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yeoldenews · 11 months ago

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A Guide to Historically Accurate Regency-Era Names

I recently received a message from a historical romance writer asking if I knew any good resources for finding historically accurate Regency-era names for their characters.

Not knowing any off the top of my head, I dug around online a bit and found there really isn’t much out there. The vast majority of search results were Buzzfeed-style listicles which range from accurate-adjacent to really, really, really bad.

I did find a few blog posts with fairly decent name lists, but noticed that even these have very little indication as to each name’s relative popularity as those statistical breakdowns really don't exist.

I began writing up a response with this information, but then I (being a research addict who was currently snowed in after a blizzard) thought hey - if there aren’t any good resources out there why not make one myself?

As I lacked any compiled data to work from, I had to do my own data wrangling on this project. Due to this fact, I limited the scope to what I thought would be the most useful for writers who focus on this era, namely - people of a marriageable age living in the wealthiest areas of London.

So with this in mind - I went through period records and compiled the names of 25,000 couples who were married in the City of Westminster (which includes Mayfair, St. James and Hyde Park) between 1804 to 1821.

So let’s see what all that data tells us…

To begin - I think it’s hard for us in the modern world with our wide and varied abundance of first names to conceive of just how POPULAR popular names of the past were.

If you were to take a modern sample of 25-year-old (born in 1998) American women, the most common name would be Emily with 1.35% of the total population. If you were to add the next four most popular names (Hannah, Samantha, Sarah and Ashley) these top five names would bring you to 5.5% of the total population. (source: Social Security Administration)

If you were to do the same survey in Regency London - the most common name would be Mary with 19.2% of the population. Add the next four most popular names (Elizabeth, Ann, Sarah and Jane) and with just 5 names you would have covered 62% of all women.

To hit 62% of the population in the modern survey it would take the top 400 names.

The top five Regency men’s names (John, William, Thomas, James and George) have nearly identical statistics as the women’s names.

I struggled for the better part of a week with how to present my findings, as a big list in alphabetical order really fails to get across the popularity factor and also isn’t the most tumblr-compatible format. And then my YouTube homepage recommended a random video of someone ranking all the books they’d read last year - and so I present…

The Regency Name Popularity Tier List

The Tiers

S+ - 10% of the population or greater. There is no modern equivalent to this level of popularity. 52% of the population had one of these 7 names.

S - 2-10%. There is still no modern equivalent to this level of popularity. Names in this percentage range in the past have included Mary and William in the 1880s and Jennifer in the late 1970s (topped out at 4%).

A - 1-2%. The top five modern names usually fall in this range. Kids with these names would probably include their last initial in class to avoid confusion. (1998 examples: Emily, Sarah, Ashley, Michael, Christopher, Brandon.)

B - .3-1%. Very common names. Would fall in the top 50 modern names. You would most likely know at least 1 person with these names. (1998 examples: Jessica, Megan, Allison, Justin, Ryan, Eric)

C - .17-.3%. Common names. Would fall in the modern top 100. You would probably know someone with these names, or at least know of them. (1998 examples: Chloe, Grace, Vanessa, Sean, Spencer, Seth)

D - .06-.17%. Less common names. In the modern top 250. You may not personally know someone with these names, but you’re aware of them. (1998 examples: Faith, Cassidy, Summer, Griffin, Dustin, Colby)

E - .02-.06%. Uncommon names. You’re aware these are names, but they are not common. Unusual enough they may be remarked upon. (1998 examples: Calista, Skye, Precious, Fabian, Justice, Lorenzo)

F - .01-.02%. Rare names. You may have heard of these names, but you probably don’t know anyone with one. Extremely unusual, and would likely be remarked upon. (1998 examples: Emerald, Lourdes, Serenity, Dario, Tavian, Adonis)

G - Very rare names. There are only a handful of people with these names in the entire country. You’ve never met anyone with this name.

H - Virtually non-existent. Names that theoretically could have existed in the Regency period (their original source pre-dates the early 19th century) but I found fewer than five (and often no) period examples of them being used in Regency England. (Example names taken from romance novels and online Regency name lists.)

Just to once again reinforce how POPULAR popular names were before we get to the tier lists - statistically, in a ballroom of 100 people in Regency London: 80 would have names from tiers S+/S. An additional 15 people would have names from tiers A/B and C. 4 of the remaining 5 would have names from D/E. Only one would have a name from below tier E.

Women's Names

S+ Mary, Elizabeth, Ann, Sarah

S - Jane, Mary Ann+, Hannah, Susannah, Margaret, Catherine, Martha, Charlotte, Maria

A - Frances, Harriet, Sophia, Eleanor, Rebecca

B - Alice, Amelia, Bridget~, Caroline, Eliza, Esther, Isabella, Louisa, Lucy, Lydia, Phoebe, Rachel, Susan

C - Ellen, Fanny*, Grace, Henrietta, Hester, Jemima, Matilda, Priscilla

D - Abigail, Agnes, Amy, Augusta, Barbara, Betsy*, Betty*, Cecilia, Christiana, Clarissa, Deborah, Diana, Dinah, Dorothy, Emily, Emma, Georgiana, Helen, Janet^, Joanna, Johanna, Judith, Julia, Kezia, Kitty*, Letitia, Nancy*, Ruth, Winifred>

E - Arabella, Celia, Charity, Clara, Cordelia, Dorcas, Eve, Georgina, Honor, Honora, Jennet^, Jessie*^, Joan, Joyce, Juliana, Juliet, Lavinia, Leah, Margery, Marian, Marianne, Marie, Mercy, Miriam, Naomi, Patience, Penelope, Philadelphia, Phillis, Prudence, Rhoda, Rosanna, Rose, Rosetta, Rosina, Sabina, Selina, Sylvia, Theodosia, Theresa

F - (selected) Alicia, Bethia, Euphemia, Frederica, Helena, Leonora, Mariana, Millicent, Mirah, Olivia, Philippa, Rosamund, Sybella, Tabitha, Temperance, Theophila, Thomasin, Tryphena, Ursula, Virtue, Wilhelmina

G - (selected) Adelaide, Alethia, Angelina, Cassandra, Cherry, Constance, Delilah, Dorinda, Drusilla, Eva, Happy, Jessica, Josephine, Laura, Minerva, Octavia, Parthenia, Theodora, Violet, Zipporah

H - Alberta, Alexandra, Amber, Ashley, Calliope, Calpurnia, Chloe, Cressida, Cynthia, Daisy, Daphne, Elaine, Eloise, Estella, Lilian, Lilias, Francesca, Gabriella, Genevieve, Gwendoline, Hermione, Hyacinth, Inez, Iris, Kathleen, Madeline, Maude, Melody, Portia, Seabright, Seraphina, Sienna, Verity

Men's Names

S+ John, William, Thomas

S - James, George, Joseph, Richard, Robert, Charles, Henry, Edward, Samuel

A - Benjamin, (Mother’s/Grandmother’s maiden name used as first name)#

B - Alexander^, Andrew, Daniel, David>, Edmund, Francis, Frederick, Isaac, Matthew, Michael, Patrick~, Peter, Philip, Stephen, Timothy

C - Abraham, Anthony, Christopher, Hugh>, Jeremiah, Jonathan, Nathaniel, Walter

D - Adam, Arthur, Bartholomew, Cornelius, Dennis, Evan>, Jacob, Job, Josiah, Joshua, Lawrence, Lewis, Luke, Mark, Martin, Moses, Nicholas, Owen>, Paul, Ralph, Simon

E - Aaron, Alfred, Allen, Ambrose, Amos, Archibald, Augustin, Augustus, Barnard, Barney, Bernard, Bryan, Caleb, Christian, Clement, Colin, Duncan^, Ebenezer, Edwin, Emanuel, Felix, Gabriel, Gerard, Gilbert, Giles, Griffith, Harry*, Herbert, Humphrey, Israel, Jabez, Jesse, Joel, Jonas, Lancelot, Matthias, Maurice, Miles, Oliver, Rees, Reuben, Roger, Rowland, Solomon, Theophilus, Valentine, Zachariah

F - (selected) Abel, Barnabus, Benedict, Connor, Elijah, Ernest, Gideon, Godfrey, Gregory, Hector, Horace, Horatio, Isaiah, Jasper, Levi, Marmaduke, Noah, Percival, Shadrach, Vincent

G - (selected) Albion, Darius, Christmas, Cleophas, Enoch, Ethelbert, Gavin, Griffin, Hercules, Hugo, Innocent, Justin, Maximilian, Methuselah, Peregrine, Phineas, Roland, Sebastian, Sylvester, Theodore, Titus, Zephaniah

H - Albinus, Americus, Cassian, Dominic, Eric, Milo, Rollo, Trevor, Tristan, Waldo, Xavier

# Men were sometimes given a family surname (most often their mother's or grandmother's maiden name) as their first name - the most famous example of this being Fitzwilliam Darcy. If you were to combine all surname-based first names as a single 'name' this is where the practice would rank.

*Rank as a given name, not a nickname

+If you count Mary Ann as a separate name from Mary - Mary would remain in S+ even without the Mary Anns included

~Primarily used by people of Irish descent

^Primarily used by people of Scottish descent

>Primarily used by people of Welsh descent

I was going to continue on and write about why Regency-era first names were so uniform, discuss historically accurate surnames, nicknames, and include a little guide to finding 'unique' names that are still historically accurate - but this post is already very, very long, so that will have to wait for a later date.

If anyone has any questions/comments/clarifications in the meantime feel free to message me.

Methodology notes: All data is from marriage records covering six parishes in the City of Westminster between 1804 and 1821. The total sample size was 50,950 individuals.

I chose marriage records rather than births/baptisms as I wanted to focus on individuals who were adults during the Regency era rather than newborns. I think many people make the mistake when researching historical names by using baby name data for the year their story takes place rather than 20 to 30 years prior, and I wanted to avoid that. If you are writing a story that takes place in 1930 you don’t want to research the top names for 1930, you need to be looking at 1910 or earlier if you are naming adult characters.

I combined (for my own sanity) names that are pronounced identically but have minor spelling differences: i.e. the data for Catherine also includes Catharines and Katherines, Susannah includes Susannas, Phoebe includes Phebes, etc.

The compound 'Mother's/Grandmother's maiden name used as first name' designation is an educated guesstimate based on what I recognized as known surnames, as I do not hate myself enough to go through 25,000+ individuals and confirm their mother's maiden names. So if the tally includes any individuals who just happened to be named Fitzroy/Hastings/Townsend/etc. because their parents liked the sound of it and not due to any familial relations - my bad.

I did a small comparative survey of 5,000 individuals in several rural communities in Rutland and Staffordshire (chosen because they had the cleanest data I could find and I was lazy) to see if there were any significant differences between urban and rural naming practices and found the results to be very similar. The most noticeable difference I observed was that the S+ tier names were even MORE popular in rural areas than in London. In Rutland between 1810 and 1820 Elizabeths comprised 21.4% of all brides vs. 15.3% in the London survey. All other S+ names also saw increases of between 1% and 6%. I also observed that the rural communities I surveyed saw a small, but noticeable and fairly consistent, increase in the use of names with Biblical origins.

Sources of the records I used for my survey:

Ancestry.com. England & Wales Marriages, 1538-1988 [database on-line].

Ancestry.com. Westminster, London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935 [database on-line].

#history #regency #1800s #1810s #names #london #writing resources #regency romance #jane austen #bridgerton #bridgerton would be an exponentially better show if daphne's name was dorcas #behold - the reason i haven't posted in three weeks

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tomriddleslove · 11 months ago

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What’s left of me?

✩Mattheo Riddle x Reader

Summary: The one where your pursuit for excellence leads you down a path of self destruction, and you’re slowly loosing yourself. You didn’t expect a certain boy in your year would be your saving grace. Alternatively: Mattheo makes you realise you’re more than what you think you are.

A/N: I guess this could very easily be like a prequel to the other mattheo one shot ‘i’m here’. This is definitely a bit self indulgent but we all have our things 😻😻

Warnings: Allusions to overdosing (brief), mentions of not eating.

Songs: Nothings New - Rio Romeo

18 days.

18 days till you would be finished with all of this.

Technically, it would actually be 408 days till you finished school and graduated from this godforsaken place, but 18 more till you finished with exams.

You weren’t sure how many more hours you could spend hunched over indecipherable handwriting, pouring over text till your eyes stung and your back ached. Surrounded by a stack of books and rolls of parchment, you couldn’t even begin to figure out where you ended and the library began. You had taken up a huge table (that could seat at least 4) for the better part of 17 hours, sat on the same chair since 6:00 am.

You stifle a small groan of pain as you roll your wrist, stiff and sore from the hell that was ancient runes.

There are ink splotches all over your skin, and you’re sure the amount of work you were pouring into this stopped being effective nearly 5 hours ago.

Your eyes flicker up and scan over the once-packed library that had slowly dwindled down to a few students, half of whom were in the same boat as you.

To you, being the last person in the library was a huge sign of success. It meant you were more dedicated and more hard-working.

In reality, the truth couldn’t be any further from that, but in your mind, if you weren’t milking yourself over every last piece of work it simply wasn’t being done right.

The hushed murmurs and sounds of parchment being unfurled fade into the background as your quill scratches furiously against the parchment, mind running at a million miles an hour.

You ignore the pang in your stomach as you work; you haven’t eaten today. You didn’t want to get up at any point to get food, for fear of your place being taken.

Now, you didn’t want to get up for another reason. It was well past the library's open hours and Madame Pince was angrily fussing about, bustling around everyone as she got them to leave. A testament to how long you had been there, she didn’t even seem to notice you, and you were worried getting up and walking about would break this sort of invisibility shield you had going on.

Come to think of it, you hadn’t really drunk any water either. You brought your bottle with you but had forgotten to fill it up. It was fine though, the human body could last for 3 days without water - it could wait. Your upcoming exams were far more important.

In Scandinavia, the Elder Futhark remained in use until some time around the eighth century (the time of the Eddas), when drastic changes in the Old Norse language occurred, and corresponding changes in the runic alphabet were made to accommodate the new sounds. However, unlike the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, the Younger Futhark (as it is now called) reduced the number of runes from 24 to 16, and several runes came to represent multiple sounds. The forms of the runes were also changed and simplified.

