#Not At All shsksj

[selfcarecap]

Nooooo they’re amazing

🥺🥺 thank youuu🫶🏼🫶🏼 i might just private some first instead of deleting them and then if people tell me they miss those fics i can just make them public again but I’ll see!!

[quietrobots]

cw: negativity:[ (a useless vent that is just Lu being a negative nancy about people having fun HEJDJ)

The whole point of the movie is that it flips stereotypes on their head so when people drop some of Flint’s core traits and turn him into the “innocent nerd boy, doesn’t curse, doesn’t do anything vulgar, doesn’t know anything other than book smarts, guy” character type it makes me so mad. Yes some of those things apply to some degree, but he is a Grown Man. The second movie’s characterization of him falls into this category a lot of the time which is why a lot of us don’t like it. But you’d be surprised about how many of the people who characterize Flint this way also don’t like how he’s written in the second film.

This is all just me venting and getting overly serious about a animated film. Don’t take this seriously PLEASE SHSKSJ

[fangirltothefullest]

Hi so I remember some time ago you posted some art about Virgil whose being used to open portals to an oil dimension for greedy businessmen and shsksj I've been turning that in my head FOREVER. Is there anything else you can tell us about the au? ;w;)b

Oooh you're referring to the Superhero AU! Probably the same au with birdbrained!Roman and his wings! (Roman doe that thing when he's sleepy where you can hold up a blanket and play peekaboo but if you dodge out of the way he panics because WHERE DID YOU GO???!)

That au is something I've thought about a lot because like all Superhero aus it has potential to have just so many fun dramatic things! If I remember right, in this particular version of the Superhero au (originally dual created between myself and @teacupfulofstarshine ) i had Logan being used as a villain

The telepathic and mind controlling duo the Puppeteers found out that their son Logan was the auperhero Technologic (he had no idea about them) and they decided to control him to build a portal machine that could contain another hero and use his powers. Logan then was made to set a trap to catch him.

They wanted to use Void's (Virgil's) teleportation abilities to open the portal to a dimension full of oil to get filthy rich and they had him trapped in the machine to force open the portal because every good Superhero season finale needs a two parter with corrupted allies. (Looking at you 2000s something static shock justice league crossover with brainiac 5 my beloved)

ANYWAYS, Roman (Kingfisher, flight, wings and can use feathers as daggers), Patton (Tempest, godlike weather powers) Janus (Scaleshift, animal shapeshift powers) and Remus (Armory, can summon any handheld medeival weapon out of thin air) has to save both Virgil from the machine and Logan from the control of his parents.

[widxgastss]

Neytiri trying to fix spider's hair

Spider: Ma your messing with my braids(think Simba from lion king)

Neytiri: Not till all the twigs are out of your hair.

Headcanon that spider's hair takes more work cause he's human. Since he's shorter than all his siblings he gets more messy.

I LOVE THIS!! i love the idea that jake and neytiri sit and do their kids hair and esp neytiri with spider because their relationship is so nonexistent in canon i just have to project onto my writing shsksj

she ‘makes’ him sit down so she can do it and i put that in quotation marks because he actually loves it and they chat while she fixes it for him.

jake does tuk’s a lot because she’s a wriggler and he entertains her with silly stories while also holding her still

neteyam likes to do his own because he wants to be seen as capable and grown up but sometimes neytiri can get him to sit down and then he like melts into it and ends up staying there for ages

actually neytiri does most of the kids hair and jake is there for moral support while fighting for his life trying to do tuk’s lmao

[eresia-catara]

Do you have a favorite canto? This can apply to any part of The Divine Comedy

Keeping in mind that I still need to finish Paradiso, and that the parts that I have read need to be refreshed a bit, I have two canti that have always struck me and they're Inferno XIII and Purgatorio II.

The first one because I love that the text resembles the ambience: the phrasing is all twisted like the trees and the words are as if sharp and pointed like the thorns of the surrounding vegetation. Then we also have the soul of Pier della Vigna whose monologue is simply hhhhhhhhgnksh eatable. completely. Like his speech is so pretty so elaborate but also so violent and passionate, his first words are Perché mi schiante? Perché mi scerpi? while he is bleeding like that is such a killer way to start and MY. GOD. HE'S THE ONE WHO HELD AMBO LE CHIAVI DEL COR DI FEDERIGO E CHE LE VOLSI SERRANDO E DISSERANDO SÌ SOAVI CHE DAL SECRETO SUO QUASI OGN'UOM TOLSI LIKE SAINT PETER WITH THE KEYS OF PARADISE BUT BECAUSE OF HIS VERY LOYALTY HE KILLED HIMSELF AND DAMNED HIS SOUL TO LIVE IN DEATH SHSKSJ this canto was not responsible for my first unprompted essay that I gave to my literature professor and that was very appreciated making me realize I love working with texts for no reason. I am so normal about this canto.

Then Purgatorio II is also a very normal canto because Dante has finally reached a dimention in which he is not constantly frightened and anguished. He's in purgatory that looks like Earth except everything is soaked in hope. The souls are not clean yet, they still need to suffer, but they are all content and hopeful because they know what awaits them. And here. he meets. CASELLA. His musician and friend!! And my god OHI OMBRE VANE FUOR CHE NELL'ASPETTO!! Dante tries to wrap his arms around him three times but three times they end up on his own chest because he cannot!! touch him!!! AND CASELLA SAYS COSÌ COM'IO T'AMAI NEL MORTAL CORPO COSÌ T'AMO SCIOLTA. LIKE. DO YOU HEAR HOW LIGHT THAT SENTENCE IS?? HOW SOFT IT IS AND HOW IT ALMOST FEELS LIKE YOU ARE SIGHING?? And not only that but Casella still loves him and still wants to please him so he starts strumming and singing one of Dante's poems and Dante is reminded of the way he would always alleviate his torments when he was alive exactly by playing music!!! I MEANJSHFJSKS DANTE 😭😭😭 and then Cato comes in ushering everyone up saying they Cannot be idle and lazy they need to Hurry!! because Time is the central element in Purgatorio, just like Earth, and these are souls that are still unclean they need to earn paradise they need to Hurry!! be Quick!!

