#wizard of the crow is amazing

[rubencondrai]

Favorite books I read this year (2023)

Wizard of the Crow by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (magical realism, satire)

The Swarm by Frank Schätzing (science fiction)

Uzumaki by Junji Ito (manga, horror)

Jazz and Palm Wine by Emmanuel Dongala (short story collection, satire)

Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta (queer historical fiction)

Kleine Geschichte Indonesiens by Fritz Schulze (non fiction, history)

Babel by R.F Kuang (historical fantasy)

A Blood Condition by Kayo Chingonyi (poetry)

[the-friendly-entity]

[ ~"Meeting the Heroes"~ ] - Cookie Run

You are a Human who found the Earthbread! Meeting cookies all around! how do the cookies react to seeing a human in their kingdom?

Part 1

What contains? Very long post, slightly mention of blood, Spoilers of Cookie Run Kingdom Story

Can be visualized as? None, Cookies meeting you!

Sinse you join to the cookie kingdom from Custard Cookie III, things as slowly to grow to the better! you help cookies with more complex thing thanks of you big size, you friendship with the cookies of that kingdom as been grow more and more, and that not all! thanks of your big size, the creatures of outside feel terrified to even try to attack the kingdom!

Thanks as slowly you earn a good reputation, this caught the interested of GingerBrave Cookie and Custard Cookie III, i mean, you are good human after all! that are a amazing news! GingerBrave thiks you deserve to know more about Earthbread! and Custard Cookie III is interested you meet the Cookie Herores!

Is Kill two bird at once, even if Wizard Cookie still dont trust you, he feel more calm knowing the Cookie Heroes will meet you, knowing how powerful they are and what they will be they opinions about you, with all decide it, no time for waste, soon you and the cookies start a adventure showing you they world!

[ Pure Vanilla Kingdom ]

Their first stop was the pure Vanilla Kingdom, it was way easier to arrive at the floating kingdom with just you! Being them in your hands and putting them in the kingdom, was easy for you as well as seeing the kingdom as it just floating, admiring and wondering how that was even possible! as the kingdom was slowly being fixed, it was not much time the cookie who live there noticed you

Strawberry Crepe

-Surprisingly Strawberry Crepe is not intimidated by your size, due is unculture about Cookie Story, does not know about what are humans, so they think you are a Cookie but a weird and huge one

-Will be asked a lot of questions, "Who are you" "Why are you so big?" "it some sorta magic that makes you that way?" "Why do you look so weird?" at least is not from the common cookies afraid of you, so is a good change

-Explaining Strawberry Crepe what you are is...hard, they dont believe in humans even though they have one from them right now, and think is just a make-up story or legend

-Eather way, Strawbery Crepe welcomes you to the Pure Vanilla Kingdom, or well, the rest of it, telling you to be careful because it costs them so much to fix things! worried your size can cause at lot of problems of you try to touch something

Black Raisin Cookie

-This is what you expected, Black Raisin Cookie is extremely shocked, confused, and having a hard time processing is there a human in the kingdom, as GingerBrave Cookie and his friends greetings Black Raisin Cookie, fastly she asks for an explanation about all this (and I can tell you, if you was not with GingerBrave and the rest, she could already send her birds to attack you/distract you)

-After the explanation she still has a hard to processing this, she dont believe you are that 'good human' as GingreBrave and the rest think (Wizard Cookie agreed) and you just play the long game until you get what you want and show you truly are

-While Black Raisin Cookie and the group discut, you want to pet the little Raisin Crows, is just...so cute! even the animals in this world are made out of food!, you try multiple times to pet them, gently approach your finger to one of them, trying to not scare them and show you are someone to trust, but sadly each time you are so close they just fly away getting distant from you :(

-Eventually, GingerBrave and his friends convince...a little Black Raisin Cookie about you, she makes sure to make you know she have her eyes on you if you dare to hurt GingeBrave- heck any cookie, you just take it, after all, you understand cookies will not be friendly with you, and you can see Black Raisin Cookie have a hard time so you dont want to overwhelmed her

Pure Vanilla Cookie

-The one himself is here, he was for a visit to check how going with everyone or in need of assistance, happy to hear GingerBrave and his friends come to visit too! what a coincident, sadly one he saw you, he just was absolutely terrified, was so off guard he dint have time to mentally prepare

-It takes sometime to calm him down, you just decide to try to look 'smaller' and not say a word, knowing how badly you affect him...you feel awful :(, finally explaining to Pure Vanilla Cookie you are a good human he take a good look at you, of course his mind was full of different thoughts about you, and still trying to process what is happening right now

-While Pure Vanilla Cookie talks with GingerBrave and his friends about you, you soon notice about the staff Pue Vanilla Cookie is holding...it was..creepy, a flower with an eye, and it was moving, and staring at you, changing 'expression', angry, judging, untrust, was hard to try to ignore, and the horrible feeling at having an eye on you

-Finally, after Pure Vanilla Cookie hears all the good things you did and the reason of the meeting, Pure Vanilla Cookie take a moment to think and get another look at you, finally talks to you: "I not gonna refuse this, is surprising to see a human in the Earthworld...nonetheless as show nothing but kindness, I shall allowed you to be here, but careful...you will be punished if you break our trust and no longer being welcome here", you take it and nod, thank him for this and apologies for scared him, something he accept

[ Hollyberry Kingdom ]

Was already hard for you to walk around to the Earthbread world, I mean you are just so big and everything so small....you try as possible to not destroy anything and avoid the amount of damage as possible, but this forest/jungle was so hard for you, thankfully GingerBrave and his friends was helping you to move around so you fall or hurt something

As you contiue to walk to the forest/jongle, the sounds you made and the shaking make the animals run away, this caught the attention of both cookies, Pitaya Dragon Cookie and Tiger lily Cookie, one of them was interested in you, was little cultured about humans, interested in what you are capable of but remained hid to observe why are you here, While Tiger Lily Cookie is scared once figure out who caused all the shaking and the animals run away, was going to do something but as see you with Gingerbrave and the rest was confused, at last, she remained hided observing, if anything happens, she has 2 or even more plans to use if you ever show being "Evil"

As Soon you finally arrive to the Hollyberry kingdom, no longer have to worry about you steps....yet, you take a deep breath, and admire the Hollyberry, this! this was a kingdom! so elegant, so many pretty flowers and so full of alive!, and for the first time your size help you at lot to have the full view of the kingdom, but sadly that will remind not much as caught you off guard the screams

Finally brings you back to reality as see the cookies from the Hollyberry Kingdom being so terrified of your arrival, running away and causing a lot of chaos to try to protect themself from you, hearing them saying "What is that thing!?" "We are doom! we gonna die!" "I dont wanna die!" this hurt you so much...you cant take anymore seeing so many cookies afreid of you, you tell GingerBrave this was a bad idea and should leave...

GingerBrave can notice this is affecting you a lot, and trying to cheer you up, they gonna fix this! Just dont give up yet! Strawberry Cookie and Custard Cookie III trying to comfort you, Wizard Cookie just observes you, he thinks you just acting, but seeing you expression....so real, just takes a few seconds to tears appear in your eyes, Wizad Cookie's vision of you is conflicted, you really good? or you are that good at acting?...

Princess Cookie

-but dont you worry! A cookie will approach to see what is going on! and that will be Princess Cookie! She will be not scared but rather surprised! already so interested about you, she approaches you and starts to talk to you "Woah! Hello! who are you?"

-Sadly you was so scared to respond back, afraid that just talking to her would scare her off, Princess Cookie noticed this and asked GingerBrave and his friends what was happening and why everyone was running away and scared

-After the explanation GingerBrave Cookie and his friends tell at Princess Cookie, she understands and soon she calms her people from her kingdom, telling them there is nothing to be scared about and no one is in danger! She could calm some of them but still, the scared expression remained, but at least the chaos was over -She gets close to you again, gently putting her hand on your leg, telling you is ok and it's not your fault cookies are afraid of you, you just special as no one has seen something like you before! and well Cookies can't process see something new, this calms you a little, and Princess Cookie tells you if you ever feel alone, dont you worry! As your friend she will be the cookie to fill that loneliness, she fastly makes you as her friend

Knight Cookie

-He was the second cookie to approach, to find Princess Cookie! as finally found her, he was absolutely scared of you! he already told Princess Cookie to stay away from you! but she fastly shushed him!

-Confused, he can't believe Princess Cookie was so chill with you, sometimes he thinks they parents forgot to add a sense of fear when she was bake, nonetheless, he asks for an explanation and mostly who are you and why you are here

-After GingerBrave, his friends and Princess Cookie explain to Knight Cookie, he take a moment to think about it, to process it and to look at you, he start to ask you some question as he have a judging look, "soo..you are a good human huh?" "why you even here to the first place?", you wish you can respond him, but still affected after the chaos, you blocked to talk, Knight Cookie can noticed this even this is something he find suspicious he can noticed you not in a good mood

-Princess Cookie tell him to be nice to you! even if he wants to obey Princess Cookie's orders/wishes, is part to be her Knight to be worried about her, and keep her safe, after all, even you earn some cookies trust, he will not keep his guard down...

