#I finished him in august- and yeah I'm posting this in december

[ehh-is-the-name]

You know when I said I'd make a Floory rug..?

So yeah, I did it.

This is your calling card to do the same. Make a rug, I triple-dog dare you. Don't know how?

Here's a breakdown of how I made The Floor:

Before fully getting into it, in that rb I said:

We could have so much mroe than what the shop offers- it could be glorious. I couldn't get tuft chin hair or flower power blush floor with $45 dollars at their store, but I could get it irl for the low low price of like a week-straight worth of work.

Ha... haha.... No. It took a lot longer than that. MUCH longer than that.

This is a little jitter lapse with the dates I worked on him. In each pic I spent around 2-3 hours working on him, except the last few in August. Those I spent like 3-5 hours on because I needed him to be finished before the semester started. My goal was to get him finished and sitting in my dorm, and I fucking did :)

= - - =

Starting from the top though, since I had the design after making the rb post linked, I decided on the size. I was watching the video showcasing him as a rug, and I gauged he was about a yard wide, so I based my measurements on that. I knew that I was going to needle punch him instead of latch hook him because I felt the punching would be faster. And well... I've done punch needling before this project so I figured it'd be faster than learning a new technique.

Here's what I mean, for a frame of reference.

Since I went the punching route, I knew he'd need a frame to be punched out on. To keep the fabric taut and all that jazz. Luckily for me I had a bunch of wood hanging around from an old bed's slots, so I made the frame out of that. Similarly, I had a bunch of fabric lying around.

Word of advice: DO NOT USE NORMAL FABRIC WITH A NORMAL PUNCH NEEDLE YOU WILL TEAR THAT SHIT UP. Learned that the hard way-

The fabric I used was NOWHERE near "loose" enough for a big punch needle. Loose in the sense that it has more holes in it. On the left is the fabric you're supposed to use when making a rug (Monk's Cloth), and on the right is the fabric I used (pic not of the exact cloth but close).

Notice that the holes on the right are a LOT smaller... I did not realise this mattered until I'd already primed the frame and drew him on with a sharpie.

Bask in his glory.

To give a breif on how I did this, I hooked my 'puter up to the TV with an HTMI, opened the image I had of him (it's a bit different than the of doodle in the rb b/c I wanted brighter colours), and literally held the wooden frame with the fabric on it up to my TV and traced it. I traced it from the inside first so that it would be mirrored on the side I would be punching on. If you draw the design you want to punch on the side you're punching on please mirror the image first.

Forgot to say, yes I had a staple gun too, so that didn't add into the price of making this Floory rug.

After this point, it was pretty smooth sailing, sorta... It would've been if I'd bought a thinner yarn for the main body. See, in this whole experiment, I was very dead set on keeping this project under $45 so I bought a large ball of cheap yarn. I tried to gauge how much I would need with the needle height (about 3/4 inch I used), but I got scared and just wound up buying this giant green ball that I needed to de-ply to work with properly. You could kinda see it in the jitter-lapse below, but yeah.

Before punching with this Red Heart size 4 yarn, I had to separate 1 of the ply FOR THE ENTIRE RUG. I had to pull out a substantial amount from the big skein, de-ply it, roll it back into a ball, then needle punch with it.

And why did I have to do this? BECAUSE I WAS USING THE WRONG FABRIC AND NEEDLE PUNCH FOR MAKING A WHOLE ASS RUG!!

I didn't know that the needle punch needle I had was an embroidery one, NOT a normal needle punch needle. Notice that it's small, and embroidery floss is the thing going through the hole and NOT size 4 yarn. And for the right, notice that it's also kinda small but the needle itself is a lot thicker, the channel that the yarn is going through is wider than the yarn itself- and that it's YARN AND NOT EMBROIDERY FLOSS.

Needless to say, it was aggravating and made the process take a lot longer than it should've. It wasn't impossible, I mean, you see him finished above and below, but it made it WAY more tedious, since a the thicker yard, even after being de-ply'd, still got stuck in the needle punch needle. After wresling with that off and on for... what about 4 months give or take, it was on to gluing and backing.

Going on the record to say that Tuft the World, Sam Made That, Shop Last., AJ MAKES, and BrokenBlvds' thread were the backbone of my glue searching, and rug-making experience. If you genuinely want to make a tuff rug (hand-punched or otherwise) their guides are so helpful <3

But for real, finding the right glue was a lot harder than anticipated. Many people said to use Roberts 3095 adhesive for rugs along with another glue, but I didn't have the funds for that, nor was planning to buy a whole gallon of rug glue I'd only for 1 project. I took up BrokenBlvds thread as my glue of choice, even though they were asking for something better. So far (about 3 months of use and a couple cleanings) the Roberts 6700 glue is holding up fine. The thing that isn't, is the yarn. After one vacuuming, fuzzies have been obscuring his eyes and junk. It's not bad, or even that noticeable, but I do miss his original state. That's what I get for using cheap yarn. I still love him to death tho.

Side tangent aside, I also used the 6700 because it has less of an odour, and I planned on bringing him to my dorm right when he was dry. While that was drying outside, I worked on the backing. The OG Floory rug had a nonslip backing attached (if I remember correctly), but mine does not! In similar fashion to the fabric of the rug itself, I also used left over fabric as his backing. For structure, I used some of my father's old uniform pants, and to make it more like dirt, I used an old bed sheet.

I stitched them together in a quilt-ish design so that the layers would be attached throughout the rug. That was a rush, but when I finished it I went out back and stuck it on there with a bit more Roberts 6700. When it was cured enough to come inside (3 days after gluing) I worked on the nonslip portion.

Had a rectangle of rug grip mat stuff, stuck some pins around the edges of Floory, traced the pins then cut it out. It's a little hard to see but looking up top, you can see a few of the pins sticking out around his edge.

After getting that, I released him from the frame, "pinked" his edges, and whip-stitched the edge shut.

That hurt my thumb SO FUCKIN BAD- Had to have pliers next to me for most of the whip-stitching, because it was so hard to get through the glue with a blunt needle. I used a blunt needle 'cause it was the only needle I had that could hold the yarn, and to keep in the spirit of the experiment... No way I was buying a needle when I had a needle that could technically work.

Now, in the name of the whole experiment, let me do a breakdown of the things I bought verse used:

Items Bought for project:

Green Red Heart Yarn - $15

Roberts 6700 Carpet Adhesive - $9

Wrong sized punch needle - $3

Total spent on Floory rug: $27

Items used in general:

9 different colours of yarn

About 1.5 yards of polyester/cotton blend fabric

1/2 of a flat sheet from a bedsheet set

1 pair of uniform pants

1 embroidery needle punch needle

4 (roughly) yard-long wood slots from a bed

Nails and screws (and the tools for those)

1 Staple gun & about 70 staples (I fucked up a lot of them & restapled)

A sewing machine

Pinking shears

Tapestry needles

etc...

Total if I had to buy all that: More than $45!

I put the lists side by side to say that I know saying "Oh just make it yourself" is easier said than done. If I didn't have all the shit I did, I would've just bought him myself like any sane person would. But no, I had the will and the materials, and I wanted The Floor in my dorm. And now here he is, along with my crazy ass Jhariah x hfjone bag...

That's for a different post- but forgive me, it's the most recent photo I have of him.

All and all, I had a good time working on him! It was very therapeutic to hunch on the floor of my living room and stab fabric a gazillion times to make The Floor from Inanimate Insanity. It drove me a bit inanimate insane, but honestly, I wake up every morning and see his face and it makes things better. So in reality, I guess you could say it was the friends I made along the way- thanks for watch

[omaano]

SW Hades AU January Update

Woohoo, look at that we have a header for the monthly updates now!

Some links and previous updates: May - June - July - August - September - October/November - December - everything else in this AU

I finally got around to not only finish Quinlan's character illustration, but also add a background, glow effect and text box to him.

I've got to say, I am very very proud and more than a little surprised at how well he turned out! Green is my nemesis of a color (that's partly why I decided to tackle Quinlan and Kit in one go - bite the bullet in one go and all that) but funnily enough all his greens are rather desaturated dark yellows (including his skin tone). Gosh, initially I'd picked those colours off of Ares, and up until I added the warmer red to the edges of the shadows on his skin I was very very terrified that I'd made a huge mistake here. (It's part of my art process, spending a significant amount of it being terrified that I messed up my colours beyond saving TT^TT) But he turned out amazing and super shiny!

Adding those snakebite piercings was also such a big brained idea (can you tell that I'm really really happy with him? XD) and this illustration is defnitely up there among my top faves with Shaak Ti.

Kit in comparison was a lot more straightforward (hah).

The foreshortening and positioning of his arms was... well. Not Fun, let's just stick with that, but I'm very good at dying on very small hills, and I'd got it in my head that I'm gonna push this pose A Bit. In the end it wasn't as much as I'd hoped for, but I did try for some exaggeration in the posing and anatomy as well. (Have you seen Ares's hands and forearms and Dionysos's thighs??)

