#and then them fighting over custody of jack

[thepunkmuppet]

right so I don’t ship samifer in any way, as in I don’t like it I would never seek it out I hate lucifer and what he does to sam in every conceivable way, but guys…. can we please bffr, in a sort of one-sided way their dynamic is EXTREMELY homoerotic 😭😭 like I don’t LIKE it but the subtext is quite literally RIGHT there just bc it’s fucked up and toxic as shit doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist

[demonic0angel]

Reading that one comic called "One Operation Joker" (it's a comic where during a fight with Joker, Batman falls into a chemical vat that somehow turns him into a baby and now Joker have to take care of him so Batman could become his… enemy again) give me this idea: How would the Batfamily (+ the Fentons) take care of baby Bruce?

I think it’d be funny if the Fentons found baby Bruce first and the Batfamily is scrambling to find him.

But I also think Bruce would probably cry and panic around strangers until he finally sees someone he recognizes— his dad. He immediately cries out for him but his dad doesn’t even look in his direction until the strange red haired woman finally gets the idea and passes Bruce over.

To Dan Fenton.

Dan is like ???? Why are you giving me a baby??? But Jazz is like: you have to take care of him >:( while Danny and Dani are laughing their butts off at Dan’s confused expression and the baby in his arms. Ensue shenanigans as Dan suddenly becomes a father and both Jack and Maddie are like OUR GRAND BABY?!?!?.?!?!,? with Vlad also trying to get in on the action to prove that he’s the better granddad compared to Jack.

By the time the Batfamily find them, Bruce is so integrated into the family that they refuse to accept the fact that he’s actually a grown man and ISN’T Dan’s child. More shenanigans as the Bats have to fight the Phantoms for custody of their own dad-turned-baby.

[blackoutbugza]

okay hear me out

billy vangelis and one-eyed jack but they’re toxic divorced exes fighting over custody of jonny but carmilla wanted in so she just fucking killed one of them 😭

“my boy” jack speaking as if jonny is his own ^

^ jack says this as if billy would know well by now who he was

^ he was SO QUICK to the idea of adopting jonny. like he was excited that he had “won”. also calling him “dear” like they’re close in some way

^ alright there’s a lot to unpack here…

“you only ever did what you thought was best for me”. jonny says this like they’ve met many times before and jack was just trying to protect him, kind of like how a father would. among these things was killing billy. but like, WHY??? WHY BILLY?????

mother carmilla swooping in. jonny decided he was done with daddy issues and ready for mommy issues. alright. you go king, i think

jonny killing jack with zero hesitation was also very interesting to me. d’ville is not at all a character known well for sympathizing… so why should that make carmilla any different? was he just bored?? not to mention that carmilla’s the one that nudged him on the arm and said “hey. hey. you know that guy that’s been treating you with nothing but respect since you met? kill him. shoot him in the skull.” and jonny cocked his gun and said “lol okie dokie”

anyways wouldn’t that be cool. wouldn’t that be epic. slowly realizing this went from a funny headcanon to a deeply in depth theory so sorry that you had to read but also wouldn’t that be epic.

[dannyphantom1234]

Reborn as Dan Phantom.

A fan of the show is reborn as Dan, the evil version of Danny just as he was created— but what no one knew was a fangirl had taken over the body and knew just what to do to help her family that would suffer what she just went through unless she did something to help. So— she creeped towards Clockwork, stole the time medallion, went to the timeline of the original, and immediately took over as big brother figure to help these poor children from suffering the future they would have to endure alone without adult supervision.

She— now he— didn’t care for gender, and just wanted to help and protect his new(ish) family from bad people. What he didn’t know was he was also thrown alongside the dc universe, which was an awesome discovery on his part later on.

Dan— or Dante— as he wished to be called, came to the group with sorrow in his heart as he explained what would happen in the future if Danny cheated on his test, not that it was anyone’s fault but fates. He explained how no one was at fault and it could all be avoided if he could help it.

He took over the ghost fights, and had a long talk with Clockwork about what would happen and his real purpose for being there.

His original timeline was obviously erased, and the only reason he survived was because of the medallion, so later he had to go through ghost magic and make himself his own person, gained a whole butt load of tattoos intertwined with ghost time magic and becomes the next king of the infinite realms after defeating the old guy easily after seeing him beat up his little bro.

Dante became king instead of Danny and took over all the overloaded paperwork along the way.

What he didn’t know, was that he would be summoned because of his status. He really thought the fan fictions were just exaggerating what would happen if he was ever given the position and power. Well, it was all true from what he read.

(I’m making this a Dante/King Phantom x Jason Todd/Red Hood).

He made an actual legal identity for himself with the help of Technus and Tucker, who became better pals after they set aside the fact that they attacked each other at some point or another.

Danny became a little brother to him, Jazz became his little sister who likes to treat him as if he were still Danny at times, and Danielle became his daughter.

Dante legally adopted Dani after they got his papers in order, and made her an identity as well. Elle was much younger than he remembered, but then again, she was deaged recently and just came back into contact with the group, who couldn’t take care of her because they were still children as well.

Vlad was still a little evil but leveled out after a huge diabolical involving Maddie, their so called mother.

Madeline Fenton had thought her son and daughter conspired with the ghosts and attacked them in their own home, Danny was greatly injured with multiple blast wounds and Jazz suffered a concussion while trying to push him out of the target zones.

Jack had football tackled Madeline and the rest was history.

Vlad had fallen out of love with her after seeing what she did to her own children, and instead got his head out of his butt and realized he was in love with Jack all along.

Jack divorced Madeline, took custody of his kids and decided they should move, all while Vlad made plans to take down GIW with Team Phantom.

Jack and Vlad met him and decided to emotionally adopt Dante as well in their messed up family.

Dante got a job as a mechanic and started his own business in Gotham. Very cliche from all the fanfics he read in his past life but he wanted to do something he knew and loved. He loved fixing things and his side job as the king of the infinite realms was basically being like a father to ghost children while scolding those who thought it was a good idea to attack innocent mortals.

He mainly spent his time raising Danielle. Giving her everything she deserves and making her happy now that his family was safe.

He was randomly summoned by the Justice League who were ready to full on attack him until they saw him reading to his child, not realizing he was summoned until someone cleared their throat. He was literally in his own little bubble, reading his two year old daughter a storybook while holding her against his chest as he floated above the ground, laid back in a relaxed position.

How it would go:

I looked up from the book after feeling a sudden shift in my surroundings, seeing multiple very brightly dressed people in front of me. I glared, shifting completely into my ghost king form while holding my daughter close to my chest. The storybook I was reading had disappeared into a pocket dimension for later, as I had to deal with this madness.

“Who in their right minds would summon the Ghost King? I literally burnt all those summoning books to ash.” I grumbled, and looked down to see Elle had slightly woken up at the sound of my deep voice.

“Dada?” She mumbled, rubbing her right eye as she sat up from my chest.

“It’s alright, Elle,” I rumbled, kissing her forehead as she plopped back down to take her nap again at my reassurance. “We can finish reading time later today.” I murmured to her as she went back to snoozing.

“What do you want, mortals?” I asked nonchalantly.

“Why does the ghost king have a child? And how in the hell are you not attacking us as the books state?” Zatanna asked, looking on at me in shock.

“You willingly want to be attacked after summoning me? That’s idiotic. “ I state, looking bored with their conversation. I still held Elle close, not answering their questions about my child just yet.

“No, a bloody idiot summoned you just as we defeated him as a last defense!” Constantine spat out, looking hysterical.

“Well, sorry to break the news, coward, but the last king was defeated by me after trying to take over the world, he is now locked away in forever sleep until we can find a way to get rid of him completely.” I explained to the coward looking at me in shock on the ground, bruises across his face and the usual weird looking villain costume on him.

I looked around for a quick second before stopping at the Batfam. Who were all here in a more relaxed formation seeing a child in my arms. My favorite fandom family in my last life.

I looked them over before spotting the Red Hood, my celebrity crush I had on him was no secret to my family, but they had no room to judge for themselves.

His aura admitted contaminated ectoplasm, and I knew I had to heal him sometime in the future.

“May I ask what your goals are? And who is this child?” Superman spoke up after a moment of digesting my information about my new position.