Wildberry Cookie

-As bodyguard of Hollyberry Cookie, he was in the castle with her until he heard the chaos outside, going first to check what was happening, noticing who everyone was running away and so confused, wondering was going on and going to check

-when sees the people start to calm down, he still continues to walk to know the reason why everyone was scared in the first place, soon discovering you, and the Princess Cookie and Knigth Cookie calming the people while they are walking, you were walking the surroundings of the kingdom after all, you can walk in due how big you are....

-He soon asks for explanations about you, and as soon he gets it, he definitely not trust you, why do you want to see Hollyberry? what are your intencions?, he at first denied you going to visit Hollyberry, but as GingerBrave told him you got Pure Vanille Cookie approval, he thinks for a moment

-Finally, he decide to let you see Hollyberry but he will have his eye on you if you dare to try something, he will not hesitate to attack if that happens, soon guide you and the rest of the cookies to see Hollyberry

Hollyberry Cookie

-As much she wanted to check when the chaos is hear, she stay in the castle to calm down the queen and king and wait for Willberry Cookie to inform you the situation, luckily the chaos was stoped something that was a relief and soon Willberry Cookie come back

-As Willberry Cookie informed her the situacion was a false alarm and there someone wanted to see her, as a warning was told it was a human, Hollyberry Cookie could not believe much it was a human, when she went to the balcony to meet this 'human' want to see her, as soon she see you, she surprised, a little scare bu surprised nontheless

-It takes her a moment to process this, after all, not every day you meet a human, having nervous laughs because of this, GingerBrave and friends greetings her and with Princess Cookie and Knight Cookie explain her the situation

-She hears all the explanations, surprised at what you have done so far, and knowing you have Pure Vanilla Cookie approval, she give you a smile and say: "Well look at that! you can be the first human in cookie history to make a big change! I give you my approval as well! I belive you are as good as these cookies tell!" she even give you some juice! well uh..sadly is small as you can imagine, but still you very grateful take it and sip it, it was delicious! Hollyberry promise you next time will give you a big cup of you size!

[ Dark Cacao Kingdom ]

It was pretty cold here, and sadly your big size not help you, at least there was not much trouble on where you walked, the cookies remained hided on your clothes to keep themself warm, anteriorly sometimes they was on your shoulders, as it was easier to them as you can keep them without any problem and having the perfect view of everything! something you dont mind, as slowly you get close as you see the kingdom in the distance, soon as was ready to see the kingdom in a closer view, you start to be attacked

Caramel Arrow Cookie

-She is the one who did the order to attack, she dint recognize you due the fog but your figure/shadow from it was big egnoft to alarm anyone, thanks of Dark Cacao approval that why when you was egnoft close the attack start, to protect the Dark Cacao Kingdom!

-Soon as she hear GingerBrave Cookie and his friend yelling to stop the attack she was confused, she dint stop and ask for a explanation! as the cookies go down from you and rush to the Dark Cacao Kingdom doors, fastly explain the situation, she cant belive what she hearing, the thing she attacking is a human!?, due the insistence and worried of GingerBrave and his friends she order to stop the attack -luckily due was not magic, it dint hurt you so much but still hurts, the most familiar thing you can describe the feeling, is like a needle in fast speed stab you, but now there are multiple of it, and is not a good feeling at all :(, as Caramel Arrow Cookie observe you from the distance but near egnoft to finally see you from the fog, processing you are a human, the cookies help you remove the arrows from you body, for luck much dint arrive to injure a important part of your body and your clothes keep you safe from it, still you bleed a little when was removed

-Caramel Arrow Cookie, now she has heard the explanation now the situation is calm, she has hard time believing you or you being trustworthy, but seeing you just sit on the snow, no longer motivated to get close to the kingdom, she decide to give you a chance, she will see if Dark Cacao Cookie can come to see you

Crunchy Chip Cookie

-While Camarel Arrow Cookie go to talk to Dark Cacao Cookie, Crunchy Chip Cookie as Dark Cacao Cookie bodyguard goes out to keep an eye on you, he just can't belive it, a human is here, in our kingdom, he even have the cream wolfs around you, ready if you made something suspicious (tho he worried about his cream wolfs too)

-As you want and hope the pain from the arrows slowly fades away, you notice the cream wolf, even if they try to give you the best of their scary looks, you cant you just..try to pet them! is just like an adorable small puppy, luckily due they dint see this to happen you caught them off guard, and some of them like the pets! and even want more pets from you! (Crunchy Chip Cookie does not like that but at least is a relief nothing bad happened to his cream wolves)

-He sometimes give you some questions, trying to see your intentions, almost like intergation but without being see as one, you sometimes answer his questions, sometimes GingerBrave and the rest help you answer it!

-Thanks of you petting and interacting with the cream wolfs you feel less overwhelmed and much better <:3, almost making you forgot why you was so scared and sad in the first place, Crunchy Chip Cookie noticed already you was tense, and seeing more relaxed thanks of his cream wolfs he get some ideas from you

Dark Cacao Cookie

-Finally, the big boss is here, when he gets updated about the big shadow from the fog approaching the kingdom, he can't believe he was hearing, a human? after he hears all Caramel Arrow Cookie's Explanation he goes to see you, eyes never leaving yours and his expression already showing untrust and authority, taking a moment to look at you, after all, even though he looks strong outside, is still hard to process he facing a human

-Finally, as see GingerBrave Cookie and his friends approach to him, already told them Caramel Arrow Cookie explains everything, he asks some questions to GingerBrave Cookie and his friends, to make sure about you, after all, you just have like a month with them, are you really that trustworthy?

-As GingerBrave Cookie and friends explain all the good things you did and how nice you are!, you sometimes pets the cream wolfs to try to calm you feeling, even if Dark Cacao Cookie it just a Cookie, he know for sure how to make himself look scary...and you really dont wanna make a bad impression

-After he hears GingerBrave Cookie and his friends, he takes a moment to think and gives you a last look at you, finally he sighs and talks: "It makes me hard to believe you are really that good, maybe you got Pure Vanilla Cookie and HollyBerry Cookie approval to be here, but that not change you could be dangerous or just straight up lying...you will have my approval as well, but take as a warning what happen here, as a show what happen if you ever dare to try to do something funny, understood?", you nod, Dark Cacao Cookie just give you one last look and finally he go back to his kingdom

[ Golden Cheese Kingdom ]

It was hot as you expected when you heard where you were going to go next, a desert made of cheese...tasty but also so hot, and your size did not help much in that factor, yet it also helps for keep the cookies safe from the monsters and it was more hard to you get stuck from somewhere

Yet, surprised you a lot when the monsters of the dessert, no matter the huge size difference, still tried to attack you, very different from other experiences of monsters and animals running away from you as soon as they saw you, you tried as much possible to make them go away and not climb at you or hurt you, even if you can just step on them the idea of that is wrong even if these monster try to hurt you, you dont want hurt them or kill them, the cookies help you to keep away the monster from you

Luckily finally you and the cookies arrive at the Golden Cheese Kingdom!....sadly one thing that the cookies didn't think about was..how can you get into the kingdom? your size in this case plays you a bad take, there is no way you can be in the kingdom because all was inside the pyramid

The cookies start to think, maybe they get in and get Golden Cheese Cookie out to talk to you? yet even so they will take time to go to Golden Cheese Cookie due to how big is inside and you being waiting outside will be dangerous

After long thinking, finally, GingerBrave has an idea, "You can't use your magic to make Y/N smaller like us?" Gingerbrave asks Wizard Cookie, "I can use magic to make things smaller, but I dont know if works with that big..." Wizard Cookie says with a concerned look, even if was a good idea, Wizard Cookie does not know if his magic is enough to make something this big smaller like them, it could not work or affect other factors, "Well, what options do we have, we have to try to see if can work!" Says GingerBrave back, he hopes Wizard Cookie Magic actually works for you

You were worried, you see magic in action but, used at you? you prefer just give up and not make trouble by your presence, yet the Cookies are very Determined and they want really the best for you, so you decide to give in, with Wizard Cookie magic and a lot of effort, closing your eyes, feeling strange at the feeling the magic on you, once you open....you were almost the same size as a Cookie! it works! but is unknown how much longer you can keep this smaller, so everyone has to hurry before the effects go away!

Burnt Cheese Cookie

It feels nice to be smaller once, no longer worried about your size or you accidentally broke something, always worried about your surroundings, The cookies guide you inside, they know the way and avoid any trap, arriving at the door where Burnt Cheese Cookie is protecting

-He already sniffs you, and already knows you are not a cookie, your smell is different, way different, and never smelled before, as GingerBrave and the group explain that you are a human, he is soon surprised about it, he does not show it, but he thought humans are just legends

-GingerBrave and the rest do not need to do the test because they showed they word it to pass, but you need to do it, you are not a fighter, but you dont know how to fight, and your size was the closest thing to help you in "fight" aspects but now was not the case, GingerBrave try to change the test for you, telling about what you have been doing!, even if GingerBrave and the rest say what amazing things as been doing, you have to answer the simple question of the test, you are greedy?

