#Fitzroy become an actual

[stupidjewishwhiteboy]

I find it amusing that the ending of season 2 of Miss Scarlet and the Duke involves the organization of what is essentially a police union that threatens to go on strike if one of its officers is held to account for his actions

[mysanaf]

༄ "Weekly" Fic Round-Up ༄

This is inspired by @captainkirkk's weekly fic round-ups which I've found many a good fic from. This is also a collect of fic from all of December as well as this first week of January, but perhaps future round-ups will be more accurately named.

Fandoms: Batman, Batman X Marvel Crossover, Nine Worlds Series by Victoria Goddard

Batman

reset by Valkirin

Black Mask hires Circe to keep Red Hood out of his way for a week. Circe's spell will only last a week and she doesn't think Batman will notice or care that she placed a time-limited memory spell on a minor criminal. Fifteen-year-old Jason Todd wakes up in a future he doesn't understand.

No pressure by Valkirin

Tim starts his night trying to calm down a graduate student with a ray gun. He has no idea that he is part of a time loop. Future Tim (which will be him in three minutes) won a second round of the Titans Tower fight and managed to put Jason on the path to coming home. Past Tim didn't do much other than think he was dreaming when he met a much calmer Jason. Future Tim decided that three minutes was plenty of time to figure out just get everything right and stabilize a time loop on the first try. No pressure.

best laid plans by Valkirin

Tim Drake knows that Batman needs a Robin. When Bruce and Dick aren't interested in what he has to say, Tim makes his way to the cemetery to say a few words to the boy he's trying to replace. Tim has the chance to say far more than he expected when Jason digs himself out of his grave that night. Tim does his best to get Jason home to Bruce. The League of Assassins finds them first.

Redrawing the Lines by BirdChild

Dick finds out that Damian cut Tim's line.

To Be a Bandaid by something_dog

Tim Drake never actually wanted to become part of the Robin-Batman-vigilante outfit. No, really. But the last Robin up and died, and now Batman is going crazy, and no one else is doing anything about it, so...Tim decides to become Robin. He might as well, right? At the very least it'll give him something to do while his parents are gone. Still, Tim's not taking up the mantle until he can put a couple of things in order. Step one? Making sure the Joker can't get it into his head to kill another Robin. Not ever again. (Good thing Tim's not the one with a 'no killing' rule.) And then after that? Well, after that it's only just a matter of keeping Batman from learning Tim's identity and subsequently chasing him off. Not until Bruce can get back on his feet and pick a new Robin, a real one this time. Easy-peasy. Sort of.

just me against the sky by magneticwave

Tim Drake stops stalking Gotham’s nocturnal wildlife when she goes to college. Unfortunately, they don’t return the favor.

A Request:

If anyone has any Cassandra Cain focused fics they love please send them my way, I haven't found any and I'm starving 🥺

Batman X Marvel Crossover

Shake the Devil Out of Me by thepartyresponsible

The first time Jason sees Phil Coulson, he sees him in the soft, flickering light of a warehouse fire. It’s romantic, he thinks, later. Like candlelight.

Do Every Stupid Thing by thepartyresponsible

Jason doesn’t mean for the Winter Soldier to be a present for Tony Stark. The youngest Stark isn’t supposed to be involved at all. The plan is simple: intervene before the Winter Soldier can murder Howard and Maria, tranq the Winter Soldier until he’s sufficiently incapacitated, and then drag him off for further study and let the Starks carry on with their fraught, bourgeoisie bullshit.

Nine Worlds Series by Victoria Goddard

the long way home by ariex09

If Cliopher had to sit around twiddling his thumbs he would lose his mind. “I’m going to legalize the rest of Fitzroy Angursell’s poetry,” he said, without entirely meaning to. To Aioru’s widened eyes and Ludvic’s raised eyebrows, he said, “I need a project, it’s non-essential to government functioning, and he’s Zunidh’s poet laureate now. Having half of his works be illegal for sedition is absurd.” - A political crisis in Nijan prevents Cliopher from retiring after the landslide and reuniting with Fitzroy. What it can't prevent is Cliopher and Fitzroy being ridiculous about each other from worlds apart.

[angstfactory]

@jayparkv

Should he be out for a run? Not if he listened to his parents about it. Fitzroy, however, often pushed himself and felt he had a perfectly reasonable grip on what he could and couldn't handle. Nobody but him truly knew any better, they weren't him. Besides, if he hadn't started to push his body more when he was younger, he probably would be in worser shape now. To him, it was the same concept as working a muscle -- it couldn't build mass and become stronger if it was never worked, right?

That being said, Fitzroy's run was more of a light, lazy jog. Not only that, but one he frequently slowed into a walk often, off and on. The man wouldn't be out for long -- twenty minutes? Just enough to get the heart pumping, or right up to that feeling where his legs might give out if he tried to continue... Whichever suited first.

Deadman Acres was not exactly an ideal area for anyone, but it was rural and he couldn't do this around Hidden Hills now, could he? His mother would shriek, then faint, and then his father would chew him a new one for causing her undue stress and alarm. Fitzroy knew Raven's Peak, though -- his family visited off and on all his life, so he wasn't afraid of these outskirts or whatever lingered in these woods. Besides, demons apparently ransacked the middle of downtown so was he in anymore danger out here?

He entered into another slow walk, reaching up to idly feel the rapidly off-beating pulse at his throat and eyeing his watch. Fitzroy figured he better back off longer this time, he was having a harder time keeping that crazy beat under control. But he continued walking, slowly, along the side of the deserted road and wipe some sweat from his brow -- enjoying the eerie silence around, unaware that he wasn't actually alone.

[skopostheorie]

hey do you know much about the suburbs around melbourne in terms of livability etc? like anywhere youd avoid? my partner and i are considering moving down sometime in the next two-ish yrs because somehow rent is cheaper down there than in brissie 😭

- polynot

It largely depends on what you're looking for! Rent itself is, as far as I've been able to tell, based purely on distance from the CBD more than anything else (with some exceptions, for example, Eastern suburbs are quite impressed with themselves despite being in boring as hell locations). If you wish to share a space with your partner, you'll actually have a lot more luck in the CBD or South Yarra, as a 1-bedroom goes for around $400/w, as a lack of high density in less desirable locations cancels out any potential money saved. This will increasingly become the case for more areas under Jacinta Allan who is basically like Density and Infrastructure Stalin.

In terms of pure liveability and/or enjoyment, I'm always a big fan of Fitzroy, Carlton ans Collingwood but they have density issues. I'm convinced that Springvale will become an Eastern powerhouse one day, but that one day will be in, like, twenty years or so.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Please people are now speculating Rose Hanbury's twins are actually William's and how he wants to divorce Kate so he can marry Rose but that would cause a succession crisis because the eldest son would have a better claim to the throne than George 💀

Lmao I've seen the main user speculating about that. They in fact, does not know shit about how this works. And I wanna get into how hard they don’t know how this works.

a) He ain't doing that. Like, I don't know him, but I'd be really surprised if that happened. I think that is a horrible dude, but those are still three kids who've known him as their father and have known their role in this family their entire lives. I think we'd have to go from "an abusive husband and bad father" level to "a psychopath" level for that lmao.

And I mean... listen. William is clearly all about the firm. Those kids? Are in the same place he was in. I think he prioritizes legal, legitimate children born in wedlock over some by-blows~ (their words, not mine!) lmao.

b) It would not in fact cause a succession crisis.

