I Started To Draw Auror/mercenary/vigilante/war Harry And Then My Attention Span Peaced Out. 🌚

Ilvermorny/Hogwarts Combos

I’ve seen a couple of these posts, so I thought I’d try my hand at it. Go through the potential combinations of Ilvermorny and Hogwarts houses and write a bit about what they represent to me. Not based on any data or polling, just on what seems to make sense to me:

Thunderbird Gryffindor: Thunderbird house is said to favour adventurers, and this is perhaps the most literal interpretation. Thundergryffins tend to be explorers and thrill seekers. Their bravery is not necessarily geared to some righteous cause (though this combo does not preclude that) they simply want their life filled with excitement. As such they can be easily bored which can make them irascible if they are deprived of stimulation. But they are bound to make interesting the lives of any who calls them friend.

Thunderbird Hufflepuff: Thunderpuffs focus on is on experiencing things with friends. These people are not ones for solitude, they will go stir crazy left on their own for a couple of days. It seems they’re always on lunches out, at parties, on trips. It’s not so much the activity that matters so much as the company. They just love people and want to experience as much of mankind as possible.

Thunderbird Ravenclaw: This is my house combination. Thunderclaws are the creatives and innovators. Luna and her parents would all find themselves in this category. If Thunderbirds are adventurers, Thunderclaws prefer to adventure via stories - sitting curled up with a good book as their mind takes them to far off worlds beyond anything that can be experienced in reality. They are dreamers and idealists and can often get their heads lost in the clouds. It can be painful for them when their dreams do not match up with reality and perhaps the oft-found obsession with fiction is an escape.

Thunderbird Slytherin: Thunderins are definitely more on the ambitious side of Slytherin house. They aspire to achieve greatness. For them their adventure is the road to success, and the luxuries that success brings. They definitely appreciate the finer things in life and their ambition tends to be towards living the high life rather than being some lofty goal. Nonetheless Thunderins are often some of the most driven and passionate folk you will ever meet.

Wumpus Gryffindor:  Unshakeable in their convictions and unmatched in their tenacity, Wumpindors are soldiers through and through. Their causes may be righteous or not, but like the beast from which House Wumpus gets its name, Wumpindors are nigh unstoppable. This combo has a dark reputation and Wumpindors may tend towards anger and aggression. They can be quick to see force as the best option in a crisis. They are ultimately fighters - Not merely people who will fight, but people for whom fighting is their way of life and their first resort.

Wumpus Hufflepuff: If you think of the quintessential social justice warrior, that is a Wumpuff. I do not use the term SJW in an inherently negative term as many do. Rather, Hufflepuffs are concerned with honour and fairplay and as such Wumpuffs cannot stand seeing injustice in the world and seek to eradicate it. They will fight fiercely to protect their friends, but their protective instincts apply to the whole world. This can result in them lashing out at people who they see as part of the problem but at their hearts they simply wish to fight for a better world.

Wumpus Ravenclaw: Wumpenclaws are the practical Ravenclaws. These people have ideas and they want them implemented damn it! They are excellent planners and incredibly organised. This combo favours strategists, business leaders and entrepreneurs.

Wumpus Slytherin: Ruthlessness incarnate, Wumperins have lofty ambitions and will do absolutely anything to achieve them. This is probably the combo with the darkest reputation. I would put Voldemort himself in this category. But do not let you think this is an inherently bad combo, any more than Slytherin itself is. If a Wumperin’s ambition is a benign one their passion for achieving their goals is bound to result in success. And if their cause is righteous, a Wumperin can spark a revolution.

Pukwudgie Gryffindor: Anyone would be fortunate to call a Pukindor a friend, for they are perhaps the fiercest allies one could have. Their loyalty and the bonds of friendship that they form are unbreakable. When their friends are down and out they will be the ones to light a fire beneath them, and then rain hell down on whoever did their friend wrong.

Pukwudgie Hufflepuff: In my mind Puffs and Puks have a lot of similarities, so a Puklepuff represents the idea of the quintessential Hufflepuff. These people are the gentlest souls you will ever meet, kind, nurturing and supportive. The Cinammon Rolls of the world. They may well be great cooks or simply have a great love of food - or indeed of anything which brings people together.

