#i love this book so much! i borrowed it from my local library as soon as i could and i've bought the book as a gift for other people

[naminethewriter]

One's Hometown, One's New Home

Chapter One: Quiet Meeting

Masterpost | Next | Ao3

@tss-anxceit-week

Summary: Janus’ hometown is a usually quiet place where everyone knows everyone. So when someone new moves in, they’re usually the hottest topic of local gossip. The newcomer then comes by the library Janus works at, he can’t help but chat with him a little. Doesn’t hurt that he’s good looking as well.

Content Warnings: None

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ah, hello Janus. I hope you are having a lovely day?”

Janus looked up from the book he was looking through for damages. He had already done the same for a few books that had been returned to the library within the past week and only found a few, not noteworthy wrinkles and tears.

“Judy, welcome,” he greeted the old woman standing in front of his station with a smile. “Yes, it’s nice and quiet today. No school class coming through.”

“Oh, those little rascals aren’t so bad. It’s nice to see the town so lively.”

“I could see your point if this wasn’t a library and people are supposed to stay quiet in here.”

Judy chuckled. “They’re just kids, cut them some slack.”

“I am,” Janus argued. “They’re respectful with handling our books, at least. But I can still appreciate the days where I don’t have to deal with them, right?”

“Yes, I suppose that’s only fair. Anyway, I’ve brought you something.” She reached down next to her and pulled up a basket that she set on his station. “I made lemon bars for my son’s visit last weekend and I might have gone a little overboard. Take these and share them with the others, won’t you?”

Janus peaked under the cloth covering the basket and a nice smell spread around him. Judy’s baking was legendary, so he wasn’t about to turn her down. Instead, he was considering simply not telling his coworkers about the treats at all.

Then again, he couldn’t eat all of those by himself.

“Will do, Judy. Thank you very much.”

“Oh, no need for that. Consider it a thank you for all the help you’ve given me.”

“Speaking of which, are you looking for something in particular today?”

“Well, I may have heard that you got a new shipment in last week,” she began with a glint in her eye and Janus knew what her question would be before she asked it.

“Yes, we now do carry that new mystery novel of your favorite author,” he chuckled and her face lit up with excitement.

“Wonderful! It’s in the usual isle then?”

“It is.” He held up his hand when she was about to hurry away. “But I have a second copy right here with your name on it.” He pulled out the book in question and handed it to her.

“Oh, you are a godsent, Janus!” Judy laughed and Janus had to raise his finger to his lips to remind her she was in a library. “Right, right, I apologize. Thank you for saving it for me.”

“You’re very welcome. I can only let you borrow it for two weeks though, we already have a small waiting list.”

“But you said it was on the shelf?”

“I did and it is, but that copy can’t be borrowed for now. At least not while it’s in such high demand. We have three copies. One which will stay here, and two that are available for checkout.”

“And you still saved one for me, how sweet. I’ll make sure to return it as soon as I am done with it then.”

“Please do.” Janus scanned Judy’s library card to make the checkout official before waving after her as she left the building in hurried steps, very eager to start the book as soon as she got home. Janus quietly chuckled as he watched her leave before he got back to work.

Wednesdays were usually his quiet days. They opened and closed and hour later than other weekdays and the local elementary school’s reading program had the teachers bring in their brats every other week on Mondays, Tuesdays or Thursdays. Janus hadn’t lied to Judy, he didn’t mind the kids all that much, at least not this far into the year when they finally learned to respect not only the librarians but the books themselves and he much more rarely found scribbles on brought back pages.

Still, he preferred the days when they didn’t come.

So, he enjoyed it, working quietly until the automatic doors slid open again to let in another visitor. Janus looked up fleetingly, thinking it would be just a regular coming through, but instead he saw someone he had never seen before.

Which happened rarely. This town wasn’t the smallest, but Janus knew pretty much everyone who lived here at least vaguely enough to recognize them.

Considering the latest rumors, he did have a good idea of who the stranger was.

The man – or male presenting, Janus supposed – stopped after crossing the threshold, taking a moment to look around and orient himself. He wore a hoodie that was too large for his frame with the hood pulled up, so Janus couldn’t make out much of his face, but he could tell that he was quite tall despite his slouch and rather slim built.

And pale in a way that almost seemed sickly.

(Not that Janus fared much better.)

The stranger spotted Janus after a few moments and hesitantly approached.

“Uhm, hey,” he greeted once he stood in front of Janus’ workstation. He kept his voice quiet, and Janus was intrigued by his low baritone.

“Welcome!” Janus greeted with a smile, doing his best to hide his staring. “You must be the new tenant of Mrs. Talbot. Are you adjusting well enough to our quaint town?”

“Why the fuck do you know where I live?” The stranger had taken a step back, glaring at Janus with eyes that he could now make out were a deep brown.

“We don’t get a lot of new people here, so if someone moves in, it’s usually the talk of the town for a bit. And I’m a central person in terms of gossip. It’s nothing personal, I assure you.”

“It’s creepy.”

Janus shrugged. “I can see why you’d think that. But that’s just how it is here. And you’re even the special kind of newbie, so everyone’s doubly interested.”

“What does that mean?!” the stranger hissed. “How am I special?”

“Well, there’s only a few reasons people come here. The first is that they’re moving back. I myself belonged to that category after I came back after going to college out of state. Has the rumor mill going about all the changes that happened in the time they were gone. I, for example, got a lot more into fashion. And grew my hair out. I got so many questions about how I took care of it, you wouldn’t believe it.”

Janus’ rambling seemed to have calmed the stranger down a bit, since he now came over to lean against the station instead of keeping his distance as if Janus was about to jump him.

“Then there’s the people that get dragged here by other locals. Partners, mostly. They often have to endure some scrutiny to see if they’re good enough for whoever brought them here. We have a lot of old ladies with strong opinions on what a good relationship is, so look out for them if you ever start dating while you’re here.

“Third,” Janus was counting down by his fingers now, “are the workers. Transferred to a backwater town like ours often leads to grumpiness, so you can usually tell who’s here because their contract demanded it. Sometimes they warm up to it, often times they don’t and transfer out again as soon as they can. Second to last there’s the nature people who just want to live somewhere with a bunch of trees. And we got plenty of those. And last but not least, there’s people like you. You just show up one day, with no roots, a past you don’t want to talk about and wanting as little attention as possible.”

“You sure make a lot of judgements without knowing anything about me,” the man murmured, but he didn’t look as put off as he did at the start of their conversation.

Janus shrugged. “Maybe. It comes from experience, however. I helped out here even before I finished school and it’s a gathering space for a lot of people. I developed a good sense of intuition that way. Plus, my father was like you, too.” The stranger simply raised an eyebrow. “It’s a long story, maybe I’ll tell you about it if you’d invite me out to a drink sometime.” Janus smirked as the other chuckled.

“Your quite forward, aren’t you.”

“I know what I like and I don’t like beating around the bush.”

“You don’t even know my name.”

“You could change that.”

That startled another chuckle out of the stranger. “It’s Virgil. Nice to meet you.”

“Janus.” He took the offered hand and shook it firmly. “I look forward to getting to know you, Virgil.”

[moderator-monnie]

Hiya! This is my update post for my Pokémon Trainer OC with help from my amazing friend @lazy-charlie​

I now have an offical ref photo of her and with the ref I wanted to make a post to share more info about her.

And maybe some point in the future her Pokémon Team will have references too!

((i accidently deleted the original post whoops lmao)) here it is again!

First Name: Natasha

Last name: BSoD

Age: 19

Height: 6′0

Gender: She/Her

Sexuality: Pan Ace

A Young woman who was born with albinism in the Alola region she wanted to grow up to be a Pokémon trainer like every other kid does usually but no Pokémon besides Eevee and Porygon had ever caught her interest.

