#tftdc 8

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

Hi Ange! If I’m not too late (or if you haven’t done this one yet)…hand 👀

hey kelsey! 🥰 there's a lot more of jily [redacted] in this chapter than i thought there would be tbh. i'm sure all of you will/won't enjoy that, depending on your persuasion 😂

Lily laughs, the sound slightly strained and pulls away. Her eyes are slightly red and her hands linger on his shoulders. “Right,” she says. “My mistake.”

Send me a word from TFTDC 8! 🥳 

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

Happy writing cave, lovely Ange, word ask - pain <3

hi hi 🥰

James’s heart riots, and the sickness mingles with care so strong it almost makes him ill. He wants to grab that agedness, the exhaustion in his friend, the years of pain, and crush it into nothing. He’ll do anything, trade anything, give up his own right arm—

Send me a word from TFTDC 8! 🥳

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

Breath

oh, this one is spoilery 👀

He wants to take a breath, but the room is suddenly strangled of all air. Evans does that to him—he’s yet to figure out why, and he dislikes it in an imprecise sort of way. Last year, he would’ve said he disliked her.

Send me a word from TFTDC 8! 🥳 

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

If the word asks are still available: sigh 💗

“Potter,” she sighs. Dry. “Do come in.”

Send me a word from TFTDC 8! 🥳

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

Word for the ask game, "feeling."

Can't wait for the update!!

A strange pull at that scar of their past. Another feeling, caught between shame and discomfort. 

Send me a word from TFTDC 8! 🥳

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

Hello! For the word ask game: gentle ❤️

Lily inhales, then her fingers twitch. She doesn’t set down the bottle, but her other hand comes out and rests on the couch cushion just above his shoulder. James’s throat is dry, he can’t swallow, or fucking move. He slowly leans his head back onto the cushions, wincing at the ache, then turns his head to the side. Her palm brushes gently against his face, and he hears her breath hitch.

Send me a word from TFTDC 8! 🥳 

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

well after 2 years...only like 2 more hours to finish up some last scenes and an edit 👀🥳

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

Rated: E

“We should start a club.”

“Of what, failed relationships and questionable life choices?”

One’s in love. One’s in denial. 12 months of marriage, go.

well, hello! long time no...write 😅 ty to everyone for being so patient, and for all the lovely messages you've sent me about TFTDC over the last few years 💕

chapter 8 is finally here, though it is in two parts (blame my ancient outline which was truly like trying to decipher runes to figure out, james's emotions...or just the cosmos). highs and lows abound! one more than the other! (i'll let you figure out which).

hope you enjoy xx.

playlist here for the l(over) it vibes.

Read Chapter 8 // June I: in and out of focus on Ao3!

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

hi hi! i got my shit together (theoretically), and TFTDC is returning for semi-regular updates this summer! 🥳 starting with chapter 8! 🧳🐺🦌🌼🌅🕰⚖️💘 (emojis in no particular order, though perhaps with some hints)

i embarked on a thorough reread of JHF and TFTDC last week, which made me realize 3 things: 

1. I can never read my own smut again. once it’s written down, it’s out of my hands and my eyes can never take it in ever.

2. Chapter 5 (March II: and we fall into each other) of TFTDC is by far my favorite chapter of the fic, and entirely responsible for re-igniting my passion for writing. 

3. i’ve missed this world and these characters, and there’s a whole new basket of mysteries, emotions, themes, and past issues 👀 to get into for the summer months of the fic. 

***little addendum on thematic pacing, because it just occurred to me that i should probably explain it lol. January-March II was thematically Act I of Part I of TFTDC, and April-May was Act II. (By Part I, I mean that in my head the fic is split into two halves). June starts off Part II of the fic, with Act I being the summer, June-August. And then theoretically September-December is Act II of Part II, but that has potential to change if I add anything new!

hopefully that made sense and wasn’t just vague rambling haha. the emotional arcs of this fic are extremely important to how it’s structured, because where Lily and James are emotionally is almost more important than the plot. and there are some fun arcs coming up!

i will be popping on and off of tumblr over the next week (and constantly tip-tapping away in my little writing cave), but i’m very happy and excited to get back into posting fic again, and especially to work on this story! 

xx ange 💕

P.S. if anyone wants to get in the mood for Chapter 8, I highly recommend the entirety of Luke Hemmings ‘When Facing the Things We Turn Away From’! perfect James-headspace for this one 😌

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

Any chance of TFTDC chapter 8 this month? 🥺 this fic is just TOO good!!

ah, possibly! (and thank you ❤️)

I’ve actually been thinking of trying out something new with TFTDC, so I’ll put it to you guys for opinions: I’ve been shown time and time again that writing the massive, ~40k chapters is just not possible with my lifestyle these days, which is completely different from what it was when I was posting TFTDC regularly (blame the work industry I do 😭). It’s also often the thing that stops me from working on it, because I write chapters in short bursts, and I never feel I have enough time to do the whole thing, so I just don’t attempt it even when I have a day or two to write.

So…I’ve been thinking of possibly splitting the chapters into shorter segments? Meaning 3-4 parts per month of the story. Maybe around 6-10k each (roughly). I don’t want it to feel disjointed, and it would be a bit of a challenge for me to fit the story around this in a way that leaves natural breaks, but I’m sure I could manage it.

If I did do that, either the story would just continue on with more chapters (but no change to the content or overall length of the fic, just to clarify!), and maybe eventually when my life sorts itself out I could go back to fewer and longer chapters, or maybe not! I’d just see where it went.

