#like i have at least three other characters ready and know completely what I'd do with each of them

[veilblight]

they said not to play as the dark urge for your first campaign because literally how am i supposed to do a custom origin run after this

[idesofrevolution]

Father

Dad had been acting strange for quite some time. Honestly, it wasn't that noticeable in the beginning, which I suppose made it difficult to pinpoint when things started to change. I only started to notice maybe seven months or so ago after he turned down the daily Budweiser. Patrick O'Shaughnessy turning down his biggest vice? I knew something was off right then and there as he sat there, smiling at me from his armchair with the game on in the background: red flag number two, my stepfather had NEVER been a sports guy. Binging Fox News while fingering pudding cups, sure; but actually knowing what was happening in a football game?

I'd originally thought he'd perhaps found a side girl to cheat on my mom with. It was far from outside of his character to do something like that, if he'd ever be able to get his nasty ass out of the recliner for ten fucking minutes... He'd gotten too comfortable in his laziness. When my mom married him a year ago, he was already a piece of shit lardass who refused to do a single thing around the house, refused to work a normal job (he was waiting for a management position apparently), and above all refused to acknowledge me whatsoever. He was rude, crass, could never even so much as break a smile at me. And there, in that moment as his eyes made contact with mine and his lips curled into a smile, I knew something was wrong.

"What, no beer burps for me today?" I scowled at him, raising my eyebrow in a malicious curiosity.

"Nahh little man, I'm trying to cut down." Little man? He'd never gotten my name right let alone given me a nickname... We did not have that kind of relationship, at least one that would have an affectionate nickname for one another. "Say, I'm hittin' the gym in a couple minutes. Whaddya say you come along?"

"You're... you're going to the gym? Really?" I sat there slackjawed. Something was indeed off. What it was, I couldn't exactly tell. Nothing outside of his UberEats order would ever get Patrick out of the chair. He laughed at me, gripping his sizeable paunch beneath his stained tee shirt.

"You bet, bud. High time I set an example for my boy. How's he gonna respect a couch potato loser? You should come along. Nothin' like a father and son spending time together, especially in the gym. Get the boys lookin', right?" He stood up from his chair, grabbing his keys off the kitchen countertop as he headed toward his car. I, on the other hand, stood there with tunnel vision. Patrick was not the most supportive parent when it came to... well, anything. But the biggest bone of contention was me coming out to them last year. It was the biggest hullabaloo, Oscar worthy. Thrown glasses, flipped chairs, disownment, threats of eviction... the only thing that kept me in the house was my mother putting her foot down. It wasn't a big deal for her, but for him... I was the biggest embarrassment on the planet. What would Tucker Carlson think?

Yet as I stood there, staring at the cigarette-stained wall, my brain couldn't process what I'd just heard. 'Get the boys lookin' he said... As if he were trying to play wing man for me... What the fuck was happening? My heart fluttered the moment his words sank in, that was pride. It was something neither my father nor my stepdad ever had the courtesy of giving me. My walls were up, and I was beyond skeptical, so for my own peace of mind I had decided then and there to investigate.

From that day on, the moment I came home from school, I was spying. While most of my friends were trying to enjoy their senior year, going to parties or getting ready for college, I was at home peering behind corners at my stepfather. Over the first few months I watched with complete disbelief at the changes. Every single day, I'd come home, and he'd be on his way out to the gym. The normal scowl he'd gift me upon my entry was replaced with jovial smiles and hair ruffling as he schlepped his gym bag over his shoulder out the door. He'd be gone for two or three hours at least, and come home just before dinner dripping in buckets of sweat. I'd begun to avoid driving his car, as the stink of his sweat had completely inundated the fabric of the seats. He'd toss his bag on the floor by my book bag (gross), and plop down at the dinner table where he would ask genuinely about my day or sweetly flirt with my mom while winking at me. I still wasn't convinced. He kept asking me nearly every day if I'd come to the gym with him, if we could go shoot hoops at the park across the street, or if I'd play FIFA with him. Each time I'd shoot him down, he'd have a momentary break in that happy facade of his, as if it were hurting him I wasn't spending time with him.

Within five months or so, he was nearly unrecognizable. I guess protein shakes & a low carb diet really works on a guy: he'd lost nearly 70 pounds and gained about 20 in muscle alone. He'd struck up friendships with my school's wrestling coach and a couple of the neighbors, and we were finding ourselves invited to barbecues and block parties for the first time. I had to endure little hallway chats with Coach Weston about joining the wrestling team, as he was in talks with the school district about bringing my stepdad on as assistant coach. It was bizarre to me for many reasons, but one stood out above all: Patrick was never a wrestler. Not in college, not in high school, my mom even confirmed it one night at dinner. He'd brush it off as if it were something fun he were doing with 'Dane', which in and of itself was weird to hear the coach's first name used at all at home.

Sleep was getting difficult. My mind ran at a thousand miles an hour, but now he and mom had begun to fuck like rabbits. Loud, hard sex almost every other night with their bed slamming against my bedroom wall for hours. Mom of course was radiant at that point. The years of one piece of shit husband being a complete and total asshole, replaced by another piece of shit husband treating her like garbage melted away in the course of a couple of months of Patrick being a strangely brilliant partner. He'd started to cook us meals, he'd started to do the yardwork, he'd even fixed things around the house that had been broken for years. Sure, the sex seemed to help, but as she would say: "He's lessened my load so much, Jonas. I wish you'd give him a chance."

Sure, he was treating my mom well and that was a good enough reason for me to like him. Was it enough to trust him? No. I'd still turn down every single request to spend time alone with him. No gym. No basketball court. No gaming. Though, in one single concession for my mom's sake, I begrudgingly agreed to let him drive me to school in the morning. That one decision is what truly changed my life forever. I went to bed that night, putting on my earbuds to drown out their disgusting sex in the next room, less than eager for the fifteen minute drive the next day.

Thus, on that warm April day, my morning began as normal. Shower, dress, drink my morning smoothie, grab my bag, and walk out the door. It wasn't long before I was greeted by his chipper, dim witted voice shattering my peaceful morning.

"Ayy little man!" I sighed, turning toward the garage, where there he stood: shirtless and dripping sweat from his chiseled body. As a gay guy, I have to admit, it was hard not to stare. He had become quite a sight to behold. The other moms in the neighborhood certainly would sit and stare at him on his morning runs, even a couple of the dads as well, and now I sat there oogling the ripped, gleaming body he'd built.

"Hey, Patrick. Do you need to shower? I have to get going, but I can catch the bus if there's not enough time?" In my head, I was praying to God that he'd just hop in the shower he never seemed to take and I could go on my merry way. Though, no such luck.

"Nah, man! It's all good. I promised you I'd take you to school, so hop in the car!" I sighed, turning to his 1998 Mustang with a shiver cascading down my spine.

"Sure, Patrick." I dragged my feet headed toward his car. Opening the door, the humid, musky air within poured out of the car, punching me in the face with his scent. Imagine a noxious waft of butter, blue cheese, saltwater, and feet just drowning you. That was the stink that swamped his car, and him for that matter. I took one final breath of fresh air before I sat in the car and closed the door. He wasn't far behind, not even bothering to put a shirt on as he hopped in beside me.

"Alright! Let's get goin' bud!" He turned the key and the car roared to life. I sighed, thankful it was only fifteen minutes. As we pulled out of the driveway and onto the street, I turned on the radio, hoping to dissuade him from making some puerile small talk. We sat there in silence for a moment, before hitting the main road. "You know what, bud?" He turned to me, looking me up and down before rolling up the windows and turning off the radio. "Ahhh fuck it. We're playing hooky today."

"Wait, what?" I had no time to protest, before he turned onto the main road, but in the opposite direction from the school. "Patrick, I'm not playing hooky. I have to go to school." He laughed, ruffling my hair yet again.

"You gotta stop callin' me Patrick, Jonas. I don't have to be dad if you don't want, but Patrick is so... not me. Just call me Pat."

"Okay, PAT. I'm going to school." He turned to me, and his smile faded, letting out a solid sigh that would put mine to shame. He pulled over onto the shoulder, and put the car in park.

"Listen. I know you don't like me. I know you don't trust me, and I get it. I made a lot of changes to him very quickly, and it's hard to keep up." Him? Why did he say it like that? "I'd been watching you just suffer endlessly for years, man. All the time. I just wanted you to have a good role model for once. A man you could lean on, and not some shitty lard who talks bad to ya."

"What the fuck are you on about?" My patience had worn too thin for my calm veneer to bear. He turned the key, and the engine quickly died.

"C'mon bro. You know something's different about him, right? I know you've been watchin' me like a hawk. Think I haven't noticed you watchin' me from around the hall corner? You think I don't know you're creepin' while I beat one out huffin' my strap? I know, dude. I've always known. C'mon, man." Pat threw his hands in the air in frustration, the first time since his attitude adjustment that I'd seen anything like it. But, this was different. It wasn't rage, it was exasperation.

"Okay, Pat. So you saw me watching you. Can you please tell me what the fuck is going on now?" He slowly rested his sweaty head against the headrest, and sighed. Then, a chuckle. Then another, until he was full on laughing. "What!?"

"Ahhh, man. I never thought I'd see the day you'd man up and come to. Yeah, Jonas. I can tell you what the fuck is going on." I sat back, confounded- even more so than before. "My name was Matt Wilde. Way back in the day, I used to wrestle for Palm Heights High. Was pretty damn good at it too, but one day I got pinned just a little too hard and poof."

"Matt Laurent? What the fuck are you talking about, Pat? Are you high?" His dumb laugh threw him back in the seat.

"Nah, I finished that joint earlier, man. Stone sober now. But, safe to say for the past 50 years I've been just hoppin' body to body. Started with a couple of my teammates just so I could finish out the years, wrestle a bit more. Got bored, hung around the gym, in and out of some lug heads. Did a stint in some Libertines, that was fun as fuck. But man, I saw you sulkin' around the school for the past three years and thought, damn that kid looks sad. So, I may have eavesdropped a bit, maybe caught a bit about your dead beat, piece of shit dad; then right after he ditches, Mom lands this fuckin' winner." He slapped his chest, little droplets of his sweat landing on my bewildered face. "Oh shit, my bad." I sat there, slackjawed, completely disoriented as he dumbly wiped his sweat off my nose and cheek.

"You... you're dead?" He snapped his fingers, winking and smirking at me.

"Bingo, bud. Right on the money. I was like, I'm in a very unique situation here to fuckin' do something this. So, I slipped into this dumbass and just stuck around. Did the work. Tried, emphasis on TRIED, to be like the Dad I had and that you deserve, ya know? Haven't made it fuckin' easy, but... ahhh. That's parenthood, am I right?" I scoffed, he must have taken some damn good drugs. I was convinced. There was no way!

"Okay, then. MATT. So, if you're some dead jock bro possessing Pat, where the fuck is he?" He pondered for a moment in silence, shrugging his shoulders.

"I think he's gone, bro. I haven't stayed in a dude this long, I used to hear him bitchin' and moanin' all the time, but he went silent a couple of weeks ago." Fuck, I wish that were true. I had to admit, even if only in my mind, this Matt-Patrick was lightyears better than Patrick Patrick. Sure, he was dumb, he was every stereotype dudebro in the book, he smelled like he bathed in sweat baths... But, for the first time in my life, he wanted to be around me. He wanted to spend time with me. He made an effort. He... liked me. The mental gymnastics needed to make sense of the situation was growing too monumental to comprehend, but in that moment as he sat there with his dumb fucking grin on his face as if I was going to just completely buy it, I started to hope it was true.

"So, what now, Matt? Are you just gonna keep fucking my mom and prentending to be my Dad for the rest of your life? Or are you gonna hop out and ditch us?" He raised his eyebrow in genuine confusion.

