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zeleniafic · 4 years

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I don't know much Auriga, and that is a travesty cause I love hp ocs. Please tell me more about her so we can fix that!

I’ve never posted about her before!! Auriga has existed in word docs and emails and notes for several years but I’ve never posted anything about her/her fic. She’s very dear to my heart and it’s like... weirdly difficult to throw info about her up here now after just working on it in private for so long?!

Warning that this is INSANELY long even though I tried to condense it, I am so sorry lmao. Auriga means so much to me and I have a LOT of stuff for her from over the years... this really is the “short” version LOL

So anyway... Auriga is Sirius’ twin. She spawned out of a desire to explore the Black family dynamics, and have a character that is not so polarized as Sirius... and, in some characterizations, Regulus too. The story does address Sirius’ darker side (like, say, sending a schoolyard nemesis to potentially get eaten by a werewolf?! bro.......) but for the majority Auriga is the shade of gray in the middle of the brothers, in a sense. She never strays toward Voldemort like Regulus did at first, but she is not as stereotypically “good” as Sirius, as far as the general consensus of the wizarding world is concerned. The “light v dark” / “good v evil” system being SO SO RIGID in HP is something I passionately hate and I consistently reject it in my writings, even with more lighthearted characters. Auriga, in essence, was created directly because of that. She is not a “light” witch nor is she a “dark” witch, and in fact, she rejects that entire dichotomy as I also usually do. She’s just... Auriga. Not a goody two shoes Order member who won’t aim to kill if she needs to, but also not a murdering bigot like the Death Eaters.

Unfortunately, her willingness to get her hands dirty without remorse puts her at odds with the Order more often than not, while her refusal to follow Voldemort makes her a target. She very much gets stuck as a lone wolf figure, which... she kind of always was, tbh. She was very close with both Sirius and Regulus growing up, but the older they get the more fractured it is - she is always stuck in the middle of their fighting or unspoken tension at home, and her being sorted into Slytherin distances her from Sirius. She so desperately wants them to stop fighting and for the three of them to be a united front again the way they were as children, but it just never happens. As soon as Sirius is sorted, there’s a fault line between the brothers and she is left straddling the divide trying not to fall. Regulus’ death is something that fractures her as a person, and she sees it as her greatest failure in life that she could not save him. There is also some other stuff going on in her life, and some decisions she made with lasting repercussions, that make her feel like it is her fault he ended up where he did.

Auriga is... kind of repressed, tbh? The way she was raised, she’s just really emotionally stunted. Sirius and Regulus are too but it displays a bit differently for each of them, and for her it’s being the perfect pureblood princess and having trouble displaying her “improper” emotions or having agency for herself beyond the family’s uses and expectations for her as a daughter.

To be frank, I think her fic is the darkest and grimmest of any of my WIPs. It’s just a very ADULT story, in terms of the themes that play a big role in it and the difficult subjects it tackles, if that makes sense? It looks at a lot of aspects of pureblood culture that are just footnotes in canon, and it builds from there. Walburga and Orion’s parenting being directly abusive in several ways, and the psychological/emotional aspect of growing up in the culture and household that the Black kids did. It grapples with the commonly accepted sense of morality, and how it gets murky in wartimes. And it also tackles the patriarchal elements of pureblood society - betrothals, arranged or even FORCED marriages, and the potential lack of agency/lack of consent for witches in particular that stems from a blood/lineage/name obsessed culture. One of the rifts that forms between Auriga and Sirius as they get older is that he does NOT understand what it is like to be a pureblood witch from a family like theirs, and how different it is from his lot. They can commiserate about their family and their upbringing, but so much of his freedoms are not available to her. When he runs away to the Potters’ and she refuses to go with him, unwilling to abandon Regulus, this comes to a head. Walburga is furious about Sirius of course, and this is shown by how much more controlling she is over the two remaining children - Regulus being pushed toward Voldemort, and Auriga being pushed into a betrothal she was diplomatically resisting beforehand. This is a whoooooole fiasco and plotline that deals with forced marriages, lack of consent, and mental manipulation/use of mind-altering magic in order to trap Auriga into the marriage.

After escaping this, she’s... pretty traumatized, understandably. She changes fundamentally as a character after this, becoming less stoic and composed “pureblood heiress” and instead lets out all the anger that’s been collecting inside her all this time. She leaves the family after she’s mentally coherent again, in a pretty theatrical way, but she is VERY angry with Sirius and - illogical or not - she throws a lot of blame his way for what happened to her, so she refuses to show up at the Potters and instead makes her own way. This is a BIG fracturing moment for the siblings.

A lot of her seventh year is dealing with the repercussions of that forced marriage, both physically and mentally. She’s in a really bad place when the year starts. The silver lining is, she 100% gets her revenge on the fiance AND on Walburga for what they did to her, and eventually she starts to be more of herself - her true self, the one she was hiding behind the mask all those years. She finally is able to pursue the relationship between herself and Remus, which had been building for years but which she consistently denied because she was afraid to make him a target of her family. By the end of the seventh year, she has completely the family off and they are in a relationship.

The golden few years here in the middle, ironically, take place during a war. She has mostly patched things up with Sirius, and she and Remus are dating and sickeningly happy, she’s got true friends for the first time in her life. Things are really good on a personal level, even as they are fighting a war.