Pukwudgie Ravenclaws: Pukenclaws are people who use their ideas and intellect to help others. Pukwudgies are known for being healers and it is in this combination that that becomes most literal - Pukenclaws are often Doctors, nurses, vets or surgeons. In their day to day life they are adept at finding the easiest solutions to problems - the masters of “lifehacks”.

Pukwudgie Slytherin: I’ve often said that Slytherins are the type of people to low-key ruin the lives of anyone who wrongs their friends. People often overlook that Slytherins are incredibly loyal to one another and it is in the Pukerin combo that this quality shines through. The focus here is less on ambition and more on cunning and ruthlessness - more specifically the cunning and ruthlessness required for the Pukerins family (be that literal and/or metaphorical) to survive. And when they or their loved ones are wronged, they are not above enacting a terrible, yet subtle vengeance.

Horned Serpent Gryffindors: Serpendors are people with an area (or areas) of expertise and they know it. They are self-assured in what they are good at (and know what they are bad at) and this surety results in unmatched confidence and competence in that area. That classic Gryffindor bravery comes through in their ideas and their execution. They are independent and efficient. Hermione would be a proud Serpendor, as would McGonagall.

Horned Serpent Hufflepuffs: An unusual combination, as the warmth and heart of Hufflepuff may seem at odds with the detached analysis of Horned Serpent. However funnily enough I think that Isolt Sayre herself falls into this combo. Serpenpuffs know people. They are excellent judges of character and know what makes people tick. They may find promising careers in psychology. They are well meaning but they may feel the need to coddle their friends and family (just as Isolt refused to tell her children of Gormlaith even into their teenage years) and they can at times be aloof and irascible. If you are friends with a Serpenpuff you can probably expect a couple of fallings out (just as Isolt did with William), but in the end they care for their loved ones deeply.

Horned Serpent Ravenclaws: These two houses share many similarities, and of the four Ilvermorny Houses, Horned Serpent is the one with the most direct Hogwarts counterpart here. As such Serpentclaws represent the “stereotypical” Ravenclaw. Aloof, cool and analytical, these are the academics. Their work is done in papers and in the lab, but the implications can be world changing. They need to be mentally stimulated at all times and as such prefer the company of other intellectuals.

Horned Serpent Slytherins: Slytherserpents have a focus on the cunning aspect of Slytherin house. They are always the ones with the plan and that plan is more often than not at least a little underhanded. While other Slytherins may let their ambitions outmatch their abilities, Slytherserpents never have this problem. They do not achieve their ends through brute force and ruthlessness (as Wumperins do) but through subtle tricks and manipulations.

Life things are tiring.

Yasss I kept saying this. Losing the Norte Dame was heartbreaking but I’d kill the guy who thought it was a good idea to burn down the magnificent Library of Alexandria

Nothing lasts forever, but losing Notre Dame is an absolute tragedy. It’s like seeing the Library of Alexandria being burned in real time.

“A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive.”

One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.

J.F.K. (via infj-misc)

I got my heart broken and I survived, I failed 3 courses in university and graduated, I got rejected in the very first job I applied for and got promoted yesterday, I went through hard times with my family but then two years later, we laughed our hearts out over lunch, The closest friends disappointed me several times but I made new friends and loved them with all my heart. I did it once, I can do it again.

Why "doing something relaxing” does not help your anxiety

A lot of the time when people give advice intended to relieve anxiety, they suggest doing “relaxing” things like drawing, painting, knitting, taking a bubble bath, coloring in one of those zen coloring books, or watching glitter settle to the bottom of a jar.

This advice is always well-intentioned, and I’m not here to diss people who either give it or who benefit from it. But it has never, ever done shit for me, and this is because it goes about resolving anxiety in the completely wrong way.  

THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO when suffering from anxiety is to do a “relaxing” thing that just enables your mind to dwell and obsess more on the thing that’s bothering you. You need to ESCAPE from the dwelling and the obsession in order to experience relief.

You can drive to a quiet farm, drive to the beach, drive to a park, or anywhere else, but as someone who has tried it all many, many times, trust me–it’s a waste of gas. You will just end up still sad and stressed, only with sand on your butt. You can’t physically escape your sadness. Your sadness is inside of you. To escape, you need to give your brain something to play with for a while until you can approach the issue with a healthier frame of mind. 

People who have anxiety do not need more time to contemplate, because we will use it to contemplate how much we suck.

