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Alright alright alright alternate universe here we go!
So, the woman living in Lily’s flat is someone random, but Lance is still there! Well, thank goodness for that one, although wow, that’s really gotta be a lot to take in to have someone you’ve never seen in your life pop into your flat and start telling you all these things about you and about their parallel universe. It’s a dang good thing he’s studying them, otherwise he probably would’ve (also) called the cops on her.
But ok WOW this alternate universe is WILD. No Statute of Secrecy? Colin Creevey runs the Auror department? There’s just a crap ton of spaceships? MYRTLE IS MINISTER FOR MAGIC? Honestly, this whole thing is crazy and full of incredible plot twists, and I absolutely cannot wait to see how you build this world even further and explain some of these developments and what brought them about.
And lol at Lily being totally oblivious to the fact that no one seems to know who Harry Potter is. Which like, is kinda confirming my theory that something happened in Lily and James’ time that resulted in Harry never existing either?? Although maybe he’s just a relatively unknown person - that’s totally plausible as well. Anyways, she’s in for a nasty shock in an upcoming chapter on that front.
Also RIP questionable metal cube, you are lost but not forgotten.
If you can’t tell by these reviews, I’ve enjoyed these chapters immensely and will DEFINITELY be back soon to read and review more.
-Taylor
Written for the Magical Menagerie event and January RvG
Author's Response:Yeah I can't even imagine, haha. If someone randomly came into my house while there are police sirens going off and told me about my life and all these particular details of it. Lily is lucky that Lance didn't just throw her out.
Literally anything is possible in an alternate universe story set in the future so you bet there's spaceships. And Myrtle as the Minister of Magic (lol I was laughing to myself as I wrote that in the chapter) because you know, why not?
I think Lily's just imagining Harry is relatively unknown, normal person. Maybe he didn't work at the Ministry of Magic, which is a reasonable idea - it was a temporary DADA professor who encouraged him along that path, and he definitely wouldn't have been the teacher if not for Voldemort's curse on the position, and if he didn't exist... ? but I bet Lily didn't realize how difficult it would be to track someone down when you have all these assumptions about them based on who they were in a totally different life. She hasn't got there yet :P
So glad you are enjoying the story! Thank you so much!
Helllooooooooo I’m back.
Someone needs to make Ludwig, The Half-Android Dolphin Tamer into a movie. It would absolutely be a terrible concept and I would watch the shit out of it anyways just for the laughs.
The alternate universe is so interesting! This one seems like a relatively tame version, because Lily still exists (which it seems like she won’t in a future iteration of it) and the only big change is that she was together with Anna again. And the movie detail. But regardless, I wonder if she’ll be able to get back into that same alternate universe again or if she’ll get a new version every time. Also, I really feel for Lily in this section - there *is* something about nighttime that always makes the post-breakup period just a little more painful.
Also, hard relate to the whole “wow look at all these things I’ve done, and it’s not even 9am, I am THRIVING” feeling, haha.
But man, it’s gotta suck not knowing if people are interested in you for a job because of you or because of your last name. I can certainly understand Lily’s frustration with that, and why she’d want to see a parallel universe where that didn’t happen. Especially after hearing about the war and her grandmother from Mrs. Stebbin’s. Side note: socks that scream when they need to be washed are absolutely hilarious, and I fully support Lily’s impulse buy.
But WOW OK EVEN WEIRDER ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. I wonder how this one’s going to end up looking given Lance’s comments in this chapter about how time moves and how the universes interact - if the fact that Lily can’t find the cube is anything to go by, it seems like she’ll be here for a WHILE and we’ll have quite a lot to learn about it. For now, the obvious question is - who’s living in Lily’s flat instead of her?
Also, I know this will inevitably get addressed in a chapter soon, but I’m already coming up with all sorts of theories about why Lily wouldn’t exist. Right now, the one that’s winning out is that because Voldemort didn’t exist, Snape never did the thing that he did to Lily, so she never cut him out of her life and (as much as it pains me to admit it) they ended up together in this universe. I am more than likely WAY OFF BASE but I’m enjoying inventing theories nonetheless.
Onto the next chapter we go!
-Taylor
Written for the Magical Menagerie event and January RvG
Author's Response:Hahaha, it would be the WORST movie. I'm glad it'd have at least one viewer though! Two if you include fictional viewers. Actually, I'd probably watch it too. XD
I'm glad you like the (first) alternate universe and that it's making you wonder about the other ones!
I love that feeling too, accomplishing a lot of small tasks early in the day, like for just a few moments you can feel like you have your life together and are a Real Adult. It's 11:39am and I've already... answered like 7 reviews on my fanfiction. Great? #adulting?
Reading your theories was so much fun. I was rubbing my hands together with glee when I read the last paragraph of your review because as you know by now, that was my original plan XD But it caused me literal pain to write Snily, so I gave up and JILY 4EVER. I'm glad you were theorizing your way through this story, honestly that makes me happier than you know! As much as I love writing my own what-ifs, I also really enjoy prompting other people to think about the possible what-ifs :D
Thanks so much for your review!
Hi Kristin! I’m back for more of this story! (Also a heads up that I’ve read and reviewed three of these chapters while travelling and am just now posting them, so be prepared to get bombarded with reviews in a five minute time span, haha)
Ah, okay, a number of interesting things in this chapter! First off, I kinda love that literally none of the Potter kids really know what they’re doing with their lives. Even James, who’s the oldest and almost 30, is a struggling author instead of magically having his life together. Also the nod to Gilderoy Lockhart writing a book review that was basically along the lines of “this book is good but mine was better” is both so in character for him and an absolutely hilarious concept. And then Albus and Scorpius just going off to China! I also think it’s really interesting that Ginny’s the one who doesn’t approve of Scorpius, and Harry’s the one that’s kind of blasé about it.
The entirely nonverbal conversation with Iris is just so relatable and a sign of how long they’ve been friends that they can communicate so well and basically have a whole debate through body language.
Marta continues to be such a weird, interesting character. And uh, yeah, she doesn’t seem to have a good grasp on consequences of her actions - between stealing something from the Department of Mysteries (which is objectively the worst department to steal from tbh because honestly who knows what anything there does - this cube is Exhibit A of that haha) and just going off with a random guy by herself despite having a boyfriend, she’s definitely not the most stable member of the bunch. But omg, poor Lily - having a crush on her best friend that she can’t act on. That sucks for her, especially because it seems like she’s trying so hard to get over it and it’s just.... not working.
Part of me is tempted to be like, ‘Lily, pressing random buttons on unknown objects is dumb, why did you do that,’ but, uhhhh, I have enough self-awareness to know that I would definitely do the exact same, so I suppose I can’t judge her decisions that much.
But ahh, it looks like the action/sci-fi stuff is starting soon!! I’m excited and can’t wait to read more!
-Taylor
Written for the Magical Menagerie event and January RvG
Author's Response:Lol. Yeah, so basically no young adult in my stories has their life together. People say write what you know, and..... XD Iris is the exception. Idk how she does it. Also I'm really glad you enjoyed Lockhart's braggy book review, haha! I honestly love writing Lockhart. What a ridiculous person.
Yeah, it was interesting about Harry and Ginny - I think the Weasley/Malfoy family dislike has been going on way longer than the Harry vs. Draco one. Besides, I feel like when Harry got older he had too many other things to do than be angry at Malfoy over past grievances and he just got over it because he wanted to put the war behind him, which also meant putting what Draco was like pre-war behind him because he's changed. Idk. That was way more info than you asked for but there it is anyway. :P
Haha, so glad you liked Lily's eyebrow conversation with Iris. Their friendship is a lot like sisters, especially since neither of them has actual sisters.
Marta is definitely more of a act-now think-later type. Department of Mysteries would indeed be the objectively worst department to steal from but also the most interesting, and that's what she's after. As for the guy she left with... she doesn't have a boyfriend, although I imagine you may have got that impression from all of her one-sided flirting with Lance? maybe I need to go back and look at this chapter and see where I gave that impression. anyway, Marta is single AF.
