Nerdtastic life!

don't you mean professor potter who has tea every week with professor longbottom and every time someone goes "but sir, don't you think he's...kind of strange?" harry just smiles and says "i think we all are."

don't you mean professor potter who has stashes of chocolate he gives out if you ask and who never, ever, gets angry, except for the times he sees bruises on a kid's arm after winter break and storms off to see the headmaster about the kid's parents

don't you mean professor potter who is known for being loyal to gryffindor to the end, but still congtatulates the other houses when they win because he knows that they're all just kids and that it really doesn't matter at the end of the day

don't you mean professor potter who is known for being fun and kind and happy and everyone knows the stories, the first years whisper, and the fifth years just shrug because after a while, he stops being the boy who defeated voldemort and he becomes the professor who tells silly jokes and constantly tells stories about what he and the Minister of Magic, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley, a quidditch reporter, used to get up to

Like, that stuff is not even mentioned in passing. Kids in Harry's classes get stories like, The Time He Played In His First Quidditch Match And Nearly Swallowed The Bloody Snitch. (Usually told to any First Years who are nervous about flying for the first time, or any Quidditch team members— of any House— who are worried about messing up on the pitch. "At least you won't look as stupid as I did", says The Famous Harry Potter.)

Or, The Time When He And His Friends Started An Underground Defence Club Because Their Teacher Was Crap. (The exact role that Professor Potter played in the club is left deliberately vague, as is the reason why it was so important to learn defence.)

The Time He And Award Winning Quidditch Reporter Ron Weasley Flew A Car To School In Second Year, The Time He Totally Fucked Up On His First Date (useful for dealing with older students who are having troubles with their own love lives— the story usually gets a laugh at least), or even The Time He Had To Attend The Funeral Of A Giant Spider (no mention of any ulterior motives for going there that day).

If you just heard the stories, you'd have no idea that Professor Potter ever fought in a war. In fact, by the time he's been teaching a few decades, most of his students don't.

Or, rather, they know who Voldemort was, and that The Famous Harry Potter fought against him, but they all sort of assume that that stuff happened later. Professor Potter went to school with his friends and had all these wacky adventures (did you know that he once fell off his broom and had all the bones spelled out of his arm? Or that he and his friends used to sneak into Hogsmeade through secret tunnels?) and then later on, after he left school, he volunteered to fight in the war.

Fifth Year History of Magic, when they first cover the details of the Second Wizarding War, is always interesting. When students realise that all this stuff was happening while Professor Potter was still at school, they always look shocked and whisper to each other, asking why he never talks about this when he's telling them about his school days. Then, at the end of the lesson, The Famous Harry Potter co es in to do his annual Talk about the War. And, afterwards, nobody wonders why he never brought it up before.

It´s been a while since the last one, but between the job and then the vacations I wasn´t around my  tablet.

Student: [speaks arabic]

I drew Kaladin from the Stormlight Archive! I actually made it a gif to make his eyes glow more, but tumblr ruined the quality so I’ll just post it as a still image I guess.

Shallan | Adolin | Dalinar | Szeth | Jasnah | Lift | Renarin | Venli | Eshonai | Navani | Shalash 

Here is another one of the tarot card inspired drawings I did of the Stormlight Archive! This time it’s Adolin! 

Kaladin | Shallan | Dalinar | Szeth | Jasnah | Lift | Renarin | Venli | Eshonai | Navani | Shalash

Kaladin: no, I don’t think you can fight because you’re in a wedding dress

Renarin: for what it’s worth, I don’t think Adolin could fight in that dress, either

‘Strong women’ doesn’t mean ‘woman punches loads of things and is badass’ it means a rich variety, of complex women who are each strong in their own way.

 Vin, the street-urchin and constant survivor, whose strength comes as she grows and actually learns, in so many ways, to outgrow that ‘strong woman’ archetype. She learns to be soft. She learns to embrace her feminine side. She learns vulnerability, and love, and trust, and she grows into a better, stronger person for it. 

Marasi who finds her strength in knowledge, and in loving herself for the things she can do, instead of loving the idolised version of herself who has all the things she wishes she could do. Who learns to stop revering and living in a man’s shadow, and steps out to cast her own. 

Steris who is a canonly autistic woman who is never forced to be ‘normal’, in any sense of the word. The characters around her learn to read her, to understand her, and they fall in love with the woman that she is because of her quirks, because of her differences, because of her autism, and not in spite of it. 

Shallan who was a sheltered, naive young abuse victim, with very obvious PTSD and anxiety who has undergone an incredible, uneven recovery journey. She has found herself, her voice, her independence, and her agency. But she is also learning how to accept what has happened to her instead of hiding from it, to heal and grow while retaining her wit, her drawing, and her smile. 