“I protect both living and the undead. I don’t have a world ending goal in mind, just to raise my daughter and give her the life she deserves.” I said, looking down at my daughter with a small smile that would be unnoticeable to most.

I looked back up to see the large group had softened at my words and I was about to ask a question about Red Hood, when my daughter suddenly decided this was taking too long and too much noise for her to take a nap.

“Dada! Where puppy?” She demanded answers, smacking the side of my face with her chubby hands, as I floated there, unmoving with an emotionless face towards the group.

“Cujo is with the twerp, remember? He will come by later for playtime.” I answered, which was slightly muffled as she squished my cheeks together and smiled at me happily.

“Dada! Fishh—“ she squealed out, looking happy with herself as she giggled at my face.

“You gremlin—“ I muttered out, tickling her sides as she squeaked, her flying out of my arms and turning into her young ghost form, looking ready to play.

“Playtime?” She asked, bouncing a little in the air, clapping her hands a little.

“Not yet, blob ghost. We need to head back home for snack time.” I explained, crossing my arms as she pouted, my arm muscles bulged a bit as I crossed them, and I still always forget the fact that I’m taller than most, alongside bigger. In my past life, I was a stick of a girl that had spaghetti arms, much different for sure.

Her pouting turned into the famous puppy eyes, and I turned back to the group to avoid them, only to see amused faces all around.

“Do you guys need anything before we head back? I’m sure you don’t want to deal with a Princess tantrum.” I rumbled out, looking on in disinterest as Elle decided to hug the side of my face like an octopus. She probably still had the puppy eyes on.

“You have an adorable daughter!” Princess Diana exclaimed soon after I was finished speaking. “How old is she?” She asked, looking at me curiously as I lowered myself to the ground, Elle now floating behind my head as she played with my low ponytail.

“She is now two years old.” I answered, swiftly nabbing Elle from behind me while reaching the back of my head. I lowered my arms to see I had her upside down now, her hanging like a sack of potatoes as she giggled.

“Dada!” Elle exclaimed, waving her arms around her in glee as she looked up at me.

“You don’t feel like a ghost completely… neither does she, what are you exactly?” Constantine asked, waving his hand at me in confusion.

“I don’t know if I can trust you with that information, Constantine.” I growled a little, glaring at him as he stepped forward while Elle hid behind me.

“Hey now! Let’s calm down, no one needs to start anything!” Nightwing stepped in front of the glaring Constantine who looked more and more like a bug the longer I looked at him.

“There isn’t anything to start, really. His soul is in shreds at the moment, not very powerful compared to my kind anyway.” I stated, crossing my arms once again as Elle peaked out from over my shoulder.

“Now, I need to speak with a Mr. Red Hood.” I said, looking on at the Batfam who tensed at my words.

“Why?” Batman growled out, stepping in front of the confused Red Hood.

“To heal him, of course.” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose as I heard sounds of confusion from everyone else.

“His ectoplasm is very corrupted. He has the ghost flu, in which case makes my kind very moody and in need of pure ectoplasm to filter it and his emotions.” I briefly explained, unpinching my nose as I looked up from the ground. Willing my headache away for now.

“So his pit madness is basically the ghost flu?” Red Robin murmurs out hysterically, almost giggling in disbelief.

“Yes, I have heard of his haunt, Crime Alley, that being under his protection, I have never stepped foot on his property because I didn’t want to seem like a threat to a sick person who can’t control themselves completely with such a sickness.” I explained myself a bit nervously, rubbing the back of my neck a little with my right hand as Elle now sat on my left shoulder, swinging her legs.

“Wow, the ghost king is a dork…” I heard Spoiler mutter to Orphan, who nodded in agreement.

I huffed, crossing my arms and floated once again. “I can come back another time. I just wished to help a little. My doctor can probably fix him quicker than I, but I know what to do as I have studied under him for more than over a year now.” I informed them.

“So the pit madness can go away…?” Red Hood asked, stepping from around Batman to speak to me clearly.

“I’m unsure of what this “Pit Madness” is, but yes, I can heal you and make sure you properly get the help you need from your emotional roller coaster sickness.” I said, looking down at him as he took a few more steps to me, his family following behind him.

“Well, when can you fix me?” He asked, his voice modifier cutting all emotions from his voice, but I can clearly feel his emotions bursting from his almost formed core. It seems this sickness had stopped him from forming his core completely and left him sick for many years.

I could feel his hope, his rage and especially his bursts of want for some reason.

“I can fix you right now, but I wasn’t sure if you wanted privacy or not. It’s very…. Intimate. I can take you somewhere private if you would like?” I rumbled out, the burst of want came out more clearly, and I could tell Red Hood was clearly not expecting that word choice.

“Take me anytime—“ I could clearly hear his muttered out answer behind his helmet with my enhanced hearing, but I don’t know if I was supposed to hear that.

“Nope! Little Wing— you are not going with the ghost king—“ Nightwing suddenly yelled out, the whites of his mask bigger as Spoiler, Red Robin, and Signal burst into loud laughter. Batman sighed loudly in disappointment. Robin just “Tt” and sighed alongside his father, looking like a mini bat. Orphan just smiled at me.

“By intimate, I mean having a look at your soul, I will essentially have to take a closer look at that and cure you.” I fixed my words, making it seem as if I didn’t hear anything and I could feel a little disappointment coming from Red Hood but he nodded at my explanation.

[therealslimshakespeare]

Let’s Fall Out of Love

Divorce Part 1

Fully co-authored with @elvisabutler 💋

Thanks: are due to so many friends on here who helped craft this timeline and concept and helped me hone the motivations into something I trust our readers will find evocative and sympathetic. Y’all know who you are, thanks for being my buddies

Warnings: 18+ for thematic and sexual material. Strong language and bitter accusations between spouses, mentions of drugs, divorce proceedings, lying to spouses (for their eventual good???) mentions of past infidelity, Colonel Parker being the worst, poor Elvis being in a bad place with his health and mentally -and dub con smut. It is in no way non con but the context, the lack of voiced or implied consent and the aggression make it dubious. It is fairly clear both parties are engaging in hysterical bonding, still the scene is dubious as is the language used by the man regarding a wife having no say in it. So please heed that.

Note: it was the attempt of the writers to craft a rather cinematic experience with this fic, one aim was to skip times and have plenty of fade to black moments. Please note the time stamps above each scene to keep track of progression. Anything that is not clarified in this chapter will either be clarified in the next part or else in others. You’re of course welcome to ask questions.

|| 10th, APRIL 1977 ||

Divorce. Lil Tink is divorcin' him. Lil Laney is gonna be his ex-wife.

The thought rattles around in his aching brain as he chases her up Graceland’s stairway, past the portraits of their children and the plaques celebrating their successes and haunting likenesses of younger selves. Both of them home for a brief stint after Vegas Showrooms and California Courtrooms.

Home -it won’t be his home much longer, she’s gonna see to that.

Divorce.

It had taken up half his year already but he was so sure, so damn sure all she needed was to make a fuss and threaten like she does and then it would cool down, smooth over. He was ready to humor all sorts of shit and then she went and pushed for more. More money, more assets, took out a damn lien. His Tink who happily chucked half of custody at him without a fight has now drug this little show on for months, all for a couple more bucks.

She’s takin' everythin' he's worked so hard for, takin’ it all, going back for more even, just to make sure she can still be taken care of in the conditions and standards he had raised her to.

Spoiled lil middle class girl grown into a spoiled, hardened rich woman.

“Till death do you part”, he hurled the promises at her over the phone, as soon as that court order had landed in his hands -but if ya ask Elaine, he's been dead more times than she can count. Maybe he's dead to her in everythin' but body. Ain't that the other joke, he feels half dead even in body.

"Elaine Presley! Turn 'round when I'm talkin' t'ya! Ya know I hate it when people do that” As if she’s required to listen to him or required to pay attention after two decades of focusing so much of her attention and time and energy on a man who has forgotten all of that. On a man who’s forgotten that he’s married to her. That’s forgotten he has children with her, a life he promised her, and not to his manager who's twisted so much of what was between them into this. Whatever this is.

