Let's Talk About Canonical Sebastian

Let's talk about canonical Sebastian

For some reason Sebastian got a reputation of another dark Slytherin who's obsessed with power. Many added him to ✨the Slytherins✨ list. Although in fact he's nothing like Draco, Snape and especially Voldemort. So let's forget about fanons where he's obsessive and possessive and remember some FACTS about him. All based on his behaviour in the game.

He's a brilliant student. Professor Weasley and Scribner both said it. And teachers don't usually praise you for nothing;

He's the BIGGEST NERD in Hogwarts. "What I do with every book. Read it." Had me. He also mentioned his parents tought him to love books. Dude goes to the restricted section not to become another dark lord, but because curiosity in his nature;

He's loyal and protective. I don't even beed to comment on this one;

He is full of youthful maximalism. Which is completely normal at the age of 15. That's why he thinks he knows better than anyone else and hates ALL the goblins just because one cursed his sister (as he thinks);

He expects everything from his beloved. But just because he would do everything for them too. Like risk his life and soul to safe your life? So he doesn't use people, he just thinks it's normal;

He's understanding and supporting. Yes, part of him saw mc as someone who can save his sister. But he only mentioned it once or twice. Beside of that he saw them as partners. When mc said they can't tell him their secret, he understood. He didn't push or try to trick them into telling him. But when they decided to share he was nothing but supportive (although he didn't understand a thing);

Again, he's like super smart. Reading books isn't enough. He actually taught himself the unforgivables and could decrypt Slytherin's book;

He has a healthy self-esteem. He knows his worth and don't have a need to prove something to someone. You can see it in his reaction when he lost in the duel. He doesn't shout about how cool he is (cough Leander cough);

He knows exactly what he wants from life and does everything to get it. Like a good Slytherin he is;

He's not even violent. You heard him screaming? Me neither (expect this one time with Solomon but oh well). Usually he just says he needs some time to think and calm down. He's very mature (If not for his maximalism, but it'll pass). At least more mature than any grown up I know. He only called mc "arrogant", but never screamed or bit anyone.

That's just a few things I could think of! Sebastian is not only cocky boy, who would kill anyone to protect his family. He's a kind, decent person, who only tried to help. What happened was Solomon's fault and not Sebastian's. He was only a child, after all. It was Solomon's job to protect and support them. And he failed.

Pacing your Story (Or, How to Avoid the "Suddenly...!")

Arguably *the* most important lesson all writers need to learn, even for those who don’t give a damn about themes and motifs and a moral soap box: How your story is paced, whether it’s a comic book, a children’s chapter book, a doorstopper, a mini series, a movie, or a full-length season of TV (old school style), pacing is everything.

Pacing determines how long the story *feels* regardless of how long it actually is. It can make a 2 hour movie feel like 90 mins or double the time you’re trapped in your seat.

There’s very little I can say about pacing that hasn’t been said before, but I’m here to condense all that’s out there into a less intimidating mouthful to chew.

So: What is pacing?

Pacing is how a story flows, how quickly or slowly the creator moves through and between scenes, how long they spend on setting, narration, conversation, arguments, internal monologues, fight scenes, journey scenes. It’s also how smoothly tone transitions throughout the story. A fantasy adventure jumping around sporadically between meandering boredom, high-octane combat, humor, grief, and romance is exhausting to read, no matter how much effort you put into your characters.

Anyone who says the following is wrong:

Good pacing is always fast/bad pacing is always slow

Pacing means you are 100% consistent throughout the entire story

It doesn’t matter as much so long as you have a compelling story/characters/lore/etc

Now let me explain why in conveniently numbered points:

1. Pacing is not about consistency, it’s about giving the right amount of time to the right pieces of your story

This is not intuitive and it takes a long time to learn. So let’s look at some examples:

Lord of the Rings: The movies trimmed a *lot* from the books that just weren’t adaptable to screen, namely all the tedious details and quite a bit of the worldbuilding that wasn’t critical to the journey of the Fellowship. That said, with some exceptions, the battles are as long as they need to be, along with every monologue, every battle speech. When Helm’s Deep is raging on, we cut away to Merry and Pippin with the Ents to let ourselves breathe, then dive right back in just before it gets boring.

