Random Stuff

[Kaymyth she/her]

Day 1 of vacation:  Went to water park and managed to get only a little bit sunburned.

 

For a redhead, this is an ACCOMPLISHMENT.  I rocked the sunscreen reapplications, yo!

 

On the docket for Day 2:

 

1) Trade in my Missouri driver's license for a Kansas one

2) Organize & unpack boxes in sewing room

3) Go to Kansas City Costumers' Guild meeting

[Guest]

If it was donating blood to a blood bank that would make sense. 

But uh.............they're suggesting you volunteer as tribute?

The story that they give is that Transylvania is currently low on blood in their blood banks. But, of course, this is Transylvania. I'm not saying it's Dracula, buuuut it's Dracula.

[Kobold King he/him]

I just had my mind utterly blown by a Harry Potter theory about Draco Malfoy.

 

Just to be clear, this isn't mine. I got it from Reddit, and Reddit got it from Tumblr, and Tumblr reposted it from I-don't-know-where.

 

Here it is, copy-pasted from Reddit, where some guy copy-pasted it from Tumblr, where someone copy-pasted it from I-don't-know-where.

 

(Spoilers for the later books.)

 

Draco Malfoy is an annoying antagonist throughout all seven Harry Potter books, but noticeably less so in the sixth and seventh. Presumably, he stops his sophomoric pranks as a consequence of his highly stressful year-long assignment to play a key role in the assassination of Albus Dumbledore.

However, there may be an even more powerful reason for the trajectory of Draco’s character development in these latter books. This is that between the fifth and sixth books, directly after Lucius Malfoy has failed to retrieve the prophecy, Voldemort allows Fenrir Greyback to bite his son, Draco.

We’ve gone back through the 6th and 7th books, and compiled some of the most convincing evidence below:

Draco is not a Death Eater

At the beginning of the 6th book when Harry is hiding in Borgin and Burkes, Draco threatens Borgin, and shows him something on his arm. Harry thinks the thing on Draco’s arm is a Dark Mark, but we never see this.

Harry always immediately assumes things and they turn out to be false. If Harry wakes up in the middle of the night months later it is usually right, or if he talks about it with Hermione and Hermione gets it, then it’s right. Hermione doesn’t think Draco is a Death Eater, so he probably isn’t.

Another reason Draco probably doesn’t have a Dark Mark is that at the end of the sixth book there is a barrier to the Astronomy Tower that you can only pass through if you have a Dark Mark. This barrier goes up immediately after Draco goes up to the tower, and comes down just before he goes down.

Additionally, Draco is never treated as a Death Eater (and there is no reason for Voldemort to give Draco a Dark Mark).

So what is he? One ongoing arc in the 6th book is that Draco is sickly and stressed out. This is supposedly because of his quest, but Rowling does this misdirection a lot.

Fenrir Greyback is introduced as a character who specifically punishes people who’ve messed up by biting their children. Remus Lupin is explicitly mentioned as an example of this. Why set this up if not to use it later?

Relatedly, Lucius’s demonstrated punishments do not seem severe enough for his transgressions at the end of the 5th book, by the standards we are supposed to expect from Voldemort by this point in the series. It is also important to keep in mind that Lucius also mishandled Riddle’s Diary, resulting in the destruction of one seventh of Voldemort’s soul. It is likely that Lucius’s additional punishment was unspeakably terrible.

Voldemort says, “Maybe you can babysit the cubs,” to Draco when the Death Eaters find out that Remus and Tonks are having a baby. This is a throwaway if he is not a werewolf.

For us, the nail in the coffin is that, while showing Borgin the mark on his arm, Draco says that Fenrir Greyback is a close personal friend and he’d hate for him to have a to pay a visit.

And if the thing on Draco’s arm in Borgin & Burkes’ was not a Dark Mark (which it’s not), what else could he have possibly shown Borgin to make him so frightened?

Finally, Rowling has said in an interview that one scene in the third movie, there was a moment that foreshadowed something she knew was coming that gave her chills. In that movie, Draco impersonates a werewolf and does a wolf howl.