-Regardless of DNA, unless they wanted to go through the rigmarole of getting the marquess to have his name taken off the birth certificate and William's name added to it, which seems... so unlikely! I mean, it's one thing to claim another man's kids, another to literally say "take my name off the birth certificate, I am a clown". This is a 60-something aristo, and if he doesn't have any legal sons, he has no legal heir. If he's the legal father, that's what matters in terms of succession. The kids don't become legally William's because he marries their mom, says he's the dad, and is the biological father.

-You actually can't change the succession just because you want to! I see people citing the change in the primogeniture-based succession made "for Charlotte" "by Elizabeth". First off, that wasn't actually for Charlotte, it was changed (or set into place, can't remember if they got it done before the birth) before George was born. The idea was that if the firstborn was a girl, a younger brother wouldn't supplant her as heir. George's birth made it irrelevant for William and Kate's kids. The only way that it matters is if something horrible happens to George; Louis can't leapfrog over Charlotte.

Anyway, that didn't happen just because Elizabeth wanted it. There were actual legislative processes involved. It's... a legal process.

If William did ACKNOWLEDGE his children by Rose, if they do exist, this would not suddenly supplant George, or Charlotte, or Louis for that matter. Acknowledgment does not equal legitimizing, and frankly, legitimizing does not mean leapfrogging over the line of succession. Do people honestly think Kate, or for that matter her family, or for that matter WILLIAM'S family who have a vested interest would just... go with that? It would probably cause a legal crisis within the monarchy, and it would also make William look VERY BAD!!! The public that does support the monarchy loves those kids; they're the cute mascots. George's birth was celebrated globally. Money is made off those children.

-Legitimate children of the Prince of Wales/the King of England have access to taxpayer dollars. Just adding 2-3 kids onto that payroll? Haha. Have fun with that.

-Past English kings have acknowledged their illegitimate children. William would not in fact have anywhere near absolute power. Kings who have had close to absolute power? Still haven't been able to get this done lmao. Henry VIII actually had (or was rumored to have) discussions about his acknowledged illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy being legitimized, which would place him in the line of succession over Henry's legal wife's daughter. He didn't even try to get it done... for many reasons. It's not easy, and Henry VIII was actually a lot closer to being able to do whatever he wanted to any king today.

So, the idea of him legitimizing kids born prior to his marriage is very far-fetched if not borderline impossible, and if he did, the kids would not automatically leapfrog over Kate's children, potentially not only supplanting them of their inheritance of the crown, but their inheritance of different monetary/land-related inheritances that they would typically be entitled to or expected to be given by their father.

Like. People need to be REAL FR.

[pressure-ask-fitzroy]

🛟/ admin from @exrp624-calisto here hihi! fitz is very lovely i love a good silly scientist oc!! more importantly i wanna know abt fitz's beef with eyefestation... and thank u for the rt too ofc ><! (also saw u inspired him by jiaoqiu which i love too!!)

{Klai Rambling time!}

Omg HIIII~ I am so glad you like my boi 🥹✨ and yeah yeah~ he such a silly lil former scientist guy! He just vibing~😇🫶

As for the beef, well it actually connected to another oc called Piper! One of my friend’s oc! Yuu and I somehow ended up making those two become close friends and funny enough the both of them follow the trope of what I like to call “Got Fucked By an Entity” trope that my friend group has for our pressure ocs lol

I wouldn’t go too deep into detail but during the time Fitzroy was imprisoned and the blackout happen in the site, Piper got jumped by eyefestation and basically got brainwashed by them and now much like Fitzroy, they are a shell of their former self if not worst!

[seconds before disaster.]

And ya know… despite all the shit that happens between the two, Fitzroy still cares a lot about his bestie and he feel so sad seeing piper the way they are right now and hate that dame sharks with passion!

Here is a small example of how much he hate that dame shark!

[PS: this is from an OC sheet interview a friend of mine made - @pastel-rights she so talented!]

Sooo umm~ yeah! Do not be surprised if ya see him use the flash beacon on it each time he sees it, he wanna piss it off out of pure spite lol You can also actually see Piper being mentioned in his lore doc as being one of the divers who brought Z-V0!

But anyway~ YEEEE! ya welcome bestie for the RB! I promise I would send my son on ya way soon so hope ya daughter is ready to meet him ;)

(Also yeah, Jiaoqiu so pretty I had to make an oc that resembles him 🥺🙏)

[eranthiss]

The Dragonsbone Academy, like the BBA has it's own Junior League supported by the region's actual League. The differences is that it has a full set of eight Junior Gym Leaders scattered about the Campus, all type specialized.

•°readmore for length°•

The Elite Four and Junior League Champion is notably more well known, though. They tend to become incredibly high level battlers - upper 5 gym leader, more likely to get offered a elite Four position, a few even end up becoming Champion in other far off regions - It is quite known that one of the Andiiles and Sisciile's current Elite Four members - Charlotte Bergerlund - was a Junior League Champion during a brief term as a Exchange student before returning home and becoming Denmark's League Champion for a whole three years before quitting for her current position.

It's also produced ten other regional Champions in recent history - Three Kalos Champions, Two Unova Champions, a Sinnoh Champion, and one champion each for Ireland, Russia, Egypt, Turkey, and South Korea.

The current Junior League and Elite Four run as such;

Kasane Omoda (おもだ かさね)

Tiny little scrap of a thirteen year old girl who's been seen to brawl with her Machamp and win. Specializes in Fighting types. Very fiery and energetic, can't sit still in most classes. Has expressed a strong desire to return to Johto to take the gym challenge and "Beat Lance's team into the dust where he belongs".

Rhys Castell

A shy boy who specialises in Steel types. Has a very well trained Corviknight who seems to be his Ace - a Falinks he's names Sockembopem. Seems to be genuinely terrified of most Pokémon that aren't on his team, and is currently in therapy for a anxiety disorder. Is doing much better than he used to - he can battle now - and he's frighteningly efficient when he locks in

Has aspirations to become the Galar Champion.

Enoch Ace

Born into a illegitimate branch of the Ace "Dynasty", Enoch specialized in Dragon types- like near enough everyone in his branch. Is rumoured to have the same condition that gives the Unova Champion - and Ex-Andiiles and Sisciile champion their prodigal talents with dangerous/difficult Pokémon- and is weeks from a official HED diagnosis. Is noted for his dislike of people of the legitimate Ace bloodline. Seems to be developing Imposter Syndrome.

Isana Brennan

Current Eighth gym leader in Nubibus town, and widely accepted to be a very formidable battler despite her lifelong health issues often preventing her from participating in battles/regular school life due to frequent hospital visits. In the care of her auntie Shelagh whilst she studies far away from her home region, as thirteen is definitely far too young to be away from family for extended periods of time

Specialises in fairy types - but her Junior League Elite Four team is noted to include both a Bewear and a Metagross for what she claims is "the monstrous beast tax"

Junior League Champion; Mia Fitzroy

Mia Fitzroy is ... Also a young gym leader, being about fifteen - and is legally blind (retains limited central vision in both eyes) . Is noted to specialise in Water Types normally - but her Junior League Champion team is marginally more balanced despite still favouring water types.

Has shredded literally every battlefield she's ever used, some to the point of needing to be rebuilt wholly.

[timesimmer]

Storytelling Secrets

Originally tagged by @abigailsultimatedecadesblog

I originally thought when I started the ultimate decade's challenge again that I would only focus on the Blackburne main household and the siblings in the side households. I just made a royal family just to make it more time-accurate. But after playing their household a few times, I knew I had to start writing storylines for them.

