#Is the beauty and the beast ballroom based on a real place?

[need-a-new-reality]

Is that the ballroom from beauty and the beast??

[ganymedesclock]

So I discovered the trailer for Belle (2021), and it’s making me think about what I love about Beauty and the Beast riffs, and what makes a story scratch that particular itch for me or not.

And I think a huge part of it for me is the examination of monstrosity as a social role. To just use Disney’s animated classic as my base for comparison here, Adam, The Beast, is not literally cursed with fur and fangs, claws and horns- he has those things, and may have mixed feelings about them, others certainly have bad reactions to them-

-his curse is ostracization. His curse is to not be seen as human. What actual, physical features he has are irrelevant to that. They’re just quirks he can learn to live with, or a further excuse to tell himself he deserves this isolation, this frustration, this misery.

So the breaking of the curse, to me, is not the scene where Belle sobs confirmation of what we knew well before then into his stilling chest and brings him back, minus those quirks- if anything, that his happiness comes with the loss of those things has seemed to me (and I’m not alone) as almost something of a betrayal depending on how it’s framed.

By contrast, to me, the breaking of the curse is the ballroom scene, and the moments leading up to it. Adam returns to Adam, rather than The Beast, at the point that he decides that he deserves to be treated like a human being- not as a labor of love from Belle, but from himself. Yes, it’s love with Belle that they dance together, that they have this ball scene when there’s no high society to impress, but before that point, he had to make a decision; that he can clean up and dress nice and have an evening. That he deserves to.

When we first see The Beast, he has all of the means and resources to act like a prince, to present like one. He could make himself comfortable and be surrounded by splendor, but the truest thing he suffers under is he’s ceased to see himself as worth the effort. It’s not as if he could cut the fur down and prune back his claws, file down the horns, and look the way he feels he ought to- the way he thinks he should. He’s broken every mirror in his house except for the one he hides from, and this is a gesture of absolute defeat. He knows what he looks like. He can’t pretend he doesn’t. The only way he can tolerate this is not looking at himself.

As a neurodivergent queer person, the monster in the mirror is something I have a very complicated relationship with. I have an “advantage” in some ways. My appearance is not shocking to most people. I do not benefit from an obvious mobility aid or assistive device; I speak within a range people think of is normal. I have an “unusual haircut” for a “girl” and I don’t aggressively correct people on my pronouns or presentation.

But I’ve always had this feeling, that perhaps, my fangs and fur were simply easy things to trim off, and it’s so easy to wonder, would I still be okay if they weren’t? Because really, it’s none of the granular details that make a monster. For every imagined horror creature, there’s almost certainly a real animal it resembles, and real animals are not monsters. A monster is a monster; anything else, we believe, has a place, has a home. Deserves to exist.

To be a monster is to be a thing that doesn’t fit, or, more directly, to be a monster is to be a thing that is unaccepted. Rejected for not fitting. Unworthy of love, from within, or without.

At the end of the day, I know, factually, I am not a monster. I know that I’m a real person. I know that I deserve dignity and respect and love, even if only from myself. I’m not owed another person to love me just to prove that I can be, but, also, no man is an island; as humans we seek each other one way or another, romantically or platonically. That’s a fact of anyone, not just people who struggle to see a real person when they look at their reflection.

And yet, at this same time, I can’t help but feel betrayed, left behind, when the narrative goes that if the monster does everything right its reward is to be shaped into the likeness of a Real Human Being. Because you can’t just pull a feathered skin off me and make me like I “should be”, like my various diagnoses and self-identifications all present me as an aberration from. If you showed me a me without any of those qualities, that’s honestly the thing I’m the most afraid of, a me without me. A Miss Perfect who’s a good, normative daughter, and in my insecurity I wonder if people would like her so much better than me that they wouldn’t miss if I was gone.

Which, that’s nonsense. I know a lot of people who care about me the way I am. But nobody ever said fears had to be rational.

At the end of the day, as much as I hate the idea of being a monster to others, I also relish the notion of qualities that are categorized as monsters. I love dragons. I love putting big, horrible teeth and leering eyes and wings and claws on heroic characters. Because brought into the light, qualities are just qualities. And if you bring those qualities into the favoring, soft light of stories about human connection, romances, queerplatonic bonds, friendships and found family alike, those qualities can even be charming, alluring, inspiring; a character can look like anything and we still feel a rush of reassurance that this specific character is there.