"I mean, yeah that was the plan. One, your mom is fuckin' hot and she's better than any girl I've ever been with. Two, I kinda like our little family. Three, I ain't ditchin' ya, bro. You had enough of that shit for one lifetime. Besides, I gotta get you to chill the fuck out one way or another, so I was hoping we could give it a shot. Like I've been beggin' man." 'Matt' put his hands together as if praying, pleading to me. I suppose it wouldn't be the worst thing. It's better than coming home every day to spy on him, and it's way better than being the sad wallflower all the fucking time. Besides, those dumb fucking puppy dog eyes...

"You know what? Sure, Matt. What did you have in mind?" I could barely finish my sentence before he'd twisted the key and slammed on the gas. The man drove like a bat out of hell through town, hooting and hollering in victory as if he'd won a match.

"Hell fuckin' yeah, man! Dude we're gonna be so tight, it's gonna be awesome. You're gonna be so fuckin' sexy, the dudes are gonna be on their knees by the time we're done! Slobberin' on that dick like SLURPEDY SLURP! WOO!" So fuckin' dumb. Dumb as a box of rocks. But I couldn't help but crack a smile as he swerved left and right, shouting at the top of his lungs. "Let's get you sweatin' man. We can get you pumpin' iron, playin' ball... I'm burning everything you got in your closet, bro. Nobody wants polos and button ups, man. Gettin' you some J's, some good jocks. Oh, how do you feel about chains?"

"Matt, dude. I'm not like you. That's all well and good for you, but I can't pull that shit off..." He slammed on the brakes and a cavalcade of horns from behind us rang out like a brass band. Matt whipped his gaze to me in shock.

"Don't say that, bro! You could be a bona fide stud! Look at you, man!" A couple of hard slaps against my bony chest and a harsh wheeze later, perhaps it sank in a bit. "Aight, well we have some work to do. I mean, if you're up for it." He smirked at me, lifting up those massive arms and flexing. His veins bulged from his massive bicep, the wet hairs in his ripe pits wafted that pungent scent I'd regrettably started to secretly love... Yeah, maybe I did want it.

"I don't know how, man. If I were like you, I bet I could." As if a cartoon lightbulb flickered to life above his head, I saw the spark of inspiration hit him like a sack of bricks. That stupid smirk grew into a wide, toothy grin.

"Aight, bro. Haven't tried this before, but I'll give it a go." He clapped his hands together, rubbing them gently. "I saw Jimmy Morales do this once when he needed a spotter. Gotta ask, though. You trust me, right?" I sat there and wondered if I did. I'd pretended up until this point that I believed every word that had come out of his mouth. This insane, psychotic story. It was nuts. It was crazy. But that little voice in the back of my head, deep down in the dark recesses of my brain decided to finally speak up.

"Yeah, Matt. I trust you."

"ALRIGHT! Fuck yeah, man. Oh shit, this is gonna be great! Okay, so don't freak out, just trust me and let it happen, okay? It doesn't hurt, the dudes usually bust a nut after it's all over." I heard a squelching rumble from in his stomach: wet, guttural, as if he were getting ready to vomit. Which became more and more likely as I saw a lump start to make it's way up his throat.

"Matt..." His body began to shudder and quake, his veins bulging and head thrashing from side to side. Then, from between his lips, a glowing blue vapor began to slip out. It was tiny at first, a little tail whipping about, before more and more of it started to bellow out of his mouth. Slick, bulbous, translucent. I had mere seconds of watching it slither out before it darted right into my own slack jaw. It squirmed as it wriggled from his body into mine, slurping deep into my bulging stomach. The feeling of fullness overtook me, watching more and more of the rubbery thing enter me, squeezing into every available inch within me, and he was right: it felt good. It felt like an eternity, but in reality it was just moments. The last of suctioned into me, and the world went black.

---

I woke the next morning in my bed. Shooting straight upright in a puddle of sweat. I rubbed my hands on my face, running my fingers through my drenched hair. What a fuckin' dream. I groaned as doubled over in pain. I felt like I was hit by a train. Everything hurt, a soreness unlike anything I'd ever experienced before radiated from every fiber of my being. Then, a soft caress of the nostril. Salty, buttery, funky... I raised my arm, finding the culprit immediately.

"Fuck!" I spat out, before taking a deep breath, another hit. "Fuuuuck..." Another inhale, a familiar stink, a comforting stink. What started as gentle whiffs quickly turned into full on huffing. I buried my nose in my pit, letting the wet jungle lather my face in my own sweat.

"Morning, bro. Good shit, ain't it?" The words echoed in my head, a soft, rippling little voice from within my brain. I should have been alarmed, terrified, even. But no, the words felt like gospel to me. "We really went to town yesterday, man. I had you liftin' like an Olympian. Take it easy. Here, I'll be right there, I got just the thing for it!" My hands started to drift southward, beneath the waistband of the teal sweats I didn't own... Were they... Pats? The door to my room burst open mid-huff, and in walked the hulking tower himself with a tray in hand.

"Goooood Morning, Kiddo! I made ya a protein shake, good recovery breakfast after a workout sesh like we had! Oh, your Mom made eggs!" He walked over to the side of my bed, kicking the Jordans I'd borrowed from him to the side. Wait, when did I do that? "Eat up, champ. Those 'ceps aren't gonna feed themselves!" Slamming the tray down onto my thighs, I let out a groan of pain.

"Pat? Dude, I had the weirdest dream." Dude? I never say dude. I cupped my hand, slick with sweat and pre over my mouth, aghast at the words coming out of my mouth. Pat smiled, grabbing the shake and handing it to me. "Drink up, my dude. For real, you're gonna be in a world of hurt otherwise." The voice boomed in my head, HIS voice. But his lips hadn't moved an inch. "Pat..." I ripped the sheets off of me, sure enough, I was sporting his nasty sweatpants & drenched socks. Cupping my manhood was most definitely his grimy jockstrap. "Hey, if we were gonna have the best workout, I had to be comfortable, bro! I knew you'd get it, though." I looked at him, a tight lipped smile, as if he were proving to me he weren't talking to me. "Feels good, right! I told ya! Just think, bro. With a half of me in there, you're gonna be unstoppable." I smiled. A genuine fuckin' smile, for the first time in as long as I could remember. I watched as my hand gripped the shake, bringing it to my lips of it's own accord. Downing the vanilla shake, our eyes met, and I understood completely. Matt winked at me, ruffling my hair, and sauntered back out of the door.

I leaned back in my bed, throwing my arm behind my head. The musk drifting from my pits and feet, identical to my dad's. Smirking, I let my fingers drift down to my growing meat in its slimy pouch, knowing fully well that I was in damn fine hands.

---

So that brings us to today, I guess! One year to the day. One full year since I finally let Dad in. 'Pat' sure did join the wrestling team as assistant coach, bringing his son in tow, eager to finish my senior year with at least a title. Thanks to him, I made varsity after the first fuckin' tryout. Can't say it was all me, all the time, but after a while it was. Honestly, it all started to blend together. Me at the wheel, him at the wheel, soon it sort of blurred and it was just me. That last semester was the best of my whole fucking life. Parties, bodybuilding, skating with the boys, fuckin' the boys... Shit, it was the time of my fuckin' life.

And after every day at school, or at least after every post-practice locker room blow job, I couldn't wait to get home and smash some Call of Duty with the old man. Mom would always come in, making comments on how we seemed as if I'd become a mini-Pat. Finishing eachother's sentences, drinking the same beer, wearing the same kind of clothes... she'd always put our sneaks outside the garage door, "they even stank the same." Little did she know just how much of the same person we really were.

I've decided to stick around the house for a year or so before maybe headed to college. I don't know, family is here, friends are here, Coach Weston should be retiring in a year or two... so there should be an opening for a new assistant coach on the wrestling team. Besides, I may have landed quite the catch in the boyfriend department, and I really want him to meet my dad, I have a feeling they'll get along just fine.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Throwing out the Epilogue and Cursed Child, how would you imagine the ending of the series? Like, what comes next after Harry goes to bed after beating Voldemort?

Anonymous asked:

What changes you would like to see in the wizarding world after the war?

Anonymous asked:

If you could rewrite the epilogue of Harry Potter, how would you do it and what changes would you make?

Thank you for the asks, it gave me a reason to try and think more about what I actually want from a post-book 7 story since I usually prefer to diverge from canon before book 7. I already talked a bit about the epilogue here, but this is more of a list of things I would like to see instead of reasons I don't like the existing one. There are going to be a lot of headcanons here, so be ready for that. I don't have something super thought out in terms of how it'll happen or who will be involved in everything in the long run. But I have a few bullet points about the epilogue itself and further in the future for the HP characters.

Like, for the epilogue itself, as I wrote in the past, I'd make it only a few months in the future, not years. What I'd put there is:

Showing a bit of the Golden Trio's friendship, and the three being hopeful about the future.

They are back at Hogwarts for 8th year and offhandedly mention Harry tried to go straight to Auror training and regretted leaving Hogwarts behind so quickly.

Ron was with Harry in Auror training and when Harry told him he was dropping out, Ron dropped out too. Kingsly assures them they could both return and continue the training from the point they dropped out after 8th year (Ron would return, Harry wouldn't).

They all get to worry about a future they weren't sure they'd have.

It's mentioned Neville is helping out Sprout and Harry is helping out the changing roaster of DADA teachers (since McGonagall decided to not really sign one on permanently to avoid the curse until it could be broken).

Some sections of Hogwarts are still a little worse for wear or were rebuilt completely after the battle and it shows.

Society is a little different. I want to see a Hogwarts where houses don't matter as much. Actually, start building the unity the sorting hat sang about. Show Harry has a few Slytherins he's friendly with. Show a pure-blood Slytherin be at least polite to Hermione — show the seeds of change.

Harry and Hermione are both mentioned going to the ministry for various meetings, and we get a hope that the ministry could be changed from within. That the system that let Voldemort and the Death Eaters take over so easily could be helped.

The epilogue won't show the actual changes or politics, just imply they are happening/or will happen. Many of the ex-DA members are primed for key positions in the ministry which would help this change to happen. Still, it would be slow, but now that there is no war, they have time. Like, the epilogue would mention people like Susan Bones getting a good position in the DMLE or something.

They reference rebuilding Diagon Alley and many places that were destroyed along with setting up a war monument and a separate monument for muggleborns.

Basically, I just want to end on a note of hope, of seeing a reason to work towards a future Harry finally had, you know?

But, that note of hope needs to have a bitter taste to it. I'd mention how this year, almost all the students could see the Thestrals leading the carriages to Hogwarts, an entire generation who gazed upon death.

Like, I don't care that much who Harry marries and what he names his kids, so I don't really mind not seeing that and leaving that to each reader to imagine their own future for him. If I were to rewrite the epilogue, that's what I'd do, I'd keep it vague.

As for other things I have in mind for Harry's future after the books, well, I think I mentioned some of them in the post I linked but I'll note down a few:

Harry becomes DADA professor and eventual deputy headmaster for McGonagall and Professor Potter doesn't let an abused kid go unnoticed. He's going to do something about it, for all houses.

Ron does still become an Auror, and I see him getting really good and valued there. I want Ron to become head of the DMLE instead of Harry.

I like to imagine Hermione becoming an Unspeakable actually, I think she'd enjoy it more than politics. Like, as much as she cares, she isn't very politically savvy. She is going to use Harry's Potter Wizengamot seat and war hero status (+ her own war hero status) to help him and other ex-DA members push for more creature rights and changes in the Wizarding World though.

Neville becomes a Herbology Professor and head of Gryffindor, and he and Harry become closer friends when they work together at Hogwarts.

Harry also breaks the DADA curse, either by figuring it out (he's very intuitive about magic and he knows how Tom thinks, so he could figure it out) or the curse recognizes him and just ceases. Even if Harry isn't a Horcrux anymore, I think carrying Tom's soul for so long had a lasting effect, so he just might get a pass. And even if the curse doesn't break, honestly, if anyone knows how to survive a year at Hogwarts when something's out to kill you it's the Boy-Who-Lived. So the curse might break after it fails once because it's Harry James Potter, Master of Death extraordinaire, and exception to magic.