Gods, you couldn't take this anymore. You felt sick and exhausted. You ignore the hunger that gnaws at your stomach, rubbing a hand over your face as you contemplate finishing off and going to bed.

But every time you think of stopping a horrible feeling emerges in your stomach, consuming you with anxiety. The weight of impending exams and the fear of not doing well gnawing at your determination. You glance at the clock, realizing it's well past midnight, and the library is now completely empty except for you.

Madame Pince, finally noticing your presence, approaches with a disapproving look. "You know, the library does close at a certain hour. I can't have students staying here all night," she scolds, but her tone softens as she sees the exhaustion in your eyes.

“Sorry. I lost track of time” You mumble, haphazardly cramming your stuff into your bag. You get up, and the room spins for a second. You stumble but manage to catch yourself, holding onto the table as Madam Pince reaches out a hand to help you recover.

“You need to take care of yourself. No exam is worth this much stress,” She says, eyeing you with concern. If only she knew how far that was from the truth. You felt as though you had so little to your name. Performing well, overachieing. That was what you were known for. It was the only thing you felt was yours. Everyone else had character, they were distinctly themselves. They had hobbies, interests, and friendships that defined them. But for you, it was always about excelling academically. Without that, you became nobody. You were no more than the number on your papers, and the reminder weighed down on you like an unrelenting burden.

By some miracle you manage to stumble down the empty halls of the castle into the Slytherin common room, which seemed paradoxically warm considering its grandiose stone structure and dark, moody lighting. You carelessly drop your bag onto a table closest to the fireplace, trudging up to your room as you battle the sleep that threatens to consume you.

It's dark, and your roommates have long gone to bed.

“Lumos” You murmur, hiding the blinding light that emerges from the tip of your wand with the lining of your school robes, dimming it slightly. You grope blindly at your bedside drawer, stopping when you feel the familiar smooth glass bottle, that fits perfectly in your palm. You slip it into the pocket of your robes, slowly shutting the drawer as you make your way back down to the common room. You dismiss the light that shines from your wand, tossing it onto the sofa as you take a seat on the floor, in front of the low table. You read the instructions on the back of the small bottle as if you hadn’t been consuming this religiously for the past month.

Wideye potion User Guidance:

Take no more than one teaspoon every 6 hours. Effects will last for up to 8 hours. Excessive use of this potion may lead to adverse effects, and in rare cases, severe bodily harm. Users are advised not to use the maximum dosage for a consecutive 72 hours.

You’ve read it so many times, you were sure you could recite it by heart. Choosing not to heed any warnings, you pop open the cork and down the whole bottle in one go. The rancid taste of the potion burns, eliciting a shudder down your spine as you swallow down the bile that threatens to emerge. Pocketing the empty glass bottle, you stretch your arms before retrieving your books, ready to continue working.

If you were lucky, the potion might give you a boost of energy for about 3 hours or so. You had been taking it so much you had developed a sort of immunity to it, and the effects were not as potent as they used to be. The sacrifice of your well-being for the sake of productivity had become a routine, a desperate attempt to squeeze every ounce of time and focus out of your exhausted mind and body.

You have attempted to brew a stronger concoction, in the misplaced hopes that increasing the potency would counteract the effect of the immunity. However, the violent cramps and palpitations it had given you very quickly told you that wouldn't work.

You knew it was bad. It was causing irreversible damage to your body, killing you at worst. It simply wasn't sustainable. But you couldn't drag yourself out of that mindset.

Failure. Nobody.

You gritted your teeth and carried on working.

You managed to get through another potions essay, and the time on your watch read 1:00 am.

You could carry on for longer, right?

You zone out for a second, staring off at the orange embers that emerged from the fireplace, shining bright for what seemed like a millisecond before falling to the floor, turning into nothing but ash.

The orange embers flicker, and for a moment, you see yourself in them – a fleeting brightness that threatens to be extinguished. The battle between ambition and self-preservation rages on as you grit your teeth and carry on working, oblivious to the embers slowly falling into nothingness, much like your own fading sense of self.

“Why on earth are you up at this hour doing work?” A voice calls from behind you, and the momentary intrusion shocks you, sending a burst of energy through you as you spin around.

Flopping down onto the sofa next to you, leaning back with his legs lazily outstretched, was none other than Mattheo Riddle. Clad in a plain grey sweatshirt and black jeans, he eyes you with curiosity, smelling distinctively of smoke. He had most likely been out, as he so usually was at this hour. You shrug, turning back to your work.

“Exams. Need to revise” You mumble, voice cracking. You swallow, massaging your dry throat as you grimace, trying to get back to your writing.

“Revise? Merlin, you're the smartest person in our year. You don't need to be revising” Matthep leans forward, plucking a piece of parchment from your pile and examining it with a raised eyebrow.

You snatch it back, a protective instinct kicking in despite the fatigue. You hated that sentiment. Despised it, even. People always assumed your performance came naturally. That you were simply born with the ability to do well. No one seemed to consider what you had to do to get to that point, how you wore yourself down, day in and day out, till you either passed out from exhaustion or pain, neglecting your most basic needs.

"I might be the 'smartest' person, but that doesn't mean I can afford to slack off," you reply, a hint of frustration in your voice. The adrenaline from the sudden interruption starts to ebb away, leaving you feeling even more drained.

Mattheo leans back, momentarily caught off guard by your defensiveness. He had never seen you this on edge. He was so accustomed to seeing you as this familiar presence during the school day his partner for the many lessons that he didn’t have his friends in. The two of you would work together and on rare occasions, hang out with one another in the common room as well. It was a rather unlikely duo, the king of Slytherin and the academic prodigy. Yet, More often than not Mattheo found himself seeking out your presence. He never admitted it outright, but he hugely admired you. Your intelligence, your drive, it all captivated him. There were times when he hoped he could be only half the person you were.

How funny it was, for you felt the very same thing when you saw him. He seemed content. Happy. He was loved by nearly everyone. Popular, with a fun social life. He had everything you wanted without putting in any of the work.

You wanted to be like him. But you weren’t. And if you wanted anything like what he had, you had to work damn hard for it. So that's what you did. With a small sigh, you turn back to your work.

“Hey,” He says gently, his voice softening slightly. "I’m sorry. I say stupid things sometimes.” He apologies, brows furrowed as he looks at your back facing him.

“It's fine. I should be saying sorry. You didn't say anything, I just…. I’m just a bit tired, that's all.” You mumble, apologising as you get up. You stretch, a yawn escaping your lips as you wearily rub your eyes.

“I'm gonna run up to my room and grab some more parchment. I’ll be down in a second,” You say, shrugging off your school robe as you turn to walk away. You ascend the stairs leading to your dorm, tossing your robe onto the sofa next to Mattheo as you do so.

Your robe slides off the sofa and hits the floor, a faint clinking sound echoing through the empty room as you disappear.

Curious, Mattheo looks down at your carelessly discarded robe. He reaches down, picking it up. It weighs heavier than it should be, and Mattheo can't help but feel a twinge of curiosity, He eyes the now empty staircase before reaching into your pocket, fingers brushing against a smooth glass vial.

Not just one, but a few.

Frowning, he turns out your pocket, and four identical glass vials tumble into his lap. Picking one up, his frown only deepens as he reads the label.

“Wideye potion?” He mutters to himself, the confusion on his face morphing into something else as the pieces fit in place.

He had admired you for your intelligence and drive, and now he was confronted with the reality of your struggles. The contrast between your achievements and the seemingly carefree moments he sought with you becomes stark. He berates himself for not having noticed early, for having let you fall down such a destructive path.

Jaw clenched, he gazes at the piles of books you had been working through, rolling the empty vials between his fingers as the sound of your approaching footsteps snaps him out of his thoughts.

You pause in confusion, noticing the scrutinising depression plastered on his face as he looks up at you, rolls of parchment bundled in your hands.

"What's the Wideye potion for?" Mattheo questions, his voice cutting through the silence with an uncomfortable heaviness. He holds up the empty vials as evidence, his gaze piercing through the exhaustion in your eyes.

Caught off guard by the confrontation, you glance down at the vials and then meet Mattheo's eyes. A brief moment of silence hangs in the air, the crackling embers of the fireplace filling the empty silence.

“Research. For uh, potions.” You respond, internally berating yourself for coming up with such a weak excuse.

Mattheo's expression remains stern, a mix of frustration and genuine concern etched on his face.

"Don't bullshit me," he says, his tone direct and uncompromising. "I found these in your pocket, and 'potions research' is a shit excuse. I’m going to ask you again. What’s the wideye potion for?"

You shift uncomfortably, feeling small under his scrutinising gaze You clear your throat, speaking.

"It's just to stay awake, you know? To keep going. I only take it in extreme circumstances" you explain, your voice betraying the exhaustion that has settled in.

Mattheos jaw clenches, his tongue poking the inside of his cheek as he looks to the side with a sigh, visibly frustrated.

“Extreme? And what would that be, hmm? Because right now I'm looking at four empty bottles, and God knows how many more you’ve thrown away.” He snaps, his expression softening as he looks at you.

You feel a lump forming in your throat as you struggle to find the right words. Why on earth were you close to tears? Why did you feel like crying?

“I-” You start, trailing off as you stare at the floor.

Mattheo cuts through the silence, his tone still stern but laced with concern. "This isn't okay. You're smart, and you know better. You can't keep doing this to yourself. What if something happens? What if you collapse or get seriously sick? It's not worth it."

After a moment, Mattheo's expression softens, and he exhales deeply. "When was the last time you ate?" he asks, the concern evident in his voice.

Shit.

You pause, hesitating before admitting quietly, "Breakfast...yesterday."

Mattheo's features tighten at your admission, his eyes reflecting a mixture of frustration, anger, and genuine worry. He rises from his seat and strides towards you, his footsteps echoing in the otherwise silent room.

"Yesterday? Are you serious?" he says sharply, his voice carrying a weight of both concern and disbelief.

You remain silent, unable to meet his eyes, feeling the shame and vulnerability washing over you.

“Seriously? Fuck, what’s wrong with you? Why would you do that to yourself?” He chastises you, and you snap.

“I have to! You don't fucking get it, do you? I don't have anything else to fall back on.” You start, dropping the parchment onto the table in front of you.

Mattheo's expression shifts from concern to confusion as you lash out. "What are you talking about? You have plenty more than just academics. You're talented, you're smart, and people care about you. Why are you reducing yourself to just grades?"

You scoff, a bitter smile playing on your lips. "Talented? Smart? What does that even mean? It's just a facade, a cover-up for the fact that without these achievements, I'm nothing. I don't have friends; I don't have hobbies or interests. What am I without my grades?"

Mattheo tries to interject, "You're a person with-"

But you cut him off, "No, you don't get it! I'm just a number, a ranking, a test score. Everything I am is tied to how well I perform academically. Do you know what it's like to feel like the only thing you're good at is studying, and even that's slipping away?" You snap anger evident in your tone as you spin around to face him, your weary eyes meeting his.

“It’s the same thing every single day. I wake up, bury myself in books, and push myself to the brink just to feel like I matter. I don't eat, I don't sleep, I don't talk to anyone. I’ve spent my whole life isolating myself and neglecting my most basic needs for this! If I stop now, then what's left of me?”

Tears start to well up in your eyes, and you hate yourself for showing such vulnerability. Mattheo's stern demeanour softens as he watches you unravel.

"I can't stop, Mattheo. I can't afford to. Because if I do, what's left of me?" Your voice trembles.

Mattheo's heart drops at your words, guilt and hurt clawing at his insides. He can’t fathom the idea of you suffering so much, and him being blind to it. How could you not notice how incredible of a person you are beyond all of this? He’d give anything in the world for you to see yourself through his eyes. For you to feel the way he feels when he's with you, even for a second. To know that he’d do anything you asked him to because he cared for you. Not the one who gets outstanding on all their tests.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Mattheo finally speaks, his voice softer, genuine concern written across his face.

You shake your head, a mix of frustration and desperation in your eyes. “Because you wouldn’t understand. No one does. They just see the grades, the perfect student. They don’t see the mess behind it all. And I can’t let them. I can’t let anyone see me like this.”

Mattheo moves closer, his expression shifting. “You’re wrong. I do understand. Maybe not completely, but I want to. You don’t have to face this alone.”

You scoff, wiping away a tear. “Why? What do you care? You have everything, popularity, friends, a life. I’m just the study partner, the smart one. I can’t burden you with this.”

Mattheo remains silent for a second, before he speaks.

“Every other Sunday, you go down to Hogsmesde and buy a hamper of sweets form Honeydukes. You take it to the children’s school and volunteer there for an hour. Everytime you visit, you make their day.” He starts.

"You're not just grades," he says, his voice gentle. "You have quirks that make you who you are. Like the way you absentmindedly tap your foot when you're deep in thought. Or how you always carry a small notebook, and I bet it's filled with more than just class notes. I've seen you doodle in the margins."

He continues, "You have a wicked sense of humor, even if you don't show it to everyone. I've heard you snort-laugh during our study sessions. And don't even get me started on your taste in music.How you call that dastardly jazz music, i’ll never understand, but you can’t resist humming along to the tunes of the Wizarding Wireless Network when you're studying. Your fondness for Chocolate Frogs and your inexplicable aversion to pumpkin juice.”

Mattheo's eyes light up, a small smile tugging at his lips as he recalls more details. "Remember that time in Charms class when you made your quill dance across the room just to see if you could do it? Or when you brewed a prank potion that turned the water in the Prefects' bathroom blue for a week? You have a mischievous side that not many people get to see." He continues, looking down at you sincerely. He remains silent for a second, eyes scanning over your face before he steps back, sighing.

“I don’t know how to do this emotional, sappy bullshit. I don’t do it. But with you, I do. I want to. Other people want to. That’s what you do.” He says, voice quiet.

You remain rooted to your spot, somewhere between disbelief and gratitude as you stare up at Mattheo. How did he know all that? Why did he know all that?

“You noticed?” You speak up, voice alarmingly quiet.

He looks at you as though you’ve just asked him whether the sky is blue.

“Of course i’ve noticed. It’s impossible not to.” He murmurs, and you know he’s being honest.

