#sorry for the downer I just think this in important to remind and reflect on within any fandom

[kathaynesart]

Real talk. I think the above image is a very good example of the subtle ways fans try to gaslight and manipulate others in a fandom. You don’t have to be verbally harassing the person to still be putting them down.

People should never belittle or demoralize a person simply because they have a different opinion on a fictional character. Regardless of how canon or head canon a character’s orientation or interests may be that gives no right to harass another living human being. It especially does not give the right to make judgement calls on the worth of their character and claim them to be homophobic or worse. It’s for this reason I normally keep my personal opinions quiet simply because I do not wish to gain the attention or ire of those sorts of individuals.

Long story short please be respectful to everyone, especially creators who put so much time and energy into their work. Just because their work does not match your “optimal vision” does not give you the right to judge them. Thank you!

My friend sent me the link to my art on pinterest (a person who uploaded it added credits so they're good, just in case), and after seeing this comment, I decided to vent a bit and let people know something, because it's not the first case like this for me.

Do not comment my art with these kinds of "fixes". My art is my art. You want Leosagi or Leo with male characters? Go and find artists who does it. There are plenty of those out there. I'm not one of those and won't ever be.

When you do something like this you devalue a person's work and simply trespassing their safe space. Not to mentions this is simply rude and feels insulting.

I'm not going on a constant crusade and leaving comments under Leosagi art, telling people to change it into Leo x Y/N or Fem character, so, please, have some respect.

I've been getting comments like this and after seeing this one on pinterest decided to make a post to make things clear, because

Have some conscience.

[milkybonya]

Treasure as suggi songs

Warning: explicit language!!

[a/n]: so i just finally started watching Treasure Map since i've had this week off and... I LOVE TREASURE SO MUCH!! i'm still learning more about them, but i thought it would be fun to try to make this while i still don't know them that well :-] also, i've been listening to suggi a lot these days :D

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NO ONE ASKED FOR THIS CONTENT AND I FEEL SO DELIRIOUS RN SO THIS IS GONNA BE FULL OF CRACC ENERGY BUT! I HAVE DELIVERED!!

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Hyunsuk as money money money and LOL

so i immediately went: what is the swaggiest song suggi has ever released and it was between money money money and LOL >:o the money song is actually about struggling financially but the sound and vibe are just... swag... cool... and Hyunsuk has the most swag and he is the swaggiest person with the most swag who has swag- so clearly. this song is the right choice! also since this song talks about the responsibilities of money, i’m sure Hyunsuk has a lot of responsibilities to deal with as the leader :D for LOL, the song is about laughing at haters and honestly that is the most swaggy thing a person could do... i’m sure Hyunsuk also laughs @ his haters ><

Jihoon as ex best friend

so the one thing i'll never forget about Jihoon is him helping a foreign trainee with his English in Treasure Box. this song is about... well it's obvious from the title LOL but the lyrics where suggi says 'teach you how to be a friend' and just the vibe of showing a friend around and helping them out reminds me a lot of Jihoon. (i hope that trainee is doing okay :(( he was so cute) buT anyways Jihoon as the leader (Hyunsuk and Jihoon are co-leaders... right?) treats his members with so much kindness ;3;

Yoshi as fuck u, goodluck. and Bunny Do

honestly this song is about wishing an ex-lover luck with them learning how to not break hearts for a change and Yoshi has absolutely broken my heart because of how BEAUTIFUL THIS MAN IS... so Yoshi pls stop breaking teumes hearts... Bunny Do is about falling in love with someone (because you think that comforting them will make them fall in love with you but ignore this part for a sec!) and honestly... i think we’re all in love with Yoshi. like... he is so pretty, you can’t tell me that you’re not in love with him - that’s literally a lie...

Junkyu as cheer up

so this song is a reminder to be happy! cheer up! and honestly every time Junkyu smiles... my heart leaves my chest and flies to the sun. literally. out of my chest and towards the sun BECAUSE this man’s smile is so! pretty! i think flowers could bloom if you placed them next to Junkyu... seriously every time i’m sad, i just look at his smile and feel 10x better. he is s o  p r e t t y and he makes me :D and he is just so full of cheerful energy!

Mashiho as get u a bunny

MASHIHO IS THE CUTEST MAN ON THIS PLANET,, HE CAN LITERALLY melt my heart by just.. existing... bUt this song is about suggi's bunny and how much the bunny cheers suggi up and honestly... Mashiho is like that for me. He doesn't have to do anything - his presence already makes me happy. Plus he looks a bit like a bunny when he smiles hehe him and his cute teefies.

