#potdk

[ask-diablostudios-blog]

Snippet of Chap. 3: 

With Rayne out for the count, needing to rest from all the stress her poor body had been going through, Bendy looks over her, his eyes picking out the little freckles and blemishes on her face.  She couldn’t be any more beautiful, could she? “Charlie.”  “Yeah, Boss?” The one eyed toon lifts his head up to gaze at the Ink Demon, who reaches out and touches her cheek gently. “Do me a favor and keep watch while I go look fer somethin’ edible for her.”  Charlie nods, saluting. “I’ll stan’ by outside tha door, Boss, don’ worry. Edgar and Barley’ll be stationed at the hallway, ain’ none of those damned copys’ a’us getting through tha Real Butcha Gang.”  “Good.” 

[icebluecyanide]

Still holding out hope that prince of the dark kingdom by mizuni-sama will be finished one day but I must say the author apparently disappearing again sometime in 2023 is probably not a good sign agsgdhdhf

[universesvisiting]

since I've spent the last few days rereading a 1 million word fanfic, here's roughly three pages of incredibly disorganized rambling thoughts on soul restoration, the nature of love and how much I adore this goddamn story under a cut, bone apple tea

you know, as I reread PotDK for the fourth time it occurs to me, that while the soul restoration makes Voldemort rapidly lose control of his affection for Harry and of the way that affection and love influence him during the last third of the story, HARRY seems to still be under the impression that if he steps out of line too hard Voldemort WOULD, in fact, do him permanent harm. or... I don't know how to phrase it, but he doesn't seem to get just how much Voldemort cares for him. they're close and all that, they're incredibly intimate with each other and they have all these connections but Harry's internal narration sometimes suggests that he doesn't really grasp how important he really is to Voldemort. I mean, he and Bobby talk abt Harry running away when Harry realizes that he is actually the child of prophecy and he clearly thinks that Voldemort would straight up murder him if he got to know the truth. which I find... interesting, to say the least, bc I'm... not actually SURE if Voldemort would??? kill him, that is??? or rather, I'm not sure if he COULD. I know I've said this before on here, but I maintain that Voldemort LOVES Harry. It took him six goddamn years but boy, if Harry isn't persistent. he loves him, and I'm pretty sure if it ever came down to Harry and fear of the prophecy, Voldemort would NOT be able to make that decision lightly. (I also think that he WOULD, in the end, come down on the side of saying 'fuck the prophecy' bc the man is nothing if not incredibly contrarian. he does it just to be difficult.)

Harry, now that I think abt it, also compares himself and Carrigan a few times in the narrative and every time he talks abt Carrigan as 'the only person Voldemort has ever loved', which is of course INCREDIBLY ironic, considering that his soul IS Carrigan's soul and also bc Voldemort, as I said, CLEARLY LOVES HARRY TOO. But every time Harry thinks abt their relationship he seems to elevate it far above his own relationship with Voldemort. It's not that Harry is insecure, he never really is. It's more that Harry seems to have unconsciously borrowed his guardian's mercenary outlook on life and relationships, at least when it comes to Voldemort. so Carrigan and Voldemort had this special, nearly mystical bond, which to Harry seems to eclipse his and Voldemorts companionship by miles. Again, to pick up on the idea that Harry doesn't KNOW how much Voldemort cares for him, Harry really doesn't notice how their relationship has changed in the years they've known each other.

At the very beginning, I think, Harry realised that Voldemort, as he often says, 'does not give gifts' and I think he took that phrase and RAN with it and applied it to their entire relationship. And the thing is, he isn't wrong. Voldemort DOES see a lot of things as an exchange, he doesn't give gifts, only rewards, he never does anything without having up to ten different reasons for it, and he absolutely does weigh up every possibility in the most cold-blooded way possible before he commits. And the thing is, again... this IS very much how Voldemort approaches relationships. He does not BOTHER with people who can't do anything for him. BUT - and this is where it gets important - the longer they know each other and the closer they become, the less their relationship is about Harry being 'useful' to Voldemort. When Harry is trapped int he faerie realm, Voldemort comes ot his rescue. Not bc he needs to safe Britains Prince, not bc he can't let the faerie king have information that Harry has (both of which are reasons which he cited during Germany's 'kidnapping' of Harry) but bc he doesn't want Harry to suffer, bc he wants him safe, bc he wants Harry to stay with him and not be turned into a fae. This isn't abt saving Harry bc Britains Prince is needed for the war effort or whatever. This isn't bc Harry is so valuable that he can't be surrendered. This is about purely personal affection that Voldemort has for Harry. And it's INCREDIBLE how clearly their relationship isn't only based on an exchange of 'I give you what you want if you give me what I want' anymore. (They do play on this, what with the magic Voldemort takes from Harry etc. but that's less abt being valuable or useful and more abt their idea of honor)