Unfortunately, things fall apart again. After Peter’s betrayal and Sirius’ framing, she has a falling out with Remus over his believing the story. Despite all the issues between herself and Sirius, she never EVER doubts his innocence. EVER. She completely cuts Remus off when he starts believing it, and the both of them are spiraling after that. This is worsened by the fact that shortly later she is wanted as a supposed accomplice of Sirius and has to go on the run. It’s not surprising - she was the Slytherin, she was always darker than him, she’d committed lesser crimes or toed the line of what the Ministry approves of... if they named Sirius Black, infamously defiant of his family and a loud and proud Gryffindor, as a Death Eater... it’s a lot easier to make the leap that she was one too. The public wholeheartedly accepts it and she is hated intensely, and is forever on the run after that. By the time it gets to Harry’s time, she’s a pretty dangerous character, even more so than before. She and Sirius reunite, and eventually she and Remus patch things up. There are some lasting complications from earlier plotlines I won’t delve into right now, and tbh their ending is... pretty fucking depressing?! They don’t ride off into the sunset in any way shape or form. But they do get closure, and they do find their own kind of peace before the end. And I think it suits them, and the story, in the end. Auriga’s story was never intended to be a fix-it fic or even really address major HP canon lot elements, it’s very much just about HER as an individual and the different dynamics of what it means to be someone like her in that culture, society, and world.

So basically I’m really mean to Auri but writing about and really diving into difficult topics through her POV is really cathartic for me for various personal reasons and despite her entire life being a FUCKING TRAGEDY, she’s been around for a long time for me and I love her so much and she means a lot to me!! :’)

#this really is the condense version!!! i swear it!!! i just. apparently cannot stop talking about Auri. i really do love her sm #fd: harry potter #ask game #mine #ch: auriga black #a-song-of-quill-and-feather #answered

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avenger-hawk · 5 years

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Hello, it's me again. Thank you for answering my last question, I really apprecite how you give an elaborated answer, thoroughly explaining your point of view. My next question for you: is there any other character (or characters) that you would have like to see Sasuke interacting with, but in cannon he had very little contact or no contact at all? Why?

Hello again, and thanks for coming by~

This is a cool question, there isn’t just one character I’d have liked to see Sasuke interacting with more, mostly because I really love Sasuke’s interactions with almost anyone, some superficial fans see him as smug and arrogant or always brooding and ‘emo’ but to me he’s neither. He’s just aloof and usually lost in his own thoughts, and uninterested to most things with no problem in saying it, but when he is interested in something or someone he has his own cute way of showing it. But let me start with the list of characters.

Shikamaru

Both are very smart but in different ways. Both are observant and strategic. Both are usually lost in their own thoughts, one in contemplation of clouds and stuff, the other lost in memories and plans and considerations. Both are familiar with revenge, although one has been condemned and the other not at all. At his best Shikamaru is open-minded, as shown in the way he never had prejudices against N*ruto as a kid. I think in a post-ending setting he might be one of the first to actually talk to him because he knows how it feels to want revenge above everything, among all things, so he shouldn’t be one of those who judge him. At his worst, Shikamaru’s individuality has been brainwashed by Konoha like everyone else, so he might keep an eye on him cause he doesn’t trust him. Which means darker interactions and possibilities. Also his shadow jutsu is an interesting one in this setting.

Kiba

Sasuke loves animals. Kiba has a dog, actually Kiba is a sort of dog as well lol. He’s similar to N*ruto because of his assertive, loud, enthusiastic attitude but he’s less flashed out ofc, and he lacks N*ruto’s possessive, imposing and generally negative traits. Like I said here Akamaru would sense Sasuke’s kind soul and Kiba would follow his best friend’s ‘advice’. Sasuke would get along with Akamaru and Kiba would talk to him, Sasuke would not be talkative at all but he’d pet Akamaru a lot. Their interactions would be kinda like NS but healthier? But lol the word itself sounds so boring. Cuter sounds better. Also, Kiba being ‘beastlike’ in certain ways, and Sasuke being passive means possibility for dark imagery.

Sai

I’m really disappointed that except for fighting in the beginning they didn’t really interact in canon because Sai is his replacement…and tbh Team Yamato was much better, as a team, than Team7. Anyway. Sai and Sasuke have something in common: they both were loved and protected by their big brothers, who died, sacrificing themselves for them, in a way or another. It’s a lot in common, actually. I wrote a scene about this in my fic In Power We Entrust The Love Advocated. Both are blunt, but in a different way. Sasuke knows what he’s saying and why, if he steps over social norms it’s because he doesn’t care. Sai ignores social norms, he’s without filter and awkward, and he tries to learn with sometimes terrible results. Their interactions would be awkward and weird at first. Sai was Danzo’s subordinate, this would make Sasuke wary of him; but also, Sai was Danzo’s slave, he had no choice in this. Almost like Itachi. Sasuke would understand this very well. Also, my personal headcanon is that since Danzo formed Root after the massacre, he told Itachi’s story to those shinobi, both to teach them that shinobi must carry on every mission assigned no matter what, and to teach them that emotions are a bad thing. Sai would more or less know about Itachi and he would tell Sasuke, in a way that didn’t judge, but that instead admired him. And Sasuke would appreciate. Their interactions would be more relaxed then, but still there would be weird comments on Sai’s side.

Ino

I don’t ship them and I don’t care much about her but her desperate cry when he was sentenced to death impressed me very much. It doesn’t just show a girl’s crush, it shows real empathy and compassion for the destiny of a person she once had a crush on. Cause she did move on when she first got interested in Sai imo, like normal people do btw. So it would be cute to see a girl interact with him for real, with no secret agenda or smth.

Gaara

What a wasted potential their relationship was…in pt1 creepy monster Gaara was interested in him, before N*ruto took over. In pt2 Gaara acts like the Kazekage with a desperate broken Sasuke attacking their meeting, but he also sheds a tear for him. Gaara was really saved cause he was a monster. Sasuke isn’t and was never one, and he didn’t need to be saved but the narration pushes that direction. Gaara was interested in Sasuke’s fate in ep479, I think he would not judge him (his official Kazekage position aside) and he would like to bond with him somehow. Sasuke admires strength and Gaara is very strong, so he would not ignore him. And Sasuke talks about politics as well. Gaara would listen and talk as well. And he would stare at him a lot. But I wrote about this already. Besides there’s a lot of dark potential as well. Because imo it’s interesting to think that there’s still some darkness in his heart and somehow he’d let it out with a passive masochistic Sasuke who feels like he needs to atone for his sins.