-You think about it and answer in the way, maybe you have been interested in stuff in the past but no longer, you do not seek items or material stuff, but rather people's attention, appreciation, and in resume being with people rather the greedy need of stuff, social interactions as something you see more interested, and as you have been shown of how you help the cookies expecting nothing as an exchange

-You can feel Burnt Cheese Cookie's eyes on you, even are not visible you can feel it, thinking about your answer, it is tense for everyone, eventually, Burn Cheese Cookie lets you pass, as been shown nothing but kindness and pure soul, even showed being disinterested in yourself and rather more interested in help others, you put others over yourself, even show as a kindness way, Burnt Cheese Cookie warns you to have to think about yourself too

Once inside of the kingdom you were amazed! when the cookies say is something you will not expect, they really mean it! it was like a city but almost futuristic and all made of gold! this is even real?? is almost too much to take it of how golden it is, it was overwhelming but you can hold it! the cookies in there are even....weird and sadly familiar, they just act like you do not exist, which is good, cookies will not freak out because "Oh look a human is here" but at the same time, their behavior reminds you of your old home...I guess cookies are not that different from humans only if they get too advanced

Your Cookies friends try to offer you if you like to buy something, something you refuse kindness, even all these things are so amazing and cool, you do not find interest others to just look a it, in the end, you enjoy more the time being with your Cookie friends and the relief and rest of Cookies not be afraid of you, tho you were worried, unknown how much longer Wizard Cookie magic could keep you this smaller, so was a little on a rush, but try to remain your composture as possible to not annoying or freak out the Cookies

As you in your way to meet the Queen, two cookies look at you, Smoked Cheese Cookie can't believe what he sees in his eyes.... do these cookies lose their mind? bring a human to such an important place? as for Mozzarella Cookie, she does not mind, rather she is curious about you! She wish she could talk to you, but is better when she wakes up to do so

Golden Cheese Cookie

As you meet Golden Cheese Cookie, you don't expect she was big, you are not fouled now you are small, just the other Ancient cookies was a little bigger from any normal cookie, but she was a giant different of other cookies!

-Golden Cheese Laugh at you surprised at her magnificent, it was a good sign to see her laugh at you, at least you do not give the wrong picture as you did with the others Acient Cookies

-As usual, your cookie friends tell her about you, but Golden Cheese Cookie is a step ahead and says she already knows, she has seen you all the way in the kingdom, the entrance, the city, you were nothing but a well-behaved human!

-You are surprised, dont know what to say about her words, you expected as the other to be confused and even cold at you for who you are but you just speechless of Golden Cheese Kindness

-As she smiles looking at you, she says: "oh please honey, it's like a cat eat you tongue! there nothing to be afreid of, you show you are work it to my approval, as the rest of the Acient expect big stuff from you, now, its time to wake up!"

Soon a very shiny light blind all your vision, and once you finally could see again you was...outside? and big again, almost like you just literally woke of a dream

the explanation is simple! you never actully go inside, it was all a virtual world! and was part of the Cookie's plans, they really wanted to surprise you! you almost can't believe what they saying, it is so vivid it almost dint feel like was an illusion, you were speechless and confused, trying to process it

the REAL Golden Cheese Cookie

-She enjoying see your reaction! the reason she made all this simulation was to keep herself protected and observe you, after all, like the rest of cookies, is not like you just approach a human so casually

-Her approval or what she says there in the virtual world is still and will remain as something true, so no worry about it! she is glad you enjoyed the simulation and her kingdom, or what was before

-You ask what happened to the real kingdom, you were saddened to hear about the war and what happened to the kingdom, you promise you could help her to build her kingdom back, after all, you helped Custard Cookie III Kingdom, so you dont mind help other cookies and kingdoms!

-Golden Cheese Cookie is flattered by your kindness, and she will take it in mind in the future, but for now, she has to do duties first before rebuilding the kingdom back

[ Silver Kingdom ]

Arriving on the island was the hardest task, after all was an island, and you had to move to the water, so you had to use a boat to arrive there, the cookies enjoy the way to the island! after all they had never seen a boat as human size so was just amazed for them!

Walk into the island feels the same as when you go to the Cheese Desert, apart of the a lot of nature you need to avoid to carefully not make much damage, The same as happened the monsters of the island dint care about your huge size and tried to attack you anyway

Caramelon Cookie

-HUGE NOPE, he already lived on a very hostile island, now he needs to face THAT!? he thinks Gingerbrave and the rest are crazy and out of they minds

-He will just observe in the distance, if ever Gingerbrave and the group try to get his attention to get close to you he will leave, he is scared to face you and be crushed!

-he will grow more curiosity as continues to observe you and see how you are, possibly eventually as more time passes will be more confident to approach you, but not today sadly

Silverbell Cookie

-Scared at firts but trying to act stronger due after all is part of the kingdom army, at least he relief seeing you are with Gingerbrave and the rest, so that a good sign

-Gingerbrave and the rest explain the situation to Silverbell Cookie, something still has to process to see a human in the Silver Kingdom, but at least hearing you have the approval of the 4 ancients it changes slowly Silverbell Cookie's mind about you

-Will let you see White Lily Cookie, but can't let you enter the kingdom for obvious reasons, you ok with that after all you dont want to scare the cookies or accidentally break something

-With all settled, Silverbell Cookie with Gingerbrave they go into the kingdom to look for White Lily Cookie!

Mercurial knight

-He already knew something was happening once he saw Silverbell Cookie and Gingerbrave Cookie going in direction to White Lily Cookie, so he put in the way to know what they doing

-After a small conversation with both cookies, he goes to check and defenely, dint expect to find humans after his cookie lives, so decides to keep guard until White Lily Cookie arrives

-He mostly....dont talk, but you know he watching you, observing every move of you, was...uncomfortable, and you understand why so you try to look as friendly as possible and not scare him

-What in his mind? a lot of things, wondering why you here, why after so long the witches were hidden one of the shows their faces, and a lot of more, but his thoughts stop when White Lily Cookie arrives

White Lily Cookie

-Before you two meet, Gingerbrave explains as he can about the situation before you two meet, he tries to tell White Lily Cookie not to freak out knowing the topic about humans will affect her a lot

-Sadly, still preparing her and such, dint work out, as soon she saw you, she was totally terrified, you saw many scared cookie faces before, but White Lily Cookie was the most you know you affected her a lot, and that hurt you

-She will try to "stop" you, using her power to make appear vines to try to make you unable to move, you try to remain as calm as possible even if you are scared inside, the Cookies act fast to calm down White lily before this go out of control

-Calm her was....very hard, is like she was out of herself just because you was there, you absolutely hurt you affected her so much...yet the Cookies could able to calm her down, even if they explained to her about you and the good thing you did and you approval of the other ancients....this was her answer

-"No, I will not give you approval, no matter how far you did to do such things, I can't just let you have approval, there is a lot we dont know about you and your kind, I can't trust you...I'm sorry"

The Cookies was sad about White Lily Cookie's answer, you too but you understand and accept it, after that last adventure you arrive to the Custard Cookie III Kingdom once more, it was nice to meet a lot of cookies, a lot of cultures and different experience, you was surprised this world was bigger and a lot of amazing thing

Even part of these adventures was meeting the Acients Cookies and getting along with them, you also appreciate these adventures you have, you feel not anyone else could experience something like this in real life, and you are very thankful for the cookies for the effort to this to you

[sketchquill]

Aww man, you beat me to it! I've been working on a Wizard of Oz crossover and have been too shy to post it.

In all honesty though, this is amazing! I love your art style and you've done a way better job than I would have done.

If you're interested, here's my take on Scarecrow Wally:

I finished this months ago and... ugh, I just don't like it. I'm a writer, not an artist 😅

A-FUCKING-YOOOOOOO??? AAAAAAAA I love your Scarecrow Wally I think the design you gave him is awesome please don’t sell yourself short I think did an amazing job with this artwork! Also love how you have a crow sitting on top of his pompadour and how Wally looks very amused by it! 💕💖✨💕💖✨

I hope you don’t mind but I drew both of our Scarecrow Wallys together! o (＾▽＾) o

[thesharkwhalewhoohooooo]

Bridgetxfem!oc

Just like in all my other fics, OC’s a lovesick mess.

"Uh... why is that girl staring at my mom?" Red gestured towards a brown haired girl, dressed in an off white blouse, royal blue spencer, and matching blue trousers.

"I think that might be the daughter of Merlin! Oh my god my mom always told me stories of how impressive her magic is! This is amazing! I get to meet Thee Athene! She's an even better wizard than her dad!" Red blinked, trying to process this information dump.

"Okay... why is she still staring at mom?"

"Oh... I don't know, c'mon! She's moving!" Chloe quickly followed Bridget, who was coincidentally going towards Athene, Red followed after a quick glance at Chloe's behind.

"Who blessed her with such a charming ass." Red mumbled to herself, catching up to Chloe who looked at her with a hum, asking what she said. "Nothing."

"M'kay, oh, look!" She quickly whispered, nearly buzzing in excitement as they neared.

Red noticed how panicked the girl looked, eyes wide when she realised Bridget was approaching.

