#but some of them are TERRIFYING (in a funny)

[bradleysass]

Family Gatherings - @noblehouseofgay - word count: 993 - 25 Days of Jegumas - Are family gatherings always positive?

Regulus Black paced the polished marble floors of the drawing room, his steps quiet but frantic. The flickering flames from the ornate fireplace cast his shadow against the room's dark-paneled walls, making him look even smaller than he felt. He tugged at the sleeves of his perfectly pressed shirt, his nerves fraying with every passing second.

It was absurd, really. He knew that. Inviting James Potter to spend Christmas at Grimmauld Place was nothing short of reckless. His parents—strict, old-blooded purists—wouldn't just disapprove; they would be scandalized. But the thought of enduring their oppressive atmosphere and pointed disapproval alone was unbearable.

Besides, James had insisted.

"I’m not leaving you to deal with those stuck-up wankers alone, Reggie," he’d said, his voice warm and resolute. "And if I’ve got to wear something posh to charm them, so be it. Just tell me what to bring, and I’ll be there."

The doorbell echoed through the house like a tolling bell. Regulus froze. Kreacher shuffled past with a grumble, muttering something about "unworthy visitors" as he went to answer it.

Taking a deep breath, Regulus steadied himself and stepped into the hallway.

James stood in the entryway, a grin lighting up his face despite the oppressive atmosphere of Grimmauld Place. He was dressed impeccably: a crisp, tailored suit in deep navy that complemented his warm complexion, polished shoes, and—was that a silver tie? Regulus blinked.

“You…clean up well,” Regulus said, his voice betraying a mix of surprise and affection.

James laughed, stepping forward to press a quick kiss to Regulus's temple. “Told you I could be fancy when I want to be. Now, where are these terrifying parents of yours?”

Before Regulus could respond, Walburga Black swept into the hall, Orion trailing just behind her. Her sharp eyes narrowed as they landed on James.

“And who, pray tell, is this?” she asked, her voice icy.

“James Potter,” James said smoothly, extending a hand. His tone was polite, but his confidence was unshakable. “Regulus invited me to join you for Christmas dinner.”

Walburga ignored the hand, her lips curling in disdain. “A Potter,” she repeated, as if the name itself was a curse.

James's smile didn’t falter. “That’s right. I hope to prove I’m not nearly as dreadful as you might think.”

Walburga raised an eyebrow, her gaze darting to Regulus. “And why, exactly, is he here?”

Regulus opened his mouth, but James beat him to it. “Because your son deserves a Christmas where he’s not suffocated by tradition,” he said lightly, though his eyes flashed with determination. “I thought I’d lighten the mood a bit.”

Orion, who had been quiet until now, gave James a once-over. “You’re the Quidditch player, aren’t you? Chaser for Gryffindor?”

James nodded. “That’s me. Regulus and I had some memorable matches.”

Orion smirked faintly. “I’ve heard you’re talented. A shame about the company you keep.”

James’s jaw tightened, but he forced a smile. “Funny, I was going to say the same,” he replied smoothly.

Dinner began as a cold, tense affair, with Walburga and Orion making thinly veiled comments about James’s background, while James parried with polite but firm replies. Regulus sat stiffly, his hands clenched under the table, trying not to let the tension overwhelm him.

The breaking point came during dessert. Orion, who had been sipping from his wine glass with increasing disdain, finally set it down with a loud clink and leveled James with a withering glare.

“Tell me, Mr. Potter,” he began, his voice dangerously low, “do you honestly believe you’re good enough for my son? A Potter, whose family has spent generations cozying up to Mudbloods and half-blood filth, daring to sit here and play the part of a respectable wizard?”

James froze. The jovial light in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a sharp, simmering anger. Slowly, he pushed his chair back and stood.

“Father,” Regulus said quickly, his voice taut, “that’s enough.”

But Orion ignored him, his gaze fixed on James. “No, let him answer. What does a boy like him think he can offer someone like Regulus? Respectability? Status? Power? You have nothing, Potter, and you will never be anything more than a stain on wizarding society.”

The next moment happened in a blur. James’s fist curled at his side, his knuckles white as his temper boiled over. He took a step forward, his posture rigid and threatening.

“Say that again,” James said, his voice low and deadly.