And that’s the other side of Beauty and the Beast: Adam is running away from being a monster, and Belle is trying to run away from who she is, too. Because Belle is the other side of that trap.

Let’s be honest; it isn’t just that Belle’s an outspoken woman with opinions. It’s that she’s pretty. She’s the prettiest girl in town. She’s someone people want, people have expectations for- and those expectations have little room for what she actually wants. Hell, that’s one of the major dangerous driving forces of the climax- Adam nearly gets murdered by a mob because Belle made a choice that her community really didn’t like, especially Gaston, and it’s easy to point to Adam as the wrong choice because he’s pointy.

“Beauty”, as much as “The Beast”, are dehumanizing categories that people are sorted into. The doll and the monster. One is considered beneath monstrosity; beguiling, an object of appeal and desire but not someone with opinions, oh no, and not someone able to make a choice that you disagree with. People driven to the fringes by opposing forces but regardless find each other in the place they’re trying to find room to breathe in.

And that, I think, is one way some of these riffs can, for me personally, miss the point- and that’s not a mark against them, it’s just that there’s a specific thing I see in this story, and it’s very specifically not, “to be beautiful and desirable to mass public consumption is the way to be happy; we will have a story about how to rehabilitate someone so they can be beautiful too” but rather, “what does it mean when people stop seeing you as yourself, whether the alternative is perfection or a monster? what would you do to be seen clearly?”

[multiplefandomsblog]

Kazuichi, Byakuya, Gundham, Rantaro, Gonta, Leon, and Toko with an ultimate Broadway actress s/o

Desc; headcanons of kazuichi, byakuya, gundham, rantaro, gonta, leon, toko with an ultimate broadway actress s/o

Warnings; i tried to make this spoiler free, fem!reader, reader uses female pronouns, i guess this takes place at hope’s peak academy? pre-tragedy?? i dont really know about the v3 boys, haven’t finished the game lmao-

Gundham:

◊ He already knows a bunch about Musicals; especially the darker ones.

◊ He thinks your Ultimate is amazing, he loves all your plays.

◊ Neither of you know which between the two of you is more dramatic.

◊ Your dramatic personalities often intertwined, merging the two of you and making you both into one huge drama queen.

◊ It gives everyone a headache as you both scream, “My toe hurts!-” “My king’s toe hurts! Someone bring an ambulance, stat!”

◊ “Someone get the fucking chlorofoam-” “Hiyoko no-”

◊ This is a bad example, but you get my point-

◊ He enjoys Shakespeare and dark love story plays/musicals.

◊ So he would definitely enjoy acting one with you on stage, if you let him.

◊ He’ll somehow incorporate his Dark Devas into the play just for an excuse to bring them with him on-stage.

◊ Once he was playing Romeo and abandoned Juliet to save Cham-P after he ran offstage to eat a sunflower seed someone dropped on the floor.

◊ Fuck Juliet, mans knows his priorities.

◊ He’s kind of a musical theatre nerd, he enjoys discussing the message behind musicals you’ve played.

◊ Throwing in some compliments about how well you perceived the character, and how pretty you looked.

◊ He is always extremely proud and amazed at your ability to sing, dance and act so well all at the same time.

◊ He believes you don’t get enough credit for doing what you do, so he makes sure you know how proud he is of you.

◊ He sometimes quotes Shakespeare or some other dark musical while you two hung out, it was kinda cute seeing him geek out like that.

◊ “As said in ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’, Better three hours too soon than a minute too late." Gundham quoted, pride laced in his words as he was proud of remembering that. “Gundham... it’s literally 5 am in the morning, the party starts at 12 pm. Go back to sleep.” Gundham blinks and nearly falls asleep where he stood. “Mmkay.”

◊ If he saw you dress up as the witch in Wicked, he would be whipped.

◊ His evil queen? In an evil costume? A dream come true!

◊ He thinks you look absolutely fabulous and praises you a bunch after the show, telling you how pretty you looked while you acted.