Until one day at the age of 10 while in the local library she discovered a very dusty and old book about myths and legends in the Kanto and first saw Missingno on one of the pages immediately she had stary eyes and felt truly excited about a type of Pokémon.

From then on she asked around but no one in her home really knew anything which disappointed her but she didn’t give up starting from there she’d spend alot of her time on her computer doing all the research she could on what Missingno is and soon discovered.

The Glitch Type although not much was known about this elusive type of Pokémon all signs pointed to the region of Kanto the home of Lavender Town of course she was still too young to travel on her own so for the time she stayed home stayed in school and trained with her Moms Pokémon.

And at the age of 16 she finally managed to convince her Mom to let her travel to Kanto as long as she promised to visit on holidays which of course Natasha agreed todo.

She took a plane ride there and began to explore the region using all the research she had dug up thru old books or online to track down her beloved glitches.

It took a few months of searching but soon she convinced a trainer to let her borrow their gyarados with surf for a few hours and she used this opportunity to surf along the eastern coastline.  

And she finally caught one! A Missingno her first offical team member and from then on over the course of the next few years she caught the rest of her team which consists of Missingno , Shiny Missingno , Ghost ,    pPKMNp’ , ‘M and O

Of course even after completing her team she is still on the hunt for Glitch Pokémon wanting to become a researcher who studies and create a new Pokédex just for them much like the Unown have their own Pokédex.  

She’s always been seen as intimidating and scary to most people who have met her all expect her mother but she’s a total nerd once you get to know her and very friendly despite how she might act towards strangers due to her own anxiety

also it might seem like she has sharp teeth but she just wears fake vampire fangs because she feels it adds to her aesthetic and sometimes just forgets their there and due to her Pokémon team Sometimes it appears she herself might be glitching but she’s perfectly safe/fine.

you can sort of tell which Pokémon she’s gonna send out based on the pokeball she holds each are distorted in a way that represents the Pokémon inside.

This is all the information I have on her so far but I’d love to continue expanding on her and if you have any thoughts or questions please don’t be afraid to ask! after all questions help expand her story and character! thank you for reading!

[dokuixote]

[12:29] | 📓 librarian!wonwoo

“Hey, thought you might like this too. :)”

a boyish handwriting scribbled in a yellow sticky note is taped at a book placed on your favorite spot at the library. again.

it’s the fourth time this month, you recall as you carefully fold the note and store it safely on your pocket. “I think you’ll have fun reading this. :)” “Try this. :)” “This is my favorite author. I think this book is up your alley. :)” you now have a growing collection of book recommendations lacking a name of the sender but always with a signatory in a form of a smiley face.

‘The Miracles of the Namiya General Store’ the cover reads. you scan the room for any sign of the mysterious sender, but to no surprise, everyone within your eyesight is too occupied to care hunched over their papers, books, and laptops. you also flip through the last page and scan the borrower history of the book only to find it empty.

you sadly sigh, wondering when you can meet this person to talk about the story and personally thank them for recommending books you have been genuinely enjoying reading for the past weeks. nameless and faceless, how are you supposed to say that you kept all the sticky notes of annotations in a clear jar at your desk back at home because it makes you smile when you catch a glimpse of it?

defeated albeit eager for a new read, you walk back to the librarian’s desk to officially borrow the book and consume it in the comforts of your own home.

“you again? i’m surprised there are still books here left for you to borrow.” wonwoo teasingly chuckles when he sees you approach with a book and your worn library card at hand.

“oh don’t you worry, i won’t steal your biggest geek world-title.” you roll your eyes at the librarian-turned-friend which earned a laugh from him. from the numerous small talks you had with wonwoo, you discovered he’s few years your senior, likes (and is alike) a cat, prefers mystery over coming-of-age, and he’s on duty during tuesdays, thursdays, and saturdays because he attends classes during the rest of the week and sundays are reserved for campaign mode in his newly-installed RPG.

“hmm, interesting choice.” wonwoo comments while he flips through the book for information.

“you read it? is it good? oh and have you noticed anyone hanging out at my spot recently?” you fire away questions, subtly keen on discovering any clue on who’s been leaving books for you.

wonwoo looks up at you and raises his brows at your flushing cheeks and almost sparkling eyes. he puts his fingers up, “1, yes, i have read it. 2, yes it is good. i liked it. and 3, no, i haven’t seen anyone in your so-called spot which, by the way, isn’t just reserved for you even though you’re our secret-favorite customer. why are you asking?”

“nothing, just curious is all.” you clear your throat and pretentiously say with nonchalance, hiding the disappointment from thinking this is the day you finally have somewhere to start on finding your incognito friend.

wonwoo, knowing better, only gives you a pointed look.

“okay fine, it’s just someone’s been leaving all these books for me and i love every single one of it and i appreciate it and i just,” you explain and mumble, “i want to at least take them out for a coffee or something.”

“oh, then i’ll let you know if i notice something.” wonwoo bites back a smile and hands you the book now permitted to leave the premises of the local library. “hope you’ll like it as much as i did.”

you nod and thank him. “alright, i’ll get going now and trust your word. see you in 3 days! don’t miss me too much, wonwoo!” you jest as you exit.

wonwoo quietly laughs and shakes his head at how goofy you looked while giving him a salute through the glass door. once you were beyond his sight, he goes back to his desk and gets ‘Dollar Good Dream Department Store’. he reaches for a nearby yellow sticky note and writes, “Give this a try. :) <3”

maybe he’d give this book in a coffee shop soon.

[polaroidcats]

I assume that you have emotional attachments to objects (because of the print you love) and so have a favourite book which you know you will never read again but can’t throw out (and what is it if I’m right?) ❤️❤️

Hi Rory!!! 💖

oh wow everyone is nailing it with these, you are so, so correct!!!!

My inability to get rid of things I have emotional attachments to definitely applies to books, here is an incomplete list of books I will likely never even read or reread but also will never be able to give away:

My Gregor the Overlander books!! I knew Suzanne Collins mostly from these books and when Hunger Games came out/became popular I tried to tell all my friends about this series because I loved it so much when I was 10-12 years old!! And my first internet name was "Boots" because of the younger sister in that book, I loved her so much. And I don't see myself rereading them anytime soon but I have so many fond memories of absolutely devouring and rererererereading them as a preteen so they will stay forever!

"Die Geschwister Apraksin" by Karla Schneider, this was also one of my fave books when I was around 12-13, I don't remember much, except that it was about 5 orphaned siblings during or after the Russian revolution, and it absolutely broke my heart and I cried more than I had ever cried before when reading a book. I don't even think it was a particularly sad book, I think it just made me very emotional for some reason, to imagine these kids' lives and their struggles. And I read it as part of my local bookstore's initiative where they let kids borrow and read the advanced reader copies of books, and then we wrote little reviews that would get posted on a pinboard at the store. So when I had to give the book back (in order to borrow a new book, it was like a little library system within the bookstore), I immediately asked the bookseller if they had the book in stock because I wanted to buy it with my pocket money, but they only had the paperback and (again) I had gotten so attached to the hardback one and the bookseller could tell how much the book meant to me so she just gifted me the copy I had just returned, the one I read, and that meant so much to me, to get to keep the physical copy that I actually read and not have to buy a new version.

Herzen, Hände und Stimmen by Ian McDonald - I have never read this book, idek what it's about but from the book cover I assume it's scifi. I did an exchange semester in France as a teenager, and my host family didn't speak any german but somehow they got this random (thrifted) german book and they gave it to me bc I speak german. And I've never been that much into scifi but the gesture was so sweet and I have so many nice memories of my time with them, so even though I will probably never read that book I will also never give it away.

