#OTP: I want there to be an after

[bertoyana]

Erik, what are you doing?

X-MEN: DAYS OF THE FUTURE PAST (2014)

[wolfienation]

"rio was so out of character in ep 8"

if i was in a long term relationship with someone for 60 yrs and then i had to take our child away because it was my duty and ended up in a three centuries long cat and mouse love-hate situationship i too would be crashing out when the love of my eternal life looks at me and says "i never want to see your face again" and denies me the very duty i was created for

[lover-of-mine]

[swaps55]

Twin Souls of the Same Star

Funny, Kaidan thinks as they lie side by side, Shepard’s bare skin illuminated by the fishtank. They’d changed their lives just a few hours ago, assuming Joker actually filled out and filed the paperwork to the hanar and Alliance’s satisfaction.

And yet…everything feels exactly the same.

Shepard strokes Kaidan’s ring figure, then pinches it at the knuckle and examines it closely. “Guess I need to put a ring on this, lest anyone doubt that you are now bound to me by official legal documents. Er, at least as far as hanar law goes. Do we know how binding that little ceremony actually was?”

“Are you questioning the legitimacy of Joker’s ordination within the Enkindler Souls of Stars?” Kaidan asks, tugging his ankle free of the twisted sheet and draping it over Shepard’s leg. “Or are you asking about the return policy?”

Shepard kisses Kaidan’s knuckle and then tugs him until he straddles Shepard’s hips.

“Just try and renege and see what happens to you.”

Kaidan hides his flush behind a chuckle. Shepard pulls him in and traces the shell of Kaidan’s ear with his lips. Bastard. Not even fair to go straight for the ear.

“You’re stuck with me. I just want the entire galaxy to know.” 

No hiding the flush now. “Well, in that case. Don’t need a ring. I know your transponder code. Your baseline biometrics. Your service number. Your mnemonics.”

“Okay, so you know how to take me in a fight, sure.”

Kaidan trails his fingers lightly across Shepard’s belly, smiling in satisfaction when he yelps and nearly shoots out from underneath him.

“I know that.”

Shepard gives him a wary look. “Tickling is just a dirtier kind of warfare than bullets, in my book.”

Kaidan wiggles his fingers in tune with his eyebrows, but pins Shepard firmly in place when he attempts to flee.

“Point is,” Kaidans says between sloppy kisses against Shepard’s neck. “I’m pretty sure I can stake a pretty convincing claim to you without a trinket as proof.”

“Don’t know why I’m worrying. Pretty sure you’re the only one who would put up with me, anyway.”

Kaidan trails kisses down the line of Shepard’s shoulder. “Dunno. Have you seen how pretty you are?”

Shepard preens. “Maybe. But Liara says I’m very vexing.”

“Lucky for you, I like vexing.”

“See? Soulmates. The hanar say so. Joker’s head garment thingy looked very official.”

“If you’re really worried about it we could always hire a hanar to follow us around and tell people.”

Shepard sniggers into Kaidan’s shoulder, then adopts a solemn tone. “This one would like you to know that these two are bound soul stars in the eyes of the Enkindlers.” His eyes widen. “Oh god we cannot tell Javik.”

Kaidan barks a laugh, and Shepard grins.

“Well, we don’t have a hanar on board,” Shepard goes on. “Suppose we could just stick some tentacles on Garrus. No one will know.”

“I’ll tell him you said that.”

“He’ll think it’s funny.”

He probably would.

Kaidan rests his head on Shepard’s chest, sighing softly as Shepard runs fingers through his hair.

“Should I have taken your name or something?” Shepard asks eventually.

Kaidan’s heart does a somersault at the thought. Not something he’s ever thought about. Not something he’s ever even cared about. But the fact Shepard has…

He swallows. Shepard continues stroking his hair and just…lets him feel it for a minute.

“You married me,” Kaidan says after a moment.

“Yeah, I remember. I was there.”

“Other people saw it.”

“Pretty sure they remember, too. Joker’s hanar impression was very memorable.”

“Wow.”

Shepard chuckles. The sound rattles under his sternum, and Kaidan lets the feel of it wash through him. “So? Should I be Sam Alenko?”

Kaidan huffs. “Well, you hate being called Sam.”

Shepard ponders that for a moment. “Yeah, I guess it would be kind of weird if people started calling me Alenko, huh?”

“Yeah, that would be pretty weird. Thought’s pretty romantic, though.”

“I am so full of romantic gestures. Just you wait.”

“Mmmm,” Kaidan says with what he’s sure is a stupid grin. “I could take yours, I guess.”

Shepard makes a face. “Can you imagine you and me in the same room as my mother? No one will have any idea what the fuck to call us.”

“Okay,” Kaidan says with a laugh. “No name changes.”

“It’s the thought that counts.”

“Definitely.”

They drift off for a few minutes. Shepard’s hand stills, the weight of it on Kaidan’s head warm and comforting. Maybe Kaidan falls asleep. He’s not sure.

“Did you know we get tax benefits for being married?” Shepard asks, startling him awake.

Kaidan raises an eyebrow. “Did you read a manual or something?”

“Well, I can’t suck at this.”

Kaidan stifles a laugh against Shepard’s chest. “You know, Williams even told me once we should get married for the tax breaks.”

“Did she? Do you think she knew?”

“Of course she did.” Kaidan hoists himself up on an elbow to look him in the eye. “Everyone did. Except you. You thought I was into Williams.”