BUT there are some honourable mentions that are very dear to me and those are:

Inferno X, with the dialogue between Cavalcante and Dante which makes me spiral in a way all of its own

Purgatorio IX, the first two triplets are so lyrical and beautiful I could cry just by reading them like he describes that feeling of nostalgia so well jskjddhsk

Purgatorio XXVI, "così per entro loro schiera bruna/ s’ammusa l’una con l’altra formica,/ forse a spïar lor via e lor fortuna." has made it impossible for me to be normal about ants ever again. Also Arnaut Daniel speaking in langue d'oc??? hell yeah.

Purgatorio XXX, MATELDA!!!!

I feel bad not mentioning Paradiso but I really need to (re)read it, however I do remember that I looooved the language :')

[bestanimatedmovie]

As a fan of the book Watership Down, it really bothers me that whenever the story is brought up, all people are willing to discuss about it is how the movie scared them as a child. Like, I'm sorry that happened, but why can't we as adults discuss the story for what it actually is instead of drowning it out with "omg it scared me as a kid therefore it's horrible"? It's like when parent groups want to censor adult comedy cartoons because their kid watched it and started repeating the cuss words/inappropriate jokes. It's not the show/movie's fault that it was shown to an audience it wasn't meant for in the first place. The audience it is meant for, i.e. adults, should be able to discuss it without being drowned out. Does that make sense?

It does make sense, although I personally have heard a lot of praise for both the movie and the book. I also wouldn't say its audience is only adults, I'd say more 10 and up, because as @thatonefan02 pointed out, fiction is a wonderful tool to explore themes in a safer way that will help us deal with the complexities of reality.

I mentioned before I got traumatized by Land before time. That was because before that I had never considered losing my mom a possibility. But moms die. That's a thing that happens in real life.

And also, we like to complain, shsksjs. I'm sure more than half of the people who complain about being traumatized by x or y movie actually like it, and anyway Watership Down won the poll jaksksjs. Let's see if it can win against Chicken Run 💪

[httpiastri]

Hello love!

It's been a little while, so first of all-Happy belated birthday! I saw the messages on the day and wanted to write a little something, but then I got so busy 🙈 so I wish you all the best, for all of your wishes to be fulfilled and a great year overall!

I really like the new layout, it seems so calm 🩵

I feel like my life has been so busy lately, I barely had time to catch my breath. But for now, I am incredibly happy to be here and getting to know me again in a completely different environment. My host family is so lovely and last weekend I met some nice au pairs that live really close to me, so now I am not even alone anymore haha!

Being here also means that I am kinda always out and about, so I only watched fp3 yesterday and the start of the f2 race today. It's a shame it got cancelled so soon :( but safety first of course!

I won't be able to watch the F1 race tomorrow, but I am still hoping for some Lando magic. I really want him to win the race, but I also want to be there and watch it live? But it will be Max's win anyways lol!

In the last ask you said you were planning dropping out of uni- I am sorry to hear that, even though its probably for the best if you don't like the subjects. I don't know how people react in your country with news like that, but just remember that it's most important to be happy with what you do! (Who knows? Maybe you want to do a year abroad somewhere as well?)

I will probably catch up on all the writing you uploaded in the last couple of days and go to bed then- I am exhausted 😴

-✨

love! hello!! thank you so much, i hope you get a lovely year too 💘 and thank you! my old theme was so random shssjhs i do enjoy this a bit more !!

aw it makes me so glad to hear that you are happy and that the people around you are good to you. and i love the positive mindset! it must be really challenging but you’re doing so well 🥹 and oooo you met some people!! that’s lovely !!! are they from a lot of different countries or is it all kind of similar? if you get what i mean shsksjs

yeah it must be hard to keep track of all racing when you’re so busy… i was disappointed about them cancelling f2 but i do think it was a good choice, it didn’t seem very safe. it just sucks that they can’t like postpone sessions instead of cancel them :( like i get that it’s because of the schedule on the track but it still sucks! for everyone probably

!! crossing my fingers for lando tomorrow !!!! hoping for maybe a little rain (but not so much that it’s dangerous) for tomorrow’s f2 feature so arthur can get some easy climbing…. pls he deserves some points 🙏🙏🙏

hmm well in my country i guess it’s kinda like… not super weird to not go to uni? or at least it’s common to take a few years off to work and stuff after high school. the good thing about sweden is that school doesn’t cost anything so i have no debts and won’t lose any money for dropping out, which i guess is a big problem for people dropping out in other countries. we even get paid to go to school here, and tbh i was gonna use that money to pay for rent but that’s not happening now…. so well 🫠 but yes thank you, i will try to remember that!! <3

to be honest, i’ve thought a lot about moving to another major city or even going abroad, because recently i feel like this place isn’t for me in some way. i applied (and got accepted) to a school in the second biggest city, but i have too many responsibilities here this year that i just can’t escape from so it just wouldn’t work out 🥲 but i really do think that moving abroad is going to be the goal for me for the future! idk how but im gonna try to make it happen lmao!! i shall take inspiration from your braveness 🥰🤭

awh, i hope you get some good sleep and dream sweet dreams of our boys!! 😚😚😚

[fangirlwriting-stories]

Hello darling ❤️ gosh I can't even pick one but like, god— PROTECTOR. I actually wanted to wait for it to be posted in full before reading it all at once but like, I know how much you love the relationships between the characters in the fic and how messy and nuanced and just shsksjs they are. (the brotherly dukexiety in particular is 🥺✨👌🏽👏🏽😭). So can you talk a bit more about that? Like, the relationships between each character etc? I would love to hear you ramble about the Bois 💜💚

God, the relationships. The relationships in this fic are my favorite part and also the bane of my fucking existence. They are the entire reason this fic is 111,000 words and not like, 45,000. Well, that and the fact that Virgil and Janus flat out refused to talk about anything, and then they refused to talk about everything at the same time, and then by the time they finally got to the point I needed them to in order to move the plot forward it was goddamn chapter 18.