Jaehyuk as Ur Just a Fan

This song is one of my favourites; it's an absolute masterpiece. But in the mukbang video (first episode of Treasure Map?), Jaehyuk gave me the vibe of 'this group can't live without me'. It really seemed like he was looking out for everyone, even in the other episodes, and I really think Treasure would be missing something without him :( That goes to say with all of the members ofc! but this song's lyrics, like 'one day you will miss me there', 'i'm still put on repeat' reflect how important Jaehyuk's presence is! the song is like 'how are you doing fine without me? you should miss me!!' and yes Jaehyuk... we are not fine without you, never :(

Asahi as I Feel Love and debbie downer on christmas

so i don’t know why, but Asahi is such a comfort boy to me... he’s so soft and he makes me feel at peace? I Feel Love is about feeling loved when you support your idols and honestly... I think I can equate feeling loved with feeling at peace if that makes sense? the way he’s so calm and in the zone while producing music... gosh i could go on forever. debbie downer on christmas is really just about being a homebody and that’s literally Asahi :] so cute

Yedam as astroboy.

not only is Yedam an astroboy who isn't like the rest and shines brightly among the stars, but i feel like Yedam's sweet voice would suit this song so well... if he ever sings this i will literally fall off my chair even though i'm not sitting on a chair right now LOL but also, this song is suggi's most popular and Yedam was probably the first member i could recognize so :] hehehhe

Doyoung as uwu and Zaddy

uwu is about seeming cute but actually having a dark side and i knOw Doyoung is the local cutie but like.... does he have some hidden sides... what is he hiding... sir... and Zaddy is not about what you think it is! it’s about revenge - the song literally say ‘sweet revenge’ and i wonder if Doyoung enjoys revenge... like imagine an evil/bad boy version of Doyoung... *adds bad boy!Doyoung to drafts* nO but since Sanha from Astro is a cutie with a dark side, i can’t help but wonder if Doyoung is the same... is revenge sweet for him? whAt is he hidinG 

Haruto as Adore

i’m sorry y’all ,, this one is a little more personal cause the part where suggi sings ‘i love you’ i just,,, couldn’t help but think of Haruto after hearing this song,,, it’s about loving someone (clearly) and Haruto was my first bias... he still is my bias so far... and i just can’t help but love him.... for more general reasons though, the guitar in the chorus reminds me of Haruto - it’s electric and i don’t know why but imagining Haruto playing a red electric guitar is such a pretty sight for sore eyes,,, i hope i can see it one day ;3; i hope we can all see it heh

Jeongwoo as Dude... Wtf

i mean the title is kind of self-explanatory but this man is the biggest cracchead and i love him for it. also the part before the chorus where the song goes ‘now you’re on the run run’ just reminds me of that episode where they’re showing Mashiho around Seoul aND JEONGWOO WAS ZOOMING SO FAST and running everywhere like sir,,, gimme some of your energy pls... and honestly this song’s energy is honestly Jeongwoo like if anyone were to break his heart (i hope that never ever happens) i feel like this would be his response like... lol you’re so dumb for mistreating me like this!

Junghwan as GRIND

so Junghwan is known for his perseverance and dedication (*cough* thank you kprofiles for the info) and this song is clearly about just that! the song reminds you to take breaks though like... pls do not work yourself until you die! but anyways, Junghwan is GRIND because of how hardworking he is... also the song’s vibe just really reminds me of Junghwan? that probably makes no sense but it just does... seriously though, just like the song says, i hope Junghwan remembers to take breaks! and you, reader, take breaks too!!

[ahnsael]

This is going to probably come as a surprise to some of you (even those younger than I), but...before I came home and listened to a few different performances of this today, I had heard this song exactly twice.

Both times were at work. The first time, I heard Roger Daltrey belt out what I thought was “rain on me” (I didn’t know it was Daltrey at the time) and I loved it, but our Sirius radio is based in our surveillance room upstairs, and by the time I got up there, the song was over and it wasn’t being displayed on the radio screen anymore.

This morning, I heard it for the second time. And this time, I made it up to Surveillance in time to see “Who” it was (The Who), and the name of the song (”Love Reign O’er Me,” not “Rain On Me” like I had tried to look up before).

I’m not what you call a fan of The Who. I mean, I did already have Baba O’Riley, Pinball Wizard, and Won’t Get Fooled Again downloaded. They have good music, and it may behoove me to look into them more. It’s just that I’m not familiar with their wider body of work.

