#children's short story

[lazylittledragon]

what do you mean youre technically a detransitioner cause of terf bullshit?

it's a v long story but i detransitioned for a couple of years when i was 16/17, for multiple reasons but mostly because i fell into the blaire white/kalvin garrah chamber of "you have to be This way to be trans otherwise you're not real".

i was already Deeply insecure about myself and my 'passing' and i was led to believe that i couldn't want to wear makeup or skirts, and i couldn't choose not to have bottom surgery, and i couldn't do anything but bind for 12+ hours a day to the point that my ribcage is still misshapen. basically i thought that if i wasn't suffering enough doing 'feminine' things, i couldn't really be trans, so i should just go back to being a girl and suck it up.

the terf bullshit is because i'd seen a lot of terfs/detransitioners talking about the 'dangers' of testosterone and how it would turn me into a horrible ugly evil monster and how there was nothing worse than wanting to be a man. which combined with 'you need to fully medically transition to be valid at all' creates some very dangerous and upsetting feelings to cope with.

it also came from trying really hard to put myself in a little box before i realised that my sexuality/gender are very fluid and it's FINE for me not to have a label and just do whatever i want. when i was 19 or so i went back to using they/them (and eventually he/him) and changed my name again because even though i like doing 'feminine' things, i don't want to be seen as a woman.

tldr: i was conditioned by transphobic/terf rhetorics to think that i was being trans the 'wrong' way so i couldn't be trans at all, so i believed i must actually be a girl if i still wanted to do 'feminine' things. nowadays i am a transmasc who does feminine things because i don't give two shits about what any transmed prick thinks of me anymore.

[black-suns-rim]

Ceremony - Ethereal Star AU

Click for short story below image

"It is time... Are you ready?" The Unspoken turned to the young prophet. They held an orb of light in their hands. "I... I am ready." Anubis held his head high and puffed out his chest. His palms were sweating from his nerves, but his excitement overpowered his anxiety. "Good." The Unspoken gestured with their head for Anubis to follow them out of the tent. As they walked out, many voices started to cheer. The noise was overwhelming to Anubis, and he had to hold back the urge to cover his ears. He kept his head held high. The Unspoken carved a way through the people, they parted as they walked forward through the crowd until they came to a stone pillar.

They turned to face the crowd and slowly raised a hand up into the air. The people hushed as The Unspoken began to talk:

"This day marks the end of my reign and the beginning of a new - a new Overseer for our sacred trials. He has shown me his abilities time and time again; his delicate care for the injured, his vast understanding of the magics, and his ability to adjust to any kind of challenge. This day, I pass on the sacred Flame." The Unspoken gestured for Anubis to step forward, and so he did. The Unspoken raised their hands up, making the orb ascend. They then moved their hands quickly outward, causing the orb to expel light from it at a rapid rate. The light from the orb swirled around Anubis. Each small flame began to hit him and enter through his skin. It started out as a few at at time until all the flames began to absorb into him. The light slowly raised Anubis from the ground. He felt a deep warmth within his chest, and the feeling grew hotter and hotter as it spread through his body.

The orb faded as all the light went into Anubis. When the orb was gone, Anubis fell to the ground. He shook as he struggled to get up, fumbling and unsteady. He gripped his chest as the warm sensation throughout his body returned to his core. Once he was on his feet, he looked at The Unspoken. They were on their knees, weakened by the transfer. They looked up at Anubis and nodded their head. Anubis nodded back.

Anubis turned to the people. All of their unblinking eyes were on him now. He took in a deep breath and let out a soft sigh. He placed his hands over his chest, summoning the orb of light from within him as he slowly moved his hands out from his body. The crowd cheered at their new Overseer.