The pressing random buttons despite not knowing anything about it - seems to be a trait that runs in the Potter family. I remember the first time I read OotP and when Harry sticks his head in the Pensieve I was just like OMG NO WHAT ARE YOU DOINGGGGGGG because he literally knows nothing about it except that THERE ARE HEADS TRAPPED IN IT SPEAKING TO HIM. I was so anxious. Anyway, Gryffindors. Lily is one too :P
Sci-fi stuff coming right up! (but you already know that, having finished the entire story already) Thanks for the review!
Kristin! Happy holidays! :)
Wow, I feel inclined to inform you about the big grin on my face after reading this chapter. I love your Lily Luna here. You do an excellent job hinting at her character in the captain's log (more thoughts on that later), but you don't only tell us about her personality, you show us in her following narration. I love it so much! She's so funny and endearing, and I don't think she quite realizes it.
I do love how she knows she's a feminist. I would want to be a fly on the wall during one of her debates with Lance!
What you write here is quite tricky, too. You introduce the story while giving us a review of canon information. You cleverly use what the reader knows to show us Lily's personality. It's a good way not to bombard the reader with too much information at once, since we know the Weasley family tree, and yet some of the dynamics are open to interpretation. I love the anecdotes of the Potter children, especially the Marauder's Map. I can definitely see that happening!
Anyway, that captain's log is very interesting. It's six months since the beginning of the story, and I'm so curious to know what happens. People are disappearing? Time is altered? Who is this captain? Wow! I think I am going to enjoy this fic. I can't wait to see it unfold in the near feature. Great job with this prologue!
Author's Response:Hey Abby! Ahh, thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed the introduction so much and that you love Lily, even after only one short chapter.
I'm happy to hear that the introduction isn't too heavy handed with background, and that the anecdotes are enjoyable. Next gen is so weird for that reason, we know all the names of the many cousins and extended family but nothing about the dynamics. I kind of just extended what I saw in the epilogue to get a lot of their character traits, but that can only go so far, haha.
Yay, I'm glad you're intrigued by the captain's log. Obviously I'm not going to tell you anything else about it in this response but I'm excited that you're excited, lol. Hope you enjoy the rest! Thanks so much for stopping by and reviewing! ♥
Hi Kristin! I’m back for chapter 2 of this story!
Lily continues to be super reflective, which I think is really good because it continues to give us a good understanding of her character and who she is. I think Marta hit it right on the head with the “You're living inside your head again, Lily,” line - Lily seems to have really deep thoughts even if she’s not usually voicing them.
I’m super excited to have met some of Lily’s friends in this chapter - they’re all such characters, and I love the dialogue you’ve got going in this whole chapter, because it alternates between dumb jokes and actual important life updates, which is pretty much how any conversation between good friends goes, anyways. Marta is so funny - the idea of her wanting to go dumpster diving for fun and getting really excited about showing up in the background in a Prophet article are just such great quirks. And then Iris seems to be almost the exact opposite, with a new fiancé and a steady career and a much more proper disposition. It’s funny how friend groups can end up that diverse but everyone still gets along wonderfully, isn’t it?
There’s so many little moments of their conversation that I love, but Marta going on about how Harry’s still really fit despite being older (and Lily’s dad, lol), the iambic pentameter line, and the Spiderman quote were definitely the highlights for me. ALSO. Murder on the Hogwarts Express. I want this to exist now.
Ah, that little silver cube is DEFINITELY significant. I’m gonna guess it’s connected to the time travel element somehow? I really do like that you’ve set up these characters thoroughly before diving into the more sci-fi elements of the story, but I’m also definitely excited that the action seems like it’s about to pick up soon!
-Taylor
Author's Response:Ok so I finally have a minute to respond to some of these without having to type it on my phone. First of all, thank you SO MUCH for all these reviews you left during the menagerie! That honestly made my week(s). I'm so thrilled you enjoyed the story so much and your reviews were so fun to read. <3
Onto the specifics - I'm really glad you like Lily's friends and the interactions between all of them. Iris and Marta are very much opposites in a lot of ways, yeah. But as you say, that's not too unusual in friend groups. (One of my good friends hates the outdoors, and the outdoors is literally my job. XD)
Considering how everything gets completely turned on its head in a few chapters and Lily is always drawing comparisons, the setup and establishing 'normal' seemed really important. I'm glad you liked the setup and the opportunity to get to know the characters!
Thanks so much for your review - see you on the next response ;)
Hi Kristin! I wanted to come leave you a review or two for the holidays, and this story of yours caught my eye. I love next-gen fics, but I don’t think I’ve read a lot of Lily-centric stories, so I’m excited for this one.
Ooh, the snippet at the start of this chapter is super intriguing - I see that it’s five months after the rest of the chapter, but I can’t tell if it’s been written by Lily herself or by someone else. Regardless, “It is possible that this will all be erased and I will never remember this log entry.” is super ominous and I’m curious as to what might happen in the five months between the rest of this chapter and then.
As for Lily, I love what you’ve done with her character - all of the self-reflection in this has given me a really solid sense of who she is, as well as her sense of humour. I like that she’s firmly against the idea of using her name to get anywhere, but at the same time, she’s experiencing those all-too-familiar struggles of being a young adult with no idea what she’s doing with her life. And I loved her comments on how dumb her parents’ naming conventions were, because naming your kids James and Lily after your parents and then naming the other one Albus Severus is really kind of ridiculous. And tbh, I support the name Hyacinth.
Sooo, by the title, I’m assuming this is a time travel fix, which means I feel like the end of this chapter is a bit of foreshadowing. I feel like she’s going to go back in time and try to make it so that Voldemort doesn’t exist? And, as a result, ruin everything and accidentally make it so that *she* doesn’t exist either? At least, that’s my guess so far. Guess I’ll just have to keep reading to find out!
This story is off to such a lovely start, and I adore your sense of humour throughout this. I’m excited for more!
-Taylor
Author's Response:Thank you so much! I'm glad this looked intriguing! And yeah, it seems there is an odd void of Lily-centric fics on the archive compared to other next gen characters or OCs.
Muahaha I will of course give no explanation yet for the captains log but I am very happy to hear that it caught your attention and you're wondering about it :D
Thank you! I'm so happy that you like this portrayal of Lily and that you're able to get a good idea about her character from the little that's revealed here. Poor Lily, haha, she is definitely struggling to figure things out. Also omg right the names??? Why did JKR do this?? Whatever may be said about the name Hyacinth, it is no worse than Albus Severus.:p I think you are one of very few readers who agree with Lily, haha.
I enjoy reading your predictions! V happy to hear that you like the start of this and the humour woven into the story! Thanks so much for your review <3
Hello my dear Kristin, and happy holidays! ♥
I'm probably going to sound repetitive, but I love your writing so much that I don't care. I'm always so impressed with how casual Lily sounds, like she's actually the one telling the story. I know that's always the goal when writing, but you do such a great job. She's so relatable, and even when you talk about the mysteries of space and magic and time, it doesn't feel like it's going over my head. This story is so easy to read and it's so fun and enjoyable, and I'm reminded of that every time I read another chapter.
Onto the chapter itself! I love Lance for being so supportive of Lily. It's so great that he's trying to help her find a way home, though I wonder if he's only doing it partially because he's a good person, and also because he just wants to get rid of her :P But still, it's good on him to set up a lunch with someone who might be willing to help, and he does seem like he's starting to care a little about her as well. Not that I blame him, yknow. Lily is just naturally so likable.
Lily's enthusiasm about space and travel is so adorable. I love how excited she is to either go to the Department of Mysteries, or to fly on a spaceship; though that would be pretty exciting for me, too! It's just nice to see that even though she's a Potter and has been around magic, there's not too much that's boring or dull to her, if that makes sense. And I won't lie, that dangerous mission to go to a different planet, even though it's dangerous, sounds exactly right up Lily's ally.