Shepard flashes him a guilty look. “She made you laugh all the time.”

“She was funny!”

“Yeah, but she was funnier than me and I didn’t like it.”

Kaidan raises an eyebrow. “And that didn’t…raise any flags for you.”

The guilty look gets guiltier. “Does it make it any better if I say that when people mistook us for a married couple I’d think to myself, ‘there are a lot worse things than spending the rest of my life with him?’”

“Really? Really?” Kaidan gooses him again, this time with a lot less mercy. Shepard yells indignantly and twists beneath him. They tussle until Shepard manages to trap Kaidan’s back against his chest.

“In my defense.”

“I’m waiting.”

“Hang on, I’m thinking.”

Kaidan laughs. “You realize that this exact line of thinking is what got us in trouble in Vancouver.”

 “Hey, I remember kissing you in the rain in Vancouver, so I think my line of thinking is pretty great, actually.” 

“Yeah,” Kaidan says softly, gripping his hand. “This is pretty great.”

Shepard rests a chin on Kaidan’s shoulder. “You were pretty pissed at me over the Williams thing. I thought I’d really fucked up.”

Kaidan strokes his arm. The memory of Williams still sits like a bruise, but it’s less tender to the touch than it used to be. “Think I was more angry at myself.”

“Why?”

“For being so in love with you and so unable to do anything with it. About it. I don’t know. You were never going to feel the same way and I just…couldn’t even try to get over the way I felt about you.”

“Seems like I wasn’t the only one who was dense,” Shepard murmurs in his ear. “Turns out I was, in fact, very, very into you the whole time.”

Kaidan smiles into the dim room.

“You know I reached out to Beaudoin after that to get his advice?” Shepard asks.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I thought I’d really fucked up, but I didn’t know why and Beaudoin, you know. Knew how to people a lot better than I do.”

“So you thought you’d fucked up your relationship with me, went to the only person we know with any reasonable insights on dating and romance, for advice, and that still didn’t trigger anything for you?”

“No.”

“You have saved the galaxy twice.”

“I contain multitudes.”

Kaidan snorts. “What did he say?”

“His message was one line and it was zero help. It said, ‘You’ll figure it out, I’ve got money on it.’ I had no fucking idea what he was talking about.”

Kaidan laughs softly into the pillow. “He and Aslany had a bet about us.”

“Wait….he knew too? Aslany knew?”

“Told you. Everyone.”

“Motherfucker.”

Kaidan tugs Shepard’s arm tighter around him, thinking of simpler days and places and times you can’t go back to. “Wish Beaudoin could have been here today.”

Shepard kisses the back of his neck. “Me too. Can you even imagine what he would have said about Joker’s ‘vestment?’”

“He would have loved us getting married by a human ordained through the hanar. And yeah, he would have fucking loved that vestment.”

“He really would have.” 

They lapse back into silence. It feels heavier this time.

Williams. Beaudoin. The Normandy. The ‘Yang. And there’s more to come. Kaidan feels it in his bones.

“We have a lot of history, don’t we?” Kaidan murmurs.

“Yeah, we do,” Shepard agrees. He wraps Kaidan up tight. “I want more. Think we made some today.”

“This one now pronounces you twin souls of the same star,” Kaidan intones.

“I like that part,” Shepard says, nuzzling his neck. “Even better than the vestments.”

Shepard has always shone brighter than any star, but Kaidan has always walked willingly and unflinchingly into that light. There’s never been another path. At least not that he wanted to take.

“Kiss me,” Kaidan says, the sudden need for it overwhelming.

Shepard rolls him over and obliges. It feels no different than it did a few hours ago: beautiful. It always has, with Shepard.

The kiss gets deeper. Shepard’s corona kindles, bright and flickering, a fire without heat that graces Kaidan’s nerves with a soft, sweet hum. Kaidan reaches into the gravity well and lights his own star, their auras blending together into one, solid glow.

We’ve always been this, Kaidan thinks as he falls headlong into Shepard’s embrace.

Now they just have the documents to prove it.

[jokesitos-art]

Mmmm yeah.

[almea]

"So would you say he caught you unarmed?"

[buckrogers]

Bucky growing to hate wearing any kind of footwear and opting to go barefoot a lot, especially in Wakanda. Some of it might be things he picks up as customs, but Steve thinks it's more than that judging by the almost melancholy look on his face any time he has to pull his boots on to run errands and how quick he is to fling them off the first chance he gets.

When he catches sight of him walking around in the soft ticklish grass later, wiggling his toes and smiling down at his feet, he thinks he gets it. He understands it enough to stop and unlace his own boots before heading out to join him by the lake and the smile on his face when he catches sight of Steve's pale feet is answer enough.

[sadly-never-after]

God this escalated but I had so much fun with it

Some headcanons about duchess relationships

Canon (kind of) Friends

Sparrow Hood

Sparrow gave her the earrings she wears with her main outfit. 

They were friends since they were kids but they started drifting apart on their first two years of high school because of the royal vs. Rebel conflict and Duchess growing bitterness over her destiny. Their first real and biggest fight was on True Heart’s Day and they later had another falling out because of NTV. However shortly after they started reconciling  and by the time the Spring Unsprung Festival came they were back to normal. 

