#but enjoy these crumbs 😀

[kay-elle-cee]

@jilytoberfest 31 Prompts: Day 30 || 1346 Words || Read on Ao3 This one's sad! 😀 —

It’s a cloudy day outside—that much James can tell from the little window in his room. He’s been told there’s no outside time today by his Healer, Opal, so he guesses there’s probably rain coming, or maybe snow—he’s not sure he can recall what month it is. But still, he enjoys sitting in the comfy chair by the window, smoothing the blanket on his lap as he watches the birds fly by, for a long while. 

A few times he mistakes his reflection for a bird—the grey strands of his hair rustling with the turn of his head. This earns a low chuckle from him—so jumpy after a life spent in war, even in a place as safe as St. Mungo’s. 

“James?”

His name pulls his attention from the birds outside to the doorway across the room. Standing there is a woman with sparkling green eyes, edges crinkled as she smiles tentatively over at him. Her hair—a light, faded red—is plaited over one shoulder and she slowly takes a step forward. “My name is Lily. I’m a Mungo’s volunteer, and I thought I could sit with you for a while, if you’d like some company.”

He nods, gesturing to the matching chair beside him. “Of course.”

His invitation relaxes something in her shoulders and her smile melts from tense to easy. She grabs a pillow from another nearby chair and places it behind her back as she sinks down next to him. Her eyes scan him, and James suddenly becomes self-conscious. 

He knows the war he’d fought in had left him marked with scars, had left him bruised and battered, and he tugs his cardigan tighter around his neck to hide some of the more gruesome marks he’s not sure how to explain. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Lily,” he nods with a smile, trying to move on from the awkwardness of his scars.

A flash of something crosses her face, but it’s gone so quickly he figures he must have imagined it. Instead, a warm smile is back on her lips and she’s leaning towards him. “It’s nice to meet you, too, James. Tell me, do you know what today is?”

He thinks for a moment, but still can’t pinpoint the month or year, much less the day.

Lily doesn’t let him stew too much in his thoughts, reaching into her purse and pulling out something she enlarges with the tap of her wand. It’s a container that contains two chocolate cupcakes, and when she opens it, the smell alone jolts James back to his parents’ kitchen as a boy.

“Opal told me it’s your birthday,” she says with a gentle excitement, handing him one of the cupcakes. “Luckily I happened to have this in my purse, I thought it could be a nice little treat.”

“Oh,” James blinks, staring at the treat in his hand, “thank you.” She smiles at him again before taking a bite, humming appreciatively, and he follows suit.

It’s good. He can’t remember having something like this since—

Well, that’s the problem with spell damage, isn’t it? He doesn’t know. 

He lets out a sigh of frustration as he takes another bite, trying to usher the negative feelings away as he focuses on the kindness of his guest. They make some idle chit-chat between bites and she vanishes up the crumbs with a wave of her wand once they’re done.

“Contraband, no evidence,” she whispers with a mischievous smile and a lively glint in her eyes that has James staring too long. 

Under his gaze, she tucks a strand of light hair behind her ear and he notices the glint of a ring on her finger, and inexplicably his heart sinks. Offering her a slightly weaker smile, he thanks her again for the cupcake, realizing that if it’s his birthday, then that means it’s March, and if it’s March, that means Quidditch was nearing the end of regular season.

“I have an…odd question,” he asks. Lily gives him an encouraging nod. “Puddlemere United. Would you happen to know how they’re getting on this season?”

Her head falls back with delicate laughter, and when she smiles, it’s warm and buzzing with affection—a fellow Puddlemere supporter. “They’re doing really well,” she tells him, her laughter still echoing in the spaces between the words. “Two of the Chasers have been drafted onto England’s team for the World Cup.”

“There’s a World Cup this year?”

“Yes, there is. Held in Italy, if you can believe it.”

James sighs, leaning back in his chair with a look of wonderment on his face. He removes his glasses and wipes his face. “I wish I could go to the Cup. Just once, at least.”