The scene with Marta is so heartbreaking, especially when we get another flashback with the girls together. It must be so frustrating for Lily to know one version of Marta, who is caring beneath her sharp edges, to this Marta, who doesn't seem to want to do anything with her. I'm hoping that changes, because it sounds like Lily could really use some extra support right now.
I loved the flashback though, and how supportive the girls are of Iris. Even in Marta's own way, she's still there for her in Lily's universe, but it's nice that she comes out and says it when Iris needs it the most. It does seem like Lily is the glue that keeps them together, and I'm kinda curious to what's going on in her universe while she's gone.
Another fantastic chapter, dear! Keep up the excellent writing ♥
Author's Response:JILL ♥ THANK YOU, AHHH THIS WAS SO LOVELY AND SO ARE YOU
I'm so glad to hear that Lily is relatable - and especially that with all the deep sci-fi concepts that this story explores, that none of it goes over your head! I'm thrilled that you are enjoying the story <3
Hahahaha! I love your analysis of why Lance is helping her. And, yes, I think you're onto something there XD
I mean, I imagine many people would jump at the opportunity to fly on a spaceship. I sure would. At the same time, it's not all fun and games, so she has to make a huge decision, because I just can't let things be too easy for her :P And yeah, I think that even despite being something of a celebrity back hoome, the technology and stuff that she's seeing in this universe is so different to what she knows back home - it's not dull because it's all new!
Yeah. The situation with Marta is really weird for Lily. (It's probably pretty weird for Marta, too, having a stranger come up and say these things to her.)
Thanks, I'm glad you liked the flashback! I'm glad you're curious about what's happening in Lily's absence, as well. That's a good thing to be wondering...
Thanks so much for the review ♥
Playing with fire, just like that, you played with the cube, Lily! No good to play with the stolen object by Marta. Your behaviour is like your dad's in his Hogwarts years. Lance will be upset if he knows you gets so curious around the cube.
I wonder if Lance's theory is correct, there might be the world where I don't have to learn English :P somewhere in the universe...
Well, Lily, you miss Anna. I understand you wish you could stay with her. But it's no wise to play with the sort of magical object even Lance couldn't study enough in the Ministry. Remember how much troubles your dad has been involved in, partly because he was too curious, putting aside his destiny to fight Voldemort.
Well, me also want to try using the cube though. I wish there has been the peaceful world without people who have done genocide during the wars just like Lily imagined the world without Voldemort.
Kristine, this is a great plot you set around Lily Potter. This chapter has no Marta though, I could enjoy Lily's adventure. I imagined the cube as the same size as the face of Lily, cause she put her head into it to see another world in the universe just like the pensive Harry dived in. But it isn't, it is smaller, cause Lily wrapped it with a sock which had a hole, right? So Lily dived in via a kind of screen provided from the cube. It's interesting. The cube is a projector which shows us the other world in the universe.
Reading the episode when Lily tried to buy her new robes for job interview, I remembered you set Lily's hair as brown. My bad, I posted my art on the forums in which I made her hair red just like her mother or grandmother. Pardon me, her hair is BROWN. I knew you set her hair as brown, but I didn't know why, I made it red.
Anyway, I'm glad Lily could find new robes for her interview. I hope she will be great in front of people in the office and they will see true Lily not judging for her name, "Potter".
Wow, the last scene is so intriguing. I guess the woman standing in the doorway frozen must be Anna. Wait, "She is unfamiliar"...? I'm confused now. :D :D
Thank you for reveiw swap! Let's do it again sometimes.
K
Author's Response:Hey Kenny! Thanks for swapping with me!
Ha, I like that you noticed a similarity between Lily's curiosity and Harry's when he was at school. She is definitely similar to her dad in more ways than she knows, haha.
XD Yeah, probably! The possibilities are, well, infinite. And maybe out there somewhere would be a world where English isn't the most common language. It would make things easier for a lot of people, I'm sure :P
Hm. So, I don't actually think that Lily would necessarily know about all the mistakes and trouble Harry got himself into at school. I imagine he would tell his kids about the important things, but just because we as the readers of the entire Harry Potter series know everything Harry did, his kids might not know all of that. I also kind of imagine Harry as not really talking about the war often after it ended, like he just wanted to put it all behind him. Idk, that's kind of just how I see it. So like, Lily has probably heard a story or two about dumb curious things her father did, but she hasn't had it drilled into her as a lesson. So we get this story :P
The cube does sound pretty nice in theory, huh? Lily thought so too. But as you've so insightfully pointed out earlier in the review... that comes at a price. The ramifications of Lily's decision to use the cube will start coming out in the next chapter.
Thank you, I'm so glad you like the plot! I had so much fun writing this story. Nope, no Marta here, but you haven't seen the last of her. And yes, you are correct, the cube is somewhat small (in my mind it was about the size of a Rubik's cube, a little larger than fist-size, but there was a screen projecting out of it like a Pensieve.
Yes, Lily's hair is brown! I was originally going to set it as black, but JKR did describe it in the epilogue as red, and since red hair can often darken to brown, I went with that. I wanted to mix up the kind of odd idea that all the women in the family have red hair and all the men have black hair - too neat, and genetics don't necessarily work that way XD That said, I just wrote what was in my own head, and I know Lily is generally imagined as a redhead. I really loved your art, no matter what color hair you gave her! Don't worry about the color. It was very kind of you to make that!
More on Lily's job interview later... ;) And I'm glad you are intrigued by the ending! Muahahaha! Things are about to change...
Thanks so much for the swap!
KRISTINNNNN! HI! I'm here for our review swap ❤️
I love the flashback/memory of Lily's time at Hogwarts. I feel like it gives us a better chance to know her, and it makes my heart ache for her. I can only imagine what it must've been like to fall for Marta and then for her only to be a phase. Ugh. It makes me want to shake Marta little, tbh. It's interesting that their friendship managed to survive this, though I wonder if Marta ever knew at all, and now I MUST know more about this story. Is there more? Do we get more of this? CAN YOU WRITE MORE OF THIS? :P
Ahem. Anyway...
Oooh, Lily meeting Lily and James! That's so exciting and terrifying, especially because she (a) almost gets hit by a car, and (b) basically confirms that she might not actually exist. I love that Lily invited her over for tea, though, and it made my heart ache in a happy way to see Sirius, James, and Lily all hanging out. Very interesting that Sirius is with Melanie -- who seems quite lovely -- and Remus is the one with Marlene. What about Tonks, Kristin? WHERE IS TONKS? I gotta know!
I think Lily handled herself quite splendidly. She didn't appear flustered on the outside, but it was clear she had no idea how to act in this situation or where the conversation should go. It was a nice little introduction to all of them, though, and I do hope we'll see them again soon! I love that Sirius has settled down and seems to be happily married, and they're all still friends with Peter! Ah! So many possibilities with this new timeline, how did you even choose them all?!
Like Lily, I'm super curious about the people back home and if they've noticed she's missing. I'm sure they're worried about her -- how long has she been gone? In real time? What about Marta and Iris? And real world Lance? I wanna knowwww, Kristin!
I guess the logical solution would be to just keep reading, right? ‘
Another wonderful chapter, and thanks for the swap! Let's do it again soon, I'm so happy to see you around the Twitterverse ❤️
Author's Response:Hi Jillllll ❤️
Ehehehe. Yeah, there will end up being a few flashbacks throughout the story, since it gets to the point where Lily has spent longer (in terms of number of chapters) in the alternate universe than in the original one, and since everyone's so different in the AU and there wasn't much time to get to know the original universe version of them, this is how it had to be, story wise. Anyway, I'm really glad that you liked the use of flashbacks! Oh man hahaha yeah I'm not going to say much about the background there, and I know this is a long way off, but that scene is actually alluded to in the sequel (which is still in progress and not posted, but in asnwer to your question THERE IS MORE OF THIS :P). But I will say that Marta has an impressive ability to make friendships survive some really messy things.
