In which I dwell on dreams and forget to live.

Hufflepuff, Catholic and casual writer with a below-average height and an above-average temper. 

[mariekavanagh]

Circinus by MarieKavanagh

March 1984.

Walburga Black sits alone in Grimmauld Place, accompanied only by her ghosts, a broken woman with little left to live for. The House of Black is in ruins, it's members scattered, awaiting its inevitable demise. Until, one day, a Ministry owl comes tapping at her window, bearing news that offers a last chance to change the course of her life - and the fate of the Black family.

Seizing the opportunity to free her son from Azkaban and secure him the trial he was denied, Walburga quickly finds out that three years in prison has done little to quell Sirius Black's rebellious spirit, and it is soon clear that he is not going to simply follow the plans she has so carefully laid out for him.

As the impending trial approaches, both Sirius and Walburga must grapple with their broken relationship and stormy past - and Sirius himself must decide whether he will seize the chance of the freedom offered to him, or whether he will send himself back to Azkaban for the punishment he is so convinced he deserves...

Prologue - Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

[blackinn-n]

Another good day to spread my Sirius Black’s fan-casting propaganda because Ben Barnes is fine, but to me he’s nowhere near canon Sirius’ aura.

The only close fan-cast I imagine is Sleepers’ Billy Crudup in 1996. Obviously as a 20-something Sirius.

Trust me.

I mean… I MEAN!!!!!!!

He screams Sirius Black.

[morizaii]

i dont necessarily think regulus was “abused” in the sense most people portray, but i do think his household being constantly filled with screaming matches between sirius and walburga and also having a very estranged relationship with his brother/conflicting ideologies and friendships after hogwarts started made it worse.

like, regulus and sirius i imagine were actually very close before sirus entered hogwarts. the difference was, once sirius got back and began to rebel more extremely (and through ways like blood purity oppositin, gryffindor; basically fundamentally opposing his entire family name) regulus did not accept his brothers new beliefs nor friends. yes, i genuinely believe regulus was classist to an extreme.

anyways that sort of discord between family members and having to “pick” is never good for children.

[mariekavanagh]

Do you have any headcanon or anything about the quidditch stats during the marauders era?

To be perfectly honest, not really. I think it's pretty much suggested in the books that Slytherin have a history of being a pretty good team, and considering we know that Regulus was a Seeker, I'm happy to imagine that they had a very good win streak during his time on the team just for the sake of giving the poor kid something to be proud of.

[mariekavanagh]

"Heir Apparent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black?" sounds like another term for "unemployed", in Vernon's book.

And Orion is like ‘damn straight, I would never deign to work, labour is for the common man’

"Manual labour is for mudbloods and house elves" - Orion Black (probably)

Vernon Dursley is exactly the sort of middle class Englishman who secretly wishes he had what the upper crust inherit without lifting a finger, whilst also being juuust low enough to see the value in working hard for what wealth you have. He can sneer at Orion's very empty CV all he wants, but deep down he knows he'd turn up his nose at those who work for a living like any other toff if the shoe was on the other foot.

[mariekavanagh]

Is there any better way to spend the day after a night shift than fully dressed and waiting for a tradesman who cannot get his head around the concept of being on time 🙃

[mariekavanagh]

Update, he's finally here (at 6:30pm no less) but I can tell you now I won't be putting the kettle on for him.

[mariekavanagh]

UPDATE AGAIN MY HUSBAND MADE HIM A TEA. I AM ASHAMED.

[mariekavanagh]

Is there any better way to spend the day after a night shift than fully dressed and waiting for a tradesman who cannot get his head around the concept of being on time 🙃

[mariekavanagh]

Update, he's finally here (at 6:30pm no less) but I can tell you now I won't be putting the kettle on for him.

[sailermoon]

having unwashed hair will have you believing shit like i can’t be saved

[mariekavanagh]

Is there any better way to spend the day after a night shift than fully dressed and waiting for a tradesman who cannot get his head around the concept of being on time 🙃

[hppjmxrgosg]

all you new fandom members need to QUIET DOWN oh my god you're going to get us KILLED. we're happy to have you but if you keep talking about BULLSHIT like PUBLISHING fanfic for MONEY, Anne Rice is going to come back from the dead to KILL US. looking at YOU, maurauders fans, heated rivalry fans, byler fans...out here giving out interviews to news channels SHUT UP. we're going to have to start setting off firecrackers to keep the rent down.

[mariekavanagh]

So whilst The Testaments has been ongoing I've been rewatching bits and bobs of The Handmaid's Tale at the same time and I've been reminded of something that stood out to me initially and something that stands out to me now still.

That a show centred around religion being used for evil still makes an effort to show it in a positive light.

We see many aspects of characters displaying religious faith in spite of Gilead; June is shown and heard praying and uses Bible quotes in her naration. Rita is said to be Catholic and tells Serena she'll pray for her son. June asks if there's a Bible she can swear on before testifying. Moira and Luke have Nichole baptised because "She deserves to be absolved of their sins". June finds a hidden Quran and prayer mat in the econofamily's home.

Characters are shown taking comfort and strength in their faith in a world where it would be all too easy to either abandon it all together or wonder if God truly does support Gilead's views.

Considering this book and series have been used by some to argue that religion as a whole is bad and damaging, and as a Catholic myself, I really appreciate the fact that the show makes an effort to put forward the point that Christianity and religion itself is not the evil, its the people who twist and abuse it for their own personal gains who are the true evil. And that's pretty damn true in a lot of real world situations historically and today. But in spite of it, we can still have and take comfort in faith and belief of a better world to come.

[mariekavanagh]

Me during a heatwave: "Season depression? Don't know her. I am reborn. I am thriving ☀️😎"

Me the second the heat ends and it's rainy and gloomy again: "Cosy season is back at last, thank God. Who even needs summer when we have cosy jumpers, candles and magical witchy vibes?"

[mariekavanagh]

Missing scene prompt: Hagrid marching into the Forest to give Aragog a bollocking for letting his children try to eat the friends he sent them on a riddle-solving quest.

[cinematicvests]

watching fandom lore get built but you’re not really sure how it happened:

[sspadfoot]

Sirius would be a red bull fein

[mariekavanagh]

Sirius Black the unhealthy night owl who uses energy drinks to replace sleep because he was up until 3am again doing God knows what (it felt very important at the time)

[scorebug]

height check. how tall are you people in my phone

[plecotusauritus]

It brings me comfort that Sirius Black couldn't reach his full potential in life either