Further SHOUTOUT and a million thanks to @hastalavistabyebye for their enthusiastic tags under all my Hades posts, and for being the genius mind behind these additional trinkets for this AU:

Fizzroot Shake for Nectar (we gotta be safe with teenagers around), and Tiingilar for Ambrosia ❤️❤️

Additional extra ramblings below the cut to save space on your dashboards:

Let's move from the trinkets back towards Kit and Quinlan last, yeah?

Fizzroot Shake and Tiingilar

It isn't as obvious with the big character illustrations as with the smaller images, but I really do have some trouble with keeping things - colours and shapes - simple. It's more obvious on small things that really cannot pack or fit in all those details, so I had to do a lot of repainting (like with the fizz fuzz foam of the shake, or the bowl of the tiingilar), and truth be told I'm still not happy. Might be that the drawing is still too detailed - but in my defense this was a wind-down project for me these past few weeks.

I have collected a few references for shapes and materials and colours from both Hades and Hades2 as you can see on the margins. I am still obsessed with the glow of Hestia's keepsake, it just glows, I love it! If I were to change a few things on these I think it would be to add some more orange/yellow to the Fizzroot Shake to offset the purple a little more (like how the purple bow balances out the very bright yellow/orange of the nectar/ambrosia), and work more black into the bowl of the tiingilar. I was thinking about adding more of that blue to it, but I wonder if even at this level there is too much of it...

Anyway, I will surely be forced to learn a lot more of this when I sit down to finish all my keepsake versions. Some of those are certainly still too detailed in their current design D:

Kit and Quinlan

I took a lot of inspiration for both Kit and Quinlan's clothing from concept art and character models from TCW. Especially for the pistols and the holsters for Quinlan's black getup that he would have worn if the Dark Acolyte storyline made it into the show, I believe.

I was also very very tempted to draw Kit wearing a really high cut swimming suit without the shorts/leggings. The ones that are cut so high they display the entirety of the hips and most of the ass as well probably? But I chickened out in the end, and stuck with a semi-see-through layer on his thighs too smh

I also try to be more intentional with my shapes in these designs. I'm not sure how I'm doing with that, but I tried for a lot of triangles with Kit. And lots of greens and orange, of course. To prove that I'm learning from those Hades style breakdown videos that I'd watched last year. So I made some notes on dominant shapes with the both of them (it was mostly triangles, and Kit also got a rectangle note as well), and to pick one bright, highlight colour while I keep the others desaturated to support that colour.

I think I did better on that front with Quinlan than with Kit. The yellow and gold of all his markings and jewelry pop real nice (and even the little "jewel" highlights of green and torqois worked so well in support of each other! I was really surprised, I generally hate adding them at the end...) and with his dark clothes, skin and hair they really support that metallic brightness even with the warmer tones worked in at the edges of shadows.

Kit on the other hand, I feel he turned out too bright and warm green, and so the orange in his vambraces and clothes don't pop that much. It lacks a bit of balance maybe. There was a time when he seemed to be too dark and desaturated a green, and that was likely the step when I got too scared to trust the process and turned up my saturation a bit too much. So I tried to work a bit of light yellow into him with that bottom lighting, and it did what it could but... oh well. I still quite like it, don't misunderstand me!

I know I sound a bit nitpicky here, but in truth I'm trying to work out what I could learn from these pieces that I might use in the next one! I'm trying to be more intentional with my work, but it doesn't come very easy to me, so working through these things in these posts do help a little. And who knows, maybe it will help someone else too :)

*

Taglist of anyone who wants to be pinged once a month for these updates <3 If you want to be added to the list send me a message, or just reply to this post (a 👀 would do, nothing fancy required ;))

@elwinged @yeehawgeek @velsayshi @lionsaint

If you want to be taken off the list just message me and I’ll take you off, no hard feelings :)

[saryasy]

tagged by @butchdiaz for a 2024 fic roundup but I'm copying them and adding my edits in there too 🥰 this is the most I've written in a year (and by a huge margin) by virtue of me writing my longest two fics ever back to back. so hopefully next year goes similarly because I already miss writing 😭😭

May:

sounds like forever (5k)

No, he doesn't remember falling. He just remembers looking at his best friend one evening, cooping up a sleeping Christopher into his arms, murmuring ‘I got this’ to a half-asleep Eddie who'd made to carry his own son instead. He'd watched as Buck walked quiet but confident steps to Christopher's room, depositing him in bed with a whispered ‘goodnight’, and thought, in his sleepy haze, I love him.

my very first buddie fic!! wrote it a few days after finishing the show for the first time. was still finding the characters voices but it'll always be special to me

August:

Season of Hope (After the Flood) (58k)

Eddie's summer of missing his son, unrepressing more than just his sexuality, and realizing that somewhere along the way he's fallen in love with his best friend and forgot to fall out of it.

And maybe that's okay.

I genuinely still can't believe this fic exists. and the fact that it does is all thanks to @livingincolorsagain. my longest fic ever yet I wrote it relatively quickly. and I still think back on the writing process fondly. getting to figure out where the story's headed. the chapter titles. all the lovely feedback. it was such a lovely journey even the parts where it fought me lol

September:

slow motion, double vision in rose blush (20k)

Eddie has kissed a man.

Eddie Diaz. His friend. His Eddie. Has kissed a man.

Which is strange because Buck is sure as hell he'd remember kissing Eddie. OR Buck is very normal about his platonic friend's kissing habits.

this one was literally a haze. I had an idea for them watching their first kiss through the screen and absolutely ran with it. I think that one scene in there is 12k on its own which is kinda insane. also only realized after posting that's it's my first published E rated fic

November:

merry christmas please don't call

MY VERY FIRST EDIT. my baby. I'd been thinking about getting into editing for a bit back then. but was way too intimidated to take the first step. then I heard this song on tiktok and was possessed by the ghost of shannon. and here we are

my heart is buried in venice

I still don't know how I made this one in such a short period of time. but also not complaining. loved putting the opening montage together so much

futile devices

I do. love you. yeah

December:

drawn to the blood

okay this is the first idea for an edit I ever had! idk how close I got to what I had in mind. plus it gave me hell. but it's out there now so!

What do you do about a haunted house.. (600)

a little tumblr ficlet I wrote half asleep because I was so happy I finally felt like writing again I couldn't let it slip through my fingers and risk forgetting it in the morning

so you are tired

my last edit of the year!!!! wasn't gonna post it but a told me to lol. initially it was more buddie focused. but the song is so buck I had to make some adjustments. absolutely loved cutting the song as I please lol

not to get too sappy at the end here but getting into this fandom and getting back into creating and getting to create new things and making new friends has been so so fun. thank you so much to everyone who's read and watched and said a nice thing in the tags and comments 💕💕💕💕💕

no pressure tagging @livingincolorsagain @sibylsleaves @buick118 @userbuddie @confessionseddie @chronicowboy

[kokorohatsaru]

So, everyone in Tumblr has an intro for their profiles, why didn't I make one before? anyways

Hi! I'm Kokoro Hatsaru, you can just call me Kokoro, some other of my nicknames that my friends has called me are like Koko, Kokorito, Kokito, Koka, even Koka1na, etc

Pronouns: She/her cause yeah, I'm a female lol

Birthday: december 3rd

Mexican Pride

Proud of being single :P

I'm best known by doing two specific series, mostly the Castle Crashers OVAs, and have also some followers that know me by the AHIT anime fanmade series I finished in August 2023

I am a Newgrounds certified user and a 80s anime artist-animator

I also give voices to some of the characters of my animations :]

and of course, I'm currently ADDICTED to Castle Crashers

which reminds me that I made a CC OVA related community here, you can join if you want

I main Pink Knight in Castle Crashers and they're my fav CC character of all time

I simp for Red Knight that I even ship him with Pink Knight

ALL HAIL PINK KNIGHT X RED KNIGHT

SWEETSHOCKS

Lovely and playful guy (annoying sometimes) x Angry small chihuahua (actually likes it)

my boys, my everything

I also like internet nostalgia!ofc, 2000s internet ON TOP >>>>>>>

talking about ships, i like to be respectful with ppl's ships, including oc x canon and selfships, so don't be afraid, as long as we be respectful to each other's ships

adds that i dont like toxic interactions through ppl that don't ship others ppl's ships, which can make somebody feel insecure to post stuff about their favorite ship, so, be respectful pls qvq

the only ships that wont be accepted are proships :]

Music I listen too: Game music, Newgrounds flash music such as waterflame's masterpieces, 80s-90s anime music, city pop, futurefunk, nightcore stuff, iyosys, vocaloid, etc

As I mentioned, I like old anime (specially if they're from the 80s-90s, a few of them are from the 2000s) such as Creamy Mami, Sailor Moon, Kirby Right Back at Ya, Parappa's anime, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Lady Oscar, etc, I'm a big fan of magical girl 80s 90s anime :]

Everyone is welcome here

DNI: Problematic ppl such as ped0s and homophobic ppl. Unrespectful ppl in various cases, towards dynamics, headcanons, ships, etc, and ofc scammers

For now that's all I have to share, tnx for reading, and btw enjoy the blinkies here jsjkasjk xD bye bye now

[popplia]

It's that time of year again, art summary!