Tears prick in your eyes again, and it’s as though all that exhaustion and neglect has come crashing back down on you tenfold after Mattheo had called you out. You try blink them away but alas, you simply couldn’t. Before you can even say anything, Mattheo steps forward, pulling you into his chest as he wraps his arms around you in a tight embrace. He holds you tightly, not even entertaining the thought of letting go as your tears soak his sweatshirt, tentatively accepting his embrace. His heart clenches at every tear that falls from your eyes, and he can’t tell if he’s horrified or accepting of the fact that he’d give up everything to relieve you of your burdens, even if only for a day.

He rubs your back soothingly, and you can’t help but let it all out.

It’s rather cathartic, really, because you've held onto this weight for so long, and now, in Mattheo's arms, it feels like a moment of release.

As your tears eventually subside, you pull back, both embarrassed and utterly shattered. You look down, sniffling as you wipe away your tear stained eyes when Mattheo hooks a finger under your chin, tilting your head up to look at him.

People often said that the eyes were a window to the soul. You never really understood that, but in this moment, you felt as though you were gazing into the very depths of Mattheos being.

With a tenderness that betrays the boundaries of ‘just friends’ , he wipes away your tears with his thumb, looking down at you.

“Come on. Let’s get you up to rest, yeah?” He hums, quietly. You nod, having to tear yourself away from his touch.

He leans down to pack away your stuff, not letting you handle a thing as he throws your stuff over his shoulder.

“You can stay in my room, if you’d like. Theodore’s out for the night so I can take his bed.” Mattheo says.

You consider it for a second. You didn’t particularly fancy heading up to your room with Mattheo, for fear of your roommate awakening to see you in such a state. You nod, speaking.

“Yes please.” You say, voice embarrassingly hoarse from having cried so much. You pray Mattheo didn’t notice.

Of course he did. But, he chose not to draw attention to it, instead resolving to run down to the kitchen to get you a cup of tea.

You follow Mattheo into his room, which you were no stranger to. Having projects together meant endless hours of collaborating, and opting to avoid being pestered by your roommate and her friends (who had a rather amusing infatuation with Mattheo), you worked in his room instead.

“Help yourself to some clothes if you’d like. They’re on the right.” He says, carefully draping your school bag and robe onto one of the desks. You thank him, smiling softly as he cleans the mess he had left.

“Go lie down. I’ll be back in a second” He says, turning away as he exits his room. Swiftly walking down to the kitchen, his head is reeling with thoughts of you.

He chose not to confront the feeling gnawing at him in light of your breakdown. He didn’t want to deal with that just yet. In no less than 10 minutes he’s carefully treading up the stairs to the dorms once more, a cup of chamomile tea in one hand and some small crackers in the other.

You hadn’t been eating, nor drinking, and the idea of you neglecting yourself so much sent Mattheo into an uncomfortable state where he found himself riddled with anxiety.

Just friends, right?

He clicks open the door to his room with his elbow, precariously walking over with the tea and crackers in hand as he goes to set them down on his bedside table. His eyes flicker over to you, and a small smile tugs at his lips as he sees you already fast asleep, curled up under the covers. The sight of your slumber brings a warmth to Mattheo's heart. He watches you for a moment, taking in the soft rise and fall of your breath, the delicate features that are usually tense with stress now softened in sleep.

The sight brings him more peace than he wishes to admit, and the looming reality that he had to eventually confront only pressed down on him further.

But for now, he didn’t care.

Because in your peace, he found happiness. And he’s sure he’d never find anything else more beautiful.

Possessed by a wave of sentiment that betrays his usual self, he can’t resist reaching out to tuck a stand of misplaced hair behind your ear. Before he can even comprehend what he’s doing, he leans down and presses a soft , brief kiss to your forehead.

He pulls back and finds himself slightly taken aback by his own actions. The quiet room, filled only with the soft sounds of your sleep, almost seems to amplify the beating of his heart.

Mattheo stands there for a moment, looking at you with a mix of tenderness and confusion. Then, shaking off the unexpected surge of emotions, he retreats to Theodores bed , slipping out of his clothes as he goes to lay down. He had to resist the urge to turn around and catch a glimpse of you once again, and lets out a small sigh as he shuts his eyes.

Mattheo Riddle was not a man of sentiment. He was not soft, and he most certainly did not go out of his way for others.

You had changed that. And he couldn’t figure out whether the prospect was one he was ready to welcome.

#slytherin #slytherin boys #harry potter #tom riddle #draco malfoy #lorenzo berkshire #slytherin boys fic #theodore nott #blaise zabini #pansy parkinson #mattheo riddle angst #mattheo x you #mattheo riddle x you #mattheo riddle x reader #mattheo riddle #mattheo x y/n #mattheo riddle x reader comfort

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sugarverse · 4 months ago

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𝙲𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝙾𝚞𝚝 📚📖

word count: 3.3k out of 9.4k

synopsis: you, 23 reader, have been working at a library on the corner for awhile until your boss invites a hero to come and visit. The hero also happens to ask for your number... <3

authors note: yikes i know, it was originally in three parts but I don't necessarily know how to break it up, originally the story was 12k. it's written for poc!reader/black!fem!reader so there's mentions of brown skin and eyes but other than that it's your normal x reader. Izuku is aged up to 25, The smut is in the second part.

moodboard for fic by @fizziedoodle !

“Hey Miss!!” You peered down at the smaller voice, simultaneously feeling a book slip from your hand and onto the ground with a thud. The bookshelf wasn’t too high, but you still needed a ladder to organize and dust the top shelf. Which… hadn’t been so pleasant with children running around before their daily read. Regardless, you had a job to do. It wasn’t gonna stop for a ton of kids. You had been rearranging the books in alphabetical order before the kid startled you.. Thank god it didn’t fall on their head.

“Are you gonna read to us today? Or is Miss Maggie?” The kid didn’t look over six years old, blue eyes and long brown hair with freckles littering her face in the sweetest way. She wore a small dress full of sunflowers with bright pink gel shoes. You’ve definitely seen her before, although her name wasn’t ringing a bell.

“I wanted to read one of those pigeon stories you read us last time!” She squeaked, shoving the book in your direction. You let out a sigh of relief, climbing down to the ground. Leaning down to be eye-level with her, taking the book gently from the girl. The title read The Pigeon Needs A Bath.

“This book is pretty thin, You sure you want me to read just this one book, sweetheart?” You ask, handing the girl the book back before standing straight. Your hands found their way into your pockets, looking for your notepad to mark the row complete after you snagged the book back from the ground.

“I’ll go find some more!” She hurried off, going to find even more things to shove in your face. You climb back up to finish your organizing. Their reading wasn’t for another.. what? 20 minutes? You had time to knock out another shelf. Time flew by as you finished reorganizing, hearing bigger footsteps behind you than the average 6 year old.

“I have to stop by Goodwill and get some more books.. I also gotta stop at the post office and some.. other errands?” The owner of the store, Maggie, looked over to make sure she had gotten your attention before naming off a few things that needed done in the shop “You got this reading?”

“Of course, What time will you be back?” You climbed down the last step of the ladder, patting off the dust from the bookcase that had gotten on your apron. It was some cutesy light blue apron you wore so the dust wouldn’t ruin your clothing. It didn’t match everything you wore but the baby blue made your skin pop.

“I’ll be back in time for that uh, Pro hero guy..” She snapped her fingers, trying to place a face and a name. “I don’t know exactly who- my wife wrote him in.” Maggie waved her hand, grabbing her bag from behind the counter as you followed. “But I’ll be back to close, Promise y/n!” She gave you a quick side hug, rushing out the door.

You weren’t too involved with all the hero bullshit, competing for the number one spot on who can save more lives to be rich and famous? Please. The system in itself is ass and it wouldn’t make a difference in your everyday life for one of those snobby people to stop by. The kids seemed to love it, quirkless or not. You walked around to the counter, placing your notepad next to the register before going to sit in the small corner of the shop for reading time. Maggie left with a wave, letting a small chime rang through the shop as it called the children over for their reading, a few already sitting and ready to listen.

The library wasn’t big, it was a corner store completely renovated into a library for children. The second floor had been an apartment where the owner and her wife stayed. It was a cozy little place where neighborhood kiddos would visit for a read, parents come in to buy a few books. Maggie always made sure there was something for everyone, Along with cute little toys and those foam floor mats to sit on. The girl from earlier held 4 books in her hands, rushing to sit near the front with her pile. A few other kids held thin picture books in their hands as well, but only having 15 minutes to read to them, you knew you wouldn’t get to them all.

“Alright, Who’s first?“ You asked, smiling down at them. All twelve of them raised their hand, some even raising both so your attention was on them. Of course this wasn’t going to be easy. You thought to yourself as you put a hand over your eyes, pointing to some random kid. He held a small book, standing up slowly and handing it to you.

"My mommy reads me this sometimes..” If you give a mouse a cookie. You gave him a reassuring smile before he went back to his seat. You began to read and in no time at all you finished reading the few books children selected. Thank god it was a Friday, Most children would be picked up right after the reading for afternoon preschool etc. But it seemed like no one wanted to leave.. Was it that hero Maggie had mentioned? You sighed, hopping up and heading to the check out desk where you saw a small line of children waiting to scan their books. The store bell jingled, as if the creak of the door didn’t give away someone walking in.

“Welcome to ‘Maggie’s Magical Bookshop,’ You paid the person no mind as you spoke, handing the last child their book before letting your gaze fall upon the… very tall man in front of you. Noise almost immediately filled the shop, children running up to him screaming-

"Deku!” As loud as their little lungs could. He gave a flashy smile, leaning down to hug the children that ran straight for his legs. He laughed and lifted a few of them in his.. very strong arms. Was it hot in the bookshop? Was the AC fucked up? You force your eyes from the tall man.. fumbling with something on the desktop. Was he looking at you too? Your mind screamed at you to introduce yourself, Quickly walking towards a shelf to do something. Anything besides gawk at him.

“Are you Maggie?” There were hopping children behind him, playing with his gloves and such as he spoke up. You stopped in your tracks, huffing through your nose before turning around to face him.

“No, I’m y/n. Are you the um.. pro? She had been talking about?” He extended a hand, nodding with a cheesy grin on his face as soon as your hand was in his. It wasn’t like you never saw him on the news, but you sure did skip the channel as soon as it was some bullshit hero chart over who had been number one. He was newer to being a pro, you knew that much. He was also so much hotter in person..

“Yes! I’m sorry I’m so early, I finished patrol sooner than I thought!- I hope I’m not interrupting anything! The woman on the phone said before six, I told her I was sure I could make it before then!” Your eyes never left his, watching his gaze fall to your lips for a moment as he spoke.

“You’re fine, There’s plenty of time for you to hang out and sign all of their t-shirts and such. Make yourself at home, The reading area might be best for the swarm you got..” The kids dragged him to where you were just moments ago before he could respond, talking his ears off about different silly topics.

The poor hero stayed until close, kids coming from school to see him before going off to finish homework. It’s the busiest the store has been since opening day! However, Izuku made it a point to stay that long. He spent the last 45 minutes of the store being open to make some conversation with you, he just couldn’t help himself. You had this smile that he couldn’t resist. And quite frankly, he wasn’t used to the feeling of butterflies in his stomach. He fought some shit villain every day, What’s a few butterflies? Especially as pretty as you. Why wouldn’t he want to stick around?

“I really didn’t think it would be so calm this week! It feels like I’ve done nothing but catch up on papers!” The hero scratched his neck with his index finger, shaking his head lightly. “I guess I really am doing a good job!- Of course other pros are doing their jobs as well!” He let out a relieved chuckle, looking at you with a big, sincere, smile on his face. “How has work here been? It must be so nice working with so many children!”

You feel your eyes involuntarily roll, shaking your head and leaning against the wall behind you. “It’s nice until some kid gets sick on themselves and their mother isn’t here to help. We have extra clothing in the back because it’s happened more than once.. I don’t understand why kids throw up so much.” Your groan turned into a laugh, eyes leading to lost n found. You had an unamused look on your face talking about it. He noticed but couldn’t stop looking at your soft brown eyes. He felt like he was a kid all over again, the blush on his face never faulting.

“I see adults get sick all of the time if you can believe it..” He chuckled, looking out of the store window for a few seconds before speaking again. “Do you have a number I can text? I would love to talk to you more.. If that’s okay with you?” He braced for rejection, It was kinda weird to be hitting on you after dealing with kids wasn’t it? Maybe he should take it back. Was he coming off sleazy? Maybe he should talk to you a few times before he asks.

Your eyes widened in the slightest, feeling a smile tug at your lips. “Sure, Let me see your phone,” You stepped closer to the counter, seeing him fumble in the pouch of his belt before handing you his phone. You went to his contacts, making yourself one of them and handing it right back to him. He had an even bigger, cheesier, grin on his face after he took it back.

“I have to um.. I have to go back to my agency to make sure everything is settled for the night. I’ll be texting you as soon as I’m off!” He spoke quickly, stumbling over his words as he slowly backed towards the door. “I hope you have a good night y/n!” He waved, bumping into the door with his back before quickly leaving. He didn’t want to continue making a fool of himself.

Finally, you could go home as well. Not that he was a problem, but that man sure could talk. It was endearing. You thought to yourself, grabbing your keys and walking out to lock the small bookshop up. There was no doubt that you were attracted to him. Every woman in America.. Japan, Hell the world was attracted to him in some way. But he asked for your number. You felt your chest swell with some kind of pride. By the time you made it home, he had already texted. You two made plans to hang out soon and have dinner together. You talked for hours until you eventually fell asleep. He was ecstatic. You really enjoyed his company.

As the next Friday rolls around, He tells you to put on the most fancy thing you have in your closet. He refused to tell you where he was taking you, only that he’d be to pick you up at 6. You weren’t one for surprises but this couldn’t go too bad. Fancy clothing? Had to be a dinner! You hoped it was just dinner. Your social battery couldn’t take being fancy for more than about two hours max.

And 6:00pm sharp, there he was. He wore a shiny black tux with a handsome sage green tie, carrying flowers for you. Thinking that roses were too cliche, he had bought you a bouquet of daisies and pink lilies. He took a deep breath, walking up to your door and knocking before taking a small step back, wanting to give you some space to avoid smothering you as soon as you opened the door. The gold watch on his wrist flickered in the sunlight, the reflection of the light shimmering across your chest as you answered the door.