A complete translation from Vergils Aeneid with the latin and german text side by side. I did Latin in school, and for our final exams we all had to pick one specialized subject we would have an oral exam on, and my specialized subject in Latin class was the 6th book of the Aeneid, so even though I barely remember any Latin and will definitely not reread that for fun, I enjoyed it back in the day and will never get rid of that book.

I have a book on erotic dream interpretation, idk if that fully counts into this category, but my friend and I saw it when my uni library (!!) had a thrift sale of their old books, and that book was so hilarious, I had to get it and then for a while whenever I had people come over to my flat to pregame I would ask them about their dreams and would then very professionally interpret them with my book. This one might not fully count bc I'm not ruling out that I will never do that again but I haven't looked at it in a long time but would never get rid of it because it's too iconic haha

Okay this got way too long so I'm stopping now, but yeah hahaha you were so correct with this one 😂

make an assumption about me!

[kimdokjas]

hi pal! we've been mutuals for a while but never really talked much haha. but I was wondering if you could give any tips or resources for learning german? (cus I think you speak it right?) I'm actually moving to germany really soon to finish my phd there. I have some very rudimentary knowledge from several attempts on duolingo in the past but I really want to learn it well, in the case I end up living there for a long time! anyway feel free to do with this message as you please

Hi dear! Ahh that’s amazing that you’re moving to Germany to finish your PhD, congratulations!! Thank you for thinking of me for this kind of advice, I’m honored <3 and of course, I’m more than happy to give you some tips! This got super long lol I hope you don’t mind!

Here are some of the things that worked for me, feel free to take them or leave them depending on what you think would work best for you! As with any language, I think the best way to learn is to try to get as much exposure as you can, so here are some tips and resources organized by topic:

MOOCs

There are a lot of online courses available for free! Here are some of the ones I’ve seen (some are borrowed from this post and I added some others I found!)

Learn German

Deutsch lernen

Deutsch Akademie

Getting Started with German (I, II, III)

The German Project

Intermediate German: The world of work

Advanced German: Language, culture and history

Deutsch im Blick

Podcasts

This depends on your proficiency level and areas of interest, but I’d recommend starting with those that are more focused on language learners! In particular I found those from Deutsche Welle really helpful.

Once you feel a bit more comfortable, you can slowly work your way up to more technical or specialized podcasts, such as those related to your PhD subject! For me this is a great way to keep my German up to speed, especially since I’m unable to practice it much where I live. Some of my recommendations are:

Slow German mit Annik Rubens, focused on everyday topics spoken slowly for easier understanding! There are even transcripts available so you can read along

Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten, news spoken slowly for easier understanding

Top-Thema mit Vokabeln, discussing current topics with a focus on vocabulary (~B1 level)

Wort der Woche short episodes focused on learning one new term per episode (~B2 level)

For more advanced podcasts, try filtering the charts for Germany and see which ones look interesting to you! I personally love science topics, so I usually listen to Spektrum der Wissenschaft and Wissen Weekly among others!

Pen pals

I think one of the best ways to improve your German is to actually practice it with other people. It might be scary at first but trust me you’ll see a huge improvement if you try it!

I particularly recommend an app called Slowly. It’s a charming concept, with the traditional pen pal experience where your letters actually take time to deliver depending on how far away you are. You can specify the languages you speak and your level of proficiency, so you will be able to match more easily with people according to your level!

(Also, I’m personally a bit shy so something I really liked about this app is that it’s practically anonymous, you can just use a nickname and an avatar and you’re all set!)

Fiction books

Here is a wonderful masterpost of fiction books in German! It contains novels such as the Lord the Rings, the Hunger Games, and even classics such as the Metamorphosis. You can find the link to the Google Drive folder here!

Audiobooks

I didn’t really listen to audiobooks when learning German, but I’ve heard they’ve really worked for some people! Here are some of the ones I’ve been recommended (although I haven’t personally used them). These are links to Audible for reference, but I’d suggest using your alternate platform of choice or try to see if your local library has any available!

Café in Berlin

German Short Stories for Beginners

Learn German with Paul Noble for Beginners

Educational books

This is the more traditional way of language learning, but to be honest this was what most helped me learn grammar! I think resources such as Duolingo are great for day-to-day practicing, but they can be a bit lacking in terms of grammar, which is where educational books come in handy.

I mostly used the Menschen books for the beginner levels and Mittelpunkt for more advanced levels. These can be a bit expensive, so I’d recommend getting used books or looking in your local library, or even online.

For example, in the Deutsch Akademie website you can practice some exercises taken from these books among others for free!

Social media

Try to incorporate German into your social media experience as much as you can!

Tumblr: some blogs I follow are @thatswhywelovegermany @official-german-puns and @inoffizielles-deutschland and you can also try to follow some studyblrs to focus on vocabulary and grammar such as @learngermanblog

Twitter/Facebook: DW Deutsch lernern, they focus on language learners and sometimes they even post simple practice exercises!

Devices

This is more of a tip than a resource but one of the first things I did was switch the language on my phone and laptop to German. This forced me to read the language every day and I even picked up some new vocabulary thanks to this! Even stuff like the directions on Google Maps were in German so it was a great way of practicing. At first I really struggled, but you just have to stick with it and eventually it gets easier, I promise!

Music

It really depends on your taste in music but here are some of the ones I listen to! I usually lean more towards indie pop/rock. But I’d recommend trying to find a specific playlist for your favorite genre, e.g. rock in German and so on!

Playlists: Deutscher Indie, Deutschpop Hits

Artists: Phela, Joris, Philipp Dittberner, Yvonne Catterfeld, Kenay, Mark Foster

Entertainment

Of course movies, TV shows, and even YouTube are a great way of practicing the language even during your downtime!

In general, what worked for me was starting out by watching stuff with German audio and English subtitles (or your language of choice), and then slowly try to shift to using German subtitles only! Anyway I’ll try to recommend one of each:

TV shows: Dark on Netflix, great show and there’s really not a lot of dialogue so it’s good for a beginner/intermediate level!