“You—” Lily begins a sentence, then clears her throat before continuing. “It’s quite an experience, I’ll say.”

He sits up straight, looking at her with wide eyes. “You’ve been?”

Something’s changed. Her eyes still sparkle, but there’s a softness around the edges that tug at something in his chest. Lily takes a breath and nods slowly, dropping her eyes to her lap, where she twists the rings around her finger. “I have. My husband and I went some years ago, when it was held here in England.” A smile tugs the corners of her lips back up. “It was remarkable.”

“Please tell me he doesn’t hold allegiance to a stupid team.”

She laughs again, shaking her head softly. “No, no. He has good taste. A Puddlemere man, through and through.”

He makes a sound of approval and sees her lips twitch from his periphery. “He’s a patient here, actually. It’s why I love to come to Mungo’s and volunteer, to see him.”

“Lucky bloke,” he comments, flashing her a smile just as Opal raps on the doorframe with a large smile on her face.

“Look at you two,” she gushes as she crosses the threshold. His cheeks redden at the insinuation in her tone. “Are you enjoying your visitor, Mr. Potter?”

Potter. The name is a bolt of lightning in his system—something to grasp for that’s a natural extension of James but is just slippery enough to not stay put, no matter how many times he hears it. 

Potter. It conjures up more faded memories: the blast of spells, overlapping schoolboy laughter, vibrant red hair, a small child with bright green eyes and wild black hair.

Potter. His head turns to look at the woman beside him, and her features—beautiful as they are in their graceful age, flicker to something younger, something fiercer. Something full of hope, until suddenly they’re back in his room at St. Mungo’s and her hair is faded and her eyes twinkle with concern. 

It’s all a bit overwhelming, these surges of memories through the lasting damage of decaying magic. These two sets of eyes on him—expectant and kind and worried. His gaze falls into the hands in his lap—old, wrinkled, but undoubtedly his own—and he frowns as he twists a silver band around his finger, not quite remembering how it got there.

“Yes. It’s been nice company to have, especially on my birthday.”

He retreats into himself, as he normally does after such an intense round of mental strain, and Lily quietly rises, reaching over and squeezing his hand in a silent farewell. 

It’s a sensation he remembers, he just doesn’t know from where.

He’s silent as he watches her go, hoping he didn’t upset her enough that she won’t return—he really did enjoy her visit. It was…comfortable. Familiar.

“I’m going to give him some time to rest,” he hears Lily whisper to Opal across the room. “I’ll be back later with Harry when he gets off work.”

“Of course, dear, we’ll see you back around dinner.”

As she crosses the threshold of his room, she casts one last glance back at him, and this time when their eyes meet his heart thunders against his ribcage at the sadness and love he sees in their depths. Emotion breaks forth from somewhere deep in his chest, deep in his soul and reminds him—however briefly—of love he can’t forget.

Lily.

[lady-margaret]

bridgerton season 3 part 1 opinion (as someone who has read all the books + is kathony biased so be warned)

after sitting and stewing on what i just watched for a few hours

i’d like to start this off by saying that due to my disappointment of the writing from the last season, i was way more gracious with this one. kate and anthony were great because of simone and jonathan; i’m not sure the writers had much to do with that.

anyway, what i’m saying is that i already knew not to expect the writers to be faithful to the source material (romancing mr. bridgerton), so i was able to enjoy myself more. additionally, polin’s book isn’t exactly a favorite of mine anyway, so there wasn’t a lot to be too disappointed with in my case.

what i liked:

penelope’s wardrobe; they hyped up the “transformation” so much and i’m glad it did not disappoint.

colin’s hot 😌

eloise’ wardrobe; someone pointed out that it had a lot of philip references, so yay 😀 (it has me worried that it’ll be her story next though, we need ben first)

eloise interacting with the other ladies of the ton was really cute and refreshing; she’s learning that despite them having different interests than her, they are still people of great value. the difference is eloise was raised in a loving and supportive family, unlike most of the others.

sibling’s g&h’s personalities coming through more (they are anthony’s children, truly).

featherington sisters as comic relief.