Idk, it’s entirely up to you guys 💕 I like the longer chapters in terms of theme, but I have to come to terms with the fact that if I stick with that, it could be a very long time (possibly years) before I have enough time to devote to writing them.

Let me know!

xx Ange

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

Hiya Ange! Just finished reading the latest TFTDC chapter and it was WONDERFUL. The end of the chapter (no spoilers) mentioned Lily humming and singing a few words and I got to thinking....in this AU set in the 21st century....

Do you have an idea of the characters' music tastes? What muggle music do you think people were smuggling in to play at the Quidditch parties in the 2000s? Do you have a particular song you believe Lily was humming at the end of chapter 8? I'm so curious!

(I know you have the playlist, but wasn't sure if you consider that in-universe music that aligns to their taste or if that's more for you)

hi hi! 🥰

Ooh this is such a great question. So the TFTDC playlist is definitely much more my music taste than theirs, I’d say, as it’s songs that get me in the right emotional headspace for whichever bit of the fic I’m writing.

Now, for their music tastes…

Lily: I imagine Lily is pretty classic when it comes to her music tastes, in that she likes the Beatles, and 50s/60s music (Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Aretha Franklin etc) and collects old records. But she also enjoys a good modern pop banger (it is 2019 after all), and I think she’d be a big fan of Florence + the Machine and Lorde. Also, in her early teens she was obsessed with Shania Twain’s album Up! (entirely because I also love that album). At the end of TFTDC 8, I think she was humming Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand) by Irma Thomas, both because I’ve been listening to it a lot recently, and because the lyrics are somewhat topical 👀

James: I honestly don’t picture James as a huge music guy? In terms of Muggle music, I think he mainly listened to what Sirius was listening to (lots of rock, both from the 70s and the early 2000s. Sirius would’ve been hugely into Paramore), and then a sporadic scattering of wizarding bands. Oh, I think he also somehow accidentally heard a Carly Rae Jepson song at some point, and she’s his guilty pleasure music, except he doesn’t know how a CD player/stereo/phone works, and thus can’t access it and would never tell Sirius because the mockery would be unending (mainly because Sirius is a bit of a prick, and a ‘music purist’ and doesn’t have the ears to appreciate CRJ 😂).

Spoilers but James and lily’s music taste actually does come up in a future chapter

At Hogwarts, I think it must’ve been mainly wizarding music (which I don’t have enough musical creativity to invent haha), but probably infiltrated every now and then by the most popular songs of the day, and ofc some early Beyoncé, because who doesn’t love Beyoncé. I honestly don’t know a ton about early 2000s UK music, so I can’t give specifics, but I also imagine that they didn’t particularly care what they were listening to, I think that it was mostly wizarding songs that inspired intense fervor.

this was so enjoyable, thank you so much for that fun question, Kelsey!

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

Hey, i am a new reader and just noticed TFTDC haven't been updated since 2022. Just wondering if you'll come back to it? I am truly in love with your characterization of James and Lily and it is such a treat to read.

Ch 8 is coming out today! The last ~2ish years have been so insane both personally and professionally for me, and writing has really taken a back seat.

In some ways, I think that was good and necessary, but I've also missed it so much!

thank you so much for reading, and thank you to everyone who's stuck around since the last update! (actually only 1.5 ish years ago i think, but ~2 is a much nicer sounding number haha).

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

AHHHHH ACTUALLY CAN’T WAIT FOR TFTDC!!!!

Counting the days (but also no pressure) 🎉

I’m so excited too!!! 🥳🥳🥰

I had a minor setback w some Life Things the past few days, so I’m hoping it will still be tomorrow night, but it may be the day after!

but the chapter is coming along nicely (it hasn’t fought me yet but we’ll see 👀)

would you guys be interested in doing a word ask game for ch 8 sometime today/tomorrow?

Those are quite fun, and I’ll be writing most of the time, so ample material to draw from 😊

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

God, Ange, new TFTDC! I had to of course re-read the previous chapter to get in the mood and vibes, but that of course led me to re-read the chapter before, and then the one before, and then the one before and I ended up reading everything again! I had forgotten what intense emotions and feelings this fic could conjure in a person, I'm obsessed all over again!

aww thank you! ❤️

I did intend to give a week or so of warning before the new chapter to give people time to reread, but I’d had so many false starts with Ch 8 that I truly didn’t believe I was going to finish it until I was pressing post 😂 seemed like pushing my luck to announce it haha.

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

can you give us lil bit snippet from tftdc chapter 8? 😆

of course! 😊

this chapter is all about James, and I've got tons of notes for what that will look like, but i haven't fully dived into yet (I'm excited to, character introspection is one of my favorite things to do). but i do have this little bit 👀

Self doubt isn’t a look James Potter wears very well.

“You can’t do any good for anyone outside this office, Potter,” Lena had said. “Especially not for your wife.”

And Dumbledore, all those years ago during that fateful meeting, when he was sullen and angry in his office. Eighteen years old. A whispered confession that his Headmaster certainly shouldn’t have been able to pry out of him when his own mates couldn’t. “I don’t think she’s coming back.”

“James,” Dumbledore said quietly to him, eyes bright and old. “Don’t think of the hurt that has been done to you. Think...of the good you can do for others. That’s why you’re joining the Auror force, is it not?”

His heart had ached and he didn’t feel like he could do much good at that moment, not without her, but he was eighteen. He was young and the world outside went on, and he could make himself believe in possibility.

The hall outside the lifts is silent, except for the suddenly loud ticking of his watch.

If you stripped away his job and his desk, his house and his wealth...Merlin, he thinks with a yawning feeling of terror, what else is left?

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

some very important queries as I sit in my sloth-like world of academia, mourning for the fun world of jily