"Why?" She spits still climbing stairs she's climbed a thousand times before. Faintly she hears Marie playing in her room and a surprising amount of silence from Jack's and her heart twists. They don't need to hear this. None of her children do but her youngest- oh her youngest deserve to think their father is still something resembling a good man.

"Why?" As if Elvis is some sort of parrot, he repeats the question back at her. His confusion colors his face, warring for control with his anger and frustration as he follows her through the padded master doors. "Why? The hell kinda question is that?”

“I told you come by and grab those things you said you needed so badly.” she hauls open one of his drawers and the thing squeals on its track from her violent tug. “So do that. If you wanted to chat then we coulda chatted somewhere else. Or, you know -a year ago? Ten?”

“I’m just askin’ why.“ He embraces her own wording and tries to get nearer her, hem her in against the dresser like he’s done countless times before in this very room with dazzling success.

Elaine slips away between them like water and he’s left bracing himself on the smooth wooden top.

“I’m not actively trying to be a shrew.” she murmurs as she turns away and goes to the other side of the room, opening the wardrobe, “No matter what you believe. I told you that you’ll be welcome in this house no matter what, so that’s why.’I’m not allowing you to come around -you just can, it’s your mama’s house still, for all I’m concerned.”

“No, no I mean- why’re you throwin’ this away?” He emphasizes it with his hands, a pleading gesture that sweeps the whole room and its host of sacred memories. He’s used this before but that was back when he figured it was all one big tantrum. Signing custody papers has rather shaken that hope, delusion, comfort.

Tink purses her lips and he notices her face has gone so white this summer, rarely in the sun and addicted to wearing black like some melodramatic Prima Donna. She does look stunning in the papers all decked out in veils and heels, he’ll give her that. He doesn’t know when she turned from being the heart of the operation to the glamor of it all -and he the opposite.

“What’s my favorite color these days?” she asks him instead.

He stares at the sable color he’s seen her wearing for months now and sighs in exasperation, “Shit I dunno -black?” he swings, knowing it’s a miss the second he says it.

“I can’t do this anymore.” she informs him, like color has broken up a twenty year long marriage and he grinds his teeth so hard he thinks he cracks a filling. The pain adds to his headache that matches the pounding in his chest and the roaring in his ears builds to such a degree he’s honestly terrified for them both.

“Stop this.” he warns her, quite sure she knows the red hot fit she’s stoking with her callousness and hurt that she won’t help him out of it like she used to, that she’ll let him go into a blind rage and then blame him for it, no doubt. “I know when you’re lyin’, woman, and I ain’t ever seen a more lilly livered liar than you right now.” he snarls and tries a last appeal that comes out as a barb anyways, “You wouldn’t be goin’ on so rash if your daddy were still alive,” he jabs a finger at her, “guess I can be grateful he ain’t, so he’s not breakin’ down my door for explanations ‘bout a offense you won’t admit to me!“

Elaine absorbs this blow with a wavering face before the nonchalance cloaks her features once more and Elvis would resort to smacking it off her if he were a different sorta man. “Black is practical, that’s why I wear it. It’s not my favorite though.” she simpers, clutching at the shoe she’s picked up from the floor, something for her hands to worry, to hide her own anguish at having to keep him in the dark. To lie repeatedly to him as he breaks apart, she didn’t know it would cut him up so much.

It’s a mess, this web of connections that used to prop them up, used to be a community. Now it’s a den of tattle tales and if one of them suspects she’s anything but angry at Elvis, that this this divorce and seizing of assets isn’t a scorned wife gone nuts, but rather a calculated endeavor to get at his manager once and for all -well Charlie will spill to Vernon and Vernon will spill to Elvis and Elvis will have all the fuel he needs to plead her right back into complacent heartbreak in his arms -before he goes on tour again and murders himself from the workload.

“I’m on orange kick, actually.” her voice is hoarse.

“Then I’ll buy ya some fuckin’ orange curtains and you’ll stop divorcin’ me.” he jabs a tinged finger at her and he looks like he might fall over, his face is so flushed and sweaty, from pills and passion. Elaine readies to catch him, break his fall if he tips. At least here there’s carpet, unlike the hotel hallway that busted his head last year.

“I’m rather in the mood to buy my own from now on.” she lies and sweeps past him to get to the closet.

She never gets past him. His hand darts out and engulfs her dainty wrist, tugging her back and in a spin like he practiced in his movies so many times, a romantic, gallant, possessive gesture that lands her smack against his broad chest, locked in with an arm around her shoulders.

"Buy your own, hm? Gonna sell my mama's house to do that? Gonna sell ya children's home to do that?"

“Elvis, you get your damn hands off me.” she bites back, throwing her weight on his forearm that might as well be made of steel, so little room does she gain from her effort.

"Never minded my hands on ya before. Even 'fore I married ya, it was fine for me to touch ya. To inspect that lil house of yours to make sure it could have all those lil babies ya wanted. Gave 'em to ya didn't I? Gave ya every last one and two've ‘em are even still with ya till they leave." Never mind that Jack's been bouncing between here and California in an effort to do what he's wanted to do since Elvis would play sharks in the bed with him. "But now you're wantin' my hands off. Goin' on 'bout gettin' new curtains yourself."

His words are punctuated with spit and a hissing anger Elvis doesn't normally indulge in. The bitter anger she used on the road with champagne making her head float in a sea of lies and wants and needs and a twisted sort of love till she had to call it. She can feel her jaw tensing up at his calloused fingers finding their way under her chin, tapping at first to try and have her look up at him before clenching around it and tilting it upward instead.

"Who is it, Laney? Who's the person who's gonna take care of ya? Gonna help ya buy those curtains? Get Marie those cameras? Help Jack and Rosie pay for those commie schools of theirs?" With each passing word Elvis’s voice drops lower and lower in octave until he's reaching levels Elaine's never heard. Against her will, her body shivers in his arms. A sneer crosses his lips- a twisted version of his raised lip that everyone knows and loves. That raised lip she's kissed before with laughter and jokes on how "if you keep doing that your face'll stay that way, Naughty." It shouldn't be there like this and yet it is. "That why ya dragged me to our lil Ella Bella's weddin'? Figured the Martins could spoil our daughter rotten away from you and your new caretaker? Your new piggybank? Don't get shy on me now, Laney! Who's the lucky sonuvabitch who gets to have my wife?"

Elaine's learned how to be composed in every situation with Elvis. She'll shoot at the Colonel over love handles and movies that killed her Elvis's spirit. She'll titter at army wives mocking her house and implying she couldn't keep up with being Mrs. Presley and growing a second set of twins in two years. She'll handle losing little Joesphine with a body that betrayed them all and with a smile on her face because Mrs Kennedy had just lost hers and then John died and the US can't handle their Irish Catholic and their Southern Baptist Camelots falling to pieces all at once. But this, this is too much. This is her soon to be ex husband mocking her. Like she'd have had time to find someone else who would take care of her, like taking care of Elvis and their children allowed her to seek any other comfort than in the aging movie star her husband sought to emulate once upon a time before realizing he's just a man too. The aging movie star she considers one of her nearest and dearest friends and who'd- who would be her caretaker if she let him.

Knowing her luck it'd end up worse than this.

No, this is Elvis throwing out an insult to her character, the one he'd have defended till his dying breath except for when she turns on him like Red and Sonny did. Their book's gonna be coming out sooner rather than later and- she's made it obvious he can't trust a soul any more.

It won't do either one of them any good to react. It's not going to help her escape from his grip that's a vice around her. It won't help him see what she's doing and how she’s doing it for him. But she is only human just as he's only human and her lipstick covered mouth opens in defense of her own honor.

"What makes you think you deserve to know?" He can't see through everything to see why shes doing this, so why should he get an answer. "You won't have to worry, we'll all be taken care of. And you can be rebranded! A seasoned entertainer who's free as a bird to do whoever and whatever he wants. Or oooh -maybe the colonel will pick you out a new wife. Pretty little fool to take my place, without trappings like children -or brains."

