#dark aus

“Once you’ve earned his loyalty, there is nothing a dragon won’t do for you.”

lots of situations where he could have used it

he comes to the conclave and he notices that the answer to whether he could offer to anyone is not no

Episode 206: Bad Fans Revisited

Woobies, poor little meow meows, anti-heroes, and problematic faves: in Episode 206, “Bad Fans Revisited,” Flourish and Elizabeth use a listener voicemail on getting invested in morally dubious fictional characters to revisit a perennial hot topic in fandom. Specifics discussed include the heightened language of performative tags, blurred lines between fiction and reality, what a dark AU can offer that a dark original story might not, and yes, Lestat de Lioncourt. Plus: Flourish lets you know how you, too, can become a Certified Villain Fucker (there’s a test!). 

I think Heidi could work for a Veronica ish person and Scott as JD killing everyone while Heidi thought maybe they get a bit of fun revenge but he just takes it way too far.. .

so, the premise was basically was that something something weirdmaggedon when they were older something something dipper made a demon marriage pact to keep his family safe. and different members of the family were varying levels of on board, but mabel was so against it that she was effectively a prisoner. and dipper felt really guilty but also felt like he’d made the best decision because it kept her “safe”.

which is a big nah because no one is “safe” around bill. you’re just alive and worthy of some level of toy status instead of being dead. dipper’s pretty far from “safe”, but at this point he has enough investment in convincing himself that he and his family are that he’s not about to turn back. 

which is a pretty great conflict, right? at least it’s one of my favorites, and given the pines twins propensity for making each other’s choices for each other on occasion (but eventually giving in when they decide that what they did hurt them) it seems plausible if dipper really convinced himself that the decision he made was in her best interest he’d have dug his heels in and tried to make it work. 

pacifica was a revolutionary leader and i’m pretty sure we saw her execution in the palace. it was cool but disappointing on that front 

I have, but I can’t find it right now.

(Usual disclaimers apply–just my take on the characters.)

Hermione would 100% go Dark for the Greater Good. She would never hurt anyone, only bad people. I can imagine a world in which we’re all in hiding from Great Leader Hermione’s thought police. What would it take to push her over? Bad things happening because stupid people are in charge. I’ve written an AU where Hermione goes to the dark side largely in response to Umbridge, and while that one is kind of jokey, I could see a more serious version of that scenario.

Harry going to the dark side is just a matter of being pushed too far. This is, after all, the boy who crucio’d the Death Eater that spit in McGonagall’s face. Dark!Harry is the Harry who just can’t care any more, the Harry screaming in Dumbledore’s office that he doesn’t want to be human. The biggest thing it takes to push Harry over the edge is taking away his people. As long as he has Ron and Hermione, has Ginny and his kids, has those connections that make being human worthwhile, he’ll be okay. (I’ve got Brand New Day from Dr. Horrible on the playlist for the fic where I’m messing with Harry’s good/evil switch.) Evil Harry would mostly run cold, I think, not letting himself feel much of anything, kidding himself that he was all coldly calculating except for flashes of temper. (Evil Ginny would run hot, and frankly they’d play off each other pretty hard. It would probably be best for the future of civilization if nobody messes with the Potter kids.)

When I was writing about this before I couldn’t figure out what would make Ron go dark, but I’ve given it a lot of thought since. The biggest thing that pushes Ron is when he feels betrayed, and insignificant, and unloved. If the Locket had had him alone, it would have had him eventually. I have a hard time coming up with a plausible scenario for the kind of betrayal that would send Ron over the edge, simply because Molly really does love him, and Harry and Hermione really do cherish him and wouldn’t hurt him. I think evil!Ron is a nihilist. Smash it ‘til it breaks, watch the world burn.

(I could also see Ron going evil as a loyal knight. Like, if Harry and Hermione set out to burn the world, Ron would probably follow them and help, because he’s loyal that way.)