Kazuichi

◊ He wouldn’t know much about musical theatre, since he’s more into machines.

◊ But when you told him to come to a play you were going to star in, he jumped at the offer.

◊ 90 minutes of you? He must be the luckiest guy in the world!(Nagito would be proud)

◊ After watching his first play, he decides he is obsessed with musical theatre now, going to all your shows.

◊ He loves all the romance based musicals, he’s a sucker for romance what can he say?

◊ He’d obsess over all your plays, going into a lot of detail about his favourtite parts.

◊ He’s kinda like, your #1 fan.

◊ He has posters of musicals you’ve starred posted around his dorm room, just a bunch of merch of you and all the musicals you starred in.

◊ When you tell him he has a backstage pass because he’s your boyfriend, he is overjoyed. 

◊ He actually trained a bit to be one of the backstage crew members.

◊ He learned how to fix your make up during intermissions, fix a loose stitch on your costume, all that good stuff.

◊ Though every time he sees your face up close for make up, he goes speechless.

◊ He wonders every time, how the hell did he get someone like you?

◊ Though his hands are shaking from how nervous he was, he still managed to make you look absolutely amazing.

◊ He’d blast a bunch of musical soundtracks while he works on his machines, screwing on and unscrewing things with a bop.

◊ I can imagine Kazuichi jamming with you in the car. The car moving violently as you two bounced to the rhythm like mad men.

◊ I think he’d get pretty insecure if he saw you with a love interest, he would think that when you two shared a staged kiss or scene, that it was actually full of love and not fake

◊ But when you cheer him up and tell him how much you love him, he realizes he was being silly over nothing.

◊ After watching many many romance musicals, you notice he gets more romantic; most likely mimicking the love interests.

◊ He is still a bit insecure, but if he does more romantic things, you’ll love him right?

◊ You enjoy the silly grand gestures of love, but you try and assure him constantly that you don’t need any of it.

◊ You only need him <3

Rantaro:

◊ w o a h

◊ He’d love the fact that you’re an actress

◊ He thinks it’s so cool like-

◊ constant fanboying after shows

◊ He’s always bringing you flowers once you’re off the stage, showering you with praises and affections

◊ He’s literally so proud of you wtf??

◊ i think he’d be the type to show you off a lot

◊ “Hey you!” He points at a naked passerby(this is an inside joke, i am so sorry), “Guess what? My girlfriend’s a Broadway actress!” “Rantaro stop, people are staring-” “Are they? hEY YOU! YEAH, YOU STARING!! MY GIR-”

◊ if you ever started spitting out hamilton raps, he’d be the one beatboxing in the back ground for you.

◊  “Pshh, packow, psshh psshh, packow!” “How does a bastard, orphan, son of a-” 

◊ you two would jam out to musical soundtracks in your dorm, dancing dramatically as you did.

◊ you two kinda become like a duo of musical theatre kids.

◊ if you stood on a table and started belting lyrics, he would hop on and join you

◊ unless it was a solo, he would never steal your thunder.

◊ if you ever felt a bit nervous before a big show, he would assure you that’d you’d do great and tell you how much he believed in you until you felt better.

◊ he’s your charger before and after a big show.

◊ if you felt exhausted from acting and dancing around the stage, he’s always there to give you what you need most.

◊ whether it’s water, food, flowers, or just him and his cuddles, he always has it ready for you.

◊ the most recent musical soundtrack that you’ve played will be stuck in his head.

◊ For example, if you recently played in Hairspray, ‘Mama, I’m a big girl now!’ will be stuck in his head until the next play he watches.

◊ you’d catch him humming it during everything he does, 

◊ and it’s actually so fricking adorable.

◊ if you heard him sing a familiar tune, you would hum along with him.

◊ “Hmm, mmwhen I was, just a kid ♪” 

◊ Your ears perked up at the familiar tune, slowly you turned around to face him.

◊ “♪....You never let me do just what the older kids did…♪” You joined in quietly, Rantaro whipped his head towards you, a rising smile on his face.

◊ “♪ But lose that laundry list of what you won't allow ♪,” His voice rose slowly in excitement, pointing at you with a big grin across his face.

