happy new year! just came on here to say that i was rewatching deathly hallows 1 and thinking about what a concidence it was that harry was both the chosen one and a descendant of ignotus peverell, only to realize that it wasn't a concidence at all.
ignotus asked for the invisibility cloak so Death couldn't find him before he was ready, and before he finally greets Death, he passes the cloak off to his children so Death cannot find them before they're ready, either. the assumption is that the cloak continues down the family tree in this fashion until it inevitably reaches the potters, james specifically. dumbledore "borrowed" the cloak from james, ultimately removing it from the family tree (for a time), thus preventing james from being able to hide himself, lily, and harry when voldemort found the safe house, resulting in both his and lily's death and harry's almost-death.
in other words, when the cloak was taken from ignotus' line, Death was finally able to find his family (in the form of voldemort) before they were ready to die.
(this connection runs even deeper in book considering harry uses the cloak throughout the battle of hogwarts to evade voldemort, revealing himself only when he is ready. what's more, the reveals happen twice: first, in the forest, when harry is willingly walking towards his death and second, in the great hall, when harry finally has all of the information and all of the mysticism and fear of voldemort has finally been removed. in fact, from memory, harry even exclusively refers to voldemort as tom in the final scene, completely destroying the power dynamic voldemort has worked so hard to create between them. therefore, one might say, quite like his ancestor, harry only removed the cloak of invisibility when he was ready to die and, when he did so, he greeted Death as an equal.)
The mods are absolutely delighted to present the following fics written this summerâfrom Debut to Evermore, our participants absolutely killed the taylor-swift-inspired fanfiction game, and we couldn't be prouder. Check out the list below for all of the submitted fics from the fest (thirty five! so many!) and leave kudos/like/reblog/comment on your favorites!
We've tried to list both the ao3 and tumblr links for works when possible, so if you like an author's work, be sure to check out their profile for moreâand if you're a participant from this summer who doesn't see your work on here...drop us a DM and we'll get that squared away.
Many many thanks to everyone who participated and/or hyped up our festâneither of us have ever moderated one before, and it was so fun to organize that you might just catch us ready to Begin Again later on in the year đđ.
We love you! We're proud of you! You made us so happy!
xx Grey and Andie
(click below to see all of this year's participants, listed in order of TS era!)
A Perfectly Good Heart â @harryissuchalittleshit, Hinny
(ao3) (tumblr)
Iâm Only Me When Iâm With You â @twosweaters-twoboys, Wolfstar
(ao3) (tumblr)
Picture to Burn â @femme--de--lettres, Jegulus
(ao3) (tumblr)
Teardrops on My Guitar â @greyeyedmonster-18, Prongsfoot
(hi! this is for @cruelsummer-ficfest ; my song was haunted (acoustic version)! any line in italics is from the song or some variation on the lyric! also on ao3!)
it shouldnât surprise ginny. what she knows is coming. sheâs known they walk a fragile line. sheâs known it all this time. but logic doesnât stop the headaches she gets when she thinks about it for too long; when she looks at this thing she and harry have been painfully careful not to call a relationship too deeply. logic doesnât stop her blood from freezing when she catches that faraway look he gets in his eyes sometimes, like this was all a big mistake he shouldâve known better than to make.
she wants to be mad at him. she wants to rage at him; scream, cry, throw a fit for treating them as something so disposable; for being so careless with her. but she canât. because thatâs not what heâs doing is it? itâs getting dark and itâs all too quiet and heâs just trying to stay afloat like the rest of them. now more than ever, everyone seems to look at harry like heâs some miracle bestowed on them, some chosen thing, who can just snap his fingers and set the world to right. but ginny knows better. knows heâs as lost as the rest of them - even if he wonât tell her what exactly it is heâs lost about. knows that this thing that heâs going to do with them - the destruction heâs going to sow - sooner or later, is the only answer he can see - even if itâs so wrong, itâs laughable.
ginny debates begging him, whispering donât leave me like this to him in between kisses, when her fingers are in his ridiculously messy hair and heâs breathing unsteadily, pupils blown wide open, looking at her like heâs getting drunk on her. like heâd do anything for her. but she cannot find it in her to taint those blissful moments. she debates wounding him, screaming i thought i had you figured out at him because she knows just how hard itâll drive a knife into his heart. but she knows that heart - that wonderful, bleeding thing - and ginny cannot hurt it for the life of her. itâs not his fault that somethingâs gone terribly wrong; itâs not his fault she canât turn back now; itâs not harryâs fault sheâs haunted. harryâs not some great chosen one; heâs just a boy whoâs trying his best to carry all the things the world has forced onto his shoulders, and ginnyâll give him that grace even if it kills her.