But mostly it was Virgil’s fault. Virgil was supposed to be angry at the core sides and stay angry at the core sides, but no, he had to start caring about them, which overrode just enough of his anger to make everything way more complicated, the little shit. Virgil’s relationship with Remus was actually the easy one, he was always supposed to care about Remus to the point of causing problems for everyone else. What he wasn’t supposed to do was start caring about Remus’ stupid asshole princey brother, or the softie Patton, or the robot Logan, or the actual asshole that abandoned them in the first place. Virgil you’re supposed to be a prick, why do you have to secretly be such a softie?

Anyway, yeah, specifics. Writing Patton and Virgil was fun because I got to make a ton of bonding and tender moments and symbolism out of things like Patton showing Virgil how to cook or do the laundry. They’re the entire reason I love writing realistic fiction, I get to shove so much character into those moments. It’s not about the laundry guys, it’s about they love each other!

Logan and Virgil was supposed to be how Virgil learned a couple coping skills without Logan realizing that’s what was happening, but then Virgil accidentally stumbled into a friendship that worked really well for both of them. Virgil being surprised that he cared so much about his time sitting with Logan was a bit of a surprise to me too. Honestly so much of this story was Virgil telling me through the writing “my feelings about this have changed” and me going “seriously? Okay I guess we’re doing this now, great”

Roman and Virgil were probably the most similar to how they are in canon, in that they fought quite a bit until something forced a perspective change, the only difference being the perspective change was caused by Janus. I do remember when I sent you (Mishii) the “Why do you have to be so much like our brother” line and we both just started screaming “OUR BROTHER” back and forth xD

Virgil and Janus, as I said, were this story’s biggest stallers. They didn’t want to talk. They didn’t want to do it they didn’t want to talk and no matter how many times I got at their feet and begged them they just wouldn’t do it they’re so goddamn stubborn I can’t take it—

Anyway they have the most complicated relationship throughout the story, for obvious reasons. Virgil’s dealing with the very difficult situation of realizing that someone who was shitty family to you is very good family to other people, and it’s naturally gonna cause some confusing and complicated feelings. These two still have a bit to go for the rest of the story, but the place they end is both inevitable and fucking exhausting for me, the author.

Virgil and Thomas were about how they were in canon, just in a different order. Thomas is kind and understanding at first because that’s who he is, and learns things about Virgil he later thinks are lies but are actually true. So his feelings fluctuate a lot, while Virgil’s stay positive throughout, whether it’s complicated love, uncomplicated love, complicated love again, and ending on uncomplicated love. Thomas is always his Thomas, it’s just his behavior that’s changing.

And Virgil and Remus, despite being the story’s most important relationship, are also the least complicated one. They’re just ride or die brothers and best friends who have each others back, and I love them for it. Guys, thank you for staying consistent for me and just agreeing that you love each other, you made my job slightly more easy than it would have been.

Anyway. Wow this got long. Fuck characters having free will. It makes the story better but it is fucking annoying for me.

[sunshine-carlyle]

Some Barlyle Headcanons

bc i’m sick and bored

Phineas can’t stand the rain. Seriously, he abhors it. It reminds him of nights in the streets, cold and shaking and wet as he tried to sleep. The sound of it on the windows of their bedroom is enough to make him curl into a ball and move closer to Phillip—not that either of them mind. The rain is loud and overwhelming and doesn’t help how busy Phineas’ head already is—on another note, it means he can’t go outside so easily—so Phillip reads a book out loud and plays with the other man’s hair as they wait it out together.

Phillip is an incredibly skilled musician. At first, Phineas thought his talents ended with singing, maybe playing a couple of chords on a piano. In fact, it’s not until their anniversary, when Phillip hires a string quartet to play a piece Phineas has never heard before, that he realises. Once the other musicians have left, he asks eagerly what the music was, chattering about its beauty and his newfound adoration for romantic music until Phillip, turning red, admits it was his own composition. Phineas has never kissed him as tenderly as after his confession, and he implores him to play the violin sometime, just for him. Naturally, Phillip agrees.

When he’s stressed out, Phineas almost never leaves his hair alone, pulling at it and twisting it non-stop. Phillip begins to recognise when his partner is anxious about something from the bouncing in his knee and the hand constantly running through hair messier than usual; he always gives Phin a kiss on the forehead and makes sure he doesn’t get too caught up in his head, even if he can’t resolve whatever’s going on.

Someone (if you know who, please remind me so I can tag them!) talked about this on the Discord server and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it Phillip is, and always has been, incredibly precise about his hair—it was one of the few things he could control when living with his parents. It gets to the point where a single strand being out of place causes him to feel out of place and, if it’s been a bad day, panic. After months of Phineas insisting he’s equally, if not more handsome with slightly messier hair, he slowly grows more comfortable with not styling it to the same degree in the house. Still, though, he has days where he wakes up and the only thing that seems to help the anxious constriction around his chest is styling his hair until every single strand is perfect; if waking up to the smell of hair product is the reason Phineas holds Phillip’s hand and makes copious volumes of tea, well—he’d never admit it.

Phillip loves learning languages and, whenever he starts a new one, Phineas makes an effort to learn to say “I love you” in it. Eventually, he begins leaving Phillip little notes around the apartment with simple phrases like “Have a good day!”—if Phillip takes them and keeps them all in a box somewhere safe, Phineas need never know. One morning, he mentions to Phineas in passing that his favourite language is French. After this, Phineas spends weeks and weeks writing, correcting and learning off by heart a page of French in secret, until he thinks he’s ready. There’s nothing grandiose or spectacular—really, nothing that would be expected of him; instead, they’re just walking through the woods side-by-side when Phineas drops onto one knee in front of Phillip. Before the other man can process the situation, Phineas starts reciting his speech. Badly. Voice shaking, he just about manages to get through the whole thing before Phillip near-yells “Sí!”. Before Phineas can react, he’s slapping his hand over his mouth and exclaiming “Ja— Ie— Yes! Fuck!”. Phineas starts laughing because goddamnit, he loves the man nodding frantically before him more than any language could express. “Even German,” he adds, winking as Phillip all but tackles him into a hug. They’re laughing and smiling and Phineas is beginning to think he’s going to suffocate if Phillip doesn’t let go soon, but he doesn’t care. Instead, he kisses his Phillip, slow and tender and as perfect as him.