The Hobbit Trilogy: The exact opposite from LotR, stretching one kids book into 3 massive films, stuffing it full of filler, meandering side quests, pointless exposition, drawing out battles and conflicts to silly extremes, then rushing through the actual desolation of Smaug for… some reason.

Die Hard (cause it’s the Holidays y’all!): The actiony-est of action movies with lots of fisticuffs and guns and explosions still leaves time for our hero to breathe, lick his wounds, and build a relationship with the cop on the ground. We constantly cut between the hero and the villains, all sharing the same radio frequency, constantly antsy about what they know and when they’ll find out the rest, and when they’ll discover the hero’s kryptonite.

2. Make every scene you write do at least two things at once

This is also tricky. Making every scene pull double duty should be left to after you’ve written the first draft, otherwise you’ll never write that first draft. Pulling double duty means that if you’re giving exposition, the scene should also reveal something about the character saying it. If you absolutely must write the boring trip from A to B, give some foreshadowing, some thoughtful insight from one of your characters, a little anecdote along the way.

Develop at least two of the following:

The plot

The backstory

The romance/friendships

The lore

The exposition

The setting

The goals of the cast

Doing this extremely well means your readers won’t have any idea you’re doing it until they go back and read it again. If you have two characters sitting and talking exposition at a table, and then those same two characters doing some important task with filler dialogue to break up the narrative… try combining those two scenes and see what happens.

**This is going to be incredibly difficult if you struggle with making your stories longer. I do not. I constantly need to compress my stories. **

3. Not every scene needs to be crucial to the plot, but every scene must say something

I distinguish plot from story like a square vs a rectangle. Plot is just a piece of the tale you want to tell, and some scenes exist just to be funny, or romantic, or mysterious, plot be damned.

What if you’re writing a character study with very little plot? How do you make sure your story isn’t too slow if 60% of the narrative is introspection?

Avoid repeating information the audience already has, unless a reminder is crucial to understanding the scene

This isn’t 1860 anymore. Every detail must serve a purpose. Keep character and setting descriptions down to absolute need-to-know and spread it out like icing on a cake – enough to coat, but not give you a mouthful of whipped sugar and zero cake.

Avoid describing generic daily routines, unless the existence of said routine is out of ordinary for the character, or will be rudely interrupted by chaos. No one cares about them brushing their teeth and doing their hair.

Make sure your characters move, but not too much. E.g. two characters sitting and talking – do humans just stare at each other with their arms lifeless and bodies utterly motionless during conversation? No? Then neither should your characters. Make them gesture, wave, frown, laugh, cross their legs, their arms, shift around to get comfortable, pound the table, roll their eyes, point, shrug, touch their face, their hair, wring their hands, pick at their nails, yawn, stretch, pout, sneer, smirk, click their tongue, clear their throat, sniff/sniffle, tap their fingers/drum, bounce their feet, doodle, fiddle with buttons or jewelry, scratch an itch, touch their weapons/gadgets/phones, check the time, get up and sit back down, move from chair to table top – the list goes on. Bonus points if these are tics that serve to develop your character, like a nervous fiddler, or if one moves a lot and the other doesn’t – what does that say about the both of them? This is where “show don’t tell” really comes into play.

4. Your entire work should not be paced exactly the same

Just like a paragraph should not be filled with sentences of all the same length and syntax. Some beats deserve more or less time than others. Unfortunately, this is unique to every single story and there is no one size fits all.

General guidelines are as follows:

Action scenes should have short paragraphs and lots of movement. Cut all setting details and descriptors, internal monologues, and the like, unless they service the scene.