You had on a short, silk, black dress, fitting to your body in the best way possible. Your hair was done, your make-up was done, you even had on these cute black glittery heels you got on sale. You looked stunning. He blinked a few times, scanning your body with his emerald eyes. His jaw stayed slack, struggling to speak at first. “You look gorgeous.. I-I brought you flowers.!” He extended his arms out to hand them to you, feeling his face radiate heat from how red he had gotten. He tried to fan himself, laughing softly.

You simply smiled, taking them and going to put them in a vase. “You can come inside if you’d like! It’s not really tux weather, huh Deku?” You teased, turning on the water from your faucet and looking back at him.

He quickly nodded, walking in and shutting the door quietly behind him. “Please- Call me Izuku.” You undid the rubber band on the bouquet, sliding the flowers into the vase along with the small flower food it came with.

“Is that your first or last name?” He looked around your cozy apartment, looking at pictures and the designs on the coffee table. Just soaking in small details. “My first name, Midoriya is my last..” He looked over at you, hearing the small clunk of glass hit the table lightly as you set the vase down. You bent over slightly, centering it at the table and moving the napkins to the kitchen counter top instead. “How’s it look, Izuku?” You looked over at him, standing up straight and leaning your arms on the back of the dining room chair.

He let his eyes drift over to the vase, smiling as he felt his face finally cool down. “I think it looks great! I didn’t want to get you roses, I just thought it was.. boring?” He didn’t want you to be allergic in some way or throw them away right after he left. Then again, He couldn’t ask what your favorite flowers had been. You would have known what he was getting. You began walking over to him, grabbing your handbag. “I think it looks pretty! Are you ready to leave?”

He beamed, nodding and opening the door for you. He gave a small bow for you to go first. You thank him, flicking off a few lights on the way out. He followed before shutting the door. You lock it with a small hum, checking that it was locked before walking you to the.. fucking limo he had waiting? Your eyes shot open in surprise, looking over at him as he looped his arm around yours and walked you to the newly washed, maybe even newly painted, vehicle.

“I hope I didn’t go too overboard? I just wanted the first date to be nice. Ya know?” He flashed a small smile, opening the door for you and hopping in himself as you two drove into town. You looked around the area, seeing fancy liquor and wine glasses close to a very clean mirror. The seats were cream colored and it smelled like new leather. Your eyes roamed, seeing Izuku sitting tense with his scarred hands placed in his lap. Maybe he was trying to avoid making you uncomfortable.. He really had been a gentleman.

You scooted closer to him, watching him quickly move his arm up top of the seat to give you room. You lean your head onto his chest lightly. “Where are we going?” You ask, looking at your freshly done nails. He wanted to leave it a surprise, looking down at you with a small chuckle.

“Nowhere too expensive,” He joked, letting his freckled hand slide to rub over your shoulder. You eased into his touch, smiling and looking down at the tight fit of his pants, rubbing a hand over his knee as well to make sure he was alright.

“That didn’t answer my question, Where we goin’?” You laughed, looking up at him to see he’s already looking down at you with the most lovey dovey face he possibly could. Still trying to soak in the sight of you.

“Don’t you wanna wait until we get there?” He faked a pout, holding back a grin creeping onto his face. You faked annoyance in return, huffing and scratching his knee a few times with your nails. “Fine, Fine.. I’ll wait.” You looked through the tinted windows, feeling your heels squish at the carpet on the floor of the limo.

He looked at the mirror, seeing your pretty shaven legs and wanting to run his hands down them. Your skin was just so soft.. But he didn’t wanna be weird, sighing and looking away from your frame quickly. “You like steak? Or are you more of a sushi person?” Maybe he didn’t even know where you two were going, sliding his scarred hand down your arm lower than before.

“Steak is so good,” You laughed, trying to recall if you had even tried sushi. You think you have? You were up to try it again. You shrugged, “The sushi I don't mind trying, I’m probably just going to get something small.” You fumbled with your nails, picking at them slightly. Eating on first dates was always kinda weird. Especially when the person gets too scared to eat in front of you. Then you don’t wanna eat and it’s wasteful..

“You can buy everything in the place if you want. Don’t look at prices. I’m treating you, y/n.” He leaned down to your forehead, giving a small peck before he looked out the window again. You smiled wide as the feeling of the limo moving started to slow to a stop. The valet opened the door for the two of you, ducking his head down slightly and smiling. “Right this way,”

He bowed at the two of you, seeing the pro hero get out and turn to you. The place was lit with warm lights and music coming from the revolving door as people walked in with big flashy outfits and styled hair. You took Izuku’s hand, getting out and letting your heels clink against the top of the curb and onto the carpet leading to the entrance. He pulled you close, moving his hand to hold your waist. “Do you like it? I know we haven’t gone in yet but the lights on the outside look pretty cool, right?” The valet shut the door behind you two as you walked towards the door.

You were speechless, letting out a small but nervous laugh. “It sure is something.. It already looks too expensive.!” It wasn’t like you were poor, but it wasn’t like you were rich either. This place looked like the start off price was 200 a person for a damn drink! You kept yourself close to the hero as you both walked into the rotating door. The carpet from the walk-way turned to fancy tile that made a lovely click noise when you stepped onto it. The interior was more gold than anything with dark wood complementing the hostess stand and the pillars of the building. Gold designs littered the bar area, making it look more than pleasant. Looking to your left, there was the tallest fish-tank that you think you had ever seen. Still not as tall as the ceilings but it sure was tall enough. There had been lots of colorful fish, octopus, starfish.. Everything was in that damn tank.

heres another link to part two if you don't wanna scroll up lol

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aethon-recs · 2 years ago

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Tomarrymort Starter Pack: 10 Recs for Getting Started in Tomarrymort

I've compiled a list of 10 medium to longfic recs that I think represent a great on-ramp to the Tomarrymort ship, as inspired by @sitp-recs’ Drarry for Beginners rec list. These are the fics that I would use to on-board people to the ship — gorgeous writing, superb characterization, and just as enjoyable on the first read as the 20th reread.

As always, I am stunned by the talent in this ship! I tried to pick a good mix of different themes/tropes/settings, with a focus on elements that make for a good introductory work: the characters are recognizable; the setting skews more recognizable; both characters in the ship are a meaningful part of the story; the ship is central to the story; and the fics are for the most part complete (or updated within the last year).

(Standard rec list disclaimers apply: please mind all tags and warnings on AO3 before reading; this blog abides by the age-old fandom axiom of don’t like; don’t read; recs are in alphabetical order by title.)

This is Part 1 of a 3-part series — I also have an Intermediate reading list and Advanced reading list coming up for readers who have been with the ship for a longer time.

For now, please enjoy these 1.3 million words of absolutely brilliant Tomarrymort reads that I hope will keep you hooked until the very last word:

Tomarrymort Starter Pack Recs

A Dangerous Game by @cybrid (E, 284k, WIP)

Setting: Canon Divergence – Book 5 Premise: If Tom’s diary horcrux gains a body at the end of Harry’s 5th year (instead of his 2nd), and then promptly kidnaps Harry and holds him captive over the summer. Lots of smut ensues. Why I rec it: The characterization is truly stunning — Tom Riddle is undoubtedly a psychopath — manipulative, thrill-seeking, kind of an irredeemable shithead — but he’s also dazzlingly charming when he chooses to be, someone whose presence Harry quickly grows addicted to. Their relationship can get incredibly toxic and fucked-up at times, but Harry has top-notch instincts and can hold his own against Tom. The plot is absolutely gripping, with the threat of (the main) Voldemort, who has set his sights on reclaiming his wayward horcrux, looming in the background.

A Future Without a Face by @dividawrites (E, 115k, complete)

Setting: Time-Travel (1940s) Premise: If Harry travels back in time to Tom’s 5th year at Hogwarts, and Tom becomes obsessed with the new transfer student and wants nothing more than to possess him every way. Why I rec it: A 1940s time travel fic told entirely from Tom Riddle POV! Divida absolutely nails psychopath Tom — how he quickly gets singlemindedly focused on Harry, how the idea of possessing Harry consumes him, how he has no compunctions about doing completely fucked-up and destructive things to achieve his goals. There is so much tension between them from the start, so there’s not much of a wait to see some hot Harry & Tom action — and the conflict and tension only continues to build and build in dramatic fashion throughout the rest of the fic.

Either must die at the hand of the other by @metalomagnetic (E, 260k, complete)

Setting: Post-Canon Premise: If Voldemort survives the Battle of Hogwarts and is initially kept prisoner in Azkaban, until Harry takes him into Grimmauld Place under house arrest. Why I rec it: This fic is an incredible exploration of Voldemort at his most terrifying. Even if he starts off the fic with his magic temporarily blocked, he is no less powerful without his magic. The force of his personality is powerful enough for him to chip away at Harry’s initial resistance — @metalomagnetic manages to write one of the most charismatic, brilliantly manipulative, and psychologically devastating versions of Voldemort I’ve ever read. Harry ends up in a good place by the end of the fic, but the journey to get there is a roller-coaster of emotions that have permanently imprinted onto my soul.

In Somno Veritas by ladyoflilacs and @lordansketil (M, 158k, complete)

Setting: Canon Divergence – Book 6 Premise: If Harry starts appearing in Voldemort’s nightly dreams during Book 6, and Voldemort becomes obsessed with Harry after realizing he’s his horcrux. Why I rec it: This is one of the most unique fics I’ve ever read in this ship! Every scene is told in alternating POV between Harry’s POV and Voldemort’s POV, so you get to see how every scene unfolds from both of their perspectives. Voldemort is so intense and just as terrible as he is in canon, so his character is not at all sugarcoated, and Harry has so much compassion and heart and manages to fall in love with Voldemort anyway. The writing style is gorgeous, with richly detailed and emotionally-laden prose. Also, one thing that pleasantly surprised me is how funny their banter is! There were definitely a number of times where I laughed out loud in the middle of an otherwise really intense scene. Bonus content: also comes with a lovely sequel that made me melt.

Inevitabilities by @shadow-of-the-eclipse (T, 103k, complete)

Setting: Same-Age AU Premise: If Harry and Tom attend Hogwarts together and go traveling around the world after they graduate. A betrayal leads to their break-up, but after many years, Harry returns to find Tom in Britain, and the two of them are drawn back together again. Why I rec it: An excellent same-age AU with unhinged dark Harry and just-as-unhinged Tom. Their relationship starts out quite dark and twisted and unhealthy — and only devolves from there. The fic ends with the two of them as equals — utterly devoted to each other — but in an incredibly fucked-up way: “He loves Tom like a forest fire; wild and all-consuming, he wants to devour Tom, to claim him, to mark him, break him.” Isn’t that absolutely breathtaking?

love is touching souls (surely you touched mine) by @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger (M, 34k, complete)

Setting: Time-Travel (1940s) Premise: If Harry gets thrown back into the mid-1940s and meets Tom Riddle as a young man just graduated from Hogwarts working at Borgin and Burkes. Why I rec it: When Harry accidentally travels back in time and chances upon Tom Riddle as a fresh graduate, he realizes this is his chance to make a difference. While Harry is only in the past for a brief interlude, he leaves enough of an impression to change the trajectory of Tom’s life. The dynamic between Harry and Tom is rife with tension and witty dialogue, and the story is set during Christmastime, which lends a very festive and heartwarming atmosphere for falling in love with each other.

No Glory by @obsidianpen (E, 254k, WIP)

Setting: Voldemort Wins AU Premise: If Voldemort figures out Harry is his horcrux when Harry surrenders in the Forbidden Forest, and decides to keep Harry instead of killing him. Why I rec it: This fic showcases the absolute, terrifying genius side of Voldemort, in a universe where he wins the war and captures Harry at the end of book 7. I am stunned at how skillfully @obsidianpen portrays Voldemort as a brilliant political strategist — the courtroom scene where he manipulates the story and the audience so well stands out as a top 10 fanfic moment in my mind. Harry and Voldemort’s relationship is chilling from the very start, and grows even more unhealthy as Voldemort gets addicted to Harry’s touch due to the presence of the horcrux, but Harry later learns to turn that to his advantage.

The Fire, Burning by @parsimmony (E, 35k, complete)

Setting: Canon Divergence – Book 6 Premise: If Voldemort discovers Harry is his horcrux after Book 6, and kidnaps him to keep him captive by his side in his bed, inside of a lovely greenhouse setting full of friendly snakes on the grounds of Malfoy Manor. Why I rec it: The prose!! I am swooning over the prose! Harry is Voldemort’s captive in this fic, but he is so much more than that — and the emotions that gradually blossom between them have so much richness and depth and are utterly moving that I’m still drowning in the depths of intimacy that were portrayed. Their relationship unfolds in such a gorgeous and unrushed way, and the setting is so unique too — a lush and overgrown greenhouse that’s exploding with exotic plants and friendly snakes around every corner that imbues the fic with a very romantic, dreamy quality.

the pleasure, the privilege by @being-luminous (M, 20k, complete)

Setting: Canon Divergence – Book 6 Premise: If Voldemort is doused with Amortentia keyed to Harry, and starts sending Harry bizarre and gruesome courting gifts, like the bodies of the Dursleys. Why I rec it: Breathtaking prose! Voldemort somehow ends up more terrifying when he’s trying to woo Harry than when he’s trying to kill him. Every single sentence had me on the edge of my seat, as Voldemort’s ‘gifts’ become more elaborate and devastatingly dramatic, until Harry basically has no choice but to respond to his overtures. The ending is incredibly clever in how it parallels certain plot elements of book 6, with an added Harrymort twist.

The Untouchable by @treacleteacups (M, 75k, complete)

Setting: Canon Rewrite (Books 1-7) Premise: If Harry starts out his first year a little bit more suspicious and a little less wide-eyed and guileless, and subsequently gets sorted into Slytherin. He has many of the same encounters with Voldemort along the way as he does in canon, but his interactions with Voldemort will end up leading him down quite a different path. Why I rec it: A snappy, fast-paced full canon rewrite that still manages to fit in all the essential Tomarrymort plot points, between Horcruxes and Hallows and the major events of books 1-7, in a compact 75k words that doesn’t at all feel rushed. It’s a delightful journey following Harry’s character evolution from an overlooked, peculiar child who relies on wishy-washy wish magic to a confident (and still endearingly peculiar) young man who can challenge and hold his own against the great Lord Voldemort. Voldemort’s obsession with Harry deepens with every encounter that they have, as he finds ways to continually insinuate himself in Harry’s life and his mind and his dreams.