Hahaha, so, Melanie is a character from my first fic, a Sirius/OC, and she's literally just here in this fic for my own entertainment. Tbh there are a lot of character cameos from my other stories in this fic (even the car driver in this chapter is one). Also, at the time I wrote this, I had no idea Sirius/Marlene was a common ship? After all, she was just a name in canon, and I didn't think it was odd to pair her with Remus. If I were writing this now, there would probably be wolfstar instead. Alas, there is not and there are these ships instead. :p
Lily's gotten quite good at thinking on her feet due to spending time with Marta, haha. So she did okay! And yeah there are so many possibilities as to how the universe would be different, it really did require a lot of planning (and some ideas that were just silly but i could totally get away with, like Minister for Magic Moaning Myrtle)
You are asking good questions, though I won't answer them in a review response :P Thanks so much for the wonderful review! Love ya
REVIEW TAG.
It feels like I haven’t visited your page in literal years, so I am here to rectify this. I’ve seen this story around for so long, and I’m finally using this as an excuse to read it… very slowly, of course, because that is just the kind of (somewhat horrible, almost certainly flaky) person I am.
So I’ve recently started watching Star Trek from the very start, and thus, I obviously read that first section in Captain Kirk’s voice. But then it sort of morphed into a Doctor Who-esque reading. I’m not really sure what’s going on here, but I’m so far enjoying the sci-fi vibes!
There was a time in my life where nepotism annoyed me, but then I started living in the real world, and nepotism annoyed me because it could be supremely unfair. However, I do not really blame all of the people who use their connections to get jobs because a) that’s how the job market works; and b) you do what you gotta do to hustle. So I’m not sure how I feel so far about Lily’s refusal to use her family’s fame and connections to find gainful employment. Admirable, on the one hand, but also perhaps quite naïve? Also, what is her financial support?! I am so concerned! (This may be resolved later on in the chapter, who knows. Not me. Yet.)
V sad to hear that women still aren’t getting leading roles in superhero films in 2032 :(
Okay, so there was no information on how Lily supports herself. I can continue feeling concerned without feeling like a fool. I am looking forward very much to all the sci-fi shenanigans! Yay, sci-fi! Looking less forward to the abandonment of canon ships but I should branch out of my comfort zone, every now and again. I come into this story with an open mind on that front!
This was a fun start, see you at the end of chapter 2 (hopefully) soon!
xx 800
Author's Response:Haha, probably! I haven't really been around here in ages. But it's really good to be back for a minute and it's great to hear from you! I'm glad you were interested in the story! Bahaha, though I love your honesty about being a flake XD I totally understand reading slowly, like people have lives outside of the internet and I get it :P
You know, a few people have mentioned that - reading it in the voice of Captain Kirk. It's funny, because of all the Star Trek I've watched, none of it actually had Captain Kirk. XD Anyway, I'm thrilled you're enjoying the various sci-fi vibes you're getting so far!
Re: the nepotism comments, ha, this is so insightful. Lily is definitely naive, although I think this is the earliest in the story that someone has pointed it out in a review. Because, right, it's not what you know, it's who you know and as much as that's frustrating, that's the way the world works. Lily is a bit too much of an idealist to see that at this point, but there's a whole lot of story still to go :)
Yeahhhh I really hope I'm completely wrong about Hollywood in 2032. At the time I wrote this first chapter (2014), Wonder Woman still hadn't been filmed; there were just all these dude movies and I was annoyed, and even now it's still such a skewed ratio. Despite being set in the future, this story does focus on a lot of issues in present-day. So yeah. I think one of the biggest traps to fall into with writing ~the future~ is technology or society advancing at an improbable speed. Like according to Back to the Future we were supposed to have hoverboards three years ago, where are they?
Bahaha at "I can continue feeling concerned without feeling like a fool" You're perfectly valid in that. As a narrator, Lily doesn't really see her own shortcomings :P I'm glad you're looking forward to the sci-fi and that the upcoming ship chaos hasn't put you off :P Thanks so much for the review <3
Hi, Kristine. I came back to your Lily.
I enjoyed the dinner scene at Potters. Especially, I like your description about Harry and Albus. You imagined each characteristic so nicely. I feel like listening to what Albus swears at his brother and sister in Chinese. I could imagine his face expression. :D
And I am eager to read the book, “Cat among the Owls”, which sounds fun.
Wa…a pipe full of Gillyweed, I don’t want to smell the smoke. I’d rather try Gillyweed whisky, someone, a fanfic author wrote about it somewhere…
As I continue reading your story, the person, Marta looks more hilarious to me. Most of her behaviors are against the law. And the scene that Lily and Iris exchanged their glances is interesting. They have to take care of Marta by rotation.
Poor Lance! But I laughed aloud a lot when I spotted her saying, “Nicked it,” “From the Ministry!” It’s so funny.
Lance do the dishes and Marta cooks, it sounds a good system, I doubt her cooking skill though. Well, she might be good at cooking, she is a smart Ravenclaw after all.
I wonder what Conor’s intention was. Perhaps, he wanted to get the status as Lily Potter’s boyfriend or a kind of fame to know her. Hmmm, the name Cecilia Marta personated, partly, right, the lyrics says “Cecilia, you are breaking my heart.” I hope not Marta will break Lance’s heart by nicking the object.
Talking of the thing she nicked, I wonder if it is a new type of the magical species.
K
Author's Response:Kenny! Thank you for coming back to read another chapter! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story.
Ehehehe Albus thinks he's so clever because he can get away with that :P
I bet that book would indeed be fun, but alas, it does not exist. And yeah smoking Gillyweed sounds kinda unpleasant, but Marta is bored XD Gillyweed whisky, hm, that's an interesting combo.
Ha, yeah, you've definitely picked up on the fact that Marta doesn't have much respect for the law. I'm glad you enjoy reading about her though and that you think she's funny! Re: her cooking skill - in my mind at least, she's actually quite good at cooking, because she's really creative and she's an artist, and in some ways cooking is a lot like art. I can totally see her being good at it. But, cleaning up all the dishes afterwards is another matter and that's definitely not her strength XD
I'm sure Lily was wondering the exact same thing about Conor's intentions, and she has no patience for him :P I'm enjoying your theories. More to come about the thing Marta stole in the next couple of chapters...
Thanks so much for reading and for your review!
This story definetly caught my eye right away from the description. Sci-fi and spaceships in the HP universe? I must read on!
Then, we find ourselves addressing one of the central issues of any good next-gen story- how the Potter and Weasley children deal with the challenges of growing up in a society where everybody knows who they are in the shadow of famous parents. This issue was realistically presented here, and I'm sure it will be a theme throughout the story. So far, Lily seems to be a sympathetic and relatable character through her narration. She's definetely a character that the reader would like to see succeed.
So far, the prologue does a good job of drawing the reader in and grabbing your attention. I am definetely interested in reading more.
Author's Response:Hello! I'm so glad this story caught your eye! It's certainly an unusual one :P
Happy to hear that the issue of Lily's fame was realistically presented, and that she is a relatable character! And, of course, that's wonderful news to hear that the prologue is effective at catching your attention. Thanks so much for reading and for your review!
Hi, Kristine. Thank you for offering review swap.
I am happy to be back to your story. I missed your Lily.
I like your way to describe Lily. She has glasses just like her dad, Harry and observes people around her and has unique comments for each person in her mind. It's fun to read about her friends just like when I first read HP books. I could feel Harry-ish POV while reading through this chapter. She doesn't care taking a shower or staying in her pajama. Harry was also so thick around girls and didn't care about the way how to wear clothes in his younger days.
Marta is a funny person. She does what she wants and her behaviour is wild. I feel for Harry and Ginny who tried to accept her. And Lily is also a unique person. I guess she can see some good points about Marta most of people can not see. I remembered the relationship between Luna and Harry. To see good things in such a person those who looks strange has been inherited from Lily Evans to Harry and from Harry to Lily. I like the circle.
