#wendy writes

[itseyesstillglisten]

hey chat guess what !!! major spoiler warning tho

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

A collection of moments in Jedidiah's life, including the worst nights of it.

[northofneverland]

Unlike his brother, when Osamu has a crush, the whole world doesn't know. In fact, many don't notice the change in him. It's subtle, but it's there. It's there when your favourite onigiri becomes the daily special on the days you come in. It's there when he takes a little longer to make your food, making sure that he uses the freshest ingredients to make the most perfectly shaped rice ball. It's there when he takes his time closing up on the days you work late because he knows that sometimes, you don't make it to his store before he "officially" closes. It's there when the old aunties joke about finding him a woman to make an honest man out of him, and his gaze shifts to you for a brief second before he flirtatiously responds that they "are all he needs". It's there when he makes note of the candies you pick from the jar near the register and always orders them in when he's running low. He's content to love you subtly because it's become his new normal. And maybe one day he will muster up the courage to declare his love to the world, but for now, his love for you echoes softly within the four walls of his shop.

[twelvemonkeyswere]

very intrigued by hermione/jaime crack 😳😳

thank you both @halfagod​ and @forbiddenfantasies1​ for asking about this! and sorry it's so long okay so - right off the bat, this isn’t anything romantic or anything, but it is crack.

you’ll likely remember there was some fanfic grrm was writing about his own characters fighting other characters. one of the first ones was Jaime Lannister vs Hermione Granger, and since he hates JK Rownling his descriptions of what a showdown between them would be were very uncharitable to the characters to say the fucking least, especially Hermione.

the whole thing is quite a bad read and it sent me thinking that there were a LOT of variables that would play into it if taken seriously, starting with their personalities, ages at the time of the match, reason why they’re fighting in the first place, etc.

and since I like world building and whatnot, I began thinking how to make their showdown realistic and feasable obeying the laws of their respective narratives, and then I decided it would be even more fun (hah) to make as many scenarios with those variables as possible, because that’s the sort of person i am. and then I realized... well. asoiaf began to be published in the 90s.... 1996, to be precise, when hermione was 17, and facing a war against a madman. and the parallels were right there, and thus I made a timeline to see how things would fit, and then some other ideas sprang up from that.

so now the main idea is that it all starts the year after the war, when Hermione comes back to Hogwarts to finish her studies while everyone else goes on with their lives. she’s alone, she has to deal with everything she saw and everything she had to do, and with everyone else in Hogwarts being traumatized too... so she’s depressed, and trying to get better. and in my idea, one of the things she tries is to get back to the things that made her happy before it all went wrong, reading among them.

particularly, reading muggle books. because since she knows real magic now, well, regular fantasy books must lose some of their charm, right? but what if that was what she loved as a kid, and she’s desperate enough to get away from what reality is now, in real-magic world? so maybe she tries new stories, see what she’s missed in the last couple of years.

and maybe she is afraid of being judged for having some of those books or she just wants some peace and quiet, so she sneaks into the room of requirements and foolishly and naively asks for a room where she can “immerse” herself in the book she’s trying to read that night.

and that’s how she meets Jaime, by going into the world of the book. and the idea was then that she would periodically travel into the books and see Jaime at different ages, and as she gets older and processes what happened during the war, her perspective of the events and her life shifts and changes, not unlike Jaime’s story changes through the books.

anyways i wrote some 2k words about grief and healing and it’s been sitting there, looking at me and threatening to become too long.

here’s the bit where she first meets Jaime in case you’re interested

(be warned, I never read HP in English and I haven’t consumed any media about it in YEARS. also i suck at actions scenes)

come ask stuff about my WIPs if you want!

“Who are you?” The white knight demanded.

Hermione frowned and ignored the question, inspecting the trees behind the man, the grass of the meadow under her feet. She had clearly been portkeyed somewhere, where was the artifact? 

“Answer me!” the man demanded. He shifted on his feet, his armor creaking and clinking. “Who sent you?” 