Movies: Run Lola Run (1998), a thriller movie with a time loop concept

YouTubers: here is a Reddit masterpost of German-speaking YouTubers! I personally started out watching Gronkh which is a gaming channel. His Life is Strange let’s play has the game in English and commentary in German so it’s a good way to start out!

~~~

I hope some of these resources are useful, dear! As I mentioned, in the end you’re the one that knows what works best for you! But these are just some tips and resources that I personally found useful.

Either way, once you’re actually in Germany I promise you’ll see that your progress will increase exponentially just by simply listening and speaking the language daily in places like the supermarket, restaurants, etc. But you can always try to cover all your bases with additional resources such as these ones!

Again, hope this is helpful and please let me know how your journey goes! I’m excited to hear all about it :D

[voyageofthenautilus]

Voyage of the Nautilus: Why this book?

With the Nautilus soon to begin its voyage (coming to an email inbox near you!), it’s time to address a few questions that participants in this book club may have. The first being: why this book in particular? What did the mods of this blog see in it?

Mod Blue: My father gave me a copy of Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Seas for Christmas when I was twelve years old. I don’t know why he chose this book for me, but I’m very glad he did, because I ended up loving it. I’m sure a lot of the more technical parts went over my head, but the characters engrossed me, especially the enigmatic Captain Nemo. I also found the book appealing simply for the fact that it took place on a ship in the ocean, as I’ve always been very drawn to the ocean. Over the years I’ve revisited the book and gained an even deeper love for its thrilling plot and, once again, the endearing characters and their habits and interactions. I even have one of the chapter titles tattooed on me, that’s how much I love it! When I saw that Dracula Daily had become such a big hit on tumblr and that people were making memes and writing meta about this work of classic literature, it made me wish to have that experience with my favorite work of classic literature. Then, when I saw that other people had been inspired to create similar email book clubs, I floated the idea on my main blog. With my friend Mod Pluto’s encouragement, this project was born. I can’t wait for it to get started and to see what other people have to say about a book that is so beloved to me!

Mod Pluto: I, Mod Pluto, first read Jules Verne when I was given Around the World in 80 Days for my 8th birthday. I liked it a lot and began borrowing Jules Verne books from my local library, but somehow didn't make it to 20 Thousand Leagues until my early teens. Perhaps controversially, I did enjoy the chapters that were just lists of fish. I remember falling in love with Captain Nemo and, haven't yet have read the book as an adult, I'm a bit afraid of what that will say about my tastes at that stage in life. I'm looking forward to rediscovering the book with all of you! :)

To those who have read the book: What were your first impressions of it? And to those who haven't and will be experiencing the story for the first time through our newsletter: What are you most looking forward to?

[happybird16]

Modern AU: What they wanted to be when they grew up.

These are just my initial thoughts, feel free to add on if you have any ideas for these or additional characters.

Eren: Police Officer. Hannes was his neighbor when he was growing up and he always sort of looked up to him. He realized that it wasn’t what he thought it was later, though. That the police weren’t as squeaky clean and righteous as he thought they were, so he changes his mind.

Mikasa: When she was really little, before she met Eren, she spent her days helping her mother around the house. Sewing up holes in clothes, knitting blankets, baking fresh loaves of bread and preparing dinner. She wanted to be just like her mother when she grew up.

Armin: Marine Biologist. No matter what universe, this boy somehow got his hands on a big book about ocean life when he was very little. He was obsessed with it, with the blue-tinged creatures big and small that were depicted across the hundreds of pages. He wanted to know more about them, to touch them with his bare hands.

Jean: Lawyer. He didn’t really think much about what the career entailed, how much work it’d be, but he knew that it made a lot of money. Or that people always saw lawyers as big and important, people with authority and power, and that’s what he wanted to be.

Connie: Comedian. He was always the class clown and enjoyed making other people laugh.

Sasha: Competitive Eater. As soon as she heard it mentioned that this was a career choice she was all about it. Gave her an excuse to steal peoples food, too.

Historia: Veterinarian. I see her loving animals when she was a small child, but she changes her mind when she realizes that she’d have to put them down too.

Erwin: Teacher. He always looked up to his dad, who’s a history professor at a local university. He wanted to be just like him when he grew up.

Hange: Scientist. They were always obsessed with STEM, always borrowing thick-science books from the school library --stuff way beyond their age and reading level. They didn’t have a particular science in mind, loving everything involving science and biology. They would perform science experiments with household objects; bottle rockets with baking soda and vinegar, creating vegetable batteries etc. Always leaving a huge mess in their wake.

Levi: A Hero. He doesn’t have anything specific in mind for a career when he’s really little. He and his mom struggled hard just to get by, and he watched man after man mistreat her and she struggles to make ends meat. She reads him bedtime stories, cuddled up in the single bed of their tiny apartment. The books are worn, the pages yellowed with age and the covers worn rough from abuse. Stories of big strong men who rescue women from the cruel hands of wicked men. He wants to be like them, he thinks, a hero to protect his mother.

[rosantha-tindall]

I've posted this on Twitter before, but since Tumblr seems better for long text I thought I'd repost it here. I should also say that yes, I was an incredibly dumb kid.

When I was 15/16ish, I used to regularly walk up to the local library while my parents were at the supermarket, check out a ton of books, and then walk home. Well, soon after I got home this one day, the doorbell went. It was this guy, I pegged him at the time as being about my granddad’s age, which would put him in his 60s, glasses, green hat, heavy grey coat, umbrella (it was raining). He told me he was a friend of my dad’s and that my dad had borrowed some magazines of his and he wanted them back.

Me: He’s not home, you’ll have to come back later.

Him: That’s ok, I’ll just come in and get them.

Me: ??? No, you’ll have to wait until they’re home. They won’t be long.

This was true, by our routine I was normally home about an hour or so before my parents.

He told me he didn’t want to wait and that he could just come in and grab them.

I told him no again, but I was starting to feel nervous, because if he *was* a friend of my parents I’d get yelled at for not helping him. Again, dumb kid, and this was how my mum would react.

Now, at the time my family had this terrier dog. He was maybe 8/9 at the time, but he loved to meet people at the door and he’d come with me. And this dog was *vocal*. We used to joke he could talk because you could tell what he wanted by the pitch and tone of his voice. He had different sounds for everything.

I’d closed him behind the inner door, but I could still hear him, and his voice wasn’t making the normal happy visitor sounds he usually made. It wasn’t growling, but it was a weird grumbling noise I'd never really heard from him before, and I thought he’d got into something trying to get to the door (shoerack or bags or something), so now this was more pressure because I needed to get rid of this guy to deal with the dog.

I told him to come back later when my parents were home and tried to close the door.

He stopped me.

I can’t remember if he put his hand out or his foot in it, or what, but he stopped me, and kept insisting I let him in to get his damn magazines.

At this point I was freaked, and under no circumstances was he coming in the house. Meanwhile, Doggo was going crackers with the grumbling and strange sounding barks behind me.

Him: It’ll be quick, I’ll just grab them.

Me: No.

I’d been trying to be polite, but this was pretty much the moment I think I shut down all niceties.

Me: He’ll be back later, come back then.

And I closed the door in his face.

I was honestly more afraid of how pissed my parents were going to be at me for being so rude to a friend of theirs than this guy, I mean, he was just some old guy, but I locked the porch door, went back in the house, and locked the inner door too.

Doggo had not, as you probably guessed, got into anything, but was just grumbling and wuffing at the door. He didn't look defensive or anything, but he definitely wasn't comfortable.

I got a drink and thought about things. My dad’s not a big reader, never has been. Why would he borrow magazines?

Also, it was summer and my mum had opened half the windows in the house.