This also works for the arc for the flipping of the Malfoy family, who take care of themselves instead of following Voldemort. It makes more sense for them to throw away decades of servitude if one of them has been turned into a half-blood, making them idealogically incompatible with Voldemort’s pure-blood regime.

So why hide it? There is precedent for J.K. Rowling revealing only the tip of the iceberg in some of her characterizations. For example, Rowling was originally going to write a whole arc about Dean Thomas’s family, but instead she focused on Neville. Additionally, Dumbledore’s love of Grindelwald is never addressed during any of the books, and was only revealed by J.K. Rowling during a Q&A after all the books had been published. There are likely many other elements of the story that have been left behind the scenes for one reason or another. It may be entirely possible that Draco’s reveal was planned for the seventh book, for example, but got cut for pages.

Rowling has new content being released by book, and could be saving this to reveal on Pottermore for the seventh book.

One reason this would be really cool: It makes Draco’s relationship with Snape even more interesting if Draco is relying on him for Wolfsbane potion.

Edited July 28, 2015 by Kobold King

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

I just had my mind utterly blown by a Harry Potter theory about Draco Malfoy.

 

Just to be clear, this isn't mine. I got it from Reddit, and Reddit got it from Tumblr, and Tumblr reposted it from I-don't-know-where.

 

Here it is, copy-pasted from Reddit, where some guy copy-pasted it from Tumblr, where someone copy-pasted it from I-don't-know-where.

 

(Spoilers for the later books.)

 

Draco Malfoy is an annoying antagonist throughout all seven Harry Potter books, but noticeably less so in the sixth and seventh. Presumably, he stops his sophomoric pranks as a consequence of his highly stressful year-long assignment to play a key role in the assassination of Albus Dumbledore.

However, there may be an even more powerful reason for the trajectory of Draco’s character development in these latter books. This is that between the fifth and sixth books, directly after Lucius Malfoy has failed to retrieve the prophecy, Voldemort allows Fenrir Greyback to bite his son, Draco.

We’ve gone back through the 6th and 7th books, and compiled some of the most convincing evidence below:

Draco is not a Death Eater

At the beginning of the 6th book when Harry is hiding in Borgin and Burkes, Draco threatens Borgin, and shows him something on his arm. Harry thinks the thing on Draco’s arm is a Dark Mark, but we never see this.

Harry always immediately assumes things and they turn out to be false. If Harry wakes up in the middle of the night months later it is usually right, or if he talks about it with Hermione and Hermione gets it, then it’s right. Hermione doesn’t think Draco is a Death Eater, so he probably isn’t.

Another reason Draco probably doesn’t have a Dark Mark is that at the end of the sixth book there is a barrier to the Astronomy Tower that you can only pass through if you have a Dark Mark. This barrier goes up immediately after Draco goes up to the tower, and comes down just before he goes down.

Additionally, Draco is never treated as a Death Eater (and there is no reason for Voldemort to give Draco a Dark Mark).

So what is he? One ongoing arc in the 6th book is that Draco is sickly and stressed out. This is supposedly because of his quest, but Rowling does this misdirection a lot.

Fenrir Greyback is introduced as a character who specifically punishes people who’ve messed up by biting their children. Remus Lupin is explicitly mentioned as an example of this. Why set this up if not to use it later?

Relatedly, Lucius’s demonstrated punishments do not seem severe enough for his transgressions at the end of the 5th book, by the standards we are supposed to expect from Voldemort by this point in the series. It is also important to keep in mind that Lucius also mishandled Riddle’s Diary, resulting in the destruction of one seventh of Voldemort’s soul. It is likely that Lucius’s additional punishment was unspeakably terrible.

Voldemort says, “Maybe you can babysit the cubs,” to Draco when the Death Eaters find out that Remus and Tonks are having a baby. This is a throwaway if he is not a werewolf.

For us, the nail in the coffin is that, while showing Borgin the mark on his arm, Draco says that Fenrir Greyback is a close personal friend and he’d hate for him to have a to pay a visit.

And if the thing on Draco’s arm in Borgin & Burkes’ was not a Dark Mark (which it’s not), what else could he have possibly shown Borgin to make him so frightened?