One time during one of their quarrels, Duchess transformed into a swan and left angry. Later he found her and tried talking to her. They had to do some throne work together and eh was too tired to keep being angry. He tried to talk with her but she wouldn’t transform back so he took her in his arms and carried her to their classes. She still refused to transform back and he was getting annoyed because she pecked and batter her wings at him the entire time. The teachers asked him why he brought that bird to class and he was just like “It’s Duchess. She is just honked off” He basically dragged her to lunch and sat them down with Kitty & Faybelle. He explained and they smiled. Faybelle said “I hope she gives you hell” and Kitty giggled to his annoyance. After classes were almost finished he saw her eat a bug and he started getting worried. He thought for some reason her curse had taken hold of her and was terrified. He asked Cupid which Princes at school had just gotten in a relationship because maybe if he broke them up Duchess would go back to being normal. Among other people, when he was borderline desperate, he realised Dexter (epitome of a “failing” prince) had finally gotten together with Raven. He tried to break them up because maybe Dexter was meant to be Duchess’s prince. When that didn’t work the two tried talking to him. He explained and Raven agreed to help him break Duchess spell. They want to pick Duchess, whom Sparrow had left in his Treehouse. Her magic didn’t work, probably because it was a benign spell and Sparrow almost broke down, they then headed to the students lounge to get Farrah. As soon as they entered they saw Lizzie, Kitty, Faybelle & Duchess playing cards together. His first emotion was immense relief and he gave her a hug so hard he ended up lifting her in the air. He was so happy he didn’t care when she called him bird bray and yelled for him to let her go. Then he realised he had been carrying some random bird around school the entire day and that people had seen him cry because of Duchess. He was less relieved. Embarrassed…slightly confused over how much the entire thing seemed to affect him. 

Duchess has only taken two people to see her mother. When she took Sparrow, she didn’t tell him about her mother, she just took him to the lake. He got bored really fast because of how quiet she got and because she told him not to make any noise. Then he started commenting on the swans and was like “what’’s up with that one?” when he saw one that was further away from the others and hissed at nothing. Duchess didn’t answer and just kept feeding the other swans. Then she started crying “Man someone should put that thing out of its misery.” and she responded with angry tears on her eyes, “That’s my mother.” He didn’t say much for the rest of the day. They just stayed there and he put a hand on Duchess shoulder when she started crying, he sat next to her, played some of her favourite songs and after a while she rested her head on his shoulder. Later they walked back together and they haven’t spoken about it ever since.

After that happened, he started feeling a bit weird around Duchess and then after some soul-searching he realised he was a bit in love with her. Not a crush, didn’t feel as passionate as a crush, but maybe equally intense. He decided not to act on it though because he is not that stupid and knows it would be really destructive and unhealthy. He told Tucker about it and told him he and the band always suspected it but they didn’t want it to be true. 

Duchess’s grandmother dislikes him a lot. She is always relieved when they get into a fight and always disappointed once the two start hanging out again. However, since this has never negatively affected Duchess’s academic performance she lets it pass. As strange as it is, he does find it weirdly touching that she defends him.

They usually spend parents weekend together. Maid Mariam is busy as she is part of the teaching staff and Sparrow’s dad is dead. The two just hang out together and judge (secretly envy) every student who is having a sweet time with their parents. 

It annoys her a lot but she has never missed a single one of his concerts. At first she would claim she just happened to be around and din’t know they were going to play. Later when he started playing for the school she excused herself saying it was because she couldn’t just avoid it. As of now she usually claims that she has nothing better to do but no one believes her. 

However, she always does his makeup for the stage. She knows about that stuff, being a ballerina, and she claims she doesn’t want him to look ridiculous because it will affect her reputation (pls take that hat off). At first Sparrow hated it because he thought it was girly but there was something relaxing and cozy about closing his eyes and letting her use brushes on his face. By now he actually likes it a lot and even wears eyeliner with most of his outfits.

He got Duchess into listening some of his favourite bands and recurrently makes her mixtapes that consist mostly of rock versions of classical music, some of his newest songs. They have spats about infamous female punk rock Idol, Courtly Love. Duchess defends all of her actions. 

Faybelle Thorn

They met at spellementary school and became fast friends by neither of them being intimidated by the other. It was a welcomed challenge that developed into genuine friendship over the years. Initially, Duchess’s grandmother wasn’t very approving of their friendship and was even rather unnerved by Duchess’s two main friends being the lazy son of a known criminal and the very competitive daughter of a known evil-doer. She isn’t overly fond of Faybelle but has seen how happy this friendship has made Duchess and became a lot more supportive of the two when she realised how their competitive side got them to be on top of their classes. 

They have quarrels about the differences between being a cheer hexer and a ballerina. Faybelle tried to convince her to get into cheer hexing but after thinking about it more deeply she realised that could be detrimental to their friendship since they would get overly competitive

Their second year at school distanced them a little because they have very few classes together and each of them is also giving their 100% on throne work and extracurriculars so they made a promise to try to have a sleepover/friendly date every Sunday and pick each other as partners for class assignments as often as possible. Once Bunny was assigned as Fay's roommate it, Duchess & Bunny just switched dorms so the wondelrandians could have sleepovers at Duchess & Lizzie's dorm. 

They are the sort of friends who can spend months without talking but still refer to the other as "my best friend forever after" when talking to other people.

Mutually judge each other over Briar/Sparrow.

They borrow each others jewellery all the time to the point sometimes they don't know who it actually belongs to.