I specifically picked the last name Blackburne for my main household because of my own family ancestry. I love history and researching family history and I found my fourth great-grandmother's maiden name was Blackburn. I've been doing some research on that side of the family and the name just stuck with me.

I started off with just the kingdom of Aethelmark, but that has grown to four kingdoms, all based on certain locations, with a possible fifth one to make it into the storylines soon. They are: Aethelmark--> England, Caledonia -> Scotland, Valois -> France, SierraLuz -> Spain, and the kingdom currently being created Danoria -> Denmark, Norway. Of course, I want to eventually expand beyond Europe, but that will be further down the line.

I have had to pivot on storylines many times due to dice rolls and other sudden gameplay events. I had originally set up this feud between Edward Blackburne and Trystrem Davenport after Edward married Trystrem's sister Elsa. I was thinking that the power that Trystrem got by marrying a noblewoman would allow him to try to take over the Blackburne farm or even have Edward arrested leaving his family without an income. However, Elsa got a bad roll after the birth of her second child, Thomas, and that all changed.

With my storylines, I am trying to use actual historical events as inspiration, but I don't want to follow them exactly. For example, Edward II of England, the inspiration for King Philip of Aethelmark, did have an illegitimate son and Fitzroy is the last name that is normally given to illegitimate sons of the king. However, the relationship between Queen Genevieve and Sir Nehemiah is completely fictional and Philip's attachment to Lady Edrea is mainly due to the soulmate mod that I have in my game.

I love history, but I also am a fantasy girly. I knew very early on that occult sims were coming into my game somehow. I didn't want an occult sim in my main household right away, so the relationship between Nadya and Alaric seemed perfect because I could have my spellcasters in a side household. Although Nadya's original death was the worst thing to happen in my game at that point, it did allow me to send Alaric on the path to becoming a spellcaster to bring her back and it set up a future storyline for another type of occult to come in at some point. No spoilers, but I am very excited!

I seriously was about to cheat and bring Edward back to life and act as if nothing happened. After the plea to bring him back didn't work, I just looked at my notes of every idea that I had for this family that involved him and I honestly thought I was done for and that there was no way I could continue without the first-gen heir. Luckily after taking a step back, I realized that Alexander would be aging up in 1314 (if his roll of the dice is in my favor) and this could open up other doors down the line.

I loved being able to look back and share some of the behind-the-scenes of creating my UDC storylines. The Great Famine is coming up in my gameplay, which I am super scared about, so it was great to take a break and reflect. I'm passing this on to @wynnrhyse @scandisim and @katssimsdecades

[cowboypossume]

Promises

For @kotlcpridemonth2023. Rings

Based *loosely* on this post by @camelspit || Read below the cut

“Can I ask you something?” Fitz didn’t stop stroking Sophie’s hair, but his fingers felt more hesitant now. 

She grinned up at him from her spot on the living room's floor. “You just did.” 

“Haha. Very funny,” He rolled his eyes and she smiled wider. “But seriously?”

“Yeah. Go ahead.”

His fingers fully stopped and he put them in his lap. “Have you given any more thought about what I told you?”

“To be honest,” She turned her body so her face would rest partly on his legs and partly on the couch. “I don’t think I can like you in the way you like me. I don’t think I feel what you do.” 

“I'm not following.” 

Sophie wished she brought her gloves so she could hold his hand or touch him, use any means of contact to sooth how restless he became suddenly.

“Do you want me to explain?” He nodded, looking down at her hand, now touching his leg covered by a jacket’s sleeve. “If you’re comfortable with it.”

Something was going through his head, and she didn’t know how to figure it out. 

“So,” she got up off the floor and tucked herself on the opposite end of the couch. “When you said you liked me like that,” both their faces got hot, “What did you hope to get out of it? What was your desired outcome?”

“Can I say I don’t fully know?” He took a decorative pillow and set it on his lap. 

“You can, but that makes it harder for me to explain. Especially because I know that isn’t true.” 

“Um.” He busied his fingers with the strings hanging off the pillow. “I guess I wanted you to feel the same. I was hoping we’d become like a couple or something? Kiss, go on dates, ect. Like I wanted -want- was something like that?”

Sophie forced herself to breathe trying not to back out of the conversation now. 

Fitz was looking at her so kindly, and that made the words harder. Especially because she’d never said them before, not aloud. Not to someone so important. 

“What you just described: the want for a romantic relationship, the want to be a couple, She folded her knees into her chest, closing her eyes and letting her oily hair fall across her shins. “I’ve never had that urge. For the longest time I was sure that everyone felt that way; no one wanted to actually date anyone. I thought dating was just a word people used for deep admiration and? Friends? I didn’t know there were different feelings involved.”

“Because you’ve never felt them.” Fitz didn’t look up from the pillow.

“I’ve never felt them.” She forced herself to hold his gaze. “I don’t think I ever will.” 

Fitz stayed still for a while. Sophie felt herself getting smaller on the couch. She didn’t really know what to do or say to ease the tension. “I’m sorr-”

Fitz cut her off. “Can I hug you?” 

“Um. Okay?”

He put his arms around her, an old couch barely making it comfortable. She felt safe as his hair tickled her nose and lavender filled her senses.

“Thank you for trusting me with that. I don't think that could have been easy.” His breath was warm, warmer than his body. She felt comfortable. Moreso than she would guessed possible.

“Yea well,” She hid behind her hair and pulled away. “You probably would have found out one way or another. It’s like, not a big thing or whatever.”

He ruffled her bangs in disagreement. “Can I give you something?” 

“Can you stop asking cryptic questions?

He went over to his bag and started digging around. “So I was gonna give you this under a different pretense, but I think this might be better.”

He pulled out a dark blue bag cinched around the top, tossing it to her. 

She opened it to a pair of rings with little eyes peeking over the center. Both green with a little face staring back at her. “What is this?” 

“Calm your worry,” He sat near her on the floor. “They’re not cognate rings, I don’t think I’m ready for that, yet.” 

Sophie spun the smaller one around in her hand. “Then what is it?” 

“A promise.” He put up his pinky. “I, Fitzroy Avery Vacker, promise that I’ll always try with you. I’m not going to leave because things go a little askew or I don’t fully understand where you’re coming from. I’ll always at least try to understand you."

He took the other ring from the bag and placed it on his pinky, never letting his hand lower. 

Sophie stared at it for a second, then hesitantly leaned down and laced her pinky in his. “Are you ok?”

He thought for a second, fully considering his feelings. “Still good.” “Okay.” Sophie took a deep breath. “Then I, Sophie Foster, promise to keep you in the loop. If I’m scared of the future or your reaction, you’ll still know where I am and what I’m feeling. I won’t block you out because of my feelings.”

She took what’d fallen into her lap and unlocked their hands for a second to put it on her pinky. 

“So are we good?” Fitz looked at their joint fingers and smiled.

Sophie followed his gaze, then leaned down and kissed his forehead lightly, fingers brushing a scar beneath his eyebrows. “Yeah. We’re good.”

[transman-badass]

❔Choose a random WIP and talk about it.

Fuck it. Let's talk about that other Cthulhu Mythos story I've got. It's not set in the same verse as PSI, and is more... Dark academia ish than noir. Features a variation of the same protagonist though.

