#THE MENAGERIE MY BELOVED

[sundrykitsch]

[muffled montage music] + gangle's comedy mask only last 2.5 outfits

[atac-agent]

ok i need to rant about this, rn-

THE WORD "MENAGERIE" HAS A LITERAL MEANING!! LIKE, HOW COULD I NOT KNOW?!

Menagerie: A collection of wild animals kept in captivity for exhibition.

Like, when Inej was referred as the — Suli Lynx

And the Fjerdan Wolf, the Zemeni Fawn, the Kaelish girl is known as the mare for her red hair, the Ravkan Fox, the Shu Serpant in the Menagerie

THEY WERE ALL REFERRED AS ANIMALS !! LIKE, THAT'S WHY THE ANIMALS' NAMES NEVER CHANGED!!

During the Ice Court Heist, when Inej dressed up as the Suli Lynx, initially she was not held back, because no one other than Tante Heleen knew about the true identities of the girls!!

And the fact that no one even suspected a thing about the Kaelish switch that Nina did, really makes me question whether Heleen even bothered to keep a track of all the girls or not...

So, Heleen knew about Inej because Kaz invested in her?

"I can help you." Those were the first words she’d spoken to him, standing in the parlor of the Menagerie, draped in purple silk, eyes lined in kohl. She had helped him. And she’d nearly destroyed him. 

[jujulebee]

send ur catboy off 2 attack those feratu

[memento-morri-writes]

This is far from my best work, but it's 1:30am, and I needed to get this down before I slept or lost my mind. So here, take a snippet of Rook seeing Zara again for the first time in 3 years.

Trying, and failing, to keep his voice from shaking, [Rook] said “Hello, Captain.” Mouth still open in surprise, [Zara] replied “Well, hello yourself.” The reality of what she was seeing seemed to hit her as she rounded the desk. “Rook, is that really you?” He nodded. “It’s me.” Zara ran towards him, stopping just short of touching him, and said “What did she do to you?” Rook’s heart stuttered and he had to brush his fingers together to confirm Sigmar’s ring was still in place. Could she possibly see through its illusion? But then he remembered what Lanny had said. She knew where you were. His throat clenched and he choked out “Two years.” A wave of grief swept across Zara’s face as she said “I’m so, so sorry.” Rook shook his head vigorously. “It’s not your fault.” Zara ignored him. “It is my fault. I failed you. As your captain, it’s my responsibility to keep you safe, and I failed you.” Rook wanted to say something, to reassure her, but she pushed on. “She sent me letters, told me all the terrible things she was doing to you. I… I let you down.” Those words hit Rook with the force of a dozen cannonballs. Lanny had said that Zara knew Wolf had him, but knowing that Zara had been aware of what Wolf was doing to him… somehow that was more painful than any wound Wolf had ever inflicted. He barely managed to force his next words out around the lump in his throat. “Where were you?” And why didn’t you come? “She said she’d kill you if I came to get you. Or if I hired anyone to get you. You’re standing here because I stopped sailing.” 

(honorary one-time tag for @space-writes bc I remember you enjoyed my other bits about Rook and Zara.)

[autumnsoldier13]

Froggy really loves the cats, but he’s much more successful in the interactions when it’s ‘chill together’ and not ‘run around like a bull in a china shop cause I’m too excited’

Happy Pet Night

[sunriseverse]

cats. soon.

[nyansense-the-nyanbinary]

Ough,,,,,

Beautiful....

Mornings are for sleepy cuddles

[red-moon-at-night]

After doing some research on the types of pets people had in ancient Greece, I'd like to imagine that Helen is the sort of person who has a whole menagerie of birds — and she loves each and every one of them very, very much.

It fits well with her being good at mimicry, you know. Talking and imitating and singing with her beloved birds 💜

Close up under the read more:

I had to include that one necklace from the minoan 'saffron goddess' fresco because it's my favourite thing Ever

[sundrykitsch]

back to ur regularly scheduled programming!!