it finally comes the day they bury dumbledore. she does not rage. she does not scream or cry or throw a fit. ginny simply stands there and watches harry walk away from everything they had. and she hates herself just a little because she knows she still means every word she said to him. every sweet-nothing she whispered in his ear when he had her up against the greenhouse wall, lips on her neck. every half-baked wish she told him about when they were the last ones in the common room, sat on the ground, leaning on each other with the fire dying out in front of them. every gentle affirmation she gave him, hand over his heart, on his chest, down his arms, in his hair. every little thing she said to replace i love you. she doesnât entirely know how long she stays glued to that spot, eyes still trained in the direction she watched him go, but itâs long enough for dean of all people to find her. he must see something in her, dean, because he tells her a joke, tries to take away her pain, and ginny thinks - for the briefest moment - that dean is far more than she ever gave him credit for. itâs replaced just as quickly as it forms, however, with the undeniable fact that - as far as ginnyâs concerned - heâll never hold a candle to harry. harry who, for all his faults, was the only person she ever actually wanted to hold on to, even if she was holding on to nothing now.
ginny knows, as everyone boards the train when term is well and truly over, that sheâll feel worse than this in the coming months. she sees it in him - in the way he ducks into the compartment they both thought theyâd be sat in together this time around, in the way he glues himself to the corner of it, avoiding the watchful gazes surrounding him, emerald eyes instead focused on the parts of hogwarts visible through his window. harryâs never been one to sit still, and the only thing that was really keeping him at school this past year was dumbledore. and them, some small corner of herself screams. but dumbledoreâs dead now, and they wonât finish what they started. not with the war this close; not with hogwarts theyâd always known slipping away from them in real time. ginny knows that whatever it was that kept dragging him into dumbledoreâs office all term will drag him away much farther now - farther from her than she even wants to imagine - and merlin only knows if heâll be able to make it out; make it back to her. but sheâs always know this, hasnât she? theyâd always walked a fragile line. sheâd known it all this time. she just never ever thought sheâd see it break.
hello! i saw the ask you sent to @/cruelsummer-ficfest for participating in their fest and i just wanted to say that you are one of my fav hinny writers and i can't wait to read your fic!!!!! i love ts and i love the song haunted and i'm really excited to see how you're gonna write hinny with that song!!! <3
oh my god thank you so much for saying this!! it's literally so kind that i cannot even fully process it. week's been shit but you're an absolute angel so thank you thank you thank you!! i will be thinking about this and only this for the next 8-10 business days; sending you all my love and well wishes <33333
[PEBBLYSAND'S 2021 FIC REC LIST] - HARRY POTTER EDITION
hi all! i hope you're doing well during this rather awkward week between christmas and new year's! i'm currently sitting on my mum's balcony under the southern france sunshine, enjoying a much welcome break from the grim winter irish weather.
as you might know, i'm not typically one to build extensive rec lists but as 2021 is coming to an end, i thought it would be fun to look back on the fics i read and bookmarked this year and give you a sort of 'best of' (especially since a lot of you might be enjoying some time off at the moment and looking for things to read). as a forewarning, while i did pick my ultimate favourite ten, these are in no particular order. i've tried to keep the ships varied (writing this list has made me realise how much i actually gravitate most towards a specific type of prose than any actual pairing) and am also reccing only works that are finished. if you want my full rec list, please don't hesitate to look through my public bookmarks on ao3, where i keep my most treasured finds.
pour a little salt, we were never here by youcallitwinter (harry/hermione-ish ; 1,274 words ; canon-compliant [1]): so, look. i appreciate that most of my following will not want to hop on the harry/hermione bandwagon with me (fair enough) but this one is definitely one of my faves within a very specific trope of harry-and-hermione-and-all-the-reasons-why-it-didn't-happen, which is probably my favourite trope for this pairing. this fic has some of the most gorgeous writing i have ever seen, period (literally every line is a quotable gem). it's about growing up and accepting life as it presents itself - the summary explains it much better than i currently am: "What happens isn't particularly epic, or even tragic. What happens is stupid; they all just grow up. That's it, that's the whole story." and yeah, that's it, that's the whole story and it's a formidable, heartbreakingly beautiful and realistic story.
.
all is quiet in the clearing by slyther-ing (andromeda/ted ; 1,304 words ; canon-compliant): since reading turncoats (which is obviously the ultimate andromeda fic and is my actual favourite fic ever - if you haven't read it, please leave and go read it now), i've been low-key obsessed by andromeda's story and her trajectory from a young, Black, slytherin girl to resistance hero and grandmother to teddy. this fic presents a good insight into her relationship with ted, which is obviously tragic but so very interesting within the potter canon. it's rather short but spans over a few years as ted and andromeda meet, grow up, grow old, up until ted's death. it's beautiful and heartbreaking in all the right ways. if you're interested in that ship, i would highly recommend giving it a read.
.
glass over the flame by thegreybeyond (harry/hermione-ish ; 1857 words ; canon-compliant): this is my second rec in the harry-and-hermione-and-all-the-reasons-why-it-didn't-happen category. the writing in this one is fantastic and it strikes similar cords in terms of growing up, coming of age, etc. as the first fic i recommended. i love this one because i think it very subtly studies themes of friendship and how there-might-have-been-something-but-we-chose-not-to doesn't have to be a heartbreak either.