Number 5 was written with the help of @silverlynxx, @nerdy-snowflake and Aulyk on the TOS discord!! <3<3<3

[yutadori]

oh i totally forget that jjk is gory/horror-y like im not into that usually but for some reason i can watch/read jjk and be mostly fine??

[selfcarecap]

TAKE ME TO THE SNOW WITH U 😭 it's raining a lot here rn and that's about it. and then some sun so skskkskssk (i feel like i'm going to become one of those dogs who sees snow for the first time and just run around like a maniac lmao)

Agaksha come with meeee and we’ll build a snowman together or something 🥰 (haven’t built a snowman in years actually omg)(the snow has stopped for a few days so there won’t be enough for a snowman but shsks😭) and we’ll go to a christmas market and you can try glühwein (like mulled wine kinda but the kids version without alcohol is better) and we’ll walk through the snow and it’ll fall on our hair all cute (which is annoying when you get home but in the moment i think it looks cute shsjs)🥰💖 lmao and i’ll take a video of you seeing snow for the first time shsksj you’ll be just as cute as them😌 and i’ll join you lolll

[mujiniz]

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Stubborn

Prompts: hey I really like your writing, and I have a prompt if you're looking for one. I adore the scene in I'm Okay (Sure) where Janus forces Logan to admit he's lying, and I would love to see more of Janus getting through to the more stubborn sides in a similar way. I feel like only Janus would be perceptive enough/willing to pick one of them apart like that and I like it a lot! so maybe one of the sides is having a Bad Time and refuses to admit it/hides it, and everyone can kind of tell that something is going on but they don't know what to do because nothing they try is working, and maybe nothing is wrong in the first place? so Janus gets them to reveal exactly what's up and how bad it's gotten and then the side in question asks for help. I don't mind who it is, but this probably would work best for a more stubborn character. I hope you have a great day :D - anon

it's been raining all day here and I am very sleepy, so I come with a simple request 

could we have some sleepy dlampr cuddles? I don't have anything too specific, I just want them all being soft and fluffy and caring for each other and maybe getting some cookies ... now I want cookies anyway, that's it buh-byee - anon

Hello *hello* I have an thought(tm). I would love to see your take on a drlamp fic where the others are just smitten over their emo. Just head over heels. Janus and Patton bonds over how much Virgil smiling and cooing over kittens gave them heart palpitations. Logan getting starry eyed when Virgil makes tea just how he likes it and thinks he's the luckiest man on earth. Roman and Remus compete over who gets to slow dance with Virgil or who gets to woo him shsksjs. Just— a fic where all of them love Their Emo, yanno? - anon

Read on Ao3

Warnings: spirals, anxiety attacks, panic attacks

Pairings: DLAMPR

Word Count: 4813

This is fine. This is fine. Everything is so fine that it’s hard to imagine it could be more fine. No, seriously, everything is so fine and so good right now in the way that it’s happening. This is great. It’s hard to imagine life could be better than this. This is fine. It’s fine. It’s so totally fine. 

…okay, maybe it’s not fine. 

Or, Virgil's having a bad day. The others try and make it better. Now, if only Virgil will let them.

This is fine. This is fine. Everything is so fine that it’s hard to imagine it could be more fine. No, seriously, everything is so fine and so good right now in the way that it’s happening. This is great. It’s hard to imagine life could be better than this. This is fine. It’s fine. It’s so totally fine. 

…okay, maybe it’s not fine. 

Virgil grits his teeth and shoves his hands deeper into the pockets of his hoodie, making the seams whine in protest as he strains against the fabric. Should he be more careful with it? Maybe, but it’s not like he can’t just…fix it if he breaks it. He’s done that before, right? It’ll be okay. It’s not like he’s got some incredibly priceless thing on that someone gifted him or that he spent an exorbitant amount of money on so it’ll feel important. 

It’s just a hoodie. 

Muttering to himself isn’t helping, so he takes one of the strings and chews on it. That’s better. Something to chew on that isn’t his lip and probably won’t fuck up his teeth as badly as gum. Which is rude. Gum shouldn’t fuck up your teeth. It’s designed to be chewed. Why design something to be chewed if it’s just going to fuck up your teeth?

Why make something if all it’s going to do is fuck up?

“Oh my god, I fucking hate this.”

Okay, it’s not like he’s not used to Anxiety spirals. He is Anxiety, that’s his fucking job, to get worried about things and be worried about things and sometimes it’s right and he’s correct and Thomas is better off not doing something—or doing something—and it’s okay for like, two seconds before he starts worrying about the next thing. 

But this one…even he knows that this one is really fucking stupid. 

So here’s the thing: Thomas has been really on this self-love kick recently. And while yeah, that’s great for him and, uh, honestly probably a lot healthier than a lot of the shit he’s been doing before that, it has the side effect of, um…

Look, let’s just say everyone’s been a great deal sappier recently, okay?

And while that’s fine when it means he gets to snicker in the corner as Patton melts into a great big fuzzball or Janus hisses ‘cause he’s too flustered, it’s not great when it feeds into these goddamn Anxiety spirals that make him want to do bad things. 

Because he said it earlier: self-love kick. Thomas didn’t magically wake up and decide to love himself, he’s got to work for it. He has to get up and make that choice every goddamn day and that’s fucking hard. It’s hard to put in that much effort to do something new, especially when it’s something really new—and that’s kinda sad on it’t own, but we’re not going to talk about that right now—and at some point, something is going to give. 

…doesn’t help that the Anxiety is really fucking convinced that he’s the thing that’s going to give. 

Because his job is to doubt! To whisper all the bad things that could happen in Thomas’s ear and guess what? He’s gotten pretty fucking good at it over the years and that’s not good for Thomas. 

Yeah, yeah, there was that whole thing about accepting Anxiety and realizing that yeah, there are healthy ways to have stress and all that jazz, but this? This kind of spiraling? 

