This blog will first and foremost always be a Lily Evans Potter defense space

@jilymicrofics April Prompt 1: We

Hi!

Just something sweet I thought of!

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The bridesmaid dress isn't too horrible, all things considered. It's a bit frillier than Lily would have liked, but she's going to tough it out. It's her sister's wedding, after all.

Lily pulls at the stiff fabric of the dress, sighing as she lets her head fall back against the cool stone of the chapel’s window well, looking out at the perfect weather. It's sunny and beautiful. A perfect day to get married. The soft murmur of voices drifts in from the hall, laughter and last-minute wedding preparations filling the space. Lily should be out there, too. Smiling. Being the picture-perfect bridesmaid, per her sister's request. Instead, she’s hiding.

Footsteps approach her, and when she turns, she finds James leaning against the doorframe. It's a miracle Petunia allowed him to attend, but Lily had needed a plus one, and (with some encouragement from their mother) Petunia had relented, so long as James caused no "funny business."

Her boyfriend doesn't say anything for a few moments, possibly contemplating his words. "I thought I might find you here," James finally says. Lily gives a weak smile in return.

"You always seem to know where to find me."

"It's because I know you so well." He walks over to her and sits opposite her position on the windowsill.

"Fair enough," Lily says, trying to keep her tone light.

There's another long stretch of silence, and James is the one who breaks it. "What is it?"

Lily hesitates.

“I don’t want to do this,” she whispers. “I don’t think I can do this.”

James doesn't push her, but she knows he's waiting for further explanation, and she finds herself wanting to tell him. She exhales slowly, staring out at the sunlit courtyard beyond the chapel’s window. Everything looks so perfect, as if the universe itself wants to please her elder sister. Soft golden light spills over the neatly trimmed hedges, and a light breeze rustles the petals of perfectly arranged flowers and the ribbons on the marquis. It really is perfect.

Lily twists a loose strand of hair between her fingers, avoiding James’s gaze. “She doesn’t even want me here, James.” She can't help but let out a humorless laugh. “She asked me to be her bridesmaid because she had to, not because she wanted to. And I don’t know how to stand up there and pretend this means something to her when it’s so obvious it doesn’t.”

James tilts his head. “Then why did you say yes?”

Lily swallows “Because she’s my sister.”

“And that’s enough?”

Lily hesitates, her fingers twirling the stray lock of hair around and around. “I thought it would be. And I guess I thought..." She trails off, closes her eyes. "I thought that I could handle this. Thought I could handle being here while knowing my sister didn't want me to be, not really." She takes a deep breath. "And now I have to walk down that aisle and pretend it's fine and I have to watch her marry someone who doesn't deserve her even the slightest and-" She breaks off, running out of air, letting the words hang between them. It's then that James speaks.

"You mean we."

Lily opens her eyes.

"What?"

"You keep saying I," James says. It's we now, Lily." One corner of his lips turning upward. He leans forward, taking her hand in his. "You aren't going to have to do this alone."

Lily stares at him, the words sinking in like sunlight breaking through a dense fog. We. It’s such a simple word, and yet... it seems to settle something inside her.

Lily exhales slowly. “I don’t know if that actually makes this any easier.”

James squeezes her hand, a quiet reassurance. “It doesn’t have to be easier. You just don’t have to do it alone.”

She studies him for a moment. He’s always been like this. Has always known what to say, even when she doesn’t want to hear it. He’s steady in a way she values more than anything.

For the first time since she slipped away to hide, the pressure in Lily's chest lightens. She glances down at their joined hands, then back at James, and makes a decision, leaning closer and kissing him softly.

It fills her with a sense of light that travels from the top of her head to the tips of her fingers, and she feels James smile against her lips, his hand coming up to hold the side of her face, his thumb brushing gently against her skin. The warmth of it makes her feel like she's floating, high on the quiet certainty that this, that James, is something solid in the middle of all the uncertainty swirling around her.

Lily pulls away slightly, enough to look into his eyes, and she feels herself begin to smile. "Thanks," she says, a little breathless, and James grins.

"Anytime, Evans."

Sir that's my emotional support "lol"

I still can't get over the fact that Katniss brought Haymitch the Geese and Peeta made that incubator.

