“Since It Is So Likely Children Will Meet Cruel Enemies, Let Them At Least Have Heard Of Brave Knights

I like the idea of Nico taking up his roman title “The Ambassador of Pluto” as his job and becoming Hades’ liaison for other afterlives; negotiating for disputed souls, solving territorial issues, presenting conflict resolutions, signing treaties and accords, getting to know the other gods, their helpers and the most important inhabitants of each afterlife (maybe even make friends that way). 

And obviously, he gets to stay, as an honored guest, for all the ceremonies and feasts, and see different traditions, so he ends up being quite worldly.  But also consider:

Nico visiting the Norse Valhalla- Magnus: Oh, so you’re a greek demigod? My cousin is a greek demigod too! You might know her, Annabeth Chase?  Nico: What a coincidence… 

Nico visiting the Egyptian Hall of Judgment- Osiris: Meet my daughter Sadie, she is not dead, just passing by. Sadie Kane: Oh, so you’re a greek demigod? I have a very good friend who is a greek demigod too! You might know her, Annabeth Chase? Nico: Okay what the Fuck?

Okay can I just say something here?

As most of you I’m sure are aware, fandoms (esp on tumblr/in fanfiction) can sometimes blow partially-canon traits really out of proportion and venture over into the realm of the fanon, occasionally really, really far, all the while still claiming these verging-on-the-edge-of-ooc characteristics are canon as hell. The massive chain culture we’ve got going isn’t helping this much (think memes. how long do they take to spread. bout ten minutes). So a couple of people say ‘this character behaves in such-and-such a way’, and boom. Suddenly this is accepted as hard truth the world over. One such trait has been bugging me lately, because I’ve noticed basically everyone assigns it to Draco Malfoy and it’s in almost EVERY DRACO-CENTRIC OR INCLUSIVE FIC. Namely, that he is always cool and collected. Suave. Let me just make something very clear right now.

Draco. Malfoy. Is. Not. Suave.

He is not the personification of the verb ‘smooth’. He is not a graceful statue. He is not void of emotion. He is not continually charming and always in possession of his head, he is DEFINITELY not immune to getting flustered, and he’s not freaking unshakable. Soooo many fics portray Draco as this intimidating, almost godlike marble creature who is forever stoic/coy/unaffected in the face of discomfort. And I get where this is coming from. Yes, Draco is good at shutting down his conscience and feelings of guilt or compassion, yes he is mean, and yes he is a snooty aristocrat with a superiority complex. But this does not mean that he’s incapable of feeling or reacting to touchy situations. In fact, throughout the entire series, one of his most noticeable traits is that he does react to touchy situations, very strongly. Exhibit A:

‘This is very easy,’ Malfoy drawled, loud enough for Harry to hear him. ‘I knew it must have been, if Potter could do it… I bet you’re not dangerous at all, are you?’ he said to the Hippogriff. ‘Are you, you great ugly brute?’ It happened in a flash of steely talons, Malfoy let out a high-pitched scream… … ‘Im dying!’ Malfoy yelled, as the class panicked. ‘I’m dying, look at me, it’s killed me!’

I know, this is pre-war Malfoy, but he’s painted as pretty put-together during a lot of Hogwarts era fics as well so I think including this is necessary. Guys, Draco was the biggest drama queen on the planet. It was not hard at all to ruffle his feathers. This child was only cocky when he was completely in control of the situation; any shifting of the playing field and he would either be fuming mad, whining about tattling to his daddy, or running terrified. Fear is a very big element of his character, and that does not ever change, not even in the later books when he drops the theatrics. Draco is not good at handling things during the action, in the here and now. He prefers to work with strategy, to be distanced from what’s going on, so when he’s actually put in a fight-or-flight situation, his natural instinct is always flight. Remember, he is a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor. Self-preservation trumps bravery every time.

He’s certainly not any more collected during the war than he is in his school days. In fact, if anything, it gets worse, as basically all of his swagger disappears and he is little more than a distraught wreck. This kid had panic attacks, he cried in the bathroom to a ghost because he was so scared, he was guilty and traumatized and you cannot tell me that a terrified, messed up kid like that was suave. His attempts at making jabs at the trio all through the sixth year are notably feeble, he’s clearly not good at keeping up a composed appearance at all times as he is described continually as looking pale and sickly and nervous, with “dark shadows under his eyes and a distinctly greyish tinge to his skin”, and when the time comes for him to kill Dumbledore, he’s outright shaking- every word out of his mouth and every action he makes on that tower are positively screaming ‘I DON’T WANT THIS PLEASE HELP ME’.