[crafty-butch]

i had. the weirdest goddamn experience last night.

setting the scene: it's around 7:30 pm, well after dark this time of year. my beloved girlfriend is at work, so it's just me and the menagerie. it is also, somewhat relevantly to this story, cold as fuck outside.

the doorbell rings.

i answer the door. the man standing outside gives me some story about how he and his friend were trying to sell a stove to some guy who didn't show. then he asks if i could give him and his friend a ride back to a nearby town. he offers to pay for gas, which is not remotely near the top of my list of questions, but nice i suppose.

i say no, but offer to call them a lyft. the guy has to get the address from his friend, who is for some reason standing down at the far end of the block. while we wait, i ask a couple more questions about what happened, because i'm sure i couldn't possibly have heard them correctly about the "stove."

the Totally Legit And Not Sketchy At All™ story i get out of them is this:

they posted a "stove" for sale online

some guy was supposed to meet them to buy it, but he changed his mind

the friend's brother lives around the corner but didn't want a stranger coming to his house to get the "stove"

no explanation for why they couldn't go back to the "brother's" house instead of waiting outside in the dark and cold

also no explanation for how they got here with the "stove" in the first place

or their plan to get home if the guy did buy the "stove"

i don't push for more details, because i'm not quite nosy enough to give the third degree to strange men standing outside my house offering questionable stories about "stoves" while i'm home alone.

eventually the lyft comes. i keep an eye on the app to make sure the lyft makes it to the address they gave me. it does. all seems well. sketchy as hell, but sketchy guys don't need to be stranded and freezing either.

anyway this morning i step outside and sitting abandoned at the end of the block is a fucking brand-new stove

[jujulebee]

i need to put u n a bath asap

wait no uh actually maybe, uh, not. there's still gross, caked gore there. not very, you knoow, uh. kissable.

-- Juan

[lunar-serpentinite]

assorted hjp headcanons

he takes to guitars like a bird to the sky. acoustic, bass, electric, you name it, he'd slay it

he eventually finds a way to force kreacher into retirement, but still lets the house elf have absolutely free reign in the former bedrooms of his beloved departed masters

harry has this habit of just picking up all the even mildly pathetic/helpless strays he finds on the streets and ends up raising them. 12 grimmauld place looks a lot like a menagerie now, and he kinda likes it

he went to luna for help on how to take care of his newfound animal roommates and thats how he befriended luna's then-penpal-turned-bf rolf scamander

eventually he moves to a quaint little cottage right outside of godrics hollow to be closer to his parents' final resting place. it's heavily warded, fidelius'd, and nobody except for ron, hermione and luna know the address

he never really did like living in a gated community / suburban neighbourhood, it reminded him too much of privet drive

the first time someone mocked him by calling him freak, harry blacked out a bit and the next thing he knew he was standing over a decently beat-up person

creatures associated w death like corvids, moths and the like are weirdly attracted to him. hell, he even found a whole vulture in his backyard once

harry is pretty apathetic about the notion of his own death post-battle of hogwarts. he told luna once that it felt like he was just idly waiting by for death to come by again

differences aside, he and pansy (my characterisation of her anyways) wld bond over being nosy, gossipy little shits

he would've said yes if cedric and cho invited him into their relationship lmao

i dont think hes necessarily a naturally jealous/possessive person. he just doesn't know how to properly have a grip on himself if the few scant ppl and stuff that he considers his are in danger of being taken away from him, born from trauma from the dursleys ofc. make him feel secure enough and he'd be chill

hes kinda shit at potions especially without proper instructions and motivation because he learned how to cook first, and potions deals w exact measurements while cooking is just measure based on vibes

he would make an excellent beekeeper. idk but he just gives me that vibe

harry's vibe checks are rarely wrong but he doesn't say anything abt em anymore bc hes used to ppl automatically assuming that hes a liar

"harry, why didnt u tell us" "you didnt ask. and if u did ask, youd probably assume im lying"

hes a bit of a hoarder lmao he has a small room in his new cottage thats just filled w his trinkets

he has absolutely no qualms in lying to everyone's faces if he thinks he's justified based on his own criteria of justice

he cant dance those fancy formal dances but at some point he will discover that he likes other types of dancing, just not in front of other people

harry would abuse the FUCK out of slang so he can say as little words as possible. his convo partner is confused but he also doesnt like them ? theyre a grownup with access to books, they can figure it out by themselves

[readwritejayy]

Joy, Spite, and Meeting in the Middle

(Read on AO3 here)

“You forced him down, I don’t like that.”

“Ah, well, my humblest apologies.” He gave a low, dramatic bow, a sneer marring Lucanis’s handsome face. “But I simply couldn’t wait any longer.”

Words: 575

Notes: Written pre-launch

“Why now?” Joy asked. She stood at one end of the room, beside the bed she’d finally managed to coax Lucanis to spend the night in instead of retreating back to his cot in the pantry each night.