for Voldemort it's pretty clear, that the soul restoration basically made it impossible for him to keep his attitude of cold-blooded amusement and carefully calculated affections in regards to Harry, or at least it's not JUST those things anymore. I kept on eye on it during this reread and Voldemort mentions several times how he becomes confused by his own feelings and their strenght and force whenever they concern Harry. He gets angry when Harry is hurt, he feels terrified when he fears Harry has died in the fearie realm, he wants Harry to be happy, he wants things they do together to please Harry, he LOVES teaching Harry new things, loves it when Harry expresses pleasure at his company, he adores simply talking to Harry, even if all they do is talk nonsense for an entire night. Even when they fight we see, no actually i think we're TOLD, that Voldemort CAN'T use the Crucio against Harry anymore, bc you must WANT the other person to be in pain and Voldemort, crucially, DOESN'T want Harry to be in pain and all the mental discipline in the world seem to be unable to make Voldemort bring up the hatred necessary to cast a crucio. I find it SO fascinating that Voldemort really isn't CAPABLE of hurting Harry like that anymore, bc it shows so clearly how his priorities have shifted. it also shows that Harry is 100% a different sort of relationship altogether than anyone else, bc Voldemort is STILL throwing crucios around like candy for everyone else. Their fights are awful but at this point it's clear that Voldemorts love for Harry is competing with his calculations for what he deems best for the country and his own plans, and most of the time they come into conflict. there are just SO many moments all over the story where you can compare and contrast the way these two interact before and after the restoration and although I don't think we're EVER getting the promised new content, I would be SO interested in how this would continue to evolve during the last book.

also, I know I'm on record for saying SEVERAL TIMES that Voldemort doesn't KNOW he loves Harry bc he... well bc he isn't used to actually loving ANYONE, but I think I need to eat my words on that. Voldemort has a talk with Queen Ophelia during the fifth book's climax and she asks him if he's ever loved and Voldemort doesn't ANSWER her as such but he DOES think abt the Solstice ritual and what followed, which we can either take as him loving the Earth OR him feeling love bc of the connection between him and Harry and... well I'm gonna chalk it up as him realising that maybe he DOES feel a lot of affection for Harry?

although now that I think abt it I still think he doesn't REALLY graps just HOW much he loves Harry. I think we get a bit of that realisation during the fearies arc, and later during the last chapter we ever got, during the duel against Madam Amsel, when Harry gets poisoned and Voldemort freaks out in a VERY controlled manner.

god I don't know, I just... fucking love this story SO MUCH, I love their relationship so much, it's SO fascinating and SO fucked up and they CLEARLY love each other SO MUCH but it's also clearly NEVER been enough for their respective souls to love each other. they've been circlign each other for so long, reincarnation after reincarnation, and yet they can't seem to let go of each other. their magnetism is SO well written it makes me want to WEEP for the beauty of their relationship bc I've never seen ANYTHING quite like this and I love it so much!

anyway, tldr: 1 mio words is a LOT of fuckign content and I would love nothing more than to analyse it all but BOY it's so much. if we ever get that promised new content Voldemort is gonna have a VERY uncomfortable moment of awakening when he realises that not only is his favourite person in the world his prophecied doom but also he isn't really capable of killing him the way he did to Neville Longbottom and his parents bc - oopsie - someone accidentally started caring abt his prophecied nemesis and now feels too much love to actually murder him in cold blood. whoops...

[universesvisiting]

Have been sporadically checking for a Prince of the Dark Kingdom update sporadically for the past what, SEVEN(+) years or so just to find them saying they’re gonna work on it a month ago like on one hand I’m so excited for it and on the other hand I’m gonna have to reread a MILLION words of a story I haven’t read in almost a decade but still exciting times ahead 🤞

anon, when I tell you I nearly had a heart-attack when I saw that email like... exciting times ahead INDEED! 

Honestly, I’m so happy abt the announcement! I swear to god, I have not been able to get this story out of my head since I started reading it eight years ago, and the fact that MAYBE (maybe, bc I honestly HOPE they’re gonna finish it but it IS a big commitment and I believe that we’re getting new content when I see it and not a minute earlier) they will give the story a satisfying ending gives me so much serotonin, I genuinely don’t know what to do with myself. 

If you wanna chat abt PotDK with a fellow fan, just hit me up in the messages or something, I’d be THRILLED :D

[universesvisiting]

Prince of the Dark Kingdom - How would it have ended?

Actually, I’m not done venting yet. Sorry guys, I’ll be over it in a minute but I need to talk abt how I think ‘Prince of the Dark Kingdom’ would have ended, I feel like I’m going to explode otherwise. Also this is my blog and if I want to yell about my favourite fanfic then I WILL.

I don’t think anyone is gonna reblog this but I’m gonna warn for spoilers anyway. 

Now, I’ve seen people say that the story would have ended with Harry and Voldemort having a confrontation with Voldemort knowing that Harry is the child of prophecy and still not being able to go through with killing him and Harry then killing Voldemort, fulfilling the prophecy. Which... sounds convincing but I don’t want them to kill each other, so here, have a few theories:  

I do think that the prophecy is gonna be fulfilled one way or another, but people seem to forget about the fact that Voldemort isn’t the only version of himself currently running rampant. Tom is on the loose and he is determined to take Voldemort’s place. So, I propose that Tom would find a way to take over Voldemort’s body (ousting Voldemorts soul into another container) and use his body to his own ends. I’d also argue that the prophecy only says that Harry would have to kill the Dark Lord, not which version of him. So, if Harry kills Tom-in-Voldemorts-body wouldn’t that fulfill the prophecy and allow both Harry and Voldemort not to murder each other. (I do agree that Voldemort won’t be able to bring himself to kill Harry. He loves him. Not sure if he KNOWS that he loves him, or can even comprehend it, but PLEASE. That dream about cutting out his own heart before going to fight Gulandri??? IT’S NOT ABOUT HORCRUXES YOU NITWIT IT’S ABOUT TRUST AND LOVE AND KNOWING HARRY WILL KEEP YOU SAFE!!!)