Unhealthy. 

Virgil bites down so hard he breaks the aglet on the end of the lace. 

Is…maybe he’s just unhealthy. 

Maybe that’s it. Maybe while all the others are being all sappy with each other, he should just stay on the couch and watch. Watch them getting all touchy-feely with each other—which is fine, he’s not big on the whole sap-fest anyway—and just stay away from it before he ruins it. 

He won’t, like, duck out or anything, they all know how badly that went anyway, but he’ll just…not. 

He’s probably not included in the whole…love every part of yourself thing anyway. 

“Holy fucking shit, Janus, don’t fucking do that.”

Janus chuckles as Virgil recovers from the jumpscare of his goddamn existence, hand still clutching the hoodie material over his chest and scrubbing a hand over his face. 

“What in the fuck do you want?”

“I’ve not heard you swear so much in ages, Virgil.”

“Yeah, well, whose goddamn fault is that?”

“I hardly think Patton is one for cultivating the use of swear words.” He tilts his head. “Unless you intend to…balance out the Mindscape now that you and Remus no longer share a hallway?”

“I don’t—wait, what the fuck does that have to do with—you know what, never mind. Why don’t you just explain why you came in without knocking and scared the shit out of me?”

“I was summoned.”

That draws Virgil up short. “What? No, you weren’t.”

Janus hisses quietly. 

“Wait, that’s not a lie, I didn’t summon you—“

Another hiss.

“—will you knock that off? I did not decide to summon you!”

“Now that is true,” Janus says, raising a hand to tug the lace from Virgil’s mouth, “I will accept that you did not knowingly summon me.”

Virgil pinches the bridge of his nose. “If I ask very politely, will you turn off the cryptic and condescending bastard part of you until this conversation is over?”

“Perhaps.”

“That’s a ‘no.’”

“It’s a ‘perhaps.’” Janus’s mouth curves up in a smirk. “Depends on how nicely you ask.”

“Janus Sanders, O Powerful Lord of Lies, will you please resist the temptation to be patronizing and condescending for the remainder of this conversation?”

“Ooh, he is capable of being polite.” He tilts his head thoughtfully. “But you didn’t say ‘please.’”

“Really?”

“Getting less inclined to agree…”

“Fine, please?”

“Aw, there it is.” Janus chuckles when Virgil’s glare turns on him. “Oh, alright. You should try it sometime, though, it really is quite fun.”

“Uh-huh. Yeah, sure. I’ll keep that in mind.” He crosses his arms. “Now, can you tell me why you’re here?”

“I told you. You summoned me.”

“And seeing how I have no idea why you’re here, can you tell me what summoned you?”

“You were lying.”

Virgil throws his hands up. “Did or did you not just agree to not be a cryptic bastard?”

“The exact words of your question were, and I quote: ���will you please resist the temptation to be patronizing and condescending,’” Janus says in a way that somehow sounds both patronizing and condescending, “nothing in there about cryptic.”

Anger bubbles up into the back of his throat and he growls. “Get out.”

“No can do, I’m afraid.”

“Why the fuck not? Did you forget how to use doors in all your efforts to be an absolute bastard?”

“I’d just be summoned right back,” he points out as if he’s bored, examining the fingers of his glove, “what would be the point?”

“Just be—you haven’t even fucking told me why you got summoned in the first place, don’t you think that would be a little more helpful than whatever the fuck—“ he gestures to Janus’s whole…thing— “this is?”

“Because god forbid I ever be anything other than helpful.”

“What in the fuck does that even mean?”

“I don’t know, Virgil,” he says in that stupid lilting voice that makes Virgil want to throw a chair at his face, “whatever could that mean?”

“I don’t have time to play your stupid games, Janus.”

“Oh, but you have time to walk around in a little circle in your room?”

“You know what? Yeah. Yeah, I fucking do, okay? I got time to do that ‘cause it’s my job to freak out and I was freaking out just fine before you got here.”

“My, my,” Janus says, covering his mouth with one hand, “whatever could you have been freaking out over? It isn’t like this is the best mental health Thomas has had in a while or anything, nor the fact that oh, apparently this is the first time everyone’s gotten along in, what, over a decade?”

“Yeah, and how fucking long do you think that’s gonna last, huh?” Virgil steps forward, shoving his face into Janus’s space. “You think that we’re all just gonna be one big happy family from now until Thomas fucking dies? You think it’s just gonna work? Because it isn’t!”

Janus doesn’t say anything. 

“It isn’t just going to work. Sooner or later something is going to happen and someone is going to disagree with someone else and we’re all gonna be right back to hating each other and fighting. That’s how it goes, that’s how it always goes.” He tangles a hand in his hair. “And then the twins are gonna separate again and it’ll be like we can’t even spend time with one without the other thinking that we’re taking their side—then Logan’s gonna get all aloof and detached again ‘cause shit’s too hard for him—and you’re gonna pull a great fucking disappearing act again and it’s gonna be my fault.”

“Your fault?”

Virgil throws his head back as a humorless laugh escapes. “Who do you think is gonna be the bearer of bad news when shit hits the fan again? Me! I’m the one who says when shit’s wrong, I’m the one who brings attention to all the fucking problems we have.”

He looks down at his hands. They’re shaking. 

The anger rushes out of him, almost staggering him as he’s overcome with something that just hurts. 

“I’m gonna fuck this up for everyone,” he mumbles, still looking at his hands, “I…that’s what I do.”

The room is quiet. A clock ticks. Somewhere down the corridor there are footfalls on the stairs. 

A blob of yellow interrupts Virgil’s view of his hands. Something soft takes them and guides them up, looping them around Janus’s neck as his hand raises his head, staring at a face that isn’t patronizing or condescending in the least. 

“Hi, sweetie,” Janus murmurs, all trace of antagonist gone from his voice as Virgil closes his eyes and buries his face in his chest. “I really fucking hate when you do that.”

“I know, sweetie, I know.” And he does sound genuinely remorseful, which makes it worse. “But it’s the only way I get can you out of there sometimes.”

Which is true, but he doesn’t have to say it.