◊ And at the same time, you both sang obnoxiously loud, as if it was rehearsed, “♪ 'Cause mama, I'm a big girl now! ♪” Running to each other with excitement, 

◊ You let out a fit of giggles as Rantaro picked you up, “MY WIFE, PLEASE BE MY WIFE!” 

◊ This is how you two met and you can’t tell me otherwise-

Gonta:

◊ Gonta wouldn’t know much about Broadway musicals- which to you, a broadway actress, was unacceptable!

◊ so you made it your mission to get him to watch as many musicals as he possibly can.

◊ You’d tell him to come to all your plays, him excitedly agreeing despite not knowing what a play is.

◊ You’d do extra good knowing that Gonta was in the crowd watching you, wanting to give him the best first experience with musicals.

◊ He’d applaud at the end of every scene, trying to show his support the best he can.

◊ for his first play he watches, he ends up clapping a bit too early.

◊ he cheered and applauded super loud when he saw you on stage, but stopped when he realized everyone was staring at him.

◊ Though it was a bit embarrassing for both you and him, you felt your heart flutter at how his first instinct was to clap for you when you walked in stage.

◊ You’d introduce him to various musicals, beauty and the beast being his favourite.

◊ He definitely starts to obsess over the more ‘gentlemanly’ characters.

◊ his first impressions of the beast were bad; Denying that old lady shelter? How ungentlemanly!!

◊ so when the dude got cursed, he cheered lmao

◊ but as he kept watching, he could see the beast wasn’t too bad. 

◊ The beast had some flaws, but he obviously cared for belle, he thought.

◊ Oh but he hated Gaston, he really really hated him.

◊ If you acted with someone who played Gaston(and you as belle), he would have to hold back and not rip his face off every time Gaston said something idiotic or sexist.

◊ He had to keep reminding himself that, that Gaston wasn’t real(and thank god for that, real gaston would’ve been torn to shreds.)

◊ the dancing scene was his favourite part for sure.

◊ He’s sad he doesn’t get to play beast with you, but he still enjoys the scene nonetheless.

◊ something cute I can imagine him doing is surprising you by dressing up in a prince costume from the musical and asking you for a dance. 

◊ It’s the cutest thing ever oml-

◊ It’s such a beautiful moment, you two just dancing together in a random room with no care in the world.

◊ Your arms wrapped his extravagant costume and his arms wrapped around your pj’s.

◊ He’s a bit shy to be so close to you, but he tries his best to be confident and as princely as he could so he pushes his anxiety aside.

◊ As his stomach fills with butterflies, he becomes slightly confused and concerned, ‘Did Gonta eat butterflies??’ He slightly panics-

◊ ‘Those poor butterflies!!’

◊ He’d watch a lot of videos on how to ballroom dance in advance for this moment.

◊ He’s actually not that bad!

◊ Well- as long as you dance with your feet on his, so he doesn’t crush your toes.

◊ If you ever did some beauty and the beast scenes for him, he would be so happy. 

◊ He’d be even happier if you let him play the beast with you.

◊ He’d be smiling the entire time during a fight/sad/serious practice scene.

◊ *almost gets stabbed* “Haha oh no!” 

◊ When you sing during one of the scenes, he kinda just-

◊ becomes a puddle of a gentleman.

◊ his heart melts and disintegrates(haha what) of love for you. 

◊ he absolutely loves your voice, and would beg for you to sing him one of the soundtracks from beauty and the beast before bed.

◊ He’s really proud of all your plays, and is extremely happy that you–of all people–are his girlfriend.

Byakuya Togami

◊ In all honesty, he thinks your ultimate isn’t all that great.

◊ But as he watches one of your plays, his mind ultimately(see what i did there?) changes.

◊ He becomes impressed and dazzled from how passionate you look when you act, not noticing how you had him sitting on the edge of his seat.

◊ After watching you act, he literally cannot watch another play unless you are in it, finding it unworthy of his time and money.

◊^^this is before you two got together,

◊ you two got together after you found him in your crowd, applauding like the rest of them with the same bewildered expression on his face.

◊ You confronted him and he attempted to compliment your acting, but he accidentally let his feelings for you slip out instead, “I find you truly captivating- Wait no, I-I meant your plays. Your plays, they are truly captivating.” You watched in amusement as he stumbled with his words, eventually interrupting him with an, “Are you available right now?”