“He said,” a second voice drawled behind her. “Where did you come from?” 

Jumping to one side, Hermione noticed another knight, much closer to her, but also much younger. He was tall, but had a leaner frame even with the white armor, same as his companion. He didn’t have his helm on either, and she spotted it on the ground, likely dropped so the boy could hold his sword with both hands, the point of which was angled at her throat, even at a distance. His curly hair, golden and sticky with sweat, enveloped two emerald green eyes that moved with the murderous intent of a cat. 

Hermione swallowed.

If velas were male, she blinked in confusion, this is what they would look like.

It was stupid to realize that at a moment like this, given the fact her life was being threatened, but no human being was ever that beautiful. It had to be magic. 

She looked around, trying to remember what had been next to her in the Room of Requirements. Where’s the bloody thing?

“Accio portkey,” she swished her wand in a circle above her head, but nothing happened.

“Get her!” the man ordered the boy, and both stepped forward, closing in. Their swords drew up, the man holding it above his head, the boy raising the pommel to his cheek.

“Whoa!” Hermione reached instinctively into her robes and got her wand out. Her mind raced, trying to recall everything she knew about metal charming, but when the knights were upon her, she disapparated with a faint pop. 

She apparated a couple of meters away, shaking her head off the unpleasant feeling of being vaccumed through space. As she opened her eyes, there was a loud clank from the swords that met where she should have been. The boy trembled below the man’s strength, holding his ground with some difficulty.

“Oi, please!” she called to them, holding a hand out in a placating gesture. “Where am I? Who are you?”

As one, the man turned with fury towards her, and the boy frowned in angry confusion. She had a second to recall Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, and, not without failing to see the irony, felt grateful she had learned forgetfulness spells from the best.

“Witchcraft,” the older knight muttered, and the boy only glanced at him for a moment, returning his eyes to her. “Cut her throat!” 

The boy hesitated a second, but when the older man charged towards her, so did he. 

“Wingardium leviosa!” she yelled at the armors, to no effect. “Shit.” She disapparated again, just before they reached her. She apparated by a tree this time, to their right. She aimed at the clothes they hopefully had below their armors and forced herself to speak through the haze. “Wingardium leviosa!” 

Both knights lifted into the air like they weighed less than feathers. 

“Seven hells!” the older knight screamed, anger and fear mixing as he balanced unceremoniously on his spot. 

Iron, Hermione breathed with relief to herself. It was the iron.

She didn’t know what to expect, she had never tried to charm uncharmed metalwork before. Unless you counted locks. Then again maybe that charmed the air around the metal, or maybe there was more magic in this particular iron, she didn’t have the time to--

“What is this?” the young man demanded, as he waved his sword around, testing if he was being held on the spot like a puppet.

Hermione walked towards them with caution. 

“Gentlemen, please!” she called to them through their grunts and curses. “Where am I? Who are you?” 

“Silence, witch!” the older man ordered, trying to stick his sword to the ground in an attempt to descend.

“I’ll let you down as soon as you answer my questions,” she swallowed, reminding herself of the many times she had fought against enemies bigger than her. “I just want to get home.” 

The boy bore his eyes into hers. “Where is that?” 

“None of your bloody business,” she replied instinctively. 

“She’s not from here, ser,” the boy said to the older knight. “She wears odd clothes, speaks strange words.” 

“Shut up, Ser Jaime, get to--”

But Hermione didn’t get to hear what the man wanted the boy to do.

“Ser Jaime?” the name was out of her mouth before she knew it. She squinted at the boy’s armor, saw the seven swords engraved on the plate, and realization hit her. She looked at the boy, then at the man. I’ll be fucking damned. 

“Jaime.” she repeated, bringing the boy’s attention back to her. “Jaime… Lannister?”