“I chose my wife.” it sounds like a beg, anger and hurt battling for the upper hand in Elvis’ heart, his hand squeezes her chin stronger, watching her lips pucker just that little bit. Such a soft mouth has no right being so stern and derisive as it’s been these past months, once upon a time he knew how to make it gasp and smile with a word, a kiss, a mere glance. “I chose you, and you promised. It ain’t me breakin’ that promise, ain’t me sayin’ I can’t do this no more -I-I-I’ve spent my goddamn career givin’ you all this, I gave up w-women for you, I gave up movies for you, when you come to me with what’s wrong I do my damndest to fix it. Now you won’t tell me nothin’ but orange curtains, and if I thought those’d fix us I’d be out the damn door right now, headed to find you the best in the country. I would, Laney, you know I would. I’ve given-“ he stops to gasp in a ragged breath, unsure of what part of himself he hasn’t poured into his Tink, entrusted to her once caring little hands, vulnerability poured like so much oil into her heart for safe keeping, his flaws and secrets tucked safely in the little nooks and crannies of her generous mind. “I’ve given-“

-So Damn Much.

“I’ve given you my life.” His Laney stares back at him entirely unmoved, her eyes hard and sharp with their ebony liner, the squish of her lips beneath his fingers barely dismantling her disdain for him, “And seven children from my body. I never said you weren’t a good man,Elvis, or that you're not generous, but we both know we don’t want to go toe to toe in measuring costs for twenty years in heaven. And I’m saying, -I can’t do it anymore.”

“Anymore?” it’s bothered him all these months, that word and he wonders what she thinks she’ll have after this, like they’re not so intertwined and connected that, like twins, they will forever feel what the other feels, want what the other wants, a string tied between them from countless, immeasurable amounts of time spent merged as one, “I ain’t ever not gonna be in you, woman, once mine -always mine. What’s there for ya after this, huh? Seven children -twenty years! -Goddamn I’m in you!” he shakes her at that and sees a spark of something he knows light up her eyes.

Elvis slides a hand from her shoulders, down over her sternum and feels her heaving intake of breath at the missed feeling of his hands on her, down past the tie at her waist, down to the planes of her firm belly, just a little swell and some soft skin that speaks of the souls they once made with their love. He presses his hand, large and warm and cupped to that precious sanctuary, kneading it, lifting it, weighing it just that little bit in his palm.

The little house is empty.

Elvis outright laughs at his mistake then, a booming, jarring laugh at having forgotten just who he’s got in his arms. He can feel Elaine’s violent shuddering along the entire length of him at the strange sound in their gloomy bedroom. Or maybe it’s from the dig of his fingertips at her womb, like he’ll claw inside it from the outside if he’s barred from plundering her the natural way.

Sweet Miss Phipps, Elvis thinks, with her hungry mind and starved body, so damn eager to be possessed, to be made good use of, to be pumped full and burdened with child again and again. He shoulda kept her swollen this past decade, prioritized her hunger over the tours and then, maybe then, she’d not have gotten notions like this.

“God gave me a remarkable woman.” he murmurs to himself in realization, his hands loosening their grip on her jaw to run the backs of his fingers against against the soft swells of her cheeks and Elaine’s heart speeds up in recognition of the shift in his demeanor, that thrumming resolution taking over his body behind her and helplessly her own responds to it.

As if she's another person, someone she would counsel to resist, to stay strong, Elaine feels her face turn towards the caress of his ringed fingers, towards the admiring touch that’s been her joy to wake to a million times, a touch that’s brought her purpose and comfort for twenty years. Her mouth falls open with a surrendering quiver and she makes no move to avert her mouth when his fingers sweep over her face and across her lips in a revenant mapping of his wife’s well known features. Her tongue darts out to taste even a sliver of his salt, she tastes metal instead as his ring glides by. It’s a heady feeling for anyone to realize Elvis Presley intends to fuck them, it’s entirely heightened by a familiar knowledge of his capabilities and a divinely witnessed right to his person.

It’s no villain staring down at Elaine, pressing himself to her -the distance has been necessary all these months to keep her anger and fear prominent, to remind her of the need for such dire action as divorce, the slightest, kindest of touches from him would dismantle that resolve, that garish image in her imagination. Now she’s close to the finish line, so close he’s fully panicking and she can feel the lightness of soon being free of her deceit. He’s no villain, he’s just a good man who has hurt her, who hurts himself more often and worse than how she’s hurting him. And soon they’ll be able to save each other. Just not today.

His hand slips to her throat and he kneads it, contemplating the give and delicacy of her pale flesh, and her responses, the languid subjugation of her body to his touches, just like he’d taught her in this very bed across from them.

She sees when his eyes flick up from her throat to their marriage bed and it’s like a million hummingbirds erupt in her belly in disbelief, in panic, in a frantic sort of hopeful missing.

“Elvis-“ she doesn’t know if she’s trying to warn him, trying to remind him of the wrongness of what he’s thinking, or if it’s a beg for him to ignore her sensibilities, to take her and make her that new little wifey with the carefree face and the mindless little head.

His face is dark and flushed like he gets when he’s aroused, his features seeming to get richer with the heightened intensity of his feelings and she can feel the sweat break out behind her through his silk shirt, slicking up her own back through the gauze of her dress. Elvis’ eyes drop back to her face, remaining there with a million intentions painted therein but not a single flicker of wavering shows.

Elaine had no reason to be as startled as she was when she felt his hands drop to her waist and spin her around, picking her up beneath the ribs with his astounding strength and tossing her like he would rag doll on his karate mats. She landed with a silly bounce amongst the bedding. It could have been romantic if he had any blue left to his irises as he looked down at her, sauntering to the foot of the bed himself and surveying her where she lay.

“Wife.” he greeted before taking hold of a footsie in each hand and spreading them apart for him to step between her legs.

"Elvis." A whisper as if saying his name any louder would unleash something they might both come to regret. As if it'd cause the dam she's locked her emotions in this entire ordeal will finally break. If she calls him husband it's over. He knows her inside and out, every crevice and dip in her body and soul has been mapped by him. The lie will come apart with a simple utterance of his title that he still has in this moment. The title he still has for three more weeks.

"Elaine." Her name comes out in a shaky breath that she can tell he's attempting to control, to rein in. Those blue eyes she's fallen in love with more and more as years had gone by are an inky void, pupils covering every inch they can and not just because of some pill he had to take or because she had watched him die right in front of her. Both their tongues dart out to wet lips and catch errant drops of sweat before she hears the *clink* of his belt.

That noise isn't new to her, the jangle and clanging of the metal a familiar sound. In the quiet of the room, in the quiet of the house? Of their home? It steals a breath from her lungs as sure as his body pressing down on her would have. The belt sounds like one of the heaviest ones he owns and a shiver unbidden rolls through her body as the cacophony of that gaudy belt gets louder and louder in her ears. Each breath takes effort, forcing air between the two of them that threatens to stifle any calming thought or action. A final puff of air- of his breath- warm and humid runs across her hair, forcing a loose strand of it to move.

Elaine doesn't. Elaine doesn't move an inch even as his belt finally comes off in a subdued flourish and a minor curse. Her eyes focus on the gaudy little harem lamp above them even as Elvis drops the belt ever so gently next to her body. It still clangs against the rings of his hand and its own golden links.

Sweaty and warm, his bejeweled hand moves to cup her cheek. "Mrs. Presley." he breathes her title into her lax mouth like it’s Holy Spirit anointed before slotting his mouth against hers with firm conviction in the rightness of his claim to her.

"Elvis."

It's not fair that all this force, all this passion, all this wanting that has -if she’s being honest- waned for her at times over the years is coming out of him only now, now when he thinks he’s lost her. Now that he’s more fool than he’s ever been. They’ve been alone too often in their marriage, if not separated by miles and oceans, separated by intent and interpretations of it.

“Still mine, for a few more months you’re still mine. Ain’t nothin’ you can do about it. You jus’ take it, jus’ take me, Laney”

And if she weren’t blinded herself by a heartache the proportions of which were only matched by losing a child, she might think every grip and clash of their bodies tells her he wants her every bit as bad as she wants him.

Still.

Mindless and hazy she waits for him to notice how every give and shudder of her own frame declares her want for him. He thinks he’s forcing the matter -but all he’s doing is giving her some false hope to curl around and cry over when the fissure finally splits apart.

I wanted you. But I thought I was alone in it, she thinks she hears them both saying it with every lewd squelch and pant.