“Why not?” Spite replied. A purple hue shone from her beloved’s normally-brown eyes. It was his face, his voice, but she knew it wasn’t him. “He would not let me speak to you when I asked, and I have been patient long enough.”

“The picture Lucanis painted of you never included ‘patience’.” Joy walked forward—she wasn’t afraid of what Spite might do. He would have done so by now, if he had the ability and the desire to do something terrible. “You forced him down, I don’t like that.”

“Ah, well, my humblest apologies.” He gave a low, dramatic bow, a sneer marring Lucanis’s handsome face. “But I simply couldn’t wait any longer.”

“Well, it’s exciting to finally meet you. You’re not the first spirit I’ve conversed with, though I always find the opportunity delightful. There is so much to learn from your kind.”

“Is that so? Is ‘my kind’ nothing but animals in a menagerie to you folks?” He examined his nails in a pointed effort to look like he was ‘above this’. “Fine, speak.”

“Now that you’re here, the question that has been plaguing my mind is…why? Why did you want to speak with me?”

Spite grinned. He waved his hand in a grand flourish. “Lucanis wanted very badly to keep us apart. He wouldn’t let me utter so much as a word to you.”

“I understand,” Joy said, “but why did you want to speak to me in the first place? I mean, now that you’re here, you must have so much you want to say to me.”

His grin faltered. “Because he—“ Spite’s hand paused in mid-air. “Well, it was…”

Joy kept silent, letting Spite have her attention. It didn’t seem like he was working through a lie or figuring out the best way to dig at her. Rather, he seemed like he didn’t have the answer either.

After several seconds of the gears in Spite’s head visibly turning, Joy spoke. “Is it…because Lucanis didn’t want you to talk to me?”

Spite wrinkled his nose. “Don’t be stupid.”

“You wanted to go against him, perhaps?” she suggested. “It wasn’t something that occurred to you, until Lucanis made it clear he didn’t want you to? He was worried what might happen, and that only made you want to do it all the more?”

“Yes—no!” Spite snapped. “Shut up, you’re confusing me.”

She took another step forward. This time, Spite took a step back.

“You weren’t always Spite, were you?”

She looked into his eyes, the soft brown of Lucanis’s covered by that purple glow.

“Something made you what you are. Something twisted you and misshaped you.” Joy reached out to touch Spite’s cheek. To her surprise, he didn’t flinch. “What were you? Love, maybe? Or Forgiveness? Maybe Kindness or Affection. Something that could have helped Lucanis. Maybe you did. Maybe your changing was what kept him safe then.”

“I was something weak—“

“You were something gentle,” Joy said. She mirrored him and took a step back as well. “Maybe I’m wrong. I didn’t know you then. But I see you now. You’re a part of the man I love, and I would like to get to know you as well.”

[zahri-melitor]

I read two more issues, to get past the Robins fight, and...still so conflicted.

I can see exactly how, if Damian is your ultimate blorbo and you read for Damian, this story is doing exactly what you want it to do and reflecting back beloved stories.

Issue 5 is explicitly set up as a parallel to War of the Robins from Batman and Robin 2011, and even ends with Damian getting an 'I love you and here have a trophy' speech from Dick, to tie Damian back to Alfred and Dick and the layers of care in the family.

It acknowledges Damian's menagerie and comments that the last thing Damian did before leaving was check in on them. It has Goliath show up and save Damian's life.

It has intense Robin: Son of Batman vibes and the whole repeat of the 'finding yourself on an isolated tropical island and redeeming yourself'.

(I expect the whole Respawn thing to play out with very much the exact themes of how R:SOB dealt with Damian's clones once Damian clues in)

But I keep waiting for payoffs that just aren't happening.

Rose slopes off to call for help for Damian, and then Dick, Jason, Tim and Steph turn up and I'm like "oh! Rose went and called Dick, because she's looking out for Damian on the island in the same way that Dick looked out for Rose while he was training her as Ravager and in a bad place where she was hanging on every one of Slade's words and determined she needed to prove herself as worthy of her father...oh. She called Jason".

And look, I know that there's an underlying push for decades now that Jason and Rose do have a bunch of things in common and would work well together (and also hinting at whether or not they're romantically involved), but a lot of that is inferred off panel stuff while Dick was literally Rose's teacher. If you want themes of 'you don't have to be what your family expect of you' why on earth wouldn't you openly reference that?!?