[whatsupitsthatkai]

Consider this;

It's 1978

little Bill, and Charlie Weasley tag along with their dad to Order headquarters so Molly has one less kid to worry about that day

Arthur just needs to meet with Dumbledore really quick about something "you boys wait out here. Look after your brother Bill, I'll be back in a moment"

Bill takes his responsibility very serious and keeps a close eye on six year old Charlie (who couldn't be more content to chill on the floor playing with the rubber duck his dad gave him)

The door to the room they're waiting in opens and in walks Sirius Black.

He had long hair, painted nails, rugged muggle clothes and tattoos.

Bill has never seen anyone like him before, but he knew one thing; He was cool.

Sirius realizes someone is already talking with Dumbledore and waits, finally registering that he's not alone in the room, he smiles at Bill

"You're Arthur's sons, right? I'm Sirius Black"

"Yeah, I'm William and this is Charlie, he's six"

"I bet you look after him, don't you?"

Bill puffs out his tiny chest and nods. "I'm the oldest so I look after all my little brothers"

There's a pause and then Bill says shyly that Sirius' hair is cool

Sirius smiles, sits with the two boys for a bit and shows them all his different tattoos until Arthur is finished

Just as they're about to leave, Sirius pauses in the door to Dumbledore's office and casually salutes Bill "I'll see you around, Bill"

That night Bill asks his mom and dad for the first time if he could be called "Bill" instead of "William"

He starts asking to tag along with his dad to Order headquarters as much as possible but it isn't until a year later that he crosses paths with Sirius again

His hair is short now and Bill asks if he didn't like it long

"I do like it long, but sometimes accidents happen and you end up with an unexpected cut. I still look pretty cool, though, right?"

Yes he does. But Bill thinks the long hair was cooler.

Fast forward a couple years and his dad sits him down to explain that some bad things happened and Sirius is in Azkaban now

Bill is crushed, firmly in denial that Sirius is guilty (but the testimony of an 11 yr old who looked up to him doesn't mean much)

Throughout his years at Hogwarts, Bill grows his hair out, experiments with "cool" muggle clothes and secretly gets his first tattoo in sixth year

His mom hates it but he doesn't care

Then years later the second Order is formed and he finds himself walking into the new headquarters as a member

He steps into a room and pauses, staring at the person sitting by the fireplace.

Sirius looks up, and after a moment he smiles broadly

"Hey, Bill. Cool hair."

[literaryromps]

Adjacent Book Recommendation: Hold Fast by Sebastian Nothwell

So I just finished this lovely book by @nothwell​ and I needed to immediately give it a shout out on our blog! I’m considering this book as Moby Dick adjacent as one of it’s main characters (the ever adorable Evelyn) was a whaler for 13 years and as Moby Dick is mentioned many times through out the novel itself. 

Here is a quick synopsis from Goodreads about the book (note both my rating and the overall!!!):

Now how may I count the ways I love this book?

1. It’s gay as hell and I love it for that (with splashes of BDSM!)

2. The side characters are super well developed as well, for good or for ill. And the women in the book aren’t downplayed for their interests! I really want to see more of Percy gone a-whalin’!

3. Deals with a lot of intense themes with care (internalized homophobia, sexual assault, etc.)

4. The bad guys don’t win and there is a happy ending! NO BURYING OF THE GAYS HERE

5. There is so much love put into the source material- it’s clear Sebastian has taken time to learn a lot about whaling, English estate management, and ferns (SO MANY ADORABLE FERNS). It shines through the book but also is accessible to readers who perhaps haven’t dived into those more niche interests. 

6. You still get a lot of info and damn good sailor stories without the ... denser passages of MD (Melville, you know I <3 you) and it actually helped me visualize a lowering on a whale ship better! 

7. I bought it as a kindle edition and about 100 pages in broke down and bought it in print too. 

8. I read it in three days and haven’t stopped ranting to Mina about it. 

9. THERE IS GOING TO BE A SEQUEL

10. It’s one of the best non-classic lit books I’ve read in recent years!

All this to say: YOU SHOULD GO READ IT IF YOU LIKE YOUR GAY WHALERS AND WHO WOULDN’T??

