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princesssarisa · 2 years

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Character ask: The Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Is

Tagged by @ariel-seagull-wings

Favorite thing about them: The sheer comedy of his nonchalant responses to terrifying things. Not only is he never afraid, he doesn't even treat the ghosts, goblins, and horrors he faces as anything out of the ordinary. That's the key to the story's humor.

Least favorite thing about them: The fact that he has seemingly no interest in working to help support his family unless it will teach him how to shudder. Of course laziness is a typical trait of rags-to-riches peasant heroes in fairy tales, but I'm glad the adaptations tend to downplay it and just make him quirky instead.

Also, while the ending is funny, with the princess finally making him shudder by drenching him in cold water filled with wriggling minnows, it's slightly disappointing that he never does learn to feel fear. It's no wonder that adaptations tend to change the ending so that something finally does scare him: whether touchingly (e.g. in The Storyteller's episode "Fearnot," when he finds his sweetheart dying of grief from his absence) or humorously (e.g. in Faerie Tale Theatre's "The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers," with his nervousness about getting married).

Three things I have in common with them:

*I tend to feel different from other people. (autism)

*I sometimes don't understand things that most people understand perfectly well. (again, autism)

*Sometimes my different way of thinking causes problems, but at other times it's actually helpful.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I'm far from fearless.

*My parents have never kicked me out.

*I'm female.

Favorite line:

When he sees the half-man fall down the chimney:

"Hey, you need another half still; one is not enough."

From the 1947 Let's Pretend radio adaptation, after the princess "teaches him how to shiver" with a bucket of ice water at the end:

"W-w-well, f-f-f-for Pete’s sake, t-t-t-teach me how to stop!"

From the Faerie Tale Theatre adaptation, in response to a zombie trying to scare him:

"One other thing. About your howl? I think you're using your voice wrong. You want to build from here. (points to his stomach) Right? You want to build from here. (pokes the zombie in the stomach - his hand squishes right through his skin) Sorry... Listen to me. From here. AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! You try it.

brOTP: None in the Grimms' tale. But in the loose adaptation from Jim Henson's The Storyteller, "Fearnot," there's Mr. McKay, the cunning tinker who leads him to the scary places, initially just for money, but who eventually becomes his true friend.

OTP: The princess, or in Storyteller adaptation, his village sweetheart Lidia.

nOTP: Any of the monsters he meets.

Random headcanon: He's autistic. Now of course this is an anachronistic viewpoint; he's just meant to be a lucky fool, like so many other peasant boys in fairy tales. But the fact that he specifically can't relate to an emotion which comes naturally to everyone else, that he doesn't pick up on the emotional vibes that other people do in key situations, and that he has a hyperfixation (learning to shudder) and no interest in practical things that don't relate to that fixation... well, all those things sound familiar.

Viewing him from this perspective, I feel better about the fact that he never learns to feel fear: he'll always be different and that's okay.

Unpopular opinion: I don't think I have one, because his story isn't particularly well known. The best I can think of is that it deserves to be retold more often, especially around Halloween: its blend of spookiness and comedy is underrated.

Song I associate with them: None at the moment.

Favorite picture of them:

This illustration by Albert Weisgerber, showing him riding in the moving bed:

This illustration by H.J. Ford, showing the scene where the sexton tries to scare him disguised as a ghost:

This picture of the same scene by Maurice Sendak:

This illustration of the bowling scene (I don't know the artist):

This illustration by Arthur Rackham:

This illustration by Dagmar Hermann:

Peter MacNicol in the 1984 Faerie Tale Theatre adaptation, "The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers":

Reece Dinsdale in the 1987 adaptation from Jim Henson's The Storyteller, "Fearnot":

Tim Oliver Schultz in the 2014 adaptation from the German series Sechs auf einen Strech:

#character ask #ask game #the youth who went forth to learn what fear was #fairy tale #the brothers grimm #the story of the youth who went forth to learn what fear was #the youth who learned to shiver and shake #the boy who left home to find out about the shivers #fearnot

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waitimcomingtoo · 6 months

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SLUT!

chapter eight: dying to see how this one ends

series masterlist

Following the fight, Peter saw the back of a squad car for the first time. He was taken straight to the local police station while few officers stayed behind to get stories from witnesses in the gym.

At the station, Peter was put in a holding cell and given an ice pack for his busted knuckles. After half an hour of sitting alone, the door to the cell opened and Brad Davis was pushed inside. He had two tissues stuffed up his nose and a black eye forming on his right eye. The boys made eye contact but felt too defeated to fear the other.

“What are you doing here?” Peter asked when Brad plopped beside him on the bench.

“What do you think? The police showed up and one of the soccer girls showed them the video of me saying I slipped something in Y/n’s drink. I can’t believe it. Did you know that’s a felony?”

“Uh, yeah.” Peter said flatly. “You’re really not supposed to do that.”

“How was I supposed to know? I’ve never done it before.” Brad mumbled. “And I wouldn’t again.”

“Would you really never do it again?” Peter asked skeptically. Brad was quiet for a minute and stared off at the wall. Peter silently handed over his ice pack and Brad accepted it with a sarcastic smile. He put it on his black eye and sighed.

“I don’t know. I don’t know why I’m so angry all the time. Or why I let it ruin my friendship with Y/n. Have you ever wanted a girl so badly that you start to hate her?”

“No.” Peter said without hesitation.

“Oh.” Brad said and turned away from Peter.

Another 30 minutes went by and Peter was starting to spiral. He paced back and forth in the cell while chewing his nails.

“What’s taking them so long?” He whined.

“They’ll get you when they’re done booking you. Don’t freak out. It’s annoying.” Brad mumbled.

“Of course I’m freaking out. If I get convicted, I’m going to jail.”

“Relax. You’ll be fine. Assault is a misdemeanor. And I’m sure your scrawny ass is a first offender so you’ll get a fine at best.” Brad rolled his eyes.

“Woah. How’d you know that?” Peter stopped pacing and looking at Brad in surprise.

“I’ve been arrested for misdemeanors before. My dad just bails me out.”

“Which I’m sure he’ll do this time.” Peter rolled his eyes and sat back down.

“No. I called him when they brought me in but my mom answered.” Brad said as he looked at the ground.

“What did she say?” Peter wondered when he saw how distant Brad sounded. Brad turned his face away from Peter and rubbed the back of his neck.

“She said her best friend in college killed herself after a boy told everyone she gave him an STD. She said she couldn’t handle the bullying.” Brad said quietly. Peter stared at him for a minute and debated making him feel worse. There was a lesson to be learned here and Peter needed to know Brad understood the gravity of his actions.

“You could’ve done the same to Y/n, you know.” Peter said in a soft voice. He wasn’t being accusatory, just honest.

“She never would’ve done that.” Brad scoffed but Peter could tell he didn’t believe himself.

“How do you know?” Peter asked. “You didn’t know her. And you didn’t let anyone know her either. You told everyone who she was and they believed you. You erased her. She very well could have hurt herself to take her name back.”

“I didn’t think it was that bad for her. It was just a joke.” Brad said after a long beat of silence.

“To you. To you, “slut” was just a word. To her, it was her entire identity. All because of you.” Peter told him, feeling angry again. He wasn’t worried about protecting Brads feelings anymore. Now, he wanted him to take some accountability. Brad was quiet for a minute as he thought about the way he treated you the past few years.

“The first time I called her a slut, I didn’t realize how easy it would be to do it a second time.” Brad admitted.

“Me either.” Peter realized and pictured your face the time he called you a slut. He blinked back tears as he replayed the night he lost you. Brad noticed Peter was tearing up and felt himself get emotional. He cleared his throat and tried to choke it down but he couldn’t stop the tears that threatened his eyes.

“I didn’t think I’d end up like this. I didn’t think I’d be this guy.” Brad said quietly.

“You don’t have to be this guy forever. You can change.” Peter told him.

“How?” Brad shrugged helplessly. “She’s never gonna forgive me.”

“She might not. But you can still apologize. And then be better to the next girl.”

“What if I can’t be better? What if this is all I am?”

“I don’t think is all you are. Y/n told me you used to be a good friend.”

“She said that?” Brad asked in surprise.

“Yeah. So I know you can be better. You just have to try.” Peter told him. While Brad thought about the conversation, Peter heard footsteps approaching the cell. He looked up and saw May walking up with an officer.

“Hey, jailbird.” May said while a tight, very sarcastic smile.

“May?” Peter got up and walked over to her.

“Come on. They said I can take you home. Isn’t that nice? I get to take my nephew home from jail.” She said sarcastically as a the officer unlocked the cell. Peter got out and immediately hugged May.

“May, I’m so sorry. I can explain everything.”