"Oh! Hello Bridget, anything I can do for you...?" Athene trialed off, seemingly enchanted when Bridget stopped in front of her, tipping the plate closer to her.

"Of course! I could never refuse such a sweet offer from you, my heart." Athene picked up one of the pink cupcakes, which quickly turned blue at her touch. "Such a shame I can never seem to enjoy your magic at its fullest." Red arched an eyebrow, what is up with this girl, she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"You're such a tease Athens, you know you can just repress your magic so you don't infect the cupcakes with it!" Bridget beamed, stepping closer to her, Athene's smile seemed to dim a bit, but she quickly leaned closer to the pink haired girl instead.

"I can't seem to control myself around you it seems." Yep, Red knew it now, she was watching some girl flirt with her mom, amazing, just what she wanted to see.

"Silly girl!" Bridget booped Athene's nose, magic sparkles going from pink to purple to blue.

"Silly me..." the girl pushed her gold rimmed glasses further up her nose as she straightened up her posture, clearing her throat.

"Who are your new friends? Don't suppose they're the new transfers?" Chloe smiled and nodded, seemingly excited to have Athene know about her, Red only questioned how she knew.

"I know because my familiar told me... one of them." She waved her hand and a crow landed on it, eyes blue like her magic.

"Oh hello Rodrick! Would you like a treat?" Bridget smiled at the bird, who hopped from Athene's hand onto her forearm.

"Here you... go!" Bridget fished a dog-?- treat out of her pocket, holding it out to the familiar, who took it gratefully.

"You are so nice to my familiars, I'm almost saddened by the fact you won't come to the dragon stables with me, we could always go to dinner afterwards?" This girl had some nerve, asking out her mother right in front of her. They don't know you're her daughter here.

Bridget giggled, smiling at Athene as Rodrick remained on her arm. "You're so nice Athens, but you know I can't, i'm busy rehearsing!"

"I could always join you for your dance? We could make it into a duet? Maybe go matching...?" Ella snorted behind Bridget, giving the brunette a pitiful look.

"No silly! I'll have to change the whole routine!"

"But-..." She cut herself off, sighing, "you must be right, always so remarkably good at seeing the small details." Bridget smiled before she moved onto the next person, Chloe sending her a sorry look as Ella patted her back.

"You're not getting through to her like that miss vague hints, you gotta go like 'fuck it! I love you more than-' blah blah some poet shit, you're good at that right? Don't tell me you'll forget how to speak again?" Athene looked away from Ella, Chloe's eyes nearly falling out at her mother's foul language.

"It was one time, and she was wearing a really pretty dress-."

"Still happened!"

-

"Oh my dear, she's wearing the skirt again! She's-!" Athene really wasn't as cool and relaxed as Chloe had envisioned her, the girl was now roughly tugging on Ella's arm, who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there.

"What's wrong with her skirt?" Chloe asked with a frown, it seemed normal, just a plain pink skirt with a silver heart chain, Ella shot her a look for even asking that.

"She's so pretty..." Athene continued with a dazed stare, nearly collapsing as she lost all feeling of her body.

"Is this that true love thing AK's always speak of?" Red whispered to Chloe, who blushed at how close her lips were to her ear.

"I don't know, i've never seen someone have this big of a reaction to anyone, well, maybe my parents, but even they usually aren't this bad." Red snorted, wrapping an arm around Chloe's shoulders and bringing her closer, watching as her mom approached them.

"Wassup B." She spoke up first, the girl looking up at her with a smile.

"Good morning everyone!" Bridget stood in front of them with her dazzling eyes darting between all of them, eventually landing on Athene, who's eyes widened before she tried to act unbothered, nearly stumbling over Ella when she tried to stand up straight.

"Good morning Bridget-" She cut herself off when she felt a tentacle touch her back, looking over at Ella with an apologetic smile before she was snatched away by a tentacle around her waist.

"Hi Uliana!" Bridget smiled at the sea witch, who had a glare pointed back at her and Athene dangling in the air a bit behind her.

"Bridget." She near growled out, stalking away as Athene waved.

Bridget sighed when they rounded the corner, pouting as she stared at the ground.

"Gosh, why is she always so hostile! I'm just trying to be friendly here!" Ella snorted, holding a hand in front of her mouth to hide her smile.

"Honestly? She's just like that, but nothing will convince you to stop trying, so i'm keeping my hands clean." Bridget deflated even more from that.

"But I know someone who'd love to get friendly with you." Red wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, Bridget blushing and looking away from her shyly.

"Huh. What? Red what do you mean?" Chloe looked over at Red, who looked back at her, their noses basically touching.

"Sex." She should not have said it that slowly nor that seductively, -Chloe's interpretation.-, and it made Chloe's cheeks flare up.

"You- you rascal! What is wrong with you-!"

"I mean Bridget you really should get some action, being single for too long isn't good, also, castlecoming is soon!" Bridget stayed silent for a bit, then hesitantly looked up at Red with questioning eyes.

"Go out on that dragon stables date with Athene, you'll love it."

-

"Oohhh, look who finally got someeeee!" Ella winked at Bridget, who flushed red.

"Really? First thing in the morning?" The pink haired girl grumbled halfheartedly, looking away as she crossed her arms.

"You're not denying it~" Red teased, Chloe hitting her arm.

"Hello gorgeous, how was your sleep?" As if she couldn't get any redder, Athene appeared behind her and snuck her arms around her waist.

"G-good-."

"Must've been awesome after what you two did."

"Ella!"

[rubyroboticalt]

QBLR QUARTERLY part 2!

That's right, this report needed two whole posts. Onto the news!

Who let wizards on the server? Zpca's laboratory is discovered in far-off salt flats. Ruby terraforms a black sand beach and takes possibly the worst screenshots of it ever. My liege, you have advanced darkness on. Cheez returns home after a long while away.

And now, a reading from r/malelivingspaces. Orange acacia walls. Shroomlight peeking from above the ceiling and on the lower wall. Orange sandstone ceiling. Meaty red floor. Large desk on the right wall. Single acacia chair at the desk. Unidentifiable orange metal in the wall. This has been a reading from r/malelivingspaces.

Brie reaches a milestone of over 500 deaths, only 1/4 of which are the result of player kills. Dollie participates in a magic ritual with friends! Hivi crafts every single attainable plushie thrice. Ladel has some family bonding time.

Glitch finishes their gardens. Splat and their family convert an airship into a spaceship with airlocking and amenities! On the last two days of play, the Void Worm is unbanned. Residents jump at the opportunity to kill such an elegant beast. Berry organizes a room full of all the flowers in the game.

The mysterious salmon receives some hugs and love from Appie and the bog. Sweetpea tries and fails to go to heaven. Gummy shares the longest playtime of the server, totaling over 45 and a half days. Moo finishes a chapel for their religion.

Inc finishes a tower with which to escape impending apocalypse. Apple finishes the portalfolks garden and invites guests to leave a note in the guestbook. Popcorn celebrates a birthday in the last day of server time.

Oh my lord, audience, do you remember the call to keep a lookout for Spamton after the court case special? It's a good thing we did -- he tries crashing Popcorn's birthday party! And who is there to stop him but WD Gaster himself! I don't believe it!

In the last hours before the end, residents make final arrangements to escape to other worlds. Chunks begin to be consumed, as the Dark Magician harnesses the magic power and energy put into this world for one final clearing of things.

And with that, I'd like to thank Grace, Levlies, Crow, Lim, and Qrth for being an all-star admin team keeping the server running smoothly. Thanks to Ven, Vern, Angel, Cand, Elli, Jay, Mack, Neon, Niko, Percy, and Val for being a super-attentive super-supportive mod team making sure bugs got fixed and lost items were returned. Thank you to Mira, Danny, Jace, Inc, Roy, Glitch, Solaria, Appie, and Cassi for being an amazing bog commune. Thanks to all the other players I haven't mentioned for making the server such a beautiful, lively place. And thanks to you, humble viewer, for coming on this journey with me.

link to part 1

[deconstructthesoup]

Some thoughts for a Dead Boy Detective D&D AU:

Edwin: He would absolutely be a School of Necromancy wizard. Everything about him screams wizard, and I think him being a necromancer who uses his abilities for good would be pretty in-character for him. In fact, we could even go one step further and say that he's a Reborn (who are essentially the D&D version of Frankenstein's Monster, and they are insanely cool and fun from a roleplay stance alone). Maybe he got brought back to life after some time in Hell, maybe he was able to bring himself back... there's a lot of possibilities there.

Charles: Oath of the Watchers paladin, hands-down. I know, most people tend to peg him as a fighter, but hear me out---first off, he canonically fights with a magical weapon, and you know it would be cool as hell for him to cast Smite with his cricket bat. Second off, his whole deal as a Dead Boy Detective feels very Oath-of-the-Watchers coded, since they're all about guarding the material world from extraplanar forces. And third... he's a punk. Paladins are punks. Also, he's gotta be an elf. Probably a wood elf instead of a high elf, but elf is non-negotiable when you're putting Charles I-Have-Cute-Pointed-Ears Rowland in a fantasy setting.