◊ So yeah, eventually you two get together, and good for Togami! Because now he doesn’t have to secretly applaud you as a fan, he can applaud you whenever and as your lover.

◊ After shows, he’d give you a single rose as a congrats or applause (so romantic!)

◊ If you ever decided to be chaotic and start belting out lyrics, he would just sigh and let you finish.

◊ Very rarely, you would catch him humming a small tune of a musical song you sang.

◊ But very very rarely. If you ever catch him and confront him about it, he will deny it completely.

◊ I think he’d probably like the more serious plays, he enjoys the meanings and emotions of them more than the sillier and playful ones.

◊ If he ever watched Mean Girls, he would start to slightly mimic Regina George.

◊ “Byakuya wha-” “Get in peasant, we’re going shopping.” 

◊ It’d be lowkey hot when you hear him sass you like Regina George tho-

◊ He’d have more big dick energy after watching Mean Girls, emitting his dominance to everyone.

◊ Makoto during a class trial: “So we know that she was at the scene of the crime, right?” “Shut up.” Byakuya flipped his imaginary long hair as Makoto stares at him in confusion, silence filling the room. “Shut up!” “I didn’t even say anything-”

◊ “The new motive is going to be-!” “Whatever, I’m getting cheese fries a book.” Byakuya sighed, turning on his heels and catwalking away.

◊ ...

◊ “IT’S PUNISHMENT TIME-!” “MONOKUMA WAIT NO-”

Leon

◊ Would go to every one of your shows.

◊ Would act like an absolute mom in the crowd.

◊*holding a video camera* You’re doing great sweetie!.

◊”That’s my girl!”

◊ You’d get embarrassed every time he does that.

◊ Hypes you up when you get nervous before going on stage.

◊ In back stage, he’d praise you and give you a bouquet of flowers.

◊ Where did they come from? When did he have time to get flowers when he was yelling in the crowed??

◊ Helps you rehearse lines even if he has no idea what they’re about.

◊ Will fight anyone that makes mean comments towards you.

◊ Even if it’s just constructive criticism, he will take it as an insult.

◊ “Hey s/o! You did great! Maybe next time you could-”

◊ Leon: “WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY PUNK!? DO YOU KNOW WHO SHE IS?! I HAVE FRICKING ARMS OF STEEL, I WILL-”

◊ Will take every chance to pick you up and call you a queen.

◊ When you guys watch other plays together, he always says how you’d play a better role or that you’d do so much better.

◊ He is pretty jealous of your talent, he has always wanted to be a singer instead of a baseball star, but his ultimate wouldn’t allow that.

◊ So if you let him sing some musical song duets with you, his heart will be so full.

◊ You make him so happy, he almost breaks into cries.

◊ You two of weekly karoake nights, always singing some Heather’s duet together.

◊ One time, you, Sayaka and Leon sang the Candy Store song, Leon being Heather Chandler, Sayaka as Heather Duke, and you as Heather McNamara.

◊ It was... amazing.

◊ Everyone was cheering, clapping and it praising all of you.

◊ You made Leon feel alive, and he really, really loves you for that.

Toko

◊ She loves your ultimate, and fangirls over you a bunch.

◊ She’s amazed at your confidence to go up in stage, knowing she could never do that.

◊ She thinks your confidence is kinda hot, and decides she is in love.

◊ Likes to add a character in her books that are a lot like you, maybe making them a broadway actress-

◊ She thinks about you a lot, sometimes accidentally blurting out how pretty you were in your last performance in front of everybody.

◊ You confronted her for it, and she almost passed out.

◊ “W-w-why d-do you think t-t-that? D-d-do you th-think you’re b-better than m-me or so-something?” 

◊ You already know her and her inferiority complex, so you don’t take offence to what she said, simply replying with, “I think you’re really cute.”

◊ Toko goes silent, except for a few “!??!??” noises that came out of her.

◊ “... U-uh, a-are you j-joking, be-because that isn’t f-funny!” She flushes, denying that you complimented her.

◊ “I’m not joking, here’s my number! Call me, kay?” You grinned before turning on your heel.

◊ She’s kinda dumbfounded, did her crush just ask her out??