Regulus was on his feet in an instant, stepping between them. He placed a hand on James’s chest, his touch firm yet grounding. “James,” he said softly, but urgently. “Don’t.”

James’s eyes flicked to Regulus, his fury wavering under the younger Black’s imploring gaze. Slowly, he unclenched his fists, exhaling through his nose as he stepped back.

“This is what I mean,” Orion sneered. “Hot-headed and impulsive. You’ll drag him down with you.”

James turned to Orion, his voice calm but cold. “The only thing dragging Regulus down is this house and the people in it.”

Walburga gasped, her face a mask of fury, but James didn’t stay to see her reaction. He grabbed Regulus’s hand and said, “We’re leaving.”

Regulus didn’t argue. He let James lead him out of the dining room, their footsteps echoing in the stunned silence.

When they reached the hallway, James stopped, his shoulders rising and falling as he struggled to rein in his anger. Regulus placed a hand on his arm, squeezing gently.

“Thank you,” Regulus murmured.

James looked at him, his expression softening. “For what?”

“For not punching my father,” Regulus said, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

James chuckled despite himself, wrapping an arm around Regulus’s shoulders. “Don’t thank me yet. Next time he opens his mouth, I might not be so restrained.”

Regulus leaned into him, his heart swelling with gratitude and love. “You were perfect,” he whispered.

James pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “And you’re worth it.”

[muscariii]

Could you draw a little mini doodle of all of your favourite ocs next to each other?? No need for big effort, but I'd love to meet them!! :] Also happy holidays

Sorry for taking so long, thanks for the request!!

I was very excited for this one I gotta be honest...

I split them into sections to make it easier to see.

First there's my Elder Scrolls ocs because I love them all. We've got:

Rasha, who I'm sure I don't have to explain who she is at this point.

Setha-Ei (or Squints-At-Men). My precious little guy. He likes to punch things. He canonically has anaemia, horrible eyesight and he can't read (these are all results of jokes I made with my bestie and it was just too funny to not make it canon). Fun fact, he's sorta loosely inspired by Anjanath from mhworld.

Konrad is also a little guy. He gets angry a lot. And he's bad at controlling his magic.

Next we have my absolute favorites. These are ocs from a story/universe I'm working on. I'm still thinking if what to call it but I use Lorestone/Kamień Wiedzy in my head. We've got:

Diphy! She has amnesia and terrifying visions of the world splitting. The only thing she remembers is her own name and how to cook absolutely amazing food. She also has a weird artifact with her and it's a tool that will show her the way to stop her visions from becoming true.

Tagetes! He's basically a depressed guy that was asleep for a thousand years because he lost someone dear to him. He's good at making tools and prosthetics (he even made some for Diphy!). A few months after he woke up he was taking a stroll on a floating island near his house and he got caught in a storm and ended up finding a sarcophagus and a very confused Diphy inside it. Then he got dragged into helping her with her mission and recovering her memories.

And lastly, these two! They're also from the Lorestone universe.

Nyja is a very fun character for me and I love her very much. She doesn't exactly take part in the story and she's more of a lore character. She's basically something like a goddess of dead people that were wronged in life and she works for Judgement (the name is pretty explanatory but they basically decide the fate of souls based on what kind of person they were). She's very chaotic and unhinged and she ate an entire planet once. She has the title of Designer/Projektantka and what it means is basically she makes new vessels for souls that get a second chance at life. A fun fact is that she designed Myo's body.

Myosotis is also a very beloved character of mine. I'm still working on her design since I keep changing it over and over. She's a huge mystery for all the characters in Lorestone (except for Nyja cause she knows what's up). She's not exactly having a good time.

I could talk about my ocs forever, honestly. Very happy about this request. Maybe I should post about them and Lorestone more. Would that be fun?

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Soup solves everything.