.
naive: in defense of hannah abbott by dirgewithoutmusic (neville/hannah ; 5,557 words ; canon-compliant): now, full disclosure, if you've been following me for a while, you'll know that i'm a dirgewithoutmusic stan. i've had to limit myself to only reccing one work per series because if i didn't, this whole rec list would just be dirgewithoutmusic. i've been slowly working my way through their series we must unite inside her walls or we'll crumble from within which is centered around hogwarts houses and different secondary characters, and after turncoats last year, this one was definitely my favourite i read this year. the degree of imagination and worldbuilding this author masters in shaping entire, fully fleshed characters out of the very little information we have about them in the books is truly unbelievable - i am forever in awe. this fic is mostly about hannah, her relationship with neville, the loss of her mother in book six, and a reminder that it'd okay to take time to grieve, and not to always be 'fighting' or 'okay.' it just such a gorgeous story that makes you cry and smile at the same time, just like life does. i adore this fic so much.
.
the kids who chose themselves by dirgewithoutmusic (gen ; 9,714 words ; AU): i read this fic once. i will likely never read it again. it has lived in my head rent-free since then, has fucked up my psyche forever and is probably one of the most stunning what-ifs i have ever read. it outlines the scenario of what would have happened if both neville and harry had died that night on hallowe'en and there was no chosen one. i'm generally nnot one to enjoy fics where harry is dead but i suppose this is the exception. if you want to read about muggle/wizard alliances, clandestine schools, and a worldbuilding that is fucking stellar and will make you forever in awe of what this author can accomplish with less than 10,000 words, go read this immediately. the other works in the series are also amazing but this one just stuck with me.
.
savior complex by @hiinnys (harry/ginny ; 1,495 words ; canon-compliant - the fic i tagged as not epilogue-compliant but i'm not sure why): someone once recommended this fic to me first asking me if i'd written it and calling it very "me," which i think i can't ignore when placing it on this list. this being said, not only did i not write this, but it's also written probably ten times better than i ever could. @hiinnys's writing is everything i adore down to the lack of capital letters (lol) and an amazing use of language and flow. it's a simple, post-war story around an ipod and harry's love of muggle music and running, topped with a gorgeous picture of his growing relationship with ginny, showing that you can create beautiful tales out of thin air. i can't stress how beautiful this is (and funny, too) and it warms my heart every time i read it.
.
warm front by flagpoles (harry/ginny ; 5,332 words ; canon-compliant): as someone who's traveled quite a bit and lived in a number of different countries, i adore the trope of harry going traveling after the war and this fic (and the next one) does this so well. harry moves to australia with teddy and andromeda a couple of years after the battle and slowly learns to find his way home. there's a lot of letters, funny quotes and deep phone chatter between harry and the rest of the gang, and a very interesting study of how you can both miss people but also need to be alone sometimes. this fic is fluff and fun, and warm feelings done incredibly well (see, i'm not always bleak and angsty!) - i love the style and the dialogue and the cleverness of it all. it's something that i don't think i could ever write but which i aboslutely adored reading. flagpoles also very recently released another fic which i'm not listing here officially but also brought me a lot of joy.
.
maps to the stars' homes by lizbee (gen - slight harry/ginny ; 7,475 words ; AU): i think i first read this fic years and years ago, but only rediscovered it last may. this one sort of explores the same trope as the previous one (harry goes traveling after the war) but does it in a completely different way as it was written in '05, so before book seven came out. it's a very interesting take in what could have been and what the war could have looked like if written differently, though it's uncanny how the end point is so strangely the same. i absolutely love the non-chronological structure of this fic (we all know i'm a sucker for non-linear narratives) as well as this idea that muggles could just be told about magic casually. this fic was a huge inspiration for how i wrote mia's reaction to magic in castles.
.
the seam between by @copper-dust (gen ; 26,188 words ; canon-compliant): i think i'm not alone in saying i absolutely adore this fic, it's - imo - got potential to become a classic. to give you a little bit of a pitch, this story is (mostly) set during the summer between harry fourth and fifth years, before he makes it to grimmauld place. as far as i'm concerned, it sets the canon within that gap of time we never heard of in the books, describes his daily life at the dursleys', his relationship with petunia, the ongoing struggle to come to terms with cedric's death, etc. it's a fic i didn't even know i needed - i mostly read post-war fanfic to makes sense of the giant nothing that is the post-war world in my head - and i'd never really realised that there was a gap in those few weeks spent at the dursleys that i was interested in filling. in terms of the writing itself, i'll just what probably everybody knows at this stage, which is that copper_dust is one of the best (if not the best) writers in fandom at the moment. every word on that page is studied, thought through, chosen and exact, in a way that i've rarely ever seen, including in original fiction. the work and its tone is subtle, clever, and just right; harry's teenage, inner voice is rendered absolutely perfectly - as i've said before, this fic is canon, as far as i'm concerned. what i particularly love about this fic is the amount of research done on the historical context of that period of the 90s, which gives such an immersive feel to the story. you'll often hear that there is poetry in the ordinary, and this fic is the ultimate illustration of that. it is shaping beauty and truth out of the daily life of a scared and scarred teenage boy, in a truly invaluable way. i could not recommend this fic (and the rest of copper_dust's work) more.
