lemondropletters

[lemondropletters]

real

We've Had One Breakfast Yes - Sparks

Every once in a while I get a hankering for a good whump fic and @sophieswundergarten's fic Sparks always hits the spot. It's got everything! Electrocution! Concerned grown ups! Reynie being ridiculously intelligent and caring about his friends a ridiculous amount while his self sacrificial tendencies act in full force!!! Electrocution!! What's not to love?

*holds fic gently* This.... i like it...

[lemondropletters]

Just. Reynie Muldoon getting ignored as a child.

Not necessarily maliciously, but definitely a lot of the time. People looking him over when picking children for activities or stuff.

Horrifically, what if there was a family that took him home for a "trial". And they returned him like a broken toy, not really bad but definitely not good either.

Do you think he knew? Knew that it was just he didn't stand out enough? Or did he think he'd done something wrong?

I can see him being used by parents who aren't sure they want a kid yet because he's so low-maintenance; people who might want to adopt but aren't confident yet using him as a test for how their family would function with another human being and then giving him back and taking the kid they really want.

Reynie is so used to being not good enough, he's constantly used as a placeholder. Placeholder sibling to the lonely kids, placeholder parent to the younger ones, placeholder when you can't get what you want you get Reynie Muldoon, he's average enough that he'll fit any role in a pinch.

Reynie Muldoon, the kid who gets blamed for everything because he's been there the longest, the kid who is substitute whipping boy for when other kids misbehave.

Just. REYNIE MULDOON!!!

[lemondropletters]

CONCERNED ABOUT THE FACT THAT WHEN NUMBER TWO WENT TO BLINDFOLD REYNIE IN THE MAZE TEST HIS FIRST THOUGHT WAS THAT HE'D FAILED AND SHE WAS GOING TO SLAP HIM

[lemondropletters]

CONCERNED ABOUT THE FACT THAT WHEN NUMBER TWO WENT TO BLINDFOLD REYNIE IN THE MAZE TEST HIS FIRST THOUGHT WAS THAT HE'D FAILED AND SHE WAS GOING TO SLAP HIM

[lemondropletters]

CONCERNED ABOUT THE FACT THAT WHEN NUMBER TWO WENT TO BLINDFOLD REYNIE IN THE MAZE TEST HIS FIRST THOUGHT WAS THAT HE'D FAILED AND SHE WAS GOING TO SLAP HIM

[lemondropletters]

CONCERNED ABOUT THE FACT THAT WHEN NUMBER TWO WENT TO BLINDFOLD REYNIE IN THE MAZE TEST HIS FIRST THOUGHT WAS THAT HE'D FAILED AND SHE WAS GOING TO SLAP HIM

[lemondropletters]

CONCERNED ABOUT THE FACT THAT WHEN NUMBER TWO WENT TO BLINDFOLD REYNIE IN THE MAZE TEST HIS FIRST THOUGHT WAS THAT HE'D FAILED AND SHE WAS GOING TO SLAP HIM

[lemondropletters]

CONCERNED ABOUT THE FACT THAT WHEN NUMBER TWO WENT TO BLINDFOLD REYNIE IN THE MAZE TEST HIS FIRST THOUGHT WAS THAT HE'D FAILED AND SHE WAS GOING TO SLAP HIM

[lemondropletters]

Oliver Twist x Mysterious Benedict Society AU anyone?

[lemondropletters]

@mvshortcut

I am half joking with this but fr if anyone has some recommendations for me i would greatly appreciate it 🙏 so far I’ve only found like 3 good Reynie angst fics which I have reread them about 10 times and frankly I either need help or some new ones to read.

Tho if you were perchance willing to write something…I have way to many ideas that my brain won’t shut up about and I’d be happy to share them.

[Text ID: Trade Offer / i receive: reynie angst fanfic / you receive: literally anything you want you want money? i have $5 in my bank account all for you. fanart? it might take me a bit but sure. please i just need to read it,,,]

[lemondropletters]

I am half joking with this but fr if anyone has some recommendations for me i would greatly appreciate it 🙏 so far I’ve only found like 3 good Reynie angst fics which I have reread them about 10 times and frankly I either need help or some new ones to read.