Obviously, the version I heard at work wasn’t this live track, but this original album version:

I absolutely love the sound of this song. I’m not much into love these days (other than brotherly/fellow-human love -- I don’t know that I’m meant for the romantic kind and I may be kind of okay with that), but I love music with emotion. Not just screaming for the sake of screaming, but real sounds of joy, sorrow, anguish, etc. It’s why:

Pearl Jam’s Black ("All the love gone bad turned my world to black; tattooed all I see, all that I am, all that I'll be" -- that part gets the tears flowing, and that makes this next line full of tears for me when I sing along partly because it reminds me of the fiancee who dumped me) -- “I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a sun in somebody else's sky but WHY?” -- I need the “do-do-doot-doot-do-do-do”s that follow just to let me be lost in the emotion)

 R.E.M.’s Everybody Hurts (I mean, the message in the song is good -- 'Cause everybody hurts, take comfort in your friends” is literally what keeps me alive sometimes, but...that moment in the video linked in this paragraph -- all these links are to YouTube, I’m not trying to sell anything -- where everyone just gets out of their cars and starts walking together...it’s a great metaphor for how we all have to lift each other up, and sometimes we have to do so in unconventional ways. Because to care about each other is to help each other get to where we’re going. It may be a traffic jam in the video, but it has a deeper meaning to me, given the song’s context -- even though the movie came several years later, the moment when Michael Stipe starts visually singing “Hold on,” it reminds me now of the “It’s not your fault” scene in Good Will Hunting, which will also set me off into sob-land)

Jeff Buckley’s version of Hallelujah (”And love is not a victory march, it's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah” -- by the way, if you’re familiar with Buckley’s version but have not heard original writer Leonard Cohen’s version, NEVER listen to Leonard Cohen’s version -- it will only let you down in comparison)

I’m not gonna lie, one is Roger Williams’ (a usually-comedic country star from my childhood) One Dyin’ and a Buryin’ -- which is pretty self-explanatory if you listen to it...I’m not there, and I hope never to be there, but...I was there once and failed, but...this song brings back a LOT of memories of not only my one attempt at one dyin’ and a buryin’, but things earlier in life [when I listened to Roger Miller more often because he was one of bio-dad’s favorites], but lest you think Roger Miller is doom and gloom he’s not for the most part -- check out You Can’t Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd and Chug-A-Lug [two different songs, same video] or Do-Wacka-Do or In the Summertime or Kansas City Star to know he wasn’t all about being a downer)

The Killers’ All These Things That I've Done (mostly the line “I got soul, but I'm not a soldier” but also “you’ve gotta help me out” because I NEED that sometimes, plus the fact that this song played on the jumbo-tron a lot in Universal CityWalk in my homeless days when I worked at Universal but also literally LIVED at Universal [without Universal’s knowledge -- I just hid at night to find a place to sleep] and I spent a lot of time getting cheap food (cheap for a theme park shopping area, at least) from a restaurant at the part of CityWalk that they called CityEats, and would watch the Jumbo-Tron while I ate -- so it kind of reminds me of those days which opens up a whole other can of worms -- not mention “all the things that I’ve done” in my life which, some of which 40 years later, still bug the heck out of me)

or even Pharell Williams’ Happy (”Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth” has always confused me into tears because while I feel HIS joy, I cannot feel it myself, but I do believe that happiness is the truth -- not enough to clap along -- but I just don’t know how to get there, but I do love it when other people, even complete strangers, get there, because it give me hope that it IS possible, unless everyone who claims to be truly happy is lying, but that’s statistically unlikely -- the video also makes me realize how much I simply CANNOT dance -- I can groove, but not dance, and there is a BIG difference -- I can move to a beat [and I can actually keep the beat in the Country Bear Jamboree on the rare times I clap along, unlike a lot of the white-person crowd], I got no moves; I could probably learn moves if they were choreographed for me and the choreographer worked with me on things but this is literally what kept me from trying out for the 1989 revival of the Mickey Mouse Club in my early teens, even though I wanted to be part of that more than anything I’ve ever wanted, before or since -- but at least I got to work at Disneyland, and that may have led to even better memories than I might have had if I’d gone for the show).

...are all songs that can bring me to tears (sorry for the tangents in that list).

And don’t even get me STARTED on Disney songs like Reflection from Mulan or I Will Go Sailing No More from Toy Story. Heck, even Kermit the Frog singing It’s Not Easy Being Green or the Rainbow Connection Finale from The Muppet Movie can set me off.

I don’t always do well at “keep believing.” “Keep pretending,” I’m better at (in real life but not on tumblr). I don’t even know WHAT I set out to do.

For for the lovers, the dreamers, and you, I hope you get there. I hope I get there, too, but...to me it’s more important that YOU get there, because you probably have better odds than I do, and will probably do more with it than I would.