MARRIED KATHONY CRUMBS 💕💕💕 they carried episode 1 for me.

FRANCESCA 💕💕💕 gorgeous introvert representation.

FRANNY AND JOHN 💕💕💕 (i am both ready and NOT ready to get hurt 🥹)

book references (yay! the bare minimum!)

lord debling’s dope.

i actually do like that they gave cressida a legitimate reason to want to win the competition money to unmask LW in the second part.

the music choices haven’t disappointed yet!!!!!

colin’s line for the season is def the “well are you gonna marry me or not?” line HEHEHEHEHE i ALMOST screamed as loud as i did when john entered when he said that line to pen.

as an army, plus points for dynamite 🤭 i didn’t expect to like the orchestral version and didn’t see the vision of where they would even insert it, but i actually liveddd for it.

what i don’t really have strong feelings about:

mondrich plot; alice is beautiful but the addition of their family storyline didn’t make much of a lasting impact.

the queen; she was very meh so far.

the featherington storyline: the sisters are funny, but their whole situation mixed with the humor leads me not to take it very seriously.

violet x lady danbury’s brother: 🤷‍♀️ i don’t see it.

the “lady danbury’s brother” storyline in general is very forgettable.

what i disliked:

i think nicola and luke could use more chemistry; they fall short compared to daphne&simon and kathony (HEAVY ON KATHONY THIS IS WHY THEY REMOVED THEM FROM THE REST OF THE EPISODES SIGH)

they kinda mischaracterized colin (he spent the last two seasons being selfish and putting himself above everyone else violet, what the hell are you talking about “you never place yourself over others” 🤨)

the lack of ben time?? did he go back to the academy after taking over for anthony briefly??? what did he do besides dodging debutantes all season????

they glossed over benedict running the estate so quickly; this could have been an opportunity to draw out his storyline, especially since he mentioned that he liked having a purpose: WRITERS???? DO SOMETHING WITH THAT!

i also didn’t really care for the ben x tilly arnold plot; unless sophie’s actually a maid of her’s or something, i don’t see her point in the show besides just be another one of ben’s ever changing girl of the season.

im sorry but eloise would never SHOULD NEVER have befriended her (ex?) best friend’s bully, no matter what the circumstances. that is NOT eloise.

honestly, them revealing whistledown in the first season is really screwing with the writing; in this regard, i wish they stayed more faithful to the book and how colin finds out about LW. it all just seems so messy at this point.

so s3 starts when kathony end their honeymoon… how long was this honeymoon? math isn’t mathing cuz it couldn’t have been more than a week given that kate isn’t obviously pregnant yet in the first ep.

i know that colin and pen are longtime friends, but from how they’ve interacted with each other in the past seasons, it’s a bit harder to believe that they were close CLOSE friends; close friends to the extent of helping the other find a spouse through “lessons”? i don’t see it. that’s why i was a bit ??? when i first found out about the plot they were going with for the season (in the book, colin really just starts following her around cuz she was being sus)

i hate that they had to come up with an excuse to get rid of kathony for the rest of the episodes; i get that they’ve been running their separate households alone for most of their lives and want a break but… i don’t think they would abandon their responsibilities for an “extended honeymoon”. knowing them, running the estate isn’t gonna stop them from being wh0res!! they help each other out with the estate and are still sickeningly in love and have time for each other (in the books). i was also really hoping to see kate taking over the viscountess role. i swore they would have done something like that after that cute/awkward moment when they both respond to “lady bridgerton” in episode 1.

i get that it’s established that penelope’s one goal for the season is to get a husband, but as i know her character, she would NEVER get into races (?) or run just so she can talk to a suitor before anyone else does 😭 okay but it was funny.

i am kinda sad that they couldn’t have just let a mean character or a villain character be the villain character; yea sure, i did say that i liked that cressida had a legitimate and well thought out motive for wanting the LW reward money but, idk i could’ve lived without her storyline.