No because even from the very beginning of the series, we see that Gale and Katniss have very different views and philosophies on humanity. I immediately think of the scene where Gale is saying goodbye to her in the Justice building when Katniss expresses her horror at the idea of killing people in the Games, he literally says, “How different can it be, really?” It's not like he's saying that the other tributes are like the animals they hunt, but he's able to immediately change that perspective and is able to see them as obstacles rather than individuals.

That moment alone shows us his entire worldview. Gale is just a very firm believer in "the ends justify the means." He’s willing to embrace tactics that are brutal, even when innocent people are at risk, like when he comes up with the idea to disable "The Nut" in District 2 and decides that killing that number of innocents is an acceptable loss.

Obviously, the final breaking point is the bombing of the Capitol children, which is a form of trap he created! It doesn’t even matter if he directly planned it or authorized it, what matters is that his philosophy led him to a place where that kind of sacrifice seemed acceptable. And Katniss, who has spent the entire series being horrified by the way the Capitol dehumanizes people, can’t align herself with that.

I don't even think Gale is all horrible, either! He has some very sweet moments with Katniss in Mockingjay. He evacuated 12 when the Capitol destroyed it. He rescues the captured victors. He was the FIRST to volunteer. He took care of Katniss' family when she was in the games the first time.

Gale, overall, is a good character and a person whose heart is in the right place. But he represents a path that Katniss cannot take. His rage makes him a strong fighter, but Katniss, who is trying to find some way to hold onto her humanity throughout all this (and she really does anguish over this dilemma the entire series) needs Peeta to give her that hope. Peeta can give her what she needs and love her unconditionally despite the things that (she believes) paint her as someone unforgivable. Gale can't do that.

and if I write a doomed by the narrative/slightly dysfunctional/friends with benefits blackinnon fic for the blackinnon fest what then?

I should be thinking about and doing homework but all I can think about now is how the first wizarding war got so bad and so horrible that a group of four best friends who had known and loved each other since they were eleven had their trust in each other completely broken down aside from one and that one ended up being the one who died because of that trust.

So as many of you know, I am currently back in my Hunger Games obsession and I just have to point something out that I've noticed as I've been rewatching the hunger games movies.

Has anyone else noticed that the score when Snow is walking to the academy is the exact same base melody that plays during the first Hunger Games movie as Katniss is walking to the woods? Except the one in BOSAS is grand, full of large brass (I think) instruments and sounds, whereas Katniss's soundtrack is a single vocalist? A lot less hopeful and a lot more resigned.

I just have to say how interesting it is that even in the soundtrack we hear how different and similar Katniss and Snow's circumstances and intentions are. It’s just so interesting, the fact that Snow’s walk to the academy and Katniss’s walk to the woods share the same underlying melody, but are orchestrated and portrayed so differently. It really just speaks volumes about their respective journeys, and how even just the score tells you what's going to happen to them.

I mentioned this a little already, but In BOSAS, Snow’s version of the intro theme is grand. It's rich with brass (again I think it's what it is) and layered with a bunch of other instruments. It gives the feeling of ambition, prestige, and the illusion of control. It’s almost triumphant, hopeful, because right now, the world is his for the taking. At this point in the story, he believes in his own potential to rise above his circumstances.

Contrast that with Katniss’s version in The Hunger Games, where the same melody is stripped down to a lone, honestly pretty haunting if you listen to it, vocal line. It’s quiet, isolated, resigned, tired. Instead of ambition, there’s survival. Instead of power, there’s burden. Instead of hope, there's fear and anticipation. Katniss is walking into the woods where she illegally hunts to keep her family alive, an act that (while it makes her feel a semblance of happiness), is rife with desperation, full of the fear that there’s never enough of anything. It mirrors how in just a few hours, she will walk into the Games themselves, and then later, carry the weight of an entire rebellion on her shoulders.

This musical connection subtly but directly shows how Snow and Katniss are two sides of the same coin. Both have been shaped by hardship, both are willing to do whatever it takes to survive. But where Katniss ultimately resists power, Snow is consumed by it, and it's so clearly shown in his version of that 20 second score.

It’s just fascinating how the soundtrack itself foreshadows their diverging paths. The same melody, two incredibly different interpretations. One character clinging to control, the other surrendering to the effect of the lack thereof. It’s one of those tiny but powerful storytelling choices that really just makes everything so much more meaningful.