I guess Lance has a feeling towards Lily. I also suspect he might put the weird object in the kitchen. Perhaps it was brought in from his work place. It may be a kind of ghost. It makes me wonder if the terrible or funny thing will happen next. It's so intriguing. I even expect Harry as a head Auror will have to save his daughter in the end. I like mystery...let's do review swap again. I am eager to read next, Kristin!
K
Author's Response:Hey, Kenny! Thanks for swapping with me, and I'm glad you're looking forward to reading this story again!
Ha, I like that you pointed out the similarities Lily has to her father. While I did aim to write Lily as very much her own person, she undeniably has a lot in common with both of her parents and I think you'll notice even more similarities between Lily and Harry later on in terms of their decision-making, haha. It's interesting to me as well because the things you point out in which Lily reminds you of Harry aren't necessarily the ones I focused on while writing it, but I see what you're getting at and I'm glad it makes you think of you how felt while reading the HP books, that's great to hear! (And your comments about Harry's fashion sense as a teenager cracked me up, haha).
Marta is definitely a pretty wild character - and, it seems, somewhat divisive among readers of this story haha. And you're very astute in pointing out that Lily sees the good things about Marta - more to come about that in later chapters. But I really like what you said about how maybe it's just Lily's ability to see the good in others, like Harry has and like Lily (the first) had as well - what a wonderful connection to make!
I am not going to confirm or deny any of your theories in the last paragraph, but it's enjoyable to read them :P I'm so glad you're intrigued by the story and that you're enjoying it so far! Thanks so much for the swap!
Hello my love! Why has it been too long since I've read a chapter of this?
Ugh, poor Lily just needs a hug. I can't imagine what she's going through while trudging through a world where she might not exist. At least she has Lance; I'm glad he followed after her, even if he's still bad at giving hugs when she needs them the most.
I'm glad she's starting to realize that her plan wasn't a very good plan, but I'm hoping she'll come up with one soon. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where this goes and how she discovers everything. Do Lily and James even exist? What's going on with Harry? WHAT IS EVEN REAL, KRISTIN?!
Aww, Marta! It breaks my heart that she would seemingly fall through the cracks without Lily and Iris (WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO IRIS KRISTIN?!). I love Lily's eagerness to try and make it right with the people she's friends with in the other universe, although Marta doesn't seem to be jumping at the chance to get to know this weird girl. Not that I blame her, TBH. I'm sort of starting to feel like Lance is the exception to the rule. I'm glad he's around, but I really, really hope Lily gets some proper answers, a mug of tea, and a good hug.
I think she deserves all of those things.
Your writing is lovely as always, my dear. Thanks for another excellent chapter ♥
Author's Response:
I cannot answer that question :P But the story has missed you, and so have I! ♥
Lance is such a good friend. 10 points to Hufflepuff. And yeah, Lily is so lucky that he’s there. It would have been absolutely miserable to have to figure it all out alone without a friend to lean on :(
Lily inherited her planning skills from Harry, it would seem :P Ehehe I’m enjoying all the questions this is raising for you, and of course I’m not going to answer them in this response :P
Yeah. Marta is definitely a lot more a product of her environment than Lance is, so she’s quite different in this universe. Lily hasn’t figured that out yet, though. At least Lily gets an okay hug, if not a good one. But things will turn around for her soon!
Thank you so much for coming by to read another chapter, and for leaving such a lovely review! ♥♥♥
Omg omg omg I'm mentioned in this chapter! Yay!
You know, there's only been a few times where I desperately wish a fanfiction could be turned into a movie, and this is now one of them. I don't even really like sci-fi movies. That's how much I love this story.
Dammit Marta! Oh nooo now the press are all over Lily. How is she going to get out of this one?
Author's Response:Omg, that is such a huge compliment, thank you so much. Eek! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Thanks for your review! Love you
Hi, my love! Just transferring some reviews that I left on HPFF and forgot to post here! <3
You put that end note just to confuse me more, didn't you? :P
And Lily doesn't remember anything... that's so sad... :( But maybe she'll get her memories back somehow? I hope so, I don't want her to completely love her experience.
And I can't wait to see her meeting Lance! I've missed Lance! Surely, she did cause a lot of trouble using that cube, but she shouldn't be too hard on herself...
I love that Iris has a child now. And Marta is always Marta *rolls eyes*
And I love how Lily was immediately submerged by letters from her family! Ahahah! I love the Potters! (Well, it's understandable that they would react that way after four years, I'm surprised they didn't just Apparate at Iris' immediately)
I'm almost at work now, so I have to leave you. But this was an awesome chapter as always (even if I would have liked some answers instead of more questions... but I will forgive you...)
Love you so much!
Snowball hug,
Chiara
Author's Response:Yeah, by this point with the past three chapters I've probably confused everyone to the point where no one will read it anymore :P But, I promise that the remaining chapters will start to answer questions rather than raise more. (Finally.)
Yay for Lance! He'll be in the next chapter :) I think Lily is in a difficult place and guilt/blame are kind of flying all over as she learns new things. She's understandably upset and her emotions are everywhere. But things will start to calm down for her and I think she'll be able to see things more objectively given time. :)
yeah, everyone's lives have definitely moved on a lot! More to come with Marta. Her story's not fully told yet ;)
Aw, haha I'm glad you liked that! I think that despite how nosy her family is, they do understand how overwhelming it would be for all of them to Apparate over there, and probably have grasped that being there won't help Lily as she's going through a lot that she has to process without being surrounded by people. So they settled for a million letters and a promise that she'll see them the next day, which I think is fair ;)
Thanks so much! And you even read this on a tiny screen on the train, so kudos to you :P Thanks so much for reading and for another absolutely wonderful review.
Snowball hugs!
♥♥♥
Your chapter summaries really are so funny.
Oh my goodness - James sending Lily random messages to inform her she's short is so cute and hilarious! Also older Lily is taking the news very well. I wonder if she secretly thinks younger Lily is totally crazy, and she's just nodding and agreeing to everything.
I'm super nervous for Lily but I'm also SO excited and I think she's making the right decision. Not the right decision? Stopping the use of quills.
There's no way two Martas can exist in one universe. The world would explode. Somehow, I feel like she's going to end up coming along anyway. She's too strong-willed for something to not go her way, haha.
Author's Response:Thank you! Haha, they're the least informative chapter summaries to ever exist :P
Bahaha thank you I'm glad you enjoy their goofy sibling teasing. As for Lily I, well, space travel in this universe is old news by this point, so it's less outlandish that it seems to Lily II. She does take the news well though. But there may be an element of smile-and-nod going on, yeah :P
I love that you're against the wizarding world stopping the use of quills. I dare you to write your next chapter with a quill. And pics on Twitter please so I can see it for myself XD
Your suggestion of two Martas in one universe making the world explode is cracking me up because yeah that's probably not too far off? XD
Thanks so much for your reviews, Bianca! <3
I CLAIM 100TH REVIEW!!! Do I get a prize?!
Just kidding, reading this story is the best kind of prize <3
I'm all for this world where muggles are treated equally and get to work alongside wizards without feeling disadvantaged. The positives of science, I suppose. (I wouldn't know, I'm a magic gal myself)
"I understand you've come from a parallel universe." I'm stealing this for future conversation starters.
Aww here we go boiz. We going into space! Oh my goodness I love that there's parallel universe portals near that planet but also something mysterious happening up there and I am SO excited to find out what happens!!!
It's not the most tactful, but I do love Marta's no-bull attitude. She's such a bold character, and I love reading scenes with her in them.
Did you know human babies are 75% water at birth? That's a slighlty higher water content than a banana but slightly less than a potato.
Author's Response:Ahh! Bianca!!! Welcome back to the story and thank you for dropping off a review! AND YES! You do get a prize, which is: A random fact. Did you know it takes sloths 2 weeks to digest their food?