So this story is set in the modern day. It's about a guy (trans of course) becoming a teaching assistant to Miskatonic University's psychology professor, one T. Fitzroy Grant. The university is a spooky place, and in between the little wars between the students and the strange dreams that started the night he arrived, our hero has his hands full. Of course everything changes when the MC discovers the mummified body of an actual alien hidden in the walls. Turns out there's a little bit of a conspiracy at the University, tied to, among other things, a secret society of students that believed the mummified 'Elder Thing' was the secret to unlocking the truth - the real truth, not the truth interpreted by humans - of the universe. And it went very very badly for them. As the dreams invade his waking life and his own repressed past breathes down his neck, the MC must choose who to help, and who to go to for help. Because it's not aliens he needs to fear, not the long dead students whose pasts he's digging into. It's the entity who has always lurked in the shadows of Earth's past - a being of cunning and cruelty, worshipped by the great Cthulhu and his kind, before the war between them led to their deathless sleep - the soul and messenger of the Other Gods, the Crawling Chaos, Nyarlathotep. And whether the MC knows it or not, he is already watching...

It's another one of those stories where I'm borrowing characters from my friends. Fitz mentioned here doesn't really fit in PSI and I felt bad because I fucking love him, so I cooked up this idea so everyone could come to love him too. And since I'm borrowing characters, if I ever finish it, it'll be published for free, with links to everyone involved so you can donate to them directly. I think that's the most fair way to go about it.

Adding the tag list from PSI because I think some people might be interested:

@slenders1ckn3ss @jacquesfindswritingandadvice @redacted-metallum @actualblanketgremlin @higgs-space @phantomnations @mushabumi @assistantdirector--janson @aldhidbah @yourheartonfireblog @jade-island-lives @arsenwormwood @cecuesta @darkhorse-javert @comicgoblinart @lizadomuch @minutiaewriter @izzyspussy @passthebeat-blog-blog @dragonedged-if @andromedaexists @cyanide-latte @lillis-writes @suckerpunchfemale @late-to-the-fandom @theimperiumchronicles

[halograve]

OCQuestions - 01

god save me i have work in an hour and im so board. wehh

🐺Nate Baskerville 

1) Does your OC have a voice claim, if so who? 

Nate’s voice claim is blaidd (Scott Arthur) from Elden Ring 

2) Who's your OCs best friend? How did they become best friends?

Dexter is Nates best friend. They met very young when they were taken in by The Operator (and inducted into Amuns cult) and have remained close ever since. Nate was probably around 10 when they met. 

3) What song describes your OC?

The Killing Moon by Echo & The Bunnyman 

Medicine by Fitzroy Holt 

A Sad Cartoon by Loathe 

Chokehold by Sleep Token

4) What song describes your OC and their partner/love interest?

I peg the song Beautiful by 10 Years to Nate/Drusilla 

5) Do you ship your OC with a Canon character? If so who?

I do ship him with my partners oc Drusilla. They are deranged and married 

6) If your OC is in a fantasy setting, what profession would they be in the modern day?

I mean he is a tattooist in my fantasy modern setting thing but he’s also a slasher/hunter so yeah just tattooist but he’d also do shit like be a mechanic maybe. Bitches who loves motorbikes...or actually he'd be part of the army. his family are entangled with a lot of those occupations

7) Vice-Versa! If your OC is in the modern day, what fantasy class would they be? Would they be a different race?

I think for a DnD AU he’d be a tiefling :3c

8) What hobbies does your OC have? What do they do to unwind?

art/tattooing 

Metal working 

Riding and zooming on his motorbike aka his baby 

9) How does your OC handle their physical health? Do they take care of themselves?

Yes he does. He likes keeping up with it. Tries balancing it out best he can but most times, as a informant or hunting, hes often on the road so in those periods its just being cramped in a car trying to do exercise whenever he can 

10) How does your OC handle their mental health? Do they take care of themselves?

Oh god he tries but. The horrors. Relatively good but when he has weeks where its shit then its pretty low energy. Saying that he tries keeping up with his meds for his mental health lol. He smokes loads from stress. cigs and spliffs

11) What was your inspiration for your OC?

Im going to kill myself but its that guy Stephen Hart from Primeval 

12) Does your OC interact with other people's OC? If so, who's their best OC friend?

Mainly with my partners ocs ill list his besties in order 

Dexter monroe, bestie since childhood. They work together. Nate is his bestie. They make out x 

Drusilla Greyworm. His wife!!! idk who her bestie is. probably Riley

Jobe Greyworm / Amidst Cavallero. They were taken in by the same cult and have also grown up together. His little brothers. Besties together

13) Does your OC have a rival? How did it start?

Not anybody in particular but maybe uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Milo. not even a rival more of an annoyance. Milo met him in hell. Nobody knows how milo got there but he was there for a fun time x snuck in while nate was suffering. Milo is a werewolf fanatic and while nate isnt a werewolf he's still a puppy and therefore Milo is gripping onto him. They honestly met by chance

14) Who's a character your OC cannot stand! It's on sight when they see them!

Milo

15) Will your OC ever retire? Do you see them making it?

Uh 

16) How's their relationship with their parents? Are they alive?

His cult family made him kill his mother to obtain her demon so no. his dad WAS alive but he got battered to death by Nate after he fucked his wife. Oops 

17) If your OC has kids, are they a good parent? Do they ever feel guilty if they have to leave them?

Oh god he always feels some guilt when he goes away for long periods of time but he knows they’re well off from his parenting and teachings of self defence. He has four daughters 

he's very ptsd from being parented by his father and family so he really tries his best. always make sure to spend a lot of time and go to all their things. good boy

his lil family tree :3c + with his succubus ex. He doesnt have a relationship with Rodwen, his first son, and is a little awkward about it.

and id say he loves Marlow but she had been gone for years to be a hunter. something he strongly didnt want her doing so in that regard they butt heads and have more arguments. But he'll be there for his daughter anyway when shes going insane

18) What are their pronouns? What would they like to be called?

He / Him 

19) What's their sexuality? What's their love language both giving and receiving?

Bisexual. Love language is physical affection and receiving its the same. Words of affection are cute too 

20) If they fight, what's their weapon of choice? 

Gun. a knife or big wolf form 

21) What song best describes their relationship with their enemy?

n/a 

22) Fight or Flight? Are they a lover or a fighter? 

Fighter 

23) Is your OC reliable? Can I call them up at two in the morning if I have a flat tire?

Yes!! Even at stupid o clock he will be there 

24) Can they play any instruments? If so, what do they play?

He plays the guitar, piano and the Crwth

25) Are they the kind of person who can't resist a good song? Can I catch your OC singing to themselves while they do the dishes?

Yes teehee 

26) What flower do you associate your OC with? 

Black roses 

27) What's their spirit tamagotchi? Or an animal you associate them with?

Black hound. Their tamagotchi is Kuyokuyotchi bc it reminds him of his daughter Enid and it looks funny 

28) What clique would they be in? (Draw them in the clothes of said group!)

Ill draw it later but he’ll be in with the punks or greaser guys 

29) what is your ocs favourite fruit?

He’d scran down Jackfruits or gold kiwis 

30) what is your ocs nationality? 

Welsh 

[fideidefenswhore]

My understanding is that when the Princes died in 1483, Elizabeth of York was technically heir to the throne but no one actually considered installing her as Queen Regnant as the system just wasn't set up for that. And yet 70 years later, being a woman didn't seem such a big deal (in comparison) and everyone's major concern was the female heir's religion. Do you think that was nothing but the fluke of all Edward VI's available heirs being women (no one, afaik, thought of skipping all of them for Darnley say) or was there also something about the upheaval in Henry's reign that changed perceptions of female rule, even if subconsciously? I'm not saying it was an ideal situation, but the fact it became even feasible, compared to less than a century ago, I find really interesting. I was thinking that, given how long it took for Henry to have a male heir, and the Pilgrimage of Grace's call for Mary to be reinstated, plus her initial popularity as queen, maybe the average person had accepted by c 1527 that they would have a queen next, and even that kind of uncharted territory was preferable to all the turmoil that came trying to get a male heir. I mean, to many people, Mary becoming queen was probably better than losing the social safety net monasteries provided. And with Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, no matter if you hated them, they were both impressive, resilient figures so maybe people expected their daughters would be the same.