...But, I haven't really drawn that much this year. So instead I'm gonna pick some highlights in chronological order, say a few things about them, and move on with my day!

Febuary 2024: This is the first frame of a katfl animatic/pmv set to "Come Along" by Cosmo Sheldrake that I started in early? mid? Febuary and am still working on, on and off! (haven't touched it in a while though) Below is a 3D Paint thing I made as a reference image for one of the scenes, I didn't need to do any of that, but I did!

April 2024: an edit of Elfilis as a mewtwo for a poképark au that also hasn't been looked at in a while! yeah, that's kinda a running theme with my projects

June 2024: Meta Knight and the years long, ever-growing to-do list that he keeps on one, singular notepad. Inspired by this post! Whole comic took me about month or so to finish on and off, and is represented here as Galacta in the Peter Griffin death pose (or my best attempt at it at least) after getting his ass handed to him by Meta

July 2024: A small pixel art "patchwork" shiny rattata that I drew for a "draw the pokemon of the day, everyday" challenge that I started on Pokefarm Q (and haven't really continued since...whoops?), who I've since named Claire because I just so happened to be watching a Snapcube clip when I hatched my first pokemon of the day shiny! thus finally freeing me from part of my quest to do every kind of rare pokemon hunt on this site

August 2024: an edit of Ripple Queen as a Dianbee (diance + ribombee..fusion? hybrid?) for the same poképark au mentioned earlier. Here she has a possessed (far left), and normal/ un/non-possessed form (middle). The possessed from has bits of a necrozma (which is what Zero is in this au) in the design at the end of her pony tails and the triangle on her forehead/gem

November/December 2024: Watcher Dee! perfect for a new years waddle dee day! I don't know or understand what came over me when I made this, but it looks cool? I guess?

Happy new year! 🎆🎆🎆

[flyingfortress1]

Wilbur "Runner" Conley Research Part 7:

Alrighty so here's my boy's muster rolls! Some I haven't put on as they usually aren't any different from the last- oop, he's still a private, no change there from the last couple months basically. Also kudos to @bleedingcoffee42 for helping me a bit with this.

But yeah, we can kinda trace a little bit about Conley in his military service. You'll also notice that even the rolls from when he was overseas are all San Francisco placed- I imagine this is censorship or something? So take that location with a grain of salt.

Anyway, here's our boy's first muster roll in April 1942. He is a private at New River so still in training.

Alrighty, fast forward to July 1943. Now by this point, Conley has been out of Guadalcanal, and is probably in Melbourne- they won't start shipping out until August-October. Firstly, he's been promoted to Private First Class (PFC) (congrats Conley). He's also- if I'm reading the notations right- was sick at the 4th General Hospital from Jul 26-31. We don't know what with. It could be a repeat of the malaria he got on Guadalcanal- they left it in Dec 1942, but who knows.

Now in July 1943, Conley is with Co. H. But sometime by July 1944, he's been moved to Co. E, but is still a PFC. Why? Not sure. He is probably in Pavuvu as the 1st Marines finished up with New Britain in March 1944.

Moving on- October 1944- Peleliu has happened, and it's probably pretty safe to assume he's been wounded at this point. He's still with Co. E. He's also in the USFH sick (or wounded?)- what that means, I assume U.S. Floating Hospital? but not sure, but it is Navy, for a couple days. He's also been moved to rear echelon? Or off the line? I don't know what the 'd' means- this is my best guess. If anyone knows, please say so in the comments please!

Now moving on- Jan 1945. He's back in the states- this isn't the San Francisco deal, because we know he just got married- and at Camp Peary, Williamsburg, VA. Nothing else of note.

But move forward to July 1945- he's still in Virginia, but with a lot more notes added. He's had a couple furloughs (visiting his new bride?), and has been awarded a Purple Heart- and we have a DATE for him being wounded! Peleliu began on September 15, so he was hurt pretty early in the operation. Now, the war is still going on at this point- we won't have the atomic bombing until August, and Germany has just surrendered the month before.

Here's his last muster roll- this is in October 1945, so the war has officially ended with Japanese surrender by this point. Conley has now been promoted to a corporal (good for you, bud) and most likely, he'll be discharged- and choosing to- pretty soon after.

To keep this in mind, Conley has been in the Marines for over three years at this point. He's been overseas for around two years, two years and a half, fought in not one, but THREE island campaigns (Guadalcanal, New Britain, and the Peleliu). When he enlisted (presumably late December '41, early '42), he was only 20 years old. By the time he'd come home in November/December 1944, he was only 23.

I realize I needed to check the 1950 census for him still, so I may have one more post on this dude, but otherwise, Wilbur "Bud" "Runner" Conley- rest in peace! Glad I could find more about who you were.

[lesseraive]

2024 year in review of dana gifs! 🦦🩵

i was tagged by @doyeons 🦑 to list my most popular and personal favorite gifsets i made each month of 2024! i'm also adding my least popular just for funsies + some more stats! thank u for tagging me bella ilysm!! ^^3

i'm tagging @iwishihatedyou @prkjihyos @sugurugetos & @fawad-khan

these gifs are across all blogs i'm apart of :]

january

most popular: heeseung from mbc gayo daejejeon

favorite(s): most definitely seoyeon + on melancholy hill for bella!!! but i also loved all of my mbc gayo daejejeon sets :] + this gaeul baddie look . wait also good bones teehee

least popular: 011924 kyujin

february

most popular: le sserafim ending fairies @ their easy showcase

favorites: 022324 kazuha! these colors are so pretty

least popular: meep yujin

march

most popular: 120922 yuna (my girl of the month 🙂‍↕️)

favorites: 030324 easy chaewon her pigtails,,,,, yeah. i also liked 030124 nayeon!! the pink/purple is so pretty and i wasnt expecting it to be as popular as it was

least popular: 030324 smart eunchae 🧚‍♀️

april

most popular + favorite: 022324 yunjin! the colors in this one,,, stunnin luv

least popular: 120123 jay

*i only posted 3 times this month. this was the month i graduated college! and my birthday :p april was a huge month for me, i also was working on and finishing my capstone short film which was a huge feat for me. also ive comeback!!!!! heya heya heya bitch! anyways lil heart to heart over here is a gif from the other set i made :]

may

most popular: rabbit winter moment 🐰

favorites: wonyoung ive switch!! this was almost the most popular but winter won like 7 notes. i also really love this cute karina moment (+hanbin tease ✌🏻)

least popular: 051124 rei

june

most popular: sunghoon shenanigans

favorites: i liked this britney spears nayeon moment from the abcd mv! i also like the sunghoon set from above ^^ :] this was an enha month <3

least popular: pretty sunoo,,, how could u guys let him down </333 (joking)

july

most popular: 072624 sunghoon ending fairy,,, okay yall love this man bc the second most popular set of this month was also hoon (is not surprised)

favorites: hmm probably 071224 heeseung bc pretty colors once again. alsoooo maybe baby heehoon 💓

least popular: red carpet sakura

august

most popular: 083024 yujin

favorites: 083024 chaewon and liz ive switch for SUREEEE. also shoutout to this singular gaeul gif from this set . i decided i needed to make a set for every day i was gonna be on vacation ?? and that set was queued on ivepalooza day love u gaeul

least popular: 091622 rei

september

most popular: sleepy fairy chaewon

favorites: vma chaewon, 090624 chaewon, and the sleepy fairy chaewon 😭 chaewon month!!!! i rmbr my top posts on my blog in sept-oct were all chaewon 😌 i loved looking at my blog on mobile bc id see her everywhere

least popular: vma kazuha

october

most popular + favorite: ending fairy yuna ✨

least popular: fancy~ ningning

november

most popular: red carpet wonyoung

favorites: liz is sooooo pretty she is stunning!!!

least popular: 110825 xiaoting

december

most popular + fav + least popular: waving sunghoon

*LMAOOO i only giffed once in december 💀 can u tell i worked a retail holiday season and got sick ,,,,, but we are already on the come up, i've posted 5 times in january everyone say thank u ive

extra stats

the month i giffed the most was may with 26 sets! this makes sense bc i had just graduated and was still unemployed for the majority of the month 😭

i giffed the least in december with 1 set, (april with 3 + october with 4)

my most popular set was 'heeseung mbc gayo daejejeon' with 691 notes! my least popular was '011924 kyujin' with 85 notes, both are from january,,,, interesting 🤥

the group(s) i giffed the most were ive and enhypen! tied at 29 sets each. the 3rd group was le sserafim at 21 followed by aespa at 12. living up to my name 😌 (all my enhypen gifs are posted to my sideblog: jaeyuned!)

the idol that i giffed the most was,,,,, girl who else CHAEWON‼️ at a whopping 10 sets! the second most giffed idol was SUNGHOON, the peoples prince 🙂‍↕️ what can i say i am a pleaser. he had 8 sets. living up to my brand but not when it comes to boys apparently, heeseung ranks 3rd with 7 sets tho ☝🏻

overall i posted 109 works! 8 sets were posted in february, march, august, november each which is a random trend that i noticed

a standout stat that i think is interesting is that i giffed itzy 4 times, 3 of which were yuna! lia is my bias in itzy (she was the 4th set), but ig since she was on hiatus i gravitated more towards yuna! interesting 🤓 all love to itzy and yuna <33333

okay thats it! if u read all this,,,, ty i love u ^^3 . thank u to bella once again for tagging me, i had lots of fun looking back at my works! heres to more gifs in 2025! and thank you to anyone who supported me or liked anything i did! i appreciate all the love <3

[premiumgelato]

2025 Predictions (from Tidal's Top Songs of 2024 - shuffled)

@eruditetyro tagged me in this again this year, let's see what's in store.