I went round the house, closed all the windows, and then locked doggo, a carving knife and I in the conservatory until my dad and brothers got home. Best choice I made in that entire debacle. My dad ended up having to call me because he'd forgotten his keys and I wouldn't answer the doorbell to let him in. He had not borrowed magazines from anyone and had no idea who this guy could have been, but he just kinda laughed the entire thing off.

Looking back, I really hope that somewhere out there, there’s an old man who occasionally thinks of the time he got the wrong address and scared a teenage girl half to death. But sometimes I just think of HOW INSISTENT this guy was to get in the house, and I have to think about it, because was he so socially unaware of the fact he was asking a young girl to do one of the most major things she’d been taught NOT to do?

THEORIES

My street had a semi-similar name to two other streets nearby, and there was a third with the same naming patterns (though my friend lived in my number on one of them, and her family didn’t know the guy either, I asked and gave his description. I honestly thought afterwards that he was probably looking for them because my friend and I look similar in general from a distance but nope). So he might genuinely have just been lost.

I also thought for a very long time that this could have been a robbery scam. My town at the time had a problem with people (usually men) tricking usually elderly folks into letting them into the house and then robbing them. If this guy did think I was a child home alone, he might have decided to alter his script on what he hoped would be an easy job. And it would explain why his story was so weird: he was improvising it on the fly to what he thought was a child.

It's also worth noting that although I was 15/16 at the time, I looked MUCH younger. I could easily pass for preteen at the time, it was a mistake many people made. This guy had no idea he wasn't speaking to a much younger preteen and was demanding said preteen let him in their house. And if he'd seen me come home, he'd have seen me unlock the door, which meant there was a good chance I was alone. This aspect of things didn't strike me until years later, but it's still something I think about.

[a-linearis]

karen mcmanus and YA mystery

karen mcmanus resurrected my love for ya mystery. I can't find a lot of books with mystery and drama and action but damn, she does do it right everytime.

As soon as "Nothing More to Tell" came to my local library, i was on it, and I wasn't disappointed!

The details are hazy though, I remember really liking "The Cousins" and the idea of all these siblings coming together to work things out in relation to their grandma. There was just no way I saw the twists coming. Same with "You'll be the death of me" I really liked Mateo's character, he just seemed so bitter at the world at times (from what I remember - but it was totally justified).

She just writes the multiple perspectives so well, I've grown to like it so much!

Special mention to Addy's character development in "One of us is lying", she really came into herself (the haircut!!! that was such a powerful bit)

The only book I haven't read as far as I know is "Two Can Keep a Secret" since people keep on borrowing it before I can get to it :0

Wish me luck on my quest to find it!

[sarah-aliterarylife]

9 Books I Loved As A Child

A super quick post for a Friday!

Here are a few books I loved during my childhood :

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

A picture book originally published in 1969, The Very Hungry Caterpillar is the story of a caterpillar who eats a lot of food!

I loved this book, and it may have contributed to the fact that I now spend about 50% of my day thinking about eating. Of course, as a child I didn’t pick up on the subtle healthy eating messages it contains! (the caterpillar munches his way through lettuce and other vegetables with no issues, while sugary foods give him a stomachache) I still get peckish whenever I see it in a bookshop!

2. Peace At Last by Jill Murphy.

“The hour was late and Mr. Bear was tired. But he could not sleep – however he tried and wherever he tried.” I was obsessed with the tale of Mr. Bear trying to find a comfortable place to sleep, and lost count of the amount of times it was borrowed from our local library. I came across it again a few years ago on a holiday to Devon, sitting in a cupboard. Naturally, I couldn’t resist a quick re-read!

3. Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg.

More food!!

4. Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl

I read most of Roald Dahl’s books as a child, but this was my first love. I am reliably informed that as a little girl, this was my bedtime story of choice every night for a long time! In fact, I love it so much that, one long day during the first UK lockdown (when you might say I had some time on my hands) I sat down with a cup of tea and re-read it from cover to cover. And I fell in love with it all over again.

5. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

I’m a big Beatrix Potter fan, but Peter Rabbit was my favorite, closely followed by The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies. It has everything a children’s book should have – an intrepid hero, a fearsome villian, a moral (you should always listen your parents), not to mention a cat that gets locked inside a greenhouse! Last year I was lucky enough to visit Hill Top, Beatrix Potter’s home in the Lake District, and it was a magical day that reminded me of the simple power of her books and how much they still enthrall children and adults alike today.

6. The Twits by Roald Dahl

Sorry Tim Burton, I don’t think you’ll be making a film of this one any time soon. Mr and Mrs Twit are a spiteful, unkempt old couple who play the most vile practical jokes on each other. I re-read this book as a child many times, but as an adult I really can’t remember why I loved it so much, as they really are horrible to each other! From a glass eye in a mug of beer, to a truly disgusting serving of Spaghetti Bolognese, I’m amazed that in our modern world, certain well- meaning people haven’t lobbied to have it banned.

7. The Mallory Towers series by Enid Blyton

I am aware that there are controversies surrounding the novels of Enid Blyton. However, the Mallory Towers series is considered wholesome enough for the BBC to make it into a successful television series, and that’s good enough for me! The 6-book series is set at a girl’s boarding school in Cornwall, and stars Darrell Rivers, who joins the school in the first novel and eventually becomes Head Girl in the final book. Darrell and her friends partake in all manner of post-war girl’s school fun, including midnight feasts, lacrosse, a pantomime, and trying not to fall foul of their housemistress Miss Potts!

8. The Sweet Valley High / Sweet Valley University series by Francine Pascal

Good Lord. This one is a definite step onwards from Enid Blyton! For a short time in the mid-90s, I was slightly obsessed with the Sweet Valley High series. It appealed to the same part of me that also loved Neighbours and Home and Away. The Wakefield twins and their scandalous (for 1997) antics enthralled me. I laughed out loud when I reminded myself of some of the plotlines!

For instance : Elizabeth Wakefield was almost murdered by her boss, stalked by a doppelganger (who turned out to have a twin who was also a psychopath), and was held hostage by a man with a bomb. And she was the sensible one! Jessica Wakefield on the other hand, dated a werewolf (take that, Bella Swan!), joined a cult, and eloped during college with a man who was violent towards her.

Riveting stuff, when you’re 14.

9. Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaardner

Philosophy for a teenage audience. Sophie Amundsen is a Norwegian teenager who is introduced to the history of philosophy by an unknown author, who sends her letters on the work of individual philosophers and the Big Questions. We begin with the question “Who are you?” and the novel progresses from there. This novel fed into my early interest in philosophy, and my decision to study philosophy at A level. Sadly, that didn’t last. I hated every second, and dropped the subject after one year. Philosophy remains the only school subject I was ever truly bad at. I don’t think my brain is wired that way! I actually re-read this book in full a few years ago. It blew my 30-something mind, so goodness only knows what it did to me at 15!

Which books did you enjoy as a child?

If you're enjoying these posts, please visit my website - A Literary Life – A journey through the books of my life. (wordpress.com)

Or you can follow me on Instagram :

Sarah Mears (@sarah_a_literary_life) • Instagram photos and videos

I'd love to connect with you!

[grantgoddard]

The Fahrenheit 451 of commercial radio history : 2003 : The Radio Authority

“Without a knowledge of your history, you cannot determine your destiny” Misty In Roots, ‘Live At The Counter-Eurovision 1979’

I love history. I hated History. My Empire-made History GCE text book chronicled world history from the era Neanderthal Man emerged from Milton Keynes up to Britain’s singlehanded success winning the Second World War. Neither the book nor my teacher brought history to life, debated the outcomes or analysed lessons learned. Weekly homework was an essay merely paraphrasing one chapter of the book. Termly tests required regurgitation of these essays, a task I failed as I could not memorise names, dates and events by rote. After two tortuous years, we had just learned of Hannibal opening an elephant sanctuary and Britain’s offer to the Romans of work visas to build its roads and public baths … when I was finally allowed to drop History.

