#I guess I'll keep writing to find out but yeesh

[winter-spark]

That moment when you're writing a theoretical one shot and have a vivid idea for a scene so you skip ahead to it and you get all the way past the cute part to where you sorta stopped writing in your head and you've figured some world/story detail stuff out and you know what needs to end up happening from here and then it turns into a fight that you were not expecting or planning but now the girlies are sorta fighting and you're lowkey struggling to fully flesh out this fight because you skipped writing some of the story to write this part so there are details you are still debating on whether they have happened or not, and a part of you feels like this fight is gonna leave with them separating temporarily but also you don't fully know how that's gonna happen with the way things are and you kinda just wanna get back to the cute bonding and getting along stuff but it's not like their fight and inability to see eye to eye this isn't compelling enough to want you to focus on it but you are sorta flailing here.

[pileofmush]

i have a request for a luffy drabble!! i think he should be making a list/writing a love letter to you specifically :) what would he say?? 🫠💕

details ➸ tags: nothin but fluff! self-indulgent, teehee. // wc 0.7k

a/n ➸ this request is so cute! i'm melting. ty kitty for asking the real questions here.

Hey. Don’t throw this away, okay? This is important. 

Read this now. 

Duh, Usopp says. Of course you’re reading this right now. He says he’s a very reputable source in the affairs of love—just look at him and Kaya. I dunno what that all means, but I guess he knows what he’s talking about. 

Usopp says I should just tell you how I feel. I do that everyday, but he says maybe writing it down would be helpful. You're the one with the fancy words, not me, but I'll give it a try.

So! Finish reading this. 

And then read it again when you start to think too much about things that don’t matter. Don’t pretend you don’t do that. I know you, and there’s no point lying to a sheet of paper. So when you go quiet like you sometimes do, and your thoughts start to hurt you, follow my instructions and read this. Then come find me and ask for a hug. ‘Kay? Captain’s orders. 

HERE’S SEVEN THINGS I LIKE ABOUT YOU! YES, YOU.

1. Your smile!

Sanji could probably go on and on about how you’re gorgeous, stunning, beautiful—all those words—when you smile. And all those things are true! But you’re also the most… you. When you smile.

You have different kinds of smiles: big ones! Small ones! Encouraging ones! Those smiles that mean you know something I don’t, and you can’t keep it in much longer.

But what I like best about your smiles is when they’re just for me. It feels a bit like a secret. And I don’t like keeping secrets, but I don’t mind those secret smiles you share with me. 

2. Your laugh!

Your laugh is so… What’s the word? Contagious. That’s it. You are contagious. Just like your laugh. I like it when you bite your lip to try to hold it in, and when it bursts out anyway. I don’t know why you try. Nothing in the world sounds better than your hyena cackle, trust me. You’d give evil witches a run for their money. 

You like to look at me whenever you laugh, I’ve noticed. Like you wanna know if I find it funny too. I don’t think you even mean to do it. You just do. But that’s okay. I’m usually already looking at you.

3. You’re easy to pick up! 

If I’m not supposed to throw you over my shoulder and run, why do you make it so easy? 

4. You’re expressive!

You like to think you’re so mysterious. Too bad! You’re wrong. I know those books you like to read aren’t “intellectual” like you say they are. Pretty sure they wouldn’t make you squeal and cover your face with your hands if they were. I wish you wouldn’t cover it. I like the faces you make when you’re nervous. 

You’re probably nervous right now, aren’t you? You’re so easy to rile up! I like that about you, too. You get sort of mad, sort of not when I point it out. Your eyebrows scrunch and your mouth curves up and you cross your arms, all firm. I never know if you wanna kiss me or hit me. It’s cute. And fun. But wow, do you get a potty mouth when you're really nervous. Your words turn sharp and so does your stare, like you wanna cut me open with your eyes. Like it’s my fault that you’re stuttering out a quick, “Shut the fuck up.” Yeesh. You almost hurt my feelings there!

Just kidding. 

5. You’re loud!

Even when you’re quiet. Especially when you’re not. 

I like your voice. I like how it sounds when you just wake up. I like it when you finally sing the song you’ve been humming all day. I like it when you organize your thoughts out loud, and when you tell me about a joke Franky made earlier, and when you get real close and whisper things only meant for me to hear. 

Sometimes, when I think, it’s your voice I’m thinking in. I like that, too. 

So be even louder for me. Okay? ‘Cause everything you say is special, and I wanna hear it all. 

6. You’re patient! 

And kind. And smart and funny and mine. 

7. You’re everything. 

I like you ‘cause I like you. Isn’t it obvious? It’s not like I try to hide it.

So don’t hide from me. 