Jasnah who, frankly, couldn’t care less about people’s expectations when it comes to her. Her mind is her own, and her strength comes from knowing herself, and refusing to compromise that self even when it goes against her entire culture and society. A woman who presents a composed, cold, blunt face to the world and is allowed to, and is never undermined or ‘thawed’. She is who she is, and that’s final. 

Navani as a mother, a wife, a lover, in many ways the embodiment of traditional roles for a female character over a certain age. But she’s also a scholar, an engineer, an inventor, a visionary. A woman who knows what she wants, and inevitably finds a way of getting it. A woman who has deep loves and passions, and pursues them, but never loses sight of the merit of logic and order. 

Vivenna, who grew up with the knowledge that she was to be a sacrifice for her people, that her pain and happiness were as nothing compared to her duty. A woman who grew up with deeply rooted prejudices, and a naive, ignorant view of the world. She grew up, she learned her own mind, and followed it to the ends of her earth and into another, where she came to lead men in battle in a notoriously misogynistic/gender-role based society. 

Siri the dreamer, the free spirit, who learned that she didn’t have to be like her sister, and didn’t have to ascribe to the things expected of her to have value, and worth, and power. Who becomes a queen in her own right, and matures into a powerful woman who refuses to accept life on any but her own terms. 

It’s a common enough critique that female characters get stuffed into one mould that’s described as ‘strong’ and that’s it. Which is almost as limiting and stifling as the traditional expectations of female characters. But tbh I love what he does with his male characters and the complexity and rejection of typical masculinity there, too. 

Elend who grew up under the thumb of an abusive father and an oppressive system, but still had the softness, and the hope to dream of building something better. Who was more than comfortable having his wife protect him, and having everyone know that, who took pride in Vin, without ever once having it be hinted as some sort of slight to his masculinity. Who was able to accept the correction and guidance of another woman everyone else scorned and ignored who helped shape him into a better king, and a better man. 

Sazed who was portrayed both as the gentle, reserved scholar, but also a rebel and an instigator, who went against his people to build a better world. Someone who was presented as rational, and calm, and arguably nonbinary, and mostly shuns pretty every typically ‘masculine’ trope in the book. 

Kelsier who had the fairly typical ‘dead wife, revenge plot’ story, but that was explored in a thoroughly atypical way tbh. A man full of darkness who insisted upon fighting with a smile, and encouraged others to do the same. Cocky, and arrogant, and selfish was balanced by a little flash of sentiment, the hope for a new world, and the picture of a flower he carried with him to remind him what they fought for. 

Adolin who’s regarded as one of the best swordsmen in the world, but who talks to his weapon before battle and thanks it for serving him. He wears his mother’s necklace as a good luck charm in battle, and goes against cultural expectations by being physically affectionate with the people he loves. Also has a keen interest in fashion he refuses to be ashamed of, and while his actions characterise him as a womaniser, his thoughts/behaviours display his dissatisfaction with that, and his desire for stability. Also very emotionally aware of those around him, and takes care to look after them when he reads them being in trouble. 

Dalinar’s honestly fascinating journey from a bloodthirsty, violent soldier, to a depressed, traumatised alcoholic, to a struggling general, a hero of mankind, and then again struggling with PTSD is honestly so well-written. This man is literally a military legend, renowned for his prowess in war and we see him, in the course of the series: give away a legendary blade that is literally more valuable than kingdoms for the lives of a group of slaves, and consider it a genuinely good deal as he’s learned that all lives are precious. Struggle with very obvious flashbacks and panic attacks as a result of war trauma. Meekly align himself with distinctly feminine things to quietly support his son and stop him feeling awkward. 

Renarin, who is a canon autistic character, who cannot be a soldier in a distinctly war-driven society, and is allowed to explore that, to feel bitterness and frustration with his condition. But who is also slowly starting to learn, with the support of his family, that there are different kinds of strength, and that they love him and are proud of him even if he can’t march into battle at the head of their armies. Who is allowed to stim openly, who is largely accepted for his differences, and is defended fiercely on the occasion that he’s not. Who is a goddamn super hero in this world, and is a massively progressive piece of honest autistic representation, in which he is not a character with autism, but an autistic character. 

Kaladin who is honestly one of the most visceral, honest portrayals of depression I’ve seen in a fictional character. Who still, three books on, suffers from depressive episodes, who acknowledges that this kind of thing sometimes doesn’t just go away, or get better, that it’s always there, somewhere, and he fights it, and keeps fighting it, with the help and acceptance of those around him. Who is also a goddamn super hero who is warned by his surgeon-father that he’ll have to grow calluses, that he can’t care so deeply about his patients. Who becomes a soldier to support his younger brother, and tries to strike the balance between killing and protection, and to deal with his soft heart that has never truly hardened.