Imo, it wasn't really a 'fluke' insofar as it was that (although there was some instability in the order changing...at first Elizabeth at the total exclusion of Mary, and then the total exclusion of both, and then the inclusion of both, but with Mary over Elizabeth) Mary and Elizabeth had both been made heirs to the throne by Acts of Parliament, and several Henrician measures had greatly strengthened the power of Parliament by that point. The final Act of Succession included Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth, and their heirs. Beyond this, Henry's will did include the proviso that if all of the above died, the throne would pass to the heirs of Frances Grey (but not Frances herself...), and that if all these heirs died, the throne would pass to the heirs of Eleanor Clifford. Margaret Tudor's lineage was not present as potential heirs in either his will or this final Act, and so it doesn't seem Darnley as heir was ever really...bruited.

I was thinking that, given how long it took for Henry to have a male heir, and the Pilgrimage of Grace's call for Mary to be reinstated, plus her initial popularity as queen, maybe the average person had accepted by c 1527 that they would have a queen next, and even that kind of uncharted territory was preferable to all the turmoil that came trying to get a male heir. I mean, to many people, Mary becoming queen was probably better than losing the social safety net monasteries provided.

I mean, I think this depended. The average person, even the average professed religious person, as this book I've been reading recently has argued (Dissolution of the Monasteries, by Clark), also accepted the English supremacy without demur. Entertaining the counterfactual of essentially, what if Henry sat on his hands re: (male) succession 1527-... the court divisions would probably have centered around what marriage alliance their Princess should enter. Or, separate court factions would have emerged supporting Fitzroy versus Mary. The matter wouldn't have necessarily 'settled', even if Henry had been more indecisive about it, for longer.

Those two weren't really inextricably linked, though? Dissolution of the religious houses began on a smaller scale while Princess Mary was still heir, under Wolsey's auspices. Their examination and valuation took place while she had yet to swear to the Oaths, which strengthened her position abroad and emboldened her adherents, the Act for the Dissolution of Smaller Monasteries took place during this period, as well. Their pace was likely to continue regardless of whatever outcome came from her either signing, as she did, the Oaths, or whether she did not.

Tl; dr, while Mary's reinstatement was included on their list of demands, it wasn't necessarily seen in the mind of every person that the Dissolution had only come about due to her disinheritance, particularly because Elizabeth was enshrined as heir two years prior by Parliament, which effectively disinherited Mary.

Again, it would depend on who you asked, there would have also been many that said 'turmoil' over the quest for a legitimate prince was a far better alternative than civil war (especially as it came to pass, and no interdict on trade was actually imposed as consequence for Henry and sundry of pretty much every level of government below him, flipping the bird at the papal briefs being sent). I've mentioned this before, but the Act enshrining Elizabeth as Princess and heir apparent passed by the House of Lords and the House of Commons, which could not have happened had there not been an overall majority vote for both. And in 1536, the Act which barred Mary and Elizabeth from the throne on the grounds of illegitimacy, and vested it in the future children of Henry VIII & Jane Seymour (or any future wife), passed in the same manner. So, as much as this is said to demonstrate that the popular belief was that one Princess was much the same as another, but that Mary would of course always be preferred...well, was it true to the extent that it's argued, that simply wouldn't have passed in Parliament.

I don't think their capability of rule was really assumed based on the characters of their mothers, persay? More that the court factions of their mothers did survive (well, several of them did, several did not), in some sense and form, they made up much of Mary I's adherents and Elizabeth's protectors (mainly, of her maternal family) during the Marian era, and later her own adherents during the Elizabethan era. There was always still the sense that male inheritance was preferred, to wit:

❝ By mid-January 1554, the many rumours circulating about the proposed four-pronged uprising against Mary frequently mentioned Elizabeth’s name. One conspirator thought that although ‘we ought not have a woman bear the sword…[but] if a woman bear a sword, Lady Elizabeth ought to bear it first.’ -Elizabeth I ,Richards, Judith M.

Regardless of whether the person in question was either an adherent of Mary or Elizabeth, that caveat ('a woman ought not to bear the sword [if it could be helped]' or some variation thereof) was almost always either explictly given or implicit. Many of the similar statements recorded during the Henrician era, of dissidents who said that Mary should take the throne, almost always had the detail that she should or would do this after marrying Reginald Pole, or Charles V, or some other named man with some blood claim to either the English throne or another (iirc, Ferdinand, the King of the Romans, was also mentioned, once); just as the conspirators of Wyatt's Rebellion planned for Elizabeth to wed Edward Courtenay.

[straightbaittournament]

only the option with the lowest percentage will be eliminated! propaganda under the cut:

fitzroy angursell and pali avramapul:

I’m pretty sure even the author thought they were straight and endgame when she started writing them. Although initially Pali is portrayed as the love of Fitzroy’s life so that you think you’re going to have to put up with this straight relationship, she’s later canonically confirmed aroace with a lot of subtext around two other women, while it becomes clear in later books that Fitzroy has a growing interest in another man. Tfw you are sure they’re going to kiss by the end of the book and then it turns out that previous marriage proposals were plausibly about friendship in the first place

oscar francois de jarjayes and andre grenadier:

Okay, so this might sound kind of weird but bear with me because I really think they should count. Oscar was afab but her father gave her a boy's name and raised her as a boy (by 18th century standards) because sexism and he had 5 daughters and decided she was going to be a son because they were a noble family and he wanted a son to become a high ranking military official because they're rich so they can just do that. Oscar joins the army and becomes Marie-Antoinette's personal guard. Her and childhood best friend Andre are very close through out the series (he supports her throughout the many scandals that she has to deal with because she works for the royal family) and at the end of the series it is revealed that they are in love, but they are both killed in the war before they can actually get together. The dying before they can be together might fall into the buried straights category but they relationship also has really queer energy because throughout the series it becomes apparent that Oscar usually Does Not Vibe with only the gender she assigned at birth. She sometimes refers to herself as a woman, sometimes refers to herself as a man, but her attitude is usually basically 'I'm a man, I'm a woman, I'm both, I'm neither, stop asking'. So I think they should count as straightbait because we find out that Oscar is nonbinary and Andre loves her no matter what her gender is (and then they die before they can get together).

abbie mills and ichabod crane:

They both start out as main characters, working together since the ep. 1. Next three seasons follow the regular m/f protagonist duo pattern: they need each other's help, there's chemistry going on, there are heartwrenching scenes and dramatic sacrifices, they learn they can only truly rely on each other - so the next step is to let them be together, right? Wrong. The next step is to let lt. Mills make a final sacrifice, which on top of killing the pairing insults her as a character - suddenly from the POV protagonist she started as she's demoted to secondary character who always was just there to be the main guy's support. There are some feelings acknowledged, but no confessions or promises exchanged during the final fleeting reunion. Three-seasons-worth of build-up and then she dies.

angel and cordelia chase:

They met as characters on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but their dynamic doesn't take off until the Angel spinoff Because the showrunners of Angel didn't go in with the idea of putting these two together, the characters' friendship was allowed to develop organically without the assumption of romance, which then made the realization of their feelings for each other more satisfying. Unfortunately the shadow of Bangel (Buffy x Angel) still held over Angel's character, so I think it was a hard sell at the time and didn't gain a lot of popularity in the years since. Both these two characters grew alongside each other, supported each other, and despite knowing that they loved each other, let each other go to pursue their destinies. A really underrated het pairing!