—Luffy

[chokchokk]

I see you interact with a lot of people and was curious if you would assign your moots on who would be "your ateez eight is one team"? Or who would be who for you personality wise based off ateez members xx

ATE MAKES ONE TEAM, HELLO EVERYONE WE'RE EIGHTEEZ !

except choosing only eight for eight is really difficult i'll be fr. like i have collected so many bbies and babies assigning only one for each is gonna be so difficult like who the fawk am i to leave anyone of yall out.... anyway i'll try to choose those who i interact the most on tumblr but also in private because yall have my heart and i want to give yall pieces of it you know !!!! (it's gonna be burning aflame so if it's too hot then let it fall. it's ok.)

i'll base it off my mootie's personality and assign them their position using some info from this & this i guess~ and i'll just quickly assign myself and say... performance-wise i wanna be san. who doesn't want to idols slutting it out every second in their fancam? pls close your eyes then because you won't like me as an idol. i want to put edit-tiktok in a chokehold. personality-wise yeesh i dunno i don't think they would take me for this alone...... lol anyway did i write like WAAAAAY too much? no. could've written more. so much more. LOL i hope yall care for it~ xoxo

upcoming ... EIGHTEEZ MEMBERS!

HYUNG-LINE/CAPTAIN. [ helping hand ; guide ; respected ]

MICHI BBY, @cybrsan this wasn't a choice i had to think about longer than a second michi !!! i should honestly thank you every day for having been the helping hand that i needed to make that leap from tumblr newbie to turning into an even more unhinged hivemind of #horndogism by introducing me to the cromernet!!!! like you have a calm personality that could start a storm... (and this isn't me wanting to see waterbender!wooyoung lol) and as it goes for the position, i do see you taking in a generally nurturing and guiding role!! just helping out wherever you can fr and still maintaining your smile and warmness when your life is filled with other duties?? michi mother.

KALEM MAMA, @svintsandghosts would you give yourself the position of a leader?? uhhhh... i think you probably wouldn't lol. but i know you and i have seen you, and it has (and will hopefully!) always work out with you sat at the steering wheel soooo here you go babes. you have determination, responsibility and the lightheartedness that would make for a very dynamic group dynamic while still getting shit done FUCK YEAH!!!!!! (i also see you as the oldest member getting confused with the young sometimes lol)

BAI-BAI, @hwaightme i still revisit some of our conversations just to ground myself, btw. like those words coming out of you so naturally is so so awe-inspiring and i find myself feeling great comfort in the love you have for the world, people and those two combined into art. it's... yeah, it's amazing!!! i see you being the philosopher that plato wanted in his ideal nation, a philosopher who is so talented in thinking, creating and reflecting and- that's just you for me, bai. i can't say anything more or less than that;;

SKY BABES, @pocketjoong there is a big lack of interaction here for me to put you here i KNOW but anytime i read your messages in the cromernet dc it's like yes... that is our sky!!! that is our cromother!!!!! (portmanteau of cromernet and mother, yes) so so careful, so gentle, so compassionate with everyone!!!!!!! your sense for responsibility and the sensibility you have is like???? you are such a warm hug of a person and i hope you feel the same warmth back!!

DEMON LINE. [ captivating ; dual ; feral but tamable lol ]

LOVELYSSIE (ALYSSA), @kitten4sannie first of all, my alysstar~~ hope you like being called tamable~^^ LMAO okay getting that out of our way, uhhhhh would i give you san? after all the things we said about him...... maybe....? whwhwgwg but not for the reasons that won't keep us awake for 12 hours~ sooo i'm going to give you demon line because oohhh hobblebun, when you get immersed into the #wordcraft, it's like... you're in it. and that's for me what the demon line is all about!!! friendly, super super approachable, lovable even, and then it's like BAM. the guttiest, tingle-evoking, body-throbbing paragraph i've ever read in my entire life help. innocent filth? oh yeah your work is definitely not innocent just like san is not innocently humping the air and slapping ghost ass but once you're off the stage you're both little spoon and just in need of some good ol' praise hehe. come here you!!!!!!

ANNE PFANNE, @ssaboala surprised to see yourself here? hmmm maybe. i hope you are lol. soooo what i think is so interesting about your personality is like. how "loud" (as in rich (as in charakterstark)) it is but when it's like? comfortably loud. laid-back, but can still get feisty on you typa thing, tbh. like you know you're talking to ms. choi-pfanne when you text her or are texted by her lmao??? i think the same thing goes to show in your work tho!!! filled with so much personality, it's so fun to read, and of course your irl personality is the same, but with more authority (because of the amounts of times you told me to start writing hop hop lmao) anyway yeah you're here, in the demon line, whether you like it or not xoxo

CHUPS (CHIP), @jaehunnyy could've just given you maknae line but i think you got two sides to you that even though i've reached a very stable, constant state of sweetness i think there's something a bit feral in you. lol i mean this in the best way possible tho, of course. like you are my little baby, you fr awake some of my motherly instincts who just... so happens to want to bite her kid's ass when she's roguing out!!!! anyway yes my darling, you can be so feral and i adore you for it, i wouldn't trade it for anything else!! and also you'd rock the shit out of demon line as a dancer i think. lol

ZERDA HERZBLATT, @a1sh1teruu yeah i think i'm just putting the german-speaking ones in the demon-line, screw me for it. LMAO. but yeaah i think you got a duality that comes from... rather your thoughts? ideas? at least i was rather positively surprised to be explained all the things about your mingi-series and HEY it was amazing so keep on going with that you know!!! your personality is energetic and i love how you talk with anne and me LMAO!!!!!!!!