Kisame

He was Itachi’s partner, he knows a lot about Itachi because he’s observant, and Sasuke is the one who killed his partner. He was snarky about it with Obito and Sasuke himself but I (like to) think that he was feeling something, like resentment, towards Sasuke for killing Itachi. After all, no matter his reasons, he sure preferred Itachi. I also like to think that during the time Sasuke and Team Taka stayed in Obito’s hideout as Akatsuki members, he made no mystery of the truth about Itachi, and I like to think that he asked Kisame about his brother. (which kinda opens to the dark stuff cause Kisame being angry at him because he killed Itachi…you got it)

Tobirama

I find him very interesting despite disagreeing with his politics, and I really liked his interactions with Sasuke, especially the way he first insulted his clan and rudely talked to him, but then he tried to protect him against Madara. And I liked how Sasuke humbly, pragmatically and with an open mind he listened to him without letting his feelings get in the way, without getting offended. I would have liked to fight together more, and to see him protecting him more actively, not being blocked by those black sticks. And I would have liked him to openly praise Sasuke and his abilities like he did in his mind.

Madara

I’ll forever be salty at how their interactions were little and not emotionally charged at all. I mean Sasuke is the last Uchiha alive and Madara was another founder, the former head of the clan…I get that he was fighting a war and I know he did show interest in Sasuke’s eyes (and he acknowledged the pain he felt to obtain them) and he did try to get him on his side, and I get that Sasuke was all hyped up to protect the village because Itachi, but still. Like, Madara’s plan was to create a new world, he could have told Sasuke, he could have told him that Itachi would have been there, since his allies Obito and Kabuto were defeated or being defeated. Ugh.

my madasasu tag. my madasasu edits and meta.

Orochimaru (&Kabuto)

I like all part2 interactions between them, and I really like the way they became after Orochimaru was brought back, but I’m also interested in their interactions in Otogakure, the way he trained Sasuke, the forbidden substances he got him to take, the forbidden jutsu he taught him and the forbidden things they required to be done (think whatever here lol). The way he trained Sasuke to take poisons and not be affected, I’m sure they were all painful and hard things to bear, and I’m sure than in part of them he was strapped to a table, and others he was really really exhausted and badly injured, after. Not to mention the way Orochimaru talked to him, how he manipulated him using Itachi and his weakness compared to him, how he was ‘kind’ to him in his creepy way. All the things Sasuke had to witness beside him and how he decided to free the prisoners, and Team Taka ofc. Speaking of which.

Team Taka

They did have a lot of interactions but I wanted more both pre ending and post ending. How Sasuke first met them, how he decided they were the ones he needed. Their travels, their conversations, their nightmares, their bonding moments.

Sasuke and Karin’s conversations. Both suffered great trauma, both lost their families.

Juugo being protective and loyal over Sasuke but also! his dark side coming out against him and Sasuke welcoming it and becoming his cage, but kinda getting hurt in the process.

Suigetsu admiring Sasuke and wanting to be noticed by him but being obnoxious and mischievous. And kinda sadistic. And Sasuke being ok with it cause he’s passive.

Special mentions, in and out of canon:

Deidara

I really loved their fight, the strategy, the contrast between their personalities. I like that both have an inferiority complex, especially towards Itachi, and they both worked hard to get stronger, but they act differently. Deidara is loud and apparently messy and he loudly brags his art and abilities, Sasuke is silent and calm and uninterested but he is proud of his achievements, as shown when he explains Deidara what he did and he points out that it’s chidori, not raikiri. His version of the jutsu. Other things in common? They’re both reckless with their bodies when it comes to achieve their goal. I’d love an AU where they interact, like my Akatsuki AU. It’s kinda like NS in a way. also.

Obito

They spent a lot of time together in canon but it’s not shown. It’s some of my canon behind the screen thingies, and I’d love to see any interactions between them. Obito knows the truth about Itachi, he knows Itachi while Sasuke doesn’t. He wants to know anything about his brother and I’m sure he asked him a lot. Obito told him stuff also because he needed to manipulate Sasuke against the village, but also because he feels some little attachment between the other Uchiha, just like he felt some for Itachi. There’s a scene that is always overlooked and that I liked a lot, in ep375 when Obito is about to be ‘killed’ by Kakashi and before he’s taken over by Madara, Sasuke is there and Obito refers to him as ‘fellow traitor’. I like that he kinda aknowledged Sasuke’s presence in that moment ok. To do such thing while Kakashi and Madara are clearly the strongest presences for him, I like to think that Sasuke left an impression on him.

(my obisasu tag and meta)

Shisui

I mean, in the filler non massacre arc. He did train Sasuke after all. I’d have liked to see more. But it’s no mystery, that arc inspired me greatly and if now I ship Shisasu even in other contexts it’s because of it.

my shisasu tag. my shisasu edits and meta.

Hiruzen

Only because I’d like Sasuke to tell him that he’s just as guilty as his buddy Danzo. That old a**hole.

#sasuke #shikasasu #kibasasu #deisasu #obisasu #madasasu #tobisasu #team taka #too many #vivalarevolution #vivalarevolution: bonds #vivalarevolution: visions #hostilecherry #long post

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margridarnauds · 5 years

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6, 12, 23, and 45 please!

Thank you!

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

So, I have no idea what we’re talking about as far as levels of involvement, but here are the ones I read fanfic RELIGIOUSLY for back in the day. So, behold my shame.

Cats (oh, my sweet, innocent 12 year old self) - Mistoffelees/Victoria.

Phantom of the Opera - Raoul/Christine/Erik, tbh. I started off E/C, then shifted to R/C when I realized E was a trashfire, then went to R/C/E when I realized that I loved garbage after all.