Journey/travel scenes must pull double or even triple duty. There’s a reason very few movies are marketed as “single take” and those that are don’t waste time on stuff that doesn’t matter. See 1917.

Romantic scenes are entirely up to you. Make it a thousand words, make it ten thousand, but you must advance either the romantic tension, actual movement of the characters, conversation, or intimacy of the relationship.

Don’t let your conversations run wild. If they start to veer off course, stop, boil it down to its essentials, and cut the rest.

When transitioning between slow to faster pacing and back again, it’s also not one size fits all. Maybe it being jarring is the point – it’s as sudden for the characters as it is for the reader. With that said, try to keep the “suddenly”s to a minimum.

5. Pacing and tone go hand in hand

This means that, generally speaking, the tone of your scene changes with the speed of the narrative. As stated above, a jarring tonal shift usually brings with it a jarring pacing shift.

A character might get in a car crash while speeding away from an abusive relationship. A character who thinks they’re safe from a pursuer might be rudely and terrifyingly proven wrong. An exhausting chase might finally relent when sanctuary is found. A quiet dinner might quickly turn romantic with a look, or confession. Someone casually cleaning up might discover evidence of a lie, a theft, an intruder and begin to panic.

--

Whatever the case may be, a narrative that is all action all the time suffers from lack of meaningful character moments. A narrative that meanders through the character drama often forgets there is a plot they’re supposed to be following.

A Bouquet of New Beginnings: Chapter 6 "Harebell"

[AO3]

All roads lead to Hogsmeade :)

Except below (the rest can be read through the AO3 link above!):

“Fantastic. Come on, let’s head on out. Ever been to Hogsmeade?”

Artemis shook her head, and Garreth’s eyes widened like saucers.

“Really? Well, you’re in for a treat then! Loads of fun things to do,” said Garreth as they started down the cobbled path. The smell of pine and oak lingered in the air as other students went to and fro; yellow daffodils honked as little, purple harebells rustled in the wind.

“I’m sorry,” apologised Artemis.

Garreth looked down at her, surprised.

“Huh? Whatever for?”

“You probably had plans with friends, and your aunt threw you guide duty. I appreciate it, of course, but.”

“Oh! Don’t worry about it. Plus, there’s a few things that I wanted to get; you gave me the perfect reason to go,” said Garreth with an affable smile.

“Like Billywig Stings?”

“How did…?”

“You were writing out an ingredients list during Runes. Do you experiment with potions?”

Garreth looked steadily more and more excited.

“I do indeed, bit of a potions prodigy, actually,” started Garreth as his arms spoke just as animatedly. “You see, I think there’s little difference, fundamentally, between brewing a modification to Butterbeer and a Wiggenweld Potion. So, I came up with one this summer. Had a few people test it this morning; needs a bit more work.”

“Butterbeer?”

“Yes I- wait, have you had Butterbeer before?”

Artemis shook her head once more. Garreth looked aghast as his hand came to his chest.

“What do you drink then?”

“Water and tea.”

“You’ve really got to expand your repertoire Snow.”

Artemis let out a small laugh as Garreth shook his head.

“Right, good thing we’re stopping by the Three Broomsticks - can’t believe you’ve never had Butterbeer - after we’re done with your list. Aunt Matilda’d be furious if we didn’t finish what you needed to and get you back for your Sorting. That happening in the Great Hall?”

“No, in the Headmaster’s Office.”

“My sincerest condolences,” said Garreth before he looked up and pointed. “Look!”

As Garreth exclaimed, two winged creatures – heads of eagles and bodies of horses – emerged from the tree lines.

Artemis’ jaw dropped - hippogriffs were real.

A Bouquet of New Beginnings: Chapter 5 "Lily of the Valley"

[AO3]

The first day of classes at Hogwarts - Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and a bit of Runes. All before going off to Hogsmeade.

Except below (the rest can be read through the AO3 link above!):

Artemis was the sort to rise on her own accord at what some referred to as an unholy hour of five in the morning. This morning, despite the unusual length of the potion-induced slumber, was no different. She spent the next few hours, in the name of calming her nerves, double-checking everything she had.