one of the BIGGEST THINGS for me is that i do not think they should have released so many clips/snippets of the show days or weeks before it came out. i understand like 1 clip, but i skipped SO MANY SCENES because i have watched them at least 5 times already on tiktok or twitter.

the two part season idea is dumb.

i’m scared for how messy part 2 will be (in terms of both writing and just how stressed i will be with the revealing of LW plot HUHU poor pen) but i’m still looking forward to it 😇😇😇 and despite all the things i didn’t like, i did still enjoy it. if i do rewatch it or not is still to be decided; s1 & s2 have such high rewatch value.

franny and john were TRULY a standout though. i cannot even begin to describe how loud i screamed when he finally said his name out loud 😭💕

verdict: the writing is getting messier, get jonathan bailey in that writer’s room ASAP

[gyarucoded]

gimme a sec i need to talk about this !!

so i saw a long ass reblog under an anti-sylki blog that started off as something like "actually loki & sylvie has good romance chemistry meanwhile loki & mobius doesn't have any romance chemistry at all"🤓– and in this moment i went "alright best frien i'm not reading all that" then went to block instead of arguing.

didn't try reading that bullshit of a post further either just to anger myself, i know better.

i especially didn't wanna argue cuz i think that was a child..??? (assuming from the miracoulus ladybug theme cuz no adult in their right mind enjoys that trash) but if i'm wrong that just makes it worse tbh, like grown ass ppl who srsly think toxic relationships should be the example of peak romance needs their brain to be studied fr.

i usually try to be respectful for others' opinion but i genuinely can't see where this opinion comes from.

makes no goddam sense to me.

maybe it's cuz i can't view things through a heterosexual lens, maybe not.

who knows?

but...(i won't make this abt lokius but focusing more on the "loki & sylvie" part) this made me wonder like...

what do sylkie shippers even post about?

no i won't check it out myself to spare myself from the headache but do they go "omg today episode's syIkie crumbs was so lovely dovely 🥺" and the crumbs in question is them disagreeing on almost everything and sylvie wanting to avoid loki as much as she can & constantly seeming to be angry at him.

sure, in s1 they did have a couple of cutesy romantic moments like being under blankets despite of them being supposedly immune to cold or the literal kiss but, it truly doesn't take a huge analyzation to realize that this "relationship" became one sided, even in that one little moment when they had to hold hands, sylvie immidiately goes "don't overthink it" like omgggsfg💀😭 and it's also clear that loki eventually got the hint, in ep3 he doesn't try to be with her anymore or gets emotional with her, he silently gave up.

not to mention loki avoiding to mention the kiss, when appearantly the two has nothing to hide? 😕

i don't know where this is gonna be heading off but if they randomly switch up after all this character & dynamic development then i have no hope for marvel's writing team cuz that would basically create a plot hole.

like aside from the psuedo-incest, that used to bother me in season 1 era but now i am concerned more about how this "ship" overall has no appeal, yet some of these ppl genuinely thinks it can work healthily between them and that ppl who are against it are just "petty that their gay ship isn't canon" when there's MORE to this.

in season 2 there's absolutely *nothing* happening with them that would make us, the audience, root for them to be together as a couple like i'm sry.

so yeah you can say i'm doing too much and too crazy over a fictional tv show (yes i know that babes i have full self awareness) but i literally cannot stress enough about how unhealthy it is to think that this is how a good romantic chemistry works.

based on a syIkie shipper's views: we could technically say that me + that one co-worker of mine who we always have disagreements on political stuff with & dislikes me for no reason is my "lover"... since we wanna pretend this is how love works 😀😀 no?

[thesaltybuns]

So I definitely didn’t mean to disappear from tumblr for a month but boy howdy has it been a month 😀

My mental health kind of spiraled and I still had to try and push through it to catch up with work and things just piled up so fast.

I’m still lurking around, and I’m hoping once the holiday season is over I can take some personal time to enjoy the fics I’ve been meaning to read, draw the art I’ve been meaning to draw, and get back on top of things (and hopefully we’ll get some Arcane S2 crumbs by then too to keep us going!)