[tropicalcontinental]

Human fear is the window to the soul or whatever ://

[waitineedaname]

mxtx characters who, in my humble butch opinion, should be butch

Luo Binghe: listen. look me in the eyes. in a genderswap situation, Binghe should get to be butch. one of the key themes in SVSSS is gender, and one of the things that distinguishes SVSSS!Binghe from PIDW!Binghe is that he's not the hypermasculine protagonist and instead is allowed to enjoy more feminine things (like being Shizun's housewife). that's why he's specifically called Bing-mei and it's also why im on my transfemme Binghe soapbox all the time, but that's a whole other topic. what im saying is if we're reversing the gender situation, then fem!Binghe in SVSSS should get to enjoy more masculine things. it's what she deserves. she strikes me as the kind of butch that gets a thrill out of doing gentlemanly things like giving SQQ her coat when she's cold. she should be the Bing-di to PIDW's Bing-jie

Shang Qinghua: this one is deeply self-indulgent projection but don't fucking worry about that okay. SQH is a very specific flavor of low effort butch nerd. SQH is the cookie monster pajamas to butch pipeline. SQH cuts her own hair with regular scissors for convenience and Shen Yuan is dying to get her to just buy some goddamn clippers. SQH is running off of four red bulls and spite. She inexplicably has game and she's just as confused about this as you are

Xie Lian: imagine this for me. you go to one of those volunteering events where you're cleaning trash out of a creek or something. there is a woman there in cargo pants or maybe overalls, something with a shit ton of pockets. she has not shaved in months, maybe years. her hair is in the messiest bun possible, or maybe tied back under a baseball cap. she is somehow the most beautiful woman you've ever seen. after taking away all the trash and informing everyone how to sort the recycling, she is picked up by another woman who appears to be the definition of high camp. you leave this encounter feeling like you might have been converted to something. perhaps to lesbianism. this is what an encounter with butch Xie Lian is like.

[r0semultiverse]

BUNGOU STRAY DOGS 119 SPOILERS WITHOUT CONTEXT

[togethernow]

Highly recommend listening to all the punch out themes on 2x speed

👍

[giantkillerjack]

Uh-oh! You are like, SOOO awkward!!

You're so awkward that it is occasionally mildly uncomfortable for people!

You're so awkward that sometimes people are confused by you and then there are awkward silences!

You're so awkward ...... that ultimately no one is harmed!!

Oh damn!!! What a vile crime you have committed! What an unforgivable thing it is to make a fellow human briefly confused!

Why, if *I* were ever briefly confused and kind of uncomfortable as a result, I'd be devastated.... by the absolute net zero change in my happiness and health! - From which I might never recover!! Yes indeed! No punishment can ever be enough for you!!

So you better absolutely hate yourself for it.

Better be SO MEAN to yourself about every single missed social cue so you don't forget your horrible crime! Meaner than you'd ever dream of being to someone else for the same thing! This is YOUR responsibility!

You need to show the world that you KNOW you are bad by punishing yourself constantly! After all, think of all the people who BENEFIT from you punishing yourself! - No, really! Think about it! Think about who benefits from your pain.

Think of alllllll the definitely-good people that your definitely-necessary self-torment definitely helps! I mean, you can't just cut off their definitely-life-sustaining supply of your suffering, right?? Sure, everyone else has a breaking point, but you're probably the only person in human history who doesn't, right? Best not to question it probably. Sure, it's a symptom that billions of people with trauma have had, but who knows? You could be a one-in-seven-billion exception. Anything's possible!

Instead, better just accept that idea that bullies carry like guns in holsters - the idea that people who have trouble with social cues deserve to suffer. Better carry on the burden they placed on you until you drop. Aid the cause of the callous by enforcing shame and suffering upon yourself extra hard; try your best to do their work for them. They're very busy.

Better not recognize that you need patience and kindness to heal from your trauma. Better not find out that it was trauma rather than personal weakness filling your head with self-hating thoughts. Better not find out it wasn't your fault.

Better not find out that awkwardness is not inherently harmful or unkind, and, in fact, the people who act like it is *are the ones enacting harm and being cruel.*

Better not get righteously angry when you realize just how much unnecessary damage this has done to you. After all, if you get mad, you might realize you deserve better. You might even feel brave enough to DEMAND better! You might build boundaries that keep you safe! You might make other people think they deserve to feel safe too! And we obviously can't be having that, so...

Better not show yourself even a little kindness a little bit at a time.

Better not make a habit out of it after all that practice.

Better not get confident.

Especially if you can't first wipe out every trace of awkward. (And you probably never will. Because people who experience absolute social certainty at all times tend to be insufferable assholes that enforce the status quo. And you just don't have the stock portfolio for that.)

