#it fits.. even if james would have to essentially kill regulus

[crimsonlovebartylus]

imagine a marry my husband (k-drama) bartylus version.

regulus, bestfriend being Lily and on her and James wedding day him going: "Congrats... on picking up my trash" 🤭

while also wearing white and barty standing behind him, holding his waist with sunglasses looking smug as fuck.

[ohmygodshesinsane]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love

hihi! thank you for sending this 💞 i have been sooo absent it's not even funny. but i will rec my five fave fics atm that i've written!

Seventeen - 'James and Lily host a party they never thought they would get to see. Their miracle.' This is a Jily Lives! AU set on Harry's seventeenth birthday, written for AllThoseDarlings' Prongs Party earlier this year. I got surprisingly emotional writing this story, and it made my heart hurt for about a week.

you are sick and you are married and you might be dying - 'Daphne’s laugh is very unlike Astoria’s. “That’s the thing,” she says. “That’s the thing. You’re both too bloody busy people-pleasing." Gabrielle has seen too much to believe in asking the universe for anything, so she wants nothing and takes whatever she gets. When her life tangles with Astoria Malfoy's, this becomes significantly more difficult.' This one isn't Jily, but was written for a HP Femslash microfic prompt. I got out of my comfort zone for this one, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Mercy - 'The Potters are not killed that night in Godric's Hollow, but Lord Voldemort is defeated. Lily has to navigate the consequences of war and raise a family in the shadow of loss in a world that has been nearly torn apart. OR: Compassion to oneself, Healer Armitage says, is often the hardest to extend.' This was for a jilymicrofic prompt in April, and is essentially a character study of Lily if she and James had survived. Again, I got just a little bit emotional writing it 😅 and I think it really helped with my characterisation of Lily throughout my fics.

creature comfort - 'Look, James Potter is trying not to be an arrogant berk. Lily Evans has been given a prefect badge and the role of 'swot', but she has other ideas. Sirius Black would love to have a normal life, honestly, as would Remus Lupin. Severus Snape wants to leave his muggle heritage behind, and Dorcas Meadowes spends more time in her own head than the real world. Peter Pettigrew is sick of being left out, Mary Macdonald wants to fit in, and Regulus Black is walking a well-worn path. Growing up is hard at the best of times, and these? These are the worst of times. [1975-1976]' This one is a massive labour of love, and while the earlier writing isn't my best work, this fic has been a massive opportunity for me to improve my writing and to really get into the nitty-gritty of the way I see the marauders. It's helped me learn how to craft plots and write different dynamics. If you want, essentially, The Ultimate Guide to Finn's Writing Style and Progression Over The Last Three Years, this is it.

You're On Your Own, Kid - 'Marlene is on her own and fine with it, really, honestly, truly. She has her friends (until the war claims them) and her freedom (until the war takes that, too) and prefers flying to putting roots down (until that's stolen from her forever). But she'll manage on her own. She always has. What's a little bloodshed anyway?' This one is another character study, this time of Marlene McKinnon, and was written for the HP Ladies Fest. Writing this helped me work through a lot of my own feelings and is the only fic of mine I return to to read for pleasure, not just for continuity purposes.

So here we are! Five self-recs from me ❤️

[we-pay-for-everything]

Sirius Black and the unjust treatment of his character

Sirius Black is a very important character to me, for various reasons. One of them is how realistic the character can be when compared to some of the other near perfect and unflappable HP characters, like Harry, Hermione, Ginny, McGonnagal, the twins and most of the Weasleys, etc. 

Sirius’s treatment in book 5 highlights the lack of tact and emotional sensitivity present in the wizarding world, as well as a failed opportunity for J.K Rowling to discuss depression in a thoughtful way. 

Book 5 is my favorite Sirius book and represents an understandable change in character. In the third book, Sirius was unhinged, but free, and driven by a destructive desire to kill Peter. This urge sustained him and kept him going throughout the book. We saw little of Sirius but his actions vacillated between thoughtful (the Firebolt, signed Hogsmeade permission slip, Pig the owl, etc) and recklessly careless. In book 4, he was free, healthier, no longer alone and driven by a desire to keep Harry safe. As such, he is mostly a stable, positive influence to Harry - someone reliable and who offers good advice. In book 5, he regresses, in some ways, to how he was in book 3. He was back in the family home he had been abused and neglected in (just look at Kreacher and his mom's portrait), was unable to help Harry and was treated many times like a dog (no pun intended).