[gunnerpalace]

I've read your reply on subject of anti-Inoue to pro-ichiruki matter and as expected you express it so well. I never been fond of Ino, kinda drags myself for it tbh, coz she was everything i hated about the trope, men and by extension some women, reduce female characters into. I wanted results, not some mental dialogues, that would turn into failure, over and over again. I wanted demonstration of strength, not some empty promises. Not even tears should be the reflection of genuine wish.

there would be an endless debates of who ino is, or what’s the true intention, or her purpose and should-have-been’s.Or how we should interpret or appreciate her as a character. I wouldnt even consider her polarizing, but plain (im truly sorry for this) annoying and source material didnt do anything to dissuade me and others. It would have been different tho, imo, if she realized herself, she just never had this ability to be ‘incredible’, and that was okay, and made peace with it.

And 1 more thing, I always feel Ino is somewhat self-centered and unaware of it. I get it could be bcoz of the trauma. But at the same time, i felt like she really dont give much thought into her actions in a sense its more of self-serving (wanting to be the protector coz its like a cool, nice thing) than for whom she’s dedicating her powers (out of pure, genuine feelings). She did once but..?She pretty much never truly reflected on her actions. TL;DR she needed an actual therapist, not lover.

I would agree with most of this. My problem with her has always been that she was, as a character, a waste of potential. Her arc never went anywhere and never amounted to anything—there was no payoff to seeing her fail to advance over and over again. (She is by no means unique for this: lots of things in Bleach fail to have any payoff.)

On some level, I wonder if maybe that was the point? That she (and many of those other things) were deliberately designed to be disappointing? So much of the manga seems explicitly engineered to be something of a downer… But, even if it was intentional, that doesn’t really excuse it. Art is mostly supposed to make you feel something, but “frustrated at the art” isn’t really a valid thing to pursue. (Doing so would remind me of subverting expectations purely for the sake of doing so.)

(On that note, while it’s true that some people just… don’t advance, certainly not in a three year time-span, I don’t read fiction to watch the personal failures of life replicated in miniature, so I don’t see that as valid either, especially not in a [supposed] action manga.)

The thing I think is truly annoying is she did have the potential to do some incredible things, even if they weren’t flashy or immediately attention-grabbing. A “healer” who can fix people up super-quick would enable quite the feats, if employed properly, and something impressive could’ve been done with her powers (especially since Bleach loves ass-pull abilities). It’s just that not only as a character did she not grow, but that nothing important was done with her narratively. By the end she’s not even healing people, she’s just there.

This is probably why she’s very easy to resent: she is constantly just there, doing the bare minimum to justify her place in the story, often actively making things worse for everyone else, and never at any point getting a chance to make up for any of it.

[owlways-and-forever]

Summary: Lily Evans thought her life would be normal. Well, as normal as it can be for a muggle-born witch in England. But when her boyfriend turns out to be the prince of the wizarding world, and tensions begin to rise among factions of wizarding society, Lily must find her way in situations she never anticipated, and try not to lose sight of her identity. Word Count: 4,241 (32,215) Links: ao3 | FFnet | Tumblr: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 7

A/N: Hello friends! Happy September, and I hope you're all cozied up on the Hogwarts Express with some chocolate frogs and good company. Or failing that, I hope you're snuggled up on the couch watching a Harry Potter marathon (like me). I know it's been a while since I've posted, if you've followed me for a while, you know I'm not very good at sticking to a posting schedule. But I have a new chapter now and I'm excited to keep working on this story! So without further ado, here's the next chapter, and I hope you enjoy it!

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Chapter 8

About a week after graduation, Lily, Mary, Alice and Fabian received four identical scrolls of parchment from a brown barn owl. They were held together with loops of white ribbon, and Lily could sense some kind of magic running through it, probably to prevent anyone but the addressee from opening the letter. Lily slipped her finger under the ribbon and snapped it off, unfurling the loop of parchment.

Miss Evans,

I would like to invite you to join an organization that I am developing in order to fight Voldemort and his followers. At the moment, its existence is covert, so silence on the matter is paramount. If you are interested, please attend an explanatory meeting on Tuesday night at 9pm at the address below.

12 Victoria Rd

Southend-on-Sea

I hope to see you there.

Albus Dumbledore

Lily let out a long breath. This was what she’d been waiting for - some way to fight against what was happening. Obviously her roommates had all received an invitation, but Lily wondered who else was a part of the squad. Mostly, she wondered if James would have gotten a similar scroll. Surely Dumbledore would know all about the constraints that his position placed on him, and yet Lily knew without a doubt that James wanted to fight, and he would be one hell of an ally.

A knock sounded on Lily’s bedroom door, and she looked up to find Mary peering through a small gap.

“Come on in,” Lily invited, and Mary smiled as she pushed the door fully open and crossed the room to join Lily on the bed.

“So did you get one of these letters too?” Mary asked, though she could see the parchment unfurled across Lily’s duvet.

“Yeah.”

“Are you gonna do it?” Mary inquired.