Crystal: Aberrant Mind sorcerer, kalshatar. Because, well... *gestures to her everything* yeah. Also, Crystal deserves to go full-on eldritch entity.

Niko: I personally think that she'd be an amazing College of Creation bard---and this might just be because that's my favorite subclass for my favorite class, and she's my favorite character, but she feels very bard to me, and College of Creation is all about seeing the beauty in the world, appreciating life, and making the most out of any situation, which fits our girl well. Also, I think that Niko would probably be the group's token human, which fits nicely with her being the only non-magical member of the Dead Boy Detectives in canon.

Monty: Circle of Stars druid, kenku. Theoretically, a kenku who could actually converse with people instead of just repeating what he hears, but... astrology crow. What do you want me to say.

Jenny: She was tricky, but I eventually decided that she'd be your classic tiefling rogue---specifically, a Soulknife rogue, with maybe a level or two of fighter thrown in there for good measure. Jenny gives off the vibes of a slightly older adventurer who's kind of grown cynical about the whole thing, but she's still tagging along with a younger, more starry-eyed crew because somebody needs to keep them alive.

Esther: Now, while the temptation to make her a Green Hag is very, very strong, I think that might be doing her a little bit too dirty. So, instead, she's a Circle of Spores druid and a Great Old One warlock, and while she is a regular human, she's done a lot of messed-up stuff to keep herself alive and young. I figured that Circle of Spores fits with her necromancy shtick (and also, y'know, Teeth Face), and GOOlock fits with her deal with Lilith.

The Cat King: Trickster Domain cleric, tabaxi. No-brainer, really.

The Night Nurse: Her whole deal strikes me as very Protector aasimar-coded, if not straight-up Celestial-coded. Also, she fits the criteria for a Grave Domain cleric to a T.

[ungodly-amounts-of-godly-trauma]

wotw round 1

propaganda under the cut!

wylan van eck:

Everyone turns him into a baby due to sheer ableism. He can't read, so they turn him into an uwu crybaby. Literally what the fuck. He's a fucking wizard at math and chemistry and he's literally a ball of spitfire behind a sophisticated upbringing. Guy runs on subtle spite. But since he's gay and disabled... He'S bAbY. ugh. also bonus points for everyone using him as an excuse to be racist. They'll make him cry and blame it on an Kuwei (Asian kid) and then say racist shit bc of it. Literally in canon Wylan was just annoyed about what actually happened. And mostly not even at Kuwei. No crying involved.

Listen. Wylan maybe isn’t as experienced at crime as Kaz or the others but he literally makes bombs for a living. His response to not wanting to kill unconscious men is ‘We could wake them up’. His father tried to murder him. Wylan is a badass be gay do criminal, not some cinnamon roll (is it because he’s dyslexic? Is it because he’s the white one in an interracial m/m ship? Is the fandom just bad at reading?)

wylan is unhinged her makes books bombs and loves explosives. he amazing at chemistry and math and music. he is NOT a soft uwu baby that needs saving from Jesper or kaz he can do it by himself

agent 8:

Was a child soldier, lost their memory and got trapped in an underground testing facility, had to complete a bunch of tests BY THEMSELF and collect four thangs, almost got blended after assembling said thangs, and then had to escape the facility, defeat a mind-controlled version of your character from the first game, and save the world, where if you get splatted, unlike the rest of the game, you canonically die. Yet people reduce them to "too pure for this world, needs protected." they are NOT helpless they literally have military training. It's less common now but it was a very common sentiment back when Octo Expansion came out.

[xylofondue]

Ninjago DR S2 Spoilers!!!

Ninjago dr s2 was soo good because it really reminded me of like the Oni Trilogy, which is my favorite group of seasons ever and i really appreciated the callbacks it made like in the Oni trilogy and OMG like it had really good animation and Cole is when hotter than before which i didn’t know could happen but it did and Galadrial??? Wizard lady? Yes please she’s so cool and her character design is mwah chef’s kiss and the Finders are so found family it hurts. Also theory for Fitz since he has a crow mask on his head and marking like Akira, he could be a forgotten formling? Which is pretty sad but maybe. Also the parallels between Lloyd and Arin and Wu and Morro???? Help??!? It is not good in my opinion that Lloyd is trying to be like Wu girlypop you do NOT want to be like him you know how his first student turned out and also apparently Arin learned Shatterspin??? Like the similarities between him and Cinder’s Shatterspins are ENDLESS. I also think that Arin has the FSM’s or Wu’s powers now bc he has golden powers and is ✨special ✨who else in Ninjago have we seen with golden colored powers? Wu and the FSM. Also WHERE IS PIXAL????? Shes dead and never comimg back im convinced also i NEED that Frohicky plush i swear i need it for my mental health its so adorable ALSO NON BINARY FLAG ON ONE OF THE PEOPLE IN DORAMA’S SHOW HAD IT ON THEIR SLEEVE IM SCREAMING AAAAAAAAAAA anyway egalt is a dickbag he should listen to his wife and not rag on Arin pls you are not helping him with his self esteem issues bro. AND THE KAI AND NYA FLASHBACK??? GORGEOUS AMAZING THEY WERE SO CUTE also what was kai’s vision in the tunnel???? Why was he looking at Lloyd and Nya like that??? What happened???? Also Arin is defo going to be manipulated into that Shattering Gong thing like omg. I guessed it ep2 and im sticking with it. They keep talking about how Arin is naive and good and stuff and Ras is taking advantage of that stay away from my baby i swear if you touch the child i will kill you. Also Lloyd is so not doing well. Like it’s almost funny how not okay he is. Bonzle is also officially one of my fav characters and i’m convinced that Zane was Cole’s gay crush or gay awakening bc they were super close and Cole was always more affectionate and touchy with Zane than the others (sorry lava) And Kai is so dad-coded it hurts he deserved to be the one to learn Rising Dragon technique i will fight anyone who disagrees. Also the fears scene was kinda funny like you had everyone else as like devastated and sad, while Nya’s just like “Jay would not fucking do that tf? Clearly fake” unfortunately it’s true and it hurts so much

Um

Good show about legos that i am so normal about.

[18catsreading]

Ayda: you're Cheese of Cannoncourt, correct?

Cheese: yeah, yeah, er wow, uh yea, I'm Cheese. I'm Cheese.

Ayda: my apologies for my lateness. In addition to being the mistress of the Compass Points Library, I also am in a committed relationship with a rockstar who lives in Solace. So I have to split time between those two locations.

Cheese: yeah, oh yea, I know. I keep up with all the papers, and all those -- that's amazing, yeah

Ayda: I am Ayda Aguefort, mistress of the Compass Points. It's been brought to my attention that you are a young wizard, is this correct?

Cheese: uh, yes

Ayda: may I observe your trapper keeper?

Cheese: uh, ooh, yeah. [As Carlos]: he pulls out the trapper keeper and hands it to her. Starts kind of making excuses for it. [As Cheese]: oh, a lot of these, a lot, a lot of the pages are torn. It's a lot, a lot of stuff that I'm scribbling in the notes I had to like, I don't know the real languages or exactly how this stuff works exactly. A lot of that I put, I put together. it's not, it's not --

Ayda: your voice keeps stuttering over and over again, are you nervous right now?

Cheese: -- -- -- I'm always, I'm always nervous, yes

Ayda: why?

Cheese: um. -- --. [Sighs heavily]. I don't know.

Ayda: I'm going to be frank with you. I command the ind and stars. I am a powerful wizard. Last year I stormed the nine Hells to save my paramour. And I also get nervous a lot. It's okay to be nervous, but I hope you are not nervous around me. I heard of your story and that you are off on an adventure to save your brother. This is a noble calling. I hope you do well. Am I conveying to you affection correctly? You're getting that I'm being affectionate, yes?

Cheese: -- -- I don't have a lot of experience, but I guess so, yes. I mean, on paper it sounds 100%.

Ayda: you don't have a lot of experience with affection? I understand that. Leviathan can be an unkind place to grow up. Do you have any family left here in the city?

Cheese: -- -- y- no, not in the city.

Ayda: [narrowing her eyes] very well. [As Brennan]: she casts a spell. Some act of divination, and she says: [as Ayda]: I've asked the winds and the mist of all the 17 seas to come together and agree with you that you have no family here in the city. Any who live in this city that operate under the mistaken assumption that they are your family will find locating you, troubling you, or harassing you, or ever being unkind to you again to be an impossibility. For you and your brother.

Cheese: Thank you

Ayda: here is a very large book of spells. It's a present. I hope you enjoy it. Don't tell me if you don't, it will hurt my feelings.

Cheese: oh! Thank you!! This is, oh, it even has that new spell smell. Thank you! So much!

Ayda: your adventure awaits. The Crows Keep will be open to you whenever you are ready. I'm out of things to say. Do you have any things to say, or are we done talking?

Cheese: -- -- we're done talking. We're done talking, yes.

Ayda: okay. I consider you a friend. I hope you do the same to me. You can think about it, you don't have to answer now. Goodbye, Cheese.

