Telling Myself This Every Day So Here's A Meme

These are all stunning, but that first dress is what I want to wear if I ever win a really big award. Can you imagine how fucking ethereal you would feel gliding up on a stage to accept an award in this??!

Sara Mrad 'Golden Monarch' fall 2024 rtw

Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom/Pansy Parkinson Characters: Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, Pansy Parkinson, Neville Longbottom, Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, Narcissa Black Malfoy, Luna Lovegood, Original Characters Additional Tags: Romantic Comedy, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE Summary:

Hermione Granger has always found solace in books, but lately, she’s become captivated by a series of romance novels that seem to ignite something inside her. The intense passion and longing in the stories stand in stark contrast to the comfortable, if somewhat dull, relationship she has with Ron. As Hermione delves deeper into these novels, she begins to question whether she’s been settling for something less than she deserves.

When she strikes up an unlikely friendship with Pansy Parkinson, who claims to be the author of the books, Hermione finds herself drawn into a world of intrigue and whispered secrets. But as she grows closer to Pansy—and the alluring world she represents—Hermione begins to realize that the life she’s been living may not be the one she truly wants.

Caught between her familiar past and a thrilling new possibility, Hermione must confront her feelings, her desires, and the powerful pull of a passion she never expected.

So yesterday, I FINALLY read Prisoner's Throne. Finally. It was enjoyable - great fun, had more references to our favorite High King and Queen than Stolen Heir did, and immersive, as usual.

However, I did find a few pacing problems. I don't know if it could have done with being a little longer, or if this duology could have also been a trilogy. I don't know. There were just some plot points that felt a little rushed.

But Holly Black truly is the Queen of Faerie - immersive writing, great world building, and wonderful characters.

frostbite.studios.

They have yet to release this version in the UK, but bless the person who shared this!

✨One Dark Window B&N Exclusive Edition Content ✨

Here is the bonus chapter in the Barnes and Noble Exclusive edition of One Dark Window

(Link to Two Twisted Crowns bonus chapter here: https://www.tumblr.com/downrightbooks/775940021835431936/two-twisted-crowns-bn-exclusive-edition-content )

This movie is honestly so, so good. It snuck up on me and became one of my favorites.

I’m not taking my panties off for Scotland!

ABOUT TIME (2013) dir. Richard Curtis

Greenteacups genuinely understands the Harry Potter characters on such an insane level. This kind of character study is spectacular.

Re: Hermione’s parents. To me it always felt like THEY were also very responsible for being out of the picture. First year Hermione is a child who feels like breaking the rules is worse than death and is very sure that she is going to be expelled at any given moment. Her attempts at making friends are laughably bad. We can assume that she had difficult relationship with authority figures growing up, where she had to be perfect or else.

Mr Weasley is shown to be trying to make contact with the Grangers through a topic that is interesting and not intimidating to them, and we never hear about him getting hit back with “yes yes electricity, now tell us everything about your world”, which seeing that Arthur Weasley is a grown ass man who actually can be quite subtle was presumably the point.

Finally, Hermione obliviating her parents tells us a lot about Hermione, true, but it also tells us everything about her perception of them. A 17 year old teenager thought that it wasn’t a big deal to erase all of her parents’ recollection of her, maybe permanently. To me that action speaks of anger at them but also complete and utter lack of belief that they want to do anything with her.

I thought it was a very sad thing happening to Hermione behind the scenes, one that Ron might have been aware of, but not Harry.

Arthur's interactions with the Grangers are an interesting point. I agree that it's probably an overture to the Grangers, with the bonus of being something he likes talking about; Arthur is restoring a car engine, he almost assuredly knows how electricity works.

I don't know that we can assume Hermione had strict parents per se, though. Book 1 gives us a very realistic portrait of a socially awkward eleven-year-old whose inability to connect with people her own age, due to some combination of being smarter than them and a bit stuck-up, has manifested in a desperate desire for approval from older role models. She doesn't seem to be afraid of them; she's not afraid of McGonagall or Dumbledore, and she's certainly not afraid of Snape, though she would have the most reason to be. She just wants them to like her, and probably all the more because she knows most people don't.

We do see that as the series goes on, she develops a distaste for authority, particularly authority that's abused, but that seems like a natural consequence of Hermione never facing any consequences for breaking the rules. Her fears rotate more around being expelled, and losing access to the world of magic, than they do being 'punished' as such by McGonagall or Dumbledore. She's not afraid of them, she's afraid of failing. It's a subtle difference, but an important one for her relationship with her parents, I think.

I agree that it indicates a staggering problem in their relationship when she basically writes off her value in their lives, though I'd add that we don't know what or if they talked to her about the war beforehand. It strikes me that we actually don't know most things about the circumstances of Hermione Obliviating her parents — did she try to talk it out with them first? Convince them to flee? Did they refuse? Was this a first resort, or the last? All of those change what we might think of the Grangers' relationship with their daughter, and we just don't have the answers to those questions in the book.

When I tell you I cannot WAIT for this book...

The Cruel Prince Sketches

Artist: @honeyypears

A Writer's Guide to Character Development

I don’t know about you guys, but I can only answer “what’s your character’s favorite flavor of ice cream” so many times before I realize those lists are not going to help me actually write the character.

So, instead, I like to drabble practice. Answer these ten key questions about your character (answer in character). Then, after you know them a little better, write ten scenes (NOT part of your planned story) with the ten prompts below. Set it in your world, but it can be whenever you want—pre-story, or post-story, or mid-story. You could even write two scenes for one prompt, contrasting where your character starts the story and where they end up, or write one in first person and then write it again in third.

Just has to cover events that are NOT plot points. The point of the exercise is to come up with scenes you can toss out as soon as you finish them. You might end up using some of the lines or scenes you come up with, but for now you’re just playing around. 

QUESTIONS

What does your character tell everyone is their greatest fear? What is it actually? Is it the same? Why or why not?

What is their greatest strength and greatest weakness? 

Name the most important people to this character. All of them. Family and close friends and lovers.

Does your character have enemies? Who and why?

What is your character’s favorite holiday and why? 

How does your character like to present himself/herself? How do they dress? How do they act? Are they friendly or standoffish? Do they like to make a scene, or are they a wallflower?

What is their love language? How do they express it, and how do they best receive it?

What is their highest virtue? What is something that peers would praise about your character? What do they value most in other people?

Are they messy or neat? Why or why not?

If your character could change one thing about their life, what would it be and why? And, conversely, if they could only save one thing from their life, what would it be?

PROMPTS

Your character has had a bad day. What happened?

Your character’s loved one is sick. What do they do?

It’s your character’s birthday.

Someone is hiding something from your character. How do they uncover what it is?

Your character has just heard the news. A character they loved is dead. Describe the rest of their day.

Your character is on their own for dinner.

Your character has the day to himself/herself. No responsibilities, nothing. What do they do?

In the middle of the night, your character hears a noise in the house.

Your character knows they will die at midnight. What is their last day like?

Your character suddenly develops amnesia. Their loved ones try to jog your character’s memories by taking them to familiar locations and reminiscing.