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pebblysand · 4 days

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hello! you may find the entire playlist on spotify here. below is some more information on my song choices.

Castle by Eminem: very anticlimactic but i will only really be able to explain this one after the last chapter comes out. so, come back in a bit ^^.

Things We Lost In The Fire by Bastille: it's funny, i'm a massive bastille fan but it didn't really hit me how castles that song is until i went to see them live last summer. i remember being in the crowd and thinking to myself: god this is so on point. i think the lyric that gets me most is: the future's in our hands and we will never be the same again. there's such a dichotomy to that and it's so representative of what is happening in this chapter, which is harry and the trio sort of reconning with the concept of time and the post-war state of things and: now what? the excitement of: we survived and the future's in our hands, but also we'll never be the same again because we lost all these things (people) in the fire (war). i just find it very apt.

O Children by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: firstly, i love that song, i thing it's beautiful and it just nails that post-war tone of the early chapters. the cleaners are coming one by one, they measure the room, they know the score, etc. secondly, this is obviously the harry& hermione song, which is a massive vibe and plot point of this chapter. i will defend the dance to my dying day, i think it's one of the most beautiful scenes in the whole film and those who don't like it because of the harmony vibes are wrong. that's it 😅.

UNHEALTHY by Anne-Marie: this is a more recent addition, but doesn't this song kind of have early harry/ginny vibes? i'll let you listen and be the judge.

Wonderwall by Oasis: harry mentions oasis in this chapter, so of course i had to add this. i have listened to this song so much in the past 20 years, i can't even tell if i like it or not. anyway, here's wonderwall 😅.

Pompeii by Bastille: ah. the infamous break down of everything. as i've already said, absolutely love bastille, and this one is a classic.

Shadow Preachers by Zella Day: i added this one more recently but i feel like it also had very strong early harry/ginny vibes. i also like that it sounds a bit similar-ish to pompeii in that sort of break down of everything vibe. there's a sort of desperation to that song that i feel really fits well.

Place de la République by Coeur de Pirate: firstly, if you think of coeur de pirate as comme des enfants and don't know anything else from her, i am begging you to open to your heart to her other songs/albums, she's incredible. secondly, i've always loved this song. it so well captures this sort of regretful break up situation where she is breaking up with someone because of distance and giving them one last chance to show up and they don't. i feel like it's very much a ginny song in chapter 3, this way she doesn't really want to break up with harry but has to. it's just 😫.

Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi: i've gone back and forth a lot on this song, whether to include it or not. it's almost Too Much. but, also, harry is a bit Too Much in this, so it just fits.

Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths: this is... very literal, i don't think i need to explain. i will say, for a very long time, i didn't know where the french bits were from. it sounded like some sort of documentary about suicide, which i thought was odd, but it's actually a reading of the myth of sisyphus by albert camus. i've never read it because i've only ever read camus's fiction, but he is one of my favourite french authors, so i was happy to find that out. it works with the song incredibly well, obviously.

Hell or Highwater by Passenger: we're back with the break up songs. i love this one because it very much is about the confusion and the not knowing what caused the break up, which i think is very fitting for harry, here. i also just love the writing in this song, the way he uses the "hell or highwater" saying in a different way - it's a song i very much love, even outside of castles.

Six Degrees of Separation by The Script: idk, this song has such strong 2000s vibes, and it's so break-up-y dramatic - it just fits, you know? 😅.

Giants by Dermot Kennedy: this playlist supports irish artists! ✊🏻 jokes aside, i kind of see this song as having a bit of a double-meaning here. like, of course, it's hinny break up song and plays - again - to that lack of understanding (we used to be giants, when did we stop?) but i also see it as reflective of harry's broader state of mind. it's this post-war confusion of: we used to do these great, important things, and what is our purpose, now? obviously, this first arc is very much about finding a reason to live after the war, so i feel like this song works for both plotlines.

As It Was by Harry Styles: i'm not a massive harry styles fan so the first time i ever heard this song was when he was on tour and the 'LEAVE AMERICA' trend was all over tiktok. and, i don't know, the moment i heard the song as a whole i was like, 'fuck, this is such a castles song!' especially of that early, post-war, confused era of: 'harry what are you doing sitting at home on the floor, what kind of pills are you on?' it just had to be in this playlist.

Fear of Fear by Passenger: this song is just a mood. i feel like it could play over a montage of the weeks passing in chapter four, and harry just going to work, trying to sleep, and going running in the night.