Finally, Rowling has said in an interview that one scene in the third movie, there was a moment that foreshadowed something she knew was coming that gave her chills. In that movie, Draco impersonates a werewolf and does a wolf howl.

This also works for the arc for the flipping of the Malfoy family, who take care of themselves instead of following Voldemort. It makes more sense for them to throw away decades of servitude if one of them has been turned into a half-blood, making them idealogically incompatible with Voldemort’s pure-blood regime.

So why hide it? There is precedent for J.K. Rowling revealing only the tip of the iceberg in some of her characterizations. For example, Rowling was originally going to write a whole arc about Dean Thomas’s family, but instead she focused on Neville. Additionally, Dumbledore’s love of Grindelwald is never addressed during any of the books, and was only revealed by J.K. Rowling during a Q&A after all the books had been published. There are likely many other elements of the story that have been left behind the scenes for one reason or another. It may be entirely possible that Draco’s reveal was planned for the seventh book, for example, but got cut for pages.

Rowling has new content being released by book, and could be saving this to reveal on Pottermore for the seventh book.

One reason this would be really cool: It makes Draco’s relationship with Snape even more interesting if Draco is relying on him for Wolfsbane potion.

 

I know I'm in the minority of Potter fans who actively cheered for Draco's redemption during the sixth and seventh books….but this theory just makes me wish it had happened even more than I already did.  

 

And it kind of makes Harry seem like even more of a chull for attacking Draco instead of trying harder to calm him down during his nervous breakdown in Half-Blood Prince. The thought of Harry attacking someone during their nervous breakdown after one halfhearted attempt to help him is bad enough, but if that someone is also suffering from an incurable, highly infectious, deeply stigmatized disease, and that person comes from a social circle where that disease is regarded as a fate worse than death….well, it doesn't make Draco's jumping to the Cruciatus Curse right, but it definitely explains the deep-seated stress and paranoia that would lead him to do that. 

 

Also, if Draco were a Gryffindor, this scene would have played out far, far differently.

[Left he/him]

It's so hot at night I've started putting my head at the end of the bed so that the majority of my body is closer to the fan.

Edited July 28, 2015 by LeftInch

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Kobold's Reddit theory got me thinking about lycanthrophy and potions in the Potterverse. 

 

Dreamless Sleep is basically the wizard equivalent of Ambien or other Muggle sleep aids. It provides several hours of sleep (depending on the dosage, I'm assuming) without dreams. Few side effects, such as sleepwalking, headaches, or drowsiness, are shown. (Of course, it could be that the phoenix tears, given shortly before Dreamless Sleep was taken, ensured Harry experienced none of the potion's usual side effects, but as we're not shown many instances of this potion being used, it's difficult to make assumptions like this.) 

 

My question is: What would happen if a werewolf, who had been taking Wolfsbane Potion religiously in the days leading up to the full moon, took some Dreamless Sleep right before the moon rose? We already know that Wolfsbane gives a werewolf a human mind, though it does nothing to ease the pain of transformation. As a Dark magic-induced disease, would lycanthrophy overpower the Dreamless Sleep and keep the werewolf awake but unbearably drowsy throughout their transformation, or would Dreamless Sleep, coupled with proper dosage of Wolfsbane, allow a werewolf to remain unconscious during the transformation process? 

Edited July 28, 2015 by TwiLyghtSansSparkles

[Kobold King he/him]

Kobold's Reddit theory got me thinking about lycanthrophy and potions in the Potterverse. 

 

Dreamless Sleep is basically the wizard equivalent of Ambien or other Muggle sleep aids. It provides several hours of sleep (depending on the dosage, I'm assuming) without dreams. Few side effects, such as sleepwalking, headaches, or drowsiness, are shown. (Of course, it could be that the phoenix tears, given shortly before Dreamless Sleep was taken, ensured Harry experienced none of the potion's usual side effects, but as we're not shown many instances of this potion being used, it's difficult to make assumptions like this.) 