Artemis was, as Professor Fig aptly put, the prepared sort.

As Professor Weasley had stated, a cross-body school bag appeared by her bedside, filled with notebooks, quills, inkpots and pencils. All of her needed textbooks were stacked in a precariously balanced tower, and a single pewter cauldron teetered on top like an academic Christmas tree. Clad in the Hogwarts uniform with the top button undone, her hair in the milkmaid braid and filled with the armada of white hairpins, and the soft scent of kinmokusei, she unveiled the legside bag’s contents.

Her Potions and Healer’s kits contained every potion, container and ingredient she’d packed up sans those that she’d used. The Wound-Cleansing Potion was mostly still full, the Wiggenpaste hardly used, but she’d need to brew another Calming Draught. A good excuse to buy some decent crocodile heart. Nocturne batted at the offensive purple potion.

The pin-striped pyjamas she’d worn lay upon the bed. Past her apparently had the foresight to include a spare uniform; she gave herself a mental pat on the back. Her grimoire, a tin of kinmokusei solid perfume, her small Japanese dictionary (kanji could be such a headache), the gifts from the Price family, and finally something she didn’t pack.

A set of new, obsidian balanced throwing knives. She flipped the blade, and saw the etched enchantment runes that gleamed bronze at her touch: Pertho & Algiz. Artemis smiled – how fitting. Carefully, she tucked away everything back aside from the spoon. She held the trinket gently in her left palm, her Glamoured scar also now hidden under light wood and whittled buttercup. Like a little piece of her childhood friend was there, in his own way.

The thought alone was enough for her heart to calm enough to start on the small breakfast of toast, apples, and chai. Nocturne devoured a plate of fish next to her as her mind went back to yesterday.

Professor Fig must be grieving for his friend, thought Artemis as she took another sip. Perhaps she’d stop by during lunch to deliver a bouquet, it was the least she could do. The spoon was tucked away into her legside bag then, her robes left folded for now.

“Orchideous.”

Chrysanthemum, marigold, lily of the valley, cypress, mint.

Oranges, yellow, white and bits of herby green.

Nocturne sniffed at the bouquet curiously.

“You can’t eat these, darling,” warned Artemis softly as she held the bouquet in her hand. Her wand hand went to pet Nocturne’s head.

“I believe black velvet would bind that well, Miss Loreley.”

i love mutual pining to lovers because it gives some of the vibes of a love triangle without the needless drama. alternatively it’s like a love triangle except the third person is just mutual stupidity.

A Bouquet of New Beginnings Chapter 8: "Royal Fern"

Flower Language: Fascination

[AO3]

Summary: Artemis continues with her first week of school, and does reconnaissance on a certain library.

Excerpt below the cut (the full chapter can be read through AO3 Link above):

Poppy was, by all impressions, pleasant and quiet. The latter she could relate, so she gathered every ounce of social ability and made to start a conversation, or at the very least, ask if the seat next to her was available. That was the intent, most definitely. Until the brown ball of something in Poppy’s arms, with giant, round, brown eyes jetted out a long, whip-like tongue.

Right at Artemis.

She dodged instinctively with a quick neck tilt; it cracked gloriously loud. Loud enough Poppy turned toward her and gasped.

“Oh! So sorry, Gerald’s a bit excited and, um, are you alright?”

“Yes, yes I’m fine,” mustered Artemis as she looked down at the ball of fur. “Is the seat available?”

“Oh, of course!” Poppy exclaimed, seemingly surprised. “I’m Poppy. Poppy Sweeting.”

“Artemis Loreley, pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise. Oh, this is Gerald. He’s a puffskein. I think he likes you.”

Artemis and Gerald the Puffskein locked eyes before he let out some sort of croon. She supposed he was cute enough, previous transgression of tongue lashing forgiven as her fingers tickled his – assumedly- chin.

“He seems very nice.”