Le vent nous portera by Noir Désir: there's two reasons why this song is here. firstly, i feel like it signifies healing and the passage of time, which works very well with this chapter. it's a gorgeous song and has this idea of the wind just blowing the hardships away, an "it'll be alright" motto that i love. but also, what my international audience might not know is that this song is highly controversial - bertrand cantat, the lead singer of the band, beat his girlfriend - french actress marie trintignant - to death in 2003. he was arrested, went to jail - if you are french, just know that i'm not going to get into the Debate of whether he should still played/be listened to, etc. we all have our opinions and whichever way you're leaning i'm not going to change yours but i just wanted to note that i wouldn't have put this song in the playlist for any other chapter. but with the added theme of DV in the case giulia and harry work on here, i felt it was fitting.

Brave by Sara Bareilles: this is obviously giulia's pep-talk song haha! harry, get out of your rut, and be brave. i love it.

You're Not Special, Babe by Orla Gartland: i love this song. and, again, it's very giulia. i feel like both of these last songs for this chapter have this vibe of her telling harry to just get off his arse and do something, which is what he needed at that point. quit moping around, quit blaming yourself, you're not that special. it's really the kick off, onto chapter five.

Insomnia by Ren: ah, ren. if you've been following the playlist for a while, you will have noticed that i had a major ren moment between the end of 2023 and the start of 2024 and added, like, fifteen millions of his songs to the playlist. i feel like castles generally has such a ren "vibe" to it, which is wild because i didn't find him until well into writing the story. this song has this incredible line: i used to use drinking as a way to stop thinking and my problems with drinking made me feel like i was sinking, so i dried up my drinking and then i couldn't sleep a wink, and now i'm thinking, now i'm thinking, now i'm thinking, now i'm thinking about nothing. fucking nothing. and everything and nothing - i hate not sleeping. this is so on point for this chapter, which has harry's insomnia stalking those post-war months, and i absolutely love it.

The Last Unicorn by Passenger: ah, the first mia song 😫. my child. this is so scarily on point.

J'écoute du Miles Davis by Navii: this is really one of the core, OG castles songs as far as i'm concerned. i remember listening to it on loop very early on, writing the early chapters. i love the chorus of 'Et le temps passe' (and time passes) - it's this factual statement that i feel is very castles. "Time just - passes."

The Way I Am by Eminem: i was so mad to find out i couldn't use this song in text because it came out in 2001. obviously, very related to the press, fame, etc. which are topical for this chapter.

Dominoes by Ren: i added this one fairly recently. it's one of those songs that isn't precisely topical to the chapter itself, but i really liked the riff of "we fall like dominoes, dominoes, falling". it echoes that thing harry says about how he's afraid to fold because if the "leader" falls, then everyone comes cascading down. i felt like there's an interconnection in that song that resonates, here. and also, i think the thing about public perception and body shaming is also somewhat related to the treatment of girls in harry's life in the press.

Read All About It, Part III by Emili Sandé: i thought most people would already know this song because it was featured so prominently in the 2012 London Olympics, but i suppose it still didn't make it to america, 'cause i've had quite a few comments from people saying the playlist was the first time they'd heard it. anyway, it's obviously about harry using his voice and finally talking to the press, and it's amazing :).

Babylon by Barns Courtney: the vibes of this song feel like the fall of a civilisation and "the walls are caving in, you're paying for your sins" and... yeah. idk, i see this as the theme song to the whole battle scene at the lace mill.

What He Wrote by Laura Marling: this was always Giulia's "song" in my head, i'm not even sure why. it's got nothing to do with her but just based on vibes. i listened to this on loop writing her death. and, also, the connection with Peaky Blinders, which heavily inspired the first act of castles.

Fourth of July by Sufjan Stevens: this is just... a beautiful song about death lol. how cheerful 😅.

All My Tears by Ane Brun: and... another one, lol. also, another connection to PB.

Jimmy by Moriarty: i only have two songs for this chapter, probably because it used to be paired with chapter six so i initially didn't think of it as an independent item. anyway, this is one of my favourite songs in the world, and it's recently come to my attention that it fit quite well in here, with this idea of "coming home" (to the burrow, in harry's case. i feel like it works well with the general mood of the chapter.

CORALINE by Måneskin: ah. coraline, coraline, di me la tua verita... this is the beginning of harry, and ginny, and the letters, really.