Van Helsing - Anna/Dracula. Which is impressive given I’ve never. Actually. Watched it. Sue me.

Carmilla - Carmilla/Laura.

The Pirate Queen - Graínne/Donal, one of the first fics I ever wrote. (And then never published.) Yes, he is a garbage fire in the musical, but in my very specific rewrite of it, he wasn’t. Though these days, I kind of lean towards Tiernan/Donal or Tiernan/Gráinne/Donal. Garbage pirate OT3 is garbage.

Dracula - The Countess (from Makt Myrkanna)/Lucy Westenra. The first explicit femslash I ever wrote, and it might very well never see the light of day because I do not forever want to be known as The One With The Blood And The Lesbians. Though, who knows? It might cleanse me of Printing Press.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Yes. Really.): Twilight/Princess Luna. I keep telling myself that my AO3 profile’s eventually going to be nothing but period dramas, my (1) Terra Nova fic, and…a My Little Pony fic, along with various Barbie Movie fics. For old time’s sake.

Terra Nova - Wash/Mira, due to @janetcarter‘s influence.

The Flash - Barrison. Specifically, Eobard/Barry. In many ways, it was my prep for 1789 with the whole “I murdered your parent” thing.

The Avengers - Loki/Tony Stark.

Les Miserables - Valjean/Javert

The Golden Compass - Mrs. Coulter/Lord Asriel

Arthuriana - Galahad/Mordred

Star Wars - Reylo or Finnlo. I don’t particularly have a preference, just let Kylo screw one of his various archnemeses straight to the side of the Light.

Star Wars: Rebels - Kallus/Zeb. Oh. Another enemies to lovers ship. Who would have guessed?

1789 - Peyrol/Ronan (Was there any doubt? If there was, I need to write more.)

Revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre - Madame Roland/Marie-Anne. In progress, but A Ship for me. Mainly because I’m a contrarian little shit who writes things when people tell me I can’t and then gets attached to the result.

Brennus, Enemy of Rome - Ahmet/Nissia. Which…I still need to. Write. My fanfic for that one. So that fanfic for it exists.

Lord of the Rings - Boromir/Aragorn

Friedrich: Mythos und Tragödie - Countess Orzelska/Wilhelmine and Fritz/Katte. Pretty much equally, though Orzelskine (?) Wilhelska (?) is starting to edge out Fratte.

La Legende du Roi Arthur - Leia/Guinevere in the French and Morgane/Guin in the Takarazuka.

Irish Mythology - Bres/Sreng. I will defend this one to the death and I will do it with citations and footnotes.

Scarecrow of Romney Marsh - General Pugh/Dr Syn. Yet another one I. Need to write the fic for.

Star Trek: ……..

………You know, my favorite thing about Star Trek is that, regardless of shipping preferences, we can all find something to enjoy. Kor/Kirk. While I can’t speak for DS9 Quark/Brunt, my current favorite from Discovery has to be Michael/Tilly, which might very well be the single most wholesome thing I’ve shipped in a very long time.

Ace Attorney: Phoenix/Edgeworth.

12. Who is your current OT3?

Chauvelin/Percy/Marguerite from The Scarlet Pimpernel. I do not accept constructive criticism on this one. Because Percy/Marguerite are sickeningly sweet on their own, Marguerite/Chauvelin has That Sexual Tension in Where’s the Girl and The Riddle, and Percy/Chauvelin fulfill all my requirements as far as enemies to lovers ships are concerned.

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

I’ve talked a lot about Forgiveness being one of the very few things I’ve written that I’ve ever liked and the ONE thing that I feel…gets my idea of how L/R WORK together and probably shows off my style best, along with Fowl Play (WHICH HAS FANART NOW. WHICH I’M STILL NOT OVER BECAUSE MY BABY HAS FANART.) So, instead, I’m going to shift to Pour la Peine, which…is my messy, messy child in many regards, not the least because it’s so much longer + still isn’t finished.

(Warning for various and assorted personal, squishy feelings, as well as cancer mentions)

When I first got the prompt from @fallenidol-453, it was January of 2018. Two months before, I’d received the news that my uncle had Stage Four Esophageal Cancer and my mother had moved from our house to his house to care for him, leaving me without her help for the first time in my life, which I deliberately kept as low-key about on here as I could be, given that, to be honest, dealing with the endless “I’m so sorry to hear that”s gets very exhausting after awhile and I was a college student with a schedule to keep. And he and I had a very…contentious relationship, despite the two of us being alike in many ways. Possibly because we were alike in many ways. And, by May of that year, he was dead. And I would learn shortly afterwards that my paternal grandfather had died in January, but no one on my father’s side had bothered to tell me. I spent a lot of time trying to deal with the stress of that time, juggling that with my schoolwork and my fanfic, which I tried to work on from the time I received the prompt onwards. (Tbh, I’d had the opening scene in my mind for awhile before, but I hadn’t had a larger plot + ending until the prompt.)

At first, I thought that I would publish it like I’d later publish Forgiveness, in one straight chapter, but as time went on and on and there became less and less of a shot of having it done any time soon, I ended up just publishing the first chapter and deciding to update it from there. And that chapter got a lot of ribbing from friends. “Her brother is dead” really came off as a very melodramatic first line, but I also decided, very early on, that I didn’t care about what the objective quality of it was; all I cared about was creating a snapshot of a time in my life, just like when I go through the stuff that I made when I was twelve and I laugh about the various and assorted OCs and questionable phrases but love them all the same because they’re my twelve year old self’s. And, where I was at that point in my life, writing Solène mourning a family member who she had a difficult relationship with while I mourned a family member who I had a difficult relationship with, it was the only line that felt right to me.