.
toxicology by speechwriter (gen ; 2,942 words): to me, this fic probably exists somewhere within a space of canon-compliant and not, which is why i'll let you be the judge. i really hesitated on what i'd recommend as my last point (close runner ups were: bless the children give them triumph yet and it's a small crime and i've got no excuse) but i chose this one because it's not only incredibly well written but also dives into an interesting concept: since harry was a horcrux, did being around him impact ron and hermione's personalities growing up, the same way the locket did in the forest? if so, in what way? i'm not sure that i fully subscribe to this theory but i think it's a terribly interesting idea and the exploration is done superbly well in this fic. i would very highly recommend.
[NOVEMBER '21] - THE LIFE/WRITING UPDATE NO ONE ASKED FOR (AND SOME QUICK LINKS)
oh lads. i donât know about you but i have no idea where october went. i mean, i wrote every fucking day under the sun, then i went on holiday, then i edited 13,000 words in 27 hours almost straight, bar a 3 hour nap in between, then my mum came to stay with me, and now here we are, lol. plus the clocks have gone back gone forward i never know, and now itâs just dark, all the time, oh happy days. i think i said this in my old fic "children" once, but november is universally the shittiest month of the year, amiright?
Anyway, before diving into more life/writing updates, here are some quick links to different blog pages you might not see on mobile :
to read my fics
to read my original work
fic recs
to read my tumblr rants about stuff
[NOTE: i am currently not accepting prompts but maybe soon-ish?]
Castles (chap 10) ETA: december?
links extended a/n-s: chapter v ; chapter vi & vii ; chapter viii ; chapter ix
[more life/writing updates under the cut]
what iâm reading:
i went on holidays this month and so as planes have always been (and probably will always be the one place i read) we are back in business! i finished two books this month, and they were really good reads!
books:
i finished beautiful world, where are you? by sally rooney. as iâve said before, iâve been a sally rooney stan for a few years now, and i genuinely enjoyed this book, although it definitely was not my favourite. i think my issue with this book was two-fold: first, i didnât love the letters exchanged between the two main protagonists - i felt they were a bit of a waste of space and did not really tell the reader anything new about the characters, if iâm honest and second, i felt a bit frustrated by the four-main-characters set-up, rather than two, like in normal people. i felt the same with conversations with friends so this is not news but i feel like if thereâs one thing sally does, itâs character building, and i just wish she would focus on one or two people, rather than try and get confused with doing four. i also thought that strangely enough, she did a better job at having the boys be fascinating, well-rounded, flawed individuals, rather than the girls. both simon and felix felt like very interesting, complicated characters i really wanted to spend time with, and i desperately wanted this story told from their pov, rather than eileen and aliceâs. i wonder if this is the only the effect of the restricted pov (obviously, the other characters whose heads youâre not in always feel more like a mystery) but i think it was something deeper than that. i felt that eileen was a bit too perfect for my taste and alice just felt like sally self-bashing. a lot of people have said that alice is a self-insert (insanely famous author of two books about âpeople,â known for the way she writes about sex⊠um, yeah, sure, why not?) but i would argue that it only is in the way that alice feels like rooney being like: here is everything i hate about myself in a single character who, by the way, has no redeeming qualities. i fucking hated alice, and i think youâre meant to hate her, and i was like, âhonestly, sally, darling, no one is that bad.â all of this being said, though, obviously, sally is a genius. her writing is stellar, her storytelling skills are insane and i will read her grocery list if she gives it to me. thereâs that scene at the party with simon and eileen where she conveys all of the feelings in the world with almost no emotion whatsoever in text, that scene legit brought me to tears and i was like: okay, fair play, sure look, iâll never write again, thanks very much. lastly, (and iâd be curious if this is a shared sentiment by non-irish people, @hiinnys, maybe, iâm curious what you thought) but i felt that this novel was a lot more âirishâ than the previous ones. the omnipresence of the dublin rental crisis, the locations, i even noticed more irish phrases like the âdo beâ verb tense, which i donât recall being used in her previous work. this might be in my head (or maybe iâm just noticing this now because iâve been here longer) but this book really felt irish and homey to me. there was a very interesting article in gawker (ugh, i know) on this topic entitled âsally rooney is irishâ and how she writes about ireland but without making it into this cliche-ed postcard set up weâre so used to. i thought it was super interesting and would highly recommend.