“You don’t have to. She already told me what happened.” May said and pointed through a window into the station lobby. Peter could see you sitting in one of the waiting room chairs and blinked in surprise.

“She’s here?” He asked May in disbelief.

“Yeah. She’s the one that called me. The cops told me she got here right after you did. That’s your girlfriend right?” May asked. Peter felt his heart sink when he realized he had yet to tell May that you had broken up.

“What did she tell you?” Peter asked to change the topic.

“She said you stood up for her when the boys were calling her a slut. But why do I feel like that’s now the whole story?” May asked skeptically. Peter looked her in the eyes and sighed knowing he was about to disappoint her.

“Because it’s not the whole story. I called her a slut too.” Peter admitted.

“My nephew called a woman a slut? Is that how I raised you?” May asked and folded her arms.

“No. It’s not.”

“Then why did you do that? I thought she was your girlfriend?”

“Because I was angry. And I wanted to hurt her the way she hurt me.”

“Hm. I see. And did you feel better after you called her that?” May asked him.

“No.” Peter sighed. “I felt worse.”

“I thought so. Go apologize. Now.” May turned him around and pushed him in your direction. Peter wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans before going out into the waiting room. When you saw him coming towards you, you stood up and nervously folded your arms.

“Hey.” He smiled weakly.

“Hi, Peter.” You nodded curtly.

“What are you doing here?” He asked you.

“I had to talk to the police to give my statement about Brads party.“ You explained and left out the party about wanting to make sure he was okay.

“My aunt said you told her what happened. Thank you for that. I don’t know how I would’ve explained to her what happened.”

“You’re welcome. And I should be thanking you too. You beat the shit out of Brad for me. I would’ve done it myself but I’m a little more of a kicker.” You halfheartedly joked, making Peter relax a little.

“You don’t have to thank me. I should’ve done it the first time I heard him call you a slut.” Peter replied. You shrugged in agreement as Peter thought back to that night at the party.

“And you should’ve beat me up when I called you one.” He added as he stared at the floor.

“Yeah. Maybe I should’ve.” You laughed softly. An awkward silence settled between you and neither of you knew what to say. Luckily, it didn’t last long as May came out into the waiting room and stood beside Peter.

“Ready to go home?” She asked him.

“I guess I don’t have any other choice since I am definitely not allowed back on campus.” Peter sighed.

“Actually, they were going to expel you but since I saw Brad throw the first punch, they lowered it to just a suspicion.“ You told him. Peter looked at you curiously and you smiled timidly.

“But Brad didn’t-“ Peter began.

“A lot of people saw him start the fight.” You shrugged. “The school understood that you were just acting in self defense. So don’t worry. Your scholarship is okay.”

“You covered for me?” Peter whispered in disbelief.

“Yeah, well. You covered me first.” You shrugged and avoided eye contact. Peter broke into a smile and you finally looked into his eyes to smile as well. The moment was interrupted by Brad shouting from his holding cell.

“Y/n!” He called to you. You gave Peter a confused look before motioning for him to follow you to where Brad was.

“What do you want?” You asked him.

“I wanted to tell you that I’m so sorry. About all of it.” Brad told you. You looked at Peter skeptically before looking back at Brad.

“You’re sorry?” You doubted.

“I am. I never meant for it to go this far. I don’t expect you to ever forgive me but I just need you to know how sorry I am.” Brad apologized. You smiled at the unexpected apology and nodded your head.

“I appreciate the apology, Brad. That’s not something I ever thought I’d hear from you.” You told him. Peter smiled as he watched the interaction and hoped what he had said to Brad is what inspired him to try to be better.

“Now that we’re cool, do you think you could tell them I didn’t actually slip something in your drink?” Brad asked. “I’ll get kicked out of school if they convict me and my parents already said they’re not bailing me out.”

Your smile dropped when you realized the apology was just a way to gain your trust so he could ask for a favor. He didn’t actually care and he definitely hadn’t changed. Peter shut his eyes in disappointment and hung his head in shame. He thought his conversation with Brad would’ve had some effect on him but it clearly didn’t.

“Oh. You want me to tell the police that you didn’t do something that we both know you actually did do?”

“Yes. Please?” Brad pleaded as he rested his cheek against one of the bars.

“Oh. I get it. Kinda like how you told people that I did things we both know I didn’t do?” You asked and tilted your head to the side. Peter folded his lips to hold back his laughter when he realized what you were doing. Unfortunately for Brad, he hadn’t caught on yet.

“Yeah. Like that.” Brad nodded eagerly. You laughed warmly and nudged Peter, prompting him to laugh as well. Brad was a little confused but laughed as well and assumed you were going to take his side. Your laughter came to an abrupt halt as you faced Brad.

“No.” You stated.

“What? But you have to. I could go to jail.” Brad said and shook the bars angrily.

“And I hope you do.” You said simply.

“What? Come on. Don’t do this to me. Peter already got his revenge.”

“That’s right. He did. But I didn’t.” You reminded him. “And personally, I think there are enough pathetic, predatory losers in New York. Serving some time might knock those worrisome traits of yours loose.”

“You need to really think about this. If I go to jail, I could lose everything.” Brad whispered harshly.

“I lost everything.” You shrugged. “My friends, my dignity, my name. Now it’s your turn.”

“Don’t do this. I’ll get kicked out of school. And it’s impossible to get a job when you have a conviction. Especially for something like this. You have to help me. This will ruin my reputation.”

“At least your reputation will be accurate. Mine never was.” You replied as you looked him right in the eyes. Brads face crumbled and he found himself at a loss for words.

“Goodbye, Brad.” You smiled tightly and walked away. Peter followed after you and joined up with May back in the waiting room.

“Would you like me to drive you back to campus?” May offered as you all walked out of the station together.

“Thank you. But I think I’m gonna wander around the city for a bit. Campus is a little…hostile right now. I think I want to avoid all the attention for a little bit.”

“Well you are welcome to join us for dinner if you’d like.” She smiled kindly.

“I don’t think she wants to do that, May.” Peter mumbled. You made eye contact with him and exchanged polite smiles.

“Thank you again, but I think it’s for the best if I don’t. I would like to talk, though.” You said to Peter.

“Yeah. Of course.” Peter nodded. May got into the car to give the two of you some privacy. You and Peter stood facing each other but didn’t make eye contact. Peter didn’t know what to say, so he got straight to the point.

“Look, I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I called you a slut. And that I didn’t believe you at the party. There is no excuse for what I said and did. I was angry so I called you exactly what I knew would hurt you. I guess that I’m not as good of a guy as either of us thought. You deserve a gentleman. And I’m sorry I couldn’t be that for you.”

“It’s not okay that you called me that. But I forgive you.” You told him.

“You do?” Peter smiled in surprise.

“I do. If you hadn’t gotten Brad and his friends to admit what they had done, I never would’ve gotten my name back. I had people I’ve never even seen before apologizing to me. So if you can risk your scholarship to get my reputation back, I can forgive you.”

“I’d do anything for you.” He told you as he stared into your eyes. You could see how guilty he felt when you looked into his eyes but you couldn’t get him using that word out of his head.

“Where do we go from here?” He asked after a beat of silence. You put a smile on your face and patted Peters shoulders.

“From here, you’re gonna go eat dinner with your aunt. I’m gonna go get some food with my friends, since I actually have them now. And we’re gonna see each other on Thursday in class.”

“Oh. Right. Okay. I’ll see you in class then.” Peter smiled tightly and hoped it didn’t let his disappointment show. He started walking to his car when he heard your voice again.

“Hey Peter?” You called and he turned around.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for getting your knuckles bloody for me.” You smiled at him.

“Anytime.” He smiled back. He got into the passenger seat of Mays car and waited until he couldn’t see you in the side view mirror before breaking down. May rubbed his back and said nothing as Peter cried in his hands.

“I love her. And I ruined it. I fucked it all up.” He cried.

“You don’t know that.” May said kindly. “You might still get a chance to make things right.”

“I don’t think so. She just wants to be friends.“

“I’m sorry, honey.”

“It’s okay. She could’ve written me out of her life entirely. At least we get to be friends now.” Peter said as he wiped his face. May frowned and cupped his chin.

“Let’s go home, honey.” May said. “It’ll be better in the morning.

In the morning, Peter woke up to an email confirming his suspension. He was allowed to return to campus a week later and when he did, he had everyone’s eyes on him. He kept his head down and made his way to the chemistry class he had with you. You exchanged friendly smiles with each other but that was it. Your relationship stayed in a sorta friends but sorta strangers area until the end of the semester. With one week until finals, you finally talked again.

“Hey.” You said as you caught up to him after class. Peter looked around the hallway for who you might be talking to and found no one.