#Tomarrymort Starter Pack #tomarrymort #tomarry #harrymort #aethon recs #tomarry recs #tomarrymort recs #harrymort recs #hp fic recs #longfic recs #ao3 recs #fanfic recs #2023 reads #2023 recs

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ollieneedstherapy · 8 months ago

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D.A.M.N crew head cannons

-As a kid Damien would stay up late and read under the covers

-Huxley’s moms names are Jade and Ruby, both are earth elementals

-Gavin’s go to slushee is Pinà Colada and blue raspberry

-Freelancer’s loves reading, they’re the kind of person who has a new book every few days

-Gavin loves to have freelancer sleep on his left side and have Caelum on his chest, he sleeps on the right side of the bed which is the closest to the door

-every night for years Lasko would text all his friends good morning and good night texts, he only stopped after the intervention

-Huxley is one of the people who can do the Alphabet backwards, he did it so much as a kid, he struggles to sing it forward

-Damien had seen basically every studio Ghibli film, after a hard day he’d make sure no one else was home and cry while watching Howls moving Castle

-Huxley can carry everyone in the easily (is this one cannon??)

-Freelancer owns a plush for everyone in the group, Damien’s is Calcifer, Lakso’s is a d20, Huxley is a cactus, Gavin’s is a dick, Gavin’s is a slushee cup

-Caelum, when he can’t sleep will check on all of his charges four or five times to make sure they’re safe

-Freelancer loves to sing ‘Freeze your Brain’ to Gavin, he has no clue what it’s from or the meaning but he’s happy his Deviant is happy

-Gavins super allergic to pollen, during the spring this guys dying

-Lakso can and will rap old English for his students, he can not rap in normal English

-Huxley got everyone in the group Stanley’s for Christmas because he knows none of them drink enough water, and they’d feel bad if they didn’t use the gift

-Gavin, in his true form, has strips on his back and thighs, when Freelancer and him have…fun, they like to trace them

-Lakso drinks enough caffeine to kill a horse, some of his students keep track of how many energy drinks he drinks in their class alone (The most is 4 and a half)

-Damien has owned 4 cats, 3 dogs, 17 gold fish, and 6 Guinea pigs before he started high school

-He was also homes schooled till he started year 8

-Freelancer and Lakso meet up twice a month, just them, to watch shitty K-dramas

-Caelum doesn’t understand popcorn, when Gavin and freelancer have a movie night with him, he spends like ten minutes just asking about how popcorn works

#redacted asmr #redacted headcanons #redacted damn crew #redacted huxley #redacted lasko #redacted gavin #redacted caelum #redacted freelancer #i love these idiots #redacted damn polycule

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official-wales · 2 months ago

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Any advice for first language English speakers trying to learn Welsh?

sacrifice yourself to y ddraig goch and ascend into her kingdom of fire

Diolch yn fawr iawn! I'm a second language South Walian myself, so my Welsh is gonna be different to a first language North Walian, for example. But, we roll with it.

Start small

I don't know if you're in Wales, or elsewhere, but just introducing little Welsh phrases is a good place to start, like greetings. Don't worry about making mistakes, or being misunderstood. Everyone will know what you mean, and most people will be pleased you're using Welsh!

Hello - Shwmae/Helo

Good bye - Hwyl fawr

How are you? - Sut dych chi? (very formal), Sut wyt ti? (less formal)

Thank you (very much) - Diolch (yn fawr)

Please - O's gwelwch yn dda

Good morning - Bore da

Good afternoon - Prynhawn da

Good night - Nos da

Welcome - Croeso

If you ARE in Wales, look out for people wearing little orange speech mark badges in public places, like shops. These mean they are fluent, or learning Welsh, and will be happy to talk with you in the language.

2. Understanding pronunciation

Sometimes English speakers get tripped up by Welsh spelling, especially when mutations are involved. You've probably heard the old "it's just a keyboard smash language!", when honestly Welsh makes more sense than English (every letter is pronounced the same every time, unlike English, where it's a lottery).

Here's some major-ish differences to the English alphabet:

a - "ah" (apple)

ch - like a gutteral cat hiss? Or like you're trying to get phlegm out of the back of your throat.

dd - "th" (these)

e - "eh" (elephant)

f - "v" (velcro)

ff - "f" (fantastic)

i - "ee" (queen)

ll - like you're blowing air out the side of your tongue, while the tip is just behind your teeth. May take some practice, but it's a VERY common sound

r - roll that letter, baby. like an Italian

rh - like a breathy r. Use your teeth

u - "ih" (hit)

w - "ooh" (spoon)

y - "uh" (under) or sometimes "ih" (inside)

(there is no j, k, q or v in the Welsh alphabet. But that doesn't stop some anglicised words like "jam")

3. Mutations

Mutations are ways Welsh words change, depending on what comes before or after them. There are loads of mutations, but you can be understood without using them/forgetting them, so don't worry too much. They're quite easy to learn too.

For example:

Diflas - Boring

Mae Owen yn ddiflas - Owen is boring

The 'd' changes to a 'dd'. Because mutations. Don't ask me why.

Here's a guide to mutations that can explain it better than I can.

4. Find some sick Welsh media

Maybe you're into podcasts, or soap operas, or rock music, or food blogs, or children's books, or Eisteddfod poetry, or-

HERE'S SOME HANDPICKED STUFF FROM YOURS TRULY:

Hansh on Twitter, YouTube and iPlayer - comedy and more platform. Quite random.

Adwaith - Welsh-language, all-female, indie rock band from Carmarthenshire. Won the Welsh Music Prize in 2022.

Duolingo Welsh course - Recently, Duolingo announced they were going to stop updating the course, which led to some BIG OUTCRIES in Welsh news. Worth looking in to.

Learn Welsh - resources, schemes, audiobooks and more to help people learn Welsh in a way that suits them. 16-25 year olds can learn for free. You can book face to face lessons, online self-learning, learn with other learners, search courses near you and loads of other stuff. Good to explore.

Ap Treiglo and Ap Geiriadur - free apps to help with mutations and vocabulary. Ap Geiriadur is designed by Bangor University.

Siarad - Voluntary scheme to help people increase their confidence using Welsh. You're matched with a fluent Welsh speaker, and can go through three levels of proficiency. You arrange to meet up, or learn online - whatever suits you!

S4C - The Welsh language broadcasting service. Has everything: news, Gogglebocs Cymru, drama, documentaries, you name it.

Doctor Cymraeg - really successful tiktok and instagram account. Teaches about bitesized Welsh language facts, vocabulary and funny things. Also always films them when out on a walk, with the expression of a high school teacher who's just watched his pupils try and fail to make the leaning tower of pisa out of gluesticks. Classic.

5. TYMBLR

There are LOADS of people learning Welsh on here for the first time, and interacting with them is one of the best ways to get into the language online. #dysgu cymraeg is a good tag.

Sorry for the long post, but ta da! I am by no means an expert, but with your help anon, we can get everyone speaking Welsh by nightfall. The plan is in motion. Godspeed.

#postio cymru #cymraeg #cymru #iaith #wales #welsh #dysgu cymraeg #cwestiynau

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frozen-snowflakesandsunflowers · 4 months ago

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Norse mythology in the Frozen universe: How it's all connected | Part 1 | Analysis | Theory

What if I told you Norse mythology is not a stranger to the Frozen universe but rather a very familiar companion? What if I told you that it's all connected and this is not something out of the blue? It's true!

Last night I came across @humongoustreemoon's post (thank you for this!) and it hit me - it got me investigating and going back to theories from Frozen I! There are old Norse runes and Norse mythology all over the place in the two movies and they could be the clues to finding out what we're in for in Frozen 3 and 4. Please stick with me.

This is going to be a long post but I'll break it down to a part one and two.

[long post alert]

Norse mythology in Frozen I

The book

Okay so the very first piece of ancient language that we get is from book cover of the very book that Agnarr goes to find that leads them to the troll valley at the beginning of the movie.

Runes of Knowledgeable [magic] book cover

These runes are of Nordic runes from Norse mythology which is German is mythology. The book reads "ᚱᚢᚾᚬᛦ ᚠᛁᚢᛚᚴᚢᚾᛁᚴᛦ" or “runąR fiulkunikRa”, “Rúnar Fjǫlkunnigra” in proper Old Norse which translates as “Runes of Knowledgeable [in magic]". I tried to translate it myself but it was hard to find the right alphabet and get the right translation. Chrome browser may not render runic font properly or Google apparently. So most of the translations in this post are based on Panya's blog on deciphering the runes.

Then we look at a specific page inside the book.

A page of Runes of Knowledgeable [magic]

Apparently some of the lines in this book are repeated. The lines in old Norse are:

1. ᛋᛏᛅᛁᚾ ᚠᚢᛏᚢ ᚢᛅᛚᛏᛅᛦ ᛏᚢᚴᛚᛅᚼᛁᛘᛁᚾᛋᛁᛋ ᚦᛅᚢ

2. ᛏᚱᚢᛚᛁᚾ ᛅᚠ ᛋᚢᛅᚱᛏᛅᚠᛁᛅᛚᛅᚱᛁᚴᛁ ᛅᛁᚴᚢ

3. ᛚᛅᚴᚾᛁᛋᚼᚬᛏᛦ ᛋᚢ ᚬᛏ ᛁᛋ ᛅᚠ ᚴᛅᛚᛏᚱᛁ ᛋᛅᚱ

4. ᛘᚾ ᚴᚱᚢᚦᛅ ᛁᚠ ᚠᚢᚱᚦ ᛅᛚᛒᚱᛅᚦᛚᛁᚴᛅ ᛏᛁᛚ

5. ᚢᛅᛚᛅᛦᛁᛋ ᚦᛅᛁᛦᛅ ᛏᚱᚢᛚ ᛅᛁᚴᚢ ᚦᛅ ᚾᚬᛏᚢᚱᚢ

6. ᛅᛏ ᚦᛅᚢ ᚠᛅ ᛅᛚᚬᚾ ᚴᛅᛚᛏᚱ ᛅᚠᚦᛁᚱᚦᚬᚾ[ᛚ]

7. ᚢᛦ ᚴᚢᚴᚢᛚᛁᚴᛁ ᚾᛁᛘᚬ ᛅᛁᚾ ᚦᚢᛁ ᛏᛅᚦ ᚴᛅᚱ

8. ᛁ ᚢᛚᚢᚴᛁᚾᛁ ᛅᛋᛏ ᛁᛋ ᛋᚢ ᛅᛁᚾᚬ ᛁᛋ ᚠᛅᛦ

9. ᛅᚠᚦᛁᚱᚦᚬᚾ[ᛚ] ᚼᛁᛅᚱᛏᛅ ᚴᚱᚢᛏ ᛅᛚᛒᚱᛅᚦᛚᛁᚴᛅ

In the blog, they try to translate it as:

1. Stone brought fourth by powers of moon and sky, they,

2. the Trolls from the dark mountain realm, have

3. healing hands. A soul which from cold wounded

4. will heal if brought very quickly to

5. the field of them. Trolls have those nature

6. that they get all sorcery thaw

7. out of approached body to save one. Such action done

8. in true love is only which can

9. thaw heart stoned very quickly quickly.

Making sense, the text says: The Stone (heart) brought fourth by the powers of moon and sky, they, the Trolls from the dark mountain realm, have healing hands. A soul which is cold wounded (struck by the cold powers) will heal if brought very quickly to the field of theirs (the Troll valley). Trolls have the nature that they get thaw for all sorcery out of approached body to save one. Such action can be done by true love only which can thaw heart stoned (heart) very quickly.

It's like what happened with Anna. Anna had been struck by Elsa's "moon and sky" (ice) powers which led Agnarr to quickly go to the Troll valley so the trolls could heal Anna, the cold wounded. Trolls seem to be known to somewhat heal and know the thaw for sorcery magic like such. Pabbie was able to heal Anna's head but had warned the family of being struck in the heart with the powers. For Anna's situation years later, Pabbie told them the cure was true love.

Next to the text page is this image:

It shows a troll healing a royal man/ soldier by taking out a blue misty magic (the same moon and sky/ ice magic Elsa has) from his head and right above it is the northern lights. This could be what happened with Anna, the trolls were seen taking out ice magic from his head and changing up her memories. The Northern lights were used as a visual projection for Grand Pabbie's prediction abilities.

The northern lights will play a huge role in Frozen 3 and 4 I think, just like in Frozen. When Anna sees them in the sky she believes the sky is awake, and Olaf too says the same.

The concept art for Frozen 3 shows that mysterious white castle and the northern lights around it. My theory is that the northern lights are magical and are part of the trolls magic. So troll magic = Northern lights magic. I know this might not make sense right now but let's look at it differently. When it came to the trolls, King Agnarr was very familiar with them and knew all about them. They seem to be a part of Arendelle history. It could be that Norse mythology is part of Arendelle's history which is Agnarr's side of the family, just like Sami culture was part of the Enchanted forest's history from Iduna's side of the family. Frozen 2 explored Iduna's background while Frozen 3 could be exploring Agnarr's background.

The map

Then we have a map that falls out of the book which leads to the Troll valley. In Nordic runes it says “ᛏᚱᚢᛚ” or “trul” which is menas “Troll”.

There's a map compass-like sign at the top left hand corner of the map which resembles the Viking protection symbol the Helm of the Awe in Norse mythology.

So it seems like Agnarr's ancestry is Norse mythology/ Viking heritage as Iduna's was Sami culture.

The memorial stones

A little while later in the movie, when Anna goes to her parents burial, there are runes on their graves.

The left stone reads:

ᛁᚦᚢᚾ ᛏᚱᚢᛏᚾᛁᚴ

ᛏᚢ I

ᚼᛅᚠᛁ

This translates to:

Queen Iduna

She died in the/ at sea

The left stone reads similar:

ᛅᚴᚦᚬᚱ ᚴᚢᚾᚢᚴᛦ

ᚼᚬᚾ ᛏᚢ I ᚼᛅᚠᛁ

Translates to:

King Agnarr

He died in the/ at sea

In Panya's blog, she says that these aren't grave stones but memorial stones as they didn't find their bodies. I don't know why we never thought of this. They never found their bodies - how could that have? Iduna and Agnarr died in the dark sea and their ship was washed to shore in the enchanted forest all the while the forest was still trapped in the mist. No one could've gotten in or out. And the Northuldra and Arendellian soldiers seem clueless to their deaths which means they never discovered the ship or if they did they didn't find any bodies with the ship. (Brb I'm gonna cryy!)