Sebastian Nothwell’s Website 

[wendyhamlet]

The Morning After

So this is the first part to a modern FMA au, I honestly just have some disjointed ideas that I want to write down and it may or may not end up a semi coherent fic lol Anyway! Here’s the first part, enjoy, I hope to get it posted on Archive of Our Own once I get an account there so stay tuned!

Warning: this fic will be rated M for safety as there will likely be talk of violence, adult themes, language, and possibly some smut

Pounding, throbbing, aching pain. That was the first thing that came to Edward Elric as he woke up.

As far as hangovers go, it was definitely one of the worst he’d had in a while. Usually after a night of drinking he would wake up with a headache, that awful stale taste in his mouth, and at least some disjointed memories of the events leading up to passing out.

This time however, he felt like the room was spinning, everything hurt, and he had literally no idea what had happened in the past twelve hours.

With a groan, he rolled over in bed, his body going rigid as his arm brushed something beside him.

Something warm, soft. And breathing.

Sitting up with a jolt, he forced his eyes open, wincing against the early morning sunlight streaming through the window. Blinking through the blur in his vision, he struggled to focus on the person lying in the bed beside him.

Blonde hair, pale skin, face turned away from him.

Oh. Oh...fuck.

Launching himself out of the bed as if it was made of wasps, he bolted for the bathroom, immediately crashing to the ground and letting out a hissed curse under his breath. Groping around on the floor for his prosthetic as he crawled toward the bathroom, snatching his jeans as he went.

Easing the door shut and locking it, he made his way over to the tub and hoisted himself onto the edge of it, digging around in his jean pockets for his phone. Once he found it, he hit the first number on his speed dial and held it to his ear with his shoulder, using his now free hands to attach his prosthetic to his left thigh.

“Edward? It’s like five AM.”

“Al! Al shut up and listen! I have a girl in my bed, a girl, Al!”

There was a stretch of silence, then his younger brother let out a sigh. “Okay, is she still breathing?”

“What? Of course she’s still breathing!”

“Well then what’s the problem? Honestly this isn’t the first time you’ve drank too much and hooked up, I really don’t think it was worth waking me u-”

“It’s Winry.”

A long silence.

“Oh.”

“Yeah! ‘Oh’, now what the fuck do I do?”

Suddenly the other line was full of laughter.

“Alphonse!!”

“Ling owes me fifty bucks! Thanks brother.”

“This is not the time to be cashing in bets, I’m freaking out!”

Al sighed, the sound of a kettle singing in the background indicating that he had opted against going back to sleep after the call. “Look, it’s not like you didn’t want this to happen, right? I mean you’ve had a crush on her since we were little kids.”

Ed flexed his prosthetic leg, rubbing at the muscle that connected to the metal socket. “Well, yeah...but not like this. I mean, I haven’t told her how I feel.”

“Well, I’m just hazarding a guess here, but I’m pretty sure the cat’s out of the bag now.”

“Great, super helpful, thanks bro.”

“I’m just saying, you can’t take it back now, the only thing to do is move forward. I don’t exactly have any advice to give you since I’ve never been in a situation like this. The best I can do is just tell you not to freak out too much. It’s Winry, you’re best friends, just...talk to her.”

Edward looked up at the door, the simple barrier that separated him from the inevitable. “I...I don’t know how.”

“I have faith in you, brother. I’ve gotta go now, just...take a deep breath, you’ll be fine.”

Letting out a heavy sigh, he nodded. “Right. Thank’s Al, I’ll talk to you later.” Hanging up, he tapped his fingers against his knee, mind struggling to pick up even a fragment of memory from the night before.

He and Winry had left for Central city for the concert, they’d checked into their adjoining rooms at the hotel and headed over to the venue. After that, everything was a blank.

What was he going to do? Alphonse had said to just talk to her, but how could he? Where would he even start? Hey, Winry, so I guess we had sex last night, by the way, I’ve kind of liked you since we were little kids, I guess you feel the same?