MAKNAE-LINE. [ clever ; playful ; deft ]

RIRI(ELLE), @dairyminki didn't wanna give you the honour of demon-line. no jk i actually don't think you are in the demon line because you're... not that feral. like OKAY you are feral with me but like. that's my responsibility. i think you are a sweetheart through and through!!! with just... a bit of slyness that you can't shake off. like we went from little sister-big sister to the #hornet, okay? like we're on the same page. LMAO okay what i mean by that is just the fun i have to talk with you, like you are such a joy to engage and chat with you<33 like helping you out on your work is so so enjoyable, pls never think that i could ever be bored of that it's just time that i don't have but WANT to have, fr. like if i could i'd spend all of my days reading your work with you xx

BABY NORA, @cheollipop i realize i have no better nickname (punch me in the guts for this) so i'll just use this one. forgive. uhh. is this me saying you have younger sibling energy through and through? yeah. that's exactly what i'm doing. like i could have given you demon-line for having those two distinct moods from time to time, buuuut i think for you, it's almost natural to be that way? like the "cheeriness" is still a part of you even tho you may claim it not to be. just my observation here tho. in general i just think that your personality is stable even if you think it's not and it's just cuteness all around, even in the playfulness lol xx

VENDETTARLING, @vforvendetta-dupe did i ever call you darling? i don't think so. but you are a darling, i hope you know that ^^. sooo, yeah, you give me younger sibling and the ones that need all the love at that!!!! and tbh i'm not complaining. i like the random conversation-starters as much as i love the conversations that follow right after and ahhh babes you are just a joy fr. thank you for providing me with dog-pics and your cuteness all around the clock !!! xx

BEE(BEE), @hanniebeesworld i think you were one of the first people to have sent me a dm and i'm so glad you were, beebee like whwgwhw you are so so so adorable i really needed your sweetness (pun intended) when first starting all of this;;;;!!!! i don't know where you have been~ hopefully enjoying your school~ your life~ but i really really adore you so much wow!!! hope you're always eating the sweetest of sweets and collect the most delicious memories in life, beebee!!!!!!!!!!

VISUAL-LINE. [ aesthetic ; composed ; harmonious ]

LILO BUN, @seonghwaddict did i make this category just 4 you? ppffftt, i won't tell....... (i did.) i know we haven't chatted in-depth a lot which we should def change (that's a threat) but i still wanted to tell you that i appreciate your personality and adore the way you articulate yourself (in your work specifically!!!) it's so precise, and i think this also goes for you off-tumblr<33 i think there's a lot of playfulness like LMAO don't get me wrong i don't think you're this cold, composed person, like not at all actually lol, just that you have something very loose and comforting about you!!! hope that's understandable lol what i mean is that your company is nice lilo xx

KO-ALA (KALA), @jeonride omg not me being so lost and not adding you immediately because i am texting you rn help you're here because your blog is so so pretty and i can just see you have an eye for detail and just so so lovely!!!?? like your energy is so pretty too? you have something very affectionate about you and it makes you very likeable <33 so much fun to talk with you!!!! i appreciate you a lot and HELLO the fanfic???? i will forever cherish it. making americanos and always thinking of hubby. thank you so much <33

[adventuretolkienlover]

The Journey's Just Begun (Chapter 2: Home At Last!)

Intro: OMG THIS TOOK FOREVER! I'm am so sorry guys! Yeesh! I've got to get faster. Anyway, I hope you all like this new chapter. I tried to accurately write Hugo's PTSD from his previous life with Donella and Cyrus. I don't know how good I did, but I did my best. So, I guess that's what counts. Also, I've done a great injustice to portraying romance. Namely Ulla and Quirin. I'm am so sorry.🤣 I'm SO terrible at the lovey dovey stuff! Hopefully I'll get better at that. Honestly I'm better at comedy. (Oh! And as usual, please do not tag as Varigo! This is a Sibling AU! Thank you guys!) Now without further Ado, the chapter! (EDIT: Fixed a big mistake in the continuity. Note to self: Never update when under pain meds.🤣)

Chapter 1 ⬅️ Chapter 3➡️

Summary: Varian is finally going home! And Hugo and Ulla are with him! Hugo is nervous about meeting Quirin. He's a an ex-knight and a lord? Yikes! But that becomes the least of his worries when a "technical mishap" occurs.

Trigger Warnings: Brief Implied Abuse

Varian drove the caravan down the road that led to Old Corona. It's engines we're on it's last legs and he hoped it would make it at least to the edge of the village. Varian couldn't wait to see his dad again! It had been so long since he'd been home. He could hardly wait to be back in his old lab. And have some of his dad's home cooked meals. And it wouldn't be just him and Quirin anymore. Varian looked over his shoulder at Hugo and Ulla. They were sitting in the back. Ulla was excitedly talking to Hugo about everything she wanted to do now that she was free. And Hugo looked all to happy to be spending time with her. Varian figured it was the only real exposure he'd had to a good mother figure. And knowing that said mother figure genuinely cared about him made everything better. The sight warmed Varian's heart. He couldn't be happier with two of his favorite people with him.

Of course the pets were there. Ruddigar and Cheese were sitting on Varian's bunk and appeared to be reading a Flynn Rider book together. And Frankie and Buttercup, the two puppies that Hugo and Varian had found were also present. Buttercup was snoozing on Hugo's lap. And Frankie, being the bundle of energy he was, was trying to get Ulla to notice him by tugging on her apron strings. Ulla put the squirmy puppy in her lap to calm him down. It wasn't very effective. He instead took to tugging at her sleeves. Varian smirked. That pup was nothing but trouble sometimes.