January - Chasing Highs - Too Close To Touch

so/I'm chasing highs, gotta keep chasing/keep chasing highs

Yeah fair. You do what you gotta to get the long projects done despite the fog of whatever the fuck the last two months have been

Februrary - Up To No Good - The Hoosiers

words drip like honey dear/how sweet is it to hear/but not everything that you are presented/is as it appears

This song slaps but I certainly hope I'm not the blinders-on damsel in this situation

March - The Longing - Unprocessed

I was the same no matter where/in the world of my despair

I'm gonna be real with you here, I've put a lot of my weird inner workings and turmoil into my novel and March is when it's preliminarily finished. He's me and I'm him etc.

April - Daisy - Sorry X cover

ceo I'm savvy/respect a bitch I'm a maverick/flexible so elastic/but don't you dare bend a bitch backwards

I fucking love this song. If my April could be my month to step into this attitude that would fuck

May - Safe and Sound - Point North/The Ghost Inside

far away from the fresh air/to breathe/everything that's sacred to me/is just out of arm's reach

stagnation is common in the summertime for me despite it being a season I love, so this is par for the course

June - Guts - Unlike Pluto

lucky for you/I wasn't the same/old habits die hard/with no escape

yep yep yeah we're just gonna have the normal edgelord summer then

July - Phobia - Nothing But Thieves

I lost the plot/or maybe two/remind who/the fuck are you?/why don't we hit/the minibar?/five-star hotel/I don't feel well

This song is a vibe, but like a selfish drug bender vibe, which unfortunately is appealing sometimes. That doesn't mean I fail the will save just fyi

August - Midwest Indigo - twenty one pilots

what's your ETA/two minutes/chill out, man/we're right on time

(don't cancel me. etc. anyway.) Love that the dark night of the soul song is august. again this tracks for me

September - Navigating - twenty one pilots

I know you see me standing still/when our fingers touch/I feel/my way back home

(yes yes I know.) This seems like a good sign though, come through the other side of my sad bullshit. like I always do eventually

October - JOHN CENA - Joey Valence & Brae

goin' for the belt/it's gonna be an upset/lil bruh need an attitude adjustment

hehe justified smackdown pun intended obviously

Novemeber - Backslide - twenty one pilots

what happened to what I brushed under the rug/I used to be/a champion of a world you can't see/now I'm drowning in logistics

(this list is going to be the death of me. unfortunately this song is on my resonance frequency. it just is idk why.) things always come crashing down, but I slog through.

December - Oldies Station - twenty one pilots

make an oath/and make mistakes/start a streak/you're bound to break

(caroline specifically I'm sorry there isn't more variety here. tidal shuffle did not help me prove my polyjamorous tastes. maybe I'll make another post lmao) I always seem to preemptively start my year. decembers are great for starting over. quote me

[mapplesand]

2024 wrap up

okay so I feel like I didn't do much this year, which is not true because I wrote like the entirety of Morbid Minds this year lol

which is uh... 196k words which is not something I do, ever, like per year i'm lucky if i get more than 10k-20k words because i'm a very, VERY slow writer, but not in 2024 apparently ! i may have accidentally sold my soul at this point because what the fuck

oh and I also came out as trans on november 25th, that happened too I guess

Highlight of stuff I finished this year

(I have a twitter thread about every piece of media I finish every year so i'm taking everything from there)

No 6 (january, manga) - revolution and gay people, pretty cool manga and a classic

Mob Psycho Season 2 (february, anime) - autism won guys

Project X (march, book) - god okay so I read this book in class because everything was boring and i had both the english AND french translation on my screen and oh my god, the french translation made everything so fucking funny because of how bad it was, it's a book about school shooting mind you (about fictional characters, it wasn't a non-fiction book) and we follow a 14 yo boy, who in french, kept saying these nonsensical things because the translation ? didn't want him ? to swear ?? a 14 yo boy ??? not swearing ??? it made him sounds like a old grandma instead of a teen in the 2000s, absolutely HILARIOUS just for that, the book was okay but the translation made the experience surreal (god who translate goddamnit by "sacré bon dieu" this is a fever dream)

Hell Followed With (april, book) - post apocalyptic world, cult, religious trauma, and trans mc ? okay sign me up what the hell, really cool idea and I liked the portrayal of religious trauma and cult

Duck! The carbine high school massacre (may, movie) - well, this was definitely a movie that was made in our timeline

Smiling Friends (june, TV show) - was told I was like Charlie from Smiling Friends, i am, it's true, I even talk with that nasal voice

Bridge Kids (july, web series) - idk what to say about this one it was nice and that's cool

Yellowface (august, book) - RF Kuang always deliver honestly

The Dirties (september, movie) - it's a genre bender guys

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth (october, book) - by the same author of Hell Followed with Us, trans mc, horror and autism hell yeah brother

Fight Club (november, movie) - am I a sigma male already

Arcane S2 (december, TV show) - how we feeling guys, many emotions I bet

[yangjeongin]

every month of 2023 🤓 i got tagged by @seungs and @foxinys 💛. thank you for thinking of me, even if you thought i wouldn't do it dkjdhd. this is probably where my giffing journey ends for now, see y'all somewhere else 🫡

JANUARY ― popular. my first and ugliest set of 2023 could've been a better but it is what it is. / favorite. ok so i'm gonna go with this set that after a few long months of being depressed and almost kms i decided it was a great time to finally finish this gfx ! i rly like how most of these came out, would love to do something like this again 🧐 but i'm also going to pick this hyunjin set i made for carly's bday, i think it's one of the cleanest rainbow sets i have and will ever make, i make the best sets when i'm depresso.

FEBRUARY ― popular. people like furries i guess? / favorite. omg ok i think this one is hard but i'll go with fox innie he's my best friend . making that set restored 10 years of my lifespan. special mention to my second best friend the sleeping quokka and also this idiot not knowing pom is a dog, getting his dog card revoked.

MARCH ― popular. i love this set seungmin really lives to disturb jeongin's peace (and the rest of skz too) / favorite. i would have picked the set that ended as my most popular but kirby hyunjin is great as well.

APRIL ― nothing to see here sorry .

MAY ― popular. BOKSEUNGAH FOR THE WIN !!!!!!! i understand why this one took off. / favorite. ugly af but it made me happy to make this set fr i love when seungmin experiences pain. special mention to seungin shitting on jisung.

JUNE ― popular. raw dumpling, honestly not even mad about this one he looked so cute here (reason why i giffed him 👍) / favorite. color sets my beloveds... jeongin my beloved... :]

JULY ― popular and favorite. not a lot to choose from this month, jeongin was rly having none of this shit. honestly same.

AUGUST ― popular. IDIOT SANDWICH. surprised this one topped my topline hyunjin set but i get it. / favorite. omg i started posting the jisung color sets this month and red was truly one of the best ones, i miss doing these 😞. special mention to apple ponytail jeongin. cute kid.

SEPTEMBER ― popular. no comments (: todavía no sé a qué hora vas por el pan seungmin, llámame. / favorite. this one is hard cause there were a LOT of color sets this month and i rly loved most of them but i think i'm gonna go with the seungsung bday sets cause those were really fun to make. omg and special mention to my favorite collab and interaction of the year i love u skzlisa.

OCTOBER ― popular. yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love when he does that with his eyebrows. makes me laugh but also go get it jeongin. / favorite. [^-^ intensifies]

NOVEMBER ― popular. honestly surprised this dumb set i was forced to make has almost 3k? .. / favorite. awful to gif but the messy hair...

DECEMBER ― nothing to see here either SORRY.

[w2writesstuff]

What W2 Wrote in 2023

Considering that I'm prrrrrobably not going to manage to put out anything else this year, yeah, let's do a roundup now while I've got a moment. (Note: Only includes fun stuff; no professional shit here.)