“Me?” He asked.

“Yeah, you. I wanted to show you something.” You smiled coyly and handed him the test you had just gotten back in class. Peter saw a big “96” written on the top in red ink, your highest score yet.

“Woah, 96? That’s really awesome. Great job. I knew you could do it.” Peter smiled proudly and handed it back to you.

“Thank you. I never thought I’d actually pass this class. Turns out I just needed a tutor.” You said with a small shrug. Peter smiled fondly at you and nodded his head. He didn’t know why you were suddenly talking to him, but he didn’t mind it.

“You were always smart.” He insisted. “You just needed someone to explain it in a new way. I’m proud of you. That should go up on the tiny fridge in your dorm.”

“If I had a magnet or even knew where to get one, I would.” You joked. Peter laughed before a comfortable silence settled between you. You looked at each other for a moment before you took a deep breath and looked down at the test.

“So, uh, we have our final coming up soon so I was wondering if you were free to study together sometime? Maybe in the library?” You asked him.

“Oh, sure. I can definitely help you.” He nodded enthusiastically.

“Great, thanks. And maybe we can get some food after.” You suggested.

“Yeah. Totally.” He agreed.

“Like a date.” You added. Peters eyes lit up as he processed what you had said.

“You want to go on a date? With me?”

“I’ve been thinking.” You began. “You were the first person at this school who took the time to get to know me. And in that time, I got to know you too. I know you’re not a mean person. I know you aren’t like the guys who used to make fun of me. And I know I’ve said plenty of things in moments of anger that I wished I could take back. So I have a proposition for you.”

“Which is?” Peter wondered.

“If you ever call me that word again, we’re done for good. No second chances. But since I believe you’re sorry and wouldn’t do it again, I would like to give us another shot. What do you think?”

“I would also like that very much please.” Peter said immediately. You laughed at his quick answer and held out your hand. Peter took it and you walked down the hallway together. He walked you to your next class, just like old times, and stopped outside the door. You were about to say goodbye when he pulled you into a hug. You melted into his arms and hugged him back, closing all the distance that had grown between you.

“Thank you for giving me a second chance.” He said for just you to hear.

“I had too. I missed you too much for that to have been our end.”

“I missed you too.” He said as he pulled out of the hug but kept his arms around you. You looked into his eyes for a minute and smiled softly.

“For the record, I loved you too.” You told him. Peter gasped a little before breaking into a cool and collected smile.

“For the record, I was all in from the moment you borrowed my pen. Not that it’s a competition or anything.” He shrugged, making you laugh a little.

“You know, I still have that pen. It’s really good, too. Is that your thing? You give helpless girls pens and hope they’ll fall in love with you?” You teased him.

“That’s exactly what I do. You’re just the first it’s ever worked on.” He humored you.

“Oh yeah? And just how many girls have you given pens too?a rough estimate would be nice. I’d like to know who my competition is.”

“Oh, jeez. That’s hard to say. It’s gotta be hundreds of girls. Maybe even thousands. I’ve given a pen to more girls than you could ever imagine.“

“Wow. Thats a lot of girls to give pens too. I didn’t realize you were such a busy boy. Are you some kind of slut or something?” You asked with a slight gasp to poke fun at the reputation that used to weigh you down.

“I think I might be actually, yeah.” He sighed and shrugged his shoulder.

“I see.” You chuckled. “That must be why we get along so well.

“Wait, why?” Peter wondered and no longer followed the joke.

“Because.” You playfully rolled your eyes. “Takes one to know one.”

THE END

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oddlyhale · 3 months

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There's still fairytales I would've liked to of seen in RWBY, but I don't think the writers could do them justice. Especially the heavy-hitters:

The Robber Bridegroom (actually the darkest Grimm tale. I think the Robber would be the biggest threat to all female characters.)

The Boy Who Set Forth To Learn Fear (would've been very cool to meet a character who felt no fear at all, making him the ideal Huntsman, but he still wanted to know what it was like.)

The Girl With Silver Hands (a sad story about a girl who was being pursued by the Devil, but he couldn't have her because her tears burned him. She had no hands, but when she met the king of her land, he wedded her and gave her Silver Hands.)

Godfather Death (the Grim Reaper becomes a godfather to a boy who grew up and went against his rules to not extend another mortal's life.)

The Witch from the Hansel and Gretel tale (another awesome villain idea that always tried to eat humans.)

The Fisherman and His Wife (a very interesting story of a fisherman that caught a magical fish that could grant wishes. All he wished for were things that could make his wife happy, but she became greedier and greedier until she asked to become God.)

These are pretty heavy stories, though, and to think RT could do them justice is asking a lot.

#rwde #fairytales

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kokofromwattpad · 1 year

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ALL BECAUSE OF MACARONS

Featuring: Sateriasis Venomania (Gakupo)

Plot: Duke Venomania was slowly but surely building his harem filled with beautiful women from across the land. Although, he will forever has his heart set on the person who saved him with just their voice and a few macarons.

Cw: yandere! Duke Venomania! Gakupo, gn! Reader, yandere themes, baker!reader

A/N: Gakupo holds my heart and soul I swear on god

This story begins a long, long time before the main plot had even decided to take place.

In a small village, deep within the mountains, was a young boy. He wasn't very liked by the other children in the village. He was pushed and shoved all the time. His purple hair was pulled and tugged all day and his deformed face was smacked and punched. From sunrise to sunset he was hated.

It went down hill when his close and only friend rejected his feelings towards him. It was all because of his deformed face. That was the only reason that he was hated and scorned upon.

He walked along the gravel roads after breaking free from the cellar his father kept him locked in for all of his short life.

He walked past a bakery, where there was a faint light coming from the kitchen within the little building. He opened the door and a bell rang, signaling his entrance.

A short child around his age came out from the illuminated room and came to greet him.

The small boy's eyes twinkled with adoration at his peer's face. They seemed really nice.

"Is there something you need help with?" the child lightly asked the boy.

The other child's voice sounded so nice. It sounded like sweet honey spread over the sweetest flowers. And it seemed that they did not mind how ugly and deformed his face was.

Immediately, the little boy was enamored with this person.

"I- uh- don't have a-any money-y" the little boy stuttered out.

"Oh! Alright then, but would you like to have something to eat though?" the pickney queried.

The boy nodded his head vigorously. The other child grabbed the young boy's hand and dragged him to the attached kitchen.

The boy, Cherubim as the other child learned, stood in the corner of the kitchen as the other one pulled a hot tray out of the wood burn oven.

Small pink macarons sat in lines on the tray as the boy's peer swung a thin cloth back and forth over the desserts to cool them quicker.

After about five minutes of swinging the cloth, the kid scraped a row of five macarons into a small brown bag and handed it to Cherubim.

"Here you go! I hope you like them." the youth exclaimed happily.

The purple haired boy flushed a deep red. He smiled shyly at your words. He hugged the bag of macarons to his flat chest and ran out of the bakery and into the night.

-------------------------------------------------------

Those events happened many years ago. The baker child grew up to be a fine adult who ran their inherited bakery with ease.

The adult received a thin letter one day as he was getting ready to open up the bakery. It was just an order for a cake that someone wanted delivered.

After the adult finished putting their employees to work, he went straight to work for order he was given.

The cake was a simple chocolate drip cake with blood red strawberries chopped over the top.

The human gently placed the cake into a box and ordered one of his employees to keep everything in order while they were away.

The baker held the cake box as they looked over the letter to see where the cake need to be delivered. It was a place dubbed 'the Venomania manor'.

The baker had heard of the rumor surrounding the manor for a while now. Rumors about how beautiful women will go in the manor and never come out. Luckily, since the adult did not dub themself as beautiful nor ugly, they did not have any fear about having to go that manor at all.

The trail that lead up to the Venomania's home was difficult to say the least. There was several times when they thought that they would trip and accidently squash the cake from their weight.

When the tall manor slowly started to creep in the baker's field of vision, they took several heavy breaths before they paced to the front door.

They tightly wrapped their fingers around the golden knocker and slammed it three times against the wooden door. The sound of metal slamming against wood echoed through the baker's ears for a good minute.

When they released the knocker from their grip, the door slowly creaked open by itself. The adult poked their head threw the crack in the doorway and saw almost no one.

They passed the box to their other hand and opened the door wider to let themselves in.

Their was a sweet smell in the air. The adult had almost no idea where it was coming from. They had an undeniable urge to follow the smell to it's source, feeling like if they do, good things shall happen.

The baker followed the smell to a another large door. They opened the door, only to be met with the back of seemingly rich man.

"Uh...hello?" the adult squeaked out.