There’s a lot of things with this one that I’m still not sure about. There’s a plot twist that I’ve tried to be quiet about for all this time (that I’ve probably been really terrible about keeping, tbh) and that is either going to be the Jumping the Shark moment or the defining moment of it, and I’m obviously not sure how that’s going to be received though I want to believe I’ve foreshadowed it enough to not make it too much of a swerve, I’m not sure how I feel about the ending, there’s a lot there that’s murky and probably more reflective of my writing a year ago than not, and I’m not sure about how I’ve handled the character dynamics given what we’ve got in canon or the dynamic I’ve put them into, or whether the choices they’ll make reflect THEM or what I WANTED them to do. Hell, with a few things, I’m not sure how I’m even going to GET to the ending.

But, I’m really proud of how much I’ve had the chance to work with Solène and Olympe, I’m really happy with a lot of the work I put into sequences like the two chapters long March to Versailles, which involved looking into a LOT of personal accounts as well as secondary sources analyzing it, and I liked trying to flesh out Solène’s world. But, more importantly, of everything I’ve written, it and Le Cri are probably the most directly personal to me, and even though a part of me still says Her brother is dead is a hell of a melodramatic opening line, it fulfilled its purpose. And, tbh, sometimes that’s all a fic needs.

45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?

This is so hard for me, because there are so many fics that have left a huge impression on me throughout the various fandoms I’ve been in. In 1789 alone, I was thinking of at least two different fics at a given point, which is both fantastic and minorly stressful given how small this fandom is (one of which, incidentally, was Little Dove Heart, since that really gave me a huge push as far as Laz and his backstory and his characterization and his relationship to Artois, even if I tend to keep the latter more in the background). And there have been so many fics I’ve read that I’ll remember and go back to periodically, and that really helped me as far as looking at how character voices could be developed and how description would work and how to work a time period and a setting into a story.

Overall though, I think I’m going to have to give it to Vae Victis, which is a work by @sineala‘s. I’ve never been quiet about my undying love for the Gauls and for Brennus in particular. Brennus is one of my historical favs, and I felt like this fic did a really, really fantastic job of bringing that much-neglected period of time to life and developing the characters on their own, without me having any background in the source material. With fanfic, especially with a more active fandom, there’s kind of an expectation that everyone knows the characters involved, so to be able to work in a different time and to get the reader fully invested in the characters and their relationship in their own right is a really fantastic accomplishment, and to be able to show the Gauls and Brennus (in what little time he gets, because my boi’s not the focus and I accept that) as three dimensional figures rather than a rampaging horde is always much appreciated. And it has a WORKS CITED page at the end, AKA the eternal key to my heart.

#long post #berncat #sorry for the tragic backstory dump on PLP!#but there's a reason why it's still my baby despite everything

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mailorderfictionalcharacter · 7 years

Text

a list of semi coherent thoughts I’ve had about mcu wanda maximoff

0.5 this post is open to discourse. if u are unwilling to see viewpoints that are pro wanda or anti wanda this is not the post 4 u.

1. wanda runs off of very powerful emotions and that’s an a + character trait. her rage fueled grief and power is just fascinating to watch.

2. ew whitewashing why do you do this to me mcu. stop. enough.

3. yeah it’s kind of ridiculous to kill the ex-ceo of a weapons company that killed your parents as compared to whoever fired the missiles or whoever ordered said military action but it’s not that ridiculous if you apply the barest modicum of generous interpretation to it.

Tony Stark was emblematic of the very destructive American ideal of we’re great and right and coming with guns. Going off of IM2, even as he was doing great things (”I’ve successfully privatized world peace”) his performance was still very um American (”no one’s man enough to go [against me]”). Like as audience members we get it but I could see how that sort of look-at-me attitude would not ring like redemption to someone in that much emotional pain. Like, you could easily read their actions as being about attacking every American/foreign influence figure head, which is sort of supported by the fact that the twins wanted the avengers down not just Tony Stark.

If the weapons were illegally sold there’s no guarantee the twins knew that Tony wasn’t responsible. It’s possible Tony leaked the truth about Obadiah after the “I Am Iron Man” press conference, but the original plan was a SHIELD coverup.

I’m not inclined to conflate profiting of our wrongs or moral ambiguities on the same moral level as instigating wrongs, but it’s also up in the air whether or not Stark Industries cared about collateral damage in the design of their weapons and that’s something the twins could legitimately blame them for. IM1 canon is a mixed bag - we have intellicrops (concern for philanthropy) but we also have, y’know the Jericho (the weapon that levels mountains)

(read more under the cut)

tl;dr: wanda is a fascinating flawed character who suffers from writing problems but she’s also wearing the name of a jewish/romani woman even though marvel studios is too much of a coward to translate that to film & i’m perpetually bitter and indecisive about everything.

4. the twins had enormous social factors encouraging them to hate the avengers/america. even american media was questioning the avengers; shield had fell; people were putting up anti avengers graffiti

5. considering the twins spent their formative years in a country at war and lost their parents I’m assuming they went through quite a few economic hardships.

6. what sort of access did the twins have to media or education?

7. I’m not inclined to blame the twins for their desire to get revenge but it is worth noting that they seemed to have very little concern for collateral damage even though the only thing we as an audience knows for certain is that the whole reason they’re seeking revenge is because of collateral damage.

8. there’s a gap of 8-12 years between the death of their parents and their attack on the avengers. no matter what mitigating circumstances there were (and I think there were a lot) that’s a premeditated crime

9. there’s a lot of parallels between wanda maximoff and kira nerys except the writers on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actually cared about Kira Nerys.

10. both of Wanda’s major fuck ups (willingly unleashing the Hulk on Johannesburg and failing to protect everyone in Lagos) happened in African countries. I believe in some suspension of belief for superhero movies but I’m not sure it’s entirely appropriate to be like hey! look at Wanda! the whitewashed character who fucks things up in African countries! such girl power! great anti-imperialism message!