January

I can't even remember January. Nothing happens in Januaries.

February

to the beat of your heart, ch. 3 (MDZS) The ongoing adventures of a self-indulgent happy-ending everybody-lives-and-also-bones WangXian canon-divergent AU; a joint project between my wife and me.

It’s Hard to Say “I Do” When You Don’t (@shousetsubangbang) Original story about a guy whose long-time crush asks him to pretend to be his boyfriend at a family wedding. Fake dating ensues.

March

Kintsukuroi (DMBJ) This heihua piece may be the best thing I've written all year? Look, I'm just very proud of how I made it exactly what I wanted it to be.

April

Head (@shousetsubangbang) This was a last-minute fill because the story I wanted to write failed to make itself writeable. Oh well! Still a funny and cute blowjob.

May

to the beat of your heart, ch. 4 (MDZS)

I want to be where all the stupid shit I say sounds so romantic and true (Guardian, WeiLan) Someday I will write a longer and more complicated series of Guardian sex pollen shenanigans, but until then, enjoy this one.

The Rightful Ruler (The Blood of Youth, Lei Wujie/Xiao Se) Still the only English-language story on AO3 for this pairing! Includes maybe the funniest line I wrote all year? You make the call!

The Doctor is In (Psych-Hunter) I know nobody watched Psych-Hunter, and with good reason, but I did, and I think Jiang Shuo should get to spy on the sexy gay doctor if he wants to.

June

A Single Explosion (DMBJ, Pangxi + Xiao Ge) For PingPang Week, with @pangzi in mind. Here's the missing part of Ultimate Note, where Pangzi takes care of Xiao Ge in the hospital.

Dog (The Disguiser, Ah Cheng/Ming Lou) This was actually written before I saw the post going around about how the sexiest thing one guy can be is another's dog. But it's true!

And I am green, and you are wood (DMBJ/Mystic Nine) Another exchange fic, where Liang Wan gets a chance to meet all of Zhang Rishan's old (boy)friends, especially Ba Ye.

Reverse Cowgirl (Not Gay as in Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, Queer as in Dude Ranch) (@shousetsubangbang) Is this the hottest thing I've ever written for SSBB? Might just be. Lesbian ranch hands recruit a city girl.

July

Stay (Beyond Evil, Oh Jihwa/Yu Jaeyi) Because you know what that show needed? Small town lesbians.

Little Spear (The Blood of Youth, Sikong Qianluo/Xiao Se) This show has some cute het, but how it would work in bed is another matter entirely; or, two gay people try to have straight sex.

动须相应 (live-action Hikaru no Go, Yu Liang/Shi Guang) It's hard to get much gayer than the actual show without adding explicit sex, so ... here you go! Post-series boyfriends.

One Quiet Night (Kingdom, Seobi + Lee Chang/Yeongshin) This is the other thing I'm really proud of, because it too came out pretty much exactly the way I envisioned it. A nurse, a prince, and a scrappy piece of shit more or less all fall in love.

August

Hooks in My Sides (Beyond Evil, JWDS) This certainly was the most popular thing I've written all year. It's unfortunately easy to write poor Juwon having a gay meltdown.

A World Made Up of Silver and Copper (@shousetsubangbang) A prince-and-pauper scenario, this time focusing on the prince's adventures in being mistaken for himself. (Hint: they are sexy.)

September

...Funny how the first months of each semester are usually a complete wash for me creatively, huh?

October

to the beat of your heart, ch. 5 (MDZS)

Over My Dead Body (@shousetsubangbang) Nothing like the romance of possessing a corpse only to find he's not actually dead. (Note to DMBJ fans: This should taste like heihua.)

November

A fair amount of November was spent writing something that I just couldn't finish for December's SSBB, once I realized how long it'd have to be and how little free time I had. Maybe next year!

December

Antivenin (@shousetsubangbang) A mean bisexual and an even meaner lesbian team up to distract their gay boss from his terrible crush.

-

And that's it! It always feels kind of weird to see it all gathered in one place, like ... wow, that's not nearly as much as I thought it was. But at the same time, it involves a couple of pieces I feel very good about, so overall I'm going to take the win.

The most fun I had was doing my Small Fandom Summer thing, where I wrote fic for fandoms that had <1000 English-language works on AO3. Maybe I'll do that again next year!

Anyway, if you do wind up reading something, especially the original stuff, thanks. A lot of this can be a very lonely process, especially when there's not much of a built-in audience. Saying you liked something makes me feel a little less like I'm screaming into the void.

Onward to 2024!

[shadowsong26fic]

Coming Attractions!

First Monday of the month, so here we go!

As per usual, this is also an Open Question Night--anything I've posted about here or on AO3 is fair game; my askbox is always open but tonight I'll be keeping an eye on it and responding. I do take prompts, but no guarantees on how quickly I fill them.

Not a whole lot to report this month--mostly because moving took up A Lot of time/energy/etc., so I didn't get as much writing done as I would have hoped, so just a quick blitz through:

OTP Meme fills-- I'm still super behind, haha. I caught up on June, but I need to do July, August, and September for all five ships this month, so that'll be fun.

PodTogether-- It got posted! It ended up being not quite all I'd hoped it would be (our plans were a lot more ambitious than our execution, haha), but the three bits that did get finished/posted I think turned out pretty well. I do enjoy doing this event a lot; next summer should be less busy for me, too, so hopefully it'll go a little smoother/I'll get a little closer to whatever my partner(s) and I end up planning (although I think I might take Leverage off my fandoms list next time; we'll see.)

Other SW-- No real updates here, other than we at SWBB got an ask about next year's event already (signups don't open til like December!!!), so I'm going to dig up what I started last year and hopefully actually finish it so I can participate. I've been involved with that event for so long that it felt weird to only do modding/betaing/podfic and not Write for it this time. (Precipice!verse has the same update it has for the past several months. It will not die until I leave this fandom, but it hasn't been getting much/any active focus lately.)

BSG-- Signups are still open for GBB! We could use a few more artists and betas. Story detail submissions are coming in, and I'm excited for what I'm seeing. I also want to get a little more into actively working on TOB over the next few weeks/by the end of the year. It's been floating around in the back of my head for so long and I thiiiiiink I've named all of the people and patched enough of the plotholes to get started...of course, now I need to figure out exactly when/where I need to start (especially since...you know, need to introduce a bunch of OCs plus explain why Baltar ends up in a different position...so yeah XD) I do still have various crossover snippets that might get worked on (like the one I reblogged the other day; there's also the Zeb and Helo one that I thought turned out pretty well); plus The Blood of Angry Men which I do genuinely plan to write at some point, but structuring it is a complicated question XD (Zarek character study/backstory piece; mostly focused on everything that initially sent him to prison, told through the lens of him looking back on it as he faces down his execution in S4; some stuff about charisma and followers he's lost/led to their deaths; the balance between him believing in his rhetoric and wanting power/using that rhetoric to gain it...a lot of really interesting things to think about here, lol)

Les Mis-- P&J will update soon; I'm also working on Acheron which I'm super excited for. I've written snippets of dialogue for Provenance (companion to P&J) but that won't get posted until the main fic is complete (because it's probably more fun to watch Ari solve as much of the puzzle as is possible given modern-day available records/evidence before filling in some of the gaps with a somewhat more traditional-style fic, lol)

Castlevania-- Not really much to say here other than at some point I will pick up Incinctus; also when Nocturne starts airing I will probably be Very Tempted to do a more active/actual crossover with Vampire Chronicles (bookverse) because. Like. The Theatre is right there lol (I know the vampire rules are very different in the two canons; which is part of why Marius existing in Incinctus is only a quick Easter Egg cameo; also Alucard and Armand would hate each other so much lol and I love them both so I'm not...suuuuuper interested in writing about that XD) Anyway, we'll see how much Nocturne actually draws me in, but at the moment I'm looking forward to it.

...I think that about covers it! Moving is exhausting and expensive but while unpacking/setup is still going on we are Fully Moved at this point, so...yay! Hopefully next month will pick up some.

[ahouseofstarkdefender]

Maybe we are delusional, but something is going out.

I'm not the one who reunited the signs, but the amazing Quinn The GM. Here is the video, but I will explain a summary:

Apparently, there have been some hints that The Winds of Winter will be soon released. It could be in December (Winter) or maybe next year.

Where is GRRM?

What are the signs?

Well, for starters, GRRM has been absent. He is not missing, but he hasn't appeared in any premiere of HotD now, and he went to the HotD Season 1 premiere but now... he didn't? To avoid being asked The Question?

The Last Update

In 2022, just after the release of Season 1 of House of the Dragon, GRRM attended a podcast and said that 3/4 of the book was complete. He said it was longer than he expected, that he had written some thousand pages and other things. Since then, there have been no more real updates.

Words of Wisdom, A Blue Flowers, and Dreams?