Despite all this, the caravan still had a feeling of emptiness in it. It was strangely quiet without Belle and Jacky. Jacky and Belle had left to find places to stay at the capital. Ulla had offered to take them in, but they didn't want to encroach on the family. For a house that was used to having only a father and one son, having a mother and another boy in the house would be quite the change already! They promised they would find a good place to stay and to keep in touch. Varian hoped they would be okay and that he see them again soon. Varian had other worries too. They had made plenty of enemies on their journey. Some of them were still alive and searching for them. He hadn't told Ulla yet, out of fear of what it would do to her. And Donella? Donella was a whole other story. Telling her that her best friend had turned evil and tried to kill him and his friends? Varian had contemplated simply not telling her, but the truth would get out eventually. He shook the worries from his mind and tried to focus on the positive. He turned back toward the road. "We're almost there guys!" he shouted to them!

"Yes! Can't wait!" said Ulla! "One thing a have to do now that I'm free is check out the capital! I haven't been there in years! And Varian told me that the princess there had magic hair, but she doesn't anymore. But I'd still love to meet her! She was stuck in one place for a long time just like me! Of course, she was stuck in a tower for eighteen years and I was stuck in a library. Did I tell you how happy I am to be out?"

"Yes." Hugo chuckled. "A few times."

"Oh right! Ugh! I'm sorry! I'm so excited. I can't wait to see Quirin again! I wonder if he's changed much?"

"What's Quirin like?" asked Hugo curiously. He wasn't gonna lie. He was a bit nervous meeting Varian's father. He didn't know what to expect.

"Oh! He's the best! He's kind and thoughtful! And he loves everyone in the village! You'll love him! And he's gonna like you too! The last time I saw Quirin, he was a knight for the Dark Kingdom! And klnow Varian tells me he's been farming all this time! Tall about a crazy career switch amight?" rambled Ulla. Hugo's eyes widen. "Wait, he's a knight?" Varian realized he never told Hugo much about his dad.

"Uh, yep! Well he was knight."

"You mean knight as in, has military training?" asked Hugo worriedly.

"Um, yes. Is this a bad time to tell you my dad's kinda the lord of Old Corona?"

"WHAT! Wait, your nobility?!"

"You didn't tell me that Varian! Cool!" exclaimed Ulla.

"He didn't tell me either!" said a very flustered Hugo!

"I guess... It didn't cross my mind. I mean we've been on the road most of the time and running from you know who."

Hugo stood there with his jaw dropped. He didn't know what to say.

"Who's this You Know Who?" asked Ulla.

"I - Uh- N - Nothing!" Hugo stammered. He hugged his knees and took a deep breath. "Okay. He has military training AND connections to the crown. I've make sure I get on his good side." Hugo was so anxious, he didn't even realize he was talking to himself. But Ulla did.

"Hey, it's okay Honey." Ulla rubbed his back. Hugo looked at her. "Don't be so nervous. He's gonna love you. You're a sweetheart. It will be fine. Okay?" Hugo nodded. Ulla pulled him into a side hug. Varian smiled. He heard everything. The caravan climbed over one last hill. At the top, Varian could see Old Corona stretching out before them. "Guys! We're here!" Varian tried to put on the brakes to slow down. But nothing happened. Varian looked down surprised at the brakes and tried again. Nothing. Varian's eyes grew wide. "Uh oh." He thought. He tried again. And again! And again! His panic rising with every attempt! Suddenly Ulla and Hugo both noticed the commotion up front. They both looked at Varian in confusion. "Everything okay?" Ulla asked. "Yep! Just fine!" shouted a very frantic Varian. He turned around and gave a fake grin. Suddenly his hairstripe started to glow!

"Gah!" yelped Varian and he frantically covered it up with one hand before quickly turning back to the dash, his face reverting back to panic. Now, this whole "Hairstripe Glowing Thing" may seem strange. But there will be more on that later. Varian furiously began pressing the brakes again. Hugo looked at Varian clearly struggling with a deadpan expression. "Varian. You're not fooling anyone. What's up?" said Hugo.

"Okay. Nobody panic." said Varian. "But uh... I think the brakes went out."

"WHAT?!" shouted Ulla and Hugo!

"I said don't PANIC!" said Varian, who was panicking.

"We're not panicking!" Hugo said as him and Ulla frantically ran up into the cab! "Who says we're panicking?" (He was though.)

"Maybe we can jump out!" said Ulla!

"We're going too fast!" replied Varian.

"Okay! Well, what if we hit something soft?!" Ulla suggested.

"Not any people I hope!" yelled Hugo as he spotted some bewildered farmers watching them pass by in their fields! Varian spotted some hay stacks in the distance. He got an idea! "That's it!" he said! "If we cut the power, and steer into those hay stacks, we should stop!"

"The ones on the other side of town square?!" shouted Hugo terrified!

"Yep!" replied Varian!