I think Luna continues editing the Quibbler with her father, as well, and after the war, it becomes a real competition for the Prophet. She still becomes a Magizoologist in my headcanon.

Harry would eventually become Hogwarts headmaster, I think, in my version of events. Obviously, this would be way later, but I really see it happening. I'm hoping in his time as headmaster he'll finally fire Binns and get an actual history teacher into this school.

As for shipping, in my ultimate vision, Harry and Theo get together either during 8th year or by meeting in the ministry, maybe in Wizengamot warlock conventions (since Theo's father was a Death Eater and is either dead or in Azkaban, it'll be Theo there). I believe Theo wasn't actually in Britain during book 7 and the war and that's how he got out of being a Death Eater. He wasn't mentioned among the Slytherins that were in Hogwarts, so it's possible. I disagree with everything Cursed Child did to my boy Theo Nott except him being an Unspeakable since I can see that happening. His and Hermione's work dynamic in the DOM could be really fun, I think and it might be how he and Harry start talking.

For everyone else, I'm honestly less picky. I'm fine with Ron and Hermione together at the end, but I'd also be fine if they won't be, so 🤷‍♀️

[gastersreturn]

YOU HAVE FOUND HIM

GASTER'S RETURN MASTERPOST

PROLOGUE

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28 -----------------------------

GASTER'S RETURN FAQ

What is the plot ?

Everything is in the title, it's a story about Gaster returning from wherever he was after his accident that broke him between time and space. This story is set after the Pacifist ending, months after monsters have been freed from the Underground

What are the main themes of this story ?

The main purpose of this story is to answer all your questions It will also talk about mental health, how to move on, friendship etc (Pretty much a lot of themes that are also found in the original game actually)

Is it an AU (Alternative Universe ?) ? And how close it is from Undertale ?

Yep, it is. I want to keep it as close of the canon as possible, to make the characters and universe as authentic as possible in order to really tell a story based on the game. But it won't be exactly the same as the canon.

Several details change in this story and this is why I call it a "AU", the main ones being :

Gaster : My interpretation of Gaster resemble a lot the general interpretation of the fandom about him, but not completely. It will be fun to play with what you know, or what you think you know about him :)

Sans and Papyrus's origins : In the original game, I strongly think that Sans and Papyrus don't come from Undertale, but from Deltarune (I won't elaborate more on that subject, you can make your own researches on this theory if you're interested), however it's not the case in this AU. Sans and Papyrus really come from the Undertale universe. It will change their characters slightly, but I'll do my best to show them accurately (at least more accurately than the general fandom's representation of them)

Frisk : Frisk's personality have been imagined and adapted to this story. I wanted Frisk to be like a fusion of their actual personality in the game (because, yes, they have one even if it's really subtle) and the one of the player. So, you get it, the player in itself isn't really a thing in this universe

How did you had the idea of making this AU ?

At the very beginning, I just started to make some random drawings of Gaster, and some KingDings (AsgorexGaster) sketches, then other Gaster related things, and a story began to form into my mind. I decided that I wanted to make something out of it. I have been, and still am, really inspired by several cartoon shows (Steven Universe, The Owl House, Amphibia, Hilda, or even Bluey in some aspects), and other things like the book "House of Leaves"

So does that mean there will there be KingDings in this AU ?

Well, not really. the main focus of this story won't be romance. At this point of their lives, neither of them are ready for a relationship (if I want it to be healthy). I have thought about making a KingDings mini serie after the main one to develop their relationship, but I don't know if I really will, I didn't even wrote anything for it yet.

When will the next pages come out ?

The Chapter 1 will come out very soon (I'd say in two/three weeks), I just want to make a little aesthetic update on this blog and ComicFury before that Also I will work differently from the prologue and post multiple pages at a time, It will be better to follow the story like that, but it also means longer wait between them I'll give a more clear answer when I'll decide what to do x)

How long is this going to take to complete the story ?

Long as hell, I have written a prologue and 4 chapters to finish the story, wish me luck

Am I allowed to make a dub of the comic ?

I honestly don't know if anyone would ever want to make one, but if you do, sure you can ! (as long that you credit me of course) You are also allowed to make fanarts, or any fanwork based on this AU, again I'm not sure if anyone would, but just in case x)

Am I allowed to repost this AU somewhere else ? Or to make a translation ?

Mmmh….I would allow it, but I want to be informed of it before you do. DM me to ask me, and if you see someone else than me reposting it somewhere, please tell me ^^ The only places I post this AU in here and on ComicFury, anywhere else isn't me

I have other questions !!!

Then you can ask them ! I will answers the ones who are interesting/doesn't require me to spoil my own story

------------------------------ WILL YOU KEEP SEARCHING ?

[traegorn]

I need to stop doing this to myself.

(A Rant Where Trae Has Written Too Many Books This Month)

So since most of you started following me because of Witchcraft or podcast stuff, I realize a lot of you don't know how much fiction writing I do.

Primarily what I've published are comics. The big one is UnCONventional (which ran from December of 2009 to December of 2019), but I also did a steampunk comic called The Chronicles of Crosarth (which I put on hiatus in like 2018 intending to come back to... but I haven't, and I make no guarantee that I will even though over 650 of the 800 planned pages are done). Crosarth is... fine? The art isn't great in either of these, but UnCONventional carries itself with the humor.

But that's all old stuff. You may be like "Trae, what have you been producing for the last four years," and the answer is "not a lot." I got major creative block with the pandemic. Peregrine Lake, the "Northwoods Gothic" comic I was supposed to launch in 2020 (which has some characters from UnCONventional in it) didn't materialize when I said it would. What storytelling energy I had went into Stormwood & Associates and The Meatgrinder (my two actual play podcasts), but that was it.

And then 2023 happened, and the juices started flowing again.

Peregrine Lake is moving forward -- but with me just doing the writing. My urge to draw has not returned, but my urge to write has. A friend of mine, Ethan Flanagan, is drawing it, and I've written the first year of comics. It likely won't launch any time soon (the artist I'm working with is busy as hell so we want to get a shit-ton of the comic done before we launch it -- we have like the first month and a half of the comic ready?). But yeah -- it's happening. I hoping for Spring, but we'll see.

The other thing though is that I've started writing, like, novels. I've always had like twenty ideas in my head, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I decided to start with the idea I cared the least about (in case I fucked it up): A queer urban fantasy story.

In the last month and a half I've written complete drafts of two different novels in this setting, and am halfway through another one... and have another one outlined.

I, uh, had some ideas.

If you're asking yourself "Hey Trae -- what the fuck? That's a lot" you need to know a few things that aren't obvious. At one point in college, in 72 hours, I produced over 40 pages of text between three research papers. All were for 300 level courses, and I may have disassociated while writing them because I frankly don't remember most of it. But, like, they were decent papers.

One of those papers is in Google Scholar.

Anyway, yeah. I haven't been sleeping great because I've been obsessively writing, but you might ask "Why didn't you just write one and get it ready to publish?" That's a great question. Because I wrote a book, and when I was 3/4 of the way through it I realized something very important: This book would make a great sequel to a book I haven't written. I've been writing book two in a series where I haven't written book one yet.

Well fuck.

So I finished that draft, and I went and wrote book one. Now that book? That book I'm getting ready to publish. I expect to have it out in January. Part of my editing process involves setting what I think is a completed, good, revised draft down for a couple of weeks and then returning to it with fresh eyes. We're in that waiting period right now.

But I still had a bunch of energy.

So the first thing I did was a revising draft on book two (the one I wrote first), but I finished that. And had more energy. And more stories in this setting kept popping up.

So I started a third book. And I'm halfway through the first draft of that book. But then I realized yesterday... shit, this isn't book three.

This is book four.

I need stuff to happen before we get to this story.

So now I've outlined the actual book three, and am working on literally both of these books at once (I'll take a break for Christmas and then go do a final edit on Book One).

And... I'm just like... why am I like this?

I need to stop myself for a few days and get more sleep.

[adoristsposts]

enforcers (pt2) | jack hughes AU

author's note; ignore the fact that the format changes a little like halfway through LMAOO i had to do some of it on my phone summary; enforcing is hard. it’s even harder when you and your mentor are a little too in love with each other to focus on the job word count; 2.8k warnings; blood, description of burns, swearing, slight nsfw characters; Reader x Jack Hughes, platonic!Reader x Luke Hughes

When you and Jack got home from that night's Summoning watch, both of you were covered in demon blood and had been given wary stares your entire walk home. Because "How else would we get there?" Jack had laughed. A few weeks had passed since his sick fit outside the stadium. You hadn't seen him even a little ruffled since. Every morning when you woke up he was dressed and ready with breakfast. Unless you two had an early morning job. They were never-ending. There was always someone with a pixie infestation or an enchantment they just had to perform. He gave you the credit for him managing to hold on to at least some food that night. You wondered if maybe that was why he didn't need to rush off to the bathroom whenever you two got home from jobs. He had looked a little pale after this one. You weren't sure whether that was from the fighting or the nasty magic that doubtlessly hung around demons. But he had grabbed your hand on the walk back and let out a huge breath. Your magic feels good, you remembered him saying. You blushed just thinking about it. "You alright?" Jack asked. "What? Yeah, why?" "You just look a little red." Your blush just deepened. "I'm going to go shower." You squeaked.

When you came back downstairs, completely rid of demon blood, Luke was there with Chinese takeout. Jack had changed into sweatpants and a shirt. You could see the shape of well-defined pecs in how it hung off him. In a few months maybe you'd be as lean as him. Maybe not. "There you are." Luke beamed at you. You hugged him and took the bag from his hands. Beginning to set it up on the counter, you asked "Not that I'm not happy, but what are you doing here?" "Saying hello to you guys. I'm not that far away, and I missed you." "Awww thanks, Lukey Boy." Jack cooed from the couch. Luke rolled his eyes, "Not you." Jack just stuck his tongue out at that.

A few hours later you were exhausted. Luke had helped clean up. Which basically meant he had washed the three plates while you threw away empty containers. Enforcing made you and Jack really hungry. When you shut the door behind Luke, Jack mused "You know our mom wants him to marry you." You turned to him, furrowing your eyebrows, "What?" "Yeah." You scoffed and shook your head at him. "That's never gonna happen." "He said that too," Jack said. It seemed settled, but then "She asked Quinn next. She's determined for you to become a Hughes." "Never you?" You asked before you could stop yourself. You leaned against the door as Jack smiled at you and got closer. Like he was a predator caging you in. "I don't think she had to ask to know what I'd say." "What would you say?" He was dangerously close. You could feel his breath against your face. "That you're Lukey's" That snapped you out of your daze. "What?" But Jack had pulled away. His smile didn't reach his eyes as he said "Come on, we all know it's going to happen." "Jack-" "I'll wake you up for the job tomorrow." And he was gone. You were certainly not Luke's. And you weren't sure where the assumption had come from. "For God's sake." You muttered, and the house groaned. Jack told you it wasn't particularly fond of holy figures being mentioned. "Sorry." You told it. Then you realised you were speaking to a house, so you shook your head and made your way to bed.

When Jack woke you up it was the same way he had been doing it for weeks now. Soft touches and words. He tucked your hair behind your ear and you swatted him away. "Tired." You groaned. He laughed at you. "Get up, we have a Chimera problem." The calmness with which he said that shocked you. You got up and changed quickly. You didn't fully register that Jack hadn't left, instead, he had turned his back on you. "It's stuck in the mausoleum that the necromancers keep their used bones in. Obviously, they didn't ward it as well as I told them to." You tugged your sweater on. Summer had faded faster than you had hoped, and the early mornings were growing colder to show for it. Jack turned around when he heard the thud of you forcing your thick boots on. He raised an eyebrow at them. "They're thick. Rubber. Chimeras are poisonous, remember?" "And you're going to be... stepping on their backs?" You shrugged. "Better to be safe than sorry." "Can't argue with that." Jack agreed.