So I'm gonna go with their conclusion of this theory that Agnarr's ancestry is Norse mythology.

The wedding book

Anyways, next and the last we see the runes in the movie is on a book held by a small troll when they try to wed Anna and Kristoff.

The book reads “ᛏᚱᚢᛚ”, and “Troll” in English.

Powers of the moon and sky

But before I move onto Frozen 2's Nordic rune sightings, I wanna refer back to this, we're a troll is scene healing an Arendellian.

Some believe this is an ancestor of Agnarr who was hit by ice magic. This could be true. It would make sense why Agnarr was so familiar with magic and the trolls. But this ancestor was hit by the magic of the sky and moon meaning that Elsa wasn't the first with the ice and snow magic, which then could mean that there was indeed a previous fifth spirit who also had powers like Elsa at the time of this recorded incident. It's unknown if there were two parts of the fifth spirit, one with powers like Elsa and one without like Anna. I would say there wasn't but after seeing the chaos that King Runeard caused, Ahotohallan believed the fifth spirit should be divided into two with one being powerless so that peace with humans could be made between the magical. Runeard probably hated magic partly for this very reason, that it is dangerous and he fears the unknown. With frozen we learn that if anyone fears the unknown, the magical, they try to destroy it and hunt it down. Runeard feared the magic in the enchanted forest and Arendellians or at least the council feared Elsa's magic so they tried to destroy it until it was Anna who ultimately saved the days and restored peace between humans and the magical. Elsa couldn't have done her part in saving Arendelle and the forest if it wasn't for Anna. That's why both are the fifth spirit.

And the book mentions that the powers are of the moon and sky. That sounds very similar to Tangled where Rapunzel's flower was from the drop of the sun. Tangled takes place in Germany so it could have tied with Norse mythology having Frozen and Tangled connected in not only the same universe but with Norse mythology too. But in Frozen 2 we learn that Ahotohallan was the source of all (elemental) magic and is a frozen river/ a glacier. It could be that it was just being metaphorical as ice relates to the moon and sky with how cold it is. In the D23 panel, we're given the question of who gave Elsa her powers? Now where did it come from because we got that answered. It's who? Ahotohallan isn't actually a being. It's a magical source. Could it be that the who is linked to Agnarr's Norse mythology ancestry? Maybe it's related to the previous Fifth spirit that gave the Arendellian the cold wound. I don't think the Fifth spirit is someone from Agnarr's ancestry but I could be wrong, especially if his ancestry relates to Norse mythology where runes are included. The spirits symbols are runic so it could be from Iduna's side too. Perhaps the two sides are connected!?

Trolls' realm

As for the trolls, I believe the Trolls are part of his culture, with the Old Norse runes. They are revealed in the runed book to come from a Dark mountain realm. For those who have no idea what realms are kingdoms/ holes to different species and gods. It's like a different world basically. Realms are included in Norse mythology but the Dark mountain realm isn't a named realm in the nine realms of Norse mythology. The nine realms are

Asgard

Midgard

Vanaheim

Jotunheim

Alfheim

Nidavellir

Niflheim and Muspelheim

Helheim

I did some research and it seems like Jotunheim or Jötunheimr is the "dark mountain" realm that contains dark forests and mountain peaks where winter never is neverending. But it's a home to giants. In Scandinavian folklore, trolls are giant, monstrous beings, sometimes possessing magic powers and in old Norse, Trolls dwell in isolated mountains, rocks, and caves and are rarely described as helpful or friendly.

In the Frozen universe the trolls aren't giants but are rocks themselves and they live near an isolated mountain, being the North mountain where it's wintery. Except they are always friendly and helpful and are known to heal those wounded by sorcery magic. The realm they're from is called the Dark mountain realm. It sounds similar to Jötunheimr.

Referring back to the concept art, we see a white castle that people are quick to believe is a place similar to Valhalla. Valhalla is basically like paradise in Norse mythology, a place viking warriors go for the afterlife. The majestic described hall is located in a celestial realm in Asgard where the Norse gods live. Perhaps that castle isn't a castle but a hall and that place really is Valhalla which would explain why it sits on clouds. Agnarr was a viking warrior according to Norse mythology so it's possible he's there. Perhaps he and Iduna could return in that sense. And seeing the northern lights surround what seems to be Valhalla, maybe the northern lights are what surrounds and guards these realms.

Read Part 2 here.

#disney frozen #frozen #frozen 2 #frozen 3 #frozen 4 #Agnarr #king agnarr #norse mythology #Nordic #be prepared to have your mind blown #its all connected people #long post alert

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stevie-petey · 5 months ago

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hi! could we get a blurb that like shows how bug and maxs relationship develops aft season 3? i would love to see bug being a big sister and comforting max, and even the other way around. i LOVED the last chapter by the way i hope you know that the way you depict bug is so so special to me and to so many other people!

thank you for loving bug :')))

enjoy !

"if youre not going to talk to me, can you at least sort the books?" you ask max, sighing when she doesnt turn around. "theyre already in their assigned genres, all you have to do is sort them alphabetically."

max still doesnt acknowledge you. she walked into bookstrordinary thirty minutes ago and hasnt spoken one word to you. shes had her headphones on the whole time instead. blocking out the world around her as she sat in the stores window sill.

its been like this all week.

the closer she gets to starting high school, the further you see max draw into herself. almost as if she doesnt want to start the school year without billy. in a way, you suppose that you understand.

"max," you sit beside her now. music leaks through her headphones and you recognize the song as the one you recommended to her earlier this summer. before the death happened. "i cant help you if you dont let me."

she doesnt say anything.

she isnt ready to come back quite yet.

so, you prepare for when she will. you leave her alone the rest of the afternoon, though you lay out some cookies next to her alongside some water. her lips are chapped, her eyes sunken in, she looks tired.

max doesnt look at you when you place the food down. she doesnt drink from the glass next to her. she remains stoic, staring out the window with a lifeless look in her eyes. dull. grey.

they used to be blue. like billys.

sometimes you forget theyre step siblings.

were. they were step siblings, you remind yourself.

the hours drift on. max doesnt move the entire time. shes almost catatonic, coma like. it disturbs you, but you know theres nothing else you can do.

you look down and find a pen next to your hand. to your left is a piece of scrap paper, messily torn off from an old receipt. an idea sparks in your mind. quickly you scrawl some words onto the paper, careful not to smudge the writing, before you carefully fold the paper into a small origami frog.

inside the note are words max needs to hear from you. words she probably doesnt know that are true. well, not necessarily true, but theyre honest. theyre raw and vulnerable. grief is messy and its complicated and cruel and difficult. theres no right or wrong way to grieve. there is only the hurt that you can feel.

it isnt much, but its what you can do.

you place the frog down next to the plate of cookies and leave max alone for the rest of the time shes there.

later, much later that night, after max has shoved the frog into her pocket and left the store, she takes her down undoing the delicate folds. shes alone in her room. the cookies you left for her now sit on her desk.

maxs fingers tremble as she undoes the creases. it takes her a long time to unfold everything, but she finds the task soothing. inside, in your messy yet beautiful handwriting, are four simple words.

i miss him, too.

#ask #anon #m speaks #come home blurb #set in between seasons 3 and 4 !#m's writing #i need to preface bug doesnt MISS billy per say but moreso misses what he brought to their lives #maxs fire #her spunk

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liu-anhuaming · 9 months ago

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all my mandarin dictionaries (and dictionary-adjacent books)

Through chatting with @don-dake and @cherrymintvampyyri, I've come to realize that I might own a less than normal number of Mandarin dictionaries. So, here's a post about all of them.

I do have two basic bilingual dictionaries (Mandarin/English): the Langenscheidt pocket dictionary and the DK visual dictionary. These are quite easy to buy and not that interesting imo, so I'm not gonna talk further about them.

I'm also going to include a couple books that aren't technically dictionaries, but are rather about etymology of characters, and that's close enough to count for me.

Okay, let's get on to the interesting stuff!

1. What Character is That? An Easy-Access Dictionary of 5,000 Chinese Characters by Ping-gam Go (second edition, 1995)

bilingual

This strange little dictionary was gifted to me by a nun who went to high school with my grandma and later lived in China as a missionary. It's organized alphabetically based on the English translation of each radical?

I have not used this dictionary for actual reference ever, because I flipped through it once and realized that it was absolutely whack. But it's cool to have I guess.

2. 新华字典第11版

monolingual

This little guy was gifted to me by a Chinese classmate back when I was in college. It's a 字典, so it's just focused on defining individual characters and providing some words featuring that character. Despite being a mainland dictionary, it also has 注音 next to each character for some reason.

It's got some neat stuff towards the back, like the periodic table and a chart of all the 節氣 solar terms.

3. 小学生全笔顺同义词近义词反义词组词造句成语多音多义字词典

monolingual

Whew, that's a mouthful. This is an actual 词典, so it defines full words. It also provides example sentences, synonyms, antonyms, and close equivalents. Then there's a section for idioms, and another section for 多音多义字.

There's also this nifty little insert with examples of words/phrases that follow common patterns of repetition.

4. 新现代汉语词典

monolingual

I picked up this chunky guy from a used bookstore down the street from me (the owner of the store passed last year, and the store is no longer there unfortunately). This is a fairly normal dictionary, it's just bigger than my others and has more words listed in it.

One thing I also noticed is that this chart towards the end of the dictionary apparently had a strip of paper pasted on the bottom. It doesn't seem like something I can peel up without damaging the paper under it, and when I shine a flashlight through the page I can't make out any major differences between what's on the sticker and what might be on the page under it. So my best guess is there might have been some damage to the text on the page?

5. 商务馆学汉语近义词词典 The Commercial Press Guide to Chinese Synonyms

monolingual

This book is easily the one I reference the most. As the name suggests, the book is all about synonyms. It takes sets of 2+ similar words and thoroughly explains the similarities and differences between them all. There's plenty example sentences, with notes about whether the synonyms can be used interchangeably in certain contexts.

It's a great resource, but I had a bit of trouble getting my hands on a copy. It's possible that in the years since I bought it there have been more copies made available for sale though.

these next two are books I haven't explored too much since they are old and the binding is incredibly fragile and starting to fall apart. just opening them is stressful.

6. 漢字分解 Chinese Characters Explained by F.X. Keelan (aka 康愛玲修女) (1967?)

bilingual

This book was also gifted to me by the nun who went to school with my grandma, and appears to also have been written by a nun! Based on what I've found from Google, this book was published in 1967.

Rather than a dictionary, this book is "a compilation intended as an aid in grouping and remembering [Chinese characters] with a view in acquiring a reading knowledge of Chinese"(p. iii). It aims to break down characters into radicals and giving similar/related characters. It's apparently the final installment in a 4 part Mandarin Course.

This book uses traditional characters. According to Google Books, the publisher is 光啓出版社, which is a Taiwanese organization. The book includes a very long table that has Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese, Hakka, Japanese, and Korean pronunciations for (what seems to be) every character mentioned in the book. The intro mentions that this is so the course is more "accessible" for speakers of other East Asian languages.

Also, look at that printing error in the third photo! The text got cut off at the bottom of the page.

7. The Structure of Chinese Characters by John Chalmers (second edition, 1911)

bilingual

This final book is the oldest of the bunch, and was gifted to me by my boss's boss for some reason? She found it in a used bookstore apparently.

This book also uses traditional characters, because simplified characters just weren't a thing yet in 1911. This book is falling apart, and opening it stresses me out. It creaks whenever I open it.

Going by the title page, the full title of this book is An Account of the Structure of Chinese Characters Under 300 Primary Forms; After the Shwo-Wan, 100 A.D., and the Phonetic Shwoh-Wan, 1833. It was published by Kelly & Walsh, which was a Shanghai-based publisher.

Someone very kindly penciled in the years the author was alive: 1825-1899. John Chalmers was apparently a Scottish missionary (bc of course he was) who apparently popularized the term "Cantonese". This book that I own in particular was originally published in 1882.

It is, as the very long title suggests, an analysis and etymology of 300 common components

It also has a nifty fold-out of all 300 "primary forms" in seal script.

#chinese language #mandarin langblr #learn mandarin #learn chinese #books #mine #hope y'all enjoy this!

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lycanlupins · 5 months ago

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SFW Alphabet - Jimmy Darling

Warnings: None

AN: holy shit its been so long since i’ve written for the evan characters, sorry if its ooc but i missed this guy ♥️

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

He’s very physically affectionate! He’ll hold his partner whenever he can, rub the back of their hand with his thumb, anything he can do to constantly be touching them.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

He would probably be wary at first if they weren’t a “freak”, but he would soon seen them at every show or nearly every show and start to chat them up a bit. He knows they don’t treat him any different and he’d probably let his guard down.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

BIG cuddler! He likes to spoon or cradle his person for sure. He’d probably give little back rubs or soft kisses on their temple/top of the head.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

He’s so domestic its actually probably annoying to everyone else. He wants to settle down, have kids, live the “american dream” life. Even if he adopts the kids, he wants the whole white picket fence and golden retriever vibes.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

He would tell them gently but firmly. He knows its for the best, what with everyone in any town hating him for the way he looks, and maybe he knew that his partner wouldn’t have thrived living with the rest of them.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

He’s down for commitment 100%. He’d probably take some convincing but about half a year at the very most would be how fast he’d get engaged, he’s an old school kind of guy. He sees something he likes and he’s gonna make sure he keeps it close by.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

He pretends to be a hard ass but he’s really a softie. He wants to be loved and held and coddled just as much as he loves to do that for others.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

He’s got a solid hug for sure. Probably warm and inviting but also one that shows he’s a safe space and a protector.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

He’d say it so fast if he were drunk. Give him a bottle and he’d tell his partner after a few weeks of dating, but sober it might take him a month or two. He wants to make sure his partner is the one.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Big jealous man alert!! He’s one to hold his partner extra tight to him or kiss them around someone he’s a wee bit cautious of. He gets extremely jealous around people without a deformity flirting with his partner.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

They range from soft and sweet to passionate and hungry, but mostly they lie somewhere in between. He likes to kiss his partners hand a lot but he absolutely melts when his partner does the same for him. Especially when he’s feeling anxious, a soft kiss to his palm will soothe him immediately.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

He’s good around children and wants them in the future, at least 2 to start, maybe 3-4 at the most.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

Usually he’s up early doing physically intensive work but sometimes he likes to sleep in and hold his partner in the soft morning light.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Usually watching TV if he has one, if not he likes to relax with the radio quietly playing in the background and his partner by his side with cold beer in his hand.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

He’s not an open book by any means. He’s cautious for a reason but after a few months he’ll probably start to open up emotionally. He won’t trauma dump immediately but you’ll learn a lot very quickly once he’s comfortable.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

He’s not super patient, he has a quick temper and he’ll make sure he gets his point across whether the person likes it or not.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

He takes in details super easily so he’d remember everything his partner tells him. He’d remember their favorite flower, favorite book, anything that makes them smile he would be sure to take note of.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

His favorite moment is probably meeting his partner. He would remember every detail of their outfit, if they were wearing makeup, what style their hair was in, he’d reminisce on every detail of that day when he’s feeling sad.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

He would die or kill for his partner no questions asked. He puts his money where his mouth is but doesn’t expect the same out of his partner, he just wants to be sure they know he loves them through and through.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

He puts in a lot of effort, mostly physical labor, to make sure everything is perfect. He likes to work with his hands to show his love. Whether that be making something for his partner or driving them anywhere without letting them lift a finger, he wants to be sure they’re taken care of.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

His drinking habits he picked up are bad for a while. He also has an awful temper and he’s stubborn. So very stubborn.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

He knows he’s hot so he keeps up with it a little but really he just goes about his day without paying any mind to it.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

He would feel so incomplete without his partner once he has them. Its like he’s missing half of himself without them around.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

He’s a sleep talker! Especially when he’s only half asleep or just barely fell asleep, he’d probably whisper cute or incoherent things to his partner which would make them giggle.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Someone who’s a sloppy drunk. He’s dealt with it enough from his own bloodline, he doesn’t need to add any more of it to his life.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

He sleeps sprawled out on his mattress unless he’s with his partner, then it can go either way with his partner curled up in his arms or laying on top of him with his arms wrapped around them.