In the meantime Im gonna keep catching up and do my best to keep from getting so overwhelmed again. Thank you all for keeping my notes full and enjoying my art even when I don’t have the spoons to post new stuff right now, I’m still hanging out in the corners but I’m trying to get back in the swing of things I promise 💚

[little-svt]

omg the wonu fic im crying 😭😭 admin who wrote that DEVOURED and left ZERO crumbs 😫 im a caregiver myself but you guys just write such good fics I can't resist reading the little!reader ones

Hehe 😅 I can’t help ittt. My brain goes to caregiver!svt since I’m a little though I must say I’m pretty good at writing both 😙😏 hahahha I can’t believe I wrote it so fast 😭😀 I’ve been trying to work on other stuff for days and just bam hahah. Sorry for the tears 😭 but I’m glad you enjoyed it!! I really appreciate feedback so so much 😭💗💗 ~ 🐶🐰🍓

[bratkook]

.

[cpd-55055]

what are your absolute favorite scenes from upstead season 9 and why? 😀

Ohhh...Do I have to pick? Honestly, I have loved every Upstead scene we got in S9, including the tiny crumbs and the arguments between Jay and Hailey.

But, here are my Top 3 Upstead scenes from S9:

The Wedding (9x09): This scene is everything an Upstead fan could have wished for. It was genuine and beautiful but also hot and sexy. It was a great conclusion to the Roy Walton story and the beginning of Upstead's new chapter. Absolutely loved it! 😍

Jay and Hailey at the New Apartment (9x03): As much as I love scenes where Hailey and Jay are making out, I also enjoy the scenes where they are just talking. I loved how casual and simple that scene was. They just moved into their new home, surrounded by tons of boxes, and Hailey and Jay are just having dinner. We got a little glimpse of their home life and how they spend their time outside work. I loved how Hailey reminded Jay, "You don't have to tell me anything. You can, and I'll love you all the same." And we saw Jay trusting Hailey with part of his past. I firmly believe that communication is the key to a successful relationship, and scenes like this prove how well Upstead is together.

The Proposal (9x01): Let me just say, I was not expecting a proposal from Jay. After a stressful premiere, that scene was a great way to end the episode. We saw Hailey being vulnerable, Jay being honest. They were doing "the thing that works between them"! And when Jay got down on one knee because he is so old-fashioned, I cried. The chemistry, the dialogue, everything was perfection. And to top it all off, we got the famous "You and Me, Always!" ❤️

Bonus - The Hug (9x13): Anytime we get worried Halstead, it's a blessing. The worried looks, shoulder touches, and reassuring words he gives Hailey show how much he cares about her. I was confused why Jay's phone was on silent while his wife was on a late-night run, but the way he acted when he saw Hailey was heartwarming. I thought it was funny how Hailey was so determined to find out the truth, but all Jay cared about was making sure she was okay. Fingers crossed, we get more worried Halstead in the future. 🤞🏼

[lovecolibri]

Things that Spark Joy-4x03

This was so far the least fun episode to get through but there were some things I did enjoy so lets talk about those! As always, the salty post can be found here.

Dallas and Michael’s friendship is literally the best thing to happen to this show since it started and established Malex was going to be A Thing. Michael has someone who he can play around with using their powers (like him and Max used to but quit after Rosa and lectured Michael about using his powers all the time), and who he can tease and be teased by without all the pain and weight of history and the little barbs that we see when he has those moments with people like Max and Isobel, and someone who truly understands the struggles Michael faced as a kid and acknowledges the hard work Michael is putting in to grow. Plus, Dallas has Michael’s back and agrees that Michael has a point about the other aliens. Michael deserves to have someone in his corner and since Alex is currently eating sand in the desert and also isn’t ever allowed to be involved with Michael and whatever is going on with everyone else, I’m glad Michael at least has Dallas to have his back. If we lose out on getting more of this friendship and Michael getting to return the favor for Dallas and have his back when he’s struggling I’m gonna riot.