The two of you took the subway. It felt a little surreal to hold on to the pole as Jack chatted away, a sword strapped to his back and a gun secure in a holder against your thigh. Of course, both had been glamoured for attention to pass over them. When you arrived at the cemetery it was eerier than usual. Quiet except for the far-off animal noises coming from the mausoleum. "What do you remember about the Chimera myths?" You asked Jack as the two of you crept closer. "That it was killed by Bellerophon. He flew on his Pegasus and shot it from the air." "Then I think we might have a bit of a disadvantage." Jack didn't have the time to respond. They had reached the gated mausoleum. You were going to make a joke about playing rock paper scissors to decide who would open the door, but Jack stepped forward before you could. He took a deep breath to steel himself, then unlatched the gate and jumped back. He grabbed the sword from his back, holding it expertly in his hands. It made him look a little bit like a knight. His long hair tousled in the morning wind as he held on to such an archaic weapon. You could have opted for that. But instead, you had taken the logical path. You pulled the gun out of its holster. If it failed you had a blade of your own. A curved one, about six inches long, that would spring out of the hilt in your back pocket the moment you pulled it out. There was a dreadfully quiet moment of complete calm before the creature came bounding out. It was gorgeous. It had the body of a lion, those graceful, rippling muscles that you had seen so many times when your parents had left discovery channel on. You could see its tail, a snake writhing around and snapping at the air, fangs ready for use. You studied the goat head in its middle a moment too late. In the Iliad, Homer said, "She was of divine stock not of men, in the fore part a lion, in the hinder a serpent, and in the midst a goat, breathing forth in terrible wise the might of blazing fire." You remembered the fire now, as you leaped out of the way of the goat's wrath. It landed on the grass spot you had been and the ground sizzled and turned into black ash. You raised your gun, steadying it in your hands. Jack was busy fighting the lion part of the animal, and you could hear grunts and roars of pain as he did. You weren't sure which sounds came from who. You were ready to pull the trigger when the serpent tail came lunging towards you and knocked it out of your hands. "Shit!" You couldn't stop yourself from exclaiming as it landed a few feet away. You pulled the hilt out of your back pocket and didn't spare a moment, cutting off the serpent head as it went to bite you, jaws open and ready. The whole body of it went limp immediately, a dead weight dragging behind the lion. "Are you okay?" Jack's question startled you. He was staring at you, eyebrows furrowed when he should have been paying attention to his own battle. The lion reached up a large clawed paw and slashed at him. He barely managed to jump out of its path when the goat was back to its fire-spewing ways. Jack hissed as the ball of fire hit him on the shoulder, singing through his clothes and doubtlessly burning his skin. "Jack!" Fell from your lips, a helpless cry as he hissed. He tried to wield the blade to no avail. His skin was already red and beginning to pus. He couldn't even lift the sword, the tip dragging on the grass. You stopped thinking for a moment as the Chimera prowled closer to him. You ran to your gun, not caring if you looked stupid or not as you stumbled to pick it up. You raised it and didn't check your aim as you shot and shot at the Chimera until you ran out of bullets. The creature fell over with a loud thump! Just in case it wasn't fully dead, you used your foot to roll it over and plunged your dagger into where you guessed the heart was. It was technically your job to pick up all the shell casings, move the corpse into the mausoleum, and try your best to clean up the blood.

But you were a little more worried about Jack. He laid on his back in the grass, writhing in pain with his eyes shut tight.

“Mary.” He groaned. You had to stop yourself from being a little heartbroken. He was calling for some girl.

“St. Mary’s.” He groaned again.

Of course. The magical hospital. You idiot, you reprimanded yourself in your head. “Jack.” You said, crouching down to him. “I need to pick you up. It’s going to hurt like a bitch.”

“Okay. ‘S okay.” He mumbled. He was beginning to sweat. You pulled on his good arm to get him to his feet. If only you were strong enough to carry him. But that was a ridiculous notion. The man was at least 175 pounds and too tall for you to carry no matter how much he weighed.

You dragged him through the empty streets. St. Mary’s, you repeated in your head. St. Mary’s. St. Mary’s. St. Mary’s. You just had to get him to St. Mary’s.

You couldn’t actively remember where it was. You let your feet carry you there as you focused on Jack’s breathing. In and out. Shuddering breaths, but there nonetheless. Burns wasn’t exactly something that you were well versed in.

When you finally got to it, the large cathedral-looking hospital, you used your foot to bang on the massive oak doors. A woman in a nun’s habit opened them, took one look at Jack, and ushered you two inside. Immediately there was a swarm of women, all in the nun disguises. Or maybe they really were nuns. You had never asked much about the hospital. You’d like to say you handed him over to them. But it was more that they pried him out of your grip. Still, you were happy to turn him over to their expert care. Even if your stomach did clench in turmoil as you watched them carry him down the hall and away from you.

“Wait here. We will come to get you when he is ready.” One of them said in a thick accent. You just nodded. Your throat was too dry to talk and you were sweating. You looked over at the cathedral in front of you. Maybe the church thing wasn’t a cover-up after all. But taking a seat in the pews would do nothing but freak you out. So instead you settled down on the floor, leaning against the wall and letting your head lull back on it.

About a half hour later the same woman from earlier came to get you. “He is ready.” She said in her accent as if they had just been getting him changed for a big event and not treating what had to be at least a second-degree burn. You scrambled to your feet and followed her down the halls. She led you into a room that looked like one of those old hospital rooms. Jack was in the far corner, the only bed occupied in the creepily empty place.

He offered you a forced smile when he saw you. His shoulder was wrapped in bandages and his shirt was off. You had to remind yourself that your mentor was in pain and could have been killed. Now was not the time to be staring at his abs. But by god, you couldn’t stop yourself. Even after an injury, he was beautiful enough to blind an angel. “They fixed me up nice, didn’t you Magdalena?” He asked the woman. She snorted,

“We are used to taking care of your injuries, stupid boy.” Jack just smiled at her somewhat loving insult. “I will leave you.” And she departed with that.

“You come here a lot?” You questioned like it was a stupid pickup line.

He winced. “Yeah. Injury prone.”

“You scared the hell out of me.” You admitted, “I’ve never seen someone get hurt before. I thought you were going to die.”

“From a little burn? Come on now, have some faith.”

“I’m serious, you asshole.” When silence fell over you two, you asked “When can we get you home?”

“Now.” He said, “But you’ll have to tell Maggie. She’ll be devastated to see me go.”

‘Maggie’ was not devastated to see Jack go. She had mumbled what you assumed to be Polish curses at him as he flashed her a charming smile and said he was going home despite her recommendation. She had pushed a salve into your hand and looked you dead in the eye as she said “Every night and morning. You apply for him. Boy is too stupid to do on his own.”

Now Jack sat shirtless on the couch as you dipped your fingers into the container. Again you had to pry your eyes away from his chiseled chest and abs. “Are you sure this is okay?” You asked.

“Yes” He replied, but the word was breathless and a little unsure. The burn stretched from the top of his right shoulder and down in a leftward arc to spread over his pec. You forced yourself to breathe as the tip of your fingers made contact with his skin. The damaged part had originally been disgusting to look at. A peeling red and yellow that was ripe with pus and other gross things you didn’t have the anatomical knowledge to name. But after St. Mary’s it was just a shade redder than the rest of his deliciously tan body.

Pull it together, you told yourself.

Your breath hitched when your eyes flicked to his own. He was watching you. Even as you noticed it, his gaze was unwavering. His lips parted and you could see that the nuns had taken it upon themselves to fix his tooth.

“Tell me not to.” He whispered.

“I can’t do that.” You told him. And it was like that broke him. His lips were on yours within seconds. He moved them slowly and with purpose. A hand snaked around to lightly grab your waist and he guided you onto his lap. You set your knees on either side of him. He had to tilt his head up to keep your teenager-like makeout session going.

“Fuck.” He groaned, “You’re mine.”

“What?” You laughed, pulling away. His hand cupped your ass and you steadied yourself by grabbing onto his good shoulder. “Not Lukey’s” He referenced your conversation from the day before, “Mine.”

“Little eager there, Hughes.” You teased. But all you really wanted was for him to shut up and go back to kissing you. And as if he could sense it, he did. He was such a good kisser. Nothing like the non-magic boy you had kissed at a party in Sophomore year. Or the boyfriend you had the summer before Senior year that had been such a passionate kisser that he had slobbered all over your chin every time.

Jack broke the kiss this time. “Ever since you showed up. I wanted to call my mom and tell her I would be the one to marry you. That you had grown up into such a pretty woman.”

“You could have realised this years ago. I was totally in love with you.” He grinned cockily at that and raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

“Oh come on, like you didn’t know.”

“I totally knew.” He laughed. “You were too young for me then.”

“Not anymore?”

“Not anymore.” He mused, leaning up to kiss you again. Then against your lips he mumbled, “Not too young for me to fuck, either.”

“Woah there, cowboy.” You said, breaking away from him and getting up. He whined involuntarily at the sudden lack of contact. “Salve first, sex after.”

“Fine.”

[braveclementine]

Five Years Later

Warnings: None, Readers under 18 can read this book.

Copyright: My OCs are Coach Yonce, Emma, Ila, Tempus, and Itty Bitty. I own these characters. I do not condone any copying of this.

"Morning sweetheart." Sebastian said softly as I woke to the feeling of him running his fingers up and down the dip in my hip.

I rolled over, pressing my face into his chest. I wasn't ready to get up. I was tired.

Sebastian chuckled, pulling me back a little to pepper my face with kisses. "You slept well last night."

I cracked a smile though I didn't open my eyes. "I always sleep well after we have fun in bed."

Sebastian laughed lowly, a sound that sent shivers straight to my core. "Is that so? Hmm, would never have guessed."

I finally opened my eyes, glaring at him playfully. "I'm trying to go back to sleep here."

"Well, you can't. It's Ila's birthday, now wake up." He said softly, kissing me again.

If it had been anyone but our daughters birthday. . .

I groaned as I sat up, stumbling out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Sebastian joined me, waking me up more completely with a lovely morning sex session. It wasn't just hot water that steamed the mirrors this morning.

When we finally managed to pull apart from each other, my legs wobbly and unsure, Sebastian chuckling, we got out of the shower and got dressed.

I headed downstairs first to make pancakes for our little girls' birthday. She was three years old, with Sebastian's blue eyes and my H/C colour hair.

Emma, our five year old, honeymoon child, was already sitting up at the kitchen table, colouring in her colour book.

"Morning mommy." She said, brushing back black curls from her forehead.

"Morning sweetheart, what are you colouring this morning?"

"Thanos!" She cheered, "Look!"

It mostly looked like a purple crayon mess, but I just smiled and said, "Looks just like him sweetheart."

"What are we doing for Ila's birthday?" Emma asked, turning the page and started to scribble red all over the Hulk.

"Well, some friends are going to come over. We're going to use the pool, maybe a pinata, a lot of unhealthy food-"

"Are Uncle Robert and Uncle Donald going to come over? What about Aunt Itty?" Emma asked excitedly.

"Yes Uncle Robert, Aunt Susan, your cousins Avri and Exton, Aunt Itty, and Aunt Page are all coming over." I said calmly as I fried up the cakes. "Uncle Donald and Aunt Melania on the other hand, I don't know. Your Uncle is very busy trying to run a country."

"But I'm his niece." She pouted.

"It's not your birthday." You smiled. "It's Ila's. Besides, we're already going to the White House for Christmas."

She still pouted.

"Grandma and Grandpa are coming too." I said to cheer her up- which worked.

Eventually the pancakes were done and Sebastian came downstairs with our lovely daughter, who was clutching her Otter stuffed animal in one hand.

"Hey Ila." I murmured, putting her pancakes down in front of her. Sebastian took a seat next to her to help her cut them up. "Happy birthday sweetheart."