Fay has a tendency to do cheers for Duchess after she's done with a performance. Duchess is usually embarrassed by how inappropriate they are for a ballet function but she always gives her a hug and thanks her for it.

  Faybelle is the friend with whom she is never sad when she is around. She knows how to cheer her up, how to be so mean that Duchess can take it as motivation. She knows how to provoke her into action

Duchess has only taken two people to see her mother. Sparrow is one, as already mentioned, and Faybelle is the other. Unlike with Sparrow, Duchess told her that she wanted to take her to meet her mother. Faybelle immediately knew which swan was Duchess's mom. How could she now? Looking all scared and aggressive? With all that bare skin from plucking its own feathers? Something was  obviously wrong with that animal. It was a really difficult thing to see and they didn't say a word while Duchess threw bread crumbs and fruits at the swans but Faybelle thinks of it as "The moment she knew she would never forsake Duchess". She hugged her mother extra tight the next time she saw her.

Duchess told Faybelle about the entire deal of her ending up in General Villainy class and of the possibility of her becoming the evil queen and Faybelle was charmed. She knows that’s not Duchess’s ideal ending but come on!!! We could rule the world together! She isn’t pressuring her or anything but man she would love it if Duchess embraced a destiny of villainy instead one of punished selflessness.  

Lizzie Hearts

First they both thought that the other was too loud and talked too much. Now they send each other “the yapper-the listener” memes but both of them are convinced of being the listener and think of each other as the yapper.

They started warming up to each other as the months passed by. Lizzie felt more at home with Duchess brutal honesty and sarcasm than with the other princess and Duchess started spending a lot of time with her and Kitty. It was really nice for her to finally have a fellow princess to bond with. 

They had a massive fall out due to Next Top Villain. Even after Duchess saved Lizzie, it was still a bit awkward around them. Just when things were getting almost back to normal…the thing with Daring happened. It distanced them even more and brought a lot of conflicting feelings for the two of them. It took a lot of time for the two of them to mend their friendship again.  

After they got over the entire fiasco with Daring , they decided that from then on they would take each other on a date to the cinema once or twice a month. They loved “Lost in Riddlish”.

Only four people know about what happened with Lizzie, Daring & Duchess at the cinema; Kitty, Lizzie, Daring & Duchess. The two of them have talked about it quite often to the point where Duchess thinks Lizzie was maybe flat out in love with Daring. One time she asked her, months after it had happened and Lizzie started crying and didn’t answer.

Duchess knew they were back to being friends, perhaps even better friends than they had ever been, and that she had been truly forgiven, when Lizzie gave her a present. It was her Birthday Ball dress, sewn by Lizzie herself.

If Faybelle is the friend with whom she is never sad when she is around, then Lizzie is the friend with whom she can allow herself to be sad. Their history has been turbulent and perhaps because of it, there’s an air of melancholy but coziness when they are alone. Sometimes they just lay on the carpet and talk until the late hours of the night. Lizzie doesn’t necessarily feel understood when she tries telling her about her issues with having to flee Wonderland, but she feels seen and acknowledged.  

They know each others orders both for Hocus Latte and Wonderland Haberdashery & Tea Shoppe. Sometimes when they know the other is stressed out because of hexams they will pick up something for them without asking. It’s a small detail they cherish in their friendship. 

During their summer vacations after their second year, Duchess invited Lizzie to her Grandmother’s home and they spent the holidays together. Out of Duchess’s few friends, Lizzie is by far her Grandmother’s favourite. The two spent a lot of time swimming around the lakes, Lizzie taught Duchess how to play croquet (with custom swan looking mallets), and she also found a lot of fashion inspiration in the scenery. It was Lizzie’s favourite trip since she left Wonderland. (She sent her mother pictures)

Lizzie is now teaching her how to speak riddlish because she would eventually like to take her to Wonderland one day too. 

Family

⛸️･:*:｡Duchess’s Grandmother

She is her paternal grandmother. Her father is currently spending the rest of her life happily married to his Odile and him and Duchess have never been allowed to contact each other. She isn’t affected by it as hardly as she should be. It has been like this for generations, so she doesn’t question it much. Duchess’s Grandmother doesn’t talk about her son, she had to break contact with him as well the day she started caring for Duchess. The fact that the Book of Legends chose him as the next Prince Siegfried is proof that he wasn’t an appropriate Prince Charming and she takes this as her own failure in raising a proper prince. This is why she is strict in regards to Duchess being the best possible student she can be. She is quite proud of Duchess following her advice and being a top student. She still misses her son.

One of the few things she truly dislikes about Duchess are her friends. She would have much rather liked it if Duchess had been more amiable and well-mannered, maybe spending time with Apple White or Darling Charming; princesses of good families with actual respect for tradition and propriety. Instead she gets a common thief with no taste for the arts, a mediocre gymnast (she considers cheer-hexing a bastardised and clearly inferior version of ballet) and a homeless princess with anger issues. 

She deeply loves Duchess, even if she’s sometimes a bit cold towards her, she considers her the daughter she could never have and deeply fears the day her fairytale begins because she doesn’t know how she could bare having to lose another child. Sadly, Duchess’s rebelling wouldn’t solve any of this. She would be too ashamed of both of the children she raised being “failures”.  

  She heavily discourages Duchess from dating, not wanting her to get attached to anyone knowing what awaits her at the end. She knows of her crush on Daring and doesn’t mind letting her daydream because she knows a son of the Charming Family will never pay attention to her, so it’s not like she’ll have any false hopes. 