It’s cruel confirmation of how entwined they’ve become, how much knowledge of the other they’ve collected over the years that he can make her writhe even under these circumstances, have her shattering beneath him effortlessly like older, kinder, gentler times. It’s made worse when she can feel him slow, stopping partway in that familiar way when he’s edging himself, intending to make her go round the loop once more, the familiarity of it makes her want sob, not from any hurt of the present, but at the notion this may be the last time she feels it -they both want this to last. And that unity is a mocking thing, all context considered.

He’s sweaty and she’s trembling, there’s so much warmth coming off his angry frame that she feels like curling inside the furnace and letting him make her forget anything beyond this physical connection that was never in doubt, the sheets are cold and dry and foreign against her back by comparison and she thinks of sleeping alone amongst them for the rest of her life. Elvis seems to sense this weakness of hers, one he wished he supported sooner, taken advantage of back when she looked so indestructible but was privately fraying at the seams, trying to hold the whole fairytale together. He shoulda done this sooner.

Old dog, new tricks, maybe, but Elvis has always been clever, opportunistic even, and he keeps his thrusts shallow and tantalizing as his wife gasps back to life beneath him and he keeps her close, his hands wound into her hair, hairy forearms beneath her shoulders, her ankle caught somewhere near his ear and his sweaty nose dripping onto her cheek.

“C’mon now Tink, you’ve thrown your fit,” he reasons to her in a coo that is underscored by the cajoling gait of his hips rocking into her, it has her clenching around those first few inches of him again, “ya made your point. Don’t -don’t do this to us baby. You c’mon back now. Ain’t anythin’ out there that’d satisfy you like us. Ain’t nobody else needs ya more dan hims does, satnin, don’t leave hims, baby.”

A good fuck, that’s all she needed, he’s sure of it. Or a couple of ‘em. He shoulda started dishing them out in Palm Springs but he’d been so angry when she filed and she’d been so cold. A couple of good fucks, that’ll solve it.

And to be heard. Which -she’s gotten that, all of America’s been hearing how he can’t keep his own wife.

Whatever bit of sentimentality he’s feeling right now, the sort that makes him wanna spill over how pretty she looks, vanishes in the angry tumult of his recalled humiliation. It fires him up instead and he snorts in his breath above her like an angry bull, perfectly capable of making her pay, making her see some sense, too. The longer she doesn’t reply the more this feeling surmounts the gentler ones and if Elvis were being honest, he knows denial had given way to rage and now bargaining and he’s full on panicking, trying to keep a woman who he shouldn’t have to chase.

She’s his wife.

“Elaine?” even to his own ears he sounds frantic and rough.

She is crying beneath him now, he thinks, that’s not all sweat making her face shine and her lips are taut like when she’s trying to hold it in and he wonders why the hell she’s the one crying. He feels like crying, he’s being left without an explanation or a pot to piss in. And all that while he’s still perfectly capable of proving he’s the best she’ll ever get. It’s like she’s agreeing with him when her hips start to move on their own accord, disagreeing with his teasing thrusts and instead she impales herself up on him, rough and sloppy to the rhythm of her fits of crying.

“I loved you.” Elaine sobs into his neck and he could wring hers for the confusion of it, for the way he just doesn’t get her after a lifetime of trying and how only this, this communion, this passion, this fucking is the only thing they make great sense at. Back when it had a purpose, back when it was to bring joy, to make a baby or five, and even now -to tie her to him somehow.

He folds her body viciously and plants his foot on the bed, thrusting so hard into her with all that wild abandon he knows she’d been jealous of him expending on his audience and not his family. “You greedy lil bitch, you love me,” he growls, “-what a revelation.”

‘Just an ounce of all that passion would go a long way, Elvis’ -he can hear the echo of her stupid little voice even now.

Passion? You want passion, Tink? He doesn’t think he’s ever been so passionately furious when he’s climaxed before ever in his life. For once it’s quite obvious he’s not ‘made love’, war maybe, but not love -and ain’t that another joke, he’d meant to make her love him again.

Elaine tears at his back with her fingernails and hears him snarling at her that he won’t stop, can’t stop, why can’t she stop this nonsense? She grips him harder, she seizes herself as he starts to slow, claws at his back with each vicious pump -seems they’ll both be shifting in their seats next time in the courtroom.

“Elaine?” he sounds so broken, like he does those times when they bring him back from heaven’s gates, it’s mumbled into her neck again like always but this time there’s no drugs to blame, not directly, not if she’s honest. She’s the one killing him. This little plan of hers to save him, just might finish him.

She prays God will be kind, prays he’ll keep her man alive long enough for her to finish this ugly business and restore his freedom, prays that maybe the hot slosh of spend coating her womb won’t be a waste. That she’ll have something of him left, just once more, please just one more. Something left of the man she married. Something to remind her of why they married and of what it was like to be happily married. Maybe just once more she wants to carry his entire world inside her.

“No, Elvis. I-I’m sorry, no.”

When he pulls away, it's not just sweat coating his lashes and his face. This plan of hers might just finish them both.

_______________________________

Every day in that courtroom is another layer of pride and image stripped away from Elvis and her and their perfect Southern Camelot. Every day is another headline for the papers with pictures of Elvis making a fool of himself in a way that can’t be smoothed over by anyone. Every day has cameras being shoved in Elaine’s face as she leaves with another hickey on her neck, bruising and blossoming in a way that looks grotesque when she sees it on the news later that night. The black outfits don’t help the contrast.

Every other day is being thrust against a bathroom stall’s wall with heels digging into Elvis’s back.

“E-Elaine-" He’ll stutter out, the feel of her clenching around his cock making it hard to focus or maybe it was the bite of her nails through his dress shirt. "You stop this. Been grovelin' 'n I deserve to have my wife listen."

"Ex. Wife." Elaine will huff out, words slurring into a quiet mewl as his cock brushes that one spot.

"Wife." An argument and a fact that he'll hammer home until the very last second he can. She never corrects him after the first time, too worried the knowledge would crush him to the point of everything finally giving out.

Jesse has taken to looking askance at her, worried and haunted little looks with fluttery hands at shoulder level that remind her of Elvis before he married her. If she had Elvis’ grit she’d ask her son if he had something to say and tell him to say it.

As it is she just pats his elegant hands, a man’s hands, she realizes, and thanks him profusely for his support, for being there at court with her day after day, missing practice and missing dates, letting a youthful spring and summer slip on by. They’ve been at this for close to a year.

“It’s nothin mama.” Jesse insists, almost offended at the idea he’d be anywhere but by her side.

________________________________

|| 5th, JUNE 1977 ||

When Ann makes her call, Elaine’s heart fills with all the old butterflies and girlish excitement of a past decade. They’ve kept in touch, of course they have, but between the touring, the marriages, and the unspoken acknowledgment of life falling apart from one and coming together for another, there’s less common ground to chat about compared to the days when Elaine used to share her husband and two little vixens named Thumper and Tink got to pick him apart in gleeful adoration like girls with their crush.

“Can I come by?” Thumper asks her, soft and kind but without the playful undercurrent that precipitated all her other visits.

“Well of course you can, you know you can.“ Elaine puzzles, finger worrying the wire in a nervous tick that has nothing to do with anticipation, dread pools in her belly instead.

There’s no children to greet Ann when she comes to the door, Marie at school and Jack away at his apprenticeship in California, Jesse has taken to spending his days in the studio when he’s not needed elsewhere, Daisy on the road and Rosalee in College, Ella married and attempting to assimilate with her in-laws. It feels like a ghost house compared to what Ann recalls. Maybe it’s just the passage of time but something terribly wrong and lonely strikes her at the lifelessness of the grand house, like it’s become haunted without a single death.

Unless it’s the death of the Presley’s as a whole. That would do it.

Elaine stands at the top of the stairs like old times, but there’s no gambit of children to wait for and so she speeds down the stairs at a breezy gait, smiling soft and subdued even as she refuses to be coy with her hug. She wraps Thumper up in a deep embrace and Ann squeezes her back, saying a million things at once by their clutching hold, murmuring little half sentences of condolences and “missed you’s”.

“What’d you come for?” Elaine asks her at the dining table after having supplied ice water and coasters for her guest. Ann turned down the saltines Elaine devoured with peculiar relish.