entrapta and hordak:

Heavily heavily heavily hinted/slow burn?

joseph cooper and amelia brand:

These two are explicitly set up as the male and female leads of the movie and shown to have a close relationship with each other, one where in any other movie I would have expected them to end up together by the end of the movie, especially since one of the central themes of Interstellar is love as a force that can change the universe. However, the two do not get together by the end of the movie and there is never any explicitly romantic scene between them.

akko kagari and andrew hanbridge:

Very typical hetero-love-interest introduction, rival vibes, aloof rich boy & headstrong "commoner" girl, learning to see each other's point of view, she dresses up for the first time in the series to sneak into his party to try to talk to him. Just classic 'ugh they're clearly gonna get together' but... they don't. Nothing romantic is ever explicit, and by s2 they're friends and that's it. there's no discussion or drama. they're good friends. literally shocked me. apparently a guy and girl who fit a bunch of romantic tropes... can just be friends

kurosaki ichigo and kuchiki rukia:

Oh man, where do I even begin? So, for some context, Bleach starts when Rukia (a shinigami) gets critically injured saving Ichigo from a monster, and she transfers her powers to him so he can finish it off. Instead of transferring half her powers as planned, however, she transfers all of them, which forces Ichigo to take over her job as a shinigami. During this time period, Rukia... lives in his closet. Yeah. The entire first arc of the manga is dedicated to their relationship, and while a lot of it is playful banter, Rukia's presence in Ichigo's life fundamentally changes it for the better. Rukia then gets kidnapped by the rest of the shinigami who aren't at all happy she gave her powers to a human, and the main plot ensues from there. Throughout the story, Rukia and Ichigo constantly save each other when they're at their worst. When Rukia thinks she deserves to die, Ichigo is there to tell her she deserves to live. When Ichigo is in a funk about his superpowered evil side, Rukia is there to snap him out of it (something his canon love interest explicitly realises she was unable to do). They share a sun/moon motif for crying out loud, and yet like that last sentence said... they don't end up together, but with other people instead. Yeah. No shade to the canon ships, but Ichiruki is peak straightbaiting, honestly. They have a lot of banter/chemistry, fundamentally change eachother's lives for the better, save each other when they're at their lowest, and have a very deliberate sun/moon dichotomy... but they both end up paired off with different characters instead asdfghkl

bow and glimmer:

They didn’t get together until the VERY END of the whole show and even then it was a little ambiguous (was it a BFF “I love you?” 🤷🏼‍♀️)

hardwon surefoot and moonshine cybin:

They’re DnD characters so they’re bi disasters canonically. Just not for each other The best way to describe Hardshine is this: “They’re soulmates” “Platonically or romantically?” “Yes” Literally they care so much about each other. Moonshine cured Hardwon’s vampirism by reincarnating him into a half elf and he told her “I’ve been half elf ever since I met you”. Moonshine is a high level elf druid which means she’ll basically live forever and literally the most emotional scene where she asks her mom “How long do half-elves live?”. Hardwon was always a fish out of water who never really fit in until he found Moonshine and the Crick. Are they dating? Queerplatonic partners? Siblings? Idk man they’re just in love it doesn’t matter how.

good luck everyone! now go vote!

[naoa-ao3]

What We Don't Do

Ravenscar had a new nurse.

A reasonably young and attractive, blond woman named Paula Gibb who by all acounts was utterly normal.

Paula thought she could do some real good at Ravenscar but on her first day she thought the place looked more like a prison than anything else.

The staff however were friendly and showed her around, the other nurses helping her familiarize with the place and the orderlies aparently friendly and willing to lend a hand.

She though that it wasn't so bad and a few a few days supposed that places like this were why she had become a nurse. Underfunding didn't mean they had to have a bad staff.

She wanted to make them better and so she was kind, she was kind to her patients and the other nurses and smoked with them on her break and gossipped and listened to them talk about their families.

She showed them pictures of her children, Nancy aged three and Brian at two. They were the best things she had in life.

They said she had beautiful children and she thought that she was finally off to a good start.

That was all until she met John Constantine.

Her first time meeting him was when she heard nurse Hull calling for assitance from down the hall.

She rushed to the door the woman was standing in and looked past her at a young man who had pressed himself against the far wall.

He looked absolutely distraught and his wide blue eyes searched past them for some kind of escape.

"What's going on?" She asked.

Nurse Hull glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. "He won't cooperate." She said. "I need him to take his pill."

The young man shook his head, mouth clamped firmly shut but Nurse Hull didn't look too upset by it.

She put her hand on her hip and snorted. "You know the drill John, take the pills yourself or I'll have Eddie force them down your throat."

Paula thought that a bit harsh and watched as the man drew in on himself glaring hatefully at them. "You keep him away from me!" He hissed through clenched teeth.

Nurse Hull just shurgged. "Your choice, John. You know how this goes and it never goes in your favor. Just take the pills so they can throw you back out of here. You'll be back soon enough anyway."

He twitched and looked at Paula who tried to give the man a sympathetic look, not knowing what was wrong with him.

Nothing. He looked away.

"I'm calling Eddie." Nurse Hull said.

The man gave her a venemous look.

Nurse Hull paged the orderlies and looked at John, unimpressed. "You bite him again and he's going to hurt you." She siad.

He sniffed and Paula didn't know what to make of it. "Surly there's another way-?" She asked.

Nurse Hull sighed again. "Not with this one, dear."

She looked into the little room where the man had pressed himself into a corner and was muttering very quickly to himself, hands over his head. She felt pity for him but here came Eddie FitzRoy, whisteling merrily.

"Alright, Kathy?" He asked, looking at Nurse Hull and cracking a grin at Paula. "Our John giving you some problems."

Nurse Hull held out the little cup with the pills in it. "He won't take them again." She said. "Won't let me get near him. You need Frasier down here too?"

Eddie whistled. "Nah, I don't think so." He said. "What do you think Johnny? Think I should get Bill down here?"

Paula watched as the man in the cell shook his head, wide eyed and stilled.

"Ah, I didn't think so." Eddie said, smirking a little as he advanced on the other man.

The patient pushed himself against the wall and Paula saw him actually begin to shake a little as Eddie pressed an arm against his chest and drew close, pinning him.

"You gonna take these pills Johnny boy, or am I going to have to push them down your gullet for you?"

The man trembled hard and turned his head to the side but Paula saw Eddie increase the pressure he was putting on him, saw his chest take the impact and his back strain against the wall.

Just take them! She thought, watching in horror.

"It's alright, Paula." Nurse Hull said, putting a hand on her arm. "Eddie knows what he's doing and John. . . well I guess you don't know about John here."

"Got you, you little bastard! Swallow it or I swear you'll be drinking your own piss for the next week!"

She looked back and saw Eddie forcing something down the patient's throat and massaging it down while the other man struggled and choked.

"God he's hurting him!" She cried.

Nurse Hull looked back, clearly unmoved and sighed. "It's alright, dear." She said. "It's only John."

"Only John?" She asked.

The other nurse nodded. "It's only John." SHe whispered as Eddie threw the man to the floor and stepped back.

They watched the patient curl in on himself and Paula thought she would be sick. There had to have been an easier way!

Eddie came out wiping his hands. "Nasty little bastard." He said.