[birdmitosis]

Fanmix-slash-playlist for Slay the Princess! Song list under the cut. There’s 96 songs on this fanmix/playlist, and it’s about 6 and a half hours long.

Some of the songs were not available on Spotify, and they will be linked to on YouTube below. (Some artists have 2 songs on the playlist; aeseaes, The Crane Wives, and Hozier each have 3 because they were just too perfect. Also, some songs are definitely on here because of other people's fanvids or even just suggestions, and I've made note of and credited all of those!) (All fanmixes/playlists are a perpetual WIP.)

aeseaes - All Things Devour

aeseaes - Semantics

aeseaes - Tongues

AG - Terrible Thing

t h e . a i m s - Violence & Blood

Alanis Morissette - Everything (friend suggestion)

Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra - Trout Heart Replica

Amber Run - I Found

The Amazing Devil - The Horror and the Wild

The Amazing Devil - That Unwanted Animal

Andrew Bird - Imitosis

AURORA - Your Blood

Baby Storme - This City is a Graveyard

Band of Horses - No One's Gonna Love You

Beth Crowley - Monster

Blindside - Withering

Bring Me the Horizon - Deathbeds

Camera Obscura - Fifth in Line to the Throne

Chonny Jash - The Soul Eclectic (inspiration)

City and Colour - Little Hell

Coldplay - The Hardest Part

Coldplay - Square One

Collective Soul - The World I Know

The Crane Wives - Curses

The Crane Wives - Hollow Moon (inspiration)

The Crane Wives - Tongues & Teeth

Crystal Castles - Suffocation (inspiration)

David Bowie - Changes

The Echoing Green - Starling

Electric President - Some Crap About the Future

Elizabeth & the Catapult - Do Not Hang Your Head

Elizabeth & the Catapult - My Goodbye

Ellie Goulding - Salt Skin

Eurielle - Hate Me

The Feeling - Mr Grin

Florence + The Machine - Kiss With a Fist

Florence + The Machine - What the Water Gave Me

Forgive Durden - A Dead Person Breathed on Me!

Foxtails Brigade - Long Route

Foxtails Brigade - Nun but the Lost

Ghost and Pals - DEATHBODY

Ghost and Pals - In Iolite

Hannah Fury - Angels & Absinthe

Howie Day - Collide

Hozier - Francesca

Hozier - In the Woods Somewhere

Hozier - Who We Are

Jack Conte - Kitchen Fork (inspiration)

The Jezabels - Hurt Me

Jhariah - Flight of the Crows

Kate Nash - Paris

Kiltro - Softy

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Magenta Mountain

lasah - taixu (inspiration)

Lisa Hannigan - Oh Undone

Little Dragon - Twice

The Lord Dog Bird - The Shedding Path

Ludo - The Horror of Our Love

Madilyn Mei - Knotted Constellations

MGMT - Little Dark Age

Michelle Branch - Everywhere

Mili (feat. KIHOW) - In Hell We Live, Lament

Mirah - You've Gone Away Enough

The Mountain Goats - No Children (inspiration)

The Mountain Goats - Sudden Oak Death

Mr.Kitty - After Dark

múm - Prophecies & Reversed Memories

The Nor'easters - 715 — CRΣΣKS (inspiration)

Olivier Bibeau - Better Run, Better Hide

Passion Pit - Seaweed Song

PEGGY - Villains Aren't Born (They're Made)

Perfectly Human - Bad As

Perfectly Human - Fly Again

Racoon - Took a Hit

Reinaeiry - When the Sun Loves the Moon

Ricky Montgomery - This December

RIProducer - Fruiting Bodies

RIProducer - What Gave It Away?

Sarah Blasko - Bird on a Wire

Satin Puppets - Bad Moon Rising

Seeming - Someday Lily

Sharon Van Etten - It's Not Like

Shayfer James - Boots Worn Through (inspiration)

Sleeping At Last - Mind

Sleeping At Last - Taste

SNAKE POOL - FIGURE IN THE BACKGROUND (inspiration)

Snow Patrol - Open Your Eyes

Solas Composer - He Who Devoured the Dark II

Southwest Statistic - Fairy Tale (friend suggestion)

Stars - He Dreams He's Awake

Subsignal - The Bells of Lyonesse (inspiration)

Sunset Rubdown - For the Pier (and Dead Shimmering)

Talking Heads - And She Was

Trespassers William - I Know

TV on the Radio - Stork & Owl

Woodkid - Ghost Lights

[weirdraccoon]

Flufftober day 4: Cinderella moment

Tomarry - Tom Riddle x Harry Potter

A masquerade ball

The first time Tom and Harry went out in public as a couple was also the first ball Tom attended as junior assistant to the Minister of Magic.

Tom and Harry dated in secret while at Hogwarts for almost three years, but, after graduating, they drifted off a little. Tom was busy climbing ranks in the Ministry, reaching his goal in less than two years, much to the displeasure of pure-blooded traditionalists. Harry was busy learning how to be an Heir and probably fighting his parents about playing Quidditch professionally. 

Either way, the two of them had been busy.

They could see each other maybe once or twice every month. Moments that were cherished by both of them. Harry took advantage of his father’s cloak most of these times and met with Tom near his apartment with no one the wiser.

So, on the night of the ball, Tom was wearing his most expensive robes, the ones he could pay for with his new income. He was poking idly at the mask his boss had extended to him.

Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled when he offered the white crow mask and told him to “enjoy yourself, Tom, my boy.”

Tom couldn’t quite remember if the ball was supposed to be a masquerade, but seeing as Dumbledore wore a red phoenix mask and his companion was hiding under a blue phoenix mask, Tom could do nothing more than put on his own mask.

He spent time talking to people, forming new connections, and strengthening old ones. He also had to deviate people’s attention when they were looking too closely at the Minister’s date.

It wasn’t long, though, until one person hiding behind a mermaid mask bumped into him.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said a familiar voice.

Tom peered into the eyes behind the mermaid’s mask and couldn’t help the smile that grew on his face.

“Finally,” he said, ushering Harry to one end of the salon, near the food table. “I was worried I wouldn’t recognize you.”

“Well, I just had to look for tall people,” Harry joked. “I bumped into two others before I found you. At least they didn’t know it was me who was acting drunk.”

Tom huffed.

“You look amazing, darling,” he said honestly.

Harry did. He was wearing dark green robes that highlighted his lithe figure. The mask was a lighter tone of green, and it made his eyes glow behind it. His hair was as unruly as usual but Tom could tell Harry had at least attempted to flatten it. 

“You too,” Harry said, running his hands over Tom’s shoulders and chest. “And you know- no one knows I’m here. My parents still refuse to cooperate with Dumbledore. My mask and robes are as generic as possible and I just saw the Minister’s date coming out of the men’s restrooms.”

“What are you saying?” Tom asked, smirking at his lovely date.

“I’m saying no one will know and no one will say stupid things when the Minister himself invited his boyfriend to the ball,” Harry whispered then leaned closer to Tom’s face, having to stand on his tiptoes to do so. “Dance with me, Tom.”

“You don’t have to ask twice,” Tom answered, pulling Harry’s hand towards the dance floor.

He could see the Minister and his date holding hands in a corner, speaking quietly between them. He thought he saw Dumbledore’s eyes follow him and Harry when they began dancing, but when he checked again, he saw Dumbledore had his head lowered closer to his date’s. He checked who else was observing their Minister, in case he had to fix some memories, but, to his surprise, most people were looking at him and Harry.

He tensed. Harry chuckled.

“They don’t know, Tom,” Harry whispered. “Enjoy it while it lasts.”

Tom looked at Harry’s eyes and decided that yes. Even if people were looking at them, there was no way they knew who he was dancing with. He has introduced himself to the most important guests, so they’d know he was the one in the white crow mask, but Harry’s shape and robes would make it difficult to guess if it was a with or a wizard.

“One day,” Tom promised in a low voice, keeping his eyes on Harry’s. “We’re going to dance, together, with no masks and no secrets. Everyone will know you’re mine, Harry Potter.”

Harry blushed under his mask and leaned closer in a twirl, wrapping his arm around Tom’s shoulders.

“And you’re mine, Tom Riddle,” he whispered back.

The music ended, people clapped politely, and before the music could start again, Harry fled from Tom’s hands and towards the exit.

Tom watched him go. He would have followed but the Black sisters were making their way to him at the same time, looking for a dance themselves, no doubt. Around him, Tom realized people were wondering who he had danced with. No one saw when Minister Dumbledore left with his date.

[dark-elf-writes]

Hermione with a (Star Wars) Gun anon again. I've not seen Hermione with the nuke like other anon suggested but I have seen Wizards pretty much cause WW3 with Russia's nukes a couple times. On purpose in the case of a few Smart but Very Evil Death Eater fics. I remember no names though.

I've also seen HARRY with a gun. Like... a lot, but more commonly I saw Harry with a sword (including Gryffindor's but not limited to it as I saw Harry with katanas on several occasions even before getting into "Harry is Raised by author's favorite anime/jrpg character").