The man's attention head was flicked upward, and he turned his entire body in the baker's direction.

He was a beautiful man. Long purple hair tied in ponytail. He had matching purple eyes which seemed to sparkle in the chandelier light.

The man's expression went from surprised to ecstatic. He speedily ran to the baker and pulled them deeper into the room. The duke lifted the box out their hand and held it above their head.

"Are you the owner of this manor?" questioned the baker to the taller man.

The duke smiled down on them and said in his velvety voice, "Of course I am dear. I suppose you are the baker I ordered this cake from?"

"Indeed..."

The baker felt uncomfortable in the man's presence. They felt the abrupt need to run for their life, but just can't seem to move their legs.

"Would you like to stay for a while and have a slice of cake?" questioned the duke happily.

As if their voice activated by themself and as if their mouth moved by themself, the baker answered, "Only if it is for a short while..."

The man's face spilt into a wide and happy grin. He wrapped his arm around their shoulder as he walked with them to the dining hall.

The pair walked down several flights of stairs until they were met with a woman.

She was a cute one. With green hair tied up in two separate ponytails that curled at the edge. She was wearing a skimpy pink dress with black lace adorning the edges.

"Mikulia, be a doll and cut us two slices of this cake for us." gently ordered the duke.

The girl smiled brightly as took the cake and ran off, leaving you and the man alone by yoursleves.

"Who was that?" asked the baker.

"That was one of my wives." he replied.

"Wives? As in plural?"

"Indeed."

And with that, the baker felt instantly uncomfortable.

Duke could tell how they were feeling about the matter to which he told the baker that all of his wives were aware of each other and are comfortable with it.

The two entered a large, extravagant dining room. There were other women, supposedly the duke's other wives, who were conversing with each other, but when they noticed that their husband had walked in, they all turned in adoration towards him.

The man lead the other adult to the end of the long dining table, where he sat at the end and with you on his left side. The woman from earlier came back with the cake you made on two small plates and placed them in front you and the man.

The woman then stood next to her husband, as if waiting for his command. The duke patted his thigh, and with glee, the woman sat herself on the duke's lap. She wrap her lender arms around his neck as the baker started to place small bits of the cake into their mouth.

"I don't think you have told me your name yet dear." noted the duke while he started to eat his slice of cake.

"My name is {Y/N}{L/N}..." the baker replied quietly.

The man nodded his head at their words.

"My name is Sateriasis Venomania. But I am better known as Duke Venomania.

Although, you know me as Cherubim." he proudly announced.

It then struck the baker like a bullet to the head. The little deformed boy that they gave free macarons so many years ago, was now all grown up and has a harem full of beautiful women.

The adult would sometimes wonder what happened to the boy that they fed. Did he die? Did he make a life for himself? These questions ran through their mind for a while after the two of them had departed ways.

"Well... it is lovely to see that you have survived this long." the baker commented.

The duke chuckled at their humor. Of course he would. Since the moment the baker opened their mouth and spoke such kind words to him, he was completely obsessed. He wanted to make himself someone worthy of being in their presence.

"I... wanted to repay you for those macarons you made me." Sateriasis explains as he gently pushes his wife off of his lap.

"How so...?" nervously asked the baker, their instincts starting to spike.

"I was hoping..." the duke starts as he stands up to stand by their side.

Steadily, the duke pulls a small velvet box from the right pocket of his purple tailcoat. All of the women in the room gasped at their husband's motions.

The duke bends down and gets down on one knee by the bakers side. He opened the small box to reveal a large jeweled ring. There was a jewel for every color.

"Please, let me make you mine. You deserve everything this world has to offer. Ever since I saw you come out of your family bakery's kitchen, I knew that I wanted to be with you for the rest of my life." the duke preached with a determined look painted on his face.

The baker panicked. They jumped up from their seat and ran for the door.

"NO! COME BACK!" screamed the duke, desperation embedded into his voice.

One his wives tackled the baker to the ground before they could make it to the door in time. Sateriasis got up from his knee and hurried over to their side, where he then peeled his wife off of their shacking body.

"Don't worry dear, you will learn to love me and my home with all your heart, just like me."

-------------------------------------------------------

#evillous chronicles #evillous chronicles x reader #Duke Venomania #sateriasis venomania #Duke venomania x reader #sateriasis x reader #venomania x reader #yandere x reader #yandere!character x reader #Gn!reader #Baker!reader #kokoyandere #kokowrites #kokooriginals

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hpowellsmith · 2 months

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March Reading

I read a lot of books this month, and had great luck with how much I enjoyed them! Favourites are bolded.

Brute: Stories of Dark Desire, Masculinity & Rough Trade - ed. Steve Berman

A collection of dark erotica stories about queer men: a variety of horror, thriller, and character studies. Some didn't entirely land for me as they were just a bit too gruesome for me to entirely enjoy, but I did love 'Dark, Firm, and Dry' by Rien Gray, 'Dick Pig' by Ian Muneshwar, and 'The Boy Who Went Forth To Learn What Fear Was by LC Von Hessen'; 'Suitcase Sam' by Tom Cardamone was horrific enough to disturb me afterwards. There were a few trans guy protagonists but amid a lot of lovingly-described gigantic cis men, trans men didn't get described as objects of desire; it made me realise how much I'd like to read more erotica or steamy romance where a trans man is written in the lavish/idealised/thirsty way a lot of the cis men were in this collection. It was also interesting that most of the protagonists were strongly submissive; it's sparked off a lot of offline conversations about erotic fiction and depictions of kink therein, and my own thoughts about how I write erotic scenes (though I don't consider what I write intensely kinky). I'd enjoy writing more about this subject but I'm not sure Tumblr is the place for it; maybe a blogpost one day?

Love Kills Twice - Rien Gray

I adored this high-heat F/NBi romantic suspense book. The characters were hot and appealing, with a lot of substance and groundedness to them along with it. The plot was tight and I devoured the whole thing at top speed. Much recommended!

The Salt Path - Raynor Winn

A memoir about a fifty-year-old farmer and her husband who became homeless and walked England's South West Coast Path. Powerful and evocative in places: I enjoyed it, though some of the descriptions and dialogue of the people encountered melted into one another a bit. I'm realising that I rather like these people-hit-rock-bottom-and-walk-in-the-wilderness-about-it books. They always inspire me to look outward and get outdoors, albeit in a lower-key way.

The Eye in the Door - Pat Barker (reread)

This was quite nostalgic for me, because I read it a long time ago (before the first in the series, actually). I like elements of it more than Regeneration - getting to know Billy Prior better, the city scenes, depiction of queerness and homophobia beyond what Siegfried Sassoon talks about in Regeneration, some of the socialist politics and class consciousness - but the main plot hadn't fully stuck with me. I think I see why: there are several long sequences that I found hard to focus on, and some of it is a bit strange, veering into depictions of multiple-personality-disorder that have been pretty debunked nowadays. Still, I enjoyed revisiting it. The sense that William Rivers is on the verge of breakdown feels palpable and gripping.

Love Bleeds Deep - Rien Gray

Justine and Campbell are on a not-so-idyllic not-exactly-honeymoon in France, growing accustomed to life together and the combination of enjoying a private life and Campbell's deadly occupation. This doesn't shy away from the psychological damage both leads have suffered, while also showing exactly how much they mean to each other. Again I loved it just as much as the first one.

Love Burns Bright - Rien Gray

So many romance books focus on the sexy getting-together part, and sequels don't always keep the spark going. But this series is so good for that and for keeping the emotional connections between the gorgeous characters. In this one, we meet Justine's family, which is already fraught as Justine wasn't in a position to be in touch with them for a long time - but things soon get complicated. I loved it.

A Love So Dark - Rien Gray

Such a good finale for an amazing dark queer romance series! The relationship between Justine and Campbell is beautifully drawn and as hot as ever - no weird misunderstandings or other relationship-drama nonsense - but their situation is anything but settled as some consequences from earlier books come back to haunt them. What a fantastic series this is! Some of the books I've read about nonbinary characters treat them as learning opportunities, or as nice best friends, or as a vehicle for positive rep, and I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see a fully-formed, hot, flawed, adult nonbinary character making their way through excellent thriller plots. I love Campbell and Justine and I'm sorry to see them go, but it was an amazing ride with them.

Valerin the Fair - Rien Gray

A beautifully-written fantasy novella, the first in the Out of True series about sapphic knights. The details are so lovely - they remind me of what I loved about the prose style in Spear by Nicola Griffith - and the intimate scenes are stunning. You can download this for free, so if this sounds like your cup of tea, do give it a look!

#bookblr

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nanaosaki3940 · 4 months

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The Time When We Were Young [Manhwa/Webtoon]

It's an ongoing isekai genre manhwa/webtoon and OMG, it's so fucking good, y'all!!!