Now, I’m not saying he isn’t able to act smug in his post-OotP years. He is, and he can still be threatening and cruel as well. But he isn’t aloof. He isn’t a mountain. Draco Malfoy has a very wide range of emotions, he is not made of steel. In Exhibit B, you can see just how ‘calm and cold’ he is when the trio is brought to Malfoy Manor:

‘Well, Draco?’ said Lucius Malfoy. He sounded avid. ‘Is it? Is it Harry Potter?’ ‘I can’t - I can’t be sure,’ said Draco. He was keeping his distance from Greyback, and seemed as scared of looking at Harry as Harry was of looking at him. …  Harry saw Draco’s face up close, now, right beside his father’s. They were extraordinarily alike, except that while his father looked beside himself with excitement, Draco’s expression was full of reluctance, even fear.’

Oh, yeah. The kid’s unreadable.

People, level-headedness during tough situations is NOT a canonical aspect of Draco’s personality. The rest of the time, sure, but not when he’s scared. This behavior isn’t exclusive to the war, either- in every part of his life that we get to see in the books, which is basically his entire growing-up years, he panics when things are looking bad for him. And anyone who says he would get all his old arrogance and snark back after the war ended is being ridiculous, because there is no way that’s the case. After all he suffered, after the shaking of his views and the torture he was forced to use on others and the realization that he was not better than the people they were fighting against, that in fact, he was probably far less than them (which we aren’t explicitly given but HAS TO HAVE HAPPENED after all he saw and considering he didn’t uphold his old pureblood views as an adult and that his entire family just quit fighting for Voldemort during the Battle of Hogwarts; he was only in it for his parents by then, and obviously once they forfeited their side he would have too. He did NOT support Voldemort by the end of the series, and probably saw he was wrong far before this), every last dreg of confidence would’ve been drained from him. Post-war Draco would’ve been a shadow of himself, constantly tortured by guilt and regret and the mark on his arm. Not debonair and in love with himself. Not a playboy (honestly where did this trope even come from the only girl who ever paid him any attention was his fangirl Pansy and apparently his wife). That massive section of his life where he was under Voldemort’s control was not a phase that he could’ve just glossed over. It shaped him. He was broken during that war. And he was never as lordly and impenetrable as he most likely aspired to be in an emulation of Lucius to begin with.

So can we all just stop pretending that Draco Malfoy is unflappable and impervious to emotion please? Because he’s not. He’s really not.

Nico: Get in the halloween spirit and make a ghost!

Leo: That's called murder and last I heard it was illegal.

What were you all doing in the wardrobe?

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, directed by Andrew Adamson (2005)

Percy: Okay, let's say sorry at the count of three.

Annabeth: 1..........2...........3

Percy: .....

Annabeth: ........

Percy: I am disappointed in both of us.

Annabeth: You should be.

I don’t think people realise how easy it is to feel ugly when you’re South East Asian.

I know so many popular East Asian bloggers, who always get so many notes because of how elegant and refined and. Pale. They are. Those are standards most of us can never achieve. I’ve never seen a selfie set of a southeast Asian girl break 1k: but I’ve seen plenty, and I mean plenty of pale East Asians break 3k easy.

I know East Asian bloggers who go on about racism against East Asians and act like it’s universal. I know some who will talk about East Asian racism but never breathe a word about racism against southeast Asians.

I know East Asian bloggers who literally don’t follow any South East Asians. The ones who say that it doesn’t matter because “we’re all East Asian!” Technically. Or those who act like we’re a different breed and a different species.

I wonder if most East Asians know that their beauty standards get passed down to our countries. I wonder if they know how it hurts a lot of us.

So I’m giving a shoutout to every southeast Asian girl. Every one of you,if us, deserves to feel pretty.

I’m talking about the Indonesian gals with broad noses. The Malay girls who wear Tudung and are mocked. Chinese Singaporeans who are still not “Chinese enough” for mainlanders. Filipino girls who feel guilty about their curly or frizzy hair. Indian Singaporeans who are feel like they need to be pale to be worth something ( you don’t). Thai girls who are told their country is only good for farming rice. Myanmar girls who get asked mockingly if they’re domestic workers. Even if you are, there is no shame in that. Every Cambodian girl who felt bad about having thick lips. I know I left a lot of people out, and I’m sorry. But if you’re reading this and haven’t seen yourself here - you are just as worthy and my spirit and strength and good wishes are with you

You are all beautiful. Every single one of you. We are all beautiful. It’s hard to see it and it’s hard to feel it sometimes but we are. You are. Every one of you. Pride to our people!

and we’re too weak to quit a fandom

The Uncle Rick has spoken