I wanted to redesign the overseer for the Ethereal Star AU since I thought his design looked a little bland. I might redesign the other elemental prophet's designs too, but I'll see... Anyway, this was just a fun short blorb of lore for the AU

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

Average fma fan talking about 03 positively: Man, it's such a miracle that the 2003 anime is written even halfway decently! After all, the writers who, as we know, have never written anything in their lives before [citation needed], they had to work while locked in individual underground cells [citation needed], only fed scraps of fma lore by Arakawa herself [citation needed] while her story was actually fully formed by the first printing of her manga in Monthly Shonen Gangan [citation needed] but they were adapting the initial first volume of manga and oopsy-daisy shot past it [citation needed], so they made up every plot beat, character arc, storyboard, and lore change completely on the fly and very randomly [citation needed]. Even though they tried to 1:1 adapt her story [citation needed, contradicted by existing sources], they fumbled the job and butchered her story, characters, and lore. Arakawa sagely forgave them [citation needed]. But somehow it's a cohesive story?! Wow! Even though the story is sad, dark, scares me, makes me cry, violent, gorey, and my fave ships aren't endgame, so -50 demerits. Still, good job team! A treat! A treat for the monkeys working the typewriters at Studio Bones circa 2002-2004! #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood

[yasmeensh]

I finished reading 4 books from Earth's Children series. The last three were really hard to read. After finishing Plains of Passage, I have come to really appreciate Clan of the Cave Bear as a standalone. I miss all the Neanderthals and Ayla's character arc. Gotta do some fanart!

PS. I MISS IZA! Best character in the series.

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

Something rubbed against his leg beneath the table. Jon saw red eyes staring up at him. “Hungry again?” he asked. There was still half a honeyed chicken in the center of the table. Jon reached out to tear off a leg, then had a better idea. He knifed the bird whole and let the carcass slide to the floor between his legs. Ghost ripped into it in savage silence. His brothers and sisters had not been permitted to bring their wolves to the banquet, but there were more curs than Jon could count at this end of the hall, and no one had said a word about his pup. He told himself he was fortunate in that too. His eyes stung. Jon rubbed at them savagely, cursing the smoke. He swallowed another gulp of wine and watched his direwolf devour the chicken. Dogs moved between the tables, trailing after the serving girls. One of them, a black mongrel bitch with long yellow eyes, caught a scent of the chicken. She stopped and edged under the bench to get a share. Jon watched the confrontation. The bitch growled low in her throat and moved closer. Ghost looked up, silent, and fixed the dog with those hot red eyes. The bitch snapped an angry challenge. She was three times the size of the direwolf pup. Ghost did not move. He stood over his prize and opened his mouth, baring his fangs. The bitch tensed, barked again, then thought better of this fight. She turned and slunk away, with one last defiant snap to save her pride. Ghost went back to his meal. Jon grinned and reached under the table to ruffle the shaggy white fur. The direwolf looked up at him, nipped gently at his hand, then went back to eating.

Jon I, AGOT

It's interesting that GRRM would dedicate several paragraphs to a seemingly unimportant exchange between a boy, his wolf, and an unfriendly third party. But there's just something about this passage that has continued to nag at me for years since I first read it because, considering how heavy handed GRRM was with the foreshadowing in AGOT, this feels important.

Jon is sitting at table full of squires - aka would be knights. We don't really know who they are or what families they belong to, but it's safe to assume that they come from a certain level of privilege; this is considering the fact that it cannot be financially easy to be a squire. And these boys already have a slew of tales detailing all their previous knightly exploits regarding "battle and bedding and the hunt" which suggests that they have some capital. So you have boys who will soon be men. And they will, presumably, become men of some power.

These lads eat their fill of the chicken until only half remains, which Jon then gives to Ghost. The direwolf's name is not so important here but what he represents is. Throughout the series, we're told that Ghost is reminiscent of the weirwood trees (because of his red eyes and white fur). He's stated to be of and from the Old Gods and since he's a personification of the weirwoods, he might as well be one of them. It's almost as if Jon is presenting whatever is left on the table to the Old Gods (Ghost). He lets them devour his offerings while he silently watches. And the motif of watching is so interesting here because it's kind of like Jon takes on a stewardship role - to watch over land/people/etc. He oversees Ghost eating the chicken, so he's overseeing whatever has been given to the Old Gods. This is not new imagery to his arc. As a brother of the Night's Watch and eventually its leader, we have several instances where he leads people to adopting the Old Gods in some fashion. In ADWD, several recruits swear their vows to the Old Gods while he watches on as their Lord Commander. The Old Gods are also primarily of the North and we're told that Jon has more of the north in him than his brothers; interesting that this also includes Bran. So perhaps whatever is being offered to the Old Gods relates to the North.