Oh good I'm glad I was able to help give you tips on effective socializing :P Do let me know how it works out :P Yay and I'm excited that you're excited about the mysterious space things!!
Marta is certainly a divisive character among readers and I always enjoy seeing what people think of her :P I'm glad you enjoy reading scenes about her!
Thank you so much for this review (and also for that random fact, particularly the comparisons to bananas and potatoes) ♥
AHHH ITS OVER?? This is so emotional omfg. I’m definitely going to have to reread Icarus from start to finish again sometime soon, because I’m not ready... that being said, this was the perfect conclusion to an honestly amazing story.
Okay first off: I love Belinda the parakeet?? And I think it would be awesome if Belinda did end up being able to deliver letters because parakeets are just a thousand times better than owls, and there’s no point arguing with me on that. :P
My favorite scene of this chapter was Lily hanging out with her friends. In some ways, it felt like a celebration of this story by bringing together all of the people who are most important to Lily, and yes, that includes Marta. I’m still not Marta’s biggest fan, but I could tell that Lily and her have sort of put aside their differences. In this chapter, their interactions felt almost like their interactions at the beginning of the story before all the betrayal and all that. And it does console me to know that Marta is one hundred percent happy, because she doesn’t really deserve that in my opinion. But for all the bad things she’s done, I think she really helped Lily grow, and for that, she deserves a bit of happiness. (I did think her and Lance’s crushes on one another were rather cute!).
Lily and Lance smoking Gillyweed made me laugh. Lily’s so freaking innocent. She’s adorable, I love her, and I’m really going to miss her.
Saving the best for last: Celeste. I’m so happy that Lily found Celeste again, and I think it was smart to leave that at the end of the chapter. A converging of Lily’s two worlds as she seems to find herself, find ways to be independent and happy with who she is. This story ended with a promise for a happy future for Lily, and I really love that.
Kristin, this story was absolutely wonderful. I mentioned this in my review for the previous chapter, but what I really love about this story is that the characters are so deeply human. They are what drives the story, not the fantastical elements (though you wove those into their character developments very masterfully; I’m impressed!). For me, this story was Lily’s journey to find her place in the world, and it was this journey that made this story so lovable—not her journey to an alternate universe.
Thank you so much for sharing it with us. ❤️
Author's Response:Shreya, thank you so much for all your support and your absolutely amazing reviews on this story! It's meant so much to me.
Yay for Belinda the parakeet! And I'm happy to inform you that she does eventually learn to deliver letters. If Sirius got big tropical parrots to deliver a cake to Harry in GoF, I am sure Candace can teach Belinda to deliver letters. ;)
I really loved writing that scene, so I'm thrilled that you enjoyed reading it <3 And, knowing that you don't like Marta, I'm so happy that you appreciated her inclusion here all the same. Despite all that's happened, she and Lily do have a lot of history together and they both made mistakes (...granted, one made a lot more mistakes) and they've come to terms with that, at least. As sad as it is to leave Marta with a lot of loose ends, in this situation where she's not entirely happy with her life, that was the only way for this particular story to end just because it's ultimately Lily's story, and while things begin to settle down for her, Marta still has a lot of personal growth to do and it didn't coincide with things tying up properly for Lily. Idk if you're interested, but I am (verrry slowly) working on a short story that will focus on Marta a few years later, because there's still a lot of story to tell about her :P (and because I found it hard to let go of all the characters, haha!)
Hahaha, thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the Gillyweed scene XD They are such dorks and I love them.
Yay for Celeste! And I love what you said about how the end feels like a 'converging of Lily's two worlds as she seems to find herself' - that's such a great way to put it. It was really important to me that it felt that way, particularly because of Lily forgetting the previous world, so I wanted it to feel like she still sort of has that experience with her, even if she doesn't know it. If that makes sense :P
Ahh, and your last paragraph really means so much to me. I'm so thrilled that you love the characters and their humanity. I've actually discussed this topic with Farmgirl, who also writes a lot of sci-fi, and I honestly think that characters are what makes the best sci-fi. Because interstellar spaceships and crazy technology and aliens are all fun to read about, but on their own are kind of hard to relate to on a deep level because no one (in this universe, that I know of) has experience with those things, and it's in how characters react to these things and to each other in tough sci-fi situations that we find a way to relate. So yeah, writing this was really all about a character journey, with some fun flashy sci-fi things thrown in. (I mean. Giant centipedes? I'm so glad you all bought it and didn't just call me out on being ridiculous :P) So yeah, thank you so much for saying that, and I am so glad you found the characters relatable and realistic. I'm flattered that you loved the story so much, and I really appreciate all the kind things you've said about the story and the characters and my writing! Gah! You're so wonderful. Thank you so much for reading!!!! ♥♥♥♥
Hi Kristin! I’m here to finally finish Icarus, and yes I’ve been procrastinating because I really don’t want this story to end. This chapter reminded me of one of the best qualities of this story, and something I like about sci-fi in general. Even if the plot and situation of the story is unbelievable, the characters are so human and relatable and so easy to empathize with.
I felt so bad for Lily seeing her struggle to adjust back to her life in the Original Universe. I think maybe this is another one of those unexpected consequences that has probably taught Lily to be more appreciative of what she has. Still, it makes me sad that she’s going through this much pain, and her conversation with Indira was really heart-warming. I’m glad you included that and gave Lily a mentor, someone who could really understand what she was going through. It was especially good placing right after her conversation with the people at Flourish and Blotts, which I imagine made her feel all the more out-of-place—since they did kind of treat her like this miraculous anomaly.
Marta’s new life has given me very ambivalent feelings. To some degree I’m happy that she’s out of Lily’s life and that she doesn’t seem to want to renter Lily’s life. To some degree, I’m really sad for her, because she doesn’t seem too happy in her new life; she seems like she’s trying to force herself to be someone she’s not. Either way, I think the new life you chose for her makes sense, considering her ambition and willingness to do basically anything necessary to leave behind her old life. (I’ve stopped hoping she chokes on a biscuit, but as you can tell, I’m still not a big fan of hers lol).
All in all, I really liked this chapter. I really empathize with Lily’s feelings of aimlessness, and I hope that in the final chapter, she does find Celeste again. That would kind of be a perfect finale.
Thanks for another fantastic chapter! ❤️
Author's Response:Yay, thank you so much! I'm always so flattered by your love for this story and how you always point out how real and relatable you find the characters in an admittedly unrealistic story.
Yeah, it's really a struggle for Lily to adjust to how much life has gone on without her. But if she can navigate her way through a world where everything is different, she can do this. She's done it before, even if she doesn't remember. And yeah, you're definitely right in that she appreciates what she has even more. I also think that throughout much of the fic, Lily had a tendency to hang onto the past (Anna, a longstanding crush on Marta, the entire universe she left behind, Alternate Lance, the crew of the Daedalus just before she left, etc etc etc) and in a way I think this point where she's missing some of her past is going to be really difficult for her, because she's hanging on to how things used to be before that, but the experience will ultimately help her look forward sometimes instead of just back. I loved bringing Indira back (I don't know if back is the right word because this is actually the first time she's appeared, but you know what I mean) and am so happy that you liked the way she was included in the story!
Hehehe, reading these now and comparing them to your comments about Marta from chapters 2-3 is really fun. She is kind of a rollercoaster in this fic. XD Maybe it's evil of me to say so but I'm glad you're still conflicted about her/feel sad about her even though you don't like her. :P
Thank you so much! I'm thrilled that you enjoyed the chapter and I really appreciate the review! ♥♥♥
You’re absolutely right, this was certainly a vey necessary chapter so I could catch my breath after the emotional rollercoaster you took me on in the past few chapters.
