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Prompt #297

“Wait, what do you mean, you kinda like me?”

"I like that library books have secret lives. All those hands that have held them. All those eyes that have read them."

―Same Sun Here by Neela Vaswani

Fairy Tales AU ~ Blackinnon ~ Sleeping beauty

brainrot about them again.

Well, I’m really not supposed to speak to strangers, but we’ve met before. 

She gave the unmistakable impression of girlish innocence unconscious of its own beauty. Her hair was tied with a white ribbon and she wore a pearl necklace, and her lips slightly parted like the petals of an exotic flower before the rains come.

Yukio Mishima, Spring Snow (1969)

Yeah, I know it's not unproblematic, but while we live in a world where there are rich people, I think we need to bring back the concept of "noblesse oblige" and Duty and stuff. No buying thousand dollar Shein hauls and all that junk! NO. With great power comes great responsibility. You, rich person, are supporting all the Artisans and small businesses and putting your money back into your community! Somebody needs to, and I WISH it could be ME! But you're the one with the money, so it's YOU. It's your responsibility to do this, you HAVE to. AND it's also your responsibility to wear fancy and pretty clothes again, so that the rest of us can have something pretty to look at when you go by. This is your JOB and your DUTY, so hop to it! Noblesse oblige!

Regulus' Decision

This is kind of a pairing to my Sirius, and please ignore the fact that there was meant to be a chair, but I can't draw chairs.

Like Sirius, Regulus wears the purples so typical of the wizarding world, but unlike Sirius, Regulus pairs the purple with the popular green. His tunic is green silk, edged with purple and embroidery made from gold thread. Not only is his wealth displayed in having actual gold for embroidery, but also in the pearls that edge the embroidery, giving an extra richness to his garment. Regulus' tunic may have less purple (an expensive dye), but the use of green (also an expensive dye) with gold and pearls sets his tunic as just that bit more costly and is evidence of him throwing around the weight of the family name.

Further evidence of that is found in his coat. This is inspired by Victorian coats. One of the interesting aspects of the Black family is that they have gas lighting, a surprisingly modern invention compared to the candles used elsewhere, hence working it into his outfit. The coat is dual toned green and purple and edged in silver embroidered with 'Toujours Pur', the Black family motto. The crest has also been painstakingly embroidered on the cape of the coat. This is very personally tailored and there can be no doubt about it.

Regulus has a somewhat Norman haircut. I just particularily vibe with him having this look. I think the Normans were considered new money, but their influence cannot be ignored and so the haircut stuck around with purebloods (in my head). It also contrasts nicely with Sirius' longer hair.

Here, Regulus is penning his resignation letter.

Do you think Harry would swear or has sworn? Such a niche question, but trying to realistic write him swearing is such a mixed basket. On the one hand, I don't really picture him doing it, even under extreme distress. But I can also imagine him letting out a light swear if he's having a bad day and has a minor inconvenience

I 100% believe Harry swears. This post ended up being a little longer since I kinda went off and detailed how a bunch of characters in HP swear, not just Harry.

Sometimes, characters are shown to "swear" on page:

“Blimey,” said Ron weakly. (CoS)

“Blimey, it is!” said Ron quietly (OotP)

“What in the name of Merlin are you doing?” said Ron (OotP)

“Why the hell,” panted Ron (DH)

“I’ll join you when hell freezes over,” said Neville. (DH)

“Merlin’s beard,” Moody [Barty] whispered (GoF)

“Merlin’s beard,” said Mr. Weasley wonderingly (OotP)

“Harry, what the hell’s going on?” asked Bill (DH)

“Blasted thing,” Snape was saying. (PS)

("Blimey" and "blasted" are here since they were considered mild swear words when they became part of the language like "gosh" and "darn". "Merlin's beard" is kinda like saying "Jesus Christ" which was also considered a mild swear, even if no one really considers most of the above swears by today's standards).