  They love ice-skating together. It was Duchess’s Grandmother who taught her and it’s their favourite winter activity. . 

  She used to attend every single one of her ballet performances and was on the first row smiling reassuringly. Her health started declining once Duchess started her time at EAH but whenever she can’t be there, she sends her a bouquet with a letter and has the school film the act for her.  

  Duchess gets her snark, sarcastic and mean side from her and both of them love that. They like to judge other people’s outfits together and always share gossip with each other.

‎♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧ Odette (Duchess’s mother (I want to call her Bella Swan. Stop me.))

  She started writing a series of letters for Duchess after signing the storybook of legends, knowing that her end was near. She asked Milton Grimm to give them to her once Duchess started attending EAH but once students started to rebel against their destiny he felt that it could mislead Duchess into trying to rebel so he decided to burn them. 

  During the first months of Duchess’s life, the first months of Odette’s transformation, she was still conscious of her life and of being a woman trapped in the body of a swan. She would fly up to Duchess room and would settle next to her sleeping body, letting her baby hug her neck. 

  Sometimes Duchess’s grandmother brought Duchess to her mother’s lake and would watch as Odette & Duchess splashed around the water.

  When Duchess was four she once ran toward her and Odette instinctively batted her wings at her and hit her hard enough for Duchess to fall into the water. She didn’t know why she did. It just felt natural to her. When she tried to soothe her by rubbing her peak next to her daughters face her daughter backed away and for some reason Odette hissed and raised her wings as a warning once again. That very same day she realised how strange her feathers felt. They itched and she started plucking them away with her beak but the skin was still left raw, burning.

  When Duchess was five she still went to the lake as often as she could but Odette no longer truly recognised her. She felt some sense of affection for the kid but didn’t know who those people were to her. Whenever she saw her or the Grandmother she started plucking her feathers, completely confused and irritated by something she couldn’t quite identify.

  When Duchess was six the swan didn’t approach her anymore, not at all. It wouldn’t get near her or her grandmother when they started throwing crumbs at the lake and she would hiss if they tried to approach it. It seemed to avoid the other swans as well and it’s skin was bare, a little bloody. 

    Duchess’s grandmother stopped taking her to that lake after that. Duchess goes once or twice a year on her own now but most of the time she avoids it. 

Not friends but honorary friends/people she treats better than she treats most people

Courtly Jester

Ok, hear me out, Courtly considers Duchess her friend, even her bffa. Duchess DOES NOT consider Courtly her friend, they don't know each other that well on her opinion, but Duchess undoubtedly admires Courtly even if she knows she shouldn't.

This is the girl who had the guts to do what Duchess has been dreaming of doing. Take the destiny you think you deserve! To hell with those who are given that which you are denied! Even if by doing so you endanger the friend I deeply care about and whom I have already fucked up with badly! Twice!

With this in mind, obviously Duchess was a bit more open to Courtly when she enrols at EAH. Not overly friendly but more of "the one not straight up mean kid". She was concerned because of her fragile friendship with Lizzie and how this could affect it. Courtly kind of attaches herself to Duchess due to this minimal act of kindness.

Nevertheless, Duchess will admit that she likes it when Courtly sits next to her at class. 1. Because that means all of Courtly's fucking bells won't be in the way of her seeing the board and 2. Because she will make nonsensical and funny remarks about the other students and it will make her giggle. She finds it a bit sweet to realise most of the people she draws in are like this (Faybelle, Sparrow).

Kitty Cheshire

They barely interacted until Duchess & Lizzie became roommates. Kitty was amiable at first since Lizzie didn't talk too badly about her and they even became fast friends, going for tea dates at the Wonderland Haberdashery & Tea Shoppe, hanging out at the lake together and overall just hanging out together. Lizzie was their union most of them time but they liked each other.

....Then Duchess publicly humiliated and betrayed Lizzie because of the next top villain assignment...Kitty couldn't stand her anymore and would have made her life impossible had it not been for Lizzie. When Lizzie & Duchess reconciled Kitty kept being cold but wasn't on attack mode.

....And then the thing with Daring happened... and even if Lizzie knew it wasn't Duchess fault and it didn't fully strain their friendship, it did affect Kitty & Duchess's slowly recovering friendship... And then just when things were getting better between them and they were back to sitting together at the casstleria...Courtly called Duchess her BFFA... Kitty is now hostile, even if it's one-sided and even if she and Courtly get along pretty well. Duchess & Kitty can be in the next room and spend time together with Lizzie, but Kitty will not answer any of Duchess comments unless it's with malice. You don't find them alone anymore.

Duchess actually really misses her. Sometimes she talks to Lizzie about it in their shared moments of nostalgia and Lizzie doesn't reassure her. Duchess still misses her.

Nathan Nutcracker

Had to partner once because Duchess was sick the day the partners were assigned and her teacher “forgot” about her. It was a catastrophe. She was already frustrated and when he almost dropped her, she took it out on him and treated him badly. Later, after prompted by Lizzie, seeing how sad he was + the fact that they still needed to work together for a dance she ended up apologising. Nathan then convinced her of exchanging their roles and costumes! Although Duchess was initially very reluctant they did and it was a success.

After that, they were short guy in ballet/tall girl in ballet solidarity.