"Okay everyone! Strap down! This is gonna get bumpy!" called back Ulla! The puppies ran and hid under the bunks. Ruddigar grabbed Cheese and jumped in a crate!

"Guys? There's only one problem with that plan! The fuel intake is one the outside!" said Hugo.

"I know. Hugo! Take the wheel!" said Varian!

"Varian?! What are you doing?!" said Hugo as he switched places with Varian!

"Saving us!" said Varian, as he began to climb out the window and onto the hood!

"VARIAN! Get in here!" Yelled Hugo! But Varian was already almost on the caravan's hood! "Be careful!" shouted Ulla!

"I don't worry! I'll be fine! I hope." replied Varian, who's was now hanging onto the hood! He opened it a crack and began fiddling around, trying to find the fuel intake. He found it and yanked it out! The engine made a loud BANG noise and then lost power! They we're moving purely on inertia now! "I got it!" said Varian excitedly! Suddenly he almost lost his balance! Varian yelped and waved his arms, trying to keep his balance! Ulla and Hugo gasped! Ulla kicked the cab door open, grabbed Varian, and pulled him inside just as he began to fall off! Hugo looked over his shoulder at Ulla hugging a very shell shocked Varian! They were both on the knees! Clearly neither of them had the nerves to stand up.

"Oh my gosh! You have me a heart attack!" Ulla said!

"How do you think I feel?!" said Varian shaking!

"HOLD ON!" yelled Hugo as they neared town square! People had already spotted them and were running out of the way screaming!

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Varian's father Quirin was quietly turning the soil in one of his estate's many pumpkin fields. It was what seemed a mundane or tiresome task. But for a man that had seen many a war and bloodshed, there was no better peace found then in tending living things. Unlike most nobels, he enjoyed working the land. Instead of leaving farm work to the lower classes, he always helped in farming the land surrounding his estate and in bringing in the harvest. It always brought him joy to see his people working together and with him. However, lately he had been a bit depressed. Even when doing his favorite farm chores. He lifted his face to feel the calming presence of the wind and sighed. He's gaze fell upon the road that led away from Old Corona. The wall surrounding the kingdom had been long since torn down and he could see the road reaching far into the distance. It had been almost a year since Varian had left down that very road. And Quirin missed him more everyday. And it was agonizing to not know if his boy was safe. He turned to go back to his chores when he heard a familiar sound faintly in the distance. He looked up and searched around for the source. It sounded like Varian's caravan! And people screaming? He looked toward the town! Was that Varian's caravan?! At first, Quirin got excited. But something seemed off. Quirin peered at the strange sight in the distance. Where we're the caravan's horses? And why was it barreling toward town?! Something must be wrong! Quirin quickly threw down his gardening hoe and mounted a nearby farm horse. Quickly, he began riding toward the town!

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Hugo steered wildly through the town, trying not to cause any damage! "Sorry! Excuse us! Coming through!" he shouted as another group of farmers ran out of the way! Varian just knew they were going to get an earful from them later. "LOOK OUT!" Ulla yelled as they dodged a horse drawn cart!

"Was that Ulla?!" said a villager as the caravan sped past! At this point, everything was pure chaos! Chickens were fluttering! People were running, jumping, and screaming! Objects ranging from fruit to tools we're flying everywhere! And Hugo was trying his hardest to navigate through it all! Quirin reached the village just in time to see the caravan shoot out of it like a rocket! It wizzed past him and steered into a nearby field. Hugo headed for the largest hay stack!

"Making contact in three, two, ONE!" said Varian! And with a FOOMP the caravan crashed into the hay stack! Hay and dust went flying! But the caravan had stopped! Quirin stared in shock at the crashed caravan. Then rode toward it. He dismounted his horse and ran up to the cab. "Varian?!" he shouted and banged on the cab door! Suddenly the door swung open! Varian pocked his head out! He was covered in hay, coughing from the dust, and his googles had slid over his eyes! "Hey! *Cough* Guys! I think we- *Cough Cough* I think we stopped WAAA-" Varian clumsily fell out and into Quirin's arms! Varian looked up at him.

"Dad!" he said excitedly!

"Son!" said Quirin hugging him. Varian threw his arms around Quirin's neck as he was lifted clear off the ground in his embrace. Quirin was incredibly relieved to see his boy. He was finally in his arms again. Safe and sound. Varian was just as happy and buried his face in Quirin's shoulder. The scent of familiarity calming his soul. Just then, Quirin heard the sound of someone approaching. He looked up curiously. He caught sight of someone walking out of the cloud of dust behind the caravan.

"Varian?" said Quirin. Varian looked behind them. Then smiled. He knew who it was. The figure got closer and closer. Then walked out of the dust. It was Ulla. Quirin's eyes widen and his jaw dropped. He slowly put Varian down. Ulla coughed from the dust and brushed off her clothes. Suddenly she locked eyes with Quirin. Her arms dropped to her sides and she stared at him. They stood there for a moment. Not daring to move. Was this real? Were they really together again? Ulla gulped and broke the silence.

"Quirin?" she said quietly.

Quirin nodded. He had tears in his eyes. A smile broke out across his face.

"Ulla?" he said. Ulla gasped excitedly and ran toward him! Quirin reached out to embrace her. Ulla leaped into his arms. Quirin lifted her off the ground in hug, just like with Varian. And spun her around before stopping and holding her tight.

