#james babbles

[jathirmankithrusakajames]

I haven't met anyone new and that's a crying shame. Someone come bother an old man.

[alarainai]

'the courage of stars'

fluff, wc: 700+. for: @messymoony ♡

Regulus is staring intently in the bathroom mirror.

James isn’t judging him, of course. Regulus is beautiful, and he can understand the appeal completely. After all, James thinks he spends at least three-quarters of his life watching Regulus do mundane things and being completely enamoured by it.

But Regulus isn’t staring at himself with fondness. If anything, he looks a bit angry. Like he’s having a telepathic battle with his own reflection. And, while it is rather endearing, James is starting to get slightly worried.

It only takes clearing his throat for Regulus to turn and look at him.

“I have a confession,” Regulus says.

That’s ominous. James leans his weight against the bathroom door and raises a single eyebrow. He can’t imagine it’s anything truly terrible, but there does seem to be some underlining panic to Regulus’ words.

“I’ve been lying to you,” his beloved boyfriend of two months continues, “And it’s starting to become uncomfortable, so I’ve decided I’m not doing it anymore.”

James snorts, “I’m happy to know your tolerance for lying to me only lasts a couple of months, baby. And whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not the end of the world.”

Regulus looks disbelieving and scowls at James as though expecting some sort of argument. When he gets none, his shoulders slump in defeat and he turns, crouching and rummaging through his bathroom cupboard for something. James isn’t particularly sure what he keeps in there – he’s only slept over at Regulus’ place three times, and he’s been rather cagey about his belongings.

Eventually, Regulus stands up again with a small, oddly shaped container.

“Remember, I’m still me, okay?”

Before James can truly take in the dramatics of Regulus’ words, his boyfriend is reaching up to his eye with his index finger. For a moment, James is terrified that Regulus will poke his eye out and reaches forward with a reluctant hand.

Until he sees something.

A lens.

James’ gaze goes towards the mirror to take in Regulus’ reflection, and all of his thoughts screech to a halt as a deep brown eye blinks back at him. A very stark contrast from his other eye, still a steely grey that is a known characteristic of the Black family.

Regulus gives James a couple of seconds to adapt before he takes out the other contact lens, popping them both in that unusual container. Then he turns, looking up at James like he’s waiting to be shouted at.

And James is left to stare at this new discovery with a racing heart.

His eyes are warm, endless, with flecks of dark amber around the iris that somehow catch in the too-bright bathroom lamp.

“Now, I know this is a bit of a change,” Regulus starts, fiddling with the sleeve of his jumper. Of James’  jumper. “But I just couldn’t wear contacts to sleep anymore. It dries out my eyes, and it’s ridiculously uncomfortable. So, you’re just gonna have to deal with this when we stay at each other’s places. I’ll wear them when-”

“How the fuck did you get hotter?”

Regulus falters at the interruption, staring up at James with wide eyes. Wide, fucking gorgeous, eyes.

“Seriously,” James continues, taking Regulus’ face in his hands and tilting it upwards, “It’s unfair. You can’t keep doing this to me. My brain is going to melt. Regulus, why the fuck do you wear contacts?”

“My… my family has grey and blue eyes.”

“I don’t care what your family have,” James tells him, “Regulus. They’re beautiful.”

“Oh.”

It’s ridiculous – James can tell that Regulus was honestly expecting a worse reaction. As though James has ever found Regulus anything less than perfect. With a quiet laugh, James leans down and presses a gentle kiss to his lips, smiling when he hears the love of his love let out a content hum.

When he pulls back, he’s grinning, “Can’t believe you risked damaging your eyes because you cared about my opinion.”

Regulus pouts briefly and pulls him back down for another kiss before James can start mocking him. James mourns the fact that he can’t see Regulus’ eyes anymore, but he doesn’t mind too much.

He’ll have the rest of his life to compliment them anyway.

[bandtrees]

streamed the james somerton apology video for a vc of 9 friends, as we watched i made an ms paint quilt to capture the emotional journey

[inkyarcturus]

Thinking about Harry screaming out the classic “YOURE NOT MY DAD!” to Snape during an argument.

It would be so interesting to see the dynamics at play, especially compared to if he was adopted or not before that moment.

Pre-adopted Harry? Snapes fucked, everything’s fucked. Cuz what is he supposed to say to that? Like you’re right, I’m not your dad, I’m not your godfather, your mother hated me after 5th year and by all accounts I should not be your guardian, yet here I am and will continue to do so, because of a promise I made that I can’t tell you about and because maybe, just maybe I’m starting to love you as a son.

But then, he’d have to realize that in a way, he’s filling in for James, his bully. Harry inadvertently admitted to viewing his actions as being fatherly. How do you cope with that?