Before grammar school beat History out of me, I had developed my own random interest in the subject. We had few books in our home and my parents had a remarkably hands-off attitude to childrearing, so the local library substituted as my mentor as soon as I could walk. I would stagger along the 500-metre route home weighed down with dozens of fiction and non-fiction books, my borrowing limit enhanced hugely by additional tickets I had registered in the names of my younger brother, parents and grandparents. Junior school set no homework, my schoolfriends all lived a mile away and my parents left me home alone most weekends to build their dream house, so I read voraciously. Combining the librarians’ helpful suggestions with my own casual curiosity, I devoured The Narnia Chronicles by age eight, lost interest in finishing ‘The Lord of The Rings’ at age nine and was given nightmares by John Fowles’ novels at age ten.

Radio broadcasting had emerged as an early interest, stimulated by my parents’ love of ‘Big L’ on their car radio, so I collected any information I found about the industry, clipping news stories from newspapers and Pritt sticking them into scrapbooks. Much later, I combed second-hand book sellers and charity shops for books to add to my growing personal collection. As one of Amazon’s earliest international customers, I had to fax a scan of my credit card to order arcane radio books unseen in Britain. I kept two lists, one of radio books I owned and the other of book titles I wanted, updated by scanning British Books in Print catalogues in libraries. I felt there was much I could learn about radio from its history.

It was not until the 1980’s that I discovered the library of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) government quango, a little-known haven in its Brompton Road office. Its diligent librarian clipped every story about broadcasting from national and local newspapers and filed them by topic in folders. I spent weeks there, probably months in total, reading commercial radio licence applications and researching the history of commercial radio from its launch in 1973. Cuttings in the library’s ‘pirate radio’ folders proved an essential source for my narrative about the two-decade struggle by London pirate stations for legal status published later in my KISS FM book. Then, in 1991, the government split the IBA into separate regulators for television and radio. The library that had proven so invaluable suddenly vanished.

Years passed until I was reminded of the usefulness of this library when I was researching a report for the BBC Trust. Where was it now? I learnt that it had been stuffed into 1,100 boxes containing a million documents and been donated to Bournemouth University. However, 800 of those boxes remained archived in an off-site storage facility that could not be visited. The University sent me a 10MB file of its ‘IBA Archive’ that detailed its contents, but it had been compiled in Microsoft Access, not a software within reach of a cheapskate non-academic. Dead end. My cherished memories of reading thousands of documents in the air-conditioned comfort of the peaceful IBA library would never be repeated.

The government replaced the IBA with The Radio Authority for the regulation of commercial radio. In 2002, on my first day of employment there in a junior role, I was shown around all the offices of its floor within a Holborn tower block. At the end of the tour, I asked: “Where is the library?”

“Library?”, my guide laughed. “We don’t have a library.” I was nonplussed.

“But you receive hundreds of applications for radio licences,” I replied. “What happens to them?” A decade earlier, I had sat in the IBA library for days reading dozens of radio licence applications. Then I had written the application for London pirate station KISS FM that had won its licence. I knew from experience that applications could be as thick as phone directories and included detailed tables, spreadsheets, budgets, programme plans and market research. They were significant historical documents.

“Once we have read the applications and awarded a particular licence, we send them to an archive somewhere,” replied my guide. “If you want a particular document, you CAN request it. But it can take weeks or months to be delivered from the archive.” I was still reeling. I was thinking to myself: surely the basic day-to-day task of a media regulator is to ensure that a radio station acts upon the promises that it has made in its licence application. But if that document is not at hand, apparently not.

By the end of my first day of work, this conversation was just the first indication of baffling work practises I encountered at The Radio Authority. One year later, the organisation was preparing to be closed and merged into a new regulator named Ofcom. Each of the forty-odd staff was required to join an assigned group that was preparing the merger. I was told to attend meetings of an Ofcom sub-sub-subcommittee that I found had no responsibility for radio. My contribution was nil.

Then, unexpectedly, one of the managers approached me and assigned me a second task. The entire correspondence between commercial radio stations and the IBA, plus its successor The Radio Authority, was kept in a series of packed filing cabinets in the finance office, ordered by sequential chronological licence number. These were effectively the regulator’s master files. Nothing at the organisation was stored digitally. Everything was still on paper.

What was my new task? I was ordered to look at the paperwork of every licenced radio station and destroy all documents that were not a legal or contractual requirement. Day-to-day correspondence in both directions would be discarded. I was told that Ofcom had requested the records of commercial radio licences be reduced from several overflowing filing cabinets to a single drawer. Everything not legally required had to be destroyed. (Afterwards I was uncertain if this had been a genuine Ofcom order or just a useful excuse to destroy evidence.)

I was conflicted. To this day, I fail to comprehend whether I was given this task because I had a better knowledge of radio history than my colleagues (only one other of whom had worked in a commercial radio station). Or was it an act of deliberate cruelty by a manager who had already screamed at me for having had the temerity to write and circulate documents that analysed the radio industry WITHOUT HAVING BEEN ORDERED TO? Was I being valued … or bullied?

I set to work over the following weeks, glancing at each report and item of correspondence filed during the thirty-year history of Britain’s 267 commercial radio stations. The only exception was KISS FM’s folder which I had been forbidden to handle. I had to discard more than ninety percent of this fascinating history. Other staff were similarly throwing out their own paper records, filling huge fabric sacks that lined both sides of the main corridor. At times the volume of rubbish was so great that it became difficult to navigate until the weekly pick-up. The scene resembled a movie thriller when the bad guys have been tipped about an imminent police raid and then rush hell for leather to destroy all their incriminating evidence. During those few months, we produced dozens of rubbish bags that were to be shredded and burnt.

I was sorely tempted to try and save some of these historical documents but, having signed some kind of Official Secrets Act on my first day of work, I realised I could be prosecuted if any of these discarded documents ever appeared in public. For consolation, I salvaged the contents of the stationery room which bizarrely had also been binned, hid it all under my desk and took home night-by-night sufficient paper, pens, notepads and folders to supply my household for the next decade. Many of The Radio Authority’s senior staff had chosen to retire rather than transfer to the new regulator, so we can only guess how many skeletons in their office closets were burned in the organisation’s bonfire of the vanities.

After decades having researched, read and created a personal library focused on the history of radio broadcasting, it remains difficult to reconcile this crazed episode in my career when I had to incinerate a significant part of that history. I love history. I hated being ordered to destroy so much irreplaceable history at The Radio Authority. Having worked in Germany and Cambodia, I know what horrors sometimes follow such book burnings.

[citricacidprince]

Wanted to have a little break from Timestuck stuff (don't worry I'm gonna get back on it soon) so I decided to draw some Teenage Mabifica cause I love myself a fluffy romance y'all!

Listen, I adore all your 'Vlogger' and 'Fashion designer' headcanons for Pacifica, but consider this

Writer Pacifica who also works at the local library

(Long-winded reason that you don't gotta read if you don't want to-)

My reasoning for this is that I have a dumb headcanon that one summer Dipper broke his hand and couldn't write, so since Pacifica was already planning on hanging out with the twins all summer, she wrote all of his notes. At first, it was annoying but eventually, she grew to like writing, loved it even. She enjoyed writing and reading about all these mystical things to a point she started borrowing For's old journals to read in her past time. She pretty much was living in the library's fiction section at this point. (Read so much she needed reading glasses at some point the poor doll)

It was her discovery of dark academia fashion that REALLY tipped her into wanting to be a writer. "Your saying I can write these nerd books AND look good while doing it??? Sign me UP-" So now she works at the Gravity Falls Library and looks GREAT while doing so.