i also finished a book iâd downloaded on kindle ages ago but only got to now: watch her fall by erin kelly. sure look, ya girl loves a good thriller sometimes and erin kelly is such a master at telling a story from multiple povs⊠iâm honestly jealous. i really enjoyed this, the pacing and writing was great, and i loved the classical dancing setting. my only complaint is that the end twist, i felt, didnât wrap around everything as well as it did in he said/she said, so i would definitely recommend reading that one first, because itâs really her masterpiece. this was definitely fab and entertaining. i was up trying to finish it until 2am the night i got back from romania, so this was 100% a banger.
fics:
iâm still reading: knowing where to look by ala_baguette and still loving it. havenât read the latest chapter that came out last night yet, though, so please donât spoil haha.
iâve sort of low key been reading love in a time of a zombie apocalypse off a tiktok recommendation. i donât know, sometimes i like to switch my brain off, okay? also, iâve always sort of loved zombie/dystopian aus, they make me lol. itâs not the best fic iâve ever read and i donât know how i feel about dramione but sure look, itâs fine.
.
what iâm watching:
i havenât finished downton abbey but i have gotten recently obsessed with two other shows lately. the first is maid. iâve spoken about it on tumblr a bit but boy, if domestic violence and poverty are topics that you feel drawn to, do give it a watch. itâs beautiful, the acting is stellar, it does such as good job of showing the cycle of toxic relationships, the legal difficulties when, as she puts it âyou donât have bruisesâ and is so, so well written, i absolutely loved it. obviously, it is a tough watch, though.
iâve also been watching a lot of goliath lately. iâm on season 3, which i feel is slightly weaker than the first two, but iâm honestly loving it so far. itâs got a lot of michael connolly vibes, i feel, especially in the way that it shows los angeles, and is actually very funny. the characters are great, the acting is absolutely stellar (that woman who plays the paralegal is chefâs kiss) and iâm definitely enjoying this. would highly recommend if youâre looking for a non-traditional legal show.
.
what iâm writing:
okay, this deserves capslocks. CASTLES IS OUT. I REPEAT. CASTLES IS OUT. thank the lord.
jokes aside, this took ages to get out, and iâm so, so glad it now is. i donât know why but i was convinced this chapter was going to piss off a lot of people but actually, the response was overwhelmingly positive so thank you so much. i am so thankful and humbled by the fact that so many people are reading this story, itâs an actual dream and honestly, getting all your comments in throughout the last couple of days, itâs just been the absolute best feeling. iâve tried to answer most of yous by now but i am running a bit of a backlog so please hand in there. but thank you, thank you, thank youuuu.
in terms of what happens next, iâve said it on a couple of discords but iâm finally doing nanowrimo for the first time in my life (yaaaay!) itâs genuinely the first year, since finding out about the event some ten years ago, that i actually both have time and am in the ârightâ headspace to do this. so iâm trying it out by attempting to write the next 50,000 words of castles. iâm anticipating another 70k so it wonât be really âfinishingâ castles, but iâm hoping to make a pretty big dent in whateverâs left. this means that while i donât think iâll post an update before december, iâll definitely be working. of course, if you want to send in asks or thoughts or do the word ask game again, anytime, be my guest. iâm actually sort of excited for this. i think itâs going to be tough, but loads of fun.
.
what iâm doing:
i went to romania and it was fucking awesome to finally go on a trip after eighteen months of pandemic shite. this being said, i am absolutely exhausted and cannot wait for a bit of dublin-based, quiet time by myself. iâm just gonna paint my nails tonight, order some indian food and then sleep lol. whatevs, iâll start nano tomorrow.
i haven't finished BWWAY just yet but iâm here with my (not really) hot take nonetheless! i definitely agree with you in that this book is significantly more irish than the last two. the last book i read before this one was exciting times by naoise dolan, which is shamelessly irish, and rooneyâs grammatical style in this one resembles dolanâs so heavily that the only reason i honestly noticed the difference between the two was because of their writing styles as a whole. Â
i also think, because the book exists in two places at once (with the split povs of eileen and alice), rooney turns dublin into a character. in her past two, all of the characters have - effectively - existed in the same places at the same time, and thus itâs not important to the story to emphasize their local. alice being away from dublin, i think, makes it necessary for eileen to be in dublin for rooney to feel a bit more grounded in her own work. so we get these spiraling descriptions of dublin, in all its beauty, and the crises that actually characterize it as a city, rather than rooneyâs previous descriptions of it as just âcity,â if that makes sense.
i also think thereâs a much deeper analysis in rooneyâs decision to have alice existing in this wide open seaside town and eileen existing in this hustling city when their characterizations are the exact opposite of each other. let me explain: alice likes to be independent and unimportant, but she doesnât do well being entirely alone. she has a complete mental break when sheâs off in new york, by herself and being mass marketed. for all intents and purposes, existing in a city like dublin, where she could easily disappear while still being apart of something greater, should be the best thing for her personality type. eileen, on the other hand, has said she wants a house and a garden and some peace, yet she exists in this bustling metropolitan area. personally, i think rooneyâs decision to do this is her commenting on how people with wealth never know what to do with themselves and people without it are forever forced to yearn for the life they want, without having any means to do attain it. but, i have digressed from both your and my original point, which is: yes, i agree, this book is significantly more irish than anything rooneyâs put out before.Â
âš Thanks a lot for the tag @starlingflight !! âš
Rules: Answer 7 questions and tag 7 people
Relationship status: Single
Favorite color: my indecisive soul canât decide between green, blue, and maroon
Three favorite foods: I can eat pizza every day and not get sick of it, and Iâd be committing a crime if I didnât say Biryani. Lastly: chocolate, and any dessert it is used in.