But, if you read or follow GRRM's official page "Not A Blog", you may notice something curious. Until recently, there weren't a lot of updates. Yeah, there were a few, but after a month of silence.

And then, on March 11, he posted this titled "Words of Wisdom", with a small blue rose and then a big image with the quote:

"Dreams have only one owner at a time. That's why dreamers are lonely - William Faulkner

George, excuse me?

Is Winds Complete? Why so mysterious?

Well... Would not be our dear GRRM if he wasn't, right? But besides that, House of the Dragon will air in a few days and if he anounced this when he did, he would obviously overshadow HotD Season 2.

Before the release of ADWD, he posted this "Twas beauty" which only showed a photo of Kong defeated in the King Kong film of 1976, besides a hand with thr thumb up, like... good job?

And what happened at the end of ADWD? Jon Snow was killed...

The Permission to Imprison Him

Now, if you read this post, where he talks mostly about The Hedge Knight, he mentions:

"I hope to visit the shoot come July, when I swing by Belfast on my way to the worldcon in Glasgow."

The WorldCon happens the week after the conclusion of HotD Season 2.

The last time Martin said he was going to attend a WorldCon, he promised to have Winds in hand at threat of being held prisoner above a lake of acid.

As for finishing my book… I fear that New Zealand would distract me entirely too much.   Best leave me here in Westeros for the nonce.   But I tell you this — if I don’t have THE WINDS OF WINTER in hand when I arrive in New Zealand for worldcon, you have here my formal written permission to imprison me in a small cabin on White Island, overlooking that lake of sulfuric acid, until I’m done.   Just so long as the acrid fumes do not screw up my old DOS word processor, I’ll be fine.

The Cakegate

Last week, an apparently popular instagram account posted an anonymous submission that reads:

Sent via form submission from Deuxmoi Pseudonyms, Please: Winter Wolf Email: anon@anon.com Subject: Book release party Message: A prominent author from New Mexico has hired catering for an upcoming event at his house, likely celebrating the impending release of his long-awaited book. Allegedly, a bit dragon-shaped cake is gonna be served at the party.

Some say it could be not GRRM, but it could be...

At the end of last year, he mentioned he met with his British publisher recently.

I also found time to meet with my British publisher, and my other British publisher, to talk WILD CARDS and A SONG OF ICE & FIRE and (of course) THE WINDS OF WINTER.

Could be a coincidence, or could be more?

Quinn says there is a 40% chance, but only time (in August) will tell.

I can't. TWOW will be released next year. I can't believe it...

[twoidiotwriters1]

Until The Very End -(WITS Sequel)

A/N: Daniel Radcliffe is going to be a father at the same time I’m posting this plotline did I manifest that baby into existence??? -Danny

Words: 3,776

Masterlist

Previous chapter // Next chapter

March—May 2004

"You're joking, right?"

"Why would I be joking?"

"Because you just had Josephine..."

"The sooner we have them all, the better," Erick shrugged.

"Anne," Mel blinked. "How many children are you planning to have?"

"Six!" Anne said. "Or Five. Depends."

"On what?"

"How long it takes to have a boy."

"You keep getting pregnant 'cause you want a boy?" Ginny snorted. "That's mental!"

"I mean, if they want to have a boy then by all means do! But... isn't it easier, like, adopting? Or maybe use magic?" Mel suggested.

"That would be cheating."

"Having children is not a game," Erick stated. "Listen, if it were up to me I'd be happy with the girls we have, but Anne insists on having a boy, so we keep trying."

"Not the worst sacrifice you've had to make, is it?" Mel teased him.

"If my wife wants it so badly, how can I refuse?" He grinned.

"Be careful, you could end up like Mel and Harry," Ron mentioned as he entered the drawing room.

"Very funny," she scowled at him.

"I still can't believe you're having twins!" Hermione shivered. "It's a bit scary to think of two mini Mels running around—"

"They could be mini Harrys!" Mel responded angrily.

"Yeah, but that is so frightening we prefer to ignore it," Erick joked.

"Stop it!" Harry threw a chicken bone at the man across the table.

Mel turned it into a butterfly. "Don't do that in front of the kids!"

"They're not paying attention!" He looked over his shoulder. "They're braiding Padfoot's tail..."

Emily, Elizabeth, Teddy, and Regulus were dressing up the boy's dog like a fairy. The black pet was sleeping soundly, unbothered by the children's game.

"So when is your baby due, anyway?" Mel returned to their former subject.

"December," Anne smiled. "It'll be our Christmas present to the girls."

"Ah, the only thing a rich man can't buy—"

"A baby?" Ron chortled. "Pretty sure he could do it if he asks around..."

"Happiness," Mel kicked his foot under the table. "A real family."

"I had a family already," Erick looked at the group with endearment. "I just wasn't a father."

"Have you seen the babies' room? Ginny and Mel just finished it yesterday," the mention of fathers pushed Harry to talk about his near future. "It's really nice."

"It was loads of fun!" Ginny said blithely. "I bought loads of toys, it's so fun being able to spoil children that aren't mine..."

"You sure are putting to use all of the money you've got," Ron raised a brow. "And you still won't give your poor brother free tickets for your games."

Ginny raised a brow. "Last I checked I had no poor brothers."

"C'mon!" Ron complained. "Not even as a wedding gift?"

"That's supposed to be something for the both of you! Not just the groom—"

"I wouldn't mind free tickets, actually," Hermione announced. "I'd like to see you play."

Ron and Hermione's wedding was approaching, it would be far smaller and more private than Harry and Mel's, but it was still an exciting event for everyone.

"Really?" Ron stared at her in surprise.

"Well, I used to enjoy watching you lot play at school, I just didn't like that you were so intense about it."

"It was the only thing I could do without your help," Ron quipped.

"That's right, you would ask for ours instead," Harry retorted.

Ginny chortled. "If you guys really want tickets, I can give you some. Would you like to go too, Annie? You've never been to a Quidditch game, have you?"

The woman's eyes brightened. "I'd love to!"

"Can I go too?" Erick inquired.

"What about you guys?"

Mel looked down at her growing middle in worry. "As long as it's not in August..."

"Oh don't worry about it, I'm sure the staff will make sure Mel Dumbledore remains comfortable and happy if she goes to watch our games," Ginny smirked. "Would give them a good rep in front of everyone else."

"That without mentioning they would hate to face Harry's rage if she's mistreated," Ron added.

"Look at these!" Mel beamed. "They're so sweet!"

"Are we going to be those parents that dress their twins in the same way?"

"No! That's nonsense," Mel chuckled. "Buying two of everything sounds like a waste, and if they grow as quickly as I did, the clothes won't even last them for a year— if I could, I would just have them wear a diaper all day and then maybe a little coat if it gets cold..."

"That way they would catch pneumonia," Harry raised a brow. "You have been reading the parenting books Erick lend to us, right?"

Mel gave him a look. "I was joking."

Harry smiled a little, he looked back at the small trousers in front of him and sighed. "I never had new clothes after I was sent to my aunt. It feels nice, being able to buy stuff for my kids."

His hand went to Mel's belly in a gentle action, he would do that quite often, as if trying to convince himself that it was real, that their family was about to grow twice as big.

"What do you think?" He asked the babies. "Would you like to spend your first year fully naked?"

Mel waited to see if the babies would kick, but nothing happened. She sighed. "They'll do it soon, hopefully..."

Hermione was ten years older than when the Yule Ball had taken place, but she was just as breathtaking when she stepped into the aisle. Ron's eyes remained on her throughout the whole ceremony.

Mel, who still enjoyed taking pictures with her old camera, realized how big her family was now that her friends had started to get married and have children. Everywhere she looked, she saw kids running around and laughing.

Everything they'd achieved during the last few years had done wonders. The recovery of her uncle, his healthy sons, her sturdy relationship with her grandfather, Mel's mother working as a magizoologist next to Newt Scamander's grandson...

"Everyone gather 'round!" She called. "We have ten seconds and not a large lens!"

Mel was pulled into the group and was squeezed next to the bride. Harry, Ron, Hermione and her were at the centre of the picture, and probably the happiest of the whole crowd.

She thought of her parents at James and Lily's wedding, and how different everything had ended for them. She would never be able to repay all of their sacrifices. At least they knew, somehow, that everything had been worth it.

"Now, that's a belly!" Emily exclaimed.

Mel got to her mother's house looking tired, she and Harry had been looking at cars the whole day and she was exhausted, all she wanted was a nap. Sure, being five months pregnant was not much, but it was starting to get uncomfortable.

It was strange, how she was losing her agility. She didn't like it. Mel had always been active and graceful, but now she was clumsy and slow, which was keeping her in a constant bad mood.

"Don't," she walked past her mother and stepped right into the drawing room. "My feet are killing me."

Reggie ran up to her and hugged her, Mel grimaced when he crashed against her stomach. "Let's play outside! I taught Padfoot how to walk on two legs!"