#and... the discussion about chapter 7 starting tomorrow on discord yall #discord link in pinned post

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pebblysand · 5 days

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i'm going to preface this reblog with the fact that i am not jewish and that whilst i do have views on the conflict, these views are not the topic of this post.

having said that, i would just like to highlight that a lot of people in the reblogs/comments are complaining about this cryptotheism account appropriating customs they don't know about and using buzzwords vocabulary they don't understand.

this is not new, and it is a pattern that goes way beyond this issue. they did the same thing (use buzzwords that made no sense and meant nothing in context) in a post about - of all things - the literary merits of fanfiction, that was doing the rounds last spring. when i pointed this out publicly, they got their knickers in a twist and sent their followers after me to send me death threats.

if that's not unhinged behaviour, i don't know what is.

So, a big name account here that talks about mysticism and has definitely made money on discussions of Jewish mysticism (they have a seemingly well-funded Patreon, among other things) has now said "No Zionists on my page" without actually, you know, specifying what they think a Zionist is.

I dunno, but isn't that pretty textbook cultural appropriation? I'm sure they'd say that Good anti-Zionist Jews are welcome, but that's the minority, and once people start putting up these lines, how long before any Jew is suspect?

We all know the answer.

Anyway, I hope that fellow Jews who have supported this user stop doing so now.

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pebblysand · 9 days

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to the small crowd of french people that read castles, we’re gonna assume that zaho de sagazan is a witch and she released la symphonie des eclairs to the wizarding market first to test it out so that i can use it in 2018-castles, thanks. 🤣

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pebblysand · 11 days

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[An Update on the Page Pals Project]

Hi all, I hope that you are well ❤️.

I just wanted to come on here and let you know that in light of a lack of participation here on tumblr, I'm shutting down the tumblr part of the castles re-read project. I know I'd previously said I'd post both here and on discord, and that I'd do wrap up posts, but my life has gotten very busy lately and I've had a lot of things going on in the past few weeks that have made it very hard to a) maintain the discord, b) post reading recaps here on tumblr and c) try and write the next chapters (on top of my day job and the podcast). As I've received zero engagement on here (aside from people liking my posts, of course, for which i am thankful, don't get me wrong), I'm taking the decision to move this exclusively to discord.

I know this might upset some people who aren't super comfortable using discord/just intended to lurk and read posts rather than actively engage, for which I really am sorry, it's just not feasible for me to keep everything going, time-wise. I still - of course - welcome anons about castles any time, and feel free to do your own re-read if you please - I'll be more than happy to answer messages. I just don't have the time to keep writing these super long castles posts, especially since they don't seem to be that interesting to anyone.

For anyone who would still like to join the discord, you can do so here. I promise we don't bite, and discord is fairly easy to use. I will also add a link to my pinned post. I will also continue to update the playlist post as we re-read, so feel free to check that out too! Lots of love to all of you ❤️.

#castles #page pals project

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pebblysand · 12 days

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Ask game ask game! 🍦? I think i know 🥑 but it could be fun to have confirmed.

Please and thank you and always a treat to read your fics and thoughts!

hellooo!! i'm finally answering this, sorry for the delay!

🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate

hmmm. i can't think of any character i actively hate. i think there's people i'm not really interested in, like the marauders, but i don't actively hate them, so.

🥑 ⇢ you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

obviously @btelling. i feel like she'd be just who i need in that situation actually 😅.

#asked and answered

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pebblysand · 16 days

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thanks to everyone for all your messages and DMs, you guys are the best. fluffy little old lady is still in the dog hospital but she is doing better according to the vets. i don't want to jinx it but they said she might be able to come home tomorrow, provided she continues to respond well to the treatment. we're keeping our fingers crossed 🤞🏼.

my fluffy little old lady is really not doing well right now. i know i owe responses to a few DMs/anons + discord folks but it’s been a very tough personal and professional few weeks, and now this - so sorry if i haven’t gotten back to you yet, i promise i will soon. in the meantime, if you have any good vibes to spare (or a god you believe in) please send them her way. ❤️

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pebblysand · 17 days

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pebblysand · 24 days

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WELCOME BACK TO THE PAGE PALS PROJECT! AS A REMINDER, THE "PAGE PALS" PROJECT IS A GROUP RE-READ OF CASTLES. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE READ THIS POST HERE.

THIS WEEK, WE'RE DOING CHAPTER 4. I'M EXPERIMENTING WITH THE NEW FORMAT AND KEEPING MOST OF THE DISCUSSION TO DISCORD, BUT FEEL FREE TO SEND IN ASKS IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS/THOUGHTS, AND TO JOIN OUR DISCORD SERVER FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION.

IN THE MEANTIME, HERE ARE SOME HANDY LINKS/INFO:

chapter: iv. out of straw (bale it all)

wordcount: 10, 058

playlist: notes here (haven’t had a chance to update this since chapter 3 but will do so ASAP)

castles FAQ: here

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pebblysand · 27 days

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Hello! For the asks game 🔪 🪲 🎨

hello hello!! hope you’re doing well, anon!

🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

hahaha exposing my google searches once again 😅. i think probably watching all these documentaries i watched about FIFA to model the Quidditch federation and their issues over it 🤣

🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here

okay, i’m actually in the airport right now, so not the best place to do that, but i will share a recently written snippet with you ☺️.

🎨 ⇢ link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it

oh god, i’m so sorry, i’m not really a fanart person as i’m really not visual but i do swear by and adore all of @blvnk-art ‘s art. her vision of the HP characters (particularly next gen) is always so on point, they’re always a pleasure to see on my dash!

#asked and answered #castles

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pebblysand · 28 days

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Hello Jo! Happy sunday! for the game can you share 🛼 and 🍬? ☺️

hello! thank you!

🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis

🪄🏰💥⚡️🫂

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

Fleur Was Not Being Intentionally Rude 🤣

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pebblysand · 28 days

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🎲🪐☁️ for the writer's game. ty for sharing your work, it's gorgeous.

hello! see, all i apparently needed to get the castles juices going yesterday was to ask for a distraction, because i ended up writing anyway, haha. but now, i'm here! 🥳

🎲 ⇢ what stops you from writing more in your free time?

i mean, life? i suppose i know that generally, i'm a lot more productive, writing-wise, if i write in large chunks of time. i find it very hard to dip in and out for 15/20 minutes like so many people do. it takes me a lot of time to "warm up" and get the juices going, and then when i do, i don't want to stop.

so, typically, i won't write unless i have at least 4 hours of uninterrupted time ahead of me, which obviously reduces my writing opportunities a lot. this generally means that i can only really write at the weekends. 1) because that's when i have the most uninterrupted "free" time and 2) because that's also when i'll have the most energy. i have the "disadvantage" that both my day job and writing are tasks that are "brainy" and require me to sit in front of a computer at home, at my desk. i guess maybe switching between the two is different if you have a more physical job (where the tasks are very different so maybe it's easier to feel the split between the two) but for me, if i wrote after work in the evenings, i wouldn't even move, i'd just have to switch out computers. it's a bit depressing and honestly my brain is tired, so i'd rather do something else.

now, that doesn't mean that i can't do write-y things after work. sometimes, i'll edit. sometimes, i'll answer anons or hang out on discord. but i don't write-write.

and then i guess, the rest of it is like: lack of inspiration, wanting to see friends, family, traveling, life-admin things, etc. i'm "lucky" in that i live alone and don't have dependents so i can afford right now to put quite a big amount of free time into writing, which wasn't always the case in the past.

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

my health, my god, my country? 🇺🇸🤣 is that what americans say? nah, honestly man, idk, we're on a burning floating rock right now and i'm not finding anything very uplifting. on a micro level, i am very grateful for my, my friends, and my family's health, i'm happy that i'm going to be finished with castles soon and excited for you guys to read it, and for having a job in this economy.

☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username?

i feel like i've answered this before but i come from a place where the beach has pebbles, and i now live in a place where it has sand. it's not that #deep 😅.

thank you for your questions! if you want to send me more, here's the post!

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pebblysand · 30 days

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Writers Truth & Dare Ask Game

🎱 ⇢ post your AO3 total stats 🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction? 🌵 ⇢ share the link to a playlist you love 🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that? 🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis 🥑 ⇢ you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help? 🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love 💌 ⇢ how many unread emails do you have right now? 🌻 ⇢ tag someone you appreciate but don't talk to on a regular basis 🐇 ⇢ do you prefer writing original characters, reader inserts, or a mix of both? 🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before 🎲 ⇢ what stops you from writing more in your free time? 🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings 🧸 ⇢ what's the fastest way to become your mutual? 🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now 📚 ⇢ what's the last thing you wrote down in your notes app? 🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character 🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project? 🦷 ⇢ share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on ❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best? 🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity 🥐 ⇢ name one internet reference that will always make you laugh 🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work? 🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate 🥝 ⇢ do you lie a lot? what's the most recent lie you told? 🦋 ⇢ share something that has been on your heart and mind lately 🦴 ⇢ is there a piece of media that inspires your writing? 🍅 ⇢ give yourself some constructive criticism on your own writing 🐚 ⇢ do you like or dislike surprises? 🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here ☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username? 🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them 🌸 ⇢ do you have any pets? if you do, post some pictures of them 🎨 ⇢ link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it 🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

#happy sunday!#ah sure look ask me questions #feeling a bit shite about castles today so need a distraction

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