We must also note that Jon initially thinks to give only a small portion, a leg, before pivoting and providing the entire thing. It feels to me a bit like the process of carving up a kingdom or something similar. The lords (represented by the squires) take what they want and leave aside what they don't; or perhaps they have eaten to their fill and can take no more. Then when his time comes, Jon first considers a small piece of land/group of people before eventually absorbing all of whatever is left behind. The concept of carving up a kingdom rings harder considering that we have several callbacks to the ideals of kingship in this chapter. Robert, Jaime, Tyrion, and even Mance though we don't know it yet, all play into this. And then there's the aspect of Jon letting the chicken slip between his legs which evokes birth/fatherhood, a very curious choice when GRRM could've just had Jon place the chicken on the floor. So land/people are carved up and Jon then uses whatever is left to birth his own type of kingdom. And this kingdom is one for the Old Gods.

This also touches on something that has been quite prevalent throughout Jon's arc. It's the concept of accepting the "others" or "those left over" who live apart from the accepted social norms. Arya (a tomboy), Sam (a gender non-confirming boy), the Night's Watch (criminals, extra sons, and men who have no future left or place to go), and even the wildlings are all examples of this. And Jon takes on a leadership/paternal role to every single one of them. He looks after them as a leader would/should. Sometimes, in the case of Arya and the wildlings, he's equated to a king. He's a steward/shepherd/king. There's messianic undertones to this:

Come unto me, all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30).

If you're familiar with Judeo-Christian tradition, you'll know that Jesus is often personified as one who spent the majority his time among the outcasts. The idea is that he came to save them too and that anew kingdom (or new earth depending on your translation) would spring up after the end of the world where he would forever rule as king; which presents the idea of a final king after the earthly ones are done away with. Now GRRM isn't so heavy handed with Christian allusions as other authors out there, but he does have a Catholic background and Jon is so overtly a Jesus figure. And in Revelation, Jesus is king and god at the very end....

One last thing: the mention of the mongrel who challenges Jon has always been rather interesting but confusing to me. A mongrel doesn't really relate to one specific type of dog. But it's interesting that Jon notes several roaming about where he is. They follow the serving girls who carry the food to be offered. Mongrels are used to describe antagonist/villainous groups in ASOIAF. Sometimes, they're used to describe slavers in Essos. But what's interesting is that most of the time, they're used to describe Euron's Ironborn especially in Victorian's POV. So I don't think the mongrel who challenges Ghost is a supernatural threat of death (i.e., the Others) but rather a human one. They represent those who are called to the scene once the lords have finished playing their games. It almost feels like a feast for (carrion) crows....

But it doesn't really matter because this mongrel isn't much of a challenge for Ghost. Though the mongrel is much larger, the direwolf is able to fend her off very effortlessly. Given that "mongrel" is used to describe Ironborn raiders, could this exchange between Ghost and the mongrel point to reavers or sea raiders who rise and fail challenge Jon kingdom? There is a historical King Jon Stark who did this....

When sea raiders landed in the east, Jon drove them out and built a castle, the Wolf's Den, at the mouth of the White Knife, so as to be able to defend the mouth of the river.[1][2] His son, Rickard, followed him on the throne and annexed the Neck to the north.

ref.

So this might shed some light not only on Jon's already published arc, but also on what we can expect in the future. We have some foreshadowing through Jon's ADWD dream that he will not only rise with the dawn (thereby live through the Long Night), but will be in a position to lead people (wildings in that chapter) to a new peace after a hard fought war. Also remember that the wildlings, rather enthusiastically, swear oaths to him as if swearing oaths to their king. In this instance, the supernatural (a dream of the war for the dawn) is followed by the natural/human. So perhaps this particular passage (and Jon's dream) can be used to predict that Jon comes out on top, and quite effortlessly too, as a leader. And he becomes a leader who rules by association with the Old Gods; or rules a kingdom for them.