I was so happy to see Lily reconnecting with her loved ones, the people who truly did support and love her, no matter which universe she was in. I’m so glad that Lance forgave her. Lily might think it was because he’d had time to come to terms with it, but I disagree. I think that Lance understands Lily, he knows her so well; he would’ve known that she didn’t intentionally do it and certainly not with any cruel intentions and that she was absolutely very guilty about it. I just keep thinking about how Alternate Lance helped Lily even without really knowing her; to me, Lance is just the purest cinnamon roll, and he definitely wouldn’t hold a grudge against Lily. I loved how fast Lily, Iris, and Lance returned to their old relationship. The scene with the movie left me with a huge grin on my face. After so much change in Lily’s life, I’m glad that she has at least two people who are so consistently and dependably /good/.
I guess she actually has more than two people, because all of her family seems to be that way too. I loved the reunion with her family. I loved seeing what they’ve all been up to. Albus and Scorpius made me smile so much. James is typically obnoxious and adorable haha. And Percy’s rescue was truly fantastic and rather appropriate!
I’m feeling really hopeful that Lily regains her memories; I like that she’s seeing some evidence of her time in the alternate universe. It did occur to me, though, that all the people on the Daedalus wouldn’t recognize her here in this universe. But I think they will also be consistently good people, no matter what universe they’re in, which makes me really excited for Lily to see them again.
Wonderfully done, as always. I’m basically a puddle of feels right now haha :D ❤️
Author's Response:
Lance is absolutely a cinnamon roll. I don’t think he’s capable of holding a grudge. And yeah, he knows she didn’t do it out of malice, but it was still pretty thoughtless of her, and while he would have forgiven her anyway, I think the amount of time passed certainly helped. I think he was disappointed in her, especially at first, but he forgave her for it, because he was far more worried about her than annoyed at her.
And yeah, that was one of the things I thought really important about Lance as a character in general – you mention that he’s ‘consistently and dependably good’, and I really liked your choice of words there because I’ve always aimed to write him as consistent and dependable. Like, literally nothing in his life has changed since the beginning except he moved some of his furniture. Which is exactly what Lily needs at that moment, in a way :P
I’m so glad you liked the reunion with her family. And omg I loved writing Percy’s rescue. It was my fave part of the chapter XD Sometimes stuffy rule-followers get to save the day too. And I’m sure by that point in his life he’s very aware of what the rest of his family thinks of his Cauldron Safety Talks and knows how to use them to his advantage :P.
Thank you so much ♥♥♥♥♥
NOOOO OMG. I’m literally sobbing here, I wish that Lily would still remember Celeste and Daedalus! To me, the saddest part about this is that Lily’s probably forgotten all the lessons she learned and lost all the growth she had when on the Daedalus—all the self-discovery. I feel so sad.
Also your questions at the end have left me all the more confused lol :P I think that it’s vey probable that alternate Marta’s interference in history will have caused some changes, but I think I can’t yet tell what the extent of those changes are. Obviously, Voldemort still happened, right? I suppose I’ll find out in the next chapter.
I really appreciate the consequences from Lily’s journey, and her conflicting emotions about it. I can absolutely understand her bitterness and sense of betrayal towards Iris, for seemingly replacing her in her life; I really admire Lily’s acknowledgement of the selfishness of this thought, and her guilt for causing Iris so much pain, for stagnating her life. I think that Izzy is freaking adorable. I also really like that Lance and Marta were both punished, Lance unjustly and Marta very very justly. I think the former really sort of emphasizes the negative consequences from Lily’s journey. I think that Lance will forgive Lily though; he’s such a naturally kind and loving person—I can’t imagine him holding a grudge. I also have to begrudgingly admit that it was pretty cool of Marta to own up to her lie. I suppose she does have some decency after all...
The part of the chapter that really struck me was Lily’s commentary of how stagnant her life is. Going back to my earlier point about her self-discovery, this makes me even sadder, because even though Lily’s life hasn’t progressed, she had grown so much, become a far more dynamic person, etc. I really hope that she encounters some of the people on the Daedalus again, because I know that they’ll be just as wonderful here as they were in the Parallel Universe.
I’m incredibly excited to read the next chapter, so I’m going to cut it off here. But as a final note, I really appreciate that Iris brought up such a sexist practice because it’s such a real obstacle to women advancing in the workplace. This fic somehow tackles such real issues... despite being a sci-fi fantasy fanfic :P I suppose its absurdity sort of emphasizes just how absurd these practices are!
Anyway, I’m done now. Thank you again for writing such a thoughtt-provoking and well-crafted story! ❤️
Author's Response:
Aahhhh sorry for the tears and all the disappointment of Lily’s amnesia. I think this is a common reaction to this chapter, and that this chapter may be unpopular for that reason… *hands you a tissue* :(
Yeah, Lance’s punishment was definitely unjust, but sometimes the world just kinda works that way. And I think it would be unrealistic for there to not be any fallout from what happened. Fortunately it all worked out for him afterwards. As for Marta - yes. I think this is a really important point about her. Part of what made her not admit her part in the theft in the first place is that Lily wasn’t around to get in trouble for it and Marta wanted to protect herself from any trouble of her own. I think there’s also an element of resentment there, that Lily abandoned her (in her eyes), and Marta is sensitive to that sort of thing bc she was given up as a baby. So it’s like this deep seated and probably subconscious thing, but eventually her feelings of guilt changed her mind. It’s buried deep, but she has a conscience :P
The saddest thought of all is that Lily can’t remember all the personal growth she’s done over the course of the story, because this story was all about her growth as a character... and that’s part of why I did it XD I am terrible :P But, as you’ve seen by now, this loss wasn’t the end, and she did retain some of what she gained with her, even if she can’t access the memories. And she has the potential for a lot of growth and that is still with her.
I’m glad you appreciated my soapbox speech there disguised as Iris :P Honestly though, I do love that you appreciate the very real-world things that are included here.
Thanks so much for another amazing review. <3
I LOVED THE X-FILES REFERENCE OMG. And I thought I couldn’t love this story more haha :D And that canon twist was certainly interesting, and a rather unique choice to make!
Before I get there, though, I do have to discuss Marta. I think I’ve made my opinion of Marta pretty abundantly clear: I don’t like her. I understand why she is the way that she is, and I sympathize for her, truly... but I’m struggling to find any redeeming qualities about her. She seems so selfish! I suppose one interesting thing that occurred to me is that Lily was a little selfish too, at the beginning at least. Going to the alternate universe in the first place was kind of selfish, right? But Lily shows remorse and concern for the people she’s left behind; Marta doesn’t seem to show any remorse whatsoever.
Even so, this chapter really made me feel bad for her. I can see her desperation, the sense that this world has nothing to offer her—which is truly a tragic and painful thought. At the same time, I think that maybe she played a role in that, in some way, especially with betraying Lily, who did care for her and would have wanted to help her. Ahhhh. Marta is such a complicated character!
I do like that she was transported so far back into time, and seemingly, given a chance to start anew. I was curious why you decided to send her back here, and not further back? What was so appealing about this scene, and Tom? It’s all very interesting to me, and I do feel like I’m missing a little piece since I don’t recall this scene very well from the books haha.
Okay, this is going to sound awful, but... I’m really glad Marta’s gone now. :P (Sorry but I really dislike Marta! Please, defend your character to me; remind me of her positive qualities).