(I mean, the same disregard applies to all the avengers though. I’m pretty sure the safest interpretation of Lagos is “the avengers could have done better by not fighting in proximity with a bunch of civilians” which is on Steve. And unless I fever dreamed this Steve tosses his cowl at the feet of anti-avengers graffiti in the beginning of aou and there is nothing appropriate about that).

11. Wanda was introduced in AOU, a movie with sub par dialogue and tbh I have a feeling Whedon et.al never thought through the implications of Johannesburg bc he just wanted a convenient way to introduce a hulkbuster fight.

12. tbh I really want a scarlet witch movie to fix all of this but I also really want a recast and I know I won’t get either (fanon wanda is the best because we can fix all of this with a hammer).

13. CA:CW seemed to draw on a lot of Wanda’s comic history (specifically in the oppression metaphors) but since it followed the clusterfuck that was AOU I can’t exactly give them a standing ovation for that.

14. ca:cw did a very bad job following through wanda’s plot threads from aou. tbh I’m not even team we need to stretch Wanda’s redemption arc further but idk, it might be nice if she mentioned her dead brother or tied the Lagos incident/Sokovia accords to, idk, her past living in a war zone.

15. ca:cw could’ve given me wanda wryly commenting on how luxurious the compound was compared to sokovia but instead it gave the should-be-jewish character a cross in her bedroom and fuck that marvel why don’t you just stake me through the heart so I don’t have to deal with your bullshit

16. I wish wanda in the airport scene was more about her desire to do good (go stop the supersoldiers) than the awkward oppression metaphor

17. although push come to shove I would’ve focused on poverty/american foreign intervention over calling the powers she volunteered for the source of her oppression the whole raft scene does demonstrate that people whose powers (or even training) cannot be separated like say Sam and the Falcon or Tony and the suits face a special criminal justice risk.

but this isn’t really relevant to the accords, which are not the SHRA and honestly the same ethical problem of how to incarcerate enhanced people exists whether or not someone is acting as a superhero (is it ethical to put a psychic murderer in solitary confinement if that’s the only way to prevent them from using their powers to escape or assault guards?)

18. according to beta canon/film subtext wanda & pietro did not willingly sign up to work with hydra. Just good to remember.

19. I will forever be attached to the idea of wanda liking Vision’s company because he is both practically invulnerable (not going to get shot 7 times on a floating city) and emotionally dependent on her support (just like Pietro). (this is not implying twincest btw)

20. I think wanda’s house arrest in ca:cw is not completely unreasonable (she’s probably awaiting investigation & is at risk of being hurt/hurting others from mob violence) but definitely steve (and probably natasha & sam) should be under house arrest as well. but they aren’t, and I think it’s fair to say that in universe that’s xenophobia/anti-immigrant sentiment. why be afraid of the american icon when you can be afraid of the poor sokovian woman?

21. antis make way too much of the whole “she’s just a kid line”. like steve was responding to tony calling her, a human being, a weapon of mass destruction. like, he was just trying to humanize her and calling the youngest person in a group a kid even when they’re an adult isn’t that strange.

22. in lagos wanda was trying so damn hard to stop that bomb and yes she didn’t manage it but blaming her instead of steve? uh gross.

23. how much experience does she have? yes tony stark throwing himself into superheroics worked out surprisingly well but superheroes need training

24. I insist marvel release a 22 page dissertation on wanda’s mind powers but also if I don’t like it I’ll call it not canon. (my initial theory was that she produces ptsd symptoms - even if the person normally doesn’t suffer from ptsd - but something in the confidence that she can manipulate tony before entering his mind makes me think she has slight suggestive abilities beyond fear and also thor’s vision arguably followed a different vein)

25. antis like to argue that the maximoffs only turned on ultron because it benefited them but let’s be clear the maximoffs fought ultron because they thought he was wrong and wanted to personally help. they could’ve just tipped off the avengers and left or left ultron to do whatever ultron was going to do and only fought him if he directly came after them okay the twins had options and they chose the most altruistic option.

26. ppl who say wanda isn’t really whitewashed because marvel’s decades of retcons have whitewashed her at past points are pretty much using a two-wrongs argumentative fallacy.

#wanda maximoff #pietro maximoff #wanda maximoff critical #pro wanda maximoff #anti wanda maximoff #ptsd mention #ptsd cw #anxiety cw #mcu #this is what I do when I'm nervous whoops

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worldofcloti · 7 years

Text

Long meta of Anon regarding Cloud, Tifa and Aerith [LTD]

Re-arranged it in order since this since the anon asks have the first one in the bottom of my inbox. Also separated the paragraphs. I have an answer under the cut as well.

Anonymous said to worldofcloti: May I say something since we’re somewhat on the topic of ltd and fandoms? Prefacing this saying I’m definitely a Cloti fan and only a CT fan but I don’t deny Klerith (I think that’s how we’re referring to them here), at least not my version of them. In fact, I think they’re a necessary stop on the road of CLOTI’s relationship and helps bring them closer. Now this probably sounds cruel but please hear me out. I see Aerith as someone who has a very positive effect on every person she encounters(1)

This included Cloud, and Tifa, and the whole gang. In the beginning of the game Cloud is in a horrible mental state, we know that, he’s battling his demons. And Tifa can’t help him because she’s battling her own demons and she has an introverted personality. I think that’s where it’s necessary for Aerith to come in and help them. Both. She brings lightness to them. Helps guide them towards the light, fun, positivity, which they couldn’t do by themselves. And while it’s ultimately Tifa who (2) heals his mind, and could only be Tifa because of their past, imo Aerith pushed them towards this AND I also headcanon that she also gave them a push in the lifestream. Her character and actions also had an effect on Tifa helping her realize her feelings and to become more active in pursuing what she wants. I also think both of them loved Aerith albeit differently, but I don’t think that Cloud was IN love with her. It just did not happen in the game that I played.

