In Eternally Yours, There Is A Rule In The Shared Upland-Thropp House. Elphaba Knows It, Peaches And

book quotes that i will never recover from

"he is half of my soul, as the poets say. " - song of achilles

"write me a letter telling me how to live the rest of my life without you." - how to make friends with the dark

"they were my birthday presents." - shatter me

"she had realized that she had forgotten the precise blue of his eyes and the depth of his laugh." - clockwork princess

"my name is sam cortland... and i will not be afraid." - assassin's blade

"you chose me four years ago. would you choose me still?" - these violent delights

"we were all supposed to make it." - crooked kingdom

"i remember everything." - the invisible life of addie larue

"come home and shout at me. come home and fight with me. come home and break my heart, if you must. just come home." - cruel prince

"i wasted all those yesterdays and am completely out of tomorrows." - they both die at the end

"you hated the idea of me." - the final gambit

"bob says hello." - house of hades

"abuse can feel like love. starving people will eat anything." - nightfall

"i missed you only with an ocean between us. but if death was separating us... i would find you." - queen of shadows

"i loved him. i love him. as best i could." - we were liars

"i'm the villain, even in my own story. but you were supposed to play a different role." - finale

"i will find you again in the next world—the next life. and we will have that time. i promise." - a court of wings and ruin

"i spent half of my time loving her and the other half hiding how much i loved her." - the seven husbands of evelyn hugo

lily "tea is tea is tea is tea" telugu but adopted and raised by a predominantly white family evans VS james "BRITISH TEA IS THE SHAME OF THE TEA FAMILY IT SHOULDNT EVEN BE CALLED TEA" born and raised tamil potter

choose ur fighter

Okay attempt number 2 at posting why I personally think Galinda Upland is a high masking AuDHD person after I saw a post pegging Elphaba as Autisitic and Galinda as ADHD:

See under the cut

1. She’s very clearly high energy/hyperactive, always busy, never stops talking, the way she talks it seems like that’s how her brain works, just running and running constantly.

2. She speaks what’s on her mind without thinking about how what she says may affect those around her. “You’re green!” It very much gives me “If you’re from Africa why are you white?” From Mean Girls vibes. (And yes, I do think Karen Smith is autistic too lol)

3. She has 2 special interests: being Popular and sorcery. I mean, aside from just being a huge gay flamingo mating dance, Popular also feels like a giant infodumping session of Galinda onto Elphie. She’s sharing all the knowledge she has on one of her favorite topics. The works she puts in to following her hearts desire to be a sorceress, saying how it’s her hearts desire. She would do anything to be able to do magic and I personally think she has the knowledge behind it, even if she doesn’t have the magic ability in her in the way Madame Morrible is looking for. She recognizes that Elphaba was the one who did the magic in the courtyard at Shiz and she begs Elphaba to share how she did it, even though she claims to loathe her. She thinks Elphaba knows something about her special interest that she doesn’t so she MUST find out!

4. I know the suitcases and trunks all her stuff is in is partially because of the lack of closet space in the dorm room but while it seems like everything has its place, drawers are labeled, etc… it’s still very cluttered. She just has SO. MUCH. STUFF. A little bit of hoarding. She cannot bear to get rid of anything because what if she needs it one day?! (I.E. the hat her grandmother made her!)

5. Speaking of the hat. I don’t think she actually hates it. It may not be her style, but her grandma made it for her! When Pfannee pulled the hat out and he and ShenShen started hating on it and Galinda turned around, it took her a moment to read her friend’s tones. You can see for a second her expression looks neutral but contemplative when she’s looking at Pfannee before it changes and she starts to hate on the hat. She had to take a second to read and process her friend’s tone before she responded so she could have the correct reaction her friends were expecting from her.

6. The ‘toss toss’ and ‘leg’ things are both stims. You cannot change my mind.

7. Why is she so high masking? Because her momsie and popsicle conditioned her to hide any trait of hers that could seen as “undesirable” or “unladylike”. She’s Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands after all! She has a reputation to live up to!

8. After the Ozdust Ballroom night when she and Elphie become friends, she quickly becomes attached to her. Elphie becomes her “safe person” and she develops an attachment to her that I see frequently in neurodiverse people. She always wants to be around her and she is always holding her hand and touching her because she’s so comfortable with Elphaba. She finally has someone she can unmask around.