They have very sassy pretend-mean debates on classic ballet vs modern ballet, and on whether ballets is an art and sport or only an art. Nathan is a defender of modern ballet and considers it to be also a sport.

They tease each other about their love lives; Duchess teases him about Briar & Cedar (he denies both of them but blushes and stutters) and Nathan teases her about Daring & Sparrow (She openly admits Daring and vehemently denies being into Sparrow but seems a lot more passionate when talking about Sparrow for some reason. )

Maid Marian

When Duchess & Sparrow were kids it was Mariam who encouraged them to befriend each other. She knew Duchess mom and felt sad upon seeing this lonely girl. This backfired somewhat because they became menaces together and started bullying Raven.

She loves how responsible she is (and how Sparrow becomes a bit more responsible when they are on good terms) and is one of the few teachers who treats her justly, often involving her in the class and sometimes even showing some slight favouritism (although Darling is her actual favourite) by making snarky side comments.

Suspects Sparrow might be into her but has never said anything about it because she doesn’t want to get in the way of their relationship regardless of how it develops.

Is rooting so hard for her to rebel. She has thought about it so much, is daydreaming of plans and subtly tries to inspire her to do so by telling her about how she got her happy ending by going off page. She even sets her up with Darling in partner assignments to try to influence her (this is what Duchess lets down her hair should have been about).

Melody Piper

Had a warm but not particular relationship. The two of them regarded each other as "that other girl who hangs out with Sparrow sometimes".

But! after Melody asked her dad to help her mix some of his classic music with her beats, Duchess became one of her biggest fans. The two would hang out together to plan choreographies for Duchess to dance so Blondie could advertise Melody's newest album on her MirrorCast. Melody still considers her to be too dramatic and high maintenance for them to become friends but it was a cool thing both of them experience and it made them think more fond of each other. It established a type of warmth.

After that they became two snarky menaces for Sparrow to suffer. They annoy the hell out of him and usually they even get the support of the merry men...sometimes even his mom's.

(She lowkey likes Melody's music more than Sparrow's but she won't hurt him that bad.)

Humphrey Dumpty

After Humphrey helped her on Muse-Ic class, he decided to follow her on MyChapter. To everyone’s surprise, she followed him back. Sometimes she even comments or likes his posts.

They share tips on how to help with each others chronic pain and complain about it together. Duchess gave him a pass through her spa membership and he recommended her a good physiotherapist. 

Duchess sometimes asks him to film her practicing when she is trying to improve on something or when she realises that she’s making certain mistakes on her steps. He’s been teaching her how to work with a camera because of it.

He wrote a rap for Meeshell and decided to perform it for Duchess since she was a girl and he wanted to know what she thought of it. She didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth because of this being one of the first times someone who isn’t Sparrow, Faybelle or Lizzie cares for her opinion, and also because she figured Meeshell would probably like it regardless.

Littlest billy goat gruff

He is her abhorrent admirer, alright, but she knows what that’s like and quite honestly it’s just nice to feel like someone likes her a bit. She feels weird around him because he is one of the few people she doesn’t want to be rude to but she also doesn’t want to date him.

Sometimes she sees him eating grass and flowers around the lake and it makes her chuckle a bit because it reminds her of how she would eats water plants and insects when she was a kid. One time she eats a lily flower in front of him and he is so astonished his mouth hangs open. Then the two laugh.

Protective over the little guy.

One time he heard about Sparrow inviting her to one of his concerts and he asked if he could go too. It was a lot more fun than anyone expected.

Tucker

Ok listen it’s not that Tucker hates her or anything but he’s so tired of all the unnecessary drama surrounding her and Sparrow’s friendship/love life/situationship/whatever the fuck is going on between them.

However when the two are co-existing alone they can be pretty amiable with each other.

He actually really likes working with her as a partner in muse-ic class. Since she is pretty bad at it she allows him to take the lead on the creative aspects while she acts more responsible about the theoretical and more objective parts of the assignment. And it’s refreshing to play “the face of the band” for a short bit even when he usually prefers to stay in the shadows as the second guitar.

When Duchess gave him a mood rose after they were shot with cupids arrows on “Heart Stuck” it turned yellow and although they’ve never talked about it, he was kind of touched by it.

The Dark Fairy

They Have a good bond over both of them loving Faybelle.

Although Duchess’s Grandmother is irreplaceable, Duchess sometimes thinks that, had she gotten to meet her mother as a person, she would have liked her to be like The Dark Fairy.

The two planned a party once and didn’t invite Faybelle. When Faybelle discovered it and irrupted in an overly dramatic way she found out it was her birthday party. It was the only reason she didn’t curse Duchess and instead gave her a really hard hug and The Dark Fairy was extremely proud of her daughter.

Dark Fairy has sometimes wondered if perhaps she can break or at least twist Duchess future curse after all the necessary parts of her destiny have been acted out.

Meeshell Mermaid

Was very weary on the new kid but once she found out about her destiny, Duchess became more soft-hearted around her because of how both of them are so very doomed by the narrative and a prince who chooses another girl

She once went to her lake to dance and found Meeshell already there, swimming and singing gleefully. Meeshell wanted to leaves, she was embarrassed and a bit afraid since she had heard of (and witnessed) Duchess's cruel reputation. Duchess however, very surprisingly told her she could stay if she wanted and the two just ignored the other as each indulged in their respective passion.

The more time passed the more the two started warming of to each other even if they didn't talk much.