I'll talk about the manhwa with spoilers, so read this at your own risk!!!

The story is about a 37-year-old female lead (Choi Ah-Ran), who's now a renowned novelist and publisher of a famous publishing company, had once wrote a well-known web novel (named Cheonyang City) back in her high school days. Since she wrote it back when she was 16-17 years old, the web novel was full of cliches and had all those cringey troupes that you see/read in your average shoujo manga/manhwa. Also, the novel happened to be a self-insert story and it was an alternate reality of her own personal life. Like for example, in her real life, her younger brother passed away in an accident but in the novel she wrote about a reality where her brother was still alive and well. In real life, she had a best friend who stopped talking to her because of a misunderstanding, but in the novel, she/her character also had the same kind of best friend who never left her side and they always cleared up their misunderstandings if any confusion ever arose between them. Also like in her own life, her parents got divorced after the death of her younger brother and she had a very toxic relationship with both of her parents all these years, but in the novel, her imaginative parents were in a happy marriage and were lovey-dovey with each other. Or like how she was bullied in real life when she was still a high schooler, but no one bullies her in that novel's world. In other words, the novel was an alternative reality of her own life which she created to escape from her pain and actual reality, and the novel characters are based on real people in her real life.

So in the present time, 37-year-old Ah-Ran recently broke off her engagement and was going through a tough time at her workplace. Life was quite hard for someone like her who was in their late 30s. Then one day she decided to visit her mother (who's now married to another man and had a son together) one afternoon for lunch and at that time, she went to her old bedroom and noticed her computer (which she once used to write her web novel) was still there on the table. Feeling a bit nostalgic, she tried to turn on her old computer and before she knew it, she was sucked into the world of her own web novel "The Cheonyang City". She got isekai-ed into her novel where her younger brother was still alive, her parents weren't divorced and happy, and her best friend was there for her in every thick and thin.

But alas, unlike other female leads, she doesn't want to stay and live in this cliche-filled web novel she once wrote in her teenage years and was finding a way to go back to her actual reality. And the only way to get back to her reality was to change the flow of the story of her own and make the characters around her say stuff that they need to say. Every time she would get isekai-ed in her web novel, a small piece of paper would magically appear in the pocket of her clothes, and in those papers, there'd be these cliche phrases/dialogues that the characters around her would say to her, like for example, one time in the paper a dialogue was written and it went like - "My heart is sick because of you", meaning the male lead of the story (Kang Hwiyoung; a typical high school delinquent with a bad boy persona but also has a heart of gold) has started to fall for her, and in order to make him say this, Ah-Ran has to get closer to him and make him fall for her. And when he said that dialogue, she again went back to her own reality/world.

And in this way, Ah-Ran was going back and forth between her own web novel and her own reality/world, and through this journey, she learned a lot of things and those things helped her to overcome her fear and traumas, they taught her how to deal with her painful past and move on with her life etc. Like going through this unusual journey made her recall back her actual high school life where she was bullied and her best friend abandoned her. She also recalled back the time when her brother died, her parents got divorced, and when she was self-harming herself. As she interacted with those fictional characters in her novel, she learned a lot of stuff about their lives and how they dealt with their traumas and stuff and when she would go back to her own reality/world, Ah-Ran would gain the courage to face her own problems and traumas and would also take steps to overcome them.

And while going through this journey, in her real world, she came across her old classmate from high school named Cheon Jonghyeok (who owns a bar-n-cafe in the same building as her publishing company), and guess what? That dude is the spitting image of the male lead (Kang Hwiyoung) from her novel!!! I mean just look at them, y'all!!!

(the right side column is Kang and the left side column is Cheon...)

Firstly it was speculated by readers that Kang was probably based on someone from Ah-Ran's real-life and they even teased us with a panel of this bartender...

And after that in Chapter 50 Cheon's face was finally revealed and he looked exactly like Kang from her novel!!!

Knowingly or unknowingly, it seems like when Ah-Ran wrote her web novel years ago, she portrayed Kang's character and physical features based on Cheon's looks and personality. The only difference is that Kang (in the web novel) is a popular delinquent and leads a gang called "Four Heavenly Kings", meanwhile Cheon (in the real world) is a popular handsome dude with a good and caring personality and was liked by everyone in school back then. Other than that, both Kang and Cheon are absolutely the same person. I mean Ah-Ran created Kang based on Cheon, so obviously they'll be alike.

So yeah, overall I'll give this story a 10/10 rating. If you like a modern setting isekai story with teenage high school romance, adult workplace romance, drama, and comedy, then this story is for y'all.

Links to read the manhwa/webtoon -

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suggestingsuggestions · 7 months

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The story is an easy one to remember. There is a boy, and he runs from monsters. You are that boy, or maybe you used to be- are you still running? It is not enough to escape, now. You went forth and learned of fear. And what is terror but the knowledge that the chase doesn't matter. The flee, or the fight, or succumbing to a bestial metamorphosis. Who you are becomes an inevitability. When you speak of pain, it hears you. Imagine- mercy, a death rattle. Life, a heated hollowness, existential exhaustion, blinded by twin suns.

LED HEADLIGHTS // 0097

#mine #poetic #suggestion aesthetic

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fairytalemovies · 1 year

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#faerie tale theatre #shelley duvall's faerie tale theatre #fearnot #fearless #the story of the youth who went forth to learn what fear was #the story of a boy who went forth to learn fear #the boy who left home to find out about the shivers

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rjalker · 5 months

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More paragraph breaks added by me because the originals go on for several pages if left alone.

almost 4k words long

@thenixkat I think you'd enjoy this one if you haven't read it yet

The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was

A certain father had two sons, the elder of who was smart and sensible, and could do everything, but the younger was stupid and could neither learn nor understand anything, and when people saw him they said: ‘There’s a fellow who will give his father some trouble!’

When anything had to be done, it was always the elder who was forced to do it; but if his father bade him fetch anything when it was late, or in the night-time, and the way led through the churchyard, or any other dismal place, he answered: ‘Oh, no father, I’ll not go there, it makes me shudder!’ for he was afraid. Or when stories were told by the fire at night which made the flesh creep, the listeners sometimes said: ‘Oh, it makes us shudder!’

The younger sat in a corner and listened with the rest of them, and could not imagine what they could mean. ‘They are always saying: “It makes me shudder, it makes me shudder!” It does not make me shudder,’ thought he. ‘That, too, must be an art of which I understand nothing!’

Now it came to pass that his father said to him one day: ‘Hearken to me, you fellow in the corner there, you are growing tall and strong, and you too must learn something by which you can earn your bread. Look how your brother works, but you do not even earn your salt.’

‘Well, father,’ he replied, ‘I am quite willing to learn something—indeed, if it could but be managed, I should like to learn how to shudder. I don’t understand that at all yet.’

The elder brother smiled when he heard that, and thought to himself: ‘Goodness, what a blockhead that brother of mine is! He will never be good for anything as long as he lives! He who wants to be a sickle must bend himself betimes.’

The father sighed, and answered him: ‘You shall soon learn what it is to shudder, but you will not earn your bread by that.’

Soon after this the sexton came to the house on a visit, and the father bewailed his trouble, and told him how his younger son was so backward in every respect that he knew nothing and learnt nothing. ‘Just think,’ said he, ‘when I asked him how he was going to earn his bread, he actually wanted to learn to shudder.’

‘If that be all,’ replied the sexton, ‘he can learn that with me. Send him to me, and I will soon polish him.’ The father was glad to do it, for he thought: ‘It will train the boy a little.’

The sexton therefore took him into his house, and he had to ring the church bell. After a day or two, the sexton awoke him at midnight, and bade him arise and go up into the church tower and ring the bell. ‘You shall soon learn what shuddering is,’ thought he, and secretly went there before him; and when the boy was at the top of the tower and turned round, and was just going to take hold of the bell rope, he saw a white figure standing on the stairs opposite the sounding hole. ‘Who is there?’ cried he, but the figure made no reply, and did not move or stir. ‘Give an answer,’ cried the boy, ‘or take yourself off, you have no business here at night.’

The sexton, however, remained standing motionless that the boy might think he was a ghost. The boy cried a second time: ‘What do you want here?—speak if you are an honest fellow, or I will throw you down the steps!’

The sexton thought: ‘He can’t mean to be as bad as his words,’ uttered no sound and stood as if he were made of stone. Then the boy called to him for the third time, and as that was also to no purpose, he ran against him and pushed the ghost down the stairs, so that it fell down the ten steps and remained lying there in a corner. Thereupon he rang the bell, went home, and without saying a word went to bed, and fell asleep.