9. Speaking of Elphie…. Galinda shows some HEAVY Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria in the deleted scene “Elphaba’s Promise”. She is sad and hurt, not that Elphie and Fiyero were doing something without her, but that Elphie “chose” Fiyero to help her rescue the cub, not Galinda. “If you needed someone, you could’ve picked me!” Breaks my heart every time!

10. She seems to have a little bit of rigid thinking when it comes to Dr. Dillamond not being able to pronounce her name. She seems to think if she just keeps repeating the correct way to say it, he’ll eventually get it and not understanding that he’s physically not capable of pronouncing her name correctly because of his lack of upper front teeth, even when it’s explained to her.

11. This last one is very much a stretch (pun not originally intended this time lol) but I’m putting it in too, hypermobility issues are a very high comorbidity with autism and when she’s dancing around during Popular she does a high kick. Could it just be athleticism? Maybe. Could it be a hypermobility thing? Also maybe.

I’ve previously stated that when people say “Why have James and Harry as POC?” it’s fair enough to respond, “Why not?” but there are also some reasons that specifically drive me towards representing them that way. So, without further ado, here’s why I tend to view James Potter as a person of colour. 

(Please note that this isn’t about authorial intent, since I’m more than aware that JKR doesn’t exactly write with the purpose of people reading her main characters as POC. It’s more about how the narrative connects as a reader, as well as some personal preferences.)

Racially-Coded Language Directed At James 

[…] Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn’t have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn’t want Dudley mixing with a child like that. (PS1)

and, after Vernon claims James had been unemployed in POA: 

“As I expected!” said Aunt Marge, taking a huge swig of brandy and wiping her chin on her sleeve. “A no-account, good-for-nothing, lazy scrounger who —” (POA2)

There’s a very specific trend in the way that the Dursleys speak about James. “Good-for-nothing,” as soon as he’s introduced, a sentiment repeated by Marge. “Wastrel” in that same chapter of POA. And the way that Marge reacts to James being “unemployed” is very much akin to anti-immigrant rhetoric, i.e. considering them a drain of public resources. It’s classist too, certainly, but that’s not divorced from racial dynamics. The greatest employment disparities in Britain occur among ethnic minorities. And that’s in recent reports. I can guarantee it was worse approximately 30 years ago, during the setting of HP. On top of that, the idea that the Harry’s “otherness” can be identified on sight also reads like an allusion to race. 

Harry’s Appearance

He shot a nasty look sideways at Harry, whose untidy hair had always been a source of great annoyance to Uncle Vernon. (POA2)

and 

Professor Flitwick was walking past a boy with untidy black hair … very untidy black hair…  (OOTP28)

James and Harry share most of their features. The most prominent of these is by far James’s hair, which is consistently described as both “black” and “untidy.” Neither is a trait exclusive to people of colour, but there certainly is a tendency for people of colour to face greater scrutiny for the state of their hair. The Dursleys’ view that having “improper” hair somehow equates lacking societal worth is much along those lines. It’s not at all unreasonable to relate Harry’s struggle with his hair as partly the product of his heritage. 

Dynamic Balance Between James and Lily

This one is a point of personal preference. Since we know so little about either James or Lily, it’s hard to gauge what exactly their relationship was like. But I absolutely love the idea of James as a person of colour and a pure-blood while Lily is white and Muggle-born. Although there’s a claim that there’s no racism in the wizarding world (I’d question that, but that’s a different post), there certainly would be in 1970s Muggle UK. It’s an interesting dynamic to engage with — James, completely unaware of why people would look askew his relationship with Lily even in the Muggle world. Lily, turning indignant protector for James, while people dislike him for his heritage. It’s all the appeal of a role reversal AU but built into canon-compliance. 