I know everyone has their (3) playthrough and this was mine, there were no straight romantic Klerith scenes in my game but I think they had positive feelings towards each other. I think she will always be in his heart but not as this one true love. Cause even if she were alive I still don’t see how after regaining his self the boy from Nibelheim who did so much for Tifa for years, and Tifa who had feelings for him for years and then did so much for him would not end up together. But this is my interpretation. And I have (4) no problem with others having another. My only problem is with the version where a 21yo Cloud must live the rest of his life alone waiting for death to reunite with the girl he supposedly loved, I have aversion to this strictly as a Cloud fan cause I find this incredibly cruel and selfish of fans, wanting for Aerith to be allowed to move on from Zack, but not giving same courtesy to Cloud. Tiduna and Noctluna are often mentioned as examples to strengthen this theory but I strongly disagree. (5)

Yuna and Tidus only had each other as romantic partners. And while Yuna did wait 2 years she was too busy during that time to think of romance, and X-2 shows that she was ready to move on, one of the endings even has her moving on, and as much of a Tiduna fan as I am, if Tidus never came back I would never wish for a 19yo girl to wait for him forever. Noctluna, well, is one of the weakest FF romances tbh, not a good thing to be compared to, but even here we have both of them dying almost at (6) the same time. Yes, there’s 10 year time skip but he hasn’t lived that, he lived very little time without her. And both these examples have one huge factor not considered for some reason: TIFA.

None of these pairs had a third person for whom protagonist had canonical reciprocated feelings for for years (whether he still has those or not are maybe up to interpretation but still important point) so the comparison falls moot for me. Not to mention if we parallel Tidus and Luna with Aerith for (7) their death, we can also parallel them with Tifa, e.g. for childhood feelings lasting for years. I might also mention my problem with compilation and AC. While for me it solidifies Cloti 100%, I still don’t like how it does it. I’m against the fact that Aerith of all people was used as a character whose memory brings depression to Cloud, to Tifa, children they’re raising. I think it’s a disservice to her and a cheap trick by SE in an attempt to bring her back and fan service her/Klerith fans.(8)

Especially since in OG her smile was used as a motivation in before battle speech (where, btw, Tifa was the one who showed bigger understanding of her character). So I don’t see how or why use AC as a romantic evidence when Aerith is used for such negative effect on Cloud. This came out huge omg I’m so sorry. But anyway I wanted to talk about how I don’t fully deny Klerith even as a Cloti fan, but how my view of it differs from their fans, & I’m fine with everything except that one scenario. (9)

You brought up a lot of points and thanks for sharing them to us. At first, I’d like to say that I am limited to what I can say since this blog is strictly pro-Cloti and not about debunking Klerith evidence. Although, I unapologetic-ally rant about bad treatment of characters in the fandom.

> I agree a lot on positive feelings. Aerith may have had a troubled childhood but she has become a well-adjusted adult, contrary to Tifa and Cloud with serious trauma and haven’t recovered from them [in Cloud’s case, it’s a full false persona]. Aerith is someone that added fun to the party, and she is the one excited to get out of Midgar and have an adventure. On the LTD side, I think Tifa would have waited for a longer time to make a move on Cloud without Aerith around, she definitely was a competition to Tifa.

> Aerith helping Cloud and Tifa in the Lifestream is in the short story Maiden Who Travels the Planet. I think it’s canon, although a secondary source rather than a main entry.

> I agree that Tifa is the end game love interest, although I would say she doesn’t have an explicitly romantic scene either. On Aerith, as much as Cloud grieved for her, I don’t think they became intimate.

> Parallels are generally a weak proof and more of just cuteness. I am limited to the rebuttal I can say in this blog but I hate if characters are misrepresented. Yuna moved on as early as FFX, especially with her speech about rebuilding Spira, having new homes, but never forgetting those who were lost. Just because she grieves for Tidus in FFX-2 it doesn’t mean she has no intention of loving again. I would also say that any couple compared to Noktluna is being insulted, because it is one of the worst written romances I have seen in a video game. While I dislike interpreting the story based on guidebook quotes, Square Enix is has actually been explicit in some parallels with FF romances in the Cloti side as well: http://danseru-kun.tumblr.com/post/40338671251/cloud-and-tifas-feelings-for-each-other. You can search other “fanservice” tagged posts in this blog.

> I like your thoughts on what Aerith represents and AC being about grieving for her, but personally I see it as a natural emotional process. Cloud was not only upset because of Aerith, but also because of Zack and Denzel. Cloud is a mentally weak person and suffering some serious trauma and guilt for his past failures. Despite hitting a low point, I love how Cloud found strength in AC through the help of his friends, both the living and the departed. It ended on a very positive note for all characters involved. This is why I hate interpretations of AC as romance.

You might like my meta on Aerith here: http://danseru-kun.tumblr.com/post/141774984234/aeriths-journey-to-the-promised-land

#ltd #cloti #klerith #cloud strife #tifa lockhart #meta

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dreamydrarry · 7 years

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First off hi. *waves excitedly* Second, I have a question that have been on my mind that involves your fav HP? Why is Draco is your favorite character? Don't get me wrong, I love him. He's my favorite boy to the series, second to Harry. But I know you're a hardcore, ride or die Draco Malfoy defender. I'm curious on why. And has it been since the beginning of the series or close to the ending? And did the movies play a part in it?

okay, this answer’s gonna be a bit long…

i’ve always loved Draco.