To end, I think it's of note that this passage immediately precedes Jon's conversation with Benjen where he voices his desire to go out on his own - the hero's call to action. This is the adventure that's going to kickstart his growth as a man, warrior and most importantly, a leader. So it looks like before we even began, GRRM telegraphed how it would all end in just three short paragraphs.

[wronghands1]

[michellymy]

Martra’s kids live in hardcore mode

Actual parent: Kenyan (can’t take care of herself, much less of her son)

Wine dad: Sylris (gives alcoholic drinks to the child; his intentions aren’t clear)

Great at babysitting: Hélio (the child wouldn’t be alive without him)

Mediocre at babysitting: Yuno (eats raw meat and offers to the child)

The house is on fire, god is dead: Behati (took the child to an execution and tried to kill the goddess)

Is the child: Ethan (he’s unable to understand how they survive like this)

The only ones following Martra’s culture is Hélio and Yuno; the others are plainly traumatized and traumatizing. Still, as an Earthling, Ethan is horrified by all of this ❤️

(Hélio would sacrifice himself for Ethan; it’s a rule that all the children are extremely important and have to be cared of to protect their innocence. He still sees Ethan as a child.)

(Auvies eat raw meat; has an intense sweet taste, according to them. Yuno pretends the blood is juice.)

[laurelslegacy]

doodles

“You’re artistic?!” the voice was shocked, the carrier, shocked and quickly slamming the padges of the book shut. Sabine reaching- or tried to- over Zeb’s shoulder. “Oh no you don’t!!” she was persistent- like any Mandalorian.

Zeb’s longer reach helped. “I am NOT!” he hissed at her, his long reach however did not deter the young woman who simply used Zeb’s arm and his strength to half crawl over his arm and grab at the tattered covered spiral ring book and yank it from him. A roll and a foot kept him at bay as she flipped through the pages. “GIVE THAT BACK” He growled, this was something he suspected of Ezra- NOT Sabine.

“Zeb… these are beautiful.” the purity in her voice, paused the Lasat. She flipped the page and her fingers ran over the ink stained pages, sketches of the Ghost Crew, Kanan, Hera… HER even. Trained, refined, at her level- no….but the scratch marked portraits of her little family in everyday life was… beautiful. She knew Zeb worked with wood, clearly more of a sculpture than a fine artist… but these were wonderful. She flipped a few pages and saw the faces of Lasat sketched out and her eyes started to burn closing the sketch book as if she had been burnt and offered it out to Zeb. “I…. I’m sorry.”

Zeb looked heavy. Ears down and he took the book from Sabine trying to offer a smile that was willed to his face “Thanks fer that. ‘S all good.” he gave the lightest bump of his forehead to her’s and kept that willed smile.

[ambersweets134]