Speaking of Dallas, his scene with Graham and overlaid with him and Michael having a telepathic argument was so much fun!

I have other thoughts on the new aliens that are in the other, saltier post, but I will say Bonnie is a little ray of sunshine when the other two aren’t bringing her down and she’s fun to watch. It reminds me a little of seeing Nora enjoying ice cream for the first time and Michael stumbling onto someone who can help him see the joy in the earth he hated for so long will be good for him I think. It also allows him to have a chance to share the things he has learned to love about earth as well AND someone who can tell him about his home which he has been robbed of MULTIPLE times with the deaths of Noah, Nora, and Jones. And someone likely to be a little less biased in telling him because she’s not (as far as we know right now) related to him or working with an agenda to get him onto a certain side of things.

As...hella awkward as that “double date” was, I always enjoy Isobel and Kyle together and the Kybel crumbs we are getting. Also a winery with nerdy names?! WHEN are Kybel and Malex going to double date there?! And Kyle got some of the references so clearly him and Alex have been handing out and watching nerdy things. Love that for them.

Liz and her absolute JOY over science machinery will never not be a delight. Also, her giving the director of a top secret paramilitary organization a face-smoosh in excitement is just TOO CUTE.

Michael’s plan was actually so good?! WHEN will Max admit that Michael is a genius? Michael totally calling how Clyde would react to Max being Max is so true of him and the heist music was On Point and made me smile. Plus, Michael got to be the hero and throw out a ridiculous line. You know he’s having so much fun and is vibrating with excitement to tell Alex all about it.

We might be getting Jones back?! 😀😀😀 He was SO much fun and they killed him off WAY too early. Also if they had made him just like, a tiny bit less “evil dictator” he would have been the perfect villain to bring back to help everyone defeat the bigger villain later. Him and Michael having to work together and being bitches about it, out loud to each other would be hilarious, and you KNOW Jones would impersonate Max just to confuse Kyle, like they could have had some fun with it! So fingers crossed we at least get to see Jones again for a bit this season! RNM has always struggled with how they handle their villains so I’m not holding my breath, but I will definitely be excited if we get Jones back for a bit.

Link to previous episode posts: 4x01, 4x02

[ikreatepassions]

@torotorogoa overlooking the Baga Creek has been one of the places that I personally enjoyed a lot.. it oozes cool vibes and make for a perfect place to chill while you get to tingle your taste buds with great food. I recently learnt through a friend that they have started a breakfast menu and especially some amazing platters so without wasting any time, I headed there yesterday to check it out myself.. So they serve the breakfast menu from 9am onwards till noon and post that you can indulge in their al-a-carte menu which now also has the platters included in case you head their later in the day.. I opted for the Goan Breakfast Platter which comes in 3 variations with Sorpotel, Beef Chilly and Chorizos.. served with fried eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausages and poie.. I tried the Beef Chilly and it was so so delicious.. They really have some great breakfast options for meat lovers and those into the health conscious zone too. From the regular menu we tried 👉🏻Italian Chicken Bites which were delicious 👉🏻Chilly n Coconut Crumbed Prawns, which were nice but could have been better 👉🏻Pan Fried House Fish Fillet, a must try for sure, the fish was perfectly cooked and the lemon caper sauce was awesome 👉🏻Cottage Cheese in Xinghan Hot N Sour Sauce, a beautiful dish for vegetarians Ended the meal with a delectable chocolate mousse and bebinca.. It’s certainly the kind of place where I would go back on some days with my laptop and just chill as I work with a beer or cup of coffee and on some days with a big appetite to gorge on the delicious food, for other days they have live music 😀 . . #goa #goarestaurants #bagacreek #goodfood #foodiesofinstagram #goafoodie #goafoodblogger #goablogger #foodblogger #weekendvibes (at TORO TORO GOA) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZUdD36srlk/?utm_medium=tumblr