Once the girls were finished, they both ran off together to the living room where her presents were.

"Don't open them yet girls!" Sebastian yelled after them. "You need to wait until at least Grandma and Grandpa get here!"

He picked up my left hand, kissing the new, metal pinky there. "How's it feeling sweetheart?"

"Like a real finger." I murmured, smiling back at him.

Sebastian had been incredibly worried about how the prosthetic would turn out. He was probably even more worried than I had been. Every day since I'd gotten it, he'd asked how it felt to make sure I wasn't in any pain.

"Good." He said, flipping my hand over to place a kiss on my palm.

I giggled, bending down to kiss him.

The door bell rang and I hopped up, racing to get, Sebastian close behind me.

I was always afraid that one of the kids would answer the door and it would be a bad guy, so I always made sure to answer it. Even though I knew several relatives and friends were showing up today, I still couldn't help the fear that came along with the ringing or the knocking of the door.

"Hey Y/N!" Robert said, pulling me into a hug.

"Hi Robert!" I exclaimed, hugging him back tightly. "Hi Susan."

I ruffled their son and daughters heads before those two scampered into the house to go and find Emma and Ila.

"How are you two?" I asked, eyeing the huge present that Robert was carrying into the house, "What is that?"

"A present." Robert replied sardonically while Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"I can see that." I replied, rolling my eyes as well. "It's wrapped. What the heck did you get her? It's huge!"

"Well, she's three. She needs this." Robert said and I glanced up at Susan. She just smiled because he was being Robert.

Sebastian got the door again and Uncle Chris came in with Uncle Tom and Uncle Benedict. Emma ran over to greet her favorite Uncles, climbing up Benedicts leg- or trying to.

"Hey monkey." Benedict said, bending down and lifting her into his arms.

"Uncle Strange!" Emma squealed, hugging him tightly around the neck.

Sebastian laughed, as he always did.

"Emma, that's Ben." I said with a smile. "Dr. Strange is just a character."

"Which he plays." Emma said with a serious face. "Therefore, he is also Strange."

"I agree." Tom said. "He is strange, isn't he?"

"Exactly!" Emma squealed and I gave up, giggling.

"It's fine." Benedict assured me, laughing as well.

"Uncwle Chwiss." Ila said, toddling over to Chris and he bent down to hug her.

My parents were next, quickly mingling with the group, greeting their grandchildren.

Everything was moved outside and the kids jumped on the bouncy house while the adults relaxed in the large pool that Sebastian had put into the house long before I had married him. With the settlement money that we'd won in the Russo lawsuits, we were set for a long time before either of us had to get a job. And of course, Sebastian was still acting so he was getting large paychecks on that.

I looked over when I saw some people coming into the yard, not having expected any guests. I hopped out of the pool when I saw who it was.

"Uncle Duck!" Ila shouted, waddling over to the older man who was still wearing a suit and red tie despite the relaxed occasion.

"Hey pumpkin." Donald said, lifting her up into his arms. "Hello Y/N."

"Hey Don. I didn't think you were able to come over today." I said with a smile. "You know, being the President and all."

"Well I've got all the time in the world for my nieces." He said, clapping his hands together once.

"How's Melania?" I asked, not seeing anyone but him here.

"She's great! She's got another photo shoot today but she sends all of her love to this little lovebug." He said, holding one hand out to little Ila. She gave him the high five with a giggle. "Okay down!"

He put her down on the grass and she tumbled over to where the bouncy house was. Emma was laying dramatically on the ground after being hit by one of the plastic balls they were playing with.

When she popped up and saw who was here, she shrieked, racing towards him.

"Hey Em." Donald said she ran smack dab into his chest.

"Uncle Donald you came!" She laughed and then tried pulling him over to the bouncy house. "Come play with us."

"How long can you stay?" I asked.

"At least till the cake." He said with a grin.

I laughed and headed back to the pool, though most everyone was getting out around this time, sitting around the unlit firepit and popping open beers.

I sat down next to Sebastian, who wrapped an arm around my waist. "I didn't know he was going to show up."

"Yep!" I beamed. "A surprise present."

Things evened out and as it grew later and the kids grew tired, we pulled out the cake and presents.

Turned out that Robert had gotten her one of those foldable princess tents. It was massive and pink and I knew she was going to want it in her bedroom and she was totally going to get it in her bedroom.

She received a variety of other things, mostly barbie or princess dolls, a couple of Littlest Pet Shop toys and sets, and also a couple of the Marvel Lego sets which I rolled my eyes at. Scarlett had gotten her one of those playdough sets where you're supposed to make kitchen creations, while Elizabeth Olsen had gotten her the ice-cream set.

Anthony had gotten her one of the drawing mats which would help her learn to draw, while also teaching her ABCs and 123s, along with some shapes and some animals.

Tom had gotten her some of those CDs with the little kid nursery rhymes on them, which were some of her favorites right now.

Benedict smothered her with Disney stuffed animals including Stitch, Dumbo, Baby Yoda, and Simba. She declared that they were all her new favorite stuffed animals.

Chris had gotten her an American girl doll, which she also loved.

Really, she just loved everything she'd gotten.

Donald won the competition though. He gave her a dollhouse. But not like, a normal dollhouse. He gave her a life sized dollhouse.

"Don't worry." He assured me, handing me a panel with a screen on it. "It's got cameras and you can lock it so no one can hide in the house or anything."

"Thank you." I murmured, glad he'd taken that safety precaution into mind. I had just been thinking about how a bad guy could hide in there and attack her before she went inside to play.

It was a nice dollhouse too. You could fit inside, although Sebastian had to stoop pretty low. It was like a cottage, more like, with a tower in the front and even a small balcony- although it wasn't that high up.

It was decent sized of course- although you couldn't go to the second floor as you were not small enough and the upstairs wasn't really much more than five feet apart second floor to roof. There was some small furniture- though no bed which you were happy about.

"Thank you!" Ila squealed, wanting to go into it right now while Emma stared at it with wide eyes and a dropped mouth.

"Don't worry." Donald winked at her. "You'll get one for Christmas."

Sebastian laughed. "Then you two will never have to buy a house in the future. You're all set."

Emma giggled, "Can mine be pink please?"

"Emma!" I scolded. "You can't ask for that. It's a gift."

Donald just laughed.

Emma's future Christmas present:

Everyone later departed with high spirits, the two girls of yours already fast asleep. Benedict had to carry his kids back to the car.

"Well that was exciting." Sebastian said once the two of you had cleaned up and were now settled in bed.

"I hope they were really happy with everything." I fretted. "I don't want them spoiled- but that happened anyways. But I don't want them to grow up ungrateful either. You know? Taking everything for granted?"

"We'll teach them, don't worry." Sebastian said. "You know the only time they get presents is their birthdays and Christmas anyways. And maybe small things on like Easter or the Fourth, but that's it. You and I both say no to them about everything else on normal days. And they're young so we don't have to worry about it till they're a little older."

"I know." I said. "I just want to be a good mother."

Sebastian pulled me into a tight hug, my back against his chest. "You. Are already an amazing mother Y/N. And." He rolled over pressing me down into the pillows. "I think that you would make an amazing mother to a third or fourth or maybe even a fifth child."

I giggled, taking Sebastian's hand. "Oh? But didn't you know?" I moved his hand down to my stomach. "I already am."

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓔𝓷𝓭

⬅️

[skania]

Do you have an opinion or analysis on why Akasaka made Kana so dependent on Aqua? even though she was initially introduced to her independent figure. But after meeting Aqua, Kana's figure became very dependent. Even in hier work and everyday life to be bad. Fans and those around her can clearly see that Kana is not well. And it was all because of Aqua. Actually I don't like the independent character of Kana to be dependent on men. I like Kana and it makes me a little disappointed with her character. I know they call it "honest" and "not hiding her feelings" but it bothers me especially when I know that Akane's character is very mature and doesn't depend on Aqua. But I was confused why they said it was Akane who depended on Aqua. Do they read other manga? i'm Kana fan but for this story i really want she can stand up for herself and live her life without Aqua and just be a good friend. For me Kana and Aqua is more toxic because Kana can depend on Aqua but Aqua cannot depend on Kana. For me they are opposites and I realized that Kana is too concerned about her own feelings than Aqua. That's the bad side that Kana has. I realized that Kana always blamed Aqua and never tried to understand Aqua. That's why I prefer them to be good friends. I feel bad for Kana and Aqua but I feel even worse for Akane. She is the only good girl, almost have no flaws here, but her character is often misunderstood. These three should be happy because they deserve it. I don't like love wars and they are tiring to deal with. I prefer Kana to be independent and aware of her potential. Back as confident as Akane had ever seen. I hope Kana and Akane can be good friends. Kana and Aqua personallity can't even match as well as a couple. I like your analysis about Kana's character and it help me to catching up with the manga well^^ thanks to you!

Thank you for your message, anon! You've listed a lot of my own feelings about this, specially when you say that it's like people are reading a different manga with the way they describe the girls' and their relationships with Aqua lol You have also mentioned a lot of the reasons why Aqua and Kana don't work as a ship for me.

As for why Aka made Kana so dependant on Aqua, my best guess is that he did it to expose the contradiction in her character. She seems independent, but that's because she forces herself to be that way. Deep down, she is desperately looking for someone to depend on. I'd even say that her biggest weakness is being overtly dependent on external approval. If you praise her, Kana melts and lets her guard down. We see this with Aqua, with Pieyon (Aqua) and we see this with the director, too.

By turning Aqua into Kana's crutch and then taking him away, Aka forces Kana to face this weakness of hers and what it turns her to. She doesn't like it one bit and makes up her mind to become a big panda no matter what. To me, this means that Kana is finally ready to grow into someone who looks inwards instead of outwards when it comes to validation. And thus, into someone who is truly emotionally independent instead of just acting the part.

But of course, this is just my personal interpretation. Don't hesitate to let me know if it makes sense to you as a Kana fan!

No worries anon, you explained yourself perfectly! You raise a very good question, here's what I replied to a fellow anon who raised a similar point. It does seem to me that unlike Kana and Ruby, who have character arcs unrelated to Aqua (Kana's aspiration to become a big panda, Ruby's ties to her mother figures/her past as Sarina/wanting to play at the dome/etc), Akane's is completely tied to Aqua's. This could be an issue in another manga where the love-interest is passive and removed from the plot, but since Akane is allowed to directly interact with the plot and to move the story forward, it luckily evens out (for me, at least). Though I'd love to have more Akane slice-of life lol

[bitletsanddrabbles]

Thomas-As-Heir Novel in Search of Beta Readers

I wanted to get this post up before my Tumblr hiatus next month, which will last somewhere between one and four weeks, depending on how sane I'm feeling.

Right, so, here's the deal. As anyone who follows me is undoubtedly quite aware, I have been working on my Thomas as Heir piece off and on since 2017. Last month I finished a second complete draft and while it's looking good, it still needs some work. Still, if all goes well, I should reasonably have it ready to start posting by the end of 2024, if not before, and believe you me - I want to post this thing. We are hitting the 'never want to think about it again' point that you do when you've gone over something until your eyes want to fall out. Which leads me to the point of this post.

I'd like a couple more beta readers. I currently have two: Hinney_B, who regular readers will know as my standard beta, and my long time online friend, Marbletoast, who is one of the best editors I've ever met. Both have been helping me with this thing pretty much since the beginning and, while neither of them are fast (one is the head of the herpetology department at the local zoo, the other is a full time mom, plus they have their normal hobbies) they both work well with me and are good at pointing out flaws, making suggestions, etc.

The problem is that neither of them have seen Downton Abbey in it's entirety. Hinney_B has at least seen the first three seasons and both movies. Marbletoast knows it exists. This leaves some…knowledge gaps in rather inconvenient places. I am the resident expert on English culture of the period, the history, and all things upstairs-downstairs which is less than optimal since I'm not an expert in any of that. Since this is set between season six and the first movie (I originally wanted it to be able to be read as canon compliant, if one wished, although the movies shot that), I don't really have anyone to fact check my memory of the series or comment on the characterization.

