On Tragedy, Fate, And Inevitability.

–Richard Siken, "Cover Story"

Additionally, readers began to ask me if the poems were “true,” by which they meant, “Did they really happen?” which seemed both beside the point and also intrusive. I realized that if they thought poems were biographically accurate, then they could walk away, knowing I was just a sad little man.

The Doubling of Self: An Interview with Richard Siken

More Lily

I want Lily Evans to be nuanced and dynamic in fanon writing because the fanon literally only ever depicts Lily as a beacon of heavenly light but she’s not, she’s a deeply flawed person capable of expressing negative traits and cruelty towards others and yeah, of being an asshole. I want her to be shown as an asshole sometimes because it never happens. And I want to see her having doubts in her relationship with James because it’s not the One True Pairing of the century; I want to see her have doubts and concerns about motherhood, about her friends, James’s friends, her sister, the people she left behind, I want to watch her justify the shitty things she’s done to herself and her family and friends, I want to see Lily’s morals warp and change, I want to watch her be painfully human and flawed, I want to see how her schooling changed the wild, colorful child she was, I want Lily to ruminate on whether she did the right thing and not know the answer but assure herself otherwise. 

I want the parts of her the canon either hinted at or never explored. We only hear about Lily from (99%) people who loved her, or were infatuated with her, or saw her as an angelic figure, or had only heard of her, with the possible exception of her sister. I want mundane Lily facts that have to do with HER, not her and James, because she is not half of a set that needs him to be complete or interesting. I want child Snape to keep coming back to her because she was a fascinating kid, or because she was a normal kid but literally all he had, or because she was a fascinating kid who grew into a shallow teen but she was literally all he had. I want to watch the subtle (honestly kinda insidious) house system change her behavior. I want to know about her relationship with her parents and Petunia, the places the relationships were strained, the silent dinners, where lines were crossed– It can’t all be one-sided antagonism on Petunia’s part. 

I don’t want anti-Lily or Lily bashing. 

But 

I want an actual examination and dissection of her character that has the room for her to be vivacious and loving and warm and compassionate, AND the kind of person who makes the sexual assault of her closest friend about her own hurt feelings. 

Really kind of boils down to that. That she’s been shown to have the capacity to be both of these people at once, but fanon only cares about one half or the other. Nah. She’s both. 

In writing, epithets ("the taller man"/"the blonde"/etc) are inherently dehumanizing, in that they remove a character's name and identity, and instead focus on this other quality.

Which can be an extremely effective device within narration!

They can work very well for characters whose names the narrator doesn't know yet (especially to differentiate between two or more). How specific the epithet is can signal to the reader how important the character is going to be later on, and whether they should dedicate bandwidth to remembering them for later ("the bearded man" is much less likely to show up again than "the man with the angel tattoo")

They can indicate when characters stop being as an individual and instead embody their Role, like a detective choosing to think of their lover simply as The Thief when arresting them, or a royal character being referred to as The Queen when she's acting on behalf of the state

They can reveal the narrator's biases by repeatedly drawing attention to a particular quality that singles them out in the narrator's mind

But these only work if the epithet used is how the narrator primarily identifies that character. Which is why it's so jarring to see a lot of common epithets in intimate moments-- because it conveys that the main character is primarily thinking of their lover/best friend/etc in terms of their height or age or hair color.

fatima aamer bilal, excerpt from moony moonless sky’s ‘i am an observer, but not by choice.’

[text id: my fist has always been clenched around the handle of an invisible suitcase. / i am always ready to leave. / there is not a single room in this world where i belong.]

Wunderkind Berlin

[Video ID: The video shows two women singing on a boat, taking turns. The woman on the right is Sofia Adriana, she starts singing a traditional Spanish song often hummed while baking bread, called Panadera. Then the woman on the left , Palestinian Singer “Terez Sliman”, follows by singing the Palestinian song 'Ya Talleen Al Jabal'. Both women show harmony and synchronization in their singing, clapping their hands on the boat to create music.]

"Ya Tall’een Al Jabal " - "يا طالعين الجبل" , a song from the Palestinian heritage was sung by Palestinian women in coded language to their imprisoned husbands and relatives in British prisons during the 1936 revolution to tell them resistance fighters would soon free them, while disguising words with the letter "L.". While "Panadera" in the Spanish language means baker, it is a traditional Spanish song that women sang during the baking process. The movement of the hands in rhythm represents the baking process.

"يا طالعين الجبل" أغنية من التراث الفلسطيني كانت تغنيها النساء الفلسطينيات عند زيارة الأسرى في سجون الإحتلال. كانت النساء يضفن حرف اللام بين مقاطع الأغنية للتمويه لإيصال رسالة للأسرى أنه الليلة سيقوم الفدائييون بتحريرهم.

باناديرا في اللغة الإسبانية تعني الخبّاز، هي أغنية تقليدية اسبانية كانت النساء تغنيها أثناء عملية الخبز. حركة اليدين في الإيقاع هو عملية الخبز فعليًا.

Sung by: Terez Sliman (to the left) | Sofia Adriana Portugal (to the right)

🎥( Video Credit )

Cutting his hair means letting her go.

kill the shift manager in your brain

After the war Minerva becomes Hogwarts’ Headmistress and so she had to finally clear out her beloved office and dorm in the Gryffindor Tower for the next Head of Gryffindor. Its been years since she started there and she knows she’ll have to go through a lot of old essays, books, and letters.

It was halfway through her cleaning did she discover a bunch of essay she did when she sat all her 7th year Gryffindor down to ask them what their plans are. The essay was simple, answer the question “where do you see yourself in 10 years?”. It’s a yearly thing she does with her graduating students just so she can keep track of where they’ll be and where she can finds them.

Minerva wasn’t sure which batch this essay belongs to so she was a bit excited to see who’s essay it all belongs to and see if they end up doing what they said they will. With a swish of her wand the papers straightened themselves and she was able to see the first essay on top.

Her heart immediately broke.

Sirius Black

I have no plans 10 years from now but inside those 10 years I want to explore the world. I want to see everything until I get sick of it, I want to be everywhere. I want to buy the stupidest shit things to bring home to my friends and hopefully my brother. 10 years is a long time to fix a broken relationship, right?

Minnie knew the other essay will destroy her but seeing these student’s handwriting would give her so much comfort.

Lily Evans

Quite realistically 10 years is a short time to be something great or historical, I wish to explore what this world can offer to me and show it what i can offer it. I want to prove myself more than just my magical blood. I am a great witch and I wish to prove that to the world. Along with this I hope to raise a family of my own, nurture a home that is full of compassion, kindness, and love.

Remus Lupin

I don’t have any great expectations for my future, if I get a stable job then I’ll be okay. What I hope to see in 10 years is that the family I have with me now are still there with me.

Mary MacDonald

10 years from now I hope the war is over and I am free to be a fashion designer for the muggle world and the wizarding world.

Marlene Mckinnon

I want to be the greatest quidditch player there is. I want little girls to look at me and realize they can do whatever they want, I want to give them hope that there is more to life than boys putting you down. I want to show them that there is strength in trying and there is strength in their femininity. I want to be the voice that I spent my whole childhood looking for.

Peter Pettigrew

I hope I’m braver than I am now, stronger than I am, and finally comfortable in who I am and who I become.

There was no controlling the tears that fell from Minnie’s eyes, she couldnt hole them back anymore. There was 1 more essay and she knew whatever’s inside it will destroy her even more.

James Potter

10 years from now, I hope the war is over and I was able to keep everyone I love safe.

Minnie holds the papers to her chest. She never had children of her own but these kids? These children she never watch grow up? These kids are hers.