#jimmy darling #jimmy darling x reader #AHS: freak show #evan peters #jimmy darling x you #my writing

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cosmerelists · 1 year ago

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If Cosmere characters had to find work in a new genre...

[SPOILERS for Yumi & Nightmare Painter in #7--beware!]

Oh no! The Cosmere series is laying off its characters, and now they have to go and find work in other genres. Into what other genres could these characters most easily go?

1. Western: Wax & Wayne

Wax: I mean, this one is obvious, right? We're basically characters in a western already. Wayne: Yeah! You'll just have to remember that you can't manipulate bullets with your mind. Wayne: And I'll have to remember that I can only survive being shot...what? Three or four times? Wax: ... Wax: We will not survive long.

2. Science Fiction: Navani

Navani: My qualifications include "having built a literal flying ship" and "being of a race that comes from a different planet." Jasnah: So you are the alien invader in this scenario? Navani: I like to think I'm the beneficent kind.

3. YA Fiction: Siri

Siri: I mean...I'm a beautiful seventeen-year-old with magic hair and a rebellious streak. Siri: I think my best bet is this or "Disney princess."

4. Shonen Anime: Kaladin

Kaladin: I got a giant sword. Kaladin: Flashy powers. Kaladin: Dramatic powerups and even more dramatic one-liners. Kaladin: A crew of other superpowered folks bound to me by the power of friendship. Kaladin: I even get fight sequences that only lead me to respecting my opponent and becoming their friend. Kaladin: I mean...come on.

5. Horror: Silence, Yumi, and Painter

Silence: Not saying my life is a horror show or anything, but... Silence: I do live on, like, a hell planet full of ghosts. Painter: I live on a darkness planet full of living nightmares. Painter: Plus, I kinda lived "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Yumi: One, I resent that. Yumi: And two, I got the ghosts, the nightmare planet, AND religious trauma! Silence: I'm...happy for you? Yumi: Thanks, I guess!

6. Spy Thriller: Rlain and Ranette

Rlain: I mean, I did literally work as a spy so I have the qualifications. Ranette: And I can make cool tech devices. Ranette: Do you want a suit whose lapels give off knock-out gas? Rlain: That does sound pretty cool... Ranette: We'll get along fine, kid.

7. Detective Novel: Marasi

Marasi: I think I could pull off "hard-boiled detective"--I've done my share of investigate work. MeLaan: Oooh! Ooh! Can I be the femme fatale?! Marasi: Uh...

8. Romance: Susebron

Susebron: I hear that tall, brooding, silent men are a staple of the genre. Susebron: PLUS, I know what sex is now! Susebron: That's gotta be a bonus!

9. Historical Fiction: Dalinar

Dalinar: Thanks to my visions, I have experienced several historical periods. Dalinar: I seemed to fit in them all with some degree of success. Lift: Yeah! A tight butt is always in style!

10. Children's Picture Book: Lift

Lift: Since I'm just a little kid, I don't see where ELSE I could go. Wyndle: M-Mistress, I'm not sure you would be, uh, the best example for little kids... Lift: What do you mean? I bet I could steal a food for every letter of the alphabet and that'd be stormin' educational! Wyndle: ... Lift: Sorry, sorry. Lift: Storming educational. Wyndle: T-THAT WASN'T THE ISSUE

#cosmere #cosmerelists #ssp3 spoilers #Wax #Wayne #Kaladin #Siri #Susebron #Dalinar #Lift #Wyndle #Silence #Yumi #Painter #Rlain #Ranette #Marasi #MeLaan #Navani

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frollosversion · 9 months ago

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Part 3/Last Part before it slips out of my head.

"How much of a Father am I?"

Again to new readers, this is the little backstory of Claude raising Quasi.

Part 1

Part 2

+-+-+

"M-master—!!" Quasimodo immediately greeted as soon as he saw the silhouette of his master's hat by the entrance of the bell tower.

Quasimodo grew up to be a happy boy albeit Frollo's opposite nature, very much like the archdeacon's personality; he respects claude so much, as much as possible he doesn't want to anger him— also because he receives punishments at times. a nice boy in general.

Quasimodo learned to read by the age of 3 and was already writing legibly at age 4. Claude was so surprised that the child had steady fingers despite his hands being a bit bigger than most kids. Of course he doesn't want to say he's proud but he does reward him with fresh bread and a small bunch of grapes which is different from his usual meal (stale bread and water).

Quasi was already 5 when he started to take interest in drawing. His subjects are mostly the people that he sees from below. Sometimes he asks his guardian to go down the bell tower just to draw them better so Frollo had to explain to him that he can't.

"M-master, why can't i go down the bell tower?" The little boy asked.

He expects him to answer 'because you're ugly' or whatever but at that time, he heard something else.

"People are cruel down there, my dear boy. They take advantage of you especially if you look nothing like them— which applies to you. A lot of them are evil and are just as corrupt as any other beings."

"Can't I just...maybe.. go out there one day, master?" The boy insisted.

"Do you want people to use you and take advantage of you? They are wicked and rotten, Quasimodo."

"But—"

"Think of your mother, boy! If your mother took her advantage on you and abandoned you, what makes you think you can't last a day with this disgusting, horrifying, vulgar crowd?! Remember that I am the only one who took you in with kindness." Claude raised his voice as his patience goes thin"

"S-sorry, master." Quasimodo apologized.

"If wanted to draw them, deal with it by drawing them from here. Do what you want but you are not to leave this bell tower. Do you understand??"

"Y-yes, master frollo."

"Remember what I taught you?"

"This... This is my sanctuary." Quasimodo sighed softly.

"That's right, my dear boy. This is your sanctuary. You're a smart kid." Frollo says sitting down, taking huge book from the shelf. "Shall we review your alphabet today?"

The 5-year old boy's sorry eyes are then replaced with delight.

"Yes master, I would love that very much!"

"Very well... A?"

"A-abomination."

"B?"

"Blasphemy..?"

"C?"

"C-c-contrition!"

"Good." Claude praises. "D?"

"Damnation."

"E?"

"Eternal Damnation..?"

"F?"

Quasimodo paused for a bit as he forgot what it was. He knows his master's gonna scold him if he forgets but he couldn't really remember so he tries to answer something else. Something closer...

"F-frollo—"

"Excuse me??" Claude tilts his head and furrowed his brows, making sure he heard it right. Quasimodo could only stutter in response.

Claude internally finds it so hilarious but he's never laughed in front of his child so he tries to keep a straight face, but his face certainly red for holding it.

"Hhh—kkk.." Claude snickered, looking away at the child.

"Sorry master... sorryyy." The child approached him, trying to look at his guardian's face.

"Th-that's your homework, okay? Know what the rest of your alphabet is." His voice came out stern despite him crumbling to his own thoughts.

"Yes, master." Quasimodo responded.

"I still have my duties. I'll see you at dinner." He placed the book down and stood up, leaving the bell tower.

Claude let out a good laugh after leaving him at the belltower. He still finds it hilarious and cute at the same time.

"Hahahha, he said 'Frollo'. That's amusing."

Frollo's mind was occupied by that small moment as he works in the palace of justice.

That night, he was eager to see his child more than usual.

—end—

#hah it's done #hunchback of notre dame #the hunchback of notre dame #thond #disney #frollo #claude frollo #judge frollo #quasimodo

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gotham-ruaidh · 9 months ago

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Little Bit Better Than I Used To Be

Catch up: Chapter 1 (Starry Eyes) || Chapter 2 (Save Our Souls) || Chapter 3 (Dancing On Glass)|| Chapter 4 (Merry-Go-Round)|| Backstage (1) || Backstage (2) || Chapter 5 (Danger)|| Backstage (3) || Chapter 6A (Love Walked In) || Chapter 6B (Without You) || Backstage (4) || Chapter 7 (Stick To Your Guns) || Chapter 8 (Time For Change) || Backstage (5) || Chapter 9 (Take Me To The Top) || Backstage (6) || Chapter 10 (Home Sweet Home) || Backstage (7) || Chapter 11a (Nightrain) || Chapter 11b (Nothing Else Matters) || Chapter 12a (Handle With Care) || Chapter 12b (I’m So Tired of Being Lonely) || Chapter 13a (Angel) || Chapter 13b (She’s My Addiction) || Chapter 13c (Patience) || Chapter 14a (Where Do We Go Now?) || Chapter 14b (Where Do We Go Now?) || Chapter 14c (Where Do We Go Now?) || Chapter 15a (Dreams) || Chapter 15b (I Sing A Song of Love) || Chapter 15c (You Can Do This If You Try) || Chapter 16 (Let That Feeling Grab You Deep Inside || Chapter 17A: Never Tear Us Apart || Chapter 17B: It’s Tough To Be Somebody, And It’s Hard Not To Fall Apart || Chapter 17C: I’m Wishing, Lord, That I Was Stoned || Chapter 18: Turn The Page || Chapter 19A: When You’re Alone, Do You Let Go? || Chapter 19B: Heading For A Spin ||| Also posted at AO3

Chapter 20A: I Don't Need Nothing When I'm By Your Side

So hold me close, better hang on tight Buckle up, baby, it's a bumpy ride We're two kids hitching down the road of life Our world, our fight

-- “Born To Be My Baby,” Bon Jovi (1988) [click here to listen]

North Carolina || February 1989

Jamie frowned, looking back and forth between the shelf he’d just put together and the three unpacked boxes of books (two marked CLAIRE, one marked JAMIE).

Would she like them organized alphabetically by author? Genre? Size?

He rubbed the back of his neck, thinking. Or perhaps she wanted medical books in her workroom? And maybe he could put his music books on the cabinet in his studio –

“There you are.”

He hadn’t heard Claire pad into the room – at some point they would need to get throw rugs to protect the gorgeous old hardwood floors – and smiled as she effortlessly stepped into his embrace.

They held each other for a long moment – his lips against her hair, her face buried in the safety of his neck.

Almost three months since the acoustic tour had ended, the night before Claire’s birthday. About six weeks since they had closed on their dream house, nestled against a mountain in the forests of North Carolina, not too far from The Ridge. And about two weeks since the items in storage – from her packed-up apartment in Boston, and his packed-up house in Los Angeles – had arrived.

The property had everything they needed. Privacy and solitude, of course. An old barn that they were using as a garage for Jamie’s motorcycle and cars. The house – an old cabin, really, dating from the 1800s and which had been lovingly expanded over the years – was perfect. A spacious living room, complete with the original stone fireplace. An eat-in kitchen, with newly replaced appliances. Two small rooms off the back that were now his music studio and her workroom – spaces to pursue their interests. A modestly-sized master bedroom. And a small extra bedroom – which for now was for guests, though God willing would be a nursery very soon.

Claire had insisted on doing two things quickly, before spending their time unpacking all the boxes.

The first was to hang his six gold and two platinum records in his studio – and he agreed, after he had hung her framed medical school diploma on the wall of her workroom.

The second was to install the fax machine on the bare floor of the studio – which, together with the phone, was their only link to the outside world.

For as much as they isolated themselves in this beautiful, peaceful place – the world pushed along without them.

In March, they would leave for L.A. and three weeks of rehearsals with the band. Maybe play a few small gigs in clubs on the Sunset Strip – Jamie had always wanted to do that. And in April, they’d fly to Europe, and kick off the tour that had swelled to 120 dates and stretched into 1990.

Colum was busier than ever – finalizing logistics, negotiating with local promoters, running interference with the suits from the label, upgrading the concerts from arenas to soccer stadiums. He had a conference call with the band every Tuesday – with Ian calling in from Lallybroch in upstate New York, and Angus from various resort spots in Mexico and the Caribbean (“I can’t believe Charlotte and Molly haven’t worn him out yet,” Jamie had mused to Claire one day. She had only shrugged and said, “they take care of each other”). Colum would always have a punchlist of decisions for the band – OK to book studio time during the week off in Scandinavia in July? The roadies couldn’t figure out the pyro setup without the band, OK to wait until rehearsals? They would need to film at least three music videos, which one could be a live performance? – and follow up with decisions in a fax sent later that day.

Jamie had been clear with Colum that he had three conditions for the tour: that Claire would be with him, that Raymond would be traveling with the band, and that the same no alcohol/drugs/groupies rule from the acoustic tour would carry through to this tour. Of course Colum had agreed. Just as he’d agreed to make provisions for Jenny to periodically fly out to visit Ian, and for Angus to always have a suite with two bathrooms to keep his girlfriends happy.