Presumption of Delinquency 

For the space of a heartbeat both policemen imagined guns gleaming at them, but a second later they saw that the motorcyclists had drawn nothing more than —

“Drumsticks?” jeered Anderson. “Right pair of jokers, aren’t you? Right, we’re arresting you on a charge of —” (Prequel)

and

Harry preferred Little Whinging by night, when the curtained windows made patches of jewel-bright colors in the darkness and he ran no danger of hearing disapproving mutters about his “delinquent” appearance when he passed the householders. (OOTP1) 

This one’s a bit more depressing, but it’s something that I think holds true for many people of colour in places where they aren’t the majority. Whether in a local neighbourhood, with a police officer, or at an airport, it’s easy enough to think of an instance of racial profiling. Being treated as a threat by people who don’t really know you. In James and Sirius’s interaction with the police, up until that point they’re smarmy, sure, but have made no indication that they’re any kind of threat. They reach back in their pockets and immediately the assumption is that they have guns. Harry experiences similar profiling. In that same chapter, he talks about how some of the neighbourhood kids are afraid of him. Admittedly, he’s got the Dursleys’ badmouthing and the state of his clothing going against him, but James is well-dressed and cared-for and still treated as if he might become violent. 

Nuanced Representation Through James

This point is less about the text itself, and more about how interpreting James as a person of colour is beneficial to readers of colour. Although he sort of gets the least physical presence in the series, the things we do see inform us that he’s got quite the story. He’s described, along with Sirius, as “the cleverest [student] in school,” in POA, he becomes an animagus at the age of fifteen, and he saves the life of his worst enemy (who later sells him out to Voldemort). He dedicates his life to a war that his blood status exempts him from. And he’s got obvious flaws as well! He’s arrogant, sometimes rude, and loyal to the point of being blind to the possibility of betrayal. Of all of the Marauders’ era characters, James has some of the most interesting characterization. In a series where people of colour barely feature, the idea that someone like James (and subsequently Harry) could be men of colour is very exciting. 

And, for what it’s worth, I actually think it’s kind of cool that James is so well-off financially. It’s not only a reversal of expectations with the earlier point of racially-coded insults, but also offers a version of an ethnic minority who doesn’t necessarily have a class disadvantage. And, if you’re on the Desi James train, it actually plays into a specific narrative of migration and employment for Indians in the UK prior to 1981. Racial discrimination and class do not always follow each other, and I think that disconnect can be jarring for those who consider themselves relatively privileged. Again, it’s something I think is interesting to explore.

Diverse Magical Heritage

Again, this idea comes down to personal preference. Since James comes from a long line of mostly pure-bloods, that means that if he is interpreted as a person of colour, there’s an entire magical tradition that can come with that. All of the HP spells are Latin-based, but if you read James as Desi (as I do) then there’s the potential for Sanskrit-based spells! Indian wizard holidays! If Christian wizards celebrate Christmas, surely Hindu wizards celebrate Diwali? Or Muslim wizards celebrate Eid? Not to mention the cool idea of life-cycle rites coming into play. I’d love to see a wizard version of annaprashan, where instead of reaching for just books or toys, you could have Harry reaching for a wand for power, or the Mahabharata for courage. Not to mention that James’ family has a long history in potions, which actually seems closer to Ayurvedic medicine than chemistry. There are so many possibilities that come from seeing James as a person of colour. These are only a few examples. 

hey um queer desi people if you think you're alone, i promise you're not. i'm here, we're here, and we exist. i love you.

Does anyone have any good marauders fanfic recs? I'm trynna find some with desi James, but just any recs are good with me.

I am totally gonna start saying sounds penis see you in hell now

My one friend group can't stop saying, "See you in hell!" in a cheerful voice instead of, "Talk to you later!" and my other friend group can't stop calling things "penis" instead of "cool" or "good", so I just unironically uttered the phrase, "Sounds penis, see you in hell," as I got off the phone.

Okay, so here’s another headcanon relating to James being Indian - one that possibly explains a longstanding mystery.

A little background: record keeping in India is, to say the least, pretty ropey. A lot of the older generation (aka, my grandparents) didn’t actually have birth certificates. Hell, we don’t actually know when my grandmother was born. We know where, but not exactly when. (I’m not entirely sure we know when my grandfather was born either, since I strongly suspect he lied about his age when he joined the army in WW2.)

But anyway. There are some records though, that are literal scrolls kept by the pandits, or Hindu priests, in holy cities on the river Ganges (Varanasi, Haridwar, etc.) Each Hindu family has a pandit, and each family has a set of scrolls tracing the family back generations. My family has one. Chances are, if you’re from a Hindu family or married into one, you’ll be on one, though it’s not always easy to find. (We were just lucky that we knew which city ours were in.)