Thank you for another wonderful, well-written chapter! ❤️
Author's Response:
Hehehehe, I do really enjoy reading your thoughts about Marta, because even as much as she makes mistakes, she is very complicated and there’s a story behind all of that. I must admit, some of your comments about her were part of my inspiration to write the sequel that focuses on her :P
Funny thing is I actually picked out this scene quite early on in writing the novel (in fact, I’d already planned this chapter out when Marta uses ‘Cecilia’ as a fake name at the pub in like the third chapter.) But anyway, it had to be something that prodded the events in Lily’s old universe to occur in this one too, and I wanted it to be an actual canon scene. So I decided having Tom meet Cecilia, and the Gaunts finding out about Merope’s crush on Tom, was a good place to start. Here’s a long chain of what-ifs: If Marta hadn’t gone to that point in time, Tom might not have ridden on that road at that time (he was showing her around) and Merope wouldn’t have seen him, and the other Gaunts wouldn’t have noticed her staring out the window at a Muggle, and they wouldn’t have attacked Bob Ogden (the man who ran out) and then gotten sent to Azkaban, meaning Merope wouldn’t have been left alone in the house to seduce Tom with love potion later. So, in a way, Marta going to that moment in history meant she brought the Voldemort timeline into that universe. Thanks a lot, Marta… :P
Aww. I know you don’t like her, haha, she has certainly made a lot of terrible choices. I will say, though, in her defense, that this story contains two different versions of her, and the AU Marta has a lot less to lose. It’s a bit confusing having two of the same character here, but the Marta who Lily left behind in her original universe is not the same as this one. I don’t think the original universe Marta would have gone back in time to start her life over – she cares about her friends too much and fears loneliness. Marta may have many faults, but Lily appreciates her liveliness and confidence and intelligence/creativity. See: the first few chapters. But yeah, AU Marta is more desperate and more selfish, as Lily realizes when she leaves Marta behind and turns her request down to get on the spaceship.
But, you’re also right, even the original Marta does have a lot of negative qualities. That was 100% intentional. I felt like in a lot of my writing before this, my protagonists were just too ‘good’ and generally moral people. So I wanted to write someone who wasn’t. :P
Thank you so much for another amazing review! ♥♥♥
TAG ♥
I was so excited that you came back into review tag. I missed this story.
Oooh. This is definitely not a filler chapter, Kristin! It's actually really interesting, and nothing quite like I was anticipating. You did a great job of transitioning between the two worlds and explaining everything.
I'M SO GLAD LANCE EXISTS IN THIS WORLD! I adore him so much, I think he's one of my favorite characters. And his mom is Cho Chang! I loved the detail you gave us about Chinese New Year before indirectly telling us who his parents were; it was a great little reveal. And so interesting that Harry's not Head Auror and the Colin is, and Myrtle is Minister of Magic?! So cool that Lance looks up to her the way that he does.
Oooh Lily. I adore her so much, and she's such a great narrator. I love her little side comments like 'I would love to be smarter' and all of the ideas that are running around in her brain, and that she was disappointed to not be recognized for a change by the woman in her flat. I'm also super curious about her and I noticed that you didn't reveal too much about her; I'm wondering if that's on purpose and she'll play a larger role in the story later on?
I'm sorry if this review doesn't make any coherent sense XD I'm sort of just talking in circles to make sure I point out everything I loved about this chapter.
Honestly, Lance is the MVP here. I love how he just sort of accepts Lily -- maybe because he still works in the Department of Mysteries? I really want to know where their friendship is going to go and I hope he sticks around. I'm so glad Lily has someone she can trust in this world, or at least thinks she can trust, because I imagine the adjustment is a little terrifying. She has a wand though, at least! And magic exists! So all good things.
This really was another fantastic chapter, and I'm so curious to see where you're going to lead us next. Keep up the great work ♥ ♥
Author's Response:Hiiiiii
I'm glad this didn't feel like a filler chapter, despite the fact that nothing actually *happens*. But there's a lot of world-building that needed to be done and I'm glad you liked it!
Yay for Lance! Funny thing is I never intended him to be a main character from the beginning, but then I liked him too much and just kept him around :P And I'm happy to hear that you liked the way his background was revealed. Again, this ties back into the fact that he wasn't intended to be that important originally, which is why I suddenly realized a year into writing the novel that he still didn't have a surname XD I think it finally comes out in chapter 6. :P
Myrtle being Minister of Magic was solely because I could get away with it and thought it was funny. :P Ah, the magic of AU.
I'm thrilled that you love Lily and her narration! And yeah, not being recognized is a big change for her - some things she's always taken for granted are going to come back to get her, in a way. As for the woman in her flat, there's more about her in the next chapter.
Lance is totally the MVP. If I were in his place I'd be weirded out if someone barged into my flat with that kind of information, like I'd think they were a spy or something? So I think him working in the Department of Mysteries definitely helped normalize this sort of thing as parallel universes are something he's been studying and so the idea that it worked isn't totally unrealistic to him. But yes, you're right, they don't have the kind of trust they had in Lily's original universe which will end up being important. But at least he trusts her just enough. So yeah, good things. :)
I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks so much for your review <3
HI KRISTIN. Thanks so much for requesting a review! I've been meaning to come back to finish... and also pushing it off a little because I don't want the story to end, and I didn't realize I only have 5 chapters left (cries). But I'm so glad to come back because the moment I started reading again, it felt like I was coming back home. A sort of warm familiarity. This story just fills my heart ahhh. <3
It's a little fitting then that this is the chapter where Lily finds her way home... and for her too, it's a little bittersweet. I actually felt so emotional reading about Lily's realization that she has a way home. I think that Lily's time in this alternate universe has taught her a lot about appreciating her old life, about finding her way in her universe—but at the same time, she's built a new life in this universe, as she said. And I can't bear the thought of her leaving Celeste and her friends and the Daedalus, especially because it's so clearly one of the only places where Lily can feel free to be herself, to explore and find herself.
I found Lily's goodbye-party-esque scene to be so sweet. I loved the scrapbook she made, I loved the Phantom Coffee Spiller (I'm the Phantom Coffee Spiller in my house haha :D), and I absolutely adored the banter between the crewmates of the Daedalus. Really, I've grown such an attachment to the Daedalus, just as Lily has; they feel like my family too. The goodbye scene with Celeste has my shipper heart flying and breaking at the same time. PLEASE TELL ME THAT LILY FINDS CELESTE IN HER UNIVERSE klklgalksgjk;
Sometimes, I wonder if Lily really should go back. I feel like she's found a life for herself where that is hundred times better than her life in this Universe, and I wonder why she's going back at all. At the same time, I know that her family must be missing and Lily was never meant to stay in this Universe—even though, I do think that she was meant to stay in this Universe. Not sure if you have the forces of Fate playing here, but it doesn't seem too unbelievable in a universe with giant centipedes... (That made me laugh so much haha. This chapter had such great sci-fi elements. You write sci-fi fantasy so well, but you also write such emotional scenes. You're such a triple? quadruple? threat. BASICALLY YOU'RE AMAZING).
Also I'm amused at my past self now for thinking that going back would be such an easy choice.
Okay, I'm going to cut it off here so I can keep reading, but be warned, I'm probably going to be a puddle of sappy emotions by the time I'm done hahaha. Oops. It's your fault, really, for writing this amazing story that makes me cry and laugh and smile all at the same time. <3
Author's Response:I totally understand the feeling haha. Don't worry, there's still quite a lot of story left to go, though! ;) Aw, and I'm so touched by the fact that when you started reading again this story felt like coming home. That's so sweet <3
This chapter was definitely meant to be bittersweet - she's finally where she wants to be, she's found purpose where she used to be kind of aimless, and she's met friends who have changed her life - all just on the brink of when she's about to go home. I'm honestly so glad to hear that that emotion in the chapter resonated with you.
Aw, thank you, I'm so happy you enjoyed her goodbye party! Bahaha, and I love that you loved the Phantom Coffee Spiller XD And it's wonderful to hear that you're so attached to the crew of the Daedalus, especially since they've only featured for four or five chapters. I can't say anything about the future of Lily/Celeste in a review response, but I'm glad that scene gave you so many feels ;)
It really is such a hard question, especially after how much has changed for her since she got on the spaceship. Either way, she'll be missing something huge. Re: the giant centipedes, I was worried they might kind of take people out of the story for a second because they were just TOO ridiculous, so I'm glad that it wasn't the case, haha. And ack that is such a wonderful compliment, thank you so much! It's so flattering to hear that you think so highly of the sci-fi/action and the emotional scenes. You can't see it but I'm totally blushing. :P
Thank you so much for this wonderful review! <333333
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