[sammy8d257]

AvA Human Band AU! 

Originally created by @kikoqueenofrats on the AvA Enthus Server but with permission I was allowed to adapt it into my own AU!

Synopsis:  Shay Becker (Second Coming) is a freshman at college and one day, they meet a group of four people “quietly” jamming out at the library using air guitars and pencils as drumsticks. Deciding that the guys were cool, Shay decides to join their table. After some bonding, Roy, Yaz, Grian, and Bo ask Shay to join their band, “The Stick Figures” and the rest is history! Now the 5 of them all live in an apartment together and play small sets at Paulie Violet’s bar while occasionally running into a tired office worker named Mr. Cohen, his rambunctious roommate “Dark Lord”, and the mysterious librarian Victor. 

More Character Info Down Below!

Shay Becker (The Second Coming)

Age: 19

Pronouns: Any Pronouns

Race: White/Asian 

Occupation: Animation Student at College

Instrument: Main Guitar in “The Stick Figures”

Info: Wanting to follow in the footsteps of their father, Shay is studying to become an animator in school. Although initially shy, Shay blended into the group’s dynamic very fast and soon they became their best friends.

Roy Scarlet (Red)

Age: 21

Pronouns: He/Him, occasionally They/Them

Race: Latino

Occupation: Animal Caretaking at a Technical School

Instrument: Keyboard in “The Stick Figures”

Info: Roy has a love for fighting and an even bigger love of animals. When he’s not at school or practicing the keyboard, Roy works at a local animal shelter. One of his favorites is a large black hound named Ender. Impulsive and a little airheaded, Roy is always there to help encourage and support his friends! 

Yazmin Goldfinch (Yellow)

Age: 20

Pronouns: They/Them

Race: Black

Occupation: Computer Science Major

Instrument: Drums in “The Stick Figures”

Info: The very definition of a college student, Yaz is always on the verge of either snapping or passing out. Loves playing pranks on their roommates with the help of Roy. Once they didn’t sleep for 36 hours straight and tried to fight ghosts in Paulie’s bar.

Grian Gale (Green)

Age: 21

Pronouns: He/Him

Race: White

Occupation: Architecture Major with a Minor is Music Composition

Instrument: Multi-instrument in “The Stick Figures”

Info: Grian is the over-achiever of the group, taking a little bit of everything in college, although his main drive is still architecture and music. The original creator of “The Stick Figures” band. The Meme Man of the group, he also occasionally streams playing video games. 

Bo Braxton (Blue)

Age: 20

Pronouns: They/She/He

Race: White

Occupation: Professional Cooking at Technical School

Instrument: Bass in “The Stick Figures”

Info: Bo’s passion is cooking and one day, they hope to become a professional chef and open up their own little restaurant. Aside from cooking, she’s also interested in chemistry and will pester Grian to let her borrow his old chemistry books. Bo also tends to the apartment’s community garden.

Paulie Violet (Purple)

Age: 22

Pronouns: They/Them

Race: Southeast Asian

Occupation: Owner and Bartender

Instrument: None (possibly main vocals in the future?)

Info: Paulie Violet owns and runs their own bar called “Kingdom Come”. They affectionately call the staff the “Villagers”. They also live in one of the apartments above the bar. Paulie made a deal with “The Stick Figures” so they could play at their bar during some nights. Likes singing but is embarrassed by it. 

“MT” aka “King” (King)

Age: 27

Pronouns: He/They

Race: White

Occupation: Landlord of Paulie’s Building

Instrument: Electric Guitar

Info: Not much is known about this guy except he owns the building that houses the Kingdom Come and where Paulie lives. Aside from harassing Paulie about the next payments, he also enjoys annoying them while they’re working. His vibes are a little rancid.

Mr. Cohen (The Chosen One)

Age: 28

Pronouns: He/Him

Race: East Asian

Occupation: Office Worker

Instrument: ???

Info: Mr. Cohen is a tired office worker who also does martial arts training on the side. Acquaintances turned best friends with his roommate “Dark Lord”. Like classical music but will also jam out to death metal (similarly to Retsuko in Aggretsuko).

Greg “Dark Lord (The Dark Lord)

Age: 27

Pronouns: He/Him 

Race: Asian

Occupation: ???/Leader of a Biker Gang

Instrument: ???

Info: Greg is his real name but refuses to go by it, preferring to go by his street name “Dark Lord”. Runs a Biker Gang called the “Virabots”. When not out on his motorcycle, he enjoys tinkering with old machines or bothering Cohen. The two of them form a balance between each other. 

Victor (Victim)

Age: 28

Pronouns: Any Pronouns, He/Him and They/Them are most common

Race: Asian/White

Occupation: Librarian/Popular Anonymous Musician known as “V”

Instrument: Vocals, Guitar, and Piano

Info: A mysterious person who works at the library “The Stick Figures” study at. When not working at the library, Vic makes music under the alias V. Their music is very popular and is one of Grian’s favorite artists. V has never shown their face in public and no one knows Victor is V.

I’ll hopefully be posting more art or ideas for this au soon! (I know for a fact I have a few Paulie Violet drawings on the backburner ^^) 

Feel free to send me questions if you guys have any!

[iliveiloveiwrite]

Love... and a soft place to land.

Request: Hey! can I request a Harry x reader where the reader finds out she's pregnant and going through the pregnancy with Harry? It can even be when they're still at Hogwarts if you want!

A/N: Thank you for the request!! I’ve written this post!Hogwarts as I don’t feel comfortable writing teen pregnancy (I hope you understand!) but nevertheless I hope you enjoy! The title is a quote from A Discovery of Witches, I use the full quote in the fic and I have put that in bold so you’re all aware. There’s loads of cute moments in this; I wrote it in one sitting and made myself cry at one point.

Pairing: Harry Potter x Fem!Reader

Warnings: pregnancy, odd cravings, she/her pronouns, FLUFF - ALL THE FLUFF.

Word count: 2.3k

The two lines staring back you confirmed your suspicions.

The nausea being the main symptom that had you counting back the days to your last cycle. Realising the lateness had you leaving Harry in bed while your rushed to a muggle chemist, buying three tests. The chemist gave you soft smile as she rang them up, asking whether you’d be paying by cash or card. You tried to return the smile, but knew it was a watery one.

It wasn’t as if you and Harry were actively trying to avoid pregnancy, you just hoped you’d have a little more time to have him to yourself before sharing him with a son or daughter.

Rushing home, you find Harry still in bed, snoring away and utterly oblivious to the world.

You shut the door to the bathroom quietly in the hopes of not waking your husband. You’d have woken him sooner, but the idea of getting his hopes up for something he had wanted since he slid the golden ring onto your finger, only spurred you on to make sure you were pregnant.

Your heart soared and your stomach dropped as the two lines appeared on each test.

A knock on the bathroom door has you dropping the test still held in your hands.

“Love, you’ve been in there a while, is everything okay?”

You clear your throat, swallowing around the lump there, “I’m fine, love. I didn’t wake you did I?”

Harry chuckles, “No, I woke up when I rolled onto an empty side of bed. Are you sure you’re okay?”

You pick up the dropped test, placing it next to the others. Unlocking the door, you say, “You better come in.”

Harry wastes no time entering the bathroom. He scans the room quickly, checking for whatever the problem could be.

He does a double take at the sight of the pregnancy tests laid next to the sink.

His eyes do a circuit; the pregnancy tests, your face, then dropping to your stomach.

His eyes do this three times before he whispers, “Are you pregnant?”

You grin, handing him one of the tests, “It seems I am.”

“You’re really pregnant?” He asks again; disbelief lacing his voice.

“Yes Harry. I’m pregnant – you’re going to be a father.”

“How far along are you?”

“I’m not sure, I need to make an appointment with a Healer to make sure.”

Harry nods; the smile never leaving his face. He drops the test into the sink; his arms circling around you. “You make me unbelievably happy; you know that?”

You laugh, letting some tears fall. Harry kisses them away, “I think you’ve made me the happiest man in the world. I thought nothing could rival what I felt when I saw you walking down the aisle to marry me, but this. This is something else.”

“Harry Potter, you are a sap.”

He kisses you; long and languid – his happiness pouring into it. He pulls away; the both of you breathless. He drops to his knees before you, pressing kiss after kiss to your stomach. The sight of it has you crying again. Harry stands back up, pecking your lips once more before rushing out of the bathroom, “I’m going to make you an appointment at St. Mungo’s, I’ll be right back.”

You laugh to yourself; your hand dropping to curl around your lower abdomen where in nine months, a bump will be sitting.

You grin as you hear Harry’s excited chatter on the phone; ever grateful that St. Mungo’s installed phones a few years ago to make the booking of appointments easier.

You pass by him on your way to the kitchen to begin breakfast. Your hand runs across his shoulder, and the smile he gives you in reply is breathtaking.