The sexton’s wife waited a long time for her husband, but he did not come back. At length she became uneasy, and wakened the boy, and asked: ‘Do you know where my husband is? He climbed up the tower before you did.’

‘No, I don’t know,’ replied the boy, ‘but someone was standing by the sounding hole on the other side of the steps, and as he would neither give an answer nor go away, I took him for a scoundrel, and threw him downstairs. Just go there and you will see if it was he. I should be sorry if it were.’

The woman ran away and found her husband, who was lying moaning in the corner, and had broken his leg.

She carried him down, and then with loud screams she hastened to the boy’s father, ‘Your boy,’ cried she, ‘has been the cause of a great misfortune! He has thrown my husband down the steps so that he broke his leg. Take the good-for-nothing fellow out of our house.’

The father was terrified, and ran thither and scolded the boy. ‘What wicked tricks are these?’ said he. ‘The devil must have put them into your head.’

‘Father,’ he replied, ‘do listen to me. I am quite innocent. He was standing there by night like one intent on doing evil. I did not know who it was, and I entreated him three times either to speak or to go away.’

‘Ah,’ said the father, ‘I have nothing but unhappiness with you. Go out of my sight. I will see you no more.’

‘Yes, father, right willingly, wait only until it is day. Then will I go forth and learn how to shudder, and then I shall, at any rate, understand one art which will support me.’

‘Learn what you will,’ spoke the father, ‘it is all the same to me. Here are fifty talers for you. Take these and go into the wide world, and tell no one from whence you come, and who is your father, for I have reason to be ashamed of you.’

‘Yes, father, it shall be as you will. If you desire nothing more than that, I can easily keep it in mind.’

When the day dawned, therefore, the boy put his fifty talers into his pocket, and went forth on the great highway, and continually said to himself: ‘If I could but shudder! If I could but shudder!’

Then a man approached who heard this conversation which the youth was holding with himself, and when they had walked a little farther to where they could see the gallows, the man said to him: ‘Look, there is the tree where seven men have married the ropemaker’s daughter, and are now learning how to fly. Sit down beneath it, and wait till night comes, and you will soon learn how to shudder.’

‘If that is all that is wanted,’ answered the youth, ‘it is easily done; but if I learn how to shudder as fast as that, you shall have my fifty talers. Just come back to me early in the morning.’

Then the youth went to the gallows, sat down beneath it, and waited till evening came. And as he was cold, he lighted himself a fire, but at midnight the wind blew so sharply that in spite of his fire, he could not get warm. And as the wind knocked the hanged men against each other, and they moved backwards and forwards, he thought to himself: ‘If you shiver below by the fire, how those up above must freeze and suffer!’

And as he felt pity for them, he raised the ladder, and climbed up, unbound one of them after the other, and brought down all seven.

Then he stoked the fire, blew it, and set them all round it to warm themselves. But they sat there and did not stir, and the fire caught their clothes. So he said: ‘Take care, or I will hang you up again.’ The dead men, however, did not hear, but were quite silent, and let their rags go on burning. At this he grew angry, and said: ‘If you will not take care, I cannot help you, I will not be burnt with you,’ and he hung them up again each in his turn.

Then he sat down by his fire and fell asleep, and the next morning the man came to him and wanted to have the fifty talers, and said: ‘Well do you know how to shudder?’

‘No,’ answered he, ‘how should I know? Those fellows up there did not open their mouths, and were so stupid that they let the few old rags which they had on their bodies get burnt.’

Then the man saw that he would not get the fifty talers that day, and went away saying: ‘Such a youth has never come my way before.’

The youth likewise went his way, and once more began to mutter to himself: ‘Ah, if I could but shudder! Ah, if I could but shudder!’

A waggoner who was striding behind him heard this and asked: ‘Who are you?’

‘I don’t know,’ answered the youth.

Then the waggoner asked: ‘From whence do you come?’

‘I know not.’

‘Who is your father?’

‘That I may not tell you.’

‘What is it that you are always muttering between your teeth?’

‘Ah,’ replied the youth, ‘I do so wish I could shudder, but no one can teach me how.’

‘Enough of your foolish chatter,’ said the waggoner. ‘Come, go with me, I will see about a place for you.’

The youth went with the waggoner, and in the evening they arrived at an inn where they wished to pass the night. Then at the entrance of the parlour the youth again said quite loudly: ‘If I could but shudder! If I could but shudder!’

The host who heard this, laughed and said: ‘If that is your desire, there ought to be a good opportunity for you here.’

'Ah, be silent,’ said the hostess, ‘so many prying persons have already lost their lives, it would be a pity and a shame if such beautiful eyes as these should never see the daylight again.’

But the youth said: ‘However difficult it may be, I will learn it. For this purpose indeed have I journeyed forth.’ He let the host have no rest, until the latter told him, that not far from thence stood a haunted castle where anyone could very easily learn what shuddering was, if he would but watch in it for three nights.

The king had promised that he who would venture should have his daughter to wife, and she was the most beautiful maiden the sun shone on. Likewise in the castle lay great treasures, which were guarded by evil spirits, and these treasures would then be freed, and would make a poor man rich enough.

Already many men had gone into the castle, but as yet none had come out again.

Then the youth went next morning to the king, and said: ‘If it be allowed, I will willingly watch three nights in the haunted castle.’

The king looked at him, and as the youth pleased him, he said: ‘You may ask for three things to take into the castle with you, but they must be things without life.’

Then he answered: ‘Then I ask for a fire, a turning lathe, and a cutting-board with the knife.’

The king had these things carried into the castle for him during the day. When night was drawing near, the youth went up and made himself a bright fire in one of the rooms, placed the cutting-board and knife beside it, and seated himself by the turning-lathe. ‘Ah, if I could but shudder!’ said he, ‘but I shall not learn it here either.’

Towards midnight he was about to poke his fire, and as he was blowing it, something cried suddenly from one corner: ‘Au, miau! how cold we are!’

‘You fools!’ cried he, ‘what are you crying about? If you are cold, come and take a seat by the fire and warm yourselves.’ And when he had said that, two great black cats came with one tremendous leap and sat down on each side of him, and looked savagely at him with their fiery eyes.

After a short time, when they had warmed themselves, they said: ‘Comrade, shall we have a game of cards?’

‘Why not?’ he replied, ‘but just show me your paws.’ Then they stretched out their claws. ‘Oh,’ said he, ‘what long nails you have! Wait, I must first cut them for you.’

Thereupon he seized them by the throats, put them on the cutting-board and screwed their feet fast. ‘I have looked at your fingers,’ said he, ‘and my fancy for card-playing has gone,’ and he struck them dead and threw them out into the water.

But when he had made away with these two, and was about to sit down again by his fire, out from every hole and corner came black cats and black dogs with red-hot chains, and more and more of them came until he could no longer move, and they yelled horribly, and got on his fire, pulled it to pieces, and tried to put it out.

He watched them for a while quietly, but at last when they were going too far, he seized his cutting-knife, and cried: ‘Away with you, vermin,’ and began to cut them down.

Some of them ran away, the others he killed, and threw out into the fish-pond. When he came back he fanned the embers of his fire again and warmed himself. And as he thus sat, his eyes would keep open no longer, and he felt a desire to sleep. Then he looked round and saw a great bed in the corner. ‘That is the very thing for me,’ said he, and got into it.

When he was just going to shut his eyes, however, the bed began to move of its own accord, and went over the whole of the castle. ‘That’s right,’ said he, ‘but go faster.’ Then the bed rolled on as if six horses were harnessed to it, up and down, over thresholds and stairs, but suddenly hop, hop, it turned over upside down, and lay on him like a mountain.

But he threw quilts and pillows up in the air, got out and said: ‘Now anyone who likes, may drive,’ and lay down by his fire, and slept till it was day.

In the morning the king came, and when he saw him lying there on the ground, he thought the evil spirits had killed him and he was dead. Then said he: ‘After all it is a pity,—for so handsome a man.’

The youth heard it, got up, and said: ‘It has not come to that yet.’ Then the king was astonished, but very glad, and asked how he had fared.

‘Very well indeed,’ answered he; ‘one night is past, the two others will pass likewise.’

Then he went to the innkeeper, who opened his eyes very wide, and said: ‘I never expected to see you alive again! Have you learnt how to shudder yet?’

‘No,’ said he, ‘it is all in vain. If someone would but tell me!’

The second night he again went up into the old castle, sat down by the fire, and once more began his old song: ‘If I could but shudder!’