In fact, you could say that’s what anxiety is–hyper-contemplating. When we let our minds run free, they run straight into the thorn bushes. Our minds are already running, and they need to be controlled. They need to be given something to do, or they’ll destroy everything, just like an overactive husky dog ripping up all the furniture. 

Therefore, I present to you: 

THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT DO WHEN ANXIOUS

–Go on a walk

–Watch a sunset, watch fish in an aquarium, watch glitter, etc.

–Go anywhere where the main activity is sitting and watching

–Draw, color, do anything that occupies the hands and not the mind

–Do yoga, jog, go fishing, or anything that lets you mentally drift 

–Do literally ANYTHING that gives you great amounts of mental space to obsess and dwell on things.

THINGS YOU SHOULD DO WHEN ANXIOUS:

–Do a crossword puzzle, Sudoku, or any other mind teaser game. Crosswords are the best.

–Write something. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece. Write the Top 10 Best Restaurants in My City. Rank celebrities according to Best Smile. Write some dumb Legolas fanfiction and rip it up when you’re done. It’s not for publication, it’s a relief exercise that only you will see. 

–Read something, watch TV, or watch a movie–as long as it’s engrossing. Don’t watch anything which you can run as background noise (like, off the top of my head, Say Yes to The Dress.) As weird as it seems, American Horror Story actually helps me a lot, because it sucks me in. 

–Masturbate. Yes, I’m serious. Your mind has to concentrate on the mini-movie it’s running. It can’t run Sexy Titillating Things and All The Things That are Bothering Me at the same time. (…I hope. If it can, then…ignore this one.) 

–Do math problems—literally, google “algebra problems worksheet” and solve them. If you haven’t done math since 7th grade this will really help you. I don’t mean with math, I mean with the anxiety. 

–Play a game or a sport with someone that requires great mental concentration. Working with 5 people to get a ball over a net is a challenge which will require your brain to turn off the Sadness Channel. 

–Play a video game, as long as it’s not something like candy crush or Tetris that’s mindless. 

THINGS YOU SHOULD DO DURING PANIC ATTACKS ESPECIALLY:

–List the capitals of all the U.S. states

–List the capitals of all the European countries

–List all the shapes you can see. Or all the colors. 

–List all the blonde celebrities you can think of.

–Pull up a random block of text and count all the As in it, or Es or whatever.  

Now obviously, I am not a doctor. I am just an anxious person who has tried almost everything to help myself.  I’ve finally realized that the stuff people recommend never works because this is a disorder that thrives on free time and free mental space. When I do the stuff I listed above, I can breathe again. And I hope it helps someone here too. 

(Now this shouldn’t have to be said but if the “do nots” work for you then by all means do them. They’ve just never worked for me.)

PSA

You shouldn’t have to *try* to be attracted to someone. Like it shouldn’t take any kind of purposeful intent on your part. It should just happen. It should be natural.

I find myself every once in a while falling back in to old habits I developed as a kid when I was trying to fit in. I’d look at someone and kind of *will* myself to have a crush on them or think they were sexy or whatever.

I’d look at someone and then imagine doing some kind of romantic thing with them and if i wasn’t completely repulsed by the idea then I’d be like “yeah I guess I’m attracted to them.”

But that’s really not how it’s supposed to work.

I imagine that this is something that a lot of non-straight people can probably relate to. I’m sure a lot of you went through that “trying to be straight” phase.

Just know that when it comes to sexuality/attraction, if it feels unnatural then it probably is

i want to be as rich as paulina del ville but instead i’m as stressed as a toadfish

I took my meds too close to bedtime again and I need you all to know the dream I had last night involved Robin Williams becoming the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. Not, a character portrayed by Robin Williams, just Robin Williams as himself running around Hogwarts doing wandless magic and being as loud and big as possible because and I quote before I forget:

“Listen, children, I’m not saying all this bad shit that is happening isn’t scary and you shouldn’t be concerned–because you should!–but I’m telling you this now for free. Life is a boggart, it’s the biggest boggart of them all. You never know what it’s going to look like one moment to the next. And sometimes you just gotta laugh. It’s okay to laugh. It’s part of the grieving process. You need to grieve before you can heal. But it’s okay to laugh while you’re doing it.”

I didn’t wake up right after that, some more stuff happened in a hazy sort of way as the dream began to dissolve into conciousness, but I remember him yelling Expecto Patronum as he punched a Death Eater in the face. Because sometimes, evidently, you have to make your own happy memories.