In terms of who is on this island and is one of Dick's rogue's gallery:

Raptor

Double Dare (both Margot and Aliki)

Lady Vic

Brutale

Nite-Wing (seriously why is Tad here)

Blue Shrike is apparently Shrike's brother???

Is this going to get acknowledged? That a solid chunk of Dick's enemies are here and fighting Damian? That's like half the competition!

Also while I was looking all of this up apparently the Richard Dragon they're talking about is the son of actual Richard Dragon, who apparently got killed in a flashback or something in Green Arrow #32 during n52 and who apparently in that universe worked for the League of Assassins (oh god I am now tearing my hair out, RICHARD IS NOT LINKED TO THE LEAGUE. HE WAS TRAINED BY THE O-SENSEI. STOP DOING THIS TO ALL THE MARTIAL ARTISTS). Huh. Bet that doesn't stick. Richard's too important thematically any time someone wants to write a Question book to be left randomly dead.

And then there's the whole situation that there is a Tengu on this island. I just went down the rabbit hole and this is an import of the Titans villain who is just a Japanese goblin, NOT the Tengu mask that Shiva hands out to people who are trained by her and fighting somewhat under her banner (as seen in Knightsend and in the Circle of Six in Richard Dragon). Which is honestly a waste; if I were going to resurrect a Tengu for this plot, the Shiva and Richard Dragon aligned mask is far more thematic!

And plus, Silver Monkey? Silver Monkey is heavily linked to both Connor's Green Arrow stories, and Shiva (as Paper Monkey), and Deathstroke. It's War of the Dragons and Cult of the Monkey Fist and Brotherhood of the Fist. It's about death and resurrection (as Shiva almost kills Connor and Tim uses his marker with Shiva to save Connor’s life from the time he saved HER life). Is this going to be acknowledged? Because that's where I'd be playing the references by bringing in Silver Monkey.

And look I haven't seen what payoffs we get for Connor yet and there are definitely a bunch of opportunities built in; on top of Silver Monkey you have Constantine Drakon, who's defeated Connor before. Plus there's Artemis Crock, who in DC Comics comics terms isn't linked at all to Connor (she's JSA and Infinity Inc and was in the YJ98 Zandian Olympics team) but obviously has been used for archer purposes in tv and cartoon adaptions.

I keep seeing all these potential stories set up and wondering if there is going to be any pay off on them. I hope so. But also so far the story has slipped around those payoffs unless it's a direct reference to a Damian story.

Also Ra's al Ghul playing the hermit sensei meditating and in touch with the universe on a nearby island is the funniest nonsense possible. Ra's? RA'S? Taking time out to go meditate on the state of the universe? Just so he's conveniently in a place to give Sage Advice to Damian about what personal values he should work on? Pull the other one.

[y010isaghost]

WHAT THIS IS SO COOL WTF TYSM /VVPOS

coughs @y010isaghost hii ive been turning my friendts into a fish furry species thing i made agos ago for fun um GETS YOU!!! GET FISHED!!!!!!

[pockyyasii]

Hi Yasi

KANEJ HEADCANNONS PLS

coming right uppp lissyy!!

˖ ⊹˚. 【 kanej headcanonss 】 .𖥔 ݁ ˖

I can't imagine Kanej being overly intimate, skin-to-skin wise, mostly bc of both their trauma with touching other people.

^^ Maybe simple things like Kaz doing Inej's hair, or tracing / kissing her faded Menagerie tattoo is the maximum they can go.

^^ (a kiss would be great tho).

Kaz likes cooking for Inej, knowing she doesn't usually eat eh hem speak for yourself man . Kaz makes sure every night he's with Inej she eats a hearty meal.

^^ Kaz's specialty being a warm hutspot with bread for her

Hugs. And more hugs. Its one of the only ways they can be intimate with each other without actually touching each other's skin.

^^ Also Kaz is way taller than Inej and I can totally imagine him being like "you're missing out on some great weather here, Inej"

Quality of time and Acts of Service are definitely their love language

Kaz (at some point) calling Inej his "beloved" >>>>

Inej makes sandwiches for Kaz like Jordie used to do for him.

Kaz easily gets jealous (and doesn't realise what the emotion is, he just knows he wants to go kill someone. real. bad.

****

requests are openn~!!

feel free to request more headcanons / fanfics of SoC

or any fandom on my masterlist~

-yasi ❀

Masterlist <33