Absolute mindfuck of a situation.

Adopted Harry saying that to Severus? Comical, perfect combo of hurt/comfort. Have Snape throw it back into Harry’s face like, no no, you chose this brat, you’re stuck with me (lovingly) doesn’t matter how much screaming and fighting we do, you will always be my child.

I may not be James, I may not be Lily, or Sirius, or Remus, but I am here, and you chose me, and I chose you. You can call me your father or not, that is your choice, I know i will never replace James, but you cannot take back the love you have for me for the sake of an argument.

Add in the angst of Severus fearing becoming like his own father, as I imagine at one point he disowned himself from Tobias.

AND Harry’s point of view of all of this? The guilt he would feel over his apparent “betrayal” to James, the anger of letting himself rely on another person who he knows will disappoint him, the shame of realizing afterwards that he didn’t mean it and DOES actually see Sev as a dad?

Delicious.

[hitmewithsomebooks]

@jegulus-microfic Feb 17 - soup

426 words

~

“Sorry, I’m babbling again…” Regulus muttered, trailing off. James smiled at him.

“I like it when you babble. I always learn so much. Like, I never knew that we blink 20 times a minute, or ants don’t have lungs, or that there’s a soup made from bird nests!” James exclaimed, sounding genuinely interested.

Regulus’s brows furrowed, his lips parted slightly in a little ‘o’. James found it rather endearing.

“You mean you… listened to all that stuff? You actually listened to what I was saying?” Regulus questioned, his tone surprised.

“Well o’ course. Who wouldn’t?” James asked, cocking his head to the side rather like a puppy.

“Quite a lot of people, actually. I can tell when they’re spacing out or not paying attention. People think I babble.” Regulus said with a shrug, but James could see that it bothered him.

“Well, clearly they’re just daft.” James sniffed, and Regulus smiled.

“You think?”

“Absolutely!” James assured him, his expression firm. “I could listen to you talk all day.” He added, his face softening into a gentle smile as he gazed at Regulus. The younger boy blinked, turning away to stare at his books, willing away the blush that threatened to stain his cheeks. He cleared his throat.

“I’m sure you’d get bored just like the rest of them soon enough.”

James frowned. 

“I most certainly would not.” He protested, chin raised to show how serious he was. Regulus scoffed.

“You want to put that theory to the test, Potter?” The young Slytherin asked, and James grinned.

“You’re on, Black.”

Over the next few weeks, they met up in the library, every day, and would start talking. Or, in most cases, Regulus would start talking, and James would watch that little spark pop into his eyes as his passion for the topic grew, a content smile on his face as he listened.

Regulus was flabbergasted. This boy, who seemed to have the attention span of a puppy (not to mention the eyes, personality, and charm of a puppy), had his focus on Regulus the entire time he talked. Every single day.

And he looked so happy while he did it. Like he was genuinely taking in and enjoying each and every word. Like he couldn’t wait to hear the next thing out of Regulus’s mouth.

It was incredibly endearing. And intoxicating. Regulus had never found someone who loved to listen to him before, and he didn’t plan on letting this one go.

Luckily for him, James planned on listening to Regulus for the rest of his life.

[anghraine]

I was talking to my students and then some family members about how the death of Elizabeth I and succession of James was necessarily an occasion of upheaval, even when it wasn't necessarily violent or flirting with treason or whatever. For one, the death of a monarch that will lead to a new dynasty (even a related one!) is not quite the same as a familiar figure inheriting the country's rule from their parent or grandparent. It's usually a bigger change, with dynamics of loyalties and affiliations shifting around—that's part of the reason Elizabeth delayed acknowledging James as her heir.

Typically, you'd see courtiers etc deserting a dying monarch in order to signal their loyalty to the new monarch, even if the old one wasn't actually dead yet. Elizabeth's reluctance to share royal power was fundamental to her reign and her public image, so it's not at all surprising that she would be loath to encourage that kind of desertion in any particular direction.

Of course, another thing that complicates the Elizabeth -> James succession is that she had reigned for a long time (44 years iirc). By the time she was dying, a good number of English people had few personal memories of life under any other monarch, and those who did would remember the abrupt and unstable reigns of her predecessors, Edward and Mary. So James's accession came with uncertainty about what exactly it would entail, and a lot of late Elizabethan/early Jacobean drama in English is very concerned with questions of what obligations the governed owe to their monarchs (obedience? loyalty? are those always the same thing?), but also what obligations monarchs themselves have to their people.

This seemed especially pertinent to Lear, in which multiple characters defy capricious orders from a monarch or other authority out of loyalty: Kent challenges Lear and is banished, so skulks around in disguise to continue serving him, Edgar also skulks around in disguise after Gloucester renounces him and ends up offering what comfort he can to his father, and Cordelia returns to Britain with the French army in her ultimately futile attempt to help Lear. Meanwhile, Lear loses everything, is driven to take shelter in a peasant hovel, and starts to contemplate how his own failures as a king resulted in, well, peasant hovels.