Okay, so what’s this got to do with James? Well, it’s pretty likely that his Indian family are culturally Hindu (even if they’re not necessarily practicing nowadays), so they’d have these family scrolls in India.

So which mystery does this solve? Well, the mystery of where the hell Sirius was at the start of GoF when he was using huge colourful birds to write to Harry?

Yeah, that’s right. My headcanon is that Sirius went to India. He went to see the Potter family pandit to update the scroll with James’ (and Lily’s, and possibly Fleamont’s, unless someone else did it) date of death and add Harry’s name to the scroll.

But then he saw something that shocked him on the scroll, next to James’ name. His ability to read Sanskrit is pretty rusty nowadays, but he can still recognise his own name. At some point, before he died, Fleamont must have either written to the pandit, or gone to India, and had Sirius’ name added. Listing him as James’ brother. As family.

Later (while sobbing uncontrollably), Sirius mirror-calls Remus to tell him that. But Remus then realises something. If anyone intentionally betrays another member of their family, their name disappears from the scroll. It’s extremely old magic that’s been imbued in those scrolls for centuries. No one knows how it’s done; the only people who would know are long dead.

You see where I’m going with this? Sirius’ name is still there. It was never erased. And he couldn’t have rewritten it. That means he never betrayed James and Lily. It means they have proof he’s innocent.

Remus tells Sirius ‘get that fucking scroll by any means necessary so we can clear your name! Not even Fudge can ignore this, not without being called a massive bigot.’ (Okay, there was actually a lot more swearing, since my headcanon is that Remus swears like a sailor. He’s not a werewolf, he’s a swearwolf!)

So Sirius races back to Haridwar to do just that. Either he manages it and his name gets cleared (thanks to some ‘nudging’ from a few powerful people) or, he’s halfway there when he gets the letter from Harry about his scar hurting and promptly flies home.

Personally, I like the idea that he gets the scroll and gets cleared. Heck, maybe the pandit agrees to testify! And yes, I know it doesn’t happen in canon, but it would make a good AU.

I could make a serious Wicked review and talk about the vocals and the choreography and the costumes and the sets, which are all great, but this is tumblr, and I know that all of these aspects will not matter nearly as much as me reviewing the movie by how much gay subtext they put into it, so that's exactly what I'm gonna do.

Elphaba and Glinda are either holding hands or have their arms linked for about 70% of this movie. Literally, after they officially become friends these girls are attached at the hip.

'What Is This Feeling?' remains about as gay as it usually is, but I will highlight that they lie awake at night thinking about each other which. I know what you are etc etc

The scene where they dance together is. I have no words. That was beautiful. Both actresses put so much emotion into the sequence. And there's a moment where Glinda puts her hand on Elphaba's face, almost like she's brushing away the tears there, and that shit made me cry as well.

'Popular' is insanely homosexual. There's a scene where they're laying down on the bed looking into each other's eyes, and Glinda shifts to basically be on top of Elphaba. My jaw was on the floor. Just lots of touching and Looks all throughout.

When they go to see the Wizard all that casual touching I mentioned previously is multiplied by tenfold, and there are several moments where Elphaba looks at Glinda for reassurance, which was very sweet.

'Defying Gravity' made me just as emotional as I knew it would. I do wish they had hugged but honestly with all the handholding and the staring into each other's eyes, and Glinda wrapping the cloak around Elphaba, they gave us plenty. Once again the acting caught me by surprise (specially from Ariana), both of them communicate so much with just looks.

Anyway my overall thoughts are, these bitches gay, good for them. They did not tone down the subtext at all (like I know some people were worried would happen), and while they didn't make anything explicit either (which I never expected them to*), I'm confident that both Cynthia and Ariana understood the assignment in regards to the kind of relationship Glinda and Elphaba have in canon, and that was enough for me.

*I will admit that a secret corner of my little lesbian heart hoped beyond hope that they would include the scene from the book where Elphaba canonically kisses Glinda (iirc it's supposed to be during Defying Gravity), but like, I always knew they wouldn't.

ok, any headcanons on james that compliment the ones you've done for sirius?

i absolutely loved those and i'm really curious about james

HELL YEAH LETS GO

ADHD. This dude has to be moving, fidgeting, doing something, always. It tires him, and he sleeps very soundly for a full seven hours. Doesn't wake up even for earthquakes (Sirius once did a mini earthquake spell on the dorm room floor in the middle of the night as a prank. It did not wake him.)