"It is you!" said Ulla through the joyful tears. "It's really you!"

"I thought I'd never see you again!" said Quirin. This was better then he could have hoped for! His son AND wife had come home! Varian meanwhile was practically quivering with excitement. His whole family was back together. Just then Ulla and Quirin gave each other very passionate kiss. "Woah! Oh, uh." Varian blushed and looked away with a nervous laugh. He didn't want to encroach on their moment. They certainly needed one after being so far apart. A crowd began to gather. They had made a big commotion and everyone was curious.

"Is that Varian?" said one.

"Of course! Who else would it be?" someone answered.

"Who's that lady? Is that Ulla?" asked another.

"Yes! I think it is! She's back too!"

Soon Varian lost sight of his parents amongst the town's people. But he heard his father reassuring them that everything was okay. The back doors of the caravan opened and the puppies scampered out. Followed by Ruddigar and Cheese, who staggered from the rough stop and fell right out of the caravan! They both laid on the ground, trying to stop the world from spinning. Hugo staggered out next.

"Hugo!" said Varian! Quirin and Ulla turned their eyes toward the boy walking dizzily towards them. Varian ran up to his friend and began leading him toward his parents! The crowd had began to dissipate and there was clear path now.

"Come on! I want you to meet my dad!"

"Heh. Great Hairstripe." said Hugo. "Let do th-" Hugo froze in front of Quirin. Hugo was not expecting him to be so... GINORMOUS!

"Hugo, meet my dad! Dad? Hugo!"

Hugo nodded and tried to fight the urge to run away. "H-Hi..." Hugo squeaked. Hugo was used to be the tallest around. Having someone towering over him like this was a bit unsettling.

"Hugo is my best friend and also pretty much my brother. At least we think of each other that way. Kinda like you and the Brotherhood?"

"I see." said Quirin.

Quirin looked toward Hugo for confirmation. But Hugo was too focused on wondering just how strong Varian's father was. He looked like the type that could snap a tree in half! Quirin looked Hugo over. He clearly wasn't from Corona. And had a few piercings in his ears and an undercut. He was also very pale compared to Varian. Quirin guessed he was from one of the colder kingdoms. He felt a twinge of suspicion, because he looked a bit like some of the thieves he'd seen hanging around Bayangor. But his demeanor didn't seem threatening. In fact, he looked quite nervous. Quirin was always a bit awkward in social situations. But even though the boy seemed a bit different, he wanted to make a good impression. Especially since he was one of Varian's friends. He put on a friendly smile and shook Hugo's hand. Hugo almost jumped out of his skin in surprise. He looked down at Quirin's hand in shock. It practically engulfed his own. And his grip was like a vise! "Well Hugo, it's good to meet you. You and Varian seem very close. You're welcome to stay with us if you like."

"Th - Thank you." Hugo stammered. After his hand was let go, he rubbed it and let out a nervous laugh. "I'm sure you're all tired from the journey." said Quirin. "Let's go home. We can all rest and talk there." Ulla squealed with excitement and took her husband's hand. "Let's go Varian!" She said.

"Yeah we'll be right there!" he called back. "Come on!" he said patting Hugo on the shoulder. "Let's get out stuff from the caravan.

"Right." said Hugo. Varian ran inside the caravan. Hugo paused and looked nervously after Quirin and Ulla walking away. His eyes fell on Quirin's fist. A brief frightening memory of Cyrus raising his fist to strike him ran through Hugo's mind. Hugo flinched and shut his eyes. He gritted his teeth as he tried to make the uncomfortable memory fade. He took a deep breath and let himself calm down. The memory faded away a bit. He looked up again at Quirin walking away, before hurrying to join his brother in the caravan.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Varian shut the caravan doors closed and locked them. Him and Hugo had their packs of stuff ready and on their backs. "Alright. Let's go home." said Varian tossing the keys in the air cheerfully. They began to walk down the road toward Varian's home. The pets ran on ahead. "You're gonna love this place. It's kinda quiet, except when your know, I'm causing accidental explosions - But besides that, it's really calm and laid back!"

Hugo didn't answer. Varian noticed his mind to be other places.

"Hugo?" he asked.

"Hm? Oh! Sorry Var! I uh, heh. It sounds better then anything I've had to call home."

"Right." said Varian. Hugo was being strangely quiet.

"You okay Hugo?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah! It's just, I didn't expect your dad to be so BIG."

Varian snorted and laughed. "You think he's big, wait till you see my house. Oh! Oh! I have to show you my lab! I built to be state of the art and fully functioning! And I don't want to brag, but I have some of the best technology in this part of the Seven Kingdoms there."

Hugo stopped in his tracks. Varian stopped too and looks at him worriedly. Hugo looked down at the ground and rubbed his arm. "Varian?" said Hugo quietly.

"Yeah bud?"

"Do you think... Quirin likes me? I thought he seemed like maybe he didn't."

"What? Of course he does! I'm a hundred percent certain he has no problem with you."

Suddenly Varian's Hairstripe began to glow brightly and stick up!

"Gah! Uh, eh! Heh heh heh!" Varian frantically tried to pat down his mood ring hair. He gave Hugo a sheepish grin. Hugo looked at him with a deadpan expression.