Claire and Jamie knew that this tour would be difficult, for so many different reasons. But they would be better prepared this time, to draw strength from each other, and to have Raymond for support. And maybe, just maybe they would return home from Europe with the best souvenir of all…

“Another fax from Colum,” Claire murmured after a long while.

Jamie snorted against her hair. “I don’t know whether to be impressed or annoyed.”

“I do admire how hard he’s working for you and for the band. And how much he’s keeping all of you in the loop on the decisions he’s making. He doesn’t want any surprises.”

“I’d imagine not. The amount of bullshit he has to be putting up with right now must be insane. I just hope he doesn’t crack.”

“He never said if he’s bringing Tricia on the tour.” Tricia – Colum’s wife of more than ten years. She stood a head taller than her husband, still impossibly beautiful in her late thirties, smiling for every frown on her husband’s face. Claire had only met her once – couldn’t say she really knew her – but she knew enough about her.

How she had first met Colum at a party in 1970, when he was a roadie for Led Zeppelin and she was part of a gaggle of groupies that held court at the Riot House in L.A.

How, when she and her girlfriends joined the Led Zep tour the following summer, he had punched out the lighting guy at the Cow Palace in San Francisco when he heard the guy didn’t understand what Tricia meant by saying “no”.

How Geordie Ash – the reporter who had put Jamie (and, in a way, Claire) on the map last year with that Rolling Stone article – had sent flowers to her hotel room every day for a month during Led Zeppelin’s 1973 U.S. tour. Not knowing, of course, that she was allergic to lilies – or how Colum, who knew more about her by that point than he cared to admit, had wordlessly disposed of them for her, every day that month.

“I don’t think she likes to tour.” Jamie’s thumb traced lazy circles on the skin of Claire’s back. “Too many bad memories.”

If you asked any rock journalist or musician who had found Alex MacGregor – assistant to Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant – dead in his Seattle hotel room in the spring of 1975, they would all say quite confidently that it had been Colum Laird, who by that point had advanced to lead Zeppelin’s touring crew.

But a handful of people – Peter Grant, and Colum, and Jamie, and now Claire – knew the truth.

Tricia woke up, Alex cold beside her in bed, a needle in his arm. The only thing she knew to do was slip quietly down the hall, tumbling into Colum’s room…and finally, his arms. Where she had remained ever since.

“I couldn’t imagine being away from you for so long.” Claire sighed. “I don’t know how they make it work.”

Jamie shrugged. “They love each other very deeply. They fixed the broken pieces in each other. And now she has the two boys to keep her busy.” He kissed her forehead. “Something for us to aspire to, perhaps. What’s in the fax?”

She held it out for him to read. Sharing a smile at Colum’s scrawl.

J+C: I’m not calling because I interrupted enough moments between you on tour and I’ll probably do it again this year. I don’t have Raymond’s info pls have him get in touch so we have a copy of his credentials and the travel agent can make all arrangements for Europe. I got the label to foot the bill for his travel meals and hotels, convinced them it’s a business expense, you’re welcome. Stay out of trouble. Colum.

“We’ll have him give Colum a call after he arrives this afternoon,” Jamie mused, folding the fax and sliding it into the back pocket of his jeans.

Claire nodded. “The guest room is all ready. And I’m glad Dougal and Gillian and William will be here tomorrow – I’m so happy they’re so close by.”

Jamie squeezed her shoulder, and released her. “As am I. Now, I have a question for you about these books…”

#outlander #outlander fanfic #jamie and claire #little bit better than i used to be

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toomanyplotbunnies-sendhelp · 10 months ago

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Hello and welcome to Day 26 of "Let's Explore My Plot Bunnies"

I still feel awful 😷

Today, I wanna present to you a kind of long idea that I had a while back. It's a Lout of the Count's Family and Pokemon (Crossover-ish?) idea.

It titled it:

"Into the Unknown: Cale Henituse's new life as a Pokemon Trainer"

The idea centers around the original! Cale Henituse, rather than KRS! Cale. And it's really long - both as in "explaining the idea" long, as well as series of book long because I have prepared Cale's Pokemon Teams for 8 Regions, but story wise I only have about 5 or 6 planned.

Basically, imagine that the Sealed God got wind that Cale's existence (together with Raon's, Ohn, and Hong's) will be his downfall from some Hunter that just wanted to cause chaos around. The Sealed God gets into his head to kill the 4 entities that would pose the most problems to his plans, but the God of Death intercepts the spells send towards Cale, Raon (not named yet), Ohn and Hong and instead of killing them, the spell send the four into another dimension - the Pokemon Dimension. (Arceus basically becomes father to a new child and grandfather to his new three grandchildren)

Cale Henituse is 17 here, Raon is 3 years old, and Ohn and Hong are 9 and 7, respectively.

The four appear in Kalos, near the place that Professor Sycamore was exploring. All of them are unconscious and injured - Cale has more negligible injuries, but Raon, Ohn, and Hong are malnourished and have big injuries.

Sycamore takes them back to his lab and nurses them back to health. Cale is the first one to wake up, and he is very much weary of everything and everyone around him. Professor Sycamore is the one who explains what this world is and that people coming from different worlds are somewhat common here. Although speaking and understanding what others say comes relatively easy for Cale, reading and writing are not as easy. Professor Sycamore takes upon himself to teach Cale how to read and write the alphabet of this world - and basically adopts him as well. (Sycamore already has a child, why not two?)

While Cale is fascinated with the creatures known as Pokemon, Ohn and Hong wake up. They are very much scared of everything and everyone around. The one that calms them down is Cale because he speaks to them in the language of their original world, which is way easier for them to understand.

When Sycamore mentions that there is another one left to wake up, Cale asks who. When Cale sees the baby black dragon, he is very much horrified. His mother, Jour Thames, always said that dragons are creatures that should never be bound, nor treated with disrespect. She taught Cale whatever she knew about these powerful creatures, so when Cale sees the harness on the small black dragon, he immediately tells Sycamore they should remove it since it is actually harming the dragon, rather than helping him or being a normal occurrence for such a creature - like Sycamore thought. (Cut him some slack; Sycamore didn't know if the harness is akin to clothes for humans since different worlds mean different costoms)

Turns out that the little dragon has some severe wounds around his wings, so he shouldn't try to fly anytime soon before he heals. Cale is somewhat worried about that, but the fact that he is in seemingly another world takes precedence in his mind at the moment.

Cale, even after Raon wakes up, still finds no way of getting back to his world. The only clue he has for getting back is the fact that "Legendary Pokemon" - as Sycamore calls them - exist and that they have powers beyond the imagination of humans.

While staying with Sycamore, Cale helps with things such as feeding the Pokemon under Sycamore's care or arranging some files with Alain, Sycamore's adoptive son. (Alain proves to be very much like his father and takes a liking to Cale very quickly, declaring Cale - at least in his mind - his younger brother.) This is how Cale meets an injured Absol with whom he connects during the months he spends at the lab.

The turning point in Cale's stay at the lab is when Sycamore's Garchomp - who is gentle and caring - suddenly turns aggressive. Cale notices there is something attached to her neck, so he and Absol, who wants to help, give chase to Grachomp. Unbeknownst to them, the little black dragon, despite his wing injuries, follows them. The chase stops at the top of Lumiose Tower, where not only do they realize they have a small injured dragon following them, but also Cale has his first taste of a Pokemon Battle together with Absol. Absol's Iron Tail manages to shatter whatever is on Grachomp's neck, and everything seems fine, but the black dragon falls off the tower when the small part of structure he is standing on crumbles. Cale dives after him, knowing that the dragon's wings were injured and they are saved by a Mega Blaziken.

Once this ordeal is over, Cale decides he should try and find a way back to his world. His best bet at the moment is going on a Pokemon journey and trying to find one of the Legendary Pokemon to ask for help. The black dragon is interested in Cale since he is not like all the other humans he has met and decides to follow him around. Ohn and Hong are also quite attached to Cale at this point, and they want to follow.

Cale's Pokemon Partner ends up being Absol, who likes Cale a lot and wants to help him.

And so Cale's adventure in Kalos begins. And many more adventures will follow.

Other things to note:

I have Kalos planned out from what is going to happen to Cale's entire pokemon team. The same goes for like the next 5 or so regions.

In Kalos, Cale will have two companions who remind him of Amiru and Eric. I haven't decided on a name for them yet, but I do know I wanna make them siblings. I want the girl to have a Pachirisu as a Pokemon Partner, while her brother has a Corphish.

Cale's Team for Kalos will be: Absol (who will mega evolve); Fletchling -> Talonflame (1st Pokemon caught); Honedge -> Aegislash (reminds Cale a lot of Beacrox; Caught when Cale explores the Parfum Palace); Croagunk -> Toxicroack (Remind Cale of Ron; saved Cale at one point in the story and decided to go with him cause and I quote "the kid needs protection since he ends up hurt all the time"); Slowpoke -> Slowbro (Slowpoke caught himself when Cale was at Azure Bay and helped move the Slowpoke away from the crowd; loves to lay on Cale's head and nap); Mareep -> Ampharos (caught around Route 12; evolves from Flaffy to Ampharos during the Team Flare take over of the Power Plant)

In this au, the gym leaders of Kalos have a small little test to dwindle the numbers of challengers they get at once. Viola will put kids to take pictures of some bug Pokemon without telling them that said Pokemon are very skittish and don't like loud noises all that much; Grant will make them climb up a wall till they get to its highest point (where the battle platform is) and he will battle them in the order they arrive there; etc.

I am throwing the Pokemon canon into the trash can here. There will be characters that shouldn't be as young as they are here. The reason I am doing this is because I like giving Cale tons of unhinged children to look after.

After Kalos, Cale becomes a researcher assistant and helps Sycamore and Alain with their work. Because of this, Cale is sent to other regions pretty often.

After Kalos, Cale goes to Hoenn, accompanied by Raon, Ohn, Hong and Absol only. There, he will travel the region with Steven Stone, a 16 years old teenager. Steven pretty much loves Cale like a younger brother, and he is kinda unhinged should Cale ever be hurt. In Hoenn, Cale is introduced for the 1st time to Pokemon Contests and participates in them, too. He goes so far as to get into the Grand Festival.

After Hoenn comes Unova, where Cale meets Steven again (Steven basically tricked his father into agreeing with him and letting him leave Hoenn). Cale and Steven also meet the mysterious N, a 15 years old teenager, with whom they end up traveling around. In Unova, Cale is chosen by Reshiram, while N is chosen by Zekrom. The main reason is that during this specific journey, Cale starts accepting that there might not be any way for him to go home - accepting the truth of his situation.

After Unova, Cale goes to Alola to teach at the Pokemon School with Professor Kukui. This was mainly something planned by Sycamore as a way for Cale to relax and not have to get into dangerous situations. Alain is also a helping as a teacher for Professor Rowan's summer camp in Sinnoh at the same time. During this journey, Cale will meet both new and old friends as he is trying to teach the kids at the school about pokemon. They even have a school trip to Hoenn for the Wallace Contest, a pokemon contest that Cale was invited to perform as the opening act of the 3-day-long contest.

After Alola, Cale goes to Sinnoh. Here, he will travel around with Riley and frequently meet with Reggie, a Pokemon Trainer who wants to challenge the Sinnoh League and his younger brother Paul, who is a year shy of getting his own pokemon starter. Cale and the others will have to deal with Team Galactic and their nefarious plans as well as Cale's own fears and doubts about his new life in this world.

Next up, we have Kanto where Cale re-encounters Reggie, who is setting his eyes on the Battle Frontier this time around. Reggie is accompanied by his little brother Paul, who just became a Pokemon Trainer not too long ago and chose Turtwig as his starter. Paul ends up admiring Cale a lot during the journey, while Reggie struggles with whether he wants to continue as a Pokemon Trainer or become a Pokemon Breeder. Cale, on the other hand, has his hand full with some of the revelations from his journey through Sinnoh, as well as the knowledge that a god wants him dead.

Cale got a necklace from his mother when he was young. The necklace was made from an unknown stone that no one in his world could identify. Lo and behold, that necklace was a Key Stone for Mega Evolution. How did Jour get her hands on that? Cale doesn't know yet.

I am very tempted to have Chou Jung Soo and Kim Rok Soo just plop into the Pokemon World at one point and Cale to have to take care of these two. Meanwhile, Lee Soo Hyuk has already reincarnated in the Pokemon World as Sui Khan, a trainer from Hoenn. His first meeting with Cale doesn't go all that well, and they both start on the wrong foot with each other. They do become friends later, tho.

Having Raon, Ohn, and Hong have a more... war-free experience would be good in my eyes. Let the children be children, if not in the canon, then at least here. Just let them enjoy going around the regions with Cale.

Alain is also like Cale. He is someone who appeared as a child from another world. The world in question was KRS's world, and Alain was pretty heavily traumatized by all that went down there. So Sycamore has a lot of hard won experience on how to deal with traumatized children - and he uses it to help Cale too because the kid might not be traumatized like Alain was, but he still shows signs of trauma at the beginning.

I headcannon that Og! Cale learned how to cook from Beacrox when he was little. He is now the resident cook every time he explores a region with other companions.

Trust me, the Sealed God will get his ass handed to him by Cale in the future. As a matter of fact, Cale does grow up during his travels: he is 17 when he goes through Kalos; 18 during Hoenn; turns 19 during Unova; 20 when he teaches in Alola; turns 21 during Sinnoh and is almost 22 when he is in Kanto.

Everything happened because a Hunter wanted to cause as much chaos as possible.

Raon learns to mimic dragon-type moves in this AU. Ohn and Hong also train to be strong too. They just don't get as many opportunities to show off at the moment.

To me, Og! Cale is a cinnamon roll that someone dropped in bitter coffee and forgot about. Which translates to "I wanna cherish him and wrap him in bubble wrap."

And this is about everything I have for this one.

So what do you think? Good? Bad? Let me know!

I know this is a bit late, but I am still sick, so my brain is lagging quite a lot. I also wanna say that all the days until Day 31 will cover very long fic ideas. Also, I have memes prepared for this idea that I will post later today.

Regardless, hope you enjoyed my ramblings. Have a great day/night and take care!

See you next time,

-TooManyPlotBunnies-Send Help

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