Poor Sirius went 12 years without affection, hope, hygiene, sun light, proper food, entertainment, comfort, and all in the ghastly presence of dementors. All of this is enough to make a person lose their grip on reality. But to be forced into a family home full of bad memories? I nearly go insane when I go back to my parents', I can imagine how Sirius would take it. 

So, to me, it’s understandable that Sirius shuts away in his room (it’s not like anyone except for Harry and some of the Weasley kids like Sirius), that he is bitter and often unable to keep a lid on his emotions. He should be allowed to express his emotions, yet tries to keep it together for Harry and so that people like Molly and Hermione don’t accuse him of being “selfish” and having “fits of the sullens”. 

Honestly, it's despicable the way he is treated by everyone apart from Harry. Dumbledore keeps him under lock and key because it is convenient, Molly insults Sirius of being a bad godfather (going as far as saying she’s like a mother to the kid she never writes to or knows) and treats him like it's not his house she's staying in. Hermione, as usual, as the sensitivity of a sociopath. She tells Harry that Sirius is being selfish because he wanted Harry to stay with him. It's natural that Sirius was, in some ways, disappointed by the fact that Harry would leave and he would be alone. But Sirius also didn't say anything to Harry, and pretended to be happy. That's not selfishness. And it's natural that he can't fake it very well because he's bloody depressed. 

There’s also Molly’s words about Sirius treating Harry like James, and how the whole fandom seems to believe them. 

Sirius never calls Harry James, never talks about his issues (and frequently says things like "Don't worry about me", "This isn't about me", "Take Neville and go"), never asks Harry to be something he isn't. Just because he said "You're less like your father than I thought", it doesn't mean he is disappointed by the fact that Harry isn't James. Sirius was being passive aggressive, and he was wrong. He wanted to visit Harry and was disappointed when Harry said he couldn't. Harry was the only person for whom Sirius would leave the house, so his hopes were crushed. 

However, Sirius isn't the only person to compare Harry to James in an admonishing way. Remember when Remus told Harry that he was being like his father in book 7 because James considered it the height of dishonor to suspect a friend? Remus essentially used the comparison to James to call Harry naive. It was a similar method to what Sirius used, except the motives were less selfish. Remus compares Harry to James frequently without being told he can’t tell the two apart. 

Sirius was often a bit impatient and rash in book 5, yet he also offered Harry more support than all of the characters apart from Ron and Hermione, he got most of his act together after the aforementioned Floo conversation, he tried to keep in contact with Harry. His love and devotion for Harry remains, to me, the best example of active parental love (which rules out Harry’s parents). 

Dumbledore and Hermione’s treatment of Sirius after his death is also incredibly unjust. He is blamed for Kreacher’s actions - which were his own. Sirius’s treatment of Kreacher was on par with Kreacher’s treatment of Sirius and is based on a relationship that goes back to when Sirius was just a baby. Had Sirius treated Kreacher with the respect the elf did not deserve, Kreacher could’ve still made the choice he made. Kreacher’s alliances were always with Regulus and, at the time, it was believed that those alliances were with Voldemort and his followers. Naturally, Kreacher sought Narcissa and Bellatrix. Regardless, Voldemort’s plan would surely not have been thwarted by Kreacher alone, had the house-elf decided not to betray Sirius. 

Blaming Sirius and his reckless nature is equally unfair. Sirius chose to fight in that battle for Harry, his godson, just like everyone else in the Department of Mysteries did. Because Dumbledore warned Sirius to remain locked up, that doesn’t mean Sirius is to blame for his own death. We don’t blame Tonks for dying in the Battle of Hogwarts even if she could’ve remained home with Teddy. Sirius chose to fight regardless of the threat of death or capture, because he loved Harry and believed in what he was fighting for. 

Despite Sirius’s flaws, he was brave, intelligent, loving and did his best to be there for his godson. Until the moment Sirius died, Harry never doubted his love. Sirius is infinitely more admirable than characters like Snape or Dumbledore who get all of the glory and respect from the writer and the characters despite being genuinely guilty for many deaths. 

But this is just my opinion. Feel free to contradict me.