"Yeah. I'm sure." he said sarcastically. Varian sighed and his shoulders dropped. As I said before, Varian's hairstripe had been a little different since he left. At one point in his journey, he also seemed to have acquired Moonstone powers. And with that, his hairstripe had been able to tell lies from truth. It has to do with the "Connected to Emotions" part of the magic. Eventually after a rather frightening adventure, they had figured out that somehow, a small piece of the Moonstone was inside him. And he had not yet figured out how to remove it.

"Okay. So maybe my dad was a little thrown off by you. But I don't think he really disliked you. He just has a hard time with new things sometimes. And that includes people." Varian's hairstripe stopped glowing and fell back down. "That hair of your is a tattle tale, isn't it?" said Hugo with a smirk. Varian sighed again.

"Yeah. But look." said Varian. "I know you're nervous. That's perfectly understandable. But I'm sure that Dad will warm up to you. And besides. We got mom on our side. And she loves you. That's a big win in our favor. You'll do fine."

The stripe didn't light up this time. That seemed to give Hugo a little confidence.

"Promise?" Hugo asked.

"Promise." said Varian confidently. Hugo smiled and hugged Varian. Suddenly he looked at the estate in the distance, than at Varian. Then he bolted off!

"First one to your house wins!"

"Hey!" shouted Varian! "Looks like the old Hugo is back." he thought. And the two boys took off running toward Varian's home laughing! Hugo tried to leap over a fence. But his foot got caught and his fell flat on the ground. Varian vaulted clear over the fence and kept running. "You can't beat a country boy sucker!" he shouted back at Hugo. "I was born and raised here!"

Hugo sat up and looked toward Varian with a mischievous smile. "We'll see about that!" He shouted as he got up and took off! Varian looked over his shoulder and saw Hugo gaining! "Shoot!" said Varian! Of course, to look over one's shoulder, you have to not look forward. Varian turned back to the path and saw he was heading right for a flock of the sheep cross the the path!

"Holy Flynnolyum!"

Varian skidded to a stop right in front of the flock. The sheep all looked at him in shock. As if he'd offended their great sheep ancestors by almost plowing through them. Varian laughed breathlessly. "S-Sorry guys." he said. Suddenly Hugo ran past Varian, leapt up, grabbed a tree branch and swung clear over the flock! He land safely on the other side and ran off laughing. "Hey!" shouted Varian!

"We'll see who wins now Goggles!" shouted back Hugo! He dodged carts, trees and fences, completely leaving Varian in the dust. "I'm gonna win!" He thought. Suddenly Hugo gasped and skidded to a halt. He was stopped infront of one of the biggest houses he'd even seen. Hugo stared at it. He didn't even notice Varian catching up! Varian spotted Hugo standing frozen in awe. This was his chance! Varian ran past him and touched the front door knob! "Ha! I win!" said Varian.

"Yeah! Only because I was in shock!" laughed Hugo. "You live here?"

"Yeah! Pretty big, huh?" Varian motioned to the house with a flourish. The house, or more accurately a castle, was bigger then even some of the mansions Hugo had been in. He stared up at it. It's tallest tower seemed to reach into the sky. "You want to come in?" Hugo looked down at Varian again. The door was open and Varian was waiting for him. "Sure!" said Hugo.

"Great!" Varian walked inside. "Come on in!" Hugo walked up the front steps. He almost walked inside. But then he remembered something important. Where were the pets? Hugo looked around for them and spotted them by a nearby sheep pen. Ruddigar appeared to be scolding the puppies for chasing the sheep. Ruddigar angrily paced back and forth chittering. Then pointed at a sheep that appeared to be missing a small patch of wool from its hindquarters. Franky had a mouthful of wool in his jaws and didn't look the least bit sorry. He was wagging his tail and all smiles. Buttercup on the other hand was looking down at the ground embarrassed. And Cheese meanwhile, appeared to be having a conversation with the sheep? Perhaps apologizing to them? He was sitting on the fence whirling at three sheep. All of whom were staring at him intently and baaing now and then. Hugo stared at the scene perturbed. Then shook his head in confusion and walked through the door.

To be continued....

[tau-i]

I need a real screenshotting tool. I've been using a simple alias to take images from the screen:

Solutions that wrap these two commands called in just this way are very common in Sway, but calling them in a Fish function like this can cause issues. Firstly, I always need a spare terminal to run the command: I can't invoke it through bemenu, (which is what I use as a launcher), for example.

And since I have way, way too much work to do on this OS, I also want to avoid home-rolling a more complicated solution. I don't particularly want to maintain yet another component. Things barely work as is. That said, while I'm looking into this, it would be awesome if I could grab a screencast solution. I'm looking into OBS already, and having something a bit slicker would be cool. (I'm setting aside the idea of building out a script that automates getting OBS set up for a video, and just binding it to something relevant for now)

I'm starting my investigation in the screencasts section of awesome-wayland since I can't keep on the path I set out for myself under any circumstances. You know, before writing this, my plan was to CAD up a tool? Then I ran into a bug, which I wanted to record, so I downloaded OBS, then while trying to get the video edited in blender I found something I wanted to screenshot so GPT can take a look at it...