Tho if you were perchance willing to write something…I have way to many ideas that my brain won’t shut up about and I’d be happy to share them.

[Text ID: Trade Offer / i receive: reynie angst fanfic / you receive: literally anything you want you want money? i have $5 in my bank account all for you. fanart? it might take me a bit but sure. please i just need to read it,,,]

[lemondropletters]

So. Everyone who yelled at me yesterday for making a ramble on Reynie going blank and then not resolving it, this is for you: (@lemondropletters, you have been tagged)

Also, it's in a Google Doc because it was definitely too long for a Tumblr post, and ~~I don't know how AO3 works~~

The (vague) premise is that, instead of Constance seeing Curtain's broadcast, they all get to the compound mentally sound, but once there, they split up to look for Mr. Benedict, and instead Reynie finds Curtain. This is the wrap up of what would have happened in the last episode.

[lemondropletters]

Oh man I just had the most AWFUL AU for TMBS and.. idk 😭.... Idk if it's okay to share. LIKE IDK IT'S NOT ANYTHING BAD BUT IT'S SO OFF CHARACTER FOR REYNIE TO DO AND IDKKFSKKEWLDN

[lemondropletters]

In loving memory of Reynie Muldoon

He isn’t dead, I just love remembering him

[lemondropletters]

Okay, okay, so:

Reynie is behind the orphanage, and you see him hiding in the brush and picking up a wounded bird. But, a few seconds later, it flies away. The boy watches it go, a sad smile on his face.

Because, you see, Reynie Muldoon has a secret.

He can heal. He has magic, and he can use it to help others. But, with each usage of the overflowment of love his heart weighs heavier in his chest. He can feel a cold ache spreading with each injury he soothes, and while he shrugs it off, this is nothing to be ignored.

Reynie Muldoon's heart has so much to give, but with each sacrifice this most vital organ is turning to stone inside him. If only he had someone to pour love into him in the same way he is so quick to hand it out to others...

[lemondropletters]

I think what really gets me the most about Reynie is how his consideration for others and great regard for fairness and justice is so central to his character. Like, obviously this shows itself in ways like him helping Rhonda even though she would be his competition for the test, refusing to cheat on said test because it wouldn't be fair to the other kids, etc., but specifically what kills me is that he figures out the solution to the maze because, when he's considering whether the color of the arrows is important, he thinks, "But that wouldn't be fair, because a colorblind kid wouldn't be able to tell," and that's what leads him to remember Rhonda saying they could do it with their eyes closed. He solves the puzzle because he thinks of one solution, then instantly thinks, "Well, if that were the solution, it'd be a bad puzzle because it wouldn't give everyone an honest shot." Anyway I love Reynie so much it's unreal

[lemondropletters]

Thinking about Reynie Muldoon again

Thinking about this kid, who has gone his whole life being looked over and mistaken for other children, and who, finally, finds a family who wants him.

How long did it take for him to realise that they really, actually wanted him; that he wasn't a placeholder or a make-do-with. That him, the real, truest version of him, was wanted for his own.

How many parents over the years had considered him not as a possible part of their family, but as a replacement for the child they really wanted? The one who grew up or got chosen before they could adopt them or, heaven forbid, passed away.

He must have been so used to people using him as a substitute that it was difficult to even know who he was.

What do you mean? He's Reynie Muldoon; he's whatever you need him to be.

He's brave and kind and smart and quiet and loud and funny and boring and exciting and a good listener and anything else you want from him. Whatever it is, he'll learn it heart and soul until he can fulfil that need for you.

He's a miniature adult, he's a friend for the younger kids, he's a target for his peers and he just accepts it.

How many personality types did he try out on Miss Perumal, baffled that she accepted all of them, all of him, no matter who he was?

How many times did he stumble over his words, expecting Mr. Benedict to be disappointed in him only to find nothing but love?

How many things did he do for the others, trying so, so hard to win their friendship and find the version of himself most palatable to them before he understood that they would care for him no matter what?

How many years did he go being everything to everyone else before he realised he didn't know who he was? What he wanted? Who he could choose to be?