“I think so,” Lily said, her brows furrowing slightly as she considered the question. “I don’t think I can just stand by and do nothing in all of this. I need to be useful.”

Mary said nothing, her blue eyes fixed on an arbitrary spot on the wall.

“What are you going to do?” Lily asked.

“I don’t know,” Mary admitted, worrying her lower lip as she tried to avoid meeting Lily’s eyes.

“It’s okay if you’re scared,” Lily assured her, leaning forward and resting one hand on her friend’s knee. “And I promise that no one will think any less of you if you decide not to do this. But you should know that you won’t be any safer because of it. You’ll still be muggleborn, Mary, just like me, and they’ll still hate us.”

“I know,” Mary said, nodding slightly. “But it’s not just me, is it? If I stay out of it, they might hate me, they might come after me, but my family will be fine, especially if I keep my distance from them. I’m not important, I’m not visible, they would have no reason to try to hurt them to get to me. But if I fight… if they went after my family… Colin has his first girlfriend, and Iain is only eight. And little Isabel has only barely started school. They should all have lives ahead of them, and I can’t put them in danger!”

Mary seemed more agitated than Lily had ever seen her, and admittedly she found it somewhat difficult to identify with her feelings. Of course she had family too, but Petunia was older than her and capable of taking care of herself and her parents… well, her parents would want her to fight at any cost.

“I… I’m sorry, Mary, I didn’t realize this was so difficult for you,” Lily said, a little more bitingly than she intended. “But I’m sure you’ll make the right decision in the end.”

“You mean you’re sure I’ll choose to join up and fight in the end,” Mary snapped, standing up and pushing away from the bed.

“No!” Lily gasped. “No, that’s not what I meant at all. I just meant that I’m sure you’ll figure out what the right thing for you is.” Lily struggled for a moment with her own feelings, trying to set them aside to understand her friend better. “I think… I think you should reflect on what you need to do the most, and what you’ll regret most down the road. There are so many what-ifs, Mary… what if you fight and your family gets hurt, what if you don’t fight and they get hurt anyway, what if you don’t fight and we lose the war… you have to think about it all, Mary, and decide what path you can live with, what path won’t make you hate yourself ten years from now. And whatever decision you make, I promise we’ll all be okay with it. I… I can’t promise that it’ll be easy for us, but we’ll still love you.”

“I don’t really know what to do,” Mary sighed, sitting back down on the bed and flopping back onto the comforter with a deep sigh.

“I know, but you’ll figure it out,” Lily said assuredly, laying back next to her friend.

“Thanks.”

They lay together, lost in their own thoughts, for a little while, before Mary sat up and smiled softly.

“I’ve got to go, Fabian and I are grabbing dinner with Gideon,” she said.

“Okay, have fun,” Lily replied, grinning knowingly. “See you later.”

Mary left and closed the door behind her, and Lily shut her eyes, tempted to just go to sleep then, even though it was shamefully early. But her stomach was growling, and reminding her that it had been far too long since she’d had a full meal. As Lily was contemplating what to order for dinner, she heard the door to the apartment slam, and she wonder what could have made the usually reserved Alice so upset.

“Lily!” James shouted through the apartment. It wasn’t Alice who was agitated then. “Lily, you home?”

“Shh, the neighbors are going to hate you if you keep that up,” Lily hissed, opening the door to her bedroom.

James practically, sprinted to join her, flopping dramatically onto her bed and offering her one of his patented charming smiles.

“So, you’ll never guess -”

“Dumbledore sent you an invitation to join a secret society to fight Voldemort?” Lily interrupted, amused.

“I… yeah… how’d you…?” James stammered.

“All four of us got one too,” Lily explained, chuckling lightly at James’ sullen expression. “You gonna do it?”

“Hell yeah!” he exclaimed, his face lighting up at the thought.

“James,” Lily scoffed, “I don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer, but how exactly are you going to do that? You’re the one that’s been telling me that we can’t get involved in this.”

“I know I have, but Lils, it’s a secret organization, so it’s perfect!” he insisted.

“I feel like you’re banking on that a little too much,” she replied.

“Are you trying to tell me not to do it?” James asked, sounding betrayed. “Because I thought we were on the same page about this.”

“No!” Lily amended. “I want you to do this, I want to do this. But I just don’t think you’ve fully thought through whether or not you can do it. This is the hardest part about who you are, not being able to do what you want to do, you’ve told me that.”

“I know, I know,” he said, shaking his head. “I know I haven’t really thought it through, but I’ll figure it out, because Lils, I just know that I could never live with myself if I passed this opportunity up. This is one of those times when there is a right and a wrong and it’s clear, and if you’re not fighting for good, then you’re wrong.”