"In a minute, Leggie," she rubbed her lower back. "I've been standing for hours."

"I'm sorry," Harry said guiltily, entering the room after greeting Emily. "You did insist on coming along, though..."

"Going together is fun!" She argued. "I hate this... not the babies, of course," she added quickly, "but the whole..." she gestured vaguely. "I used to climb trees and hit bludgers with a killing aim, and now look at me... running out of breath after a five-minute walk..."

"That's normal," Emily reminded her, "you'll start to get tired more as time goes on, don't be so... you, Mel."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She frowned.

"You're impatient," Regulus was still tightly wrapped around her even now that she'd sat down. "Everything always has to go fast, fast, fast! Otherwise, you get all pissy about it."

"Who taught you that word?" Their mother frowned.

He grinned. "You swear a lot when you're distracted, mum. Mel does too. It's a bit of a miracle how I'm so well-behaved, isn't it, girls?"

"Little prat," Mel pinched his nose.

"Reg, you are too cheeky since you learned to use words," Harry sat next to them, ruffling the young boy's tufts of hair. "You're a lot like your father."

Padfoot rushed into the house then, he was a young dog with a lot of energy that really reminded them of Sirius' animagus form, only that this dog was definitely a dog only. Butt sniffer and all. The pet wriggled his tail with delight as soon as he saw Harry, who was very fond of the animal. The puppy placed his head on the young man's lap and demanded to be petted.

"If I put my ear really close to your stomach, d'you think I'll hear the twins?" Her brother inquired with curiosity, already pressing his head against her.

Mel laughed. "I don't think that's how it works, Paddie."

"But they are there, aren't they?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we can't see them, so how do you know they're there?" He frowned. "How do you know if they're still alive?"

"Leon, don't say that," Emily replied in disapproval, but Mel waved a hand dismissing it.

"It's alright, it's a fair question," she said calmly, "I don't know if they're okay all the time, I just hope for the best until my next appointment with Daphne."

"And doesn't that scare you?" Reg looked at her with his big grey eyes.

"I'd be very scared if I didn't know I have you looking after me," she ran a hand through his hair lovingly. "Cause you are looking after me, aren't you, Leggie?"

"Don't call me that," he wrinkled his nose, pushing her hand away. "That nickname is plainly terrible."

"Tell me about it," Harry looked at her with mirth.

"That was great, how you handled Reg's question," Harry said to her once they were back home.

"It's nothing," she brushed it off. "The first time he asked about his father, I promised myself I would never lie to him. Regulus won't have to doubt me the way I doubted everyone when I was younger. The truth has never scared him."

"You think so?" Harry hesitated. "There are things I'm not certain he ought to know."

"What things?"

"What happened to us during the war, who is he related to— you know, the Lestranges..."

"Why not?"

"Well... I don't know if a kid can understand that completely. It might just hurt him."

"Harry, whatever happens, he'll face it without flinching. I don't mean he'll bury his feelings or anything like that— he's not like me. Regulus simply has no ounce of fear in his body."

"You are no coward," he replied promptly.

"No," she smiled in her Dumbledorish way, "but I've run away from things many times, I've never seen Reg do that."

"So what I'm hearing," Harry continued, amusement written on his face. "Is that we must pity whoever ends up crossing him?"

"I just hope is not a Malfoy," she chuckled.

Harry was barely waking up when he heard his wife gasping in the kitchen and dropping a plate.

"Mel!" He ran, his heart beating wildly. "What's wrong?"

He reached for his wand on instinct but stopped as soon as he saw her smiling face.

"They're moving!"

"What?" He stammered in confusion.

She gave a start, pulling her nightgown out of the way. "They did it again!"

Her free hand seized his, she snatched his wand away and placed his palm on her belly, now considerably bigger than it was at the start of the year. Harry's heart did a summersault the moment he felt the movement under his touch.

"You felt it?" She asked. "That's them!"

He was speechless, too focused on what he was feeling to form a coherent thought.

"Twins..." was all he managed to say.

Mel's eyes were so bright they might as well have been stars robbed from the sky. "I was just singing to myself, listing the chores I had to do— I think they're responding to my voice!"

Harry could relate to that, Mel's voice had always pulled his attention, even when he was fifteen and trying his best to ignore her, he would constantly catch himself looking for the sound of her in every room he walked past.

"Talk," she encouraged him, "maybe they'll move for you too!"

Harry stared at her belly feeling nervous. Why was it so scary, he couldn't tell.

"Er... hullo?" He tilted his head. "Babies?"

"C'mon, Harry!" She pouted. "Talk like a dad!"

"What's that like?" He frowned. Harry looked down again, he cleared his throat. "Your mother wants me to speak to you."

He stopped, it was the first time he'd referred to Mel as someone's mother. The words rolled out of his tongue easily, he didn't even have to think about it. After he did, his entire world was flipped upside down. Mel would be a mother. He would be a dad.

Mel sat down on the nearest chair and encouraged him to keep talking. He crouched before her and placed one arm on Mel's lap and stroked her silky pants with his fingertips. His other hand moved up and touched her middle, his index finger grazed one of her old scars.

"You know, your mum is the bravest woman I know," he said. "Even before we planned on having you, she did many things hoping she'd get to meet you one day, so you better appreciate her, or I will let her dress you in nothing but diapers until you're three years old."

Mel laughed, and they started moving again.

"There you are!" He exclaimed happily. "You two love Mel's laughter, don't you? You're just like me! Em says I would always pinch Mel's cheeks whenever she laughed when we were little, she never understood why I did that, but my dad thought it was funny. He said that I was trying to figure out if Mel was a mermaid."

Mel watched him ramble for a while, beaming at the way his voice got increasingly more joyful with every story he shared. She could see him five years in the future, telling all kinds of stories to their children.

"They stopped," he looked positively disappointed. "Should I try something else?"

"I think you put them to sleep," she tried not to laugh. "I know who'll be reading them bedtime stories once they're born."

He got up stiffly from his place on the floor, grimacing a little. "Merlin, we need more comfortable kitchen tiles."

Mel bit back a smile. "Don't make me laugh..." she looked at the broken plate beside them. "I should clean that—"

"Let me," Harry quickly got to work, vanishing the broken plate and the ruined eggs. "I'll cook you something else."

The witch stared at her husband adoringly. "I don't know why you keep freaking out about being a bad parent, Glasses, you're already doing a wonderful job."

"You know, one thing wizards did right, was this," Mel sat down happily on the tall bench at the bar and pointed at her clothes. "Robes! Haven't bought a single piece of clothing since I started to get bigger!"

"D'you wear 'em when you go to the muggle town near your house too?" Aberforth asked her with a barely noticeable grin.

"Yeah, most of them think I just have a weird taste," she grinned.

A group of men entered the bar, they stopped when they saw her, but Mel smiled at them and nodded her head as a greeting.

"Maybe you should go upstairs, girl," Aberforth suggested, staring at the strangers with a glare.

"Oh, but I came here to see you!" She pouted. "And Reggie wanted to visit as well, you know he loves you..."

"That boy tells everyone that walks into the bar that he's my grandson! He should stop that, confuses people..."

"Oh, only the idiots get confused," she brushed it aside. "You're the only grandad he knows, Abe! What's the matter with him wanting to adopt you as his family?"

"I'm not his grandad."

"Do you hate my brother?"

The old man grumbled a reply, and she giggled.

"You adore that boy."

Regulus came in from the back door, his pants were stained green and he had a bunch of flowers in his hands. "These are for you!"

Aberforth stood in shock at the bouquet the boy was offering. "Are you talking to me?"

"Who else?" The boy frowned. "They're for the bar!"

"My bar?"

"It's so quiet and sad here, these might cheer things up!"

Mel snorted at her brother's explanation, Aberforth was not amused.

"Take him out of my sight before I turn him into a toad! Wouldn't be that hard... already born with those eyes..."

"The more you push him away, the more he'll follow you around, Abe, I'm warning you..." Mel got to her feet. "Come on, Leon, let's visit Fred!"

"But if it isn't my favourite customer and his rich sister!" Fred welcomed them into the shop with open arms. "Had lunch yet? Jo will get here in five, we can all go to the three broomsticks!"

"Can I have a butterbeer?" Reg asked him.

"Abe didn't let him have any," Mel explained.

"Sure! Go take a look around the shop, mate, I'll give you anything you want with a fifty-percent discount."

"Really?" Reg's eyes went wide.

"As long as you promise to use it on Harry and Ron," he winked at him.

Mel hit his shoulder.

"There you are!"

The young woman looked up and found the teachers from Hogwarts at the entrance of the establishment. Hagrid was the first to get to her, he'd never been as gentle as in that moment, hugging her like she was a porcelain doll.

"Yeh getting quite big, aren't ye?" He beamed. "How're yeh?"

"What are you doing here!" Mel exclaimed delightedly.