usually, my love for characters that are viewed as “villains” or “bad guys” start because i just flat out tend to find those characters the most entertaining or interesting, over the regular protagonists. i don’t love “bad guys” just to be all rebellious or anything like that, i just really like them. for example, Jim Moriarty from Sherlock, Crowley from Supernatural, Norman Bates, the Joker from Batman, and more minor bad-guy types like Roman Godfrey from Hemlock Grove, Hyde on that 70s Show, Cook from Skins… the list goes on and on but i’d be here for days… and of course HP characters like Snape, Draco, Voldemort/Tom Riddle, and even Peeves. i love them. that’s how i started liking Draco at first, but naturally, when you love a character, you pay a lot more attention to them. so i started paying a lot of attention to everything Draco said and did, i loved his back story and stuff like that and i always thought about his point of view in situations where he’s normally seen as what a lot people find terrible, and i started loving him more than usual. it definitely wasn’t just because of Tom Felton playing him in the movies, (even though JKR unfairly blames him for that), but i’m also in love with Tom, so that’s kinda just a plus.

outside of the canon series, i love Draco more and more every time i read a new fic, or see blog posts of headcanons or edits and all of that. i mainly just think that Draco Malfoy is a very misunderstood character and i don’t think i’ll ever forgive the movies for cutting out some of his best moments and making all the people who don’t read the books see him as a bratty villain.

when it comes down to it, Draco Malfoy came from a very loving home with two great parents, and their family just happened to be at the top of the food chain when it comes to well-known wizard families. they were always protective, and sure, he was definitely spoiled, but they were also very strict with him when it came to grades and other responsibilities. Draco was used to getting everything he wanted, and only truly bullied Harry through the series because Harry was probably the first person to not take his shit. when he rejected his friendship, Draco pretty much decided to take it upon himself to hurt/embarrass/disappoint Harry more than Harry hurt/embarrassed/disappointed him in front of all the other students on their first day. not to mention the fact that this other boy constantly got attention 24/7 for being “the boy who lived” and constantly fighting off evil, while also beating him in quidditch on the side and having snarky comebacks to his own insults.

and on top of all that, Draco came from a line of purebloods who only hung out with other purebloods who all worshiped an asshole who promised purebloods immunity if they just stayed out of his way of (and occasionally helping him with) getting rid of muggles and halfbloods on the reg. his father hated the Weasley family, not because of their blood status, but because of differences in the workplace to put it in simple terms. and because they didn’t work together and see eye-to-eye, of course Lucius would tear the other family down when it came to money status.

because of all this, Draco grew up hearing his father talk shit about the Weasley family, (”red heads blah blah hand-me-down clothes blah blah populate like rabbits blah blah”) along with bad-mouthing “mudbloods,” (”why should we invite muggle-borns into our world and risk ruining everything just to teach them our ways of magic and lifestyle when they thrive perfectly fine in their dumb little magic-less world blah blah blah what if they expose us? blah blah blah if purebloods continue populating with mugle-borns, soon enough there wont be any more purebloods around! blah blah blah”)

so, growing up with rich, pureblood, snooty assholes and no one else to around to teach him right from wrong and show him that of course the world outside of purebloods isn’t that bad, it’s obvious that little 11-year-old Draco is going to meet a Weasley and a muggle-born Granger and automatically tear them down. you and i and everyone else knows it’s wrong, yes, but we grew up in an environment where we can sort out what’s right from wrong because we weren’t just stuck in some prejudice rich bitch bubble for the first 11 years of our lives. and it doesn’t help that the other Slytherins he hangs around with in the series laugh at and instigate Draco’s insults towards Harry and the other kids the same way. obviously we know not all Slytherins are like that though.

no one is born with hate in their hearts, it’s the way you’re raised.

but little by little, Draco changes. going to Hogwarts for all those years of his life and being around such a large group of diverse people who weren’t all just stuck in the same shiny bubble he grew up in changed him. regardless if he made friends with anyone outside of his Slytherin gang.

he made friends with Moaning Myrtle of all people, and cried alone with her in her bathroom on multiple occasions.

he was angry and pushed himself harder every time Hermione, the “mudblood” who was (in his mind) supposed to be on a lower level than he was by default, would score higher than him in classes.

he was scared sick and riddled with anxiety when he was tasked to help find a way for Death Eaters to get into Hogwarts, because he KNEW it was wrong. he could feel it in his gut. he LIED TO HIS FAMILY and said he didn’t recognize his ‘childhood nemesis’ Harry, when he so clearly knew it was him. he LIED to his FAMILY for HARRY even though he KNEW that there had to be some sort of punishments if they found out he was lying. because he knew Harry had a chance of changing the world and getting rid of the Dark Lord. he, himself, hated all of it and wanted it to end.

the poor kid couldn’t even bring himself to kill Dumbledore, the man that was Voldemort’s biggest obstacle at the time, even though he was alone with him with his wand pointed straight at him. and though he even got the permission from the man himself to go through with it and kill him, he couldn’t do it. he knew it was wrong, he knew he didn’t want to live in a world ran by Voldemort, so he couldn’t do it.

there are two outcomes before the final battle where the Malfoys call Draco over to their side. in the one used, Draco obeys and silently crosses over to join the side of Death Eaters and his parents. but in an extra cut from the last movie, Draco stands his ground and decides to stay on the side with his fellow classmates. the good side. and when it’s revealed that Harry is in fact alive, he even calls Harry’s name and throws him his own wand so that Harry wouldn’t be defenseless and could fight Voldemort. (i’ll ALWAYS be mad that they didn’t choose that ending. forever salty.)

and, whether you want to view it canon content or not, the Cursed Child had some great redeeming moments for Draco as well. such as admitting to Harry and his friends how he was always secretly jealous of their bond, showing how he was STILL against Voldemort in the “future” alternative where Voldemort is in power, and his all around strong love for Scorpius and Astoria.

(even though we all know i ship Drarry)

anyway, DRACO MALFOY IS AN AMAZING CHARACTER AND NO ONE CAN EVER EVER EVER CHANGE MY MIND ABOUT THAT!!!!!

((this is so long, but tbh i didn’t even hit every single point. believe is or not this is my ‘long story short’ version hahaha but i hope this answers your question.))

#draco malfoy #harry potter #q&a #this is so long sorry

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