When midnight came, an uproar and noise of tumbling about was heard; at first it was low, but it grew louder and louder. Then it was quiet for a while, and at length with a loud scream, half a man came down the chimney and fell before him. ‘Hullo!’ cried he, ‘another half belongs to this. This is not enough!’ Then the uproar began again, there was a roaring and howling, and the other half fell down likewise. ‘Wait,’ said he, ‘I will just stoke up the fire a little for you.’

When he had done that and looked round again, the two pieces were joined together, and a hideous man was sitting in his place. ‘That is no part of our bargain,’ said the youth, ‘the bench is mine.’ The man wanted to push him away; the youth, however, would not allow that, but thrust him off with all his strength, and seated himself again in his own place.

Then still more men fell down, one after the other; they brought nine dead men’s legs and two skulls, and set them up and played at nine-pins with them.

The youth also wanted to play and said: ‘Listen you, can I join you?’

‘Yes, if you have any money.’

‘Money enough,’ replied he, ‘but your balls are not quite round.’ Then he took the skulls and put them in the lathe and turned them till they were round. ‘There, now they will roll better!’ said he.

‘Hurrah! now we’ll have fun!’

He played with them and lost some of his money, but when it struck twelve, everything vanished from his sight. He lay down and quietly fell asleep.

Next morning the king came to inquire after him. ‘How has it fared with you this time?’ asked he.

‘I have been playing at nine-pins,’ he answered, ‘and have lost a couple of farthings.’

‘Have you not shuddered then?’

‘What?’ said he, ‘I have had a wonderful time! If I did but know what it was to shudder!’

The third night he sat down again on his bench and said quite sadly: ‘If I could but shudder.’

When it grew late, six tall men came in and brought a coffin. Then he said: ‘Ha, ha, that is certainly my little cousin, who died only a few days ago,’ and he beckoned with his finger, and cried: ‘Come, little cousin, come.’ They placed the coffin on the ground, but he went to it and took the lid off, and a dead man lay therein.

He felt his face, but it was cold as ice. ‘Wait,’ said he, ‘I will warm you a little,’ and went to the fire and warmed his hand and laid it on the dead man’s face, but he remained cold. Then he took him out, and sat down by the fire and laid him on his breast and rubbed his arms that the blood might circulate again.

As this also did no good, he thought to himself: ‘When two people lie in bed together, they warm each other,’ and carried him to the bed, covered him over and lay down by him. After a short time the dead man became warm too, and began to move. Then said the youth, ‘See, little cousin, have I not warmed you?’

The dead man, however, got up and cried: ‘Now will I strangle you.’

‘What!’ said he, ‘is that the way you thank me? You shall at once go into your coffin again,’ and he took him up, threw him into it, and shut the lid. Then came the six men and carried him away again. ‘I cannot manage to shudder,’ said he. ‘I shall never learn it here as long as I live.’

Then a man entered who was taller than all others, and looked terrible. He was old, however, and had a long white beard.

‘You wretch,’ cried he, ‘you shall soon learn what it is to shudder, for you shall die.’

‘Not so fast,’ replied the youth. ‘If I am to die, I shall have to have a say in it.’

‘I will soon seize you,’ said the fiend.

‘Softly, softly, do not talk so big. I am as strong as you are, and perhaps even stronger.’

‘We shall see,’ said the old man. ‘If you are stronger, I will let you go—come, we will try.’

Then he led him by dark passages to a smith’s forge, took an axe, and with one blow struck an anvil into the ground.

‘I can do better than that,’ said the youth, and went to the other anvil. The old man placed himself near and wanted to look on, and his white beard hung down. Then the youth seized the axe, split the anvil with one blow, and in it caught the old man’s beard. ‘Now I have you,’ said the youth. ‘Now it is your turn to die.’

Then he seized an iron bar and beat the old man till he moaned and entreated him to stop, when he would give him great riches. The youth drew out the axe and let him go. The old man led him back into the castle, and in a cellar showed him three chests full of gold. ‘Of these,’ said he, ‘one part is for the poor, the other for the king, the third yours.’

In the meantime it struck twelve, and the spirit disappeared, so that the youth stood in darkness. ‘I shall still be able to find my way out,’ said he, and felt about, found the way into the room, and slept there by his fire.

Next morning the king came and said: ‘Now you must have learnt what shuddering is?’

‘No,’ he answered; ‘what can it be? My dead cousin was here, and a bearded man came and showed me a great deal of money down below, but no one told me what it was to shudder.’

‘Then,’ said the king, ‘you have saved the castle, and shall marry my daughter.’

‘That is all very well,’ said he, ‘but still I do not know what it is to shudder!’

Then the gold was brought up and the wedding celebrated; but howsoever much the young king loved his wife, and however happy he was, he still said always: ‘If I could but shudder—if I could but shudder.’ And this at last angered her.

Her waiting-maid said: ‘I will find a cure for him; he shall soon learn what it is to shudder.’ She went out to the stream which flowed through the garden, and had a whole bucketful of gudgeons brought to her.

At night when the young king was sleeping, his wife was to draw the clothes off him and empty the bucket full of cold water with the gudgeons in it over him, so that the little fishes would sprawl about him.

Then he woke up and cried: ‘Oh, what makes me shudder so?—what makes me shudder so, dear wife? Ah! now I know what it is to shudder!’

#Rjalker reads Grimms' Fairy Tales #Public domain #public domain stories #public domain characters #fairy tales

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lightdragon789 · 2 days

Text

Other inserts backstory/facts Pt 4

Harper Weston

Okay yes, I know there’s only one episode of helping your Werewolf friend and who knows if it will get a part two. But I like making ocs and I loved the story. Plus Konrad is best boy and you can’t convince me otherwise!

So here we go with Harper!

Backstory:

Starting with Harper’s parents. She never knew her mother but it was due to her grandparents and their classist views on her father. He worked as an at home-mechanic while her mom was going to inherit her family’s business. They did love each other a lot but when he got her pregnant, they knew it would make her parents upset. They were saying that she either give the baby up for adoption or for Harper’s father to take her and go no contact.

Which she chose the latter, as she was young and needed to stay in her family’s business. Harper’s father gladly took Harper and raised her as best he could. He had to homeschool as he searched for another job to take on. As he didn’t have enough money to properly send her to school. But he taught her well and taught her somethings about being a mechanic and once she grew older. Taught her how to assemble her own bike. As he states it helps build character. Harper was happy to do so as she looked up to her father and wanted to be a mechanic like him.

They lived in the country side and one day while working on her bike, a neighbor’s Labrador attacked Harper. Her father managed to grab it and knock it away but Harper’s cheek was bleeding badly. He took her to the hospital but the wound left a bad scar on her face, which made her very fearful of big dogs. After this, her father started working harder in order for them to move elsewhere. He even got a license to get a gun in case another animal came to attack her. Harper managed to finish her bike (indoors) and she was very proud of her hard work and so was her dad.

They soon moved to a town, Harper went to middle and high school and worked hard just like her dad. Once she was old enough, she helped her dad in a mechanic store he worked in. She still went to collage to get a degree even if her dad said he would vouch to get her a job. Harper wanted to prove her hard work and still have a degree.

She graduated and started working at her dad’s shop and got another job as she wanted to save up to get her own home. Also, to pay her dad’s retirement as he did a lot for her.

Harper was on her bike, to go home and she noticed a man struggling with his bike. When she went over and asked if he needed help. He was a bit shy in stating his bike chain broke and he needed to get home quickly. Harper offered to help fix it at her dad’s shop. Which after a back and forth, he agreed and the two walked with their bikes. She learned his name is Konrad and he lived in the area but was a bit new to it. Once at the shop, she helped to fix the chain as well as oil the breaks. The two talking and sharing a laugh while she was fixing it.

Once asked what the price is, Harper half-jokingly said, being her friend cause she enjoyed his company. The two exchanged numbers and Konrad rode off and so did Harper. The two mostly stayed in contact on phone as Harper was busy with work. But he would visit her shop sometimes to chat, which she enjoyed and her dad liked Konrad too.

It wasn’t until one night, the two were hanging out and Harper had noticed a pattern with him. That being he’d always bike towards the forest and not towards the town on the nights of the first quarter moon. Which always confused her, so she decided to follow him to see what he was doing. This turned out going a bit wrong as Konrad shifted into his werewolf form, which made Harper scared. But her presence was noticed by Konrad and he was nervous that Harper would hate him.

But Harper took a moment to calm down before calling out Konrad’s name and once it was shown he was in control. She got closer and Konrad apologizes a lot if he scared her but was confused why she was here. To which she explained his odd pattern on this moon phase and now she knows why and apologizes for following him. The two talk more in a cave as Konrad feared hunters might be nearby. They accept each other’s apologies and Harper explains she was mostly scared cause of her fear of dogs, explaining her scar.