 

My question is: What would happen if a werewolf, who had been taking Wolfsbane Potion religiously in the days leading up to the full moon, took some Dreamless Sleep right before the moon rose? We already know that Wolfsbane gives a werewolf a human mind, though it does nothing to ease the pain of transformation. As a Dark magic-induced disease, would lycanthrophy overpower the Dreamless Sleep and keep the werewolf awake but unbearably drowsy throughout their transformation, or would Dreamless Sleep, coupled with proper dosage of Wolfsbane, allow a werewolf to remain unconscious during the transformation process? 

 

 

I'm pretty sure werewolves are said to resist most spells, which is part of what makes them so dangerous. My guess is that whatever dark curse powers a werewolf's body would reject the Dreamless Sleep, either complicating the transformation and making it more painful or ignoring it altogether. That's just a guess, though; we don't know much about werewolf biology.

 

Of course, if werewolves are resilient to most magic, then that means more wizards should be analyzing the Wolfsbane Potion to find out which component allows the magic to work. Considering the social lives of most werewolves, it shouldn't be too hard to find one willing to participate in testing, even knowing the dangers of untested potions.

 

If they isolate the factor that allows Wolfsbane Potion to affect werewolves, then they might very well be on the track to a cure for lycanthropy.

 

 

Of course, like most wizarding problems, this would never get solved unless the wizards stop exiling their problems to the fringes of society and start meeting them head-on.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

I've been working on getting the Pug Fund up and running, and I also put a bunch of dog training manuals on hold at the library. I'm so nervous. I work really hard to take care of Bruno and Mollie, and I'm going to read as much as I can and look at vets and how to choose the best one….but I still can't shake the feeling that I won't be able to handle this much responsibility. I mean, I'm not buying a security blanket—I'm buying a living being with a smushy face that's going to depend on me for everything. What if I screw things up? 

[Kobold King he/him]

I've been working on getting the Pug Fund up and running, and I also put a bunch of dog training manuals on hold at the library. I'm so nervous. I work really hard to take care of Bruno and Mollie, and I'm going to read as much as I can and look at vets and how to choose the best one….but I still can't shake the feeling that I won't be able to handle this much responsibility. I mean, I'm not buying a security blanket—I'm buying a living being with a smushy face that's going to depend on me for everything. What if I screw things up? 

 

It is a lot of responsibility, but it sounds like you have plenty of experience and a strong determination to do a dog some good. I'm sure you'll do just fine.

[Orlion Blight he/him]

I've been working on getting the Pug Fund up and running, and I also put a bunch of dog training manuals on hold at the library. I'm so nervous. I work really hard to take care of Bruno and Mollie, and I'm going to read as much as I can and look at vets and how to choose the best one….but I still can't shake the feeling that I won't be able to handle this much responsibility. I mean, I'm not buying a security blanket—I'm buying a living being with a smushy face that's going to depend on me for everything. What if I screw things up? 

 

In the immortal words of an inbred Maine hick: "Don't go down that road, there's history down that road."

 

You have plenty of resources to help you take care of the pug, what would be needed are monetary funds, patience, endurance, and love. Presumably you'll choose a main vet that will help you diagnose and keep the critter healthy and alive. You can also ask for certain symptoms to look out for that are clearly indicative of a concern. Most of the time, though, you'll probably be fussing over an upset tummy or things of that nature.

 

Consulting with the vet, be sure to identify backup vets and a credible animal hospital. This does not mean you will use them, but as an ol' science fiction writer said in arguably his most racist novel: "Hope for peace, prepare for war!"

 

Other than that, you got a lot of the day-to-day experience of pug upkeep in check. You should be fine, just remember: with vets you aren't doing this alone.

[Mistrunner]

Good luck with your pug, Twi!

 

If we're talking about Harry Potter, I have to mention one thing my friend came up with. Harry, for his birthday, received a mokeskin pouch. Why didn't he give it to Hermione to put the undetectable extension charm on and stick their very valuable important must not be reached by Death Eaters under any circumstances stuff in it?

What I'm trying to say is... Harry can be pretty dumb.

[+Slowswift]

Good luck with your pug, Twi!