◊ She denies it hard at first, not believing that you asked her out.

◊ Thus, not calling you.

◊ Well, I mean, she kinda did.

◊ She dialed your number one day, feeling a bit lonely.

◊ But as she heard your morning voice, she squeaked and hung up quickly.

◊ She felt her face turn into a fireball, her thoughts going into overdrive from how attractive your voice sounded.

◊ Your voice, she was attracted to your voice.

◊ The next day, when you ask her about what that call was about, she denies it and calls you stupid.

◊ Sprinting away while she screamed, “I-i-idiot!!”

◊ Acts like an absolute tsundere around you.

◊ You constantly flirt with her, trying to get her to accept a date with you.

◊ Being the dramatic hoe you are, you try and give her a declaration of your love.

◊ Knowing she is the Ultimate Writer, and into poems, you write one for her.

◊ You declared your love during one of your plays, knowing she sat in the crowd somewhere.

◊ You interrupted a scene and jumped off stage, “Toko Fukawa!”

◊ Her head perked up in surprise, eyes widening as she saw you on one knee for her.

◊ “W-what are you d-doing!?” She yelped, moving her legs away from you. 

◊ “I am in love with you. Completely and utterly in love with you, everyday when I see you so immersed in writing a book, I believe I am looking at an angel.”

◊ The crowd stared at the both of you, gasps and aws filling the air.

◊ Toko flushed,��you watched her while she wrote?

◊ “For every time you’ve told me I was a fool, an idiot, you weren’t wrong. Because I am a fool, a fool in love with you.” You had one had on your chest, looking into her eyes sincerely.

◊ Her eyes glossed over so slightly you couldn’t see, looking around at the crowd before uttering out, “Y-y-you r-really love m-me, h-huh?” Her face contorting into a lopsided smirk, watching as you giggled.

◊ You laughed out, “Absolutely.” 

◊ WHY DID THIS TURN INTO A ONESHOT WHAT WHY WHAT WHYYY

note; thank you so much for reading and sorry for the wait!! we tried our best to finish these together, thank you so much for your patience.

[hillaryschu]

right off the bat cut scene - flash forward

I originally ended my exchange fic in a sort of flash forward/snippet kind of way. Based on the wise advice of my beta, it ended up getting reworked. I kept a ton of the content, just reframing it, but this entire chunk disappeared. If you haven’t read it, the whole piece can be found on AO3: Right Off the Bat (a Little League x You’ve Got Mail AU gifted to @the-world-unseen) - - -  The Lannisters' big Sevenmas Gala is Brienne’s first indoctrination into the extended family and all of the society that comes with it. Jaime and Brienne have been dating for seven months and Jaime has held off the vultures for as long as he could, and so they finally agree to attend the enormous party. 

They have, of course, spent plenty of time with Tyrion and his family, and Myrcella and Tommen over the last half a year. They avoid Cersei as much as possible. There are monthly dinners at Tywin’s large home in the city, but the gala will be different. It’ll be their first real coming out. Jaime is filled with loathing for the event and most of the people that will be there, but he’s thrilled to attend it with Brienne on his arm.

The night of the event, Brienne goes over to Margaery’s to get ready. Margaery had helped Brienne pick out her dress and keeps sending Jaime texts like:

Margaery: you’re going to die when you see Brienne. 👻 ← that’s you (after you see her)

Jaime just hopes that Brienne looks like Brienne—that Marg doesn’t put her in a ton of makeup and jewels. He hopes that the dress is blue and has a low back and a high slit up the leg. He makes no apologies.

He gets two out of three. The dress is a deep blue with celestial looking shimmers. The skirt is full but sheer—layers of material floating around her body. The top has thick dark straps, in kind of a halter and her back is nearly completely exposed. Her hair and makeup are simple and she just wears small earrings and one large bracelet that Margaery likely forced on her.

As soon as Brienne walks out of her friend’s stylish row house, Jaime sweeps her up in his arms, kissing her neck and running his hands along her shoulder blades. 

“You look unbelievable,” he says, breathier than he thinks is entirely appropriate.