Better not be confident and awkward because then you might confuse and delight people

- you might accidentally end up making other people feel less shame for their social difficulties

- you might make isolated, traumatized, and shy people feel like they deserve to be included in social situations

- you might even make them feel they can be themselves around you

- you might start loving the effect you have on a room

- you might enjoy conversations more

- you might forgive yourself and bounce back from shame more easily and frequently

- you might come to enjoy some of those moments of harmless confusion you cause because NOBODY expects the Confident Awkward, and that can genuinely be an advantage in social situations

- you might stop apologizing so much.

- you might find that socializing is like a video game: it requires practice but also a safe space for it to be fun and positive.

Or if you can't become assertive and confident, better not remain awkward and shy and quiet, and then love and forgive yourself anyway!

Why, it would be carnage!!

In either scenario, you run the risk of finding out that it's not your fault that safe spaces full of kind people can be really hard to find, create, and nurture. You could end up building a skillset that helps you do those things if you're not careful!

If you start giving yourself even the tiniest amount of grace at a time, you will find that you've accessed a gateway drug with extreme long-term side effects:

- You might realize that it was never your fault that it took so long to like yourself.

- You might realize that you were always worth talking to, even when you didn't like yourself and communication felt impossibly difficult.

- You might realize that you'll still be worth talking to even if communication becomes harder as you age and/or experience disability.

- You might come to know that you deserve to be heard even on bad days when words come slow and blurry.

You might discover that you were always deserving of kindness, first and foremost from yourself.

So. As you can see, it's FAR too much of a risk to start granting your awkward self free pardons for your many heinous and harmless crimes. Better to just leave it there.

[tittyinfinity]

contemplating deleting my blog soon I might make a new blog but idk

[idontknowijuststartedsomething]

Low key this was probably my favorite part of the episode

[takeyourdailydoseofcyanide]

asking for help always makes things worse

[dovessoiscanon]

Me staring at the spider on my wall that is making its way closer to me by the second:

[dykefever]

okay in fleabag the fourth wall breaks are a metaphor for dissociation yes i will agree with that but i don’t see people talk about how it’s also her performing for an audience - she is using this imagined audience in order to feel seen and heard in a way she isn’t in her real life, a way for her to validate herself through the lens of others and when hot priest calls her out on it it’s because he is actually!!! seeing her!! and when they’re having sex it’s the first time she pushes that audience away and refuses to perform she is present in that real life moment and being seen etc by hot priest. i’d argue that the dissociation goes hand in hand with that performance like she dissociates in order to perform for an imagined audience and also i think that other interpretation of the fourth wall breaks are valid i don’t think there’s one complete and total explanation/answer as to what they mean. much like in real life our coping mechanisms are often used in response to a multitude of situations/traumas and can represent multiple things about our psyche !! anyway just wanted to share my thoughts

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

More MDZS and Hollow Knight! The cool bugs I found in my backyard have started to unionize.

Part 1 - Part 3

[normal-about-the-dca]

If anyone would like to talk about my silly DCA/MLP AU Robots in Ponyville, please do! I am losing my mind over here and I must share the brainworms. Woe, fanfic not-quite-summary be upon ye.

Okay! So! In Robots in Ponyville the Daycare Attendant gets sent to Equestria through chaotic anomalous means just before they incur any damage from the fire at the end of Security Breach.

After several misunderstandings Sun gets adopted into the Mane 6 friend group. Mainly because he's obviously not from their world and as the Elements of Harmony it's their duty to help him, but also because Sun genuinely vibes with Fluttershy and Twilight and they come as a package deal.

Over the course of the story Sun and Moon struggle with their senses of identity and personhood, and what it means for a Fazbear Entertainment bot to exist without Fazbear Entertainment. They find a lovely little family with the residents of Ponyville, and must eventually decide between returning home where they belong or staying with their newfound only friends.

I have!! So many thoughts about character relationships (platonic) and would love to ramble about them and hear what other people think!!! It started as a crackfic idea based on a dream but oughh I don't think it's a crackfic anymore.

[grimmjowjaegerjaquez]

when youre trying to live alone out in your field lab but then these two yahoos follow you out there and now they wont leave????