Another hand—he’s a fucking snake, why does he get six arms—lifts his chin up. His wobbly chin because apparently, he’s crying now. Janus lets out a soft noise and kisses his cheek, stroking a hand through his hair as he pulls him close for a cuddle. 

“I’m sorry for riling you up so much,” comes the gentle apology as he’s tucked almost inside the cape, “but you were hurting yourself, sweetie.”

“I know.” He sniffles. “But ’s my job.”

A soft hiss in his ear. “Don’t you ever believe that hurting yourself is necessary for you to be wanted or to be useful.”

“But—“

“No buts.” Janus pulls back to take his chin and stare at him. “You are not worth more in pain. Do you understand?”

It’s phrased like a question, it’s not one. Virgil nods and Janus nods back, tucking his head over his shoulder. He closes his eyes and just gives in, sagging into Janus, knowing he can take his weight, letting tears fall onto black fabric as gloves run up and down his back. 

“I’ve got you, sweetie,” he soothes, pressing another kiss to his shoulder, “I’ve got you. I’m right here. Just hold onto me.”

It is nice, he begrudgingly admits, to spiral—or come out of a spiral—while he’s being hugged. Every time he almost slips back under—or does slip back under—he can just tighten his grip and Janus responds immediately. He’ll squeeze him back, or he’ll hum and his chest will vibrate, or he’ll kiss the part of Virgil’s head he can reach and murmur something soothing. 

Of course, the downside of this being really nice is that oh my god he does not want to leave. 

But eventually, his body makes it known that uh, hey, they actually do have other needs that have to be attended to and he slumps, snuffling awkwardly into Janus’s shoulder. 

“You get enough of it out?” Janus just catches him easily, because of course he does. “That was a lot, sweetie.”

“…mhm.”

“How long have you been feeling like this?”

“Since the start.”

“Oh, sweetie, why didn’t you tell any of us?”

The silence is telling and Janus sighs—a bit too fond to be just disappointed, and gives him an extra squeeze. 

“Well, I think I have a solution to this.”

“Mm?”

Janus pulls back a little, cupping Virgil’s cheeks and kissing his forehead. “Go wash your face, sweetie, then come back.”

“…you won’t leave?”

“Well, that’s quite the change in tune. No, no—come back, sweetie, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that, shh, shh,” he says when Virgil almost flinches back, “I’m sorry, that was horrible timing, I didn’t mean it. Of course I’ll stay.”

“Don’t do that, J.”

“I know, I know, sweetie, I’m sorry.” Another kiss, an apology. “Leave the door open, I’ll stay in view the whole time.”

Reluctantly, Virgil pulls away from the warm embrace to go to the bathroom, shoving up his sleeves and turning on the cold water. Thank god he didn’t put on too much makeup this morning, it’s probably all rubbed off anyway—he needs to go bug Princey about proper setting stuff. He splashes his face a few times until it just looks like he’s been outside in the cold for a hot second—heh—and not crying his eyes out for…half an hour. 

God, it was half an hour?

“Sweetie?”

“’M coming.”

Janus holds out a hand as he walks back, letting him decide how much contact he’s comfortable with. Virgil takes it and just keeps walking, planting his face in the crook of Janus’s neck. 

“Well,” he chuckles, “I suppose that answers my question about how comfortable you are with being touched, hmm?”

Virgil just hums, squeezing Janus’s hand lightly. 

“What about the others,” Janus asks gently, “can we go see them?”

“…what if they’re mad?”

“Mad? Why would they be mad?”

“Because I’m fucking everything up.”

“You’re not fucking anything up, sweetie.” When Virgil still doesn’t sound convinced, Janus wraps an arm gently around his waist. “Can I prove you wrong?”

“Sure.”

“Hang on,” comes the warning before they’re sinking out. 

They emerge in the living room—on the couch, thank you Janus—and Virgil quickly curls up tighter. Yeah, he’ll take the knock to his dignity if it means the others won’t spot his slightly-less-obvious-but-still-very-obvious tear-stained face. 

“Oh, Janus, you’re back! How is he, is he…” Patton’s voice trails off and then starts up again in that super-soft concerned one and Virgil is doomed. “Baby?”

Oh, god. Oh, god, not the Patton pet names. He’s gonna die. 

“Baby, what’s wrong?” Soft hands on the back of his head, carding through his hair and encouraging him to look up at a concerned face. “Are you okay? What’s happening, are you…have you been crying?”

A stupid question, as it turns out, because he starts crying again. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to do that.” Patton reaches out. “Can I hold you?”

Screw it. 

“Thank you, sweetheart, c’mere.” Patton scoops him up out of his little curled ball and into another cuddle—and did he just finish pulling something out of the oven? He’s so warm. “Hey, shh-shh-shh. It’s okay. It’s all gonna be okay, sweetheart. You’re okay.”

Okay, it’s not so much crying as it is tears rolling down his face, which is preferable. He can handle that. “…hi, Pop Star.”

“Hi, baby.” Patton’s fingers curl in the hair at the nape of his neck. “Can I ask Janus what’s going on?”

“Sure.”

“Spiral,” Janus explains softly, “anxiety over how long this getting-along period is going to last. Also…”

And Janus’s hand is rubbing soothing circles between his shoulder blades, excellent. 

“…he thinks when it all falls apart again, it’s going to be his fault.”

The noise of shock and sympathy Patton makes fucking hurts. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry you got caught in that. I can’t imagine how awful that must’ve been.”

“Sucked, yeah.”

“Did Janus tell you it’s not true? That you won’t be at fault if we all have a disagreement again?”

“Told me, yeah.”

“But I bet you don’t believe it yet, huh?” Virgil shakes his head and Patton hums. “Well, there’s a way we can fix that.”

“How?”

“Well, we gotta show you how much we care about you!”

“…how is that gonna help?”

“Well, if you believe we’re all capable of thinking the worst of you where we all just go right back to arguing when you say something’s wrong, then we gotta disprove that!”

Virgil blinks. That’s…surprisingly logical for Patton. 

“Yeah? You with me?”