I really, really want this story to be the best it can be. I don't need someone who has betaed before - I've had some very good results with new readers in the past. What I do need is as follows:

Someone who has seen the show.

Someone who can help me improve the story I am telling rather than telling me what to write. One of my past betas basically tried to get me to write the stories she wanted to read all of the time, never mind what I wanted to write, and got very tetchy if I ignored her demands 'advice'. Even if your advice is wonderful, I won't necessarily take it. That doesn't mean I don't want to hear it.

Someone who's not afraid to have a discussion about the text. The extreme opposite problem of the previous beta was the friend who tried to beta for me exactly once who suggested a rather drastic change to my work. I noted it, then informed her of what I'd been originally aiming for. I told her this so that she could weight my intent against her suggestion, decide which she liked more, and, if she preferred mine, help me get it across better. Instead she apologized profusely for angering me and no amount of explaining that I wasn't angry would coax her back. Good beta work is a conversation. We need to be able to converse.

And that's really all I absolutely need. Speed is obviously not an issue. Seriously, I hear from Marbletoast once or twice a year. Things that would be helpful are:

Good grasp on history. I don't have that.

Good grasp on English culture, especially at the time period. I don't have that either.

Even handed attitude toward all of the characters. I hate character bastardization and am trying to avoid it like the plague. On the other hand, Downton is not a house full of saints and I like it that way.

And that's basically all I can think of. For the curious, we are currently sitting at 52,696 words, so I'm aware that this is not a light commitment, especially for no pay. My method of betaing so far is to toss a piece up on Google Drive and give people commenting access, which requires a GMail account and willingness to give me your email. If you can think of a better way to do it, I'm open to suggestions. Interested parties may comment here, shoot me an Ask, or message me. Uninterested parties may have a nice day, stay safe and healthy, and I will let you all know when I start posting this monstrosity.

[bookofmirth]

The thing I want to ask is not related to hofas because I haven't read any spoiler till now (THANK GOD). My question is about ACOTAR5.

I read the books a year ago so I've never been in the fandom when sjm released a book and I wonder if people already knew that the next book is for Nessian. Like she didn't just say it's for Nesta and we had to wait and see who is her love interest.

I have this fear that she only would say who's the next book is about and not mentioning any love interest. Cause I'm genuinely tired lmao

I know y'all been here longer than me and I can't imagine how you survived I already feel burned out and exhausted by this whole ship-war and I wished sjm would've made it clear long ago so anyone who might not enjoy an specific thing, just move on and never look back...

This fandom is the only one I've been in and I've seen people have blogs to hate on the series? Like you waist your time to read a whole series that you know you hate from early on and you kept reading and not only stop there but create an account to hate the series and shame others for liking it?

So yeah I love this series even tho it's so flawed but the characters talked to me and that's the only reason I love it and I love to talk about it with others but I always have to be cautious so I don't have someone to send me death threats and bullying me... (I was naive the first few months so it was the worst experience)

I'm so sorry you've had a bad experience right away 😭 People come to fandom because they loved something a lot, and the way the acotar fandom is, a lot of them do not give a shit and are ready to tell you why you're wrong and deserve horrible things because of it.

You just have to find your group of people and learn how to block the users and tags that are taking the joy away from you. It sucks that it has to be that way, but at least we have the tools to do so.

People did know that Nesta's book would be her and Cassian! I don't think anyone really ever questioned their ship since the bonus chapter in acomaf, though. Not the way they debate the three possibilities for acotar5. The blurb for acosf mentions Cassian by name, so I'd love to think that we will have such clarity for acotar5. It's not outside the realm of possibility, considering the fact that she said the following books focus on a romantic couple each, getting together. And normally, you know going into a romance exactly who is going to end up together.

If people could quit moving the goalposts, that would help a lot. I have a lot to say about that, but I am also tired haha. Suffice to say that people have been arguing against Az ever getting a book of his own for a reason, and if he is announced as the next MC, people who aren't in complete denial will know exactly what that means - even if his LI isn't mentioned.

[gingerjunhan]

So ermmm, I'm back 😦

So basically I'm back to request something 😀 yeah after being gone for 2 weeks, I'm finally ready to simp for gunil (have to take baby steps with Jun han or else I'll freak out again)

So I was wondering if you had any headcanons for gunil with a reader a lot like discord from mlp. Just completely and utterly chaotic and doesn't really understand friendship, but gunil was their first and only friend.

Also Im going to send some anonymous requests too but I'd like to be 🧈 anon again :3

Nice to be back!

☆彡 welcome back 🧈anon! Thank you for your help on this one- I hope it turned out the way you wanted!

word count: 585 | pronouns used: none | genre: fluff, platonic | cws: Jiseok spotting!, swearing, mini argument?, reader doesn’t have many friends, not proofread, lmk if I missed anything!

It was pretty typical for you and Jiseok to pick on each other while you were gaming. While you wouldn’t really consider yourself close with him, it was still something the two of you liked to do.

“Wooooow, Jiseok,” you teased. “You really suck at this game!”

“At least I’m not as bad as you!” He argued. The two of you were three games into a heated Smash Bros. session, and you were currently beating him 2-1. As you were about to start a new round, Gunil entered the room.

“Hey guys,” he said with a smile. “What game are you playing?”

“Oh!” You felt your cheeks heat up. Just his presence alone was enough to make you flustered. “I’m just kicking Jiseok’s ass at Smash again.”

“Shut up, (Y/N)!” Jiseok joked, “I just needed to warm up a bit.”

Gunil laughed, “Sounds fun! You guys mind if I join you?”

“Grab a controller,” Jiseok waved Gunil over, and he took a seat next to you on the couch. “We were just about to start a new game.”

You all picked your characters and the game began. As always, the bantering started again as well. At one point, Jiseok beat Gunil, which made Gunil his newest target for jokes.

“Damn, Gunil, you need to step up your game!”

“Hey!” You intervened, “He’s trying his best!”

“Well,” Jiseok laughed, “he’s not trying hard enough.” Both Gunil and Jiseok were laughing at this point. They both knew the joke was lighthearted, and Gunil knew he was bad at the game anyway. You, however, couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that Jiseok was being rude.

“Dude! Just leave him alone!” You used your newfound anger to beat Jiseok, ultimately winning the round.

“(Y/N),” Gunil said calmly. “It’s okay. It’s just a joke.”

“Yeah, it’s alright,” Jiseok joined, also sounding calm. “I wouldn’t actually be rude to him.”

“Well he didn’t deserve that!” Jiseok gave you a confused look following your little outburst. “It’s funny when you do it to me, but you don’t have to do it to him!” Jiseok clearly didn’t know how to handle this situation. He looked to you, then to Gunil, and back to you again.

“You’re right,” he admitted. “My bad. I think I’m done playing for now. If you guys want me to join again,” Jiseok rose from the couch, “just let me know.” With that, Jiseok quickly made his way down the hall to his room.

“Hey,” Gunil put a hand on your shoulder. “It was alright. He was just picking on me. I wasn’t offended.”

“But…” Gunil had been one of your only friends for a while now, so you cared about him deeply. He had introduced you to Jiseok, but you still felt the need to protect him from his antics. “You don’t deserve to be treated that way…”

“It’s alright,” Gunil reiterated. “You don’t have to worry. I can take the jokes, okay? I’ve been putting up with Jiseok’s jokes for long enough,” Gunil laughed.

“Okay,” you gave him a shy smile. “As long as you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” he smiled back.

“But if he ever hurts your feelings you let me know!”

Gunil laughed again, “I doubt that will happen, but you’ll be the first person I call.”

“Good.” You gave Gunil a quick hug, which he gladly returned. “Do you want to keep playing?”

“Sure,” Gunil picked up his controller. “Let’s call Jiseok back in and we can all play together again, okay?”

“Okay!”

taglist: @dazzlingligth , @mini-mews , @mxlly143 , @somethingaboutcheese , comment to be added!⁎⁺˳✧༚

[kuroimarzipan]

To return the ask I was unable to answer for you: I'd love to hear your Kingmaker thoughts! Or Wrath, if you'd prefer.

HELP I MISCLICKED BEFORE I WROTE ANYTHING AND HAD TO EDIT THE POST LMFAO anyway im gonna answer for kingmaker only tonight cause i gotta go to bed and i spent too long writing shit out but i might reblog this and add answers for wotr on after work tomorrow lol

Favorite Male Character okay so i could be normal about this. i could. or i could let everyone here know that i mentally put together multiple AUs where esteem got together with dragn after witnessing like three lines of dialogue. yea the smith guy. the one without a portrait even.

BUT if i had to be more normal about it then its gotta be ekun. i just want that guy to be happy and i really enjoy how weirdly well he gets along with esteem. also he's like. the most ruthless good character ive seen in a while which i really find interesting. makes a great minister too. he just has this reassuring presence in your party like hes got your back you dont have to worry. also: dogy :^)

Favorite Female Character

okay so i went into this game assuming kanerah would be my fave and i was like. ready to finally not have to headcanon a romance and shit. and then this bitch named valerie came along. and oh my god she's such a piece of work. so principled. so hypocritical. so abrasive and easy to rile up. she's loyal because she's decided to be loyal. she turns on you for wanting to kill a guy early in act 2 and then turns BACK on him because he hits on her. she doesnt even realise shes gay. ever since she killed fredero because esteem pushed her to do it ive been thinking about it. ive not read the dialogue for her canon straight romance or whatever because honestly i dont care whatever the fuck im doing to her in my head is way more interesting to me. ive done all the stuff for her hellknight ending and im very excited heehee.

Least Favorite Character

kingmaker is interesting in that i had a really poor first impression of a LOT of the companions, but after having gotten to know them, i... honestly dont rlly hate any of them?? there's still a few companions that end up benchwarming for me bc i just like others more, but its really not been like wotr where the party lineup was so polarising for me lmao

WAIT I JUST REMEMBERED JHOD. fuck that guy. i dont even have a particular actually good reason either. i just think his vibes are rancid

Favorite Ship

specifically that moment when hegend drew his weapon and went to attack valerie and the moment combat initiated esteem hit him with the chains of light which was followed by a maximised empowered magma blast from kanerah which one shot him. that felt good

aside from that i kinda wanna see amiri and nilak reconcile at some point??

Favorite Friendship

i like that ekun the complete and utter loner was the person that taught esteem how to actually have friends instead of just manipulating people into appreciating her. i like to think he figured that out by the time his last quest rolled around. they have this kinda silent trust.

Favorite Quote

this was such a good moment to me specifically because of the circumstances of esteem having been chased out of its home because of what it is and then having tartuk tell it that it would never understand?? it was COLD AS ICE telling him that before dealing the killing blow and taking his crown. defining moments tbh

Worst Character Death (if any)

i have a feeling this is yet to come for me 🙃

This made me so happy you have no idea Moment

maybe its silly but thee loyalty these two have hehehe

Saddest Moment

TBH another thing i think is yet to come for me.... i know that last act is gonna hit hard

Favorite Location

the swamp witch's hut... i actually really love the old beldame and all the lil storylines going on in that map so so much it rlly helped me solidify a bunch of important things abt esteem's backstory too lol

[jackiewepps]

Anime Talk - Something Different

I don't know if I'll post this or not, I'm only writing it to get my thoughts and feelings in order because after watching the last episode of My Home Hero, both my thoughts and my feelings are all over the place.

I issue a spoiler warning as I will be talking about the whole series. Please only read if you have watched the whole thing or don't plan on ever watching it, or if you just don't care about spoilers.

For this whole season, My Home Hero has just hit me so many times, and it certainly hasn't been kind about it. For one thing, I was definitely not ready for the father to murder his daughter's abusive boyfriend in the first episode. What the boyfriend, Nobuto's gang exposed the father, Tetsuo and the mother, Kasen for afterwards... well, I wasn't entirely ready for that either, and certainly not the video that Tetsuo was forced to make after that. I was ready for a lot of things, but not for... the majority of what they showed in the anime.