Last thing I googled: âgrad school statement of purpose examplesâ â pretty self explanatory I guess. send help.
Dream trip: Tour England and Scotland!
Anything I really want: see Taylor Swift live in concert - something Iâve wanted since I was 10
Relationship status: ugh i donât know itâs complicated.
Favorite color: it hovers between yellow and red. i think red atm.
Three favorite foods: ravioli nicois which are similar to italian ravioli but the dough is thinner (and, imo, better), salted caramel ice cream, octopus (hey, yeah look im southern european okaaaay?)
Last thing I googled: easy on me adele lyrics. (lol)
Dream trip: all time dream trip (as in, if i could go anywhere under circumstances where the environmental impact of tourism wasnât a concern) - antartica.
Anything I really want: to finish writing this fucking fic ohmygod.
Tagging â @imaginaryvane, @g1nny-p0tter, @prettyflores, @whizzfizz, @copper-dust, @hiinnys, @blinkngone or anyone who wants to do this honestly go for it.
Favorite color:Â whatever green dakota johnsonâs kitchen isÂ
Three favorite foods:Â poke bowls, nihari (my love), and anytime of pasta ever created except ravioliÂ
Last thing I googled: "is the awakening realist or naturalist?â (âšenglish major thingsâš) (would also highly recommend the awakening by kate chopin if youre looking for some foundational feminist lit!)
Dream trip:Â would absolutely love to be able to visit every inch of the middle east, but the west makes disgusting political decisionsÂ
Anything I really want:Â for this class to be over (arguably, for my degree to be over, but that's for another day)
tagging: @hedwigsbixch @ginnypxtter @blinkngone @ginnyweasley11 @theroomofreq @g1nny-p0tter @her-blazing-look and anyone else who wants to!
WOOHOO YAY ok so you probably listen to taylor swift and you better of read atyd you most likely kin remus or sirius youre really sweet but stubborn and have a hard time letting good things in and trusting people
tagging: @remuslupininskirts @jamespotterinskirts @siriusblackinskirts @regulusblackinskirts @nymphadorathebubba @loonyloopylupin5 @justadreamyhufflepuff @thelastfunctioningbraincell @goingthruphases @siriusly-a-timelady @toomanynotifications @the-aggressiveshipper @marauders-map-irl @lauralestrange7 @ghost-spidey @levwillcommitarson @remusloopy @i-do-random-things-do-not-ask @jeguluswhore and @/everyone i forgot to tag (im so sorry) and/or wants to do this
WOOHOO YAY ok so you probably listen to taylor swift and you better of read atyd you most likely kin remus or sirius youre really sweet but stubborn and have a hard time letting good things in and trusting people
hello! thank you for the ask!! im singularly the worst person to ask about fic reqs because i mostly don't keep track of anything that i read đ
@narukoibito has an incredible list here (and, seriously, all of these fics are stunning!!!!)
i would also like to add anything by @pebblysand (ao3Â here!), who is an absolute genius and kills me every damn time (i'm both terribly jealous of her talent and terribly excited/amazed to call her a friend <3)
very selfishly, i'm also gonna drop the link to savior complex which is one of my pieces; it's mostly harry-centric, but hinny is very much alive and well because who is harry without ginny, really?
thank you again for the ask (even if this was barely a response) and hope you enjoy these!!
not to CONSTANTLY be on the taylor invented hinny hill but everything has changed is hinny circa hbp several sunlit days era and no one can change my mind
being in your early twenties is like [grocery shopping alone] [having instant noodles for dinner] [remembering random details about that one friend you haven't spoken to in five years] [feeling overwhelming guilt for every purchase that isn't strictly "necessary"] [having midday naps] [finding out through facebook that the girl who was mean to you in high school has a husband and a baby] [falling a little in love with every stranger on public transport] [pretending you're not afraid of being alone] [wondering when you'll feel like a fully realized person] [listening to bands you liked in middle school] [blinking and it's suddenly december] [failing to imagine yourself ten years from now] [feeling like you're running out of time]
Just fancied writing some nice Harry, Ron and Neville being Auror bros. Nothing too big or exciting, just good vibes, and a little Easter Egg. x
Foil containers with the messy remains of curry scattered the dining room table, dripping onto the files that the boys had brought back with them. The scowling faces of imprisoned or deceased Death Eaters looked up at them through the crumbs of naan and onion bhaji, their various misdeeds and atrocities listed in slightly faded ink, flickering in the light of the small chandelier above them.