Mary’s words from earlier and her uncertainty haunted Lily as she listened to her boyfriend speak. Two hours ago, she felt the same way, and thought of this war in terms of black and white, but now there were shades of grey starting to appear.

“I’m not sure it’s that easy,” she whispered, more to herself than to James.

But whether it was easy or not, Lily and James both knew what they wanted to do, without any doubts or hesitations. There was only one path for them, nothing else would do.

o . o . o

As darkness gathered on Tuesday night, Lily sat in her apartment, carefully applying concealment charms to James and herself. She knew they were going to a muggle neighborhood, that was part of the appeal of the location, but it was still imperative that nobody recognize them. She had changed the color of her hair to a dark brown, and her eyes to brown as well. With a simple charm, she had been able to plump her cheeks a bit and make her face a bit rounder. With a dark cloak over her clothes, she felt pretty confident in her disguise, but James was more of a challenge. He was so well known, and now that people were clued in to his ‘alter ego’, it was harder for him to go unnoticed. It was like the whole world was looking for him more than they ever had before. Tweaking his hair color wouldn’t be enough, so Lily had spent time over the weekend researching glamour spells and concealment charms to keep him safe. She had settled on one that would play on the mind of the beholder, showing them someone they would most like to avoid. It was more or less a misdirection trick, one that could be overcome with effort, but it seemed like their best options. Their friends would be able to, with some concentration, break the spell and see James as he was, but passersby would be none the wiser.

As Lily finished her spellwork, she said a silent prayer that it would be good enough. She didn’t think she would be able to live if she was the reason he got hurt. She draped a black cloak around his shoulders as well, an added layer of protection from prying eyes, and took a deep breath. There wasn’t anything else to do but jump and see where this adventure would take them.

Fabian and Alice both joined them in the living room, ready to depart. Mary had stayed late at the hospital, and said she would meet them there if she decided to be a part of this. The four new graduates stepped out of the apartment and into the dark, dinghy street. Night had decidedly fallen, leaving London blanketed in a deep, velvety darkness. They walked two block north and one west, until they reached the alley that they always used to apparate. Fabian had set up a portkey using a tattered shirt, and as the four stood at the back of the alley, they each took hold of a piece of it. Lily clutched tight to the fabric, her fingers rubbing against the flannel. They waited for what seemed like ages until the garment began to emit a blue glow. Lily felt like she was being yanked forward by the belly button and squeezing her through a sausage stuffer. Just when she thought it would never end, the smell of salt water filled her senses and her feet slammed into the pavement. Her knees ached from the force of the impact, and she had to steady herself with a hand on the pavement for a moment before she could stand.

“Alright, I think we’re just a few blocks away if I did this right,” Fabian said, looking around and trying to make sense of their surroundings.

Stars speckled the dark sky so far from the city, but it did little to light the streets. There were no street signs or lit windows, just the sound of waves crashing against rocks a few blocks away. With their cloaks drawn close around them, they were indistinguishable from the night sky, walking towards their destination. The house they found at the address in question was small, with lavender walls and buttercream yellow shutters. Flowerboxes hung from all the window sills with brightly colored impatients blooming wildly. In short, it had Dumbledore written all over it.

James stepped forward and knocked on the door, and without hesitation it swung open. The foursome stepped into the foyer and immediately found a group of adults of varying ages sitting uncomfortably in the spacious sitting room. It was evident that an enlargement charm had been cast in the inside of the house.

Around the room sat a few people they knew from school - Gideon, Frank Longbottom, Edgar Bones, all of their friends - and a few older individuals. Lily recognized Caradoc Dearborn and Alastor Moody, but there were several others who she didn’t know. A few more people filtered into the small house, including Mary, until finally it Dumbledore stood.

“Let’s begin,” he announced, casting his penetrating gaze around the room. “I believe it is customary to have introductory icebreakers at gatherings such as these, however there is some protection in anonymity. I will leave it up to you to get to know each other to the extent that you are comfortable.”

His eyes fixed on James for a moment before fleeting around the rest of the group. Lily knew that this rule was largely for James’ benefit, regardless of what Dumbledore said. The fewer people that knew that James fighting in the war covertly, the more likely it was that he’d be able to keep that information secret.

“You are all here,” Dumbledore continued, “because the changes that have been taking hold of the wizarding world distress you all equally, because you think that it is morally reprehensible to consider one person superior to another solely because of their ancestry, and because you all want to fight to see the world restored to the light. It is not enough to stand by and hope that others will do the work for you, we all must roll up our sleeves and plunge our hands straight into this bubbling cauldron.”

Apprehensive looks passed around the room, mixed with curiosity and determination. Lily felt a little bit nervous, but mostly she just felt ready to begin the fight.