"Thank you, Eddie." Nurse Hull said reprovingly, putting an arm around Paula. "Come on dear, I'll fix you up a cuppa. You look like you need it and I'll tell you about our John."

She nodded numbly and let Nurse Hull lead her to the break room and fix her some of the hospital's poor excuse for tea.

She tookthe mug with trembeling hands and looked at her in worry. "What was that all about? I haven't seen anyone treated like that since I got here." She said.

Nurse Hull sighed and sat opposite her, stirring her tea. "John's a special case." She said. "He's been in and out the past few years. . . personally I wish they would just lock him up."

Paula looked up, still feeling shaken. "Lock him up?" She repeated, making Nurse Hull shivver a little and nod.

"He's a murderer, love." Nurse Hull said, sounding sad. "Killed a little girl up in Newcastle. . . police never even found all of her. Poor dear. . . only twelve years old too."

She felt even more rattled to hear this. "I had no idea." She whispered, clutching her mug ever harder.

She thought of the man's scared, blue eyes and the way he had trembled when Eddie had pinned him to the wall. He had killed someone? A little girl.

Christ he wasn't even that old himself!

"Don't beat yourself up, Paula. I think it's good that you want to help people. Just don't waste your time on people like him."

She nodded. "Alright."

"Are you working late?" Nurse Hull asked, changing the subject and lightening the tone.

She nodded, shaking her head a little to clear the dark thoughts out. There was a child killer in the building and now she knew it.

"Oh, I've gone and frightened you. Darling, look he's locked up and if he ever gives you any trouble, Eddie wiill straighten him out." The other woman said, softening her voice.

She nodded again, not knowing how to feel about that. "I'll be okay." She said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

She was being silly. The man was locked up and she wouldn't be in any danger.

Nurse Hull smiled kindly. "Of course you will." She said. "Eddie's here."

She nodded and forced a smile, wanting to change the subject and they talked aimlessly for a little while. Paula wasn't thinking about the patient or she at least was trying very hard not to and when Nurse Hull suggested they get back to work she felt emense relief.

She spent the next few hours, helping the other nurses and continuing to find her footing and tried to keep her mind away from the blond man down the hall and what he had done.

Ravenscar could have used a little updating but she supposed funding was always an issue and they were doing the best they could.

She distracted herself with work and checked her watched every few hours.

7:00 P.M.

8:00 P.M.

She said good night to Nurse Hull and watched her leave for home.

9:00 P.M.

She was off at 11:00.

At 10:13 she heard a commotion down the hall from the nurses' station and stopped looking at her charts.

The hospital had been quiet for a few minutes now and almost all of the patients were in bed.

She heard a noise again and put down her charts and pen. Someone's door was open down the hall.

She grabbed her sweater and pulled it close, shoes echoing lightly around her.

It was the killer's room that was open and she hurried to it, hoping the noise meant he was still inside.

Had Nurse Hull not locked it properly earlier?

She stepped to the door and stopped.

Eddie the orderly was inside along with Bill Frasier, Kevin Dunlap and Mitchelle Gordon, all ordierlies she had gotten on with fairly well. She looked around at them until her eyes found the patient on the floor.

He was curling in on himself, arms wrapped protectively around his ribs but there was blood. . . he'd been kicked in the face or something and her hands flew to her mouth in horror. "Eddie!" She squeaked. "What are you doing?"

The man. . . his name was John. . . John Constantine. . . opened blue eyes and looked at her in almost confusion.

Eddie was quick to her side however and covered her eyes, pulling her away in his arms. "Don't look at it, Paula. It's not pretty."

She pried him off. "Eddie! What are you doing in there!"

She heard the sound of boot hitting man and a yelp and she tried to take a step towards the door.

He put an arm out to stop her.

"Eddie!" She cried, voice cracking a little.

"It's not a bad thing we do." Eddie said, jaw tight. "Kathy told you what he's done. . . he murdered a little girl, Paula. That doesn't just go away. . ."

"You're hurting him!" She said, voice more shrill than she had intended.

"Yeah and he hurt a little girl. . . they don't even know what he did to her. . . what he did before he killed her. . ." His face twisted a little. "You got a little girl, don't you? You showed us all the picture the other day. Are you gonna tell me that if someone did to your little girl what that man did to some other woman's little girl, that you wouldn't want this?"

She blinked and felt tears free themselves down her cheeks. "Eddie. . ." Her voice was shaking. It was so weak. Why was it so weak?

"He killed a kid, Paula. The police haven't done shit. He murdered a little girl and no one's done shit!"

She shook a little but he put a hand on her arm, steadying her but as he looke din her eyes she heard a another cry from inside the room and trie dto peer past him.

Eddie blocked her view. "Don't Paula." He asid.

"Are you going to kill him?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Can't do that, there'd be questions but we can make him regret what he did."

She shuddered and clasped her hands to her chest.

"Sometimes, doing the right thing doesn't feel right." He asid. "But there's gotta be justice. You can't kill kids and get away with it."

She nodded and he gave her a kind look. "Why don't you go home early, I don't think anyone would mind. We'll handle old Johnny here."

As if on cue she heard a thud and a yelp and knew then that she didn't want to see what they were doing to him. She didn't want to see justice.

"You're a good one, Paula." Eddie said."Go home, kiss your daughter."

She nodded again, feeling weak and turned away, letting whatever was happening happen. It wasn't justice. It was something else but she would let it happen and just like that she felt is if she had lost a piece of herself.

She went and got her purse, images of her own daughter and of other little girls. . . little girls she'd never met danced in her head. Little girls that disappeared and girls no one ever saw again. . .

They looked like her daughter.

She thought of the blond man and the blood on the floor.

She thought of little girls that disappeared and of the mothers left behind, mothers without children. . . without daughters. . .

To be a mother without their child. . . she steeled her mind as she drove home, driving a little fast and a little recklessly.

She kissed her children when she got home and put in her resignation the next day. She didn't think she could work there any more.

She thought that even if she hadn't done anything. . . sometimes it was what you didn't do that was all the worse.

[bforbetterthanyou]

So I was just working on an AU where Anne becomes Henry’s mistress so of course I was thinking about this and I’ve wondered this for a while now like…what was Henry’s thought process when he made that offer? Because, like, surely by that point he would’ve been aware that Catherine had gone through menopause and, like, he needed an heir. And if Anne was only his mistress then any children they might have would be illegitimate. I mean, did he have some notion that he could make their children legitimate? But if that’s the case, why wouldn’t he just make FitzRoy legitimate?

Ya know, the more I think about it, the more I think we actually don’t talk enough about that. I feel like we’ve all just sort of been like “well yeah he asked her to be his mistress because he’s Henry VIII 🤷‍♀️” as if making this offer was a totally logical, rational decision that he thought about for a long time before he did it. But I can imagine (and indeed it might be more likely) that making her that offer was, like, a totally desperate spur of the moment thing before he came to his senses and was like “oh wait no I don’t need a mistress I need a wife”

[insipid-drivel]

"Wasn't she really ugly?" - No! Anne of Cleves was not an ugly woman at all! Yes, there are some extant sketches of a subject that's believed to have been her by some historians displaying a hooked nose, among other "unattractive" features, but those sketches have never been totally authenticated as being of Anne, or as being a genuine likeness of her when she was alive. One other portrait by Hans Holbein has been attributed to Anne, painted shortly after her divorce from Henry:

(Source: Wikipedia)

The myth of Anne of Cleves' ugliness was actually the product of a horrible first meeting with her then-fiance, Henry VIII, and some badly mangled politics by Thomas Cromwell.