Yeah, that would go over great.

Al was really the only person who he trusted to share this kind of thing with, but he hadn’t been able to give him much advice. Who else could he talk to?

A name popped into his head, and although he was hesitant to call, he was desperate.

Taking a deep breath, he dialed the number and waited. One, two, three, on the fourth ring, the line picked up.

“Elric?”

“Lieutenant, Hawkeye? I uh...I have a bit of a situation and was wondering if you could maybe give me some advice.”

“Is it military related? The Colonel would be more qualified to-”

“Uh, no, it’s personal.”

“I see. It’s good that you called me then. What can I help you with, Edward?”

“Um, it’s a little awkward, but I couldn’t think of anyone else who I could call.” Pausing to steady his breathing, he plunged right in. “I think I might have slept with Winry last night, but we were both drinking and honestly I don’t remember anything. But I woke up and we were both in bed and just...I don’t know what to do.”

“I see, well, is she awake?”

“I don’t think so, I’ve been holed up in the bathroom since I woke up, she was still asleep when I came in here and I haven’t heard any noise so I think she’s still sleeping.”

“And you can’t remember anything from last night?”

“Not a damn thing. I don’t know if that’s better or worse for this situation.”

“Well, I think you should talk to her once she wakes up, just be honest and see if she remembers anything.”

“Yeah, that’s what Al said, but I don’t know what to say. I mean, she’s my best friend, we’ve been best friends since we were little kids. Sure we haven’t spent a whole lot of time with each other these past couple years because I was serving and she was busy with school, but that’s what this trip was supposed to be for, we were supposed to reconnect and spend time together, it wasn’t supposed to be so damn complicated.”

“Edward, take a deep breath, it’s going to be alright. Go out, get coffee and breakfast, bring it back to the room, and just talk to her. You said it yourself, you’ve been best friends since you were little, and even though you haven’t seen each other much these past years doesn’t mean that you aren’t still just as close.”

“Right, okay. Thank you, Lieutenant.”

“Anytime. By the way, have you decided on whether or not you’re going to accept the Colonel’s offer?”

“Honestly, that’s the last thing on my mind right now.”

“Of course. Call if you need anything.”

“I will, thanks again.”

“Sure. Goodbye Edward.”

Steeling himself, Edward Elric pulled on his pants, slipped his phone into his pocket and crept back into the room.

Winry was still fast asleep, thank goodness. And he blessed his stealth training as he gathered up the rest of his clothes and grabbed a room key as he slipped out into the hallway.

Get coffee and breakfast, not bad advice. He remembered Winry mentioning a cute cafe they passed yesterday a couple blocks away from their hotel, that would be as good a place as any to grab something.

Surprisingly he was able to get to the cafe, buy breakfast, and be back in the hotel within an hour.

Juggling a bag of pastries and a drink tray in one hand, he fumbled for the room key with his other and finally managed to unlock the door, nearly dropping the coffee in the process.

Slipping inside, he winced as the door slammed far too loudly behind him.

“Ed?”

Shit.

Rounding the corner slowly, he came face to face with Winry.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed in a simple pale blue tank top and high waisted jean shorts. Her hair was damp, she probably just got out of the shower.

“Uh, hi…” He held up the paper bag and drink tray. “I brought coffee and breakfast. Banana nut still your favorite muffin?”

She smiled, a little weakly. “Yeah, thanks.”

He set the bag down on the side table and sat down next to her, wordlessly handing her a cup of coffee. “Here, if you’re even half as hungover as I am you’re gonna need this.”

“You don’t happen to have any aspirin do you?”

He dug into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle. “Here, I already took some.”

“Oh, bless you.” She exclaimed, quickly popping a few of the pills into her mouth and washing them down with the coffee.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, then Edward finally said something.

“Listen, um...about last night. This is really embarrassing but uh, I don’t really remember...anything.”

“Yeah, me either. I mean, I remember the concert a little, but then it’s all just a blur.”