“I’d like to give you all this opportunity to ask any questions you might have,” Dumbledore continued, opening his arms wide in a welcoming gesture.

“What exactly are we going to be doing?” someone asked from the behind Lily.

“There are a whole manner of things that need to be done, and everyone will have their own role to play,” Dumbledore answered. “We have Ministry employees, healers, aurors, teachers… each as important as the last. There are a number of ways in which we will have to combat our opponent. First, we will need as much intelligence as possible. It is important to know where Lord Voldemort plans to strike and when, as well as who fights for him, and where he is most vulnerable. There will be those of you who will work to make the public aware of all that is happening, and protect them from Voldemort’s influence. And then there will of course be those who are on the front lines, dueling against the Death Eaters to save lives. It will not, at any point, be easy. But it will always be necessary.”

Everyone in the room looked curiously at Dumbledore, his words clearly not giving them a much better picture of what this war would look like for them.

“I have some intelligence,” Dumbledore sighed, “that Voldemort’s followers are planning an attack in two days’ time. I have chosen six of you to attempt to thwart this endeavor.”

“Which six?” somebody asked.

“Where are they attacking?” another attendee burst out.

“Who goes on each mission will never be divulged to anyone who does not strictly need to know,” Dumbledore answered, his blue eyes flashing. “Even I will not know the details of every mission. But I suggest we all pray to whatever god we believe in that as many missions as possible result in victories.”

Lily looked over at her friends. She’d be praying for victories, but she would also be praying for as few casualties as possible.

o . o . o

James slunk through the London shadows, his invisibility cloak wrapped tightly around him. He’d had a fairly lengthy conversation with Dumbledore and McGonagall the night after the Order’s information session, and they had settled on a role for him that they thought would be suitable for his skills and his restrictions. James would, in effect, be the sniper of the Order. He would stay low, out of sight, hidden, and try to covertly disarm Death Eaters before attacks even began.

Part of him hated it. He was a good dueler, and he wanted to be in the thick of every battle. He wanted Death Eaters to see his face before the fell, and know who brought them down. But James knew that he could only continue to be involved for as long as his involvement remained secret. He also knew that, despite her assurances that she wanted him to fight, Lily would be out of her mind with worry if he were constantly dueling. He didn’t ever want her to be afraid that he wouldn’t come home. So this was good, a good compromise.

He was headed toward a muggle hospital, where the Death Eaters were supposedly planning an attack that would mimic a gas explosion. Emmeline and Alice were trying to surreptitiously evacuate as many patients as possible, while Gideon and Dedalus Diggle tried to shore up the hospital’s defenses. That left James with Alastor Moody, keeping watch over the entrances and initiating the fight should one arrive.

The light rain that was falling tapped quietly against against the cobblestones of the street, a soft sort of ambiance. James watched the street carefully from his perch two stories above, nestled in a window with the best vantage point. He was looking for anything out of the ordinary - shadows that didn’t belong or a tiny bit of movement in his peripheral vision. Moody lay in wait below, a one-man barrier between the Death Eaters and the hospital entrance.

Just when James was starting to think that their information had been faulty, a dense fog began to filter through the street below, thick tendrils of it snaking into every nook and cranny. Shit, James thought to himself. How was he supposed to see anything now? He was debating whether or not to leave his post when he heard what sounded like a tin rubbish bin lid hitting the stones and a cat screeching loudly. He didn’t know what that meant, but it decided matters for him. There was no way he was going to hide up in this building while Merlin knows what was going on down below. Besides, he still had the invisibility cloak, he would be fine.

James bolted down the stairs and into the foyer of the building, stopping short of the door. Pulling the invisibility cloak around his shoulders, he peered through the window of the door before opening it as little as possible and slipping through. He stayed nestled in the doorway, watching for some sign of the Death Eaters. There, floating through the fog were three darker shadows. James tightened his grip on his wand, carefully taking aim.

“Stupefy,” he whispered, and a jet of red light streamed from his wand.

But the fog appeared to be more than just a visual distraction, it seemed to have some property that slowed down spells and eroded them as they traveled. He would never be able to do anything from his position. But he worried that the fog, whatever it was, would eat at the cloak’s magic too. If it was everything his father had told him, though, it would hold up against anything.

James stepped out cautiously, keeping his wand raised in front of him. He could feel the air thicken as he pushed through the fog, trying to make his way to the Death Eaters that were still moving forward. And yet, he felt as though the fog had reached fingers into his mind, clouding his thoughts and making him feel dim-witted. What the hell kind of fog is this? The closer he crept to the Death Eaters, the more clear the outlines became, but the more dense his mind felt.