One day Meeshell was oddly happy and excited and Duchess commented on it, which lead her to tell Duchess about her Date with Humphrey. The two had an oddly intimate and long conversation that day about what it means to have a future in which you are meant to be unloved and how this influences them to become unloveable while deeply starving for validation. They didn't become immediate friends but it was one of those things that neither of them forget about and ever since there is a sense of mutual understanding between the two

[whollyjoly]

it's gon' be a long ride home tomorrow from tennessee to texas to la well if i could i'd never leave you i'd come home to stay another night from home away from you it ain't easy i know (baby, don't you want me)

the bucktommy cowboy au nobody asked for part three (parts one and two)

thinking about rancher!tommy who goes on long two-month cattle drives and dreams of the gorgeous cattle hand back home...

(song insp.)

[thirdeyeblue]

“Nine would have treated Martha better than Ten did”

I need to talk about this argument that never seems to stop circulating.

Note: Not a venomous/anti post. There’s more than enough of that across fandom spaces as is, and this is supposed to be a place for ✨sweet, blissful escapism✨

When making this argument, people seem to envision a scenario in which Nine never met Rose.

While I can appreciate a good hypothetical, recognizing Rose's significance to the Doctor (Nine and Ten) is essential to understanding why things with Martha played out the way they did in the first place.

In the third series, the Doctor is grieving. This grief is deliberately threaded into nearly every script, whether spoken aloud or not (and these are just a few examples):

He's burning in Rose’s wake the entire time Martha travels with him, which is why it’s so frequently called upon: It’s 100% deliberate in framing his grief. He grieved as Nine too, of course— having been fresh on the heels of the Time War — but then he met Rose, which changed everything.

Back then, he was still a rude, traumatized pain in the ass, but we watch Rose soften more of those jagged edges with every episode as they grow closer; as he lets his guard down and forms a deep connection with her.

He falls in love (against his better judgment) and it's game over.

And yes: provided S1E1 had been titled 'Martha', one can realistically assume things might have unfolded similarly to how they did with Rose. However, it wouldn’t have been that way just because the Doctor was Nine and “Nine was different” — it would be because he wasn’t already in love with someone else. The same can't be said for the start of S3.

Think of it like this: if Rose AND Martha had been in that cellar — if Nine had taken both of them along with him in S1 — we’d eventually be looking at the most melodramatic love triangle ever, what with him living in close quarters with two brilliant, gorgeous, compassionate young women... But Doctor Who is plenty “soap opera” as is with just one woman in the TARDIS.

(I certainly wouldn’t object to reading that fic, though)

Now, regarding the unrequited elephant in the room…

His inability to be romantic with Martha isn’t because he thinks her lesser, nor is it for lack of compatibility. It isn't because Rose is any better than her. It certainly isn’t just because he’s Ten.

It’s really only for one reason, which can't be denied — and now I’m a broken record:

He is still in love with Rose.

(cut from a tenrosedaily gif)

Nine is Ten, and Ten is only such a mess in S3 because he’s just lost the love of his life. Martha merely got caught in the crosshairs of a volatile Time Lord in mourning, and yes — it sucks. Absolutely.

But it also feels dismissive to chalk Ten and Martha’s relationship up to little more than some sort of mindless dance of pining, jealousy, and toxicity.

Ten trusted Martha with his life over and over again — and hers, with him. He constantly praised her brilliance, happily carting her around time and space with no intention of letting her go. In the BBC’s extended universe of novels/comics/cartoons/etc, there’s so much depth to their relationship: love and trust and trauma and sacrifice. They had their own special bond as mates, their own complexities — so it’s a bummer that it's forever overshadowed by the other things.

I’m not denying that there was a lot of stuff that sucked/was for sure toxic about Ten's S3 behavior, but so many of the things I've seen him catching flak for can be directly attributed to being A Clueless Fucking Alien Idiot (not a trait that’s unique to Ten) — as well as his flat-out obliviousness to Martha’s feelings.

So yes, I agree: if Rose never existed, he would have treated Martha differently as Nine. He also would have treated her differently as Ten. Certainly.

But Rose did exist, and when discussing canon, it matters.

“He tells me that he absolutely, 100% loves Rose... He tells me how my daughter; my wonderful, beautiful, clever little girl saved him from himself before… And he says that’s all because of me! I made her into the Rose Tyler that saved him.”

-Jackie Tyler, Flight Into Hull!

Martha got the short end of the stick in S3. She came round at the wrong place and time, but that doesn't mean it was all bad. It doesn't mean the Doctor didn’t adore her. It certainly doesn't mean the time they spent together was wasted or worthless. They were brilliant!

Sure, he could be a twat, but let it be known that he was a twat with Rose as well, both as Nine and Ten. I’m sure Tentoo can be plenty infuriating, too. So while I'll defend Ten (and Tentoo) into the ground forever and ever and ever, I'll concede that he's fucked up.

The Doctor is a certified Pain In The Ass. It’s one of the things I love so much about this character — dynamics.

But never forget that Martha was goddamn tough as nails and overcame every bit of it. She moved on with her life, and the Doctor moved on with his. One can only pray that, when they inevitably drag her back onto the show (which feels inevitable if I'm honest), we see at once that she's been living her best life for all these years.

[dumplingsjinson]

List of aftercare prompts

“Baby, you did so good. I’m proud of you, hm?” 

