#better to finish LLSHP ch9 first

[athyrabunlord]

Hi Athyra~ Finally I could catch up with all of your LLHP AU (╯✧∇✧)╯ and really... I always find it unexpectedly fascinating for each of the chapters! xD Also I think it's nice for you to put them into arcs, so I can rest for a moment. (eh?) I hope I could read your newest update as soon as you upload it in the future! ((I also wait for your Daydream Warrior one anyway~)) //GogogoAthyra!! ヾ(･д･ヾ)

aaahh thank you! (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄like Bertie Bott’s EveryFlavored Beans, the chapters shall be a surprise every time!  (･ωGlad to hear you enjoy the chapter~

Yes I’ve divided into arcs so people know the general idea of the plot’s pace. We’re in arc2 so since shall pick up! Further character interaction/development too. And ku ku ku there shan’t be any rests cuz I’m still trying to stick to the 1 update every two weeks schedule ψ( ` ∇ ´ )ψ

As for Daydream, I will definitely upload the next chapter after LLSHP’s ch9, just to balance certain things out (what’s this person rambling about

I will keep doing my rubesty~ がんばルビィ⌒°( ･ω･)°⌒

[athyrabunlord]

Here’s my reply post to @argentien’s lovely feedback for [LLSHP AU’s Interlude 2], and once again, this is put under the cut~  (not just due to spoilers but because athyra rambles too much blah blah blah XD!!!)

XD indeed I’ve been hinting Delphinus cuz Kanan and Mari (and kanamari) unfortunately don’t have that much of a role/scene in the story so far. However, their story would only be written after I complete the main one, since it’s a prequel/takes place prior to the main one.

I’ve always thought of KananMari as good parents sisterly friends for Ruby, older sister-figures who aren’t quite her ‘Onee-chan’ or ‘friends’ either. All those blank, unshown years in canon... gad, if only we could see more tidbits! I cannot see Dia leaving her bby sister alone in the house when she’s out on adventures with the incorrigible Awashima duo (unless ofc, she considered it too dangerous for Ruby to come along). Anyway, yes, so I try to build on and characterize their relationship based on this. I see Kanan and Mari being shit friends to Dia like canon while pampering Ruby because they care about the Kurosawa sisters, but also understand there will always be this intangible distance between them that prevents the two from being blunt(?) to Ruby like they do to Dia.

Thanks for the encouragement! I invest most of my efforts in characterization, especially for AUs like this. OOC is an intermediate turn-off for many people, myself included, so I try my best to make everything they do or say believable given the circumstances.

Grandpapa Kurosawa is a scary man. A formidable wizard whose personality resembles a combination of Barty Crouch Sr., Lucius Malfoy and Rufus Scrimgeour from HP. So... yes, that’s a very difficult home environment to grow up in. Understand that the Kurosawa Estate is very big, there are several Branch families that live there, hence some deviations are overlooked (such as Dia’s private wing when she’s older) and why Ruby isn’t under constant surveillance, allowing Kanan and Mari to slip through the house-elves’ guard. As Carbonado is told from Riko’s POV, I did not dive too much into how the House of Kurosawa is like, only showing what Riko perceives in the short time she’s there (and that’s only within Dia’s private wing too). More about the Kurosawas in Arc 3 though! (after all, both Dia and Ruby belong to that House)

RubyMaru bond is just as vital as the platonic parts of YoshiRuby and YoshiMaru. That unfortunately couldn’t be showcased more in the main story in Yoshiko’s POV, as the two Puffs are in a different House and do spend more time together without Yoshiko. So yes, that scene is intended to show a slice of how Ruby and Hanamaru’s life, and how the House of Hufflepuff is compared to House of Slytherin. Hanamaru first helped with Ruby’s new hairstyle, the cutesy pigtails, to encourage Ruby to try to find her new place here at Hogwarts instead of continuing to be just a Kurosawa Pureblood. Given what’s happened in the main story, Ruby decided to revert to her old hairstyle (letting her hair down) at the end of this interlude since she’s made peace with what she had to do, and vows to ‘wait’ for her best friend’s return.

\CYR/ \I love CYaRon!/ Not gonna lie, kinda biased towards them because CYR is my fav subunit and it’s unfortunate I’m unable to showcase them (and You & Chika) more in the main story. I definitely did invest in their scene quite a bit, to make Chika’s dialogues to sound like Chika, and ditto for You. took several rewrites Like Ruby said, she’s not sure why the duo are so attached to her, and she doesn’t fully understand her own fondness for them either, but some times, the simpler the better. Not everything requires a reason or explanation, it just is. Quoting Chika (from Ch11 I think? oi author how dare you don’t remember), “They are just meant to be friends!”

XDDDD The Gourmet Report drama track slayed me back then. Hilarious af I can’t. But yes, in terms of canon, they’re a pair I have trouble imagining interacting in any media (I mean we have rare stuff like You-Maru in the manga and Kanan-Yoshiko in SID), so that small tidbit in S2ep4 was a pleasant surprise, when Riko and Ruby ran away from the hungry seal and Dia saves the day bless that scene srsly bless that scene. Ahem, that said, given the circumstances in this LLSHP AU, I’ve always wanted to show a scene with just Riko and Ruby. Riko’s only ever shown her ‘vulnerable’ side to Dia, as well as Kanan and Mari to an extent. Here, once again, she’s shown as uncertain because she values Ruby’s opinion of her and Dia, hoping the younger sister would accept them especially knowing how important Ruby is for Dia. Ruby realizes and acknowledges that, hence she happily gives them her blessing.

