This Is Why It Is The Ultimate Enemies-to-Lovers Slow-burn.

YES! When I say I SOBBED at the end. Such a well-written character arc, and I'd admittedly love to know more about her backstory.

***Iron Flame SPOILERS****

I am so incredibly disappointed with what everyone is choosing to talk about with this book. Everyone is concentrating on what happens with Xaden but you know what to me was the absolute most gut wrenching storyline in the whole book? General Lilith Fucking Sorrengail.

From the moment we see her again in the beginning of the book she is nothing but supportive and proud of her daughter. Yes, she absolutely made the wrong decision where she stands in the war, and what she did to Xaden was absolutely inexcusable. (Although I do think if she hadn’t done that they would have killed all the marked ones.) But she made all those decisions for her children. Because she did what she needed to to keep them safe. You can’t convince me that even after Violet leaves, that even after Mira leaves, that she wasn’t incredibly thankful for the fact they were together and with Xaden who would never let something happen to Violet.

Lilith went into the dungeons to get her daughter out of there and I am not unconvinced that had Violet not already been mid rescue the General wouldn’t have turned traitor right there to get her out. The scene when Brennen reveals himself to her?? She’s cracking and can hardly hold herself together and my heart felt so sorry for her in that moment. It made me mad at Brennan because he threw it in her face like ammo when Violet spent all of fourth wing describing how his death ruined their mother.

One of the most heart breaking quotes in the whole book is at the beginning of chapter 65:

“Most generals dream of dying in service to their kingdom. But you know me better than that, my love. When I fall, it will be for one reason only: to protect our children.”

General Sorrengail didn’t support the war, she didn’t fight for Navarre she made it clear fron the beginning that she was just a mom protecting her kids, and she did so without second thought. Without hesitation. She didn’t do what she did for the war effort, or even to help everyone on the battlefield. She did it for Brennen, and Violet, and Mira.

Lilith Sorrengail was just a desperate mother and everyone glossing over her sacrifice is bullshit.

hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

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Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

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Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

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Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

Oh my goodness. I can't take it.

You can love Dramione AND Romione. The universe will not implode, I promise. That's the fun of fiction. (Also, how could you not love it when there's adorable fanart like this??)

Hermione and her two red cats

Okay, this is very funny.

Now, apart from the occassional piece of fanfic I'd seen as a teenager, I was very much a Romione girl. As a girl who had been hopelessly in love with her best friend, they were my beacon of, "See?! It all works out in the end! It can happen!!"

But now as an adult, rereading HP and also stumbling headfirst into the world of fanfic, it never would have worked.

Harmione would have been ridiculous, for many reasons, but Romione is the relationship that would have worked for a while, but not lasted. They loved each other, absolutely, but they wanted different things. As much as I adore the ending of the HP series, in a more nuanced setting, it wouldn't have worked.

They'd have been bonded by their trauma, yes, loved each other, yes, and yes, I think they suited each other - as teens/early twenties. But I don't believe Hermione would have given up her ambitions to build The Burrow II. I don't think Ron would have been capable of stepping back and letting her shine.

They would love each other, but after a few years, they'd realize it didn't fit.

I think that's why people gravitate towards Dramione (along with the obvious chemistry between the two actors who brought them to life on the big screen and their friendship off-screen - hell, I'm still holding out hope for them). I think people can more easily imagine an organic, adult relationship growing out of their dynamic. Every fanfic seems to have a similar thread - a rivalry that eventually evolves into respect and into more. There is a power dynamic that ebbs and flows between the two characters, as opposed to guilt tripping and the over-familiarity between her and Ron. I realize this could be me going way too far down the rabbit hole and overthinking it, but I genuinely think this is why.

i just know hermione will put y'all in a jar for this

Above image is a pride flag with every color band represented by a NASA image. White is Earth clouds, pink is aurora, blue is the Sun in a specific wavelength, brown is Jupiter clouds, black is the Hubble deep field, red is the top of sprites, orange is a Mars crater, yellow is the surface of Io, green is a lake with algae, blue is Neptune, and purple is the Crab Nebula in a specific wavelength.

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.

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.

You're so welcome - it was a great meme.

I agree, if we follow the canon ending and even Cursed Child, the relationship is solid. 10/10 for friendship and love.

But I can't help but also look at it now in a different lens. Perhaps in a more idealistic, they've survived the war, they're in love, etc., this all works. Yes, I totally agree they would have planned and spoken about it - Brightest Witch of Her Age isn't just having children without thought.

And when looking at the original canon, I can completely understand why no one would ship Hermione/Draco. Talk about toxic issues! Like, I'm 100% certain none of bullies most of us faced went to the same level that Draco Malfoy did, and I think we'd all rather be caught streaking in a city center in the middle of winter than in a romantic situation with our childhood bullies.

However, the allure of the pairing makes sense. He was a reluctant pawn in a war, doing the absolute most for his family's sake. As the original series states, he was also "just a boy." It would be reasonable to expect that there was a course of reformation for the child soldiers caught up in the middle of the war; on both sides. Which does open us up to the redemption arc that's so popular in the fanfiction timelines.

The reason I think people can see why Ron/Hermione don't work comes down to their core personalities. Would he try and idealise her? Would their be resentment down the line for her career aspirations and the time it takes to succeed? As I said, I do 100% think that they loved each other and that, at the time of writing/publication, their pairing made perfect sense. I'd have been distraught if she'd ended up with Harry or some other random side character. But if the book were published today, do I think Ron would have been the appropriate match? Probably not. Maybe for her first serious relationship as they navigate post-war WW and early adulthood, but not for their late 20s/early 30s. Also, can I just add - this is why I came back to Tumblr - healthy and respectful debate/chat about characters we all know/love. So thank you! <3

i just know hermione will put y'all in a jar for this

the elusive 7 act Structure