Always a straight shooter, Elaine. It makes Ann sigh and smooth out her skirt, clearing her voice to repay her candor with like. “I came to see what on earth was going on. To see if you were ok. And, I guess I came to see if it’s really happening. Nobody really thinks it’s happening. Or -I don’t know.”

“It’s happening.” Elaine replies with grim resignation.

“I don’t understand because Elvis says you’re the one divorcing and I always thought if one-“ Ann stops herself to scoff, “-I actually never thought either of you would ever divorce. You’re sincere?”

“It’s happening.” Elaine repeats, shielding her saltine chewing with a manicured hand. The action also flashes her still worn wedding band.

“So it’s not a threat?” Ann marvels, “When Roger insisted it was true, I thought it must be some drastic measure, something to get Elvis’ attention. His cooperation, you know, something to just-“

“-I’ve tried many drastic measures to gain that.” Elaine responds, “ all of them failed. I’d never ‘threaten’ something as horrible as this.“

“But…you’d do something…this horrible.” Ann murmurs, scared to play devil's advocate but utterly confused.

“You don’t know what I’ve been dealing with and, what you saw in the early days of residency, even the stuff on the film sets, it’s like aspirins compared to what he’s on now.”

“So it’s the drugs?” she whispers, heartsick, “You can’t handle being…around them? Around him?” she asks, then adds after careful consideration, “I have noticed you seem, seem still very tactile with him. I see the-“ she waves her finger at Elaine’s collarbones, “-I see the marks. Are you scared of him?”

It is unthinkable of Elvis. It really is, and Ann knows her face must show disbelief even when presented with her friend's mottled skin, and she hates herself for doubting a woman’s account, but if Elaine were to say she’s scared, Ann isn’t sure she’d be able to buy that. Not of Elvis. Even under the influence.

“Gosh no.” Elaine scoffs, a beat too late. “I just can’t do it anymore. All of it. Just the typical little things that build up in a marriage, I suppose.”

She tries to grin and Thumper thinks it’s the weakest acting she’s ever seen. Elaine more convincingly played a virgin in their home movies when deepthroating cucumbers for Elvis’ enjoyment.

“How’s Roger? Elaine asks, through with defending herself and Ann feels lost, adrift and unable to get near like she once did.

“Roger is fine.” Ann replies, “He sends his best. How is Ella?”

“Tell him I’m sorry they brought your name up, last week.” Elaine sighs, no apology offered to Thumper. They both know she’d be offended at an apology for being associated with them. “Ella is decidedly pregnant, that’s what she is.”

“Is she?” Thumper coos, followed by an alarmed quavering of hope and concern on her face. “Elaine, that’s-“ it is wonderful despite the circumstances but Elaine’s brittle posture suggests a to-do about it might sink her. “Congratulations, Grandma Tink.” Thumper settles for, daring to reach across the table top, seizing Elaine’s hand and squeezing its saltine dusted elegance.

“Thank you.” she whispers hoarsely, “She calls me everyday. Reminds me of you and me back when … her man he -he sounds sweet. Of course he’ll be gone awhile and so I’m all she has got to talk to about throwing up each morning and watching things swell.” None of this is how they expected or intended, Elvis and Elaine should both be hovering about and annoying their first grandchild before they’re even out in the world. Instead Ella’s perched down in Texas, no doubt terribly homesick, and Elaine’s talking about grandbabies like it’s another addition to the carport. “Tell Roger we’re sorry they brought your name up. Please tell him.”

“We don’t care.” Thumper insists and Elaine hopes that’s an accurate representation of Roger’s feelings. “He only asked-“ Ann stares out the front windows and down the drive towards the gates, summer colors brilliantly lush outside the house, she’s seen this view so many times it hurts, “-he asked that I make sure that…any…videos, and such, were disposed of.” she winces as she gets it out, once her manager, always her manager that man. “I wasn’t sure which of you to ask about them.”

Elaine stares at her intensely as if trying to read her soul. “I’ve most of them upstairs. Ruined by pregame juice mainly but the labels are sentimental so I’ve kept them.” Ann wonders if they’re ruined at all, and if they are she wonders if it’s by orange juice or by something far more lewd. Elvis never had great aim, “I’m sure Elvis has the ones we sent him under lock and key. Either way, you know neither of us would endanger you. You know that, Thumper.”

“Yes, yes I do.” Ann breathes, resting her chin in her hand, mournful at having insinuated otherwise.

“So you can tell Roger they’re not a worry.” Elaine prods with the shadow of an old smirk, “And you never know, in future it might not be so hard to track Naughty and I down at once.”

“Oh?” Ann squints at her in confusion.

“Mhmm.” Elaine just hums and shrugs her shoulders, the purple little mark on her clavicle shadowing with the movement. “Are you saying the night, Thumper?”

Ann leaves that evening more bewildered than when she arrived. “You were right, Roger,” she tells her husband as she settles beside him late that night, “she didn’t tell me a thing. Not really.”

___________________________

|| 9th, JUNE 1977 ||

“They’re gonna stop pressin’ ‘bout Thumper,” the murmur of his voice registering before the hand on her arm does as they both find themselves heading to the bathroom. It’s a flimsy sort of an excuse and one she’s beginning to think the papers and the news cameras see through.

“That’s good.” Her voice is a little too airy but today’s been a back and forth of yelling and excuses and all Elaine’s thinking about is how one of Daisy’s bandmates called her up from a payphone telling her that they almost couldn’t wake her for the show. The show she shouldn’t be doing but the show that Elaine let her do because she’s been playing being an adult for so long that who was she to argue against it?

“Told her we’d make sure it was- nothing came out. Roger was worried about it. For her image and for his, maybe.”

After all, it’s one thing to just be married to Ann-Margret, another thing entirely to be married to Thumper who’d rolled in the hay literally and figuratively with the Presleys at their lowest point. He’s never minded her continued friendship with them but that was before whispers of infidelity turned into whispers of sexual romps that were taped and stored or pictures that were taken and used as masturbatory material. He's never minded until Joe E, bless his soul, implied he might've seen copper locks in a video from Circle K that Elvis had shown a few of the members of the Mafia. Not that the court or anyone could find such a video.

The lock to the bathroom clicks behind Elvis and he turns around, raising an eyebrow. “Now hold on a minute, she- Thumper thought we’d- I’d never-”

“She didn’t. Roger was concerned. She knows us well enough, Elvis.” Still reassuring him as if they’re not going through what is turning out to be the messiest divorce the world has ever seen and likely will ever see. “I told her as much and she felt bad about asking.”

About the tapes and the photos, not so much about their divorce, Elaine reasons. As much as she wants to fault one of her oldest friends -it’s understandable. That was the purpose of the divorce. To come out of left field and appear to all concerned as if the faithful wife has finally grown unable to force herself to put up with Elvis Presley any more. The Colonel wouldn’t question that and had wanted it for years, if anyone were to ask him. Ann- their lil Thumper wouldn’t have been able to keep her plan a secret, her loyalty to Elvis and Elaine would have put her in a spot that Elaine didn’t dare want to shove her into. No, it was better for her to question the same as everyone else. Maybe if this went well they could all have a laugh about it in Hawaii. Or at the very least, Ann could forgive her.

“Don’t know why she didn’t jus’ ask me, ‘m the one who-'' Elvis's voice trails off when it hits him. Why would she ask the person who likely doesn’t hold most of them. Who’s fixin’ to lose everything in a divorce he desperately doesn’t want. “Least she knows now."

Elaine should agree with him, she should agree with him that at least Ann knows now, but she only knows part of the story. She only knows that the man she fell in love with on a movie set and his wife she maybe sometimes loves as more than a friend won’t damage her the way they’re damaging each other. How even Elaine had to joke that maybe it would be easy to run into them together in the future. Even during these hellish days in court they can’t escape each other’s orbits.

Pretending to not love and care for Elvis is an impossible task when what she’s doing is because her love and her care for a man who is sometimes brutish and stupid and selfish is so overwhelming it threatens to choke her.

At her silence, Elvis allows himself to crowd into her space, hands grasping at her hips ever so gently. "How's Rosalee?"

They're both too tired to fight in this bathroom, their energy having been spent outside of it for everything else. Asking about his favorite daughter, the one who's lived and breathed for her daddy for years feels safe.