The gala is as every gala is—fancy and boring with good food and better drinks. Jaime’s Aunt Genna overhears Brienne take Jaime down a peg and takes an immediate liking to her. She spirits Brienne around the room, introducing her to aunts and cousins that Jaime couldn’t pick out of a police line-up. Jaime eventually “rescues” Brienne, only to drag her toward the dance floor. “Come on,” he pleads. “Dance with me. You know you want to.” “I’d have rather kept talking to your weird cousin Lancel. Okay, that’s a lie. He smelled like a water damaged book.”

“Wow, that’s very specific.”

The other couples around them are doing specific ballroom-style dances and Jaime can see Brienne silently slip into panic mode. It’s unnecessary because Jaime pulls her so close that their feet can barely move at all, let alone glide like air across the marble floor. The dance starts out sweet and romantic but Jaime gets a little handsy and Brienne eventually has to drag him off into a random study of some sort. As much as Jaime loves Brienne’s dress, he wants it off her. She doesn’t let him remove it, though, so much as push it up. 

They leave visibly rumpled but Jaime could not possibly care less.

At some too-early-to-be-shitfaced time in the evening, Robert stumbles up to the couple, clapping Jaime on the shoulder. The move seems more a means to stay upright than it is a congratulatory gesture. 

“So this is the ‘beast’ Cersei keeps rattling on about,” slurs Robert—putting finger quotes around the word beast. Well, that was kind of the drunken lout. “I don’t know why she cares so much, J-man. You still drive the kids to school and take them on the weekends and shit. Works for me.”

As he staggers away, Jaime deadpans, “So that was my brother-in-law, Robert. Great guy.”

Cersei doesn’t even speak to them, aside from the message sent by her evil glares across the room. Her meddling in the spring—her attempt to keep the pair apart—had not been the last time she'd taken a stab at ending her brother’s happiness. Luckily for them, each successive attempt had been just a little more pathetic than the last. 

After a couple of more dances and more champagne cocktails than Brienne normally drinks, they grab a car back to Jaime’s townhouse. Squished together in the back of the car, her hand on his thigh, the lights off the city flashing in her eyes, Jaime thinks Brienne has never looked more beautiful. He’d been so proud to have her there with him at the event and had fallen just a little bit more in love with her.

“Marry me,” he says softly, turning to her.

“WHAT?” she exclaims (a touch less softly).

The first time Jaime proposes marriage is after a holiday gala in the cramped backseat of a hired car. The driver pretends nothing unusual is happening.

“I said marry me.”

“No,” she says, shaking her head like he’s nuts. He’s nuts.

“Okay, fine. Let’s move in together, then. My place or yours?”

“Yours.” She says, not hesitating.

“Deal.” He says, sticking out his hand to shake on it. - - - 

This is the dress I’m imagining Brienne in, although maybe with a slightly more simplified top.

[batbobsession]

Stuff I’ve Written

Let’s talk about something… - How Adam must have felt when he realizes he’s human again.

Our Fault - A oneshot of the prologue, from the eyes of Mrs. Potts.

Our Fault, Part 2 - The morning after the curse is cast.  Mrs. Potts tries to find Chip, and in doing so stumbles upon Chapeau, Plumette, and Cadenza.

Not Until My Whole Life is Done - Young Adam goes about his regular days in the castle, but something’s wrong…

Finale - Maurice looks upon all the happiness in the room during the final scene and realizes that his job as an artist is a lot more important than just making a picture.

That’s How a Moment Lasts Forever – An old man tells his granddaughter a story in hopes that it will fade into legend, and the residents of the castle will live on through it.

Less Human - Just the staff going about their normal activities, not even realizing that they’re becoming more and more like the objects they were cursed to be.

Enough - Belle runs away to find her mother.  This is Maurice’s reaction after they found her.

BatB in Four Parts - What if BatB 2017 was the third installment in a four-part movie series?

Nocturne - Not too far from where a provincial village sleeps, a castle sings its sorrows to the night sky.  No human wanders in such a place, but it is alive all the same. (Probably the one I’m the most proud of at the moment…)

The Nameless Prince - Our favorite castle staff finds themselves dealing with steampunk androids and Carrionites.  Also, the Doctor is in! (Doctor Who/BatB2017 crossover)

Long Ago - A reclusive earthbending prince meets a young inventor who teaches him that the world is a lot bigger and a lot kinder than he originally believes.  If Beauty and the Beast took place in the world of Avatar…

New Life: Part 1 – Based off of this post from @plumettesfeathers, @gastt, and @forr-everrmorre. Maurice sees Belle and Adam’s son for the first time.