 

If we're talking about Harry Potter, I have to mention one thing my friend came up with. Harry, for his birthday, received a mokeskin pouch. Why didn't he give it to Hermione to put the undetectable extension charm on and stick their very valuable important must not be reached by Death Eaters under any circumstances stuff in it?

What I'm trying to say is... Harry can be pretty dumb.

 

Oh, you have no idea... lemme see if I can find it...

 

Yep. Here it is:

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

Wow....that...that is something i've never really noticed and...that actually made me wince

[Kobold King he/him]

Oh, you have no idea... lemme see if I can find it...

 

Yep. Here it is:

 

 

To me that just reinforces the theme of Harry's life--he's not inherently special. He's not exceptionally clever, as this image proves. He's not exceptionally talented. All he's remarkable for is his bravery, and that can push him to the point of recklessness.

 

But that's kind of the point. He's an ordinary kid who's been marked for death by the Dark Lord himself, but he survives and even triumphs through perseverance. He's an inspirational tale; you don't have to be a genius child prodigy to succeed. All you need is a strong heart, willingness to cooperate with your friends, and a hefty amount of determination.

[Mistrunner]

I like Harry Potter, and during elementary school I was obsessed with it. But then I started getting really really picky about continuity and started seeing little things that don't make sense in books, and it ruined a lot of otherwise very good books for me. I wish I didn't have this problem.

 

Harry Potter is still a very good series (though I didn't like the later books nearly as much), and I agree with Kobold. Even though it doesn't have the best magic system, even if there's one too many scenes with Harry yelling at his friends in Deathly Hallows, even though there's a bunch of nitpicky things I can say about it, it's still a good series, because the characters are people you want to learn more about. They're normal people, with normal flaws, mood swings, normal arguments and teenage drama. And yes, Harry has abnormal bravery- but I think it's even more inspiring with Ron and Hermione, because sure, they were brave, but they weren't heroes. They became heroes, though, because that's what situation they were put in.

 

I hope this makes sense. I'm not as good with words as Kobold, but I hope I got something across.

[Delightful]

Re the 3rd movie JK Rowling scene

I was of the belief that it was the hippogriff scene (in hagrids class) where, I don't remember which way it was, but Ron and Hermione ended up holding hands in fear.

.

Don't remember my source for that though.

Also

dumbledore and Grindelwald were in love?!. . That makes so much more sense than JKR arbitrarily going "oh btw dumbledore was gay"

[Kaymyth she/her]

Things I Have Actually Done Today:

 

1)  Got my Kansas driver's license.  Woot!

2)  Poked around online

3)  Tidied the kitchen and in so doing contributed to the eventual entropic heat death of the universe.

[Kestrel she/her]

I have no idea but I think there's a dog howling outside.

Might be my dog.

[Delightful]

Better than fighting cats that sound *almost* like human babies and you're never quite sure if a kid needs help or not.

I mean, it always turns out to be cats. But it's freaky as all get out.

[Kestrel she/her]

My cat enjoys yowling at 3 am.

[Kobold King he/him]

My cat enjoys yowling at 3 am.

 

 

So do mine. The worst is that all cat activities sound the same. The sound of cats making love is nigh identical to the sound of cats being devoured by coyotes.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Mollie's habit of waking you up at 3 in the morning to thank you for letting her sleep on your bed seemed a lot more annoying before I read all this.

[Kestrel she/her]

yep pretty much

also she runs around to different rooms at top speed

like you're sleeping and suddenly MEOW MEOWMOEWMMOEOW -tearing carpet sound-

[Kobold King he/him]

The life of a chicken farmer has many trials and tribulations, often centered around the chickens themselves and their unusual egg-laying habits.

 

 

Fortunately for me, the life of a chore-delegating chicken farmer's brother is packed with all the worst trials and tribulations.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

The life of a chicken farmer has many trials and tribulations, often centered around the chickens themselves and their unusual egg-laying habits.

Fortunately for me, the life of a chore-delegating chicken farmer's brother is packed with all the worst trials and tribulations.

Why are you posting that here? Call the news and tell them about your superhuman (super...chicken?) chickens that lay eggs underneath cacti like it ain't no thing!

Seriously, how do they even get past those thorns?