Anyways, they list several tools, and also name the interfaces they use to do their jobs, copied here for posterity as it appears at time of writing:

You'll have to excuse the mediocre image quality. If I could take a better screenshot, we wouldn't be going down this rabbit hole in the first place. I ASSUMED tumblr allowed HTML tables but no...

Now, it seems that the wlr-screencopy-unstable-v1(docs)/wlr-output-management-unstable-v1(docs) protocol referenced repeatedly here is a hair out of date. Apparently, about three months ago, it was supplanted by ext-image-capture-source-v1 (docs) and ext-image-copy-capture-v1 (docs) as mentioned by This article. The guy responsible has a great blog post on his hard work, which is a good read. (Andri Yngvason) So the next question is has anyone moved fast enough to implement the new ones? On the pull request it looks like nobody has. Unless, of course, they're wrapping grim, which has implemented the protocol.

While looking into these, I found out about some sites that try to format the Wayland docs in a way that's actually a real pleasure to explore:

- Wayland Explorer

- Hoyon.github.io

I'll probably be taking a closer look once I start to properly explore Freedesktop and all the stuff they're up to.

That said, let's make a breif diversion to check on if SWAY itself actually implements these protocols. I use swayfx version 0.4, which is based on sway 1.9.0, and uses wlroots 0.17.0. The main issue, however, is that none of that matters because the merge request to wlroots itself is still open... So it's not clear that ANY tools currently support it. I'd have to make a custom build of swayfx, based on a custom sway build, based on a custom wlroots build... Yeesh. Guess that explains why the screenshotting utilities don't support it yet. I also was able to verify that Swayfx currently supports screencopy_manager by finding it in the output of the wayland-info utility command, which I discovered just now.

The ones that stick out to me the most are the rust based ones, since I hope to learn rust soon, it would be nice to be able to tinker. While I'm not totally unfamiliar with C and C++, I don't do much work there, so I'm a little more hesitant. Between the two of them, Kooha looks very polished and sleek, while wl-screenrec seems to be a straightforward terminal tool that can take input from slurp for area selection. Unfortunately, out of the box, wl-screenrec doesn't really meet my needs, as it would still require a terminal window, or at least mucking around with commands. If I were looking for a project at this time, a pretty GUI wrapped around wl-screenrec or a fork would probably be a pretty quick and fun project. But, no! Bad Author! No more side-projects!

Also worth considering is scripting OBS. I've already accepted that while OBS is THE framework of choice for this sort of thing, a OBS app is out of scope. Still, it seems that chatGPT at least believes that OBS has the full set of automation available: Natively, it has command line arguments which seem less extensive than chatGPT believed. But since it is able to run selected scripts on startup, this is less of a problem than I first assumed. It supports python and lua scripting, and if push comes to shove, I could probably build out a full extension.

Anyways, back to the options.

- Kooha, as discussed, is a polished looking screen recorder that I think would work quite well for me.

- ssr-wlroots is a old fork of SimpleScreenRecorder with "Minimal support for wlroots-based Wayland Compositors". It was last updated five years ago. A abandoned project that only claims 'minimal' support is... not great.

- Wayfarer is oriented around support for GNOME, even going so far as to use the "vala" language. Which I'd never heard of, but it seems tightly coupled to that project. It does support wlroots, and have a perfectly adequate UI, with nice options. I wonder if Elementary OS uses it? Honestly, though, I'd be worried about it pulling in a pile of GNOME dependencies.

- WayRec is built off of KDE, and seems slightly abandoned, the last update was three years before publishing.

- wf-recorder is a terminal-based recorder that seems similar to wl-screenrec, but is written in C++. It is somewhat actively maintained, with last commit 2 months ago.

- wl-mirror is not meant to be a standard screen recorder, rather to be a output mirror, for cases like putting your screen on a projector.

- wlrobs is not a full screen recorder either, rather it is a OBS extension to help record Wayland compositors. on a unrelated note, OBS worked for me without explicitly installing this, so I'm curious what it does. Maybe it has better performance than what I'm using right now? It's present in "obs-studio-plugins.wlrobs.out" in nix.

- Finally, we have wl-screenrec, a Rust-based terminal recorder compatible with area selection through slurp. It has hardware acceleration for at least intel and AMD graphics, and seems to view that as its edge over wf-recorder. It has some performance data that proposes that it is more efficient than wf-recorder specifically, which is cool.

Wayrec and Wayfarer are actually not in nixpkgs, which is another strike against them, but everything else is available.

After installing, it turns out that as much as I'd like Kooha, it doesn't work out of the box. My best guess is in all this mess, I never actually checked that the ScreenCast protocol actually works on my machine at the moment. Probably, I only support the lower level wayland options, which means that wl-screenrec is my only real option. I might try wf-recorder to see if it really is that much worse, but for now...

🤷

Anyways, the real issue is I really wanted a GUI. So I have only succeeded in ensuring I have to roll my own solution after all. oor, I could try looking through a list of tools that is actually maintained like the one I only found at the END of all this at sway wiki, as opposed to the awesome-wayland list I've been using, which is archive only. And I didn't realize until this far in the post. Well, all the tools on that page are for a future exploration.