The clearest "Harry with a Gun" fic I remember was one of the "Harry goes Independent and Smart" fics but one where after using Uncle Vernon's gun (with permission) to execute Death Eaters out to murder him and his family, Harry discovered a near-Diagon Alley "old men's club" of ex-army squibs who fought in literally every British war. Which... uh... That one I think was Old Soldiers Never Die by Rorschach's Blot. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2784825/

There also was at least one Hermione'S FATHER with a gun fic, although I remember nothing about it beyond the name: Dan Granger by Old Crow. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10775872

Both of these sound amazing and I am hype

[y2kbugs]

Ultimate Showdown, but it's Discworld

A dragon was rampaging around

Ankh-Morpork like a big playground

When suddenly Sam Vimes burst out of the Mended Drum

And readied the crossbow’s trigger with his thumb

The dragon got mad and descended upon

But didn’t expect to be blocked by Hrun

Who took Kring the magic sword from out the corner

When Captain Carrot arrived, in shining armor

Then he beat up Hrun like he was on a mission

And Vimes felt like he was being watched by the Patrician

Before he could make it back to Sator Square

Bloody S. Johnson swooped in from nowhere

And took the Gonne out from under his coat

And missed Vimes, he instead got Cut-Me-Own-Throat

But Death caught up and said, “Today is not your day,”

While Sergeant Detritus rushed into the fray

This is the greatest battle in Discworld’s History

Wizards, Witches, and explosions as far as the eye can see

The gods are watching the scene from Cori Celesti

This is the greatest battle in Discworld’s History

The dragon unleashed fire upon the troll

Also igniting Gaspode, who was on a stroll

And then Hrun came back, ready to hack and sack

But the Librarian jumped out and landed on his back

And Sam Vimes was injured and trying not to swoon

When Bloody S. Johnson returned with the clockwork spoon

But suddenly something caught his leg and he fell

Angua took him out with her fluffy tail

Then she saw the dragon sneaking up from behind

And she reached for her sword which she just couldn't find

Cause Vimes borrowed it and he swung and he missed

And the Librarian deflected it with his fist (ouch!)

Then he jumped in the air and he went ook 

While Johnson got hit by a magic book

Where sparks of Octarine flew into the air

Then the Luggage gave them a big ol’ scare

This is the greatest battle in Discworld’s History

Wizards, Witches, and explosions as far as the eye can see

The gods are watching the scene from Cori Celesti

This is the greatest battle in Discworld’s History

Ravens crowed, and out of the sky they dived

While on her broomstick, Granny Weatherwax arrived

Who delivered a glare, which could turn babies old

Into the face of Angua von Uberwald

Who crumbled to the ground, convinced she’s made of dough

As Sam Vimes took out his crossbow

But Granny saw him readying a shot

And she caught the arrow, which was red hot

Then Susan Sto Helit, and Death of Rats

And Maurice and his amazing Rodents, running past

And Tiffany Aching with her frying pan

And lady Sybil Ramkin, Duchess of Ankh

Adora Belle, Moist von Lipwig and Lord Vetinari

Mustrum Ridcully and the whole Unseen University 

Leonard of Quirm and Cheery Littlebottom

Twoflower, Pretty Butterfly, Lotus Blossom

All came out of nowhere lightning fast

And they kicked Granny all the way into the past

It was the most magical battle that the Disc ever saw

With civilians looking on in total awe

The fight raged on for a century

Death was quite busy but eventually

The champion stood, the rest saw their last hope

Rincewind in his raggedy robe

This is the greatest battle in Discworld’s History

Wizards, Witches, and explosions as far as the eye can see

The gods are watching the scene from Cori Celesti

This is the greatest battle in Discworld’s History

[misfit-among-the-angels]

Been tagged by @the-starless-abstract to post six selfies from 2022, thank you!

2022 almost killed me and I'm not exaggerating. My mental state got even worse.. But i also had some amazing moments and these pictures are from some of them. Beginning from spring-time at High Tatras, to my third Iron maiden concert (in my hometown), to Masters of rock festival and then witnessing Pride in Frankfurt. Then back to High Tatras but in late summer and finally seeing Bavarian Alps in autumn. A lot more i couldn't include as that would probably take me to have ten pictures instead of six but this will do.

Tagging: @lollobendix, @mantyjenlintu, @distantsonata, @dumbbabyelfbitch, @my-sxe-world, @kvlt-cvnt, @fra-helviti, @that-one-sad-transbian, @wilderwinds, @backdoor-conquistador, @ahalal-uralma, @rickythelvl20fighter, @asylumsammet, @flower-crow, @moss-wizard, @thecolombianviking, @mercifulempress, @wizardwinterwolf, @viking-badger, @scarsoftheshatteredsky, @vedrividia and @heartless--madness

[nobodysdaydreams]

My Last Minute and Probably Wrong Guesses for @tmbswhodunit (and my undoubtedly flawed logic to go along with it)

Drumroll please...

Petrichor - @mashpotatoequeen

The title is lowercase and most of her recent titles are also lowercase

Many of her fics have titles like this (fancy words like eucatastrophe or bellis perennis)

This fic is very beautiful, amazing word choice, gorgeous visuals (which is what I really love about her writing 💖). I also enjoyed Constance and Sticky's sibling dynamic very much!

We'll Both Be Completely Home in Midair - @oflightningandstars

The title of this fic on AO3 ends in a period, which Moth has done on occasion

The AO3 version also lists where the title is from, which is a Moth staple

The fic is locked. Moth is one of the only people who consistently locks his fics

Even when you ignore the first three points that make me look overly analytic (sorry), the fic is about aliens, which is very similar to the "Cirque des Etoiles" concept which involves stars and spaces AND the Dr. Who AUs, which at some point involved Moth.

The writing, characterization, and concepts are also absolutely beautiful, so they match Moth's style perfectly!

Steady On - @mvshortcut

Milk always double spaces between their paragraphs and also this feels a lot like Milk's writing (and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time! seriously the part where Martina doesn't take Mr. Benedict's hand...why do you do this to me... /lh /I loved this fic!)

Milk's titles are all capital letters, so this fits that (sadly so do many of these fics, but that at least narrows it down)

Milk consistently tags both the books and shows for their fics. There are only two fics in this that fit that requirement. It was for this specific reason that I only tagged the TV show for my own fic (at least for now. I'll probably edit my tags now that the exchange is over).

The Interview - @acollectionofcuriousreblogs

Summary is a longer sentence, other authors usually use shorter ones.

The way the paragraphs are spaced is very similar to her other fics

The angst is AMAZING and very similar to that one snippet I saw on her tumblr during whumptor with her OC's (which was also very well written, but also hurts??? And what happens to Sticky??? The public (me) needs to know! /lh /great writing).

The Alpaca -@lizardwoman-from-earths-core-2

Has used *** to separate lines in fics before

The fic is unrated, and some of her fics on AO3 are also unrated, which is generally rare.

I really enjoyed this fic. The line "some has Godfathered my daughter" made me laugh. 😂

Art: A Psychic Among Us - @heyitsthatonesmolgay

Has made fan art for me before (which I love😍) however, that was a pencil sketch, so it's hard to compare the styles.

You can make gifs and animations for free with fire alpaca (according to google) which I know Nick uses

The way Nick titled the fan art was to put "art" or "fan art" before the title of the art in all caps, which matches this style.

This art is fantastic, I love the animation, I love the concept, just...all of it. 10/10. Anyone in the fandom who makes art is officially a wizard in my book because I don't know how they do it.

Fairytale- @fandom-queen-13

This one gave me the most trouble out of all of them by far. At first I was 100% sure fandom-queen-13 was the one who made some of the fanart, because I have art drawn by her for my SOS fic (if you haven't see it, it's amazing!) BUT! The art submitted to the exchange didn't match the style. Also, I know Crow does a lot of fairytale AUs, and I know Sophie and I have talked about them too, so that really threw me off. HOWEVER, there were three key things about this fic that tipped me off:

1) The bold alternating text in the fic and use of ~ matches other works of hers on AO3

2) The fact that it says in the description that this fic was inspired by "@sergentsporks". There is no one with that URL on AO3 or tumblr, HOWEVER, there IS someone named "@/sergeantsporks" and I found this post: https://www.tumblr.com/sergeantsporks/695958143301255168?source=share. Only one person in our fandom liked the post. Once I figured that out, it cracked the case wide open (unless of course someone else liked and unliked the post in which case this entire guess post is completely wrong. If that is the case then um...my bad? 🤷🏻‍♀️)

3) The writing is amazing and completely blew me away, not unlike the art style I'm more familiar with. Seriously, this was a FANTASTIC concept and I loved it so much! Werewolf Kate and Milligan my beloveds!

Card Games - @ae-jurumi

This one was difficult. Once I determined that fandom-queen-13 was in fact likely NOT an artist, I was down to Amphibian and surprisingly, realized at the last minute that I forgot to consider Sophie as an artist. I've seen some art from Amphibian in the past, but it can be hard to track down because they have two blogs, and as for Sophie, she writes such great fic that I find myself forgetting "oh yeah, she's also an amazing artist, like really good???" however, I had to go with amphibious entity for this. Why? The art seemed slightly more their style, and most of Sophie's recent fics have titles where all words were capitalized.