Yes Yoshiko is deeeeeense. Indeed, in the main story, she still has no idea Kanan and Mari are a couple lmfao. Given the situation now, ofc she wouldn’t be able to notice, but even back in Arc1-2, she really, really has no idea. She spent the majority of Arc1 thinking KananxMaru is a possibility while being teased and spun around in circles by the shiny cat Animagus, so yup, Yoshiko is clueless.

Ruby wasn’t told about kanamari - she just knows XD and fully accepts them for who they are. Ruby definitely noticed the YoshiMaru early on (as early as ch4) and tries to be helpful. She loves Hanamaru and Yoshiko , her two best friends, and their feelings seem mutual, so there’s no reason not to help out <3

Dia and Ruby have been unable to truly interact as how normal siblings do most of their lives, but they’re still able to feel each other’s love. They just never had the chance, so when they have the opportunity to do so in the Room of Requirement, the bond manifests easily because, it’s always been there.

I try not to show too much of the aftermath in the last scene of this interlude because, it’s still an interlude and not a ‘main chapter’. Hence, all those hints and minimum description of post-ch14. More will be shown in ch15 ofc. The House of Kurosawa invested too much in Dia as the heiress to disown her outright, hence the withdrawal from Hogwarts and the house arrest to see if she’s still ‘salvageable’, if she could still be corrected and molded again. Had the same situation happened with Ruby, then she wouldn’t have been given such lenience. Like she mentioned, she would’ve become one of the many blacked-out names on their family tree.

Dia and Ruby, in spite of the heavy responsibilities and stifling expectations they had to endure, are proud of their lineage and would do anything to protect the Kurosawa honor. Unless, of course, the choice is between their family name and their precious sibling. Ruby’s made such resolve, thus she’s able to ironically summon a Patronus that represents her family.

Welp, the two interludes have always been outlined, but the original plan was to upload them after finishing the main story, to fill in the gaps and whatnot, but as I’ve said when I uploaded Carbonado, I cannot wait that long LOL and it adds to the story more if I post the interludes where they’re supposed to be. So... yes, maximum pain effect is intended. It’s a good breather for me as a writer too, to write another character’s POV.

Further to above, yes there’s always been a scene between Ruby and Hanayo planned. I did say there wouldn’t be any big teacher-student interactions in the story - hence only a Maki-Yoshiko scene in ch13, as a flashback, and here Hanayo-Ruby within the Interlude. The main story would not have that, though there will be more Professor cameos in Arc3, given the situation (that the investigators from the Ministry allow the remaining Aqours members to retain their freedom as regular students only if the staff keep an eye on them).

As said somewhere (or did I? don’t remember lmao oi author pls) in Ch13′s upload, All-Stars did prompt me to ‘upgrade’ the Maki-Yoshiko scene from simple narration to actual dialogue-interactions. In HP, there have been meaningful moments between Professor and student too, so that’s what I intend to do here for Ruby. She does need a maternal figure and a refreshing outsider view of her situation. μ’s student days... *far away look* I hope I’ll get the chance to showcase them after the main story. As hinted in ch9, they did start the Yule Ball competition XD

As said in my A/N of this Interlude, it only had 5 bullet-point outline like this:

pre-story, kanamari & ruby at kurosawa house, the patriarch and the black jaguar

post ch3, house of hufflepuff! maru and ruby, pigtails and yoshiko

post ch7, \CYR/, quidditch, \CYR/, Chika being chika You being You

mid ch11, RikoRuby bonding, carbonado’s meaning, DiaRuby

post ch14, Greenhouse with Prof rice, YoshiRuby scene with black jaguar patronus and wingardium leviosa

These grew in to the 10k interlude... Orz very minimal points but most of the stuff’s in my head so I just needed these keywords as reminder XD;;;;

And yes I OP’d my rice bby cuz she’s mah bby!!! Hanayo, as stated on her profile, prepares for a gourmet feast monthly with produce cultivated from the Greenhouse. She’s been prepping for sweet potatoes, knowing Ruby likes them and meant to bring those to the Infirmary for her and Hanamaru. just so happens Ruby is at the Greenhouse, so Professor Koizumi gives the sweet potatoes to her after baking them with a spell. Herbology was never explored or showcased much in HP, so I took liberties for Hanayo to use spells that would help the growth of plants (hence the extending vines) etc. It’s also why I chose to give her a staff instead of wants like other chars, because she’s more attuned to Earth than anyone.

Ah, I’ll digress on commenting on the YoshiRuby scene. Yes, Ruby does sense something off, but Yoshiko is closed off.

Yes Ruby made a girlfriend in Hakodate I’m so proud of her, unfortunately no Saint Snow cameo in the main story as explained in this post here OTL

My bby woobie is strong, she’s gone through a lot and grew up so much, no longer the uncertain, meek Kurosawa secondborn, but a Black Jaguar sworn to protect her territory, her friends-family, and is ready to hunt.*also has maternal pride but thankfully I’m not old enough to be her mom LOL*

This interlude is the longest chapter yes, though that’s actually Carbonado - I just had to split in two parts because it got too long XDDDD

In conclusion, thanks again for your lovely feedback, it’s always so encouraging to hear what readers think, especially when you notice the little details and nuance here and there. Glad you like the early Xmas gift though! I hope I can finish ch15 before Xmas *crosses fingers* Please look forward to Arc3!