"Not- she's not very good, Elvis. It's been- she hasn't really been the same." Since what happened. If things were different maybe she'd be taking the time to relax at home and maybe Daisy wouldn't have run off from guilt and - no. Elaine can't dwell on that even as her eyes start to water.

"It's hard on them." His tone isn't accusing, instead managing to just state a fact. This whole divorce has been hard on all of them. Even if Elaine's the one instigating everything he sees how unhealthy she looks. Feels how her body seems to be breaking down in ways that aren't as flashy as his body but the signs are there.

God knows he's not always been the most pious of men in action, that somehow all his good intentions and gospel songs haven’t managed to pull him back as he skidded down the road to hell, yet he’s got such a hankering to hide in the cleft of the rock once again. Acknowledge he’s a man, a failing man, a wayward husband, a prodigal son.

He finds himself reaching for Laney’s hand, palm up in a way she recognizes without a word. She clasps it without hesitation, in a time worn manner they’ve used before marriages, births, trips, shows, bedsides of sick and dying friends and here in this tiled little haven of the courthouse where they’re allowed to be as vulnerable and broken as their Heavenly Father knows them to be.

They bow their heads and Elvis finds himself begging his Almighty not for a return of fortunes but merely a cessation of tragedies. Elvis’ hand twitches, a pinky disentangling from Tink’s clasp and tickling her belly, like a presentment, like a benediction of nothing more than a heartbroken hunch on his part.

_____________________________

|| 29th, JULY 1977 ||

Elvis regrets answering the door to his penthouse the moment it swings open to reveal Johnny Cash with that sort of frantic and half crazed look in his eyes that Elvis thought he'd given up at the beginning of the decade. Wasn't that a hoot, the two of them swore up and down they had gotten clean for their women, the loves of their lives- the ones that God blessed them with to live out their present and future everlasting lives with- only to fall back into those old habits. What a cosmic joke.

"You're a fool, Presley." Short and to the point in a way that only Johnny can manage. Elvis exhales, wondering what exactly he's done to God to earn one of his oldest friends calling him a goddamn fool at the closest thing he's got to a home nowadays. His lil Schnucki comes to visit him, and Jesse's called once or twice but ever since that- ever since he realized how serious his Laney was about leaving him- Graceland ain't his home anymore.

"Ain't gonna say anythin'? No fight left in you?" The door to the penthouse is kicked in and if Elvis was any other person, or Johnny was any other person Elvis might've jumped. As it is, all he manages is a shrug as he pinches his nose. His head's achin' and his eyes hurt and all he wants to do is sleep. Take something to make every whisper floating in his head die down. An older brother telling him how he's ruined his life isn't remotely something he's got the patience for. Not after today's courtroom.

"Whatcha want me to say, John? Ya know everythin', so whatcha want me t'say, hm? Laney's leavin' me, takin' what she wants and leavin' me poorer than I met her."

Not monetarily, no, Elvis figures he could handle that better than the reality of his Laney, his Tink, the bjggest part of his soul other than his mama leaving him. Elaine's leaving him a man with barely any soul left in him to fight and go on. And he swears- lord he swears he felt something different about her recently. Something swelling that shouldn't.

"What I want'ya to say is that I'm gonna go back to my hotel and me and June are gonna tell each'otha that this whole thing's jus' you all been stubborn as a pair o'mules. Cause if it ain't, I gotta be real concerned June's gonna up and do the same thing on me." Johnny's always been someone who doesn't let Elvis get away with half the things everyone else does. Maybe it's because of how they started things together or how Johnny knows that half the reason he's got June is because of Elvis. Or maybe it was some misplaced need to be a brother to Elvis- to fill in a spot he figures his twin would've.

"June ain't gonna-" Elvis starts before Johnny uses the two inches he's got on Elvis to his advantage, staring the other man down as he cuts him off.

"Lane wouldn't've. Shouldn't've. Yet she is. This ain't- this ain't 'bout whatever damn excuse she's got. Can't be. There's somethin' you ain't tellin' everyone."

More and more Elvis has to laugh at his life and how everyone seems to think he's got some power over his Laney. That this whole divorce and the way he's embarrassing the both of them day after day is just another show. A snow job as the colonel would put it. This would be so much easier if that was the case. It isn't the case though, it isn't the case and Elvis feels his laughter escape him like the boom of a cannon.

"If there's anythin'- The whole damn country thinks I'm an idiot who can't keep his wife and here- I don't need you to be thinkin' 'm an idiot who don't know some grand plan his wife's cooked up. Ain't no plan. Ain't nothin' I ain't already groveled about and cried about in those hallowed halls. Laney jus' don't want me any more."

A silence settles between the two men at that revelation with Elvis breathing sounding so labored that even through the haze of his own drugs Johnny levels a look at his friend. It’s only after he’s sure that the other man won’t pass out and die on him that he actually speaks.

"You- You ain't me. She ain't Vivian. She- Elvis there ain't no way she's- that ain't it. You're both- you two can't keep your hands off each other even divorcin'. She- she still wants ya.”

“She wants my cock, John. Wants my money. Wants my house. My mama’s house. Know I said it was hers the moment we got hitched but- it wasn’t ever supposed to be hers. It’s- It’s ours.” Elvis isn’t one to break down, not in front of certain people and Johnny might be one of his friends that are near and dear to him but he doesn’t want to lose it in front of him. Doesn’t want to cry and blubber like he has been in the courtroom, pleading and begging for Elaine to just see sense. “We don’t- She don’t love me any more. T-That’s all there is to it. No grand con-spear-ah-see. Jus’ my wife wantin’ to be my ex-wife. Don’t know if I blame her. I ain’t-”

“You been a better husband than I was. Better husband than a lotta men. If- if 'Lane wanted to leave ya? She'd have done it back in the 60s. When you were carryin' on wit' what's her name- Swedish girl- fire hair. But she went 'n made friends wit' her. That woman's supposed to be yours till Kingdom Come 'n beyond. This doesn't make a single lick of sense and ya know it!"

One would think that nothing could echo in this penthouse and yet somehow Johnny's booming yell, filled with bass that Elvis is sure have made men greater than him bend and cower, echoes and reverberates in his ears. A stark reminder that Elaine and him seem to affect everyone around them for better or worse. Elvis's heart pumps a little harder as he tries to wrap his aching head around everything for what feels like the millionth time.

"I-I know it don't. This- you know these things don't take this long, John. I've-I been draggin' this out. Stickin' my damn heels in the mud. Anythin' to get her to come back, to see what- anythin' to not lose her. And she's jus'- ain't none of it workin'. Daisy up'n'ran off, Rosalee jus' wants me to be near her mama or her mama near me. Jesse's lookin'-"

"That what it is? Her doing it for the kids?” Johnny’s question has him tilting his head, not entirely unlike the millions of dogs Elvis’s children have had over the years. He ought to be offended Johnny cut him off so easily and without a care in the world and yet Johnny’s one of the few people he’d let do that. “She’s doin’ this for your kids.”

For once, Elvis has to look at Johnny and guess at what he means whether it’s because the man is too stunned to put it into words or because he doesn’t want to even entertain the idea, Elvis doesn’t know. He can hear his heartbeat going a bit too and a bit too hard in his ears as he answers.

“Ya mean- have i been failin’ them too? Have a been as bad of a father to ‘em as ‘ve been a bad husband?” The laugh that leaves Elvis sounds more like a sob than anything else. Johnny purses his lips even as he listens. "Ya mean how I found out I'm havin' a grandbaby through Laney? Or how Daisy's worse than you’n’I together on whatever she's takin'? Or how my boys acted like superheroes for their sister? How my lil Schnucki had- how I had to find that out from the Harrisons and my boys? ‘N I wasn’t there to blow those fools’ heads clean off their necks?”