Your earlier worry about this being too early in your marriage has now dissipated.

Now, you couldn’t wait to begin this journey.

--------------

Two months after you tell Harry your news and the elation has worn off, the panic begins to set in. You work through it logically; borrowing book after book from your local library, setting up appointments at St. Mungo’s with the help of Draco who offered as much advice as he could give – he’d had his son almost a year ago now; he was happy to help in any way he could.

Harry took it in his stride; coming to every appointment, following the progress of his unborn son or daughter. From the moment you told him, his heart had stretched wider to be able to fit the love he already felt for his unborn child. Harry thought it would burst the moment he heard his child’s heartbeat on the ultrasound. However, he couldn’t help but feel panicked. This baby was going to be loved, there was no doubt about it – it would have enough aunts, uncles, and cousins to never be bored and Harry already adored the baby with his whole being.

But he couldn’t ignore the nagging doubt stemming from the little voice in the back of his head. The voice had him doubting his abilities to be a father; after all, his own had died when he was fifteen months old and then Sirius was ripped from him at the Department of Mysteries – he had never gotten to truly know his godfather who was supposed to guide him through life in the absence of his own father. Every chance to have a father figure was ripped away by death, and it led Harry to question his abilities and his readiness.

--------------

It comes to ahead on blustery night in March, four months into your pregnancy. Harry lays beside you in bed; propping himself up on his elbow as he watches you eat your latest craving – cheese and onion crisps with a bar of Cadbury’s chocolate. His nose crinkles as he continues to watch you eat, but he’d make sure it was always available at a moment’s notice.

The room is quiet save for the rustling of the crisp packet. Harry runs a hand over his face; he hadn’t been sleeping well these past few night – his doubts keeping him awake until the early hours of the morning.

It’s hard to miss the panic settling in his blue eyes. You run a hand through his hair, asking, “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Harry blinks away the tears forming, whispering, “What if I’m not a good father? I’ve never had a father figure to guide me.”

Your hand falls from his hair to his chin, where you grasp it, keeping his eyes on you. “You’re going to be a wonderful father, I know it in my bones,” You hum, “All children need is love, a grown-up to take responsibility for them, and a soft place to land. I know for a fact you can offer all three.”

He buries his face in your stomach, where a small bump has started to form, “I can’t be sure though,” he mumbles.

“Well, I’ll be sure enough for the both of us.”

“I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

“If I remember correctly, you tripped me up in the corridor. Sent me flying into a statue.”

Harry snorts, thinking of the memory, “It was love at first sight.”

“More like I wanted to throttle you.”

“But you soon fell for my charms,” He flirts.

“How could I not? You were so apologetic, and you carried my books for the rest of the day – meeting me outside my classrooms. I’d fallen in love with you by the end of the day.”

“I could tell. I felt like the king of the world.”

“I bet,” You chuckle, “I knew Ron took the mick though didn’t he?”

“Of course, but I shut him up when I told him to make a move on ‘Mione.”

You laugh again; lapsing back into silence as you both return to thinking of the same memory.

“Are you feeling any better?” You murmur after the bout of silence, referring to his earlier panic.

He nods, shifting his position from laying on his side to sitting up against the headboard next to you. “We have each other through this.”

You take is hand, tangling your fingers together. “We have each other through this.”

------------

Arthur Weasley is the one who takes Harry aside on a random Sunday in June.

At this point, you’re seven months along in your pregnancy and your son is making every effort to squeeze your bladder to the point it bursts. Harry isn’t ashamed to admit that he shed a few tears when told he was going to have a boy; it meant that he could take the reins his father and Sirius had left behind.

As you’re waddling to the bathroom at the Burrow, you overhear the conversation between Harry and Arthur.

“How are you feeling, Harry? How is (Y/N)?” Arthur asks. From your spot on the stairs, you can see through the railing that Arthur has his hand on Harry’s shoulder and a caring expression on his face.

“(Y/N) is great; taking it all gracefully.”

“And you?”

Harry sighs, “I don’t know how I feel. The closer we get to the due date, the more nervous I become.”

Arthur chuckles lightly, “I felt the same way with Bill… I felt the same with all of them.”

“Does it ever go away?”

Arthur shakes his head at your husband, “No, it doesn’t. You find new things to be worried about. But Harry, I’m here to help you. I know I’m not your father or your godfather, but I’ll help you in any way I can.”

Harry pulls Arthur into a long hug; surprising the patriarch of the Weasley family. When Harry pulls away, you can see the tell-tale signs of tears.

Harry sniffles, “You’re as good as, Mr. Weasley.”

Arthur sniffles too, “You’ve become a great man, Harry. You’re going to be a great father too. Molly is beside herself with excitement to meet the little one.”

You wipe the tears running down your own face, taking the final few steps to the bathroom where you blow your nose on some tissue.

Harry was going to be just fine.

-------------

The labour is long and intense, and for a while, there’s the worry that you’ll need to have an emergency c-section. Harry is by your side through it all; he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. He wipes your forehead with a cool cloth after each contraction; he holds your through each push – bones be damned if they break.

With a loud cry, your son enters the world just after midnight on a quiet night in August.

There are no words to accurately describe the feelings that coursed through his body when the midwife asked him to cut the cord. It was the first look at his son, and then and there, Harry made a silent vow to never let his son question his talents and abilities whatever they may be.

Wrapped in a pale blue blanket, he’s placed onto your chest with a cry. Immediately, the tears begin to fall down Harry’s face. Nine long months and his son has arrived; and you, you took it all so gracefully, sniffling slightly as you welcomed him into the world.

You hand Harry his son; being careful to make sure that the head is stable before letting yourself relax slightly into the hospital bed. The midwife hands you a cup of tea and a slice of toast, and you thank her gratefully for all that she has done for your new family. She pats you on the head before leaving, letting the new family have time to themselves.

You watch Harry with a tender expression on your face. He had been so worried for so long, but as you watch him walk his son around the room, murmuring to him absentmindedly, you know that he’s going to make a wonderful father. You never had any doubt about it.

-------------

A few hours later, there’s a small knock on the door and Hermione’s voice rings out, “Harry, (Y/N), it’s us. Do you mind if we come in?”

You nod at Harry, adjusting the babe at your chest. He opens to the door, being pulled into a hug immediately by Ron. Hermione enters the room with a bouquet of pale pink roses; your favourites. She sits the vase down on the other side of the room so as to not disturb the baby too much with the new smell.

Hermione tiptoes over to you, “I’m sorry we didn’t send an owl.”

You shake your head, “I wouldn’t want you stay away anyway.”

Tears line her eyes as Ron and Harry join you at your bedside. Your son gurgles, shifting in your arms, aware of the visitors here to see him. Hermione holds a hand to her mouth, eyes flickering to Harry, “He’s got your eyes, Harry.”

Harry nods, “I know. But he has his mother’s hair, and her mouth and nose.”

You hush your husband, “He’ll be the carbon copy of you, I know it.”

Silence falls in the room as the four adults continue to watch the new life slumber in his mother’s arms. He shuffles for a minute, finding a comfier position before settling back into his dreams.

You shift your gaze to Hermione, silent tears falling down her face. “Would you like to hold your godson?”

“Godson?” She whisper-asks, “Me?”

Harry places a hand on your shoulder, squeezing, “We want you and Ron to be godparents.”

Ron sniffles, reaching a hand up to wipe at his eyes. “Harry, mate, we’d be honoured.”

At those words, you hand your new-born son to his godmother who holds him like a pro. She dips her head down to sniff at his head; smiling at the new-born smell.

Hermione lets her tears continue to fall as she stares down at her new godson in awe. Ron’s arm is tight around her waist as he asks, “What name did you decide on?”

Harry’s voice breaks as he replies, “James Sirius Arthur Potter.”

*******

General (HP) taglist: @chaotic-fae-queen @obsessedwithrandomthings @harrypotter289 @dreamer821 @kalimagik @heloisedaphnebrightmore @nebulablakemurphy @the-hufflefluffwriter @figlia--della--luna @bforbroadway @idont-knowrn @summer-writes @big-galaxy-chaos @black-lake-confessions @annasofiaearlobe​ @imboredandneedalife​ @levylovegood​ @mytreec​ @haphazardhufflepuff​ @teheharrypotter​ @chaoticgirl04​