“Mhm.”

“That’s my Virgil.” Patton cups his head and kisses his cheek. “Can I—look, I know you hate sappy things, but it’s about to get really sappy, okay? We’re like—tree levels of sap.”

Despite himself, Virgil feels his mouth turning up. “Okay.”

“Do you know what the first thing Janus and I bonded over was?”

“Oh, wait, hey,” Janus says, “that’s embarrassing.”

“We’re about to embarrass him, Janus, it’s only fair.”

“Oh, alright then.”

“Uh…I’m afraid to ask more here,” Virgil says, glancing between the two of them. 

“It is a little embarrassing,” Patton admits, “but…Virgil, do you know what you look like when you’re listening to music you really enjoy?”

“…no?”

“You’re adorable,” Patton says plainly, “like…really, really adorable.”

Ah. 

Well. 

Hm. 

“You get this soft little smile,” Janus says, “and you’ll bob your head or tap your hands and you just look so happy.”

“Like you’re happy with yourself,” Patton agrees, “and if you spot one of us then you smile at us and—oh my goodness, Virgil, it’s lovely.”

“You, uh, you really weren’t joking about the whole embarrassing me thing,” Virgil mumbles, “you—wait, you bonded over that?”

“Mhm.” Patton ruffles his hair. “We were trying to think of things that we could do to help Thomas feel a bit better after everything and it went to things that make us happy, and well…”

“M-me?”

“Yeah, sweetie,” Janus says, smiling softly at him, “you make us happy.”

And before he can even begin to process that, Logan comes down the stairs. 

“Ah, good. You did find him.”

“Wait, they what?”

“I was looking for you,” Logan says, “I wanted to talk with you about…”

And now it’s Logan’s turn to trail off as he gets closer and notices how damp Virgil’s cheeks are, and Virgil is once again taken aback by how quickly Logan goes fucking soft, setting down his notebook on the coffee table and leaning closer. 

He barely notices Patton getting up and going back to the kitchen as Logan takes his place, brows drawn in concern. 

“Are you alright?”

No, because now Logan is being all soft and sweet and worried and this is not fair. “Mhm. ‘M fine.”

Logan doesn’t even dignify that with a look to Janus—who just squeezes his side lightly—and reaches out to—to—

Well, okay, he could’ve just asked if he wanted Virgil to cry again, he didn’t have to reach out and gently tuck his hair back from his face and look at him like that. 

“What’s the matter, little one—“ or do that— “what’s troubling you?”

“Spiral,” Virgil blurts out, “fighting. Bad things. My fault.”

“You got into a spiral due to the fear of being the cause of an inevitable falling out?”

How does he do that?

“Have the others helped assuage your fears?” Logan drops his hand—thank god, because Virgil can not think while he’s doing that. He nods. “That’s good. Have we found things that help?”

“He doesn’t know how much we care about him,” says Janus, the traitor, “those help.”

“Ah.”

And see, Virgil expects something along the lines of what he’s said in the past. Problem-solving, solutions, helping them stay balanced, that sort of thing. He is not expecting Logan, of all Sides, to get domestic. 

“Did you know you’re the only Side who knows how to make tea the way I like it?”

“I’m—wait what?”

Logan nods, smiling. “You’re the only one, Virgil. And—“ he leans closer, voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper— “don’t tell Patton I said this, but it tastes better when you make it, too.”

“It—that doesn’t make sense,” Virgil protests weakly, “it’s just tea.”

“Mhm.” And no, it turns out, he can’t deal with Logan speaking that softly to him like that. “But it’s true.”

“Janus?” Patton calls from somewhere behind him. “Can you come and help?”

“Here,” Logan says, because apparently he’s not done with surprises and picks Virgil up like he weighs nothing, “I’ve got you.”

“Thank you.”

Virgil is spluttering still, thank you, very much, because what in the fuck is happening, as Logan sits back on the couch while holding him in his lap. “Uh?”

“Hello.”

“Hi.” He slowly relaxes when he realizes Logan’s just holding him. “Um…what’s—what’s going on?”

“Are you asking for a reality check of what’s currently happening in this moment, or for what I plan to do now that I’m holding you like this?”

“…the second one?”

“I am attempting to confirm that I am fond of you,” Logan says, still speaking in their gentle voice, “and I want to do that by offering you the physical comfort that you enjoy and telling you the ways I appreciate you.”

“Oh.”

“Is it working?”

“Mhm.”

Logan chuckles as he shrinks a little bit, curling into his neck. “Is this the good type of overwhelmed?’

“Mhm.”

“Would you like me to tell you more things I am fond of about you, or do you just want to cuddle?” Virgil reaches up and throws his arms around Logan’s neck, burying his face between his head and the couch. “I see. Let me know if you’d like to move.”

Logan is also really warm. Which is not fair. He’s not supposed to be cold, why is he cold? That’s Janus’s schtick. And he’s humming under his breath which is really nice and grounding but also why is Logan humming so goddamn endearing?

“Little one?”

Ah, yes, the pet names. Forgot about those. “Hmm?”

“Have you had a chance to see the twins yet?”

Something takes hold of his chest. “No, why?”

“Hush, little one, it’s nothing bad. Only that they were worried about you and I’d hate for them to—“

“Found him!”

“—over-react,” Logan sighs, adjusting his grip slightly to pull him out of the way as Remus  sinks directly onto the couch, “be careful.”

“But I win! I found him!”

“Wait, what?” Virgil peeks out warily, “Win what?”

“Whoever found you first gets cat-pile dibs!”

“Gets what?”

“You,” Roman announces, storming down the stairs covered in…something, “cheated.”

“Uh-huh. And it worked! You lost!”

“That’s beside the point!”

“Wait, wait, go back, what—win? What’s going on?”

“Boys,” Logan scolds and wow, okay, Logan clearly needs to speak up more often with how fast both of them stop fighting and pay attention, “explain yourselves.”

“Virgil likes deep pressure stims,” Remus says, “so cat pile!”

“We both wanted to find you,” Roman says softly, snapping his fingers to get the whatever-the-fuck-that-was off of him, “and it became a competition of who could find you first.”