âNeville,â said Ron, leaning back on his chair and staring at the photo on the dresser. âYouâre really cute.â
âGive over.â
âYou are, look at those chubby cheeks. Adorable.â
âI should have hidden all those.â
âNah, itâs a rite of passage. Youâll see all mine when Mum gets you round for a Sunday lunch. Harry, are you going to eat that?â
âGo ahead,â said Harry, pushing the foil container towards him without lifting his eyes from his own file.
Ron took the chana masala, and turned back to his files with a sigh. âRight, so⊠partial footprint in blood.â
Harry hummed, still staring at his file. âI donât think itâs Dolohovâs⊠I think thatâs wrong, the size doesnât match up.â
âSame sort of wavy pattern, though,â said Neville.
âYeah, but look - I mean thatâs got to be a full size larger, hasnât it? Because surely it must curve up this wayâŠâ
âYou know what, that wavy pattern - I think thatâs the sole of a Mr Malkinâs Bootwear shoe,â said Ron.
âThereâs a Mr Malkins?â
âYeah. He does boots.â
âWhat kind of boots?â
âOnes that go on your feet.â
Harry flung the crumbling remains of a samosa at him. âYou know what I mean.â
âAll right, all right - really cheap ones. Dad used to wear them a lot, theyâre only a couple of sickles but obviously they fall apart within about a month, itâs a false economy. As soon as Bill and Charlie were earning their own money, they invested in a really good pair of boots for themselves and got Dad some proper ones too. I donât think itâs a Death Eater with loads of money. Or at least, not a flashy one, like Malfoy.â
âCould it have been MacNair?â said Neville. âHeâs got massive feet, and his Gringotts account didnât have much in it.â
âOh, good shout⊠yeah, we donât know what he was up to that week, actuallyâŠâ
There was a trilling, chirping sort of noise, and Gran's grey tabby leapt up onto Harry's shoulders.
'Oop,' said Harry, tilting his head awkwardly as the cat draped itself around his neck. 'Hello.'
'Roger!' sighed Neville. 'Sorry - that's why we're here, I'm cat sitting while Gran's away - Roger, get down!'
'He's all right,' said Harry easily, reaching up to scratch the purring cat's chin. 'He's very friendly.'
'He's really old - older than me - Gran's very attached to him. I'm surprised he made it up to your shoulders, he sleeps all day mostly.'
âGinny likes cats,â said Harry, still scratching Rogerâs chin. âI was thinking of getting her one when she finishes school. But my whole experience has been Crookshanks and Mrs Norris, soâŠâ
âWhatâs wrong with Crookshanks? I always liked Crookshanks,â said Neville.
âYeah,â said Ron defensively. âWhatâs your problem with âShanks?â
Harry looked at him, baffled. âYou used to hate him.â
âUntil I found out that all along he was trying to protect us - anyway, forget a cat, you need to get yourself a new owl.â
âUgh, no - I donât want to...â
âWhat? What happened to Hedwig?â
âLetâs not get into itâŠâ
'The usual?' Neville asked, grimacing.
'For me? Yeah.'
âYou do need another owl, though,â Ron emphasised.
âNo, I donât - if someone wants to contact me, they can use their owl.â
'I'm still sick of getting letters meant for you attached to Hermione's.'
'Why? You don't read them, do you?'
'No, but it's still annoying.'
Harry grinned and turned to Neville. âTell him to get a grip.â
âYou tell him, I thought you were meant to be the brave one?â
âI thought you were meant to be the stand up to your friends one?â
âHeâs got you there,â advised Ron sagely. He checked his watch. âRight - letâs push on. Another hour, and then weâve got to clear it all away before Hannah gets back.â
âWhy-?â began Harry, but Neville tapped Rookwoodâs file.
âRobards thinks Rookwood might have been involved in⊠wellâŠâ
âAh. Right, yeah, better get on with it then.â
Neville looked despairingly at the files. 'I can't believe Robards expected us to read through all of this by tomorrow. Surely that's impossible?'
'You haven't hung out with Hermione enough,' said Harry. 'Impossible isn't an excuse.'
'Come on,' said Ron bracingly, and then he adopted a pompous, sanctimonious sort of voice. 'Just like Dawlish says - there's no 'I' in team.'
'There's no eff in point,' Harry muttered darkly.
âNow, now, thatâs not the attitude, Ministerâs Special Boy.â
âOh, shut up.â
Some time later, when the candles had burnt down to their wicks and moonlight was falling through the window, Hannah returned, bringing with her the faint scent of hops and smoke. They quickly closed all the confidential files, and with a wave of his wand, Neville charmed the cluttered dining table clean.