He bit his lower lip, worrying it between his teeth anxiously. “So...I, well I mean we...I guess-”

“We didn’t have sex last night.”

He finally turned to look at her, brows pulled together in confusion. “What? But you just said you don’t remember anything.”

“Well, no, I don’t but um, I’m not...sore.” Her face was bright red, and she was avoiding looking at him. “I mean, we both had our underclothes on, right? If we were that drunk why would we put clothes on after sleeping together? And like I said, I’m not sore or anything, not saying that that’s a guarantee or anything but it’s pretty common unless uh…”

“Oh, trust me, you’d be sore.” Ed said, immediately turning red and sputtering flusteredly. “N-not saying I’d be rough or anything! Just um, well I mean I’m not...oh fuck it.” He dropped his head into his hands, his palms pressing against his burning face. “I’m sorry, Win.”

“It’s not your fault...we were both pretty drunk last night. We probably just fell asleep in the same bed instead of me going back into my room. That’s all.”

He lifted his head. “That’s right, I bet that’s what happened. Besides, we’ve shared a bed before, I mean...not in a while, but still, we’re best friends, this doesn’t have to be weird. Right?”

She nodded. “Right! Let’s just...put it out of our minds. I mean, we didn’t have sex, so there’s nothing to freak out about.”

“Yeah, I guess it was kind of silly to even think we would have banged.”

Laughing she stood up and walked over to the bag of muffins. “Right? Totally crazy, I mean I don’t think we could ever be that drunk.”

Ed swallowed, looking away from her as he chuckled half-heartedly. “Yeah, what was I thinking.”

[secretsofkismet]

"Every step was a calculated one, the tree roots crawling across the ground like warped veins, threatened to break or twist the ankle of the traveler who didn't watch their footing." ~Wendy Hamlet (Secrets of Kismet)

[itseyesstillglisten]

naming in the stone colonies!!!

when a kitten is born, they're not given a name. a name is a very important part of a cat- its sacred. a name has power, its a part of the cats very soul. giving a kitten meaningless or straight up bad name is like telling them they themself are meaningless or bad. to be given a bad name upon tour soft-paw ceremony is to be doomed until youve earned a better name- and most cats never will.

because of this, reaching three months of age is considered an honor in and of itself. soft-paws are named for many things; their appearance, personality or small skills they may have already developed. soft-paws can be named by either their parents or by the council, or by a mixture of both. its generally accepted that no matter who chooses the name, it must be accepted by the cat's parents whenever possible.

when a cat graduates and earns their full name, after having done their test and passed, they can, again, be named for their personality (organizer fallowwhisper of maple colony, who is very quiet earning her “whisper”), physical appearance (organizer swanfrost of maple colony, who really grew into his white patches earning “swan”) or skills (organizer mousewing of pine colony, who seems to fly when he jumps), however they can now also be names for things they enjoy, like swimming, running or foraging (i.e. sentry copperriver of pine, who enjoys swimming, sentry rustlesnap of cedar colony, who loves running through leaves and branches, and keeper blossommask of maple colony, who decorates his camp and clanmates with flowers), things they accomplished or did (seen below). while a cat can get a piece added to their name (organizer swanfrost of maple colony having been frost before being given “swan”), they’re also able to get their name completely revamped and replaced (sentry fireheart of willow colony having been cardinal before her ceremony)

even more rarely, a cat is given a new name due to a "good thing"- something worth honoring. examples of this are hunter eaglefall of cedar colony, who killed an eagle shortly before his naming ceremony, or sentry fireheart of willow colony, who rescued a kit from a fire when she was just an apprentice. another example we'll see in the main story is fly- whose full name will be flytrap. fly is named unconventionally, and is the only one who's alive and was named by an outsider.

when a kit dies before they're named at three months old, they are given a name to be buried under. if a soft-paw dies, they're buried under their single name. apprentices, new warriors and specializers are all given their second name, often named for their best attribute or their death (when honorable).