"They heard I was having lunch with you and Fred, and they decided to come along," Joseph said with a smile, kissing his boyfriend shortly before taking a seat.

"We've been planning to pay you a visit, but now that you're here, might as well see you now," McGonagall handed her a primly wrapped parcel.

"This is not a broom, is it?" Mel teased her.

The woman laughed, it was weird how friendly she acted now that Mel wasn't a student.

"Open it!" Flitwick urged her. "We all put something in!"

Mel was so intrigued by his statement that she obliged. A small blanket was on display when she finally ripped open the wrapping. It had a faint scent of lavender mixed with something that reminded her of the greenhouses in the castle.

"This is..." she stared at it in awe. "Is beautiful."

"Having twins is a lot of work," Sprout said.

"It's our o'n making," Hagrid said proudly. "I knitted it."

"Pomona mixed some soothing herbs from the greenhouses and washed the fabric with the result, Filius and I put protection and cheering spells in it, that blanket will keep your twins warm and cosy no matter what."

"And if you pay a little visit to the castle, Slughorn will give you something extra to take with you, he's so enthusiastic about the news," Sprout added with a smile.

"Merlin, you're all so sweet!" Mel teared up. "I don't know what to say... this is... don't deserve..."

"Oh, hush dear," McGonagall said sternly. "You were one of the bests students we've had the pleasure to teach. Watching you grow and accomplish things beyond our expectations is more than enough payment for a lifetime."

"If I grow to be smart will you give me presents too?" Reg piped up from his seat, he'd been watching the group attentively.

Mel had a hard time hiding her laughter. McGonagall's face adopted a more serious expression.

"Young man, if we're still around by the time you attend Hogwarts, I assure you we'll do our best to keep that mind of yours as occupied as possible."

"We're home!"

"Brilliant!" Harry's voice came from the kitchen. "We're baking!"

Mel heard her young brother give a short gasp before running out of sight. Harry and Teddy were spending some quality time together. However, when she walked into the kitchen she found the Flint girls also seated at the table.

"We have a lot of guests tonight!" She smiled. "Are we celebrating something?"

"Mummy and daddy went to the baby's appointment," Emily explained shortly. "To see how is our sibling doing, you see."

"I see," Mel said in amusement. "And Harry and Teddy are making dinner?"

"Teddy wanted to use the oven, but I didn't want him to set our house on fire, so I'm helping him," Harry replied.

"I want to help too!" Regulus run straight to the faucet and washed his hands in a hurry.

"You can set the table if you want," Harry offered. "But be careful!"

"I'm always careful," Reg said proudly.

The girls waited patiently in their seats, watching such tiny little witches behaving like royalty was always entertaining, it was obvious Erick and Anne had done their best bringing up their daughters.

In their own home, though, they were very different. Emily continued to be similar to her father, clever and charming, but Elizabeth was all Anne, with light brown hair and green eyes, and freckles spread across her nose and cheeks. She was always running outside in their garden, getting her overalls stained with mud and cat prints. Josie was too young to know precisely what kind of personality she had, but she'd definitely inherited her father's dark curls just like Emily, though her eyes were darker than Erick's.

Since Mel was so entertained, she also took a good look at Teddy: he was a little too short for his age, and his hair at the moment was purple. His eyes were brown like his father's but he was definitely as clumsy as his mother. He seemed uncomfortable when people paid attention to him, and he would give Leon Regulus wary glances whenever he was loud and dramatic.

"What's that you got there?" Harry asked her.

"McGonagall, Sprout and Flitwick went to Hogsmeade with Jo and Hagrid to say hi, they gave me this!"

"It's supposed to help you shut the twins up if they get too whiny," Reg said bluntly, setting a plastic cup in front of Josie and patting her head as he walked past.

"They put soothing stuff in it," Mel gave her brother a mildly annoyed glance before continuing. "It was really nice of them, I went up to the castle to say hi, and you won't believe what Slughorn told me."

"What?"

"McLaggen is thinking of applying for a position as an Auror."

"No!" Harry blurted out. "Not that idiot!"

All the kids stopped and stared at him in shock, some more delighted than others. Harry blushed and apologized briefly, he was always careful not to swear in front of the children.

"Maybe he's not such a pain now, maybe he actually grew up!" Mel said humorously. "Can't be worse than Movak..."

Harry groaned. "Maybe, but if he shows no respect for authority during the trials I'm kicking him out."

Mel laughed. "Since when do you care about respecting authority?"

Harry glanced at the children. "It's not how it used to be when we were their age, Mel."

"That's true," she looked over his shoulder. "Smoke's coming out of the oven, by the way."

Next Chapter—>

Taglist.

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[slickshoesareyoucrazy]

Today

I met J 19 years ago on December 14. I'll post that long post I wrote about him way back when when I'm home tonight.

Today, right now, I'm sitting in a therapist waiting room, waiting for my son to finish a session. This is the second therapist we've tried since late August. I like this one. I hope he does too. But who knows?

Nineteen years ago today, I was nervous and giddy about meeting the love of my life (yeah I knew immediately that J was it for me). Today, I'm nervous that our son isn't adjusting to life the way any of us hoped.

If you told Nineteen Years Ago Jen that this is what she'd be doing today, I think she'd still be delirious with happiness. Because I married him. I was right. We have a son. Who is fucking amazing. And our son still talks to us and trusts us enough at 15 to tell us about struggles and ask for help. And we can try to provide it.

Today is weird. These past several months have been weird. And hard. But I still have J and our son. And I am so grateful for that. I'm lucky.

[doctorhelena]

Happy New Year, @3pirouette - I’m your @steggyfanevents Steggy Secret Santa this year!

As you know, the good news is that I've finished writing your gift, but the bad news is that I'm not finished editing your gift. The other (hopefully) good news, though, is that your gift is currently at 17.2k words (and keeps getting longer and longer in editing), which means that there will definitely be a lot of it! 😂

Because I know you prefer reading complete stories, I’m giving you this small preview now, and then I'll post the entire thing all at once when it’s ready (hopefully in the next week or two). I’m so close to being done! And I’m very sorry it’s going to be a bit late.

Title: All I Want For Christmas

Pairing: Peggy Carter / Steve Rogers

Word Count: 17.2k and counting

Rating: PG-13

Selected Tags: Howling Commandos, Christmas, pregnancy, snow, squirrels, time travel

Summary: Perhaps this was what settling down looked like, for them.

————–

PREVIEW

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December 25, 1949

“Well,” said Peggy, surveying the damage, “I can’t say this is how I’d imagined our first Christmas together after the war - but it is rather fitting, I suppose.” And suddenly, she and Steve were both laughing so hard that they had to lean against each other, tears rolling down their cheeks.

“I love you,” he managed.

“That's rather a good thing,” said Peggy wryly.

---

It had all started so promisingly. 

Steve had appeared unexpectedly on Peggy’s doorstep the previous August with a wild tale of time travel, adventure, and the somewhat disquieting news that another version of himself was currently hibernating in the arctic, not destined to be rescued for another sixty two years.

“Even if we could find him, we don’t have the technology to defrost him safely,” he’d told her soberly, her third cup of tea growing cold on the table between them. “And - the Ancient One says he’s needed in the future.” He looked down at his cup, then back up at her. “She also says that when the time is right he’ll be free to make the same decision I did. He can go back, start another branch timeline. Stay with another version of you, if she’ll have him.”

“If she’ll have him!” Peggy had said, indignantly, and stood up to show him exactly how ridiculous it was to even suppose that she might not.

That had been perhaps, in retrospect, her first mistake.

---

Their first priority, they both agreed, was to rescue Bucky - followed by tackling the relatively more complex problem of Hydra’s infiltration of SHIELD, the fledgling agency Peggy, Howard, and Phillips had already put so much work into, and which Peggy was not about to let go without a fight.

And then, there was the matter of Steve himself. Did they want to reveal his return to the world at large? To a few selected people? Or to nobody at all? Despite all the knowledge Steve had brought back from the 21st century, they were creating a brand new timeline. The world was their oyster. Anything was possible.

The first confirmation of this arrived unexpectedly in late September, when Peggy abruptly began to sleep through her alarm every morning, entirely lost interest in breakfast, and was very nearly reduced to tears at work twice in a single week. 

“You said that the older version of me you met in the future had - that she’d had children,” she ventured tentatively one evening, after nearly two weeks of feeling constantly on the verge of a monthly that, aside from a little spotting, had never actually arrived. “When - when was that?”

“Yeah, she had two kids in the mid-50s,” Steve said, only half-concentrating on the conversation, the rest of his attention on the map of Russia he was marking. “A boy and a girl. But that doesn’t mean you and I will - ” he trailed off, staring at her. “Oh.” His eyes widened. “Oh, crap.”

“Oh crap, indeed” Peggy agreed dryly, and he flushed.

“I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

She sighed. “Twelve years in the future, Rogers, and you still haven’t learned how to talk to a woman.”