“…why?”

Roman frowns. “Why what?”

“Why did you want to find me so bad?”

And see, now, this might be the moment he actually seals his fate, because the second Roman and Remus find out he’s been spiraling and crying, he’s going to be smothered in affection and die in the fluffiest way possible. 

And Remus, lovable pain in the ass that he is, can hear all the nasty little thought bastards still swirling around Virgil’s head. 

“Emo,” he says, and ah, fuck, Remus got soft, I’m doomed, “you okay?”

Janus sticks his head up before Virgil can stay anything and that’s apparently good enough. 

“You need a cat pile?” Remus snaps his fingers too and he’s in soft things now, holding out his arms. “That make you feel better?”

“Probably,” Virgil mumbles as Logan picks him up with his freaky strength and hands him off to Remus, “you won, right?”

“Yes, I did,” Remus says, sounding far too pleased as Roman murmurs to the others, “now, once Roro makes the mattress—“

“I’m on it, Re, be patient.”

“—you can come lie on top of me, okay?”

Virgil just nods as Remus ruffles his hair.

“You gotta let Roro sulk for a bit for losing,” he whispers as Roman not-so-subtly tosses a pillow at them, “then he’ll cuddle you too.”

“Cookies are done,” Patton says, “but they need to cool for about ten minutes.”

“Excellent.” Janus slithers into the bed and stretches out, sighing. “I need to sleep.”

“I think we could use a nap.” Logan lies down next as Patton snuggles in on the side. “Everyone have enough room?”

“One moment.”

Roman reaches out and draws back the curtain, filling the room with the soft golden glow of the setting sun. 

“Can you stop making us all aesthetic? ’S too good.”

“No can do, sorry.”

Remus just sighs and bundles Virgil into a cuddle on the mattress. Remus is big and soft and warm and Virgil isn’t too upset about dying like this. 

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Not really.”

“Okay. You wanna be distracted?”

“Can you just hold me?”

“Can do!”

Remus cuddles him for a while before he sighs dramatically and hands him off to Roman, who is watching them with his big puppy dog eyes. 

“Hello, Stormcloud,” he murmurs once he has his arms full of Virgil, “fancy seeing you here.”

Virgil snuffles into his shoulder as Roman nuzzles the top of his head. 

“I missed you,” he says and Roman needs to be less good at the whole tender-yearning-caring thing, “my little shadow-ling.”

“R-Roman…”

“Yeah? What’s up, Stormcloud?”

“R-Ro—“

“Hey, hey,” Roman’s cooing as soon as Virgil’s traitorous eyes well up again, “we’re all right here, shadow-ling, we’ve got you. Remus—“

“Got it.”

And now Remus is curling up behind him and they’re both so warm and Roman’s still talking in that voice and goddamnit.

“You be quiet in there,” Remus growls against the crown of his head, “leave our Emo alone.”

“We’ve got you, Virgil,” Roman promises, “always and forever.”

Yeah, this…this is fine. 

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[shysneeze]

Robin is a biter 😵‍💫 she can’t help it either it’s like a cute aggression thing where she cannot articulate how cute she thinks you are or how overwhelmed by how much she likes you so she’s constantly biting where ever she can get her teeth on. And if your shoulder is exposed? Forget it it’s going to get attacked. Hair is up? Your ear is getting bitten like a chew toy. Your legs are thrown over her lap? She’s ducking her head to bite the back of your knees.

pls i love this! it’s almost entirely subconscious, she’s already doing it before she realises she’s doing it shsksjs particularly like the idea of like doing the dishes and she come up behind you, rests her chin on ur shoulder and twists just slightly, teeth grazing your jaw for attention because she’s just stunned by the domestic bliss of it all 🥺

[distort-opia]

Windows on higher floors letting in harsh, scorching, bright light, the kind where you see every single pore on someone's face, and its burning Bruce's face( his fear of being seen, being judged). And he actually runs from it to the darker parts. And then in the cave it is not only dark but freezing cold, and he needs to find something warm, anything warm in there to survive, and he grabs something that gives him comfort and warmth and holds it... but when the lights flicker on he gets horrified because the object he grabbed should have never given him such a warm, secure feeling. His parents stuff rotting away and him trying to save it in panic, but when it all finally turns to dust he feels a bit of a relief too, more room to breathe so to speak, and that short lived peace when all of it is gone is and he is surrounded with mountains of dust is what cuts him like a knife. There could be rooms as a personification of a specific person from his life( Alfred, Jason, Selina, Joker) on different levels of ( un)conscious, and all the desires and fears they entail for him. Vines of subconsciousness crawling up against the walls in hallways like synapses, and grabbing him. Bruce cutting them to free himself but then the emotions and thoughts they hold would start leaking and surrounding him. Him being outside and hearing screaming from insise the house and trying to get to the door but it keeps moving away from him. Seeing dark twisted fantasies in the warped reflections in the mirrors around the house but only from his periphery vision and never when directly looking at them. And I keep thinking about Giovanni Piranesi's illustrations for the foyer. Sorry I got carried away shsksj 😅 I hope some talented writer would do it one day.

Oh my God... Amazing imagery, anon, I love everything about this. (Follow-up to this post and this other ask, which are also great.)

I had to look up Giovanni Piranesi, but wow, really cool art. Imagining the Manor doing something like this is so cool; twisting itself and rearranging itself, spawning staircases that lead to nowhere and creating pillars that withstand nothing:

With the outside looking like the mansion from Crimson Peak (2015). I'm even loving the idea that the Manor would be bleeding while under this curse that links it to Bruce's heart and mind...

God someone should write this for Halloween!! It's the perfect season for it. And no apologizing, thank you for the great ask, you're clearly talented (if you write it yourself you are legally obliged to drop it in my inbox, just saying).

[captain-neutrino]

This is niche and not funny at all but i keep thinking of the ending scene with the "#1 Captain" mug. I don't drink coffee. If Mark handed me coffee that ending scene would be slightly awkward cuz i would just. Hold it in my hand and hope he didn't notice i wasn't drinking it shsksjs