Wakes up at an ungodly fucking hour. He doesn't own an alarm clock (it has no effect on him), but his internal clock is set to wake him up at exactly 4:30 in the morning for quidditch practice. He is done with jogging through the entire castle, half an hour of yoga, and an hour of quidditch before 7 A.M. rolls around. Sirius calls him "a demon from muggle hell" for it.

The only one who can keep up with Sirius' intelligence. He is scarily smart, but because most of his time is invested in quidditch and pranks, nobody realises just how smart he is until the results are handed out and he's right there next to Sirius on the top of the rankings. Both of them are always exchanging ranks 1 and 2 on overall performance. It annoys Snape and Lily to no end, because those two are always exchanging ranks 3 and 4 on the list.

The definition of Reckless. If Sirius hadn't stopped him, he would probably have turned the castle to rubble in less than five minutes. This was the exact reason why people (who were in the know) were surprised when Sirius was the one that sent Snape to Moony. They had all thought it would be James' fault.

A fucking bookworm. My dude reads literally everything from mystery to romance to encyclopaedias to research papers to fucking dictionaries of different languages. Even when he doesn't speak the language, the weirdo (affectionate and derogatory).

Indian. Specifically, from Pune city, Maharashtra.

About languages, he's learnt a lot of them. The order of learning of languages, starting from his native tongue, is thus: Marathi, Sanskrit, Hindi, English, Ancient Greek, Tamil, French and Latin. He learnt the first six at home, and French and Latin from Sirius. He's good with languages.

Photographic memory. The reason he never has to study, and also the fact that he understands everything he reads on the first try.

He and Sirius both have twelve OWLs and eight NEWTs. They have Outstandings in all of them.

My dude has the widest, largest doe eyes possible. The only people who can withstand them for more than two minutes are his parents and Sirius.

Bharatanatyam dancer. Has his Visharad certificate, and genuinely enjoys dancing. Gives at least three evenings per week for dance practice to keep up his muscle memory.

Doesn't actually hate Slytherins. Neither does Sirius. Both of them have several friends from the house of Serpents, they just hate the ones that actively use Dark Magic on muggleborns, and Snape and his gang are a part of that.

Lmao the sheer arrogance in him, oh my fucking Gods—

Doesn't give a shit about the rules set by other people (unless they're set by his parents), but has a set of rules for himself that he strictly follows. No one can tell what these rules are, but he has them and he follows them. At the top of that list, there is "never betray your loved ones". He followed that one until his death.

Nevertheless, he will break every single rule. Every. Single. Rule. For Sirius. For Sirius, he will do anything, from taking care of him when he's sick to burning the world for him.

The Hat would actually have put him in Slytherin, except he had no ambitions except to cause chaos at the tiny age of eleven years. Otherwise, he's almost a perfect fit for Slytherin— determined, strong willed, cunning enough to pull difficult pranks, resourceful (because how else you gon plan epic pranks?)

He went to Gryffindor for three reasons and three reasons only: Sirius was there, he had no particular ambition, he wanted to be with Sirius.

M O T H E R H E N. Such a mother hen, but only for a select few people (the marauders, Lily, and Harry). He doesn't give a fuck about anyone else, but these are my people and if I weren't here they would literally get themselves killed put of household related incompetence how are you still alive by the Gods—

Follows ancient Vedic religion (because I do hehe)

Very very panromantic. Demisexual.

Had a crush on Sirius for a short while in fourth year, and then on Frank Longbottom in sixth year after he had one (1) glance at the older boy dressed in full Auror robes.

Loved his mother so much omg he was such a Mama's boyyy

Gave shit to Remus for looking like a professor at the tender age of fifteen, but wanted to become a Transfiguration Professor himself. He was also excellent at Potions (another reason Snape hated him) but decided ultimately that Transfiguration was his calling

Was in his last year of his Transfiguration Mastery on Samhain of 81.

Died with a Killing Curse on his lips. He was ready to cast it wandlessly, for his wife and child. Died with a Killing Curse on his lips.