderman and therefore perpetually exhausted and has very little patience

Read part 1 here, part 3 here

Not much scolding in this one but very dialogue heavy... Please continue reblogging. Continuing on -

Tony believed there's certain feelings in life that you must absolutely not feel once over the age of 25... for example, no middle-aged man should have anxiety about calling a potential romantic interest. Especially if said 'potential romantic interest' shamelessly hit on Tony in the first place. The guy was definitely interested, he had made it clear to Tony that he was definitely interested. Tony could just call the guy... but would he.

A week earlier when Peter Parker woke from the nap he was taking in a booth at an Irish pub for some reason, Tony absolutely did not imagine that any conversation they might have would go the way their's did. It was a testament to Mr. Parker's extempore prowess. It was also mildly embarrassing and almost traumatizing to be scolded and praised all at once. But after Parker left, Tony found himself... smiling... and blushing, like a complete idiot, but smiling and blushing nonetheless.

When back at home Tony set Friday on the curious case of Peter Parker. Which led to spending an ungodly amount of time on the guy's Instagram. Which in turn led to Tony gleaning some useful information about him, Peter Parker wasn't exactly new to the world of the rich and famous, he appeared to be a close friend of Harry Osbourne, posing with him in not just generic selfies but also pictures taken at high profile society events.

It also appeared that Mr. Parker was no stranger to superheroes either, his work with the Daily Bugle was almost entirely photos of Spiderman... Tony didn't know Spidey personally but going by the coverage the newspaper gave him, it was hard to imagine that the masked hero would be a friend of Parker's but the guy somehow always managed to get the best picture of Spidey, which indicated a willingness to follow trouble on Parker's part.

And then there was the entire thing about how gorgeous and intelligent and utterly disarming the boy was...

The 3 patents he had told Tony about were no joke- a medical grade adhesive, an industrial grade adhesive and a potential replacement for spandex. Not to mention his eyes...

Tony kept telling himself that he was too old to have a crush... but he knew it was too late. He thought back to the way he felt when Peter smiled at him, bruised and all... The damage was done.

The first time Tony called Peter, he didn't pick up and it went to voicemail. Tony didn't leave a message. It was just 9PM, there was no way he was already asleep. Right? For a second he dreaded the possibility of Parker being one of those millennials who don't take phonecalls, then for another hour he wondered if this was a sign from the universe about an endeavor that should be abandoned. So of course Tony called again.

"I don't do booty calls past 10 I have a job now" was how Parker answered the phone. Jesus Christ.

"Good to know, I was thinking about lunch tomorrow actually." Tony said without missing a beat

"Jesus Christ!" Parker exclaimed, obviously thrown.

"Close. Tony Stark" He chuckled

"No I know... Crap, I'm sorry, my friend Harry is the only one I know who calls with a private number. I thought it was him." He explained

"Am I Sorry to disappoint?" Tony asked trying not to sound anxious.

"Absolutely not. I actually definitely would do a booty call after 10 for you." Tony could hear the smile in his voice.

"But not after 11 though?" Tony joked trying not to blush.

"No that honor is reserved for Bruce Banner and Bruce Banner only."

"You have good taste in men" Bruce was Tony's friend, he had to admit he was warmed by the fact that Peter wasn't one of the assholes who held 'big green' against him.

"Ha Ha thanks... he represents us bio-chem nerds well, one of my projects is actually inspired by him and also he is very cute in press conferences."

"The spandex replacement?" Tony guessed

"Oh no... you googled me. Ew."

"Hey that's rich coming from the guy that sticks my photos on his wall." He defended himself

"No no... there's this god awful picture of me that comes up on image search from when my team won the scholastic decathlon, I look like a single prepubescent noodle in it." Parker grouched

"Good tip... also nice covert bragging with the decathlon thing Mr. Parker" Tony said as he pulled the picture up and sniggered.

"Thank you I'm so glad you caught that... so what was it you were saying about lunch?" Parker enquired.

"Right... Lunch? Tomorrow?" Tony hoped he didn't sound desperate.

"Sounds good to me. I mean it sounds like a bizarre dream I'm having but I don't wanna stroke your ego unnecessarily, you already called first... I love that I have the upper hand here"

"Congratulations on the upper hand smartass... do you wanna do 'Nobu'?" Tony suggested

"Oh my god... I'm gonna throw your P.A. and your PR team a bone and nix that idea... you beautiful disaster" Peter laughed

"Umm... what?"

"Nobu has papparazi outside of it 24/7, and I hate to break it to you buddy but your break up with Ms. Potts was kinda' public. I can't even begin to imagine what hell you, being photographed with a strapping twunk half your age would be on your team." He explained himself

"Okay calm down strapping twunk... How would anybody even know its a date?" Tony scoffed

"Umm Mr. Stark if I have the chance to grab your ass in public and have photos taken of the event then I absolutely will do it." said Peter, very sincerely.

"My God how can you call me Mr. Stark and talk about grabbing my ass in the same sentence?" Tony cursed his susceptibility to blushing whenever talking to this guy.

"Listen man, I'd call you Tony but this 'Mr. Stark' thing lowkey turns me on though." Peter said in a teasing voice.

Same, Tony admitted to himself.

"Kink noted. You do have a point though... I haven't had to deal with my personal PR or had a P.A. in a while." Said Tony, thoughtful.

"How can you not have a P.A.? Is that even legal?" Peter asked

"Well, I made my last one the CEO of my company, fell in love with her, started dating her and then very publicly got dumped by her... so I'm apprehensive about replacing her." Tony regretted this outburst as soon as he finished talking.

"I think about you when I touch myself." Peter informed

"What. The. Hell. Parker" Tony said, trying to sound affronted when he could barely contain his laughter

"Oh sorry buddy I thought we were playing the oversharing game." Peter sniggered. "You know what you should do? You should get an older Jewish lady to be your P.A. it's what Norman Osbourne did for his son when he kept hitting on his P.A.s.

"Because you know what, Mrs. Leibowitz would bring you Passover brisket and she would never dump you publicly." Peter was almost giggling now.

"Right, she would write me a considerate note." Tony laughed along with Peter.

"Exactly!" He chuckled

There was a lull in the conversation then, during which Tony made up his mind.

"Lunch at the tower tomorrow." Tony decided

"Fine by me. Wait. Do you have any dietary restrictions?"

"No. I sometimes go gluten free but not because of celiac just because I like to be an asshole. Why?"

"Cool, I'm bringing Pizza. You paid for drinks last time." stated Peter

"You do realize that I have chefs on my payroll?" Tony asked

"You do realize that I'm offering to bring you Joe's from Greenwich?" Peter countered

"Point taken." Tony conceded

"Good"

"See you"

"Not if I see you first"

"Oh my God"

"I know... I hate myself"

"I'm gonna' hang up now"

"Wait! What do I tell your security tomorrow?" Peter asked

"Tell them you've been summoned by the king" Tony said, only half joking.

"God you're such a douche but I'm so into you..." Peter replied

"I'm glad" Tony admitted

"Okay bye."

"Bye."

The next day Peter Parker texted to confirm the time and then showed up at Tony's place with pizza and a dozen red and yellow roses. And Tony didn't know what to do with himself.

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