Impedimenta, James thought, directing his wand towards the Death Eaters and what he hoped was the fog’s core. It began to lift slightly, and even though it wasn’t completely gone, it was enough for James’ mind to clear and for him to see the three Death Eaters, and Moody standing boldly in front of them. He heard the Death Eaters snarl wildly, but before any of them could get off a curse, Moody had sent one aimed at the Death Eater in the middle. James sent his own stunning spell at the Death Eater on his right, hitting him in one attempt, and the man crumpled to the ground. The final Death Eater standing whirled around, searching for James while trying to evade Moody. A feeling of victory washed over James, as the Death Eater turned to disapparate. In the split second before he disappeared, however, he hurled an object toward the hospital door. Flames exploded and climbed the stone facade of the building rapidly, eating through walls and floors and and expanding by the second.

“Fiendfyre!” Moody yelled over the roar of the flames, just as a hippogriff formed out of them, spiralling into the air and then plunging through a hospital window several stories higher. “You know the spell?”

“Yeah!” James confirmed, directing his wand toward the flaming hospital. “Ignis vivens praefoco! Ignis vivens praefoco!”

He kept chanting the spell, focusing his mind on the hospital and imagining it unburnt. Two sharp cracks told him that Gideon and Dedalus had apparated to their sides, and their voices joined his and Moody’s in casting the spell. Minutes later, the heat from the blaze began to dissipate, and not long after that, the fire disappeared into plumes of smoke. They held the spell for a few moments longer to ensure that every last spark had been snuffed out.

James opened his eyes, looking at the remains of the hospital standing in front of him. Entire chunks of it had been consumed, crumbled and charred stone left behind. They could see into the hospital, see the damage that had been wreaked on the old building. James hoped that Emmeline and Alice had been fast enough in evacuating the patrons.

“We can’t leave it like this,” James protested, as Moody began to turn away.

“That spell is draining, and Merlin knows what that blasted fog did to us,” Moody argued. “We need to get back to headquarters, get assessed. Another team will be sent to repair the damage and assess and Statute of Secrecy violations. That’s how it works.”

Even as he spoke, James felt what remained of his energy draining out of his body as if someone had pulled a plug. The adrenaline that had flooded his system was seeping away now, and he could tell he didn’t have much time left before he would collapse from exhaustion.

“Get him home,” Moody commanded to Gideon as James felt himself fading fast. “Lily will take care of him. Meet me back at headquarters.”

Gideon nodded and wrapped his arm around James’ torso, making sure he had a tight grip, before disapparating. The two men reappeared in the hallway outside Lily’s apartment. Gideon started knocking frantically, looking around to make sure nobody was watching him. The door swung open to reveal an annoyed looking Lily, but her expression changed once she saw James. She immediately stepped aside, allowing them into the apartment.

“What happened?” she pressed, helping Gideon get James settled on their couch.

“Just a little overexerted, that’s all,” Gideon replied. “He just needs some rest and he’ll be fine.”

Lily nodded and saw Gideon out, before returning to the couch and taking a seat, lifting James’ head into her lap and running her fingers through his hair.

“Hey Lils,” he murmured, before his eyes drifted shut and he fell into a deep sleep.

[atlantahammy]

#little scared to post this but I think it’s important to support my fellow artists#Leosagi is fine#I really like some people’s interpretations of them#but bunny boi has kind of become the fandom’s doll that they can just make him into whatever suits their needs rather than a defined chara#this is because they’re drawing from different sources#sometimes he’s dumb as Leo sometimes he’s this sage like samurai sometimes he’s a jerk sometimes he’s a sweetheart#they’re still cute though#I just don’t think it’s fair to consider them to be the only option for Leo#also I think Leo is bi#mic drop in the tags#partially because I’m a bi Leo kin who had so little riz with either gender everyone thought I was gay#also that boy could never deny half the world’s population from adoring him#but that’s just my headcanon#lmao#sorry for the downer I just think this in important to remind and reflect on within any fandom#Ted talk#anti harassment#tw harassment Bruuuh don't leave that good shit in the tags. You're right and you should say it.

My friend sent me the link to my art on pinterest (a person who uploaded it added credits so they're good, just in case), and after seeing this comment, I decided to vent a bit and let people know something, because it's not the first case like this for me.

Do not comment my art with these kinds of "fixes". My art is my art. You want Leosagi or Leo with male characters? Go and find artists who does it. There are plenty of those out there. I'm not one of those and won't ever be.

When you do something like this you devalue a person's work and simply trespassing their safe space. Not to mentions this is simply rude and feels insulting.

I'm not going on a constant crusade and leaving comments under Leosagi art, telling people to change it into Leo x Y/N or Fem character, so, please, have some respect.

I've been getting comments like this and after seeing this one on pinterest decided to make a post to make things clear, because

Have some conscience.