Here's how it all went down:

It was about 2 years after the death of Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour, who died from complications in childbirth while giving birth to the future Edward VI - Henry's only surviving, legitimate, male heir. There was a bastard son named Henry Fitzroy that Henry had with one of his very first known mistresses, Elizabeth Blount, but she was already married when their affair went on. There was real discussion about making Fitzroy the heir to the English throne in spite of his status as a bastard until the birth of Edward.

After Jane died, in spite of giving Henry the heir he'd longed for, he was still nevertheless pressured by Parliament and the then-Chancellor, Thomas Cromwell, to remarry and continue trying to produce more sons. Cromwell was an avid Reformer and believer in the writings of infamous figures like Martin Luther and William Tyndale, but the Reformation in Britain had been so violent and careless that its Catholic neighbors, like Spain and France, refused to allow their eligible noble ladies be considered as brides for Henry, and the ladies themselves were becoming increasingly afraid of a proposal from Henry. After all, he'd abused and neglected Katherine of Aragon to death to make room for Anne Boleyn, who Henry executed within 3 years of finalizing their marriage, and rumors had spread around Europe that Jane Seymour had died of neglect in childbed. One potential bride, Christine of Milan, famously said to Henry VIII's royal painter, Hans Holbein the Younger, "If I had two heads, I would gladly marry the King of England. Alas, I have only this one."

And so, it became politic to look for brides from the Protestant and Reformist countries, such as the duchies of Germany. England was hopelessly strapped when it came to outside allies, and the Pope had been threatening Henry with full-blown excommunication for several years. The actual Papal Bull for Henry VIII's excommunication had actually been written already, and only awaited the Pope's signature. If it had been officially approved, it would've meant that any and every Catholic monarch in Europe had the duty of invading England, killing Henry VIII, and installing a puppet monarchy under Catholic supremacy.

Enter: Anne of Cleves. The Duchy of Cleves was an extremely important access point for all Protestants and Reformers seeking more allies, and Anne's older brother, William, was the young Duke responsible for choosing appropriate husbands for his sisters. William was known to be a wily and guileful person that was always extremely careful his political alliances, and took extreme offense when Henry VIII first insisted that Hans Holbein paint Anne and her then-eligible younger sister, Sybila, so he could see their likenesses before choosing which eligible lady he wanted to marry. Henry's political attaches were so humiliated that, upon telling Henry about the incident, Henry quickly chose Anne and sweetened the deal (and William's mood) by agreeing to waive the need for a dowry.

William agreed to the match, but the journey from Cleves to England was an arduous one that took many weeks, in winter, with only carriages as a means of travel. Anne's retinue could've tried to sail the whole way, but the Baltic and North Sea were extremely dangerous during winter and known to be absolutely lethal to the most experienced of sailing crews, and so she was forced to travel the much slower, safer route overland from Cleves to the port city of Calais; England's last remaining city in what was otherwise French territory.

Over the weeks of travel, Henry VIII had fallen in love with Anne's portrait. He was in a fever to meet her, but was also grossly obese and chronically ill and foul-smelling from a weeping ulcer in his leg that would ultimately kill him. He was 48, well past his days where he was known as the 'most beautiful prince in Christendom', known to stink like pus and rotting flesh sometimes to his courtiers, and frequently needed mobility aides like canes, glasses (which were thought of as a cripple's tool), and even special chairs designed so a group of servants could lift and carry him up and down stairs. It was also strongly rumored around his court that, by the time Anne of Cleves arrived in England, his failing health and out-of-control weight gain had rendered him functionally impotent.

Anne was just 24 years old, spoke almost no English (but was an extremely quick learner), and knew very little about English manners, etiquette, or Henry VIII's... quirks.

See, Henry had a thing for masquerades. It was during his lifetime that masquerades - or masques - became a popular form of entertainment. All his life, he'd charmed and seduced the ladies of his court by disguising himself in all kinds of ways, from disguising himself like a common peasant, to dressing up like an Ottoman emperor. Of course, he stuck out like a sore thumb no matter how much he tried to disguise himself; Henry was over 6' tall and towered over most of the people at his court, and had very distinct red hair that was commonly called "Tudor red". But, since he was King, everyone pretended to fall for it, and Henry never really did get a clear sense of what people really saw when they looked at him, or how much he really was just being placated by the people around him.

While Anne and her retinue were resting at a purpose-readied manor house after crossing the English Channel, Henry chose to break protocol and surprise her by coming to her early. The plan was that she would be formally received and greeted by him much later, but Henry liked to screw with people like that.

And so it began.

While Anne was enjoying the welcome festivities in the town outside of where she'd stopped, Henry approached her in disguise as a commoner, wearing a hood or cowl that obscured a lot of his face.

Anne had never seen Henry before. Not so much as a portrait. At that point, all she knew of her husband-to-be was what heavily biased courtiers told her. When Henry appeared in the chamber she was in with her ladies, he announced that he came, "with gifts from the King of England," and abruptly forced Anne into a kiss.

Anne, like any 24-year-old young woman on her way to meet her royal husband who'd already killed one wife on trumped up charges of infidelity, had no idea who the old guy with the rotten breath and stinking leg snogging her was, and pushed Henry away. She cursed and admonished him in German (Henry didn't speak German, but according to witnesses, Anne's tone was enough to give him the gist), thinking he was some disgusting pervert that had snuck up on her to grope her.

Their respective retinues quickly explained the mishap, but the damage was done. Anne had shown Henry what she really thought of him: That he was, quite literally, repulsive. She hadn't kowtowed and genuflected like he was used to. She'd shown how gross she thought he really was, and Henry never forgave her for it. As far as he was concerned, she'd humiliated him in front of the entire country.

If you ask me, it would've been smarter to play it off as, "My bride is so loyal to me already that she won't let another man touch her that isn't me so she's completely pure for the wedding night," but Henry's ego had always been extremely fragile. He went through with the wedding, but refused to consummate the marriage on the grounds that Anne had "evil smells about her", and was obviously not a virgin because... her boobs were too big.

Literally, he argued before the whole of Parliament, that Anne wasn't a virgin because she had large breasts. He finalized his arguments for divorcing Anne 6 months later with, "I left her as good a maid as I found her!"

Anne of Cleves was never ugly. She was a lovely young woman that was regarded both as attractive and a wonderful companion to be around. She was good-natured, sweet, generous, and in her brief 6 months as Henry's wife (she was never crowned), her maids and other servants had come to adore her, saying that she was quick to thank them, and quick to reward them for their service, and always showed them appreciation for the work they did for her. Anne didn't even object to converting her religion over to the newly-minted Church of England.

After the divorce, Anne went on to live in comfort and luxury at Hever Castle, where she began to form close ties with Henry's daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. In spite of Mary's zealous Catholicism and Anne's Reformist upbringing, the two became good friends and often visited each other. Anne also became a dear companion and pseudo-stepmother figure to young Elizabeth I, and later expressed her condolences to Henry VIII after Katherine Howard (Anne's own 14-year-old lady-in-waiting Henry married to replace her) had been found guilty of cuckolding Henry with Thomas Culpepper, Henry's groom and a young man much, much closer to Katherine's own age.

Anne of Cleves wound up being the only wife aside from Catherine Parr to outlive Henry VIII, and went on to be a prominent figure at Mary I's coronation ceremony. She faded to quiet obscurity after Wyatt's Rebellion, and later died in 1557 of what was probably cancer, having never left England, and being remembered by everyone that knew her as an easy-going, kind, and generous person to both know and serve.

Holbein’s Anne of Cleves has been restored!