âPub was packed!â she groaned, toeing off her shoes and dumping her book (Ouch! A Healerâs Story) on the side. âOh, hello Harry, Ron.â
He could see that she was a bit startled to see them still here; her porcelain cheeks blushed petal pink. âThey were always nice at school and everything,â she had confessed to him once, âbut, you know⊠theyâre a bit intimidating, arenât they?â
She had eventually conceded that Ron wasnât intimidating, she was just shy, but she remained stubborn on Harry being âa bit scaryâ.
Despite this, her innate friendliness always won over her shyness, a quiet kind of bravery Neville had always found particularly special. She commented on how lovely it was to see Roger (who had remained draped around Harryâs shoulders like a thick, furry scarf) being so friendly to someone new, and she asked after Ginny and Hermione, and talked cheerfully about life at the Leaky Cauldron.
âTom says hello,â she told Harry. âHe still talks about you staying there one summer.â
âOh yeah - I stormed out of my aunt and uncleâs house, got the Knight Bus to London. I used your name, actually, Neville.â
âDid you? Why?â
âI dunno, popped into my head.â
Granâs pendulum clock gave a hefty sigh, and loudly announced, âovernight guests, are they?â
âBetter make a move,â said Ron hastily.
âYou donât have to,â said Neville. âGranâs not here, itâs just her grumpy clock having a moan.â
âNah, we should get back for George,â said Ron. âI didnât realise the time. Thanks for having us though, mate.â
âYeah,â said Harry. âWe got through a lot more than we would have done at the office.â
This was certainly true; they would now be able to confidently show their faces as the staff meeting tomorrow. Neville told Hannah about it excitedly as they got into bed just half an hour later.
âIt felt so pointless at first, but we have noticed a few things that we think were missed, made a few links, that sort of thing - I really think thereâs been some progress.â
âThatâs all you needed, really,â she said. âThe three of you sitting down, working on it together.â
âYeah,â he said. âYeah, exactly. Nice to do it here, too, where thereâs plenty of space, instead of the little flat.â
âIâm really glad,â she said, curling into his side. âLooks like you all had a nice time, in the end.â
âWe did, actually,â he said, surprised at himself. The files had seemed like such a chore, such a dreary, pointless task when they could be out there doing stuff. But Hannahâs suggestion that morning - âwhy donât you just bring them here and get on with it with some good food?â - had worked better than he had been expecting.
And to think, heâd half been expecting them to say no when heâd suggested it.
âYou know what?â he said quietly, looking up at the dark ceiling. He could just make out the ridges and grooves of the old-fashioned swirl ceiling. âIt was really nice to feel⊠I dunno, part of their little group.â
âWhat dâyou mean? Youâve always been friends with them, havenât you?â
âYeah - and donât get me wrong, I never really felt like they deliberately left me out or anything. But in the dorm it was Dean and Seamus, and those two, and then me. And, I dunno, even when I was included, I was looking up to them, you know? But now⊠tonight, I was the one who suggested MacNair. I was on an equal footing with them.â
âOf course you were,â she said.
âBut more than that. It wasnât even in any question. It was just⊠it was really nice.â
âIâm glad. It was nice for me too, to come home and see you all having fun.
Heâd found it, he thought, as he held her close and listened to her breathing slow and deepen as she fell asleep. Heâd found his place in it all.
Three ships: Well, the tragic OTPs are Martha/Clive (silk) and Will/Alicia (TGW). Then, Hinny (HP), I suppose? I can't think of anyone else I actively "ship" these days.
Last song: Can't Stop by Red Hot Chili Peppers (I dunno, it's my Spotify morning playlist on shuffle)
Last movie: Kaamelott V1 (whoooooooop! So good. If I had a pass sanitaire I'd go watch it again but alas.)
Currently reading: Three Rooms by Jo Hamya
Currently watching: Oh, I'm doing a Spooks/Mi:5 rewatch, it's fucking brilliant!
Currently consuming: Coffee.
Currently craving: The weekend? Can one "crave" the weekend?
Tagging:
@whizzfizz ; @copper-dust ; @hiinnys ; @blinkngone ; and everyone else who wants to do this.
Tagged by: @pebblysandâ: thanks for the tag!! sorry it took me forever (as usual!!)
Rules: tag nine people you want to know better
Three ships: hinny (obvi), just finished bbcâs merlin so i legally have to say merthur, and stydia i guess? i dont really know if i actively ship them at this point but they have a special place in my heart
Last song: the last great american dynasty by t swizz <3
Last movie: genuinely cannot remember when the last time i watched a movie was....but it was probably something with daniel radcliffe
Currently reading:Â exciting times by naoise dolan
Currently watching:Â just finished bbcâs merlin! it was fucking splendid! moving onto the great next!!Â
Currently consuming: confusing mixture of coffee and water
Currently craving:Â a nap, honestly
Tagging: @hedwigsbixch, @narukoibito, @thedistantduskâ and anyone else who wants to!Â