Omg I'm posting a short story for the first time

I wrote it around 4 in the morning so it might be a bit bad but oh well

Comfort in your arms

Perekoo fanfic

*some spoilers*

~~~~~~

Alma had just got back to the building where her wards and her were supposed to be settled it, Isabel having fixed them space to stay there. She tried not to think much of Jacob or her children, knowing that wherever they were, she hoped they were alright.

Alma was already late to the meeting she was supposed to host, her mind too stuck on so many situations and issues that could occur with her wards loose in America. For birds sake, there was already warnings of a war possibly occurring.

Her cane echoed in the dark hallway of the building, her limp seeming worse today than the past few weeks. The older woman felt her heart racing, too much on her mind. Despite being asleep for so long that morning, she still felt so incredibly tired and she felt guilty for being so. Her wards were lost- possibly even trapped somewhere- and here she was feeling tired.

With a huff, she leaned against the wall, leaning down and slowly sitting down on the floor of the dark office. A dull pain in her ankle began and spread up her leg, the ymbryne feeling even worse about herself when she felt tears return to her eyes. She's been trying so so hard to keep her wards safe. Jacob was there and with him being Abe's grandson, she needed his help, but like this? The last thing she wanted was them to be running birds knows where and that's exactly what they did. During a possible war. In America.The press was awful with questioning them all, on top of that there were still people who could cause them harm and it drove Miss Peregrine insane that she wasn't there to stop them. To protect them. She failed her main duty as a ymbryne: to keep her children safe. Now they were gone. She didn't know whether they would return or not. All because she slept longer than she should have.

"Alma?"

The woman snapped out of her thoughts and finally felt the tears that ran down her cheeks freely. It didn't take her long to recognize the owner of the voice, immediately seeing the silver glint of their hair and she felt some relief it wasn't a different person.

Isabel walked over, slowly kneeling down and looked over her, the younger ymbryne looking down at the floor to hide her tears. The older woman didn't need to ask her what was wrong, she already knew well what it was. She noticed how stressed and on edge she was during that whole meeting and just seeing her now she realized how tired she was.

"Fay, you can talk to me." Isabel says, her gaze gentle and loving, gently wiping away her tears and Alma just shook her head, annoyed with herself for acting this way. "I'm not one to judge, you know that." She mentions and the younger woman nodded with a small sniffle.

"I know it's been stressful, I truly do. There's no denying that there is a potential war happening and your wards haven't been heard from yet, but I can assure you Jacob will keep them all safe." The cuckoo says, her tone firm but understanding. "After all, Abe was his grandfather." She adds, managing a small smile which Alma tried returning, but she couldn't. Instead she looked back down at the floor, Isabel feeling her jaw clench against her hand that was still resting against her cheek.

"It's alright, Alma." Isabel says. The younger woman didn't even mind when she brought her close in her arms, needing the contact as she felt her heart racing so incredibly fast.

"I can't believe I slept in, I shouldn't have, I didn't need to. I've been staying up perfectly fine and then suddenly, the day I somehow sleep, this all happened." Alma says, annoyed with herself and it clearly showed in her voice. "I'd go after them if I could, if it wasn't for my stupid cane!" She snaps, her talons digging into the older ymbrynes sleeves for a moment as she shoved the buried anger down even further. "I don't even know where I would start." She whispers.

"As sad as it is, you wouldn't be able to leave the council to find them, Alma. I know that's upsetting, I truly understand, but there's nothing we can do." Isabel says quietly, gently running her talons over her back. "The only thing we can do is wait for their return. Jacob may be hot headed at times and short tempered, but that boy has his grandfather's instincts. Whether he knows it or not." The ymbryne assures, Alma feeling slightly better. "And please don't talk yourself down like you do. It upsets me more than it does to you." She says softly, the younger woman leaning further against her as she felt her heart slow.

"I'm sorry, Izzy." Alma says softly against the woman's suit, her arms wrapped around her waist as she leaned against her, her cane long forgotten in the corner of the room.

"It's alright, Fay." Isabel replies, tightening her hold on the woman.

[tell-them-the-north-remembers]

ELIA WEEK DAY II: ELIA AND HER SIBLINGS/PARENTS (DORAN AND ELIA)

Doran recalls it all as vividly as if it were yesterday.

The sun shines amid a cloudless sky, the raucous sounds of children's chatter fill his ears and the cold water wets the hem of his robe with a splash each time a child dashes by. I might as well be a father, he thinks as he watches his little sister playing with the other children in the Water Gardens —as is the duty given to him by mother.

"Hey little sister, what is it you wish?" was one of my short fics for the pre-elia week challenge and here I leave it for all of you that have not read it or wish to read it again! --> on AO3

[black-suns-rim]

Valley Family Portrait (Ethereal star AU)

Before the twins were the elders of their realm, their mother, the Priestess, was it's elder. Her children were kept a secret from the valley and the other realms until her passing...

bonus art and short story under the cut:

In the valley light temple “Mother warned us about you…” Mek sneered.

“Did she now?” The king stood behind the two siblings as they were kneeling at an alter, “Well, the priestess was never fond of me… so it’s not surprising.”

“You know you’re not welcomed here. You may be a king, but you’re not our king.” Sah stood up to face Resh, but he didn’t realize just how massive the king was, “you should leave.” Sah tried to sound threatening.

“May I offer my condolences before I leave?” He gestured to the alter the twins had been grieving at. They both hesitated before nodding. The King kneeled down in front of the priestess’s alter, pulling out a white candle. He lit it with his light magic and placed it in front of the alter. He bowed his head as he uttered a prayer. The twins could only hear parts of the prayer. Once he was done, he turned his attention to the siblings.

“Though she may not have liked me, I admired her and her teachings. I know she believed that I was getting rid of our traditions with my advances, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. We both shared the same goal you see, but it’s my methods she just didn’t approve… when I heard of her passing, I knew I had to visit her alter, though I knew I wouldn’t be welcomed here.” He spoke quietly in a soft tone.

The twins couldn’t help but listen as he spoke, “I also wanted to offer the both of you what I had offered your mother many years ago. That is if you’re willing to listen to what I have to offer.”

The two sat in silence and looked at each other, then to the king. They were curious but at the same time, they were slightly offended he had brought this up here. They whispered to each other for a while before agreeing on something.

“We’ll listen to what you have to say, but if we don’t like it, you can’t ever come back here.” Mek turned to face Resh.

“Understandable.” The king stood up, “What if I could offer your realm advanced medicines, technology and knowledge gathered from the other realms? In return, your realm becomes a part of my kingdom and you’ll have my protection. You’ll still have a say over your realm, but I’ll have the final word.”

The siblings whispered to each other, “exactly what kind of advanced medicines would you be able to offer?” Sah asked.

“Remedies that would heal illnesses, surgeries that can save a life, or improve one and much more.” He paused, “I could even offer a surgery that would give you and your sister a second arm…”

The two of them stared at Resh In disbelief. They were wearing cloaks, so there could be no way he would’ve seen… “How did you know…?” Samekh both were standing now.

“It would be rude of me not to come here without knowing who I was talking to… though it was hard finding anything out about you two. Your mother kept you two well hidden from the public, did she? But it was only to protect you, wasn’t it?”

Before they could have a chance to respond, he continued, “I heard you two love to play sports. I could offer you a chance to get the recognition you deserved. Champions of the arts. My champions even..." he paused and placed a hand on their shoulders, "Imagine a stadium full of your fans, cheering you on. The glory, the fame, the honor... All of this only if you accept to become a part of my kingdom.”

Samekh felt excited by his offers. They whispered with each other for a long time before asking him many questions. The more answers they got from the king, the more they felt excited.

“So, do you accept my offer?”

“Yes. We do.” Samekh was quick to answer.

Resh grinned under his mask, “Wonderful!” He gestured over one of his advisers who had been standing far back. They handed him a stone tablet, “I need both of your signatures for this agreement.” They were quick to sign, not bothering to read what was written on the stone.

“Next week, I’m having a meeting with all the realm leaders. You two will be sent an invitation on the location and time. We can discuss and plan further what changes will happen in your realm. We can also discuss your personal matters afterwards. For now, I’ll leave you two with these.” He handed them a couple of stone tablets with information on them pertaining specifics of what he’d mentioned.

“Welcome to the kingdom.”

[aroaceleovaldez]

new TSATS prediction based entirely off the interview from the UK Rick Riordan newsletter

[yasmeensh]

Paleolithic Media Catalogue

Hello everyone :) Short story first: When I began brainstorming for my prehistoric story, I started wondering what other prehistoric fiction there is out there. I was not familiar with it and have not seen much. That's when I started my grand literature review and began a search for what fiction exist out there. I wanted to know what kinds of stories are being made with this time period. What are the common themes or recurring ideas (I found lots of humans and dinosaurs works. And time travel). Since I've had a growing collection on my computer, I decided I should keep on enlarging it and put it online. It's nowhere near complete. I'll slowly keep accumulating the collection as I find more. I only have fiction books and comics right now. I still need to work on the film section.

You can access the blog here!

***

As for where I am in my reading, the one's I've finished reading are Earth's Children series (book 1-4. Dropped it afterwards lol. I made a post on with fanart) Dance of the Tiger and it's sequel Singletusk (They were good! I'll upload my review on the blog), and Sisters of the Wolf (It was ok!). I got my hands on The Inheritors and excited to start reading it. I REALLY want to read the Shiva trilogy, but I found no PDF online... and it's out of print :( There is certainly old copies on ebay. And I want to read Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. There seem to be lots of good books out there.

[divi-138]

Little story I did for class

The process took a long long time tho