The above is done when the swears are (very) light and something that you could print in a children's book. But sometimes, characters swearing is censored in the books:

Dean swore loudly. (CoS)

Thankfully, Snape sneezed at almost exactly the moment Ron swore. (CoS)

Ron dropped several boxes, swore, and made a rude hand gesture at Fred that was unfortunately spotted by Mrs. Weasley, who had chosen that moment to appear. (HBP)

and Lee swore so badly that Professor McGonagall tried to tug the magical megaphone away from him (PoA)

The lift clattered into view and they hurried inside. Every time it stopped Mr. Weasley cursed furiously and pummelled the number nine button. (OotP)

When that happens, I assume the swears are ones JKR couldn't get away with in a children's/YA book series. Like: "fuck" or "shit".

(Molly calling Bellatrix "bitch" is the only harsher swear word not censored in the books)

When Harry swears, it's sometimes not censored:

“She doesn’t love me,” said Harry at once. “She doesn’t give a damn — ” (OotP)

“And he didn’t think my mother was worth a damn either,” said Harry (HBP)

“Why not?” asked Harry. “Let’s get rid of the damn thing, it’s been months — ” (DH)

“Where the hell have you been?” Harry shouted. (DH)

But often enough, Harry's cursing is censored:

Harry swore under his breath (OotP)

Harry swore and turned away. (OotP)

Harry swore at the top of his voice, spinning on the spot to see where Mundungus had gone. (HBP)

Harry swore. Someone screamed. (HBP)

So, to me, this suggests Harry says "fuck" or British stuff like "sod off". He 100% does use harsher swears, and it's in character for him to do so. He swears under his breath when shit goes badly or he finds himself in a situation he really doesn't want to be in. He swears loudly when Mandungus escapes him, so when he's really angry, he can go and shout a proper F-bomb. Let Harry say "fuck", his life sucks and he deserves it.

Ron also swears sometimes harsher swears than "hell" or "bloody hell" but he does so more rarely than Harry and when things are really bad. Usually, he goes for lighter stuff like: "Merlin", "hell", or "blimey".

Hermione doesn't swear except for the "Merlin's pants" comment in DH which was clearly meant to be "Merlin's balls" but JKR got censored by her editors and one time she says "damn" in DH. Hermione doesn't even use light swears like "Merlin", "damn" or "hell". She, just, doesn't swear until DH, and even then only twice. Like, her most extreme for the majority of the books is going: "oh my", "oh my god", or "oh my goodness". Hermione is the only member in the Golden Trio that doesn't swear:

“Oh, my — ” Hermione grabbed Harry’s arm. (PoA)

“Oh my goodness,” said Hermione suddenly (PoA)

“Oh gosh, I forgot!” said Hermione (OotP)

“Oh my ...” Harry heard Hermione squeal, terrified, beside him. (OotP)

“Today?” shrieked Hermione. “Today? But why didn’t you — oh my God — you should have said — ” (HBP)

“Oh my — !” shrieked Hermione, as she and Ron caught up with Harry (DH)

I went a bit off track, but theses are some characters and how they swear that I found while searching this:

Harry, Dean & Lee: swear in profanities that need to be censored ("fuck", "shit", "sodding hell") often and sprinkle lighter swears ("hell", "damn") in there. Harry uses "damn" relatively often.

Ron, the twins, Bill & Arthur: use mostly light swears ("hell", "bloody", "blasted") but use some harsher swears ("fuck", "shit") when needed (and Molly isn't looking).

(I assume Ginny is in this above category too, but I only found her saying "damn" once)

Neville, Dumbledore, Hagrid & Snape (at least, when we see him): use only light swears such as "hell", "blasted" or "Merlin" and its derivatives.

Molly: Doesn't really swear except that one time (calling Bellatrix a bitch).

Hermione & Luna: never use profanities unless really at their limit. Don't even use light swears or "Merlin" and its derivatives. Hermione says: "oh my god" or "oh my goodness", Luna says: "oh, no".

Lupin doesn't swear anywhere on-page either.

Surprisingly I couldn't find any mention of Sirius swearing, not even light stuff (like "Merlin's beard"). I guess he really was raised to have proper manners. Or maybe he's actively censoring himself in front of Harry to be a good rule model.

𝐗𝐎𝐋𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐔𝐄Ñ𝐀 𝐀𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐙

Favorite Season (20%), Season 1-Season 2. COBRA KAI.