Konrad explained he’d never hurt her or anyone, stating he was happy Harper was giving him a chance. He then goes onto explain his side, why he left his pack, knowing his father and brother see him as the weakling of the pack and how it’s getting harder to hide from hunters. Harper flinches at times when Konrad growls but she brushes it off. She does say his secret is safe with her and that if he needed any help with the hunters she wouldn’t mind helping him. Which he looked grateful for and promises to keep her safe for the night.

After a few months, Harper bought her dream house and moved out of her dad’s place. He was very proud of her and reminded her to take breaks as he can see how tired she looked from working so much. Harper brushes it off, saying working hard got her to her goal and now she can work on her next phase. She was tired though after unpacking and giving her new address to Konrad and other friends. A few days later was the night of the first quarter and as Harper was getting ready for bed. Her phone blows up with calls from Konrad.

Looks like sleep would have to wait…

Facts.

Harper is 23 years old, 5’2, and is Unlabed, heteromantic and Gender-fluid. (Goes mostly with she/her tho)

Harper is okay with small dogs but not the best with medium/large dogs.

She hopes that maybe being around Konrad (mostly when he shifts) can help her overcome her fears.

She’s very much a workaholic, as she views hard work is the only way to lead a successful life.

Harper despite being short, always acts tough. As she tried to prevent Klay was wandering her home for Konrad.

She accepts Konrad as a werewolf due to being very open minded thanks to her father and giving people chances to explain themselves.

She tried to get Klay to leave as she thought he was a hunter at first but after seeing him sniff the air to find Konrad she knew he was his brother.

She hopes to one day have a pet parrot.

That’s all I have on Harper, this was a lot to write for a character with one video to work with. But I hope you guys like her!

Next time, I’ll do Louie!

#Helping your Werewolf friend #obsidian lantern #oc lore

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cinnabun-faerie · 2 years

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I have discovered a new OT3 that is Graha/WoL/Urianger and so I was wondering if I could request them with a WoL that just loves listening to them talk about the things their passionate about, even when the WoL doesn't understand a word they are saying. They just love their two nerds just nerding it out and always look startstruck when Uri and Graha get into a debate over some theory or other.

A/N: Anon, you're my favorite person. This OT3 ship is amazing. Perfection :3 Especially considering how they are two of my favorite boys (there are many). Although I feel like I've written something like this before, but it might be that I just imagined it in my brain but never actually wrote it/posted it. Anyways, please enjoy!

Warning: Poly! Relationship, other than that, none. It's fluffy

Paring: G'raha Tia x WoL x Urianger

FFXIV taglist: @missnella-nova @shippyprincess @healersadjust @thai @lumeriadeborel @obscene-tevene @losingmymindinglitter @gudaworks

If you want to be added to the taglist for whenever I post, you can comment here on the original post !

so the relationship between the three of you would be really sweet

just two sweethearts and their beloved hero and love

they would have unconditional love for you

and you for them, naturally

and other than the little bit of squabbling about who is hogging your attention, there's not really any fights/arguments

honestly both of them are just happy to have you by their side

you love and support and encourage them

and they can share their favorite things with you without fear of judgement

and with both of them being bookworms (and maybe you are too), they are always sharing new books with you

G'raha wants to recount the stories to you where Urianger would want to sit down by the fire and read along with you

sometimes you weren't really sure what these books or stories were about, but that didn't really matter to you

but you were just happy to see them sharing what they liked with you

sometimes it wasn't even stories that G'raha shared, but his hopes and dreams of travelling Eorzea with you

not to mention how adorable G'raha was when you'd agree to hear the stories

his face would like up and his ears would do their little wiggle

besides, listening to his stories meant you got to curl up with him

and often times you would fall asleep to the sound of his voice

but he didn't mind, he enjoyed this time with you

Urianger loved teaching you different things

or even just showing you or telling you about those things

and you could not imagine how much that truly meant to him

he may get a little worried from time to time however that you were getting bored and only listening to him because he was your partner

but you'd assure him that even if you didn't understand what he was talking about, you were happy to learn anything that you could

and you honestly just loved to see him pour over what he loved

and it should be noted that G'raha & Urianger were often in their own worlds as they debated with one another

it was rather fun for them

you enjoyed the way they went back and forth, calmly/excitedly explaining their point on different theories or books

sometimes you would even chime in but for the most part you just listened to them, delighted to hear what they would come up with

honestly you would always look at them with heart eyes

you had to admit that how they expressed their passions through words were rather attractive

#ffxiv #ffxiv headcanons #g'raha tia x reader x urianger #g'raha tia #urianger augurelt

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whencartoonsruletheworld · 2 years

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OUAT’s greatest sin in terms of non-problematic stuff is that it never bothered going beyond the standard canon of Perrault, Grimm, Grimm, and/or Andersen fairy tales Disney already adapted for itself. Where was the weird reimagining of “The Bremen Town Musicians” or “Feathertop” or “The boy who went forth to learn fear” or “Beren and Luthien” or “Madame White Snake” or the frame story of “Arabian Nights”?

ouat's greatest sin is they never utilized bill cipher as one of the dark ones

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whitenoface · 2 years

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my take on lilia's parenting

I think it's super interesting how much the fandom has projected and put forth their expectations of Lilia's parenting.

Part of it is we kind of only hear of Lilia's parenting through Silver, which is usually glorified and full of praise, so naturally our first impression is that Lilia is a loving parent.

And I think it's interesting because there's really no precedent to put so much hope and projection into Lilia's parenting. This is twisted wonderland. Lilia is not the only one with questionable motives, questionable actions, and certainly not the only questionable parent.

Rook's adventures sound wild, and we all know there's some truth to his stories. As a boy he probably did, like Silver, take care of himself in the wild. Jade and Floyd's dad is quite literally a mafia boss 💀 and their descriptions of "being the only one to survive" shows their childhood was wild too. But both of them praise their parents, and again, it's twisted wonderland; these people are villains with questionable parents who aren't really questionable to them.

Then there's Lilia, who I think everyone forgets is fae, ancient, and a war general. The reason I think people are more upset over Lilia and his failures in parenting is because Silver praises him so much, we got this idea of Lilia being a good parent and then realize, well shit, he is just another villain in TWST lol

Lilia is fae. We don't know a whole lot of what that means in this world, but what we do know is that fae differ from humans by a lot, emotionally, physically, historically. Especially for long-lived faes, and powerful ones like Malleus and Lilia, what is a human life to them? What do short-lived emotions like fear of a ghost even mean to them? Is empathy even possible in the same way we humans experience it? As humans, of course we're going to project onto these non-human characters (like "how did Lilia not understand Silver would be worried!") but the hard line is, these characters are non-human who went through years of war, and empathy just might not be the same as we know it.

Lilia is a war general. It's clear from all of the hints of lore that Lilia, for most of his life, dedicated his life to war. For hundreds of years, he's been in wars, fought, won, lost, etc. Where in his life could he learn the "correct" way in raising a human child by the time Silver popped up? And this is the unfortunate + fortunate part, I really think Lilia just picked Silver up out of curiousity + some weird, twisted sense of fae empathy. Not truly out of concern or a desire to raise a human child right, but out of curiosity and pity. His only experience with "raising" children was Malleus, and does that count with dozens of other royal staff on hand, Malleus being fae himself and 10x powerful by the time he was 10? Lol. So, Lilia makes several bad calls. Leaving Silver to fend for himself (at 10, which shows how much raising Malleus influenced how he raised Silver), making bad jokes, the extreme harsh training at the beginning. But we don't see this just with Silver. Malleus mentioned how he hates whole cakes because there were many birthdays he spent alone; he tells us constantly how lonely he was in the castle. Where was Lilia, his supposed caretaker? But Malleus doesn't hold a grudge against Lilia for this, and it just kind of shows that's how fae are (or how Lilia is, specifically). Lilia was never the doting, kind parent we all wanted him to be. All of this is to say that, despite all of that, I don't doubt Diasomnia's love. I don't doubt Lilia's love for Malleus or Silver or Sebek. I don't doubt that he loves being Silver's dad. A former, terrifying war general allowing this tiny human to call him Father? And I take all of the context, Lilia being old and a fae and a war general, into consideration when I think about Lilia's parenting. As a former war general, he accidentally pushes the children too hard. But then we find out he realized that was wrong and changed tactics. There's soft instances in that that shows Lilia is a father, does love them, but it's hard to see that when Silver worships Lilia (because that's the only kind of parenting he's had) and we all know what actual, good parenting is. So, idk. Give Lilia a break? LOL. Not that it isn't fun and cool to see everyone's reactions to Lilia esp after Halloween and the angst content that will come >:)

#twst lilia

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