“We don’t have job protections and guarantees like they do in France. We have to schedule stuff on the weekends or our days off. If we called a general strike we’d all get fired. We have no guaranteed healthcare, so if we get fired we get no health insurance. You can see why the powers that be here in the US want to break unions, make healthcare rare, keep wages low, keep time off limited…”
I’ve just come to the realisation that Hermione Granger probably memory charmed her parents and packed them off to Australia long before she told Harry and Ron she’d done it at the beginning of Deathly Hallows.
She literally never goes home from Goblet of Fire onwards, spending her summers with the boys instead. In GoF she’s remarkably blase about her teeth, something her dentist parents would have noticed and felt hurt about.
If I were to guess, I’d say she probably did it after the wizarding world cup when she’d seen exactly how the wizarding world treats muggles and decided not to let that happen to her folks. Hermione knows which way the wind is blowing and gets in early. She’d be more than capable of doing it.
…Oh my God.
hermione is fucking ruthless and i will fight anyone who tells me otherwise
that was her “negative” gryffindor trait
was she incredibly brave and courageous and loyal? yes
but she was also vicious and violent and trapped a woman as a beetle in a jar for over a year because she pissed her off
hermione granger looked at the world, and looked at her magic, and looked at everyone else’s magic, and seemed to come to the conclusion that reality had better shut the fuck up and behave itself or she’d make it.
of all the kids, i think she’s dumbledore’s successor, not harry.
See this is why I don’t like it when people try and pass her off as this flawless pure sweet angel. Like no, she’s emotional, loud, angry, brash, and vindictive, and she’s absolutely awesome just like that. Don’t woobify her.
So I thought this meme (credit to @swordlesbianopinions) was always pretty delightful and a lil while back due to many things, but in part prompting from a couple of friends who know what a big sword nerd I am, I finally opted to throw together a list of sword designs I’d associate with the different pride flags (based primarily on the sword’s literal design, not history). Obviously, this is a lot of personal opinion, but hey, it’s all for fun. Enjoy!
“While You Were Being Heterosexual, I Studied The Blade“
Lesbian first, bc that’s the OP’s orientation.
Backsword.
Beautiful, fast, delicate, single-edge, evolution of the Falchion meets fencing sword.
Also, it was the design used for the Sword of Dios in Utena & Pearl in SU. (Pretty sure Utena just copied this: http://elfgrove.tumblr.com/post/111286499668)
Rainbow flag. TheFlamberge.
Large and flashy, slightly slower movement but powerful, memorable/iconic, double-edged, more of a display of the swordsmith’s skill than practical weapon, but damn they’re fun.
Also, have fun with the flaming puns.
Bisexual flag.
Leaf-bladed Greek Xiphos or Celtic Hallstatt sword.
Double-edged, smaller and swift, but heavy for its size. Lends to a wide range of use and style and has a great deal of creative variety in the hilt.
Pansexual flag.
Trondheim Viking sword.
Double-edged, a relative to the Greek Xiphos, longer, lighter, a bit more generic a profile, but good and highly versatile blade that lends towards minimal simplistic hilt designs (made up for with etchings) and little crossguard if any.
Asexual flag.
Rapier.
Usually double-edged. Long, thin blades with a great deal of reach. Fast cut-and-thrust usage style. Iconic for the elaborate and decorative basket hilts that while pretty also deflect attacks to protect the wielder. Often paired with a parrying dagger.
More Color More Pride Flag.
Ngombe.
A traditional sword from the Congo region. Beautiful, strongly detailed, and large, used as a symbol of prestige and sometimes in ceremonial dance or as currency. Colonization spread now-debunked myths of it being used as a slave/animal execution tool.
Transgender flag.
Kris/Keris.
An Indonesian short sword. Asymmetrical. Double edged. Triangular guard that is a part of the blade. Beautifully detailed blades requiring complex smithing and are both a weapon & spiritual. They can be hard & intimidating or delicate pieces of art.
Agender flag.
Kora.
Single-edged. An unusual sword design wherein the inside curve is the sharp edge. The curve lends power and the flared end is both decorative and adds weight to the force of a swing. Designed for slashing rather than thrust-style fighting. Typically practically adorned but sometimes features artistic engraving on the blade and gilded details.
Non-binary flag.
Khanda.
Double-edged but most of one edge is encased in a strengthening plate. Features a widened flat tip that eliminates thrusting from usage. Effective for slashing & versatile for single or dual wielding. Pommel hook or strengthening plate can serve as a grip. Can be very practical in appearance or highly decorative and gilded.
Genderqueer flag.
Scissors Katar. A variety of push dagger. These wide, beautifully decorative blades open into 3 via a spring (usually) mechanism. Despite colonialist rumor they exist to cause excessive harm, recent theory is the mechanism is actually defensive, meant to act as a sword catcher and breaker rather than for viciously gutting opponents..
Ah yes, my fellow warriors. Truly a worthy collection of knowledge and of blades and of sexuality spectra.
“Humans were so circular; they lived the same slow cycles of joy and misery over and over, never learning. Every lesson in the universe had to be taught billions of times, and it never stuck. Maybe it was good that the world forgot every lesson, every good and bad memory, every triumph and failure, all of it dying with each generation. Perhaps this cultural amnesia spared them all. Perhaps if they remembered everything, hope would die instead.”