New Life: Part 2 – Same thing, only with Garderobe and Cadenza seeing Plumette and Lumiere’s daughter. AU where Garderobe and Cadenza are Plumette’s parents.

Up in Smoke - Lumiere and Plumette contract a deadly disease.  Everyone thinks about how much their lives have been affected by the two, and decide that letting them die is out of the question.

Remember - What if the king was still alive and away from the castle at the time the curse was cast?  How would he feel once he remembers?  AU where Adam’s father is still alive.

Bit by Bit - What if over time the transformed staff became more object-like, and slowly stopped having human emotions?

A Shadow’s Tune - The French Revolution is in full swing, and many of the castle’s residents are starting to lose hope.  They’d hate to see their beloved home fall a second time…

One Moment - A collaboration done with the incredible@lumiereswig.  While the villagers teeter on the edges of anger and fear, the staff laments over the fact that Belle is gone, and now they will never be human again.  The other part of the collab is here.

What Might Have Been - Imagine Gaston wins. Imagine Belle arrives too late…and the Beast, wounded and alone, is forced to live the rest of his life as a monster. Maurice is carted off to the asylum, and Belle is forced to marry Gaston in order to keep her father alive. Now, fifteen years later, a small boy happens upon the castle and finds that it’s not like the stories he’s heard.

The Last Christmas - It’s only been months since the queen died, and already the castle is beginning to feel the weight of it.  But the servants look back and smile and remember the joy that they all felt when the queen was there to celebrate Christmas with them.

The Songs of Other Lives - my first poem on this blog!  It’s part of theSestina Challenge I issued a few days back.  Feel free to participate, so long as you tag me so I can see your awesome poems!  This one’s about the staff.

Music-based Prompts

The Midnight Waltz - On the eve of the summer solstice, the queen gathers her friends and family together to dance the night away.  But the celebration is not contained in the ballroom; the entire castle is affected by the music and the spirit.  Based on the David Garrett piece by the same name.  

Memories - Agathe isn’t as heartless as some may think, but her curse brings a purpose with it.  Based off of “The Impossible Planet” from the Doctor Who OST.

Grey - After the queen’s death, all of the happiness drains from the castle and its residents, especially the young prince.  Inspired by a piece from “The Killing” soundtrack.

Sunrise - It’s been a full day since the curse has been broken, but this is the first sunrise they’ve seen since being reunited with the ones they love.  Inspired by Leia’s Theme from Star Wars IV.

The Snow - On the night the curse was cast, the castle was changed. The village was changed.  We all seem to forget that the forest changed, too.  Based off of the Allegro from Vivaldi’s “Winter.”

Wooden - Cadenza has always played for Garderobe, his wife, his angel, his muse.  But this time, something’s off.  How…long has it been since he’s actually seen her?  Based off of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.

Garderenza

Never Let Go - my first real oneshot; a retelling of the fading scene as well as the relief afterwards, but all from Cadenza’s perspective.

The Rehearsal - Just a small thing; Garderobe and Cadenza practice for their first performance after the curse has been lifted.

Duet - Belle finds out about Cadenza and Garderobe’s marriage.

Can we talk about Cadenza’s love for Garderobe? - No, seriously.  Can we?

And Always Will - inspired by a post @lumiereswig wrote.  It’s been two hours since everyone’s woken up the morning after the curse has been cast.  So what’s on my mind for something like that? Angsty Garderenza.

Find Her Here - Garderobe and Cadenza discover an old castle secret.

Plumiere

Lumiette Thoughts - Lumiere just staring at Plumette because he can hardly believe he’s married to her now.

Golden Hour - very first real Plumiere oneshot.  They’re dancing in a garden.  What more can I say?

Run - Lumiere is sick with a illness that reminds Plumette a little too much of the plague.  As well as the death it brings in its wake.

OMG I wrote 37 fics for this movie.  I can’t even believe myself right now.