“I want cuddles.” “After we clean ourselves up, okay?” 

“You alright there?” “Mm, yeah. Just a little sleepy after all of that.”

Character A clinging onto Character B and Character B trying to hide the big toothy grin threatening to engulf their entire lower face. 

“I’ve set up the bath for you.” “Thanks. You’re the best. I love you so much.” 

Character A whispering praises and compliments and sweet nothings into Character B’s ear as they come down from their high. 

“God, I don’t want to leave the bed…” “We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“Can we stay like this for a bit?” “Of course, whatever you want.”

“Want some eggs on toast?” Character B questions, stroking their fingers through Character A’s hair. “Mm,” Character A murmurs. “Yes, please. Sunny-side up.”

“Let’s get some rest, okay? We’ll worry about everything else later.” “M’kay.” 

[bertoyana]

charles and erik with each other: oh dear, oh dear. gorgeous 🥺👐 charles and erik with the villain of the week/the x-men: K1LL YOURSELF 🔥🔥🔥

X-Men: First Class (2011) | X-Men Apocalypse (2016)

[esmes]

look at me baby, dead in my eyes it's the end of our holiday, but it isn't goodbye carry me with you all of the time eat of me baby, skin to the bone body on body, until I'm all gone but I'm with you, inside

🎥 @theriddletrades

[lizardkingeliot]

I haven't done WIP Wednesday in foreverrrr so who wants a little sneak peek of the Lousat post-season 2 finale thing I'm currently working on? I'm trying soooo hard to finish this thing as quickly as I can but I've just been so busy and distracted these past couple days. I'm hoping to have a nice chunk of time to get some writing done today tho. Fingers crossed I have this up within the next week or so! 🥰

—

Lestat was talking in his sleep.

“Louis, Louis…”

Louis opened his eyes to the sound of his name falling from Lestat’s mouth like some sacred litany. He drew a breath. He could feel Lestat’s withered heart beating where they lay so close together. Could hear it pulsing on the air like some flagging piece of machinery.

“Louis. Louis.”

He was pressed to Louis from his head to his feet. Wrapped around Louis in the coffin like he was trying to meld their flesh together. His face tucked into the hollow of Louis’ throat as he muttered and dreamed.

“Louis. Louis. Louis—”

“Les. Hey…” Louis rubbed tiny circles against Lestat’s back, right between the pale crests of his shoulders. Feeling the cool skin under his tattered robe. Feeling the bones and flesh underneath. “Lestat. Hey. Wake up.”

Lestat flinched. Inhaled. Gasping, desperate sound of waking. “Louis…” Shaking in Louis’ arms like something on the verge of collapse. Skin like vellum, like breath. The quivering, fragile skin of a human being. “Louis. You’re…”

“Hey…” Louis pressed a kiss against Lestat's golden head. Outside the dark cocoon of the coffin, hurricane Odette was still raging. Wind howling through the shattered windows of the cottage on Dumaine Street. Rain falling through the cracks in the ceiling, pattering the coffin with its melody. “Hey. It’s okay, I’m—”

“Louis. You’re really here with me?”

[bookshelfdreams]

oh and one more thing i am SO GLAD we got to see the first meeting between edwin and charles, it is so sweet and understated and so so SO absolutely insane like

imagine you are curled up in a dark corner somewhere and you have been hurt plenty before so you know this time it's really, really bad. and you can't get help, don't have the energy left for it, and there never was any getting help for you anyway, was there? finding a quiet spot to hide until you can pick yourself up again has always been the only option, but you just - you don't even feel the pain, and isn't that the biggest sign that you're truly fucked? you just feel cold, and scared and you wish. you probably just wish you weren't alone.

and then you suddenly aren't, anymore. suddenly there is light, and a kind face, and a voice keeping you company, answering your silly questions, distracting you from the fear and the memories, soothing you, being there in a way no one has ever been, not in all your life

and then you realize oh it's because you were dying. dying, and haven't even noticed, he "did not want to scare you", and you do not have the words for how that makes you feel, that kindness, how it makes something crack open, how it wraps itself around the core of you like warmth you can no longer feel, and tells you you're alright, you'll be fine

so that's not so bad, then. you have someone with you now.

except you don't, you don't, because turns out you're supposed to go on by yourself, which means you will be left alone again, and no. you will not.

he tells you he's "not good with people" and you know that's a lie, and also, you don't care at all. you don't care what is waiting for you in the afterlife, as long as you get to draw out this moment. so you turn your back to the light, and walk away towards him, and you never regret that, not one bit

imagine crawling out of hell and the first person you meet immediately refuses to go to heaven so he can spend more time with you

[mirensiart]

Ok so, I know I said I'm a multishipper and that I don't really mind seeing my fave characters in different ships or seeing them with different dynamics (like platonic or romantic, etc)

But the ONE ship I just like, feel physical pain over the idea of them being separated is mòrag×brighid from xenoblade 2 cause like

Without going into detail over xc2's plot but like, brighid is a weapon and a sentient being (like fi from skyward sword) and she is soul bonded to her wielder, mòrag

If mòrag dies, brighid "dies" too, as in she goes back to her weapon state to sleep until a new master arrives

Anyway like brighid saying this???

Like look at them I am clawing at the walls of my enclosure

OOOUUUUUGGGGHHHHHHH MORAGHID MY BELOVED

They're the only exception to the rule if they're separated I will DIE