Anyway, now I'm thinking about what a wild figure Elros must have been as, specifically, a monarch to the Númenóreans. He lived for five hundred years. Even his own children (also half-Elves! sort of!) and other descendants who benefited from his lifespan didn't live as long, and most Númenóreans during his earlier reign wouldn't have come near to it. Undoubtedly there were Elves who had known Elros in the First Age who were baffled at him choosing mortality and DEATH, and meanwhile on Númenor, there are all these people living out their extended lifespans under the reign of a half-Elf king who was ruling their people at their birth and would still be ruling after they died of old age. We know Elros retained his half-Elvish characteristics as well, so they've got this visibly Elvish, barely-aging, eternal king who looks like Lúthien as part of the fabric of life for centuries.

Yes, he's literally the first king—but for a lot of earlier Númenóreans, he's also the only king they will ever know. It takes him an incredibly long time to weary of the world as other mortals do. By the time Elros finally gets weary of Arda, and willingly lays down his life and passes to the unknown fate of mortals, Tar-Amandil is stepping into some very big shoes.

[daveysbones]

I don't think I'll ever reach peak like this again, Ayreonblr

[myceliumbutch]

Ok but hear me out

[bonefall]

I do feel bad for Owen. Clearly this is NOT his forte. #freeowen

I'm guessing Owen has some kind of contract to do all the covers for the "Erin Hunter" books, since he also seems to do the art for Bravelands and Survivors. Which baffles me.

When you look at his portfolio, it seems clear that animals are NOT his strong suit. He mostly designs them as monsters or setpieces, not as characters in their own right. His humans, objects, and backgrounds are excellent, while his animals are quite generic-- So why did they choose this artist to design for their xenofiction series?

The art he does for Percy Jackson and Artemis Fowl is not as jilted and uninspired as his work for any of the Erin Hunter series. He does have a thing for harsh lighting (too harsh for my taste) but the composition is fine and the characters are recognizable. Certainly not "someone tried to unlock your phone" tier. It's strange.

It strikes me like he's not "comfortable" enough with animals to experiment with them, heavily referencing zoomed-in photos and leaving it there. Note how his cats are almost never doing anything, just sitting or standing around looking confused.

Has he ever even drawn a battle cat... battling?

I don't really feel "bad" for him, OR "mad" at him, because we have no idea what's happening behind the scenes, but I WILL say that I feel he is an absolutely awful match for WC. I don't understand what about his portfolio made him look like a good replacement for Wayne McLoughlin, besides some executive recognizing his style from somewhere else.

I hope he is compensated well for his work, but I don't buy hardcovers because of his art and am holding out hope that someone else takes over someday.

[jathirmankithrusakajames]

My great grandson is horrified that I know of hatsune miku and leekspin.

Boy I may be old but I'm not uneducated about internet culture.

I think

[whosbloom]

here’s some of my stuffed animals as the evan’s

we don’t talk abt kyle’s

[bottlesandbones]

me too Wilson, me too.

[inkyarcturus]

Me when I saw a tiktok from a marauders fan talking about their love of Harry being from the fact that Harry is exactly like his parents, so I just have to vibrate in place while mentally screaming, “YOU MISSED THE POINT! HOW DID YOU MISS THE POINT? HE HAS TRAITS, HES NOT THEM COMPLETELY”

Everyone treats him as the ghosts of his parents, but in reality, beyond his physical characteristics, his personality and interests barely line up with them. There’s an entire scene in book 5 with Sirius about this exact thing guys!!! Sirius treats Harry like he’s a mini James when he’s not and he’s shocked when he doesn’t act like him.

Yes he loves quidditch (seeker, not chaser like James), yes he’s a Gryffindor (almost sorted Slytherin which as far as we’re aware neither of them were), yes he was raised in the muggle world like Lily (BUT IN A COMPLETELY DIF FAMILY STRUCTURE), his favorite subject is defense!! Which was neither of their favorite even if James became an auror, his fav was transfiguration!

Both James and Lily were considered exceptionally bright, Harry is average when it comes to grades.

We barely know anything about their canonical personalities beyond what is told by other characters in the books to Harry, but Dumbledore describes Harry to Snape as having more of the personality to Lily then James, including less of an ego and arrogance.

But even with that comparison, there are still noticeable differences between Lily and his personality, such as his anger being more pronounced, but him being more willing to forgive.

[finnslay]

Jily: *exists*

Me: This is the most beautiful and depressing family I've seen. Stupid government.

[hugeegosorry]

God i missed making these