Another thing that I could see is Victor and his coven and Snape and Hermione joining forces and fighting Dumbledore. No idea where that storyline would have gone but I can see Snape being the one to kill Dumbledore, for nostalgia purposes if nothing else. 

I don’t know if Harry being possessed by Greyback again would have driven another wedge between Sirius + Remus and Jane + Luna, but I can’t see Sirius being happy about it. On that note the werewolfs are already pretty far in their development, so I don’t know if maybe Mizuni-sama would have had them breaking off from Voldemort’s rule completely or if we would have seen a closer cooperation between them.

The Carrigan-storyline... no idea how they wanted to incorporate that. Other than Voldemort DEFINITELY finding out about it and being torn into six different directions about it. On that note, Voldemort would have been SO furious with Snape for keeping all those secrets at the end of this. Not sure if Snape and Ira wouldn’t have to flee the country at the end. 

Which is, probably, where McGunny and Ira an Ron come in. That group (and the Inspector, Amelon or what’s his name) would DEFINITELY have been involved in some shady shit, finding out about Tom possessing McGunny and Voldemort torturing him for information afterwards. Oh god the DRAMA of it all would have been AMAZING. 

What else? Oh! Draco and Natalie and now Narcissa’s corpse, which I had forgotten about completely. Where in the world that was going and if Draco would ever have discovered who really killed his father and why is... debateable. I’m leaning towards no. No idea if him and Natalie would have been involved in any of the big confrontations. But damn it would have been interesting. 

Also, what about Selufiare and her take-over and attempted patricide so she can become the Winter-Queen??? And the box Carrigan hid??? When would Harry have gotten it and how would he have given Voldemort what Carrigan wanted him to have? Would he have just TOLD Voldemort about being Carrigan’s reincarnation??? And how the FUCK would that conversation have gone?? 

And what about the French Queen and her attempt at keeping Voldemort at a distance? Would Voldemort have declared war on France? COULD he have done that? Britain was stretched thin as it is. OH! Would that have been the start of the end of his campaign at ruling the planet? France maybe siding with Germany and overwhelming the British Forces? And all of that happening while everythign with Tom and Harry and Voldemort and Carrigan goes down in private? Just one gigantic malestrome of terrible choices finally come to knock Voldemort’s door down? 

God there are so many plots to keep in mind and I didn’t get all of them but the thing that interests me most is how Harry and Voldemort would have reacted to both of them being aware of the prophecy and the fact that Harry is the child of prophecy. I do think Tom would have taken over the Dark Lord’s body, Harry would have killed him in it and managed to fullfill the prophecy that way. 

Well either that or one of them would have died, no idea how or if the other woudl have been the one to kill them, but if they HAD died the last scene of the story, and this I could bet my left arm on, would have been the one who survived meeting the other’s reincarnation again. 

GOD, this story makes me so melancholy. I mean, the likelyhood that the author is... well.. dead, is pretty high, who abandons a fanfic after having written most of it (1.253k !!!)? But that just makes everything sadder, and I probably just need to like... watch a YT video and sulk for an evening so I can be productive tomorrow. 

[ask-diablostudios-blog]

preview of Chapter 2 for my ‘Protection of the Devilish Kind’ on AO3:

She looks to the right, finding another recorder, and she turns it on. Then, she hears Sammy's voice over the recorder, “He appears from the shadows to rain his sweet blessings upon me. The figure of ink that shines in the darkness. I see you, my savior. I pray you hear me.

Those old songs, yes, I still sing them. For I know you are coming to save me. And I will be swept into your final loving embrace. But, love requires sacrifice. Can I get an amen?” Rayne makes a face, before she goes to say something about how creepy and crazy her former music conductor was crazy, and little out of it, but someone's voice stops her. “I said, can I get an amen?” Rayne jerks around, eyes wide. That sounded like it came from just behind her, but no one was there. And it was Sammy's voice too! Ooooh boy... this wasn't good. Read Chapter one here! v http://archiveofourown.org/works/12221343/chapters/27761406

[upon-a-rainbow]

We are not family and we are not friends. Whatever we are, only the gods might have a word for. What we've done to one another, for each other, against each other... the most passionate of lovers and the most viscious of enemies would not have conceived of attempting. We are beyond mortal understanding or sentiment. We are beyond their pale and paltry labels.

Voldemort to Harry, The Prince of the Dark Kingdom

[upon-a-rainbow]

He knew that 'right' decisions could not only turn out badly but did not always absolve one of guilt either, regardless of the morality behind it.

Prince of the Dark Kingdom