In short, I think when I first started watching the series, I was expecting mystery. But what I got was thriller, and an emotional one at that.

Why was I hit so hard emotionally by it all? Well, that is easy. The main characters, Tetsuo, Kasen and Reika (the daughter) are the three members of a loving family. I assume I'm not the only one who is lucky enough to be a member of such a family. I never want to see my parents do what Reika's parents did. The only thing I have seen my dad murdering for hurting his child was a table bench set for children that left a splinter in my sister's butt and made her cry (she was still very small then). Anyway, while the parents are nothing like mine in personality, the bond they share is similar.

I also had a lot of mixed feelings about who to support. I wanted to support Tetsuo and his wife because... well I understand their motivations completely. However, then there is Kyouichi, whom I just really began feeling sorry for. I really hoped I'd get to see him reclaiming his father's business. But Kyouichi is a gang member, and Tetsuo... well he killed someone and is trying to get away with it. He does it to protect his family but... While I never thought he deserved to be killed for protecting his daughter from getting killed in an abusive relationship, I still think he should at least have served some time in jail. Had Tetsuo turned himself in to the police, he would only have gotten that punishment, being sent to prison, as Japan usually only give the death penalty to people who are guilty of murdering multiple people. Throughout the entire anime, that's what I was hoping would happen in the end, that Tetsuo would get the gang to leave his family alone, then go to prison and serve his time there. But that hope was all out towards the end of episode 11 and completely extinguished at this point.

So, what happened? Well, Nobuto's dad, Matori, found out that his only family, his son, was dead and swore revenge on the murderer and their family. Kyouichi, who has been framed for Nobuto's murder, finds out who really did it and tells Matori. Matori then goes to Reika's apartment to search for signs that that was where his son was killed. However, there is Tetsuo, sleeping peacefully after having just escaped execution by the gang because he was the one who framed Kyouichi. He and Matori meet and Matori tries to kill Tetsuo to avenge Nobuto, but Tetsuo can't let himseelf get killed as Matori tells him that his wife and daughter will be next. The two fight to kill each other. It causes a lot of noise and the police is called to the apartment, but while Tetsuo is choking Matori to death, he convinces the police to leave them alone and once the coast is clear, both from police and gang menters, he disposes of Matori's body and Nobuto's remains at a deserted part of a forest out in the mountains. Then he goes home to his worried wife and daughter. A while later, Typhoon no. 11 hits their area, causing earth and rocks to slide down the mountain, further covering the grave that Tetsuo made for his two victims.

I think I have inherited part of my dad's thinking. When he reads mystery novels, he wants to see the mureerer getting punished. I want to see that too, so in a way, it really bothers me that Tetsuo actually gets away with murdering, not once, but twice!

In a way, I wish I could recommend this series to someone but... well, my dad will probably hate it because of the ending and like the rest of my family, he doesn't seem to watch something he knows is anime. I'd say, you need the stomach for a story where things are a lot different. In a way, it is realistic. There is no pure good, nor any pure evil among the people that are featured the most. The innocent ones in this would probably be Nobuto's first girlfriend, Hibiki, and then Reika, who wasn't his girlfriend as much as she was "the other woman" without even knowing it. They never did anything criminal.

So yeah, My Home Hero has quite a different story from what I have seen in fiction so far. It has sympathetic, but very criminal characters everywhere, a summary that almost makes you think mystery and a plot that makes you think thriller. It has a great opening soundtrack and an almost as good ending soundtrack. Every character seems well written and it has a somewhat abrupt end. It even has some lose threats, like why are the members of the gang interested in Kasen's family? What kind of people is her family, why did Tetsuo take her family name if the family did not approve of their marriage? What happened to Kyouichi in the end? Things like that were things I wondered about as the series ended. So yeah, it has a little bit of a lot of things. Watch it if you want, but at your own risk. It's definitely not a series for children, or people who can't stand violence, threats of violence, threats of rape and death.

Thank you for reading. I think I will post it.

[princessbettina]

Beautiful Lady: A Liam Shawcross x Female OC Reader: Episode 1 Part 1

Introduction notes: It's your day off from work and it just so happens to be a Friday. What better way to spend your night especially then being outdoors in the beautiful city that I called my own. Along the way, I met up with some girlfriend's from work and I all go into a comforting little jazz bar. All is groovy, especially when I see him (Liam Shawcross) singing onstage. I become drawn to him and want to make myself known to him, at least say hi.

I do not own any of the characters in this, except for Theresa because she is me.

How will the meet up go? What's in store for the night and future? Let's find out together, shall we?

This story is inspired by the 2020 show, "High Fidelity" with Zoe Kravitz and Thomas Doherty (as Liam Shawcross)

*

Today's the best day ever. Wanna know why? It's my day off. Yeah, I like my job and all but business has been pretty busy lately and I think I deserve a break and today is just what I need.

My day was spent by running multiple errands here and there and that kept me busy for the majority of the day. Once the sun was setting and it slowly became darker outside, I knew that it was party time.

I changed out of my daytime outfit and put on something more relaxing but cute,(which was this comfy cozy and soft to the touch white fleece, my favorite plaid mini skirt, and knee length boots that completed the look) for my night on the town.

Where I was going, I have no clue. Hopefully it'll all be one thrilling and groovy adventure.

When I was ready, I leapt out of my apartment and let the adventure begin. I left my quiet neighborhood and entered the loud and busy night life of my city. I've been walking for a while and low and behold, I ran into some of my girl friends who also worked with me.

I totally wasn't expecting to meet up with them but it was groovy and I really enjoyed their company. They were all very excited and happy to see me.

"Ooh oh my gosh is that Theresa I see?" My first friend, Lizzie said sounding flirty and funny at the same time and widened her eyes soon after seeing me from excitement.

Hearing her say that made me chuckle as I walked closer to them. "Heyy Theresa! How are you girly?" My second friend, Felicity squealed while waving at me.

"Hey girls! What a surprise seeing you both out here!" I smiled and said to them cheerfully.

The three of us giggled and hugged each other for a few moments. After that, we chit chatted for a little bit longer and then came up with the groovy plan to spend the rest of the night together.

"Would it be cool if I hung with you two?" I asked and immediately the two girls agreed by nodding their heads with bright smiles on their faces.

"Why of course you can, girly" Felicity softly whispered and gently rested her hand on my shoulder, and as Lizzie nodded with a smile.

"It gets lonely and quiet at my apartment these days, especially after the whole breakup between Cole and I. I need to feel alive again and spending time with my two favorite gal pals makes it so much better" I smiled softly and they both were really supportive, even though I only knew them for about two weeks after starting my job.

Lizzie and Felicity were so welcoming and are the best of friends I ever met.

They're like family to me.

"You're more than welcome to hangout with us anytime, Theresa. You make everything fun and we both enjoy your company." Lizzie winked at me and Felicity nodded her head with a smile more.

I couldn't stop smiling. These girl's were too kind and sweet.

My smile grew bigger and bigger by the minute.

"You girls are the best! I seriously don't know what I'd do without you two. Thank you!" I thanked them and we all smiled more at each other.

Just then, Felicity whispered, "Don't worry! I bet you'll feel alive again sooner than you think. Trust me, girl!"

I widened my eyes and blushed as Lizzie giggled because she over heard what Felicity told me.

I knew exactly what Felicity was talking about, and I really hope that she is right.

"Come on girl's! I'm ready to party!" Lizzie squealed as she raised her arms up in the air and began to confidently strut a few steps just before laughing after realizing what she did.

Felicity and I followed and giggled more and began to walk with each other down the sidewalk and enjoyed the outside downtown night life.

After a few more minutes of walking through town, the three of us found a perfect resting spot.

It was this cute and cozy jazz bar. Lizzie, Felicity, and I entered and immediately had to walk up a few stairs that had a bunch of vintage like photographs on both sides of the walls as you made your way up.

As soon as we all made it up, the stairs led us up to the main part of the building which was this pirate themed jazz bar/club.

There were pirate decorations that covered the back wall and a bunch of round tables and chairs filled the room as people sat down on them.

I really enjoyed that already. Starting to feel like home already. People were sitting and they were also walking in and out of the building as they wished and the room echoed with people chatting it up with each other.

Live music was heard that slowly traveled the room as people continued to talk.

Lizzie and Felicity looked at me with big smiles on their faces which made me smile too.

We all looked around the room and could already tell that we loved it here. Felicity gave Lizzie and I two thumbs up, that meant she liked this place. As did Lizzie and I.

The three of had a table and continued to enjoy the atmosphere. We ordered some appetizers for our table, mozzarella sticks and crispy onion rings.

*

As that was done being ordered, I turned my head so I was looking at the stage where the live music was being played.

Seconds after my eyes adjusted from the different colored strobe lights that covered the room and the bright light being shown on the singer on stage, my heart started to beat really fast.

I widened my eyes and my heart started to beat really fast as my ears started to pick up some of the words that was being sung on stage.

I fell back in the chair carefully that was behind me after seeing who's on stage.

The singer on stage was of course and in fact a guy. A really cute and handsome guy at that. Dark brown floppy hair, kind and mega sexy facial features and one amazing and soothing voice, which I think he has an accent. Even groovier!

I had no idea who this singer is but I need to find out now.

After I fell back in my chair, Lizzie and Felicity glanced down at me and giggled softly and then kneeling on the same level as me in the chair.

"Are you alright, Theresa?" I quickly nodded my head and tapped the chair with my fingers, trying to relax my emotions.

I looked up at the male singer and then back to my two friends.

"Who is that, girl's? Do you know?" Felicity smiled while glancing up at the young man.

"That's Liam Shawcross. Extremely talented singer songwriter who's really popular." My eyes couldn't keep off of him.

I brought my thumb/fingers up to my lips and rested them there to hide myself from blushing.

I was falling madly in love with Liam already and I just found out what his name was. Interesting start so far.

Both Lizzie and Felicity knew right away what was happening to me.

They glanced over at each other for a moment and then back at me.

"We know what's going on. You have a crush on Liam!" They both squealed in unison and hearing them say that made me blush even more and giggle non stop.

They smiled and giggled more after seeing my reaction.

"You're absolutely right, girl's! I have a crush on a guy who I literally discovered moments ago. Is that normal? What does that say about me? Don't actually answer that you two haha"

I teased them by giggling which they did too. We continued listening to Liam's songs.

Why was I feeling the way I was every time I looked up at Liam? Was it because of his charm? His voice? I don't know but what I do know is that Liam just might be the distraction or new man in my life that I really need. Anyone's better than Cole.

*

Just like that, Liam was finished. I have to get a way to talk to him. He thanked everyone for coming out tonight and listening to him sing.

The crowd cheered and Liam packed up everything that he had on stage, like his guitar.

"You should go up and talk to him, Theresa" Lizzie bubbled with giggles. I covered my mouth with my hand and quickly shook my head as Felicity giggled too.

"Oh no no no! I don't think that's a good idea. Come on let's go-" I quickly tried to move out but Felicity stopped me.

"Relax,lovely. Just walk up to him and tell him that you enjoyed what he played tonight. There's no harm in doing that, he might like that"

I really liked the sound of that. Lizzie nodded and agreed with Felicity. After whispering curses to myself, I got the courage to strike up a conversation with Liam.

I walked up to the stage as Lizzie and Felicity followed behind me. When I got closer to Liam, my ears began to feel warm and my heart started beating really fast again.

I tapped my fingers against the stage floor and called out to Liam in a polite way.

"Excuse me, Hi Liam!" To my surprise, I got Liam's attention because he looked up and smiled brightly as soon as he saw me.

"Hello there! Thank you for coming tonight and supporting the show." Liam greeted which made me smile and blush a lot.