Most seem to agree with me, as the tmbswhodunit poll had them winning for this

Has only written one fic that I know of (which was INCREDIBLE everyone read it) but the odds of them doing art for the exchange seemed higher

This art was amazing. It's so beautiful, I can't even tell if you drew it or use software to do it, but either way, it's incredible and proves my earlier point that all fandom artists are wizards.

I Have Spent My Entire Life Clamoring Towards It - @mysteriouseggsbenedict

All words of title are lowercase which Frances sometimes does

Posted to an anon collection as well as WhoDunIt and I know from the discord that Frances was worried about the fic being posted properly

Mary Oliver is a poet, and we know Frances studies library science

A wonderful and sweet fic, and we know that Frances is a wonderful and sweet person. Suspicious. /lh /affectionate

Seriously a very wonderful fic. I love anything where Nicholas Benedict is a good dad and a good mentor.

Cat Fic - @crow-in-springtime

Second word of title is lowercase, which is consistent with how recent fics on AO3 are titled

Author took finals according to the tags, and Crow is in the right age range for this

Has tagged fics "I wrote this instead of sleeping" before

Usually writes fairytale focused content (which I LOVE), however, this fic also seems very much in the wonderful adorable whimsical style of Crow

Crow also tags both the TV show and Book on AO3 (as does this fic)

I love this fic. But the cliffhanger though: what is the cat's name??? 👀

Don't Grow Up Too Fast - @sophieswundergarten

It is to my great shame that this took me the longest to guess and it might not even be correct

But it matches the technicalities of Sophie's writing: the use of long dashes, each word of the title is capitalized.

The biggest give away is that it’s one of the only works Sophie DIDN’T give kudos to, and you can’t leave kudos on your own work.

Also, the writing really does feel like Sophie. I know she loves nicknames, and the "Pen/Penny" thing is a nickname. So. There's a clue right there.

She also loves sibling dynamics, so focusing on Rhonda and Number Two's relationship fits that too.

Sophie already commented on two other fics and she doesn’t seem like the type to comment on her own fic and throw everyone off (would be impressed if she did though)

The writing leaves me with a warm feeling that I get whenever I read fluff by Sophie. So the more I think about it, there more confident I am about this guess. I think I just had to eliminate a few other choices first.

Amazing fic btw. They are such a family 🥰

And...finally...as many were quick to guess both on tumblr and in the discord:

Sirens of the Sea and Sky - @nobodysdaydreams

The Crangst (Crack + Angst) style is my bread and butter (though I usually emphasize the angst more).

It’s the longest fic in the bunch, because in classic Bods fashion, I never know when to quit. The whole paragraph of backstory was completely unnecessary.

Also in classic Bods fashion, the fic has a glaring typo (I wrote that Mermaid Curtain drove into the water instead of dove into the water. I fixed it on AO3 but not before everyone read it on tumblr. Oh well. At least this way we can imagine mermaid Curtain driving his golf cart into the sea).

Genuinely curious to know the exact moment in the fic that made @sophieswundergarten and @myfairkatiecat go "oh gosh dang it Bods" and all but @ me and/or private message me about it (as I suspected they might).

Don't judge me. This is finals did to my brain. They melted my mind. I swear, if this is the first fic of mine you've read, literally any of the other 7 works on my AO3 are so much better than this, I promise.

Really, who else could it be? Who else would do this? The silliness and absurdity haunts me like a plague. I will never be free. Never. I didn't even try to make this funny, this is just what my brain is like 24/7. I've never seen one episode of Sailor Moon and have barely watched any H2O and that was years ago. So why write that into a fic? I don't have the answer. I know not what I do. But I hope that at least some of you enjoyed it, because despite everything, I really enjoyed writing it!

Thank you @mahpotatoequeen for putting this together and thank you to everyone for your wonderful fics! When I have more time, I will be leaving comments on them all because you all are extremely talented deserve them! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! 💕💕💕💕

[ilovebellatrixandseverus]

HP longfic rec collection

With reddit closing down, and a lot of rec lists being lost to the public that way, I made a post on here asking for recommendations, and now that there were some in the notes - thank you all! - I thought I'd share them here! Feel free to reblog add to it, more the better! Starting and ending this beginning list with one of my own favs each to give you all some recs back:

Wizards in space by esama on Ao3, almost 50k

The Dumbledore's Army use the Room of the Requirement to get themselves a spaceship.

Harry Potter & Stargate fusion, No Warnings, Gen, Complete Work 27 Feb 2015, HP LJ GW FW HG RW LL GW CC ME, AU - Canon Divergence, Dumbledore's Army IN SPACE!, Science Fiction, Chapters: 10/10 Comments: 456 Kudos: 4807, (Knowledge about Stargate is not necessary to read this story)

Reccing this because I adore it so much it always makes me feel things!

Secrets by Vorabiza on ao3, almost 400k words.

Beginning with Draco's unexpected arrival at the Dursleys, Harry's summer after sixth year becomes filled with activity and many secrets. As his summer progresses, Harry generates several unexpected allies as he finds himself actively becoming the leader of the Light side. H/D post-HBP ~~Complete~~

Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Drama, Romance, Explicit Language, Sexual Content

Recced by @niccolo-machiavelli07 with the note 'contains good Snape and Malfoy's. I do need to warn you that it's Drarry and Draco has a literal kid...'

Harry Crow by Robst on FfNet - 700+k

What will happen when a goblin-raised Harry arrives at Hogwarts. A Harry who has received training, already knows the prophecy and has no scar. With the backing of the goblin nation and Hogwarts herself. Complete.

Harry Potter, T, English, chapters: 106, favs: 31k+, follows: 19k+, updated: Jun 8, 2014 published: Jun 5, 2012, [Harry P., Hermione G.]

Recced by @elizabethgoudge with the note 'Harry Crow is quite hetero, but has a super interesting premise about goblins and is very long. He has another one with interesting elves, as well.' and I have read the fic before and can second the recommendation! It's an amazing longfic.

Delenda Est on FFnet (Reboot & Original) 100+k

Dying, Bellatrix uses her heirloom to send Harry to the past. There, he can try stopping Voldemort while making the acquaintance of a young and impressionable Bellatrix Black, who may opt to serve Lord Black instead of Voldemort. H/B. Rewrite of DE with different plot, some new characters. No need to read original. Backwards compatible with PB.

Harry Potter, T, English, Adventure & Romance, chapters: 12, favs: 1k+, follows: 2k+, updated: May 8 published: May 2, 2022, Harry P., Bellatrix L.

Recced by @str82theheartpls with the note 'my all-time fave is being rebooted and the original is amazing too'. Description of the original version is 'Harry is a prisoner, and Bellatrix has fallen from grace. The accidental activation of Bella's treasured heirloom results in another chance for Harry. It also gives him the opportunity to make the acquaintance of the young and enigmatic Bellatrix Black as they change the course of history.'

Oh God Not Again! By Sarah1281 on Ao3 & ffnet, 150+k

So maybe everything didn't work out perfectly for Harry. Still, most of his friends survived, he'd gotten married, and was about to become a father. If only he'd have stayed away from the Veil, he wouldn't have had to go back and do everything AGAIN.

Gen - Hermione Granger & Harry Potter & Ron Weasley, Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom & Harry Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood & Harry Potter - Old Fic, Humor, Time Travel, like literally, originally posted september13 2008 on ff.net, story completed as of december 2009

Recced by @polyvirnl with the note '"Oh God Not This Again" is very good', and I can second that, I read and rearead the fic many times, it's crazy awesome!

The Andromeda Program on Ao3 120+k

Hermione Granger is one of the select few to join the prestigious Andromeda Program to explore space for all of humanity. She thinks it will be an excellent opportunity to prove her worth and show her mettle, but perhaps living on a spaceship and spending her time with the same group of people is not all it's cracked up to be. Or maybe one person in particular is making it especially difficult.

Hermione Granger/Severus Snape, Alternate Universe - Space, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Healer Severus, Adult Hermione, Medical Inaccuracies, Minor Injuries, Slow Burn, Swearing, Angst, Power Imbalance, Alcohol

Recced by @echoofawind with the note 'I love The Andromeda Program. It's a Severus x Hermione muggle Sci-fi AU that has Ender's Game vibes'

Pride of Time by Anubis Ankh on Ao3

Hermione quite literally crashes her way back through time by roughly twenty years. There is no going back; the only way is to go forward. And when one unwittingly interferes with time, what one expects may not be what time finds...

Mature, Violence, F/M, HG/SS, Time-Turner, Time Travel,bChapters: 51/51 COMPLETE Jun 2012, Comments: 438 Kudos: 3133 COMPLETE

Reccing this because once you start reading you can't stop! I don't usually read Snamione and I have no idea how I ended up here first, but I've reread it twice since! Hermione as a death eater spy's wife is amazing.

If you have any other fic recs, feel free to reblog and add them to the post!

Note that reblogs are better than replies (or likes) because reblogs help share the post around - so more people get the recs, and more people see the post and might add their own recs as well!

If you rec more than three please use a readmore under the first or so, so not to spam everyone's dash!