"You're welcome. I really enjoyed your set tonight. Very groovy songs and voice." I winked at him which made me blush even more and he smiled brightly at me.

His smile is off the charts adorable and I'm already melting.

"Cheers, thank you very much. I appreciate that and am really honored that you enjoyed it. Oh! I'm Liam by the way. Who might you be?" He asked curiously.

I widened my eyes which made Lizzie and Felicity giggle from behind me.

I smiled and continued to feel all the love effects but tried to cool down my emotions but failed.

"I'm Theresa" Liam nodded his head and smiled more at me.

"It's an honor to meet you, Theresa. Hey, if you're not doing anything later tonight, would you like to get together for a drink or something? If that's okay with you and your friends?" Liam suggested.

*

I looked back at Lizzie and Felicity with a bright smile and they both nodded their heads and signaled that I agree to make that plan with Liam.

I turned back to face Liam and nodded my head as he smiled.

"It's a date! I'd love to join you" Liam smiled and the two of us agreed to meet back up with each other, and Lizzie and Felicity in a few minutes in a more calmer bar that was open later than the pirate bar was.

I couldn't believe what was happening and what was about to happen.

I got myself to talk and have a conversation with Liam Shawcross. The Liam Shawcross and now he wants to spend time with me.

I'm head over heels excited about this. I really hope this turns into something beautiful, if you know what I mean haha.

-end of episode 1 part 1

Hello friends! I hope you're all enjoying my new stories. I absolutely and truly adore Thomas Doherty and his characters. I've wanted there to be fanfics of his character when he was on the show called, "High Fidelity" back in 2020 with Zoe Kravitz when he played Liam Shawcross, but unfortunately there's no stories of his character.

I decided to give it a try and write my own and this is it. I really hope you all enjoy this and I'll see you all in the next episode / chapter. As always, your feedback and suggestions are always appreciated :)

[facets-and-rainbows]

I've been on a bit of a nostalgic Yugioh kick for the past week or two, so I thought I'd share my very favorite bit of furigana/spelling shenanigans.

Hope you're ready to see me write, like, an entire second bonus dissertation on tiny subtle orthography choices in my favorite Yugioh character's name!

So. Japanese is written with several kinds of characters:

Kanji have both a sound and a meaning. They're used for most words (at least the parts that don't conjugate etc) and they tend to be fairly complicated, like this: 獏良

Hiragana are phonetic characters used in native Japanese words that either don't have kanji or don't commonly use the kanji. They tend to be simple and curvy, like this: ばくら

Katakana are phonetic characters that are used for foreign words, emphasis, and a handful of other things. They tend to be simple and angular, like this: バクラ

Sometimes very small hiragana (or rarely katakana) are placed alongside kanji words to remind the reader how to pronounce them, especially in things like shounen manga where the audience may not know that many kanji yet. The small characters are called furigana.

Most words have a standard spelling that uses either kanji, hiragana, katakana, or a specific mix of them. But if you know what you're doing you can spell them with a different type of character to give a different nuance!

If you write a word in kanji that would normally be in hiragana or katakana, it gives off a kind of stuffy or stilted or old-fashioned vibe.

A word in hiragana that would normally be in kanji or katakana can feel soft/elegant/approachable, or it can feel like it's meant for kids who can't read kanji.

A word in katakana that would normally be in kanji or hiragana feels...emphasized. Loud, like you bolded it or something. Or sometimes it seems sleek and modern, like a recently borrowed foreign word.

And the Yugioh manga uses this to distinguish between (Ryou) Bakura, one of the main character's friends, and (Yami) Bakura, the evil spirit possessing him who happens to go by the same name.

Names are normally written in kanji, and this is a shounen manga so the kanji come with furigana For The Kids. The standard spelling for Bakura is 獏良 (ばくら). Like this:

(sorry buddy, I'm taking examples from a scene where you're hurt)

But that changes when he's possessed! Possessed by something foreign, loud and pointy. You know what else is foreign, loud, and pointy? Katakana, that's what. In katakana, Bakura is spelled バクラ.

And Yugioh characters switch to katakana when they're talking about Yami Bakura! Like really reliably! Look at this:

And that's not the best part. The best part is when they mean BOTH Bakuras, or when they're talking about Yami Bakura but want to emphasize that the nice Bakura is still in there somewhere being possessed.

Because when they mean both Bakuras, they say the name in kanji but the furigana are in katakana instead of the normal hiragana. 獏良 (バクラ). Like in this panel that's going through who has which Millennium Items. The Ring belongs to Bakura, as in, like, both of them:

ISN'T THAT JUST THE BEST SUBTLE LITTLE SPELLING CHOICE?? Look at it! It's kanji-Bakura, but with katakana-Bakura attached! Just like what's happening with the actual guy!

I love the attention to kanji/hiragana vs katakana vs kanji/katakana for Bakura's name. There's even a point where his name is spelled THREE DIFFERENT WAYS over the course of TWO PAGES:

This is from when Yami Bakura loses to Yugi in the Battle City finals and, importantly, chooses to take a giant energy blast to the face himself to shield his host body from the fallout. And as we switch Bakuras, the name Bakura does like...a cross-fade from katakana to hiragana:

The life point counter reflects who was dueling: バクラ in katakana for Yami Bakura.

Yugi is having a lot of Thoughts and Feelings about seeing Yami Bakura act like only mostly a bastard instead of like a complete bastard. He protected his host! (For selfish reasons but eh?) So Yugi is thinking of both Bakuras for a sec there: 獏良（バクラ） in kanji/katakana.

And then he's mostly just worried about his friend being injured and passed out on the ground, so we're back to regular standard spelling: 獏良（ばくら）in kanji/hiragana.

I JUST THINK IT'S NEAT OKAY

[stxxryvoid]

Hi of requests are closed feel free to ignore this

Im currently havong a very bad episode of depression a d struggling to eat and interact with others.

May i request comfort canons for a reader who suffers from depression with Aether,Scaramouche, Xiao, Zhongli,Kazuha, and Gorou please?

Thank you in advance

I'm really sorry to hear that, but I do hope you get better!

I didn't know if you wanted it to be romantic so I tried to make it where it could be interpreted both ways platonic and romantic but failed miserably during Kazuha and Zhongli's section sorry :'). Reader is also GN

Genshin Character's with a reader who suffers from Depression (ft. Aether, Scaramouche, Xiao, Zhongli, Kaedehara Kazuha, and Gorou)

××××××××××××

Aether

You had been traveling with Aether (And Paimon) for a while as you were also looking for something that something being never-ending Adventure!

Now when you hang around with someone almost every day of your life you will start to pick up their habits and so on so forth.

Meaning that when you refused to eat when the three of you scored a long awaited and deserved meal at Third-Round Knockout he became slightly suspicious.

He told himself you were tired because traveling non-stop and solving nations problems is of course tiring but as you got up and walked away, after a while he noticed that wasn't the case.

You refusing to eat continued on and even if you did it was something small something like 1-2 Sunsettia's.

The final signal for him was when you told him "I don't feel like adventuring anymore."

He was shocked to say the least when you had first met you were so passionate about venturing to see the outside, you always talked about it with a bright smile and such enthusiasm that he almost didn't believe what he was hearing.

He wouldn't panic or yell at you because he's rather calm. Instead he'd crouch down to your level and hug you as you cried into his chest or shoulder.

When and if your ready to talk about it he'd listen and wouldn't interrupt only after you'd finish talking he would speak.

"I've been where you are, feeling hopeless and thinking that there was no hope whatsoever so please believe me when I say this..There is nothing wrong with feeling as if you can't do it anymore, if you truly wish to stop adventuring I shall respect your wishes, but things won't always be as bad as they are now, I can't say the bad things will disappear completely but they will get better. You have me by your side to make sure of it."

Scaramouche

Scaramouche is very attentive even if it seems he isn't listening.

He wouldn't wait after the first very few signs of a dejected mood he'd ask you what's wrong. In his own way at least.

"What the hell are you sulking around for. We have things to do."

You were already in a bad mood so when he said that to you in a harsh tone you started to cry.

He simply stared down at you with a slightly shocked expression on his face but it wasn't that noticeable.

Childe who was also in the room gave him a look of disappointment before leaving and only then did Scaramouche actually begin to comfort you. Once again in his own way.

"What are you sobbing hysterically for?"

Despite the words being semi-harsh there was a gentle tone to it.

You ranted to him about how the work is becoming to much and the constant need to keep up your reputation as a harbinger was becoming draining.

In all honesty he wouldn't know what to do. He's never had any real affection so he'd be clueless watching you cry.

That was until he remembered something Childe had told him. "Women love head pats! Good for any occasion especially comfort. Maybe when you get your-"

He dismissed the rest of the thought from his head as he hesitantly put a hand on your head rubbing it slightly.

"Don't bottle up your emotions next time. I'm here so you can rant your ridiculous musings to someone...Not that I'd care." (He'd care and he'd listen no matter what he said.)

Xiao

He knew that you were sad but he wouldn't know it was major until you specifically told him.

He'd immediately get angry.

Not mad at you but at himself for not noticing your pain.

He pushed the thoughts to the back of his head for now addressing the problem at hand.

He too like Scaramouche wouldn't know what to do.

He'd steadily make his way over to you before gently enclosing you in a hug offering the only immediate comfort in which he knew.

He'd stay there with you on the balcony of Wangshu Inn as long as needed till night fall where you sat in silence looking at the stars.

His way of affection is usually actions not words but you couldn't help but tear up when he spoke all of a sudden.

"I apologize for not noticing your pain sooner. If you ever happen to feel such a way again come straight to me or call my name. I'll be there for you."

Zhongli

This man has lived for thousands of years. He'd know immediately when something is wrong.

He too like Aether would approach this calmly.

He'd ask you what's wrong and if you don't feel like telling him at the moment that's perfectly fine. He'll wait, he's a patient man.

Either way when you do spill your emotions out to him I promise you'll be glad you did. I say this because you got it off of your chest and the things he would do comforting you.

He'd offer to make you some tea and if you accept he'll make it as quickly but gently as possible.

Whilst you drink your cuddled up next to him as he wiped the drying tears off your face with a napkin holding you close to his chest once again.

"My love, if you ever need anything I'll be there to assist. Whether it be taking down a god or moments like this, I'll be with you the whole way."

Kaedehara Kazuha

(I couldn't pick just one of the poems for this one so pick which ever you like)

The winds told him something was wrong in fact he noticed before that and took the wind's conformati

on on the matter as a sign to act.

Once you weren't busy he'd take you to one of his favorite locations simply out of instinct.

Once you let it out it doesn't matter what your ranting about he'll listen with his full attention and do his absolute best to comfort you.

As you laid your head in his lap he planted a light kiss on the top of your head with a contented "Hum."

He'd do anything you ask of him to make you feel better to jumping off a cliff or playing a tune on a leaf.

He'd offer you words of comfort with a poem and if you didn't understand the meaning behind it he's content with you understanding his intentions.

"Everybody has things they wish not to recall. Into Each life some rain must fall." (Anonymous)

"Keep holding on as life goes along. Pain is short-lived as you are so strong." (Colby Barker)

Gorou

(I love Gorou but I couldn't think of anything much but I did try my best)

Gorou is very reliable and you knew he cared for you deeply so you had little to no problems ranting out to him. To the best of your ability at least, you stopped in the middle of a sentence and started crying.

He'd offer you a shoulder to cry on, a hug, the cake he was saving for the end of the week. He'll do anything.

He'll let you pet his ears if you desire (I'm jealous)

He'd tell you "It's okay if not even you understand your emotions right now." giving you the time to calm down as the two or you sat on the porch of a house the breeze slightly ruffling his ears.

He'd let you cling to him and cry as much as you want whilst telling you.

"The tears we shed are the words we cannot express at the given moment. Take all the time you need."

××××××××××××

So I started writing this around 10:00pm it's 11:30pm-ish as I'm writing this and I'm somewhat tired so time to hit the hay