Johnny realizes right then he’s made a mistake coming here. Or maybe just made a mistake pressing this point like it’s honestly any of his damn business. “You haven’t-”

Elvis cuts him off with a wave of his hand as he steps away, trying to feel less like a caged animal. “That’s right, I haven’t. I haven’t, John. Haven’t been there, haven’t given ‘em what they need. I had one job. Take care of all of ‘em and love ‘em. Failed so- I don’t blame her, John. I- I love her. Ya know I do. You know this sorta love but I can’t, I can’t make her love me again. S-she ain’t gonna love me again. Not the way she has.” His breath comes in short pants as his hand shakes and his leg jitters like he’s a man twenty years and nearly ten children younger. “I tried fixin’ this. The kids- the kids tried fixin’ this. But they can’t- can’t get through to her, these days! They’re all beggin’ and cryin’ and torn up and the Tink I know wouldn’t’ve lasted a week after causin’ such hurt to our babies. Well this new edition of her’s done made it close to a year.”

Johnny opens his mouth to speak only for Elvis to hold up a finger and force himself to take a deep breath, like Laney told him to those times after she thumped his heart back to life for him. Laney’d get what she wants if he died but he’s got a grandbaby he’s gotta see. Wants to try and see. “A year. Been nearly a year and it ain’t workin’. Nothin’- been tryin’ to remind her’ve what we had. What I give t’her. It-” Elvis starts to trail off, the fight that Johnny had put inside him slowly deflating till all he’s left with is the shell of a man who’s bone tired. Bone tired and losing everything no matter what fight he puts up. His shoulders slump.

Watching someone who’s as larger than life as Elvis Presley seemingly fold in on himself feels wrong in Johnny’s mind, but it gives him the answer he needs. It gives him the answer he’s looking for when it comes to just what’s going on with this whole divorce and what’s going on with Elaine and Elvis. His legs cross over to where Elvis is in only a few steps and without missing a beat, his arm wraps around Elvis’s shoulder. Elvis might not be his brother in blood but they’ve gone through enough that- that he wouldn’t leave him out in the cold without a hint of comfort.

“You gotta make peace wit’ it, then. Gotta- The Lord ain’t gonna want to see the two of ya fightin’ till ya keel over and die. Gotta give- If what she wants is to not be your wife any more, ya gotta give it to her. Just to make peace.” His voice isn’t much louder than a low rumble and yet Elvis can hear him clear as day.

“She won’t be my Laney any more. Won’t be my Tink.” A response as if he's a child being denied his favorite toy. Johnny doesn't stop himself from huffing out a laugh.

"But she'll still be Elaine, your children's mama. It ain't like you won't ever see her, EP." But that’s not the problem, that’s never been the problem and from the way Johnny’s looking at him, he knows that. “But ya gotta- it’s not doin’ either of ya a bit o’good to be draggin’ it on and on. Not after everythin’. Been livin’ ‘part for so long-” Johnny trails off, hand moving to rub at his eyes as he shakes his head. “Nothin’ you’ve done’s fixed it. Might not be meant to be fixed in those ways.”

“I-I- I don’t have anythin’ to fall on, John. I leave her it’s jus’ me and-” The medicine I got coursin’ through me, is what he should say. “I don’t know how to not be her husband.”

A silence settles over the two of them, punctuated only by Elvis’s heavy breaths and Johnny’s sharp and quick ones until Johnny settles himself against the wall, crossing his arms and raising his leg to press against it.

“Never said ya had to stop actin’ like you were.”

__________________________________

|| 6th, AUGUST 1977 ||

It’s a supreme irony that after a year of wishing for a cessation of that old stubbornness, that bitter pride of his, when such submission comes in the form of a mute and sullen husband opposite in the courtroom, Elaine feels her heart hammer in her chest, bewildered and terrified as he concedes one settlement after another in quick session.

Jesse gasps beside her at the change, even looks ready to beg her to reconsider her greediness as 90% gets handed over without a hint of the raging qualms her opposition has been voicing for five months.

Only Colonel Parker appears scared as shit, angrily grabbing at Elvis’ limp arm and trying to interrupt his directions with the lawyers. Each new verdict gets waved through by a lazy flick of a bejeweled hand and Elaine thinks the repetition of the gavel granting her all she wants could make for a decent backbeat in the studio.

After an agreement to give up 90% of his catalog, Elaine and Jesse both share a look, heartbroken and relieved that he’s really, truly, finally given up.

It’s obvious to all that it’s a bodily wearing out, Elvis looks awful and no amount of jewelry or eyeliner or Snow Job paraphernalia can hide the fact Elaine’s husband is a sick man. Even the papers who’ve found him easy pickings for ridicule and blame suddenly find some heart for his obvious suffering, even if the compassion is wedged between headlines about his expanding waistline and her latest money grab.

“What’s with you?” she demands and this time it’s her hand around his wrist, the unsteady clop of his boots following her heels after the click of the bathroom latch. When she drops his wrist his gold studded hand lands heavily by his thigh, he makes no move to crowd her, to grip her hair and kiss her like old times. “What was all that about?” she finds herself angry instead of relieved, mimics his lazy hand waves and scoffs in his face. She knew and planned on this day coming, but it doesn’t make it less unsettling as she takes in the victory of her spirit over his. He’s her man after all, her daddy and her provider, tough and proud and one of a kind and she’s beat him at the game of wills. She can feel her eyes pooling and angrily runs a hand under her nose as he stares at her with a blank, droopy expression.

“M’tryin’ to make peace.” Elvis shrugs, it was Johnny’s advice. Whatever it took, even if it meant giving in, he’s the man of their house and he’s here to make peace. Maybe if they end on a kind note he’ll be thought of, invited into the inner circle even even, by the time Ella pops out their grandbaby. “Never cared about the fuckin’ catalogue Tink, was only ever about buyin’ time to convince you to stay.”

The colonel’s panic at this latest settlement, one that finished the final prying open of his carefully constructed facade, one that’s exposed him to years of investigations, jail time maybe -though few outside of Elaine, Mr. Corleone and the FBI know that yet- is like sipping a mojito after a long day baking in the sun for Elaine.

Two decades of her saying he wasn’t right and Vernon telling her to go mind the carpet bill, change a diaper, redo a curl.

It should be refreshing, it should be a tonic to the way she feels shaky most mornings and ravenous in the evenings. Instead she finds herself trembling and laying an icy hand to Elvis’ burning forehead, registering the unnatural heat even in this chilled bathroom. It’s not just the stupid velvet coat, one blue eye is far more dilated than the other now she’s pulled his glasses down. He flinches from it, whether from the brightness of the bare bulbs or her touch, she isn’t sure.

“What’ve they got you on?” she sounds like a frog, throat all constricted and voice thin. She cares, she still cares so much and it could’ve been just yesterday she folded her handsome young groom into that bathtub in Germany and held him through the shakes. She wishes she could ask him ‘why do you always waste my love?’ But somehow, even after all her cruelty, that feels a little mean. “Baby, talk to me, what’s -“

Elvis grabs her hand, gently this time and he folds it with her other in both of his, a tan, sparkly little cage, she wonders how long it’ll take him before he pulls his wedding band off. Will he discard it before they make it out of the courthouse today? “Don’t you fret yourself, lil mama, those days are over.” he rumbles as he squeezes her hands and she wonders if he means days of fretting or drugs, they coincide often enough, “You jus’ take care of y’self, ok?” he sucks in a trembling breath and his glasses pinch between her fingers in his squeeze, “Without me there to nag ya bout it I-I -you take care of y’self.”

“Oh Elvis-'' she whimpers, moving closer, wanting to beg for some forgiveness, all clever plans and well timed revelations beginning to fray as she watches him rally his old magnanimity despite his grief.

_____________________________

|| 28th, SEPTEMBER 1977 || >>

He’s not alone in this concern, Elaine doesn’t know if she has Jesse or Daisy to blame for the way Marlon shows up in Memphis like that Yankee son of a bitch belongs that land bound. There’s never been a reason to see Brando except on one coast or another and it’s jarring for Elaine, seeing him take up space that’s so uniquely Elvis’ property, even if it’s under her name.

To see him in her home. Her true home.

She’s no good at hiding her nerves or the exhausted paranoia of wondering how Elvis will react when he hears of this visit. Marlon reads her like a book and leans against her kitchen counter, acting like Mary isn’t throwing them a million side eyes over the biscuit batter, and asks after her well being.

“Pretty terrible, thanks. And you?” she shrugs, wringing out a dish towel over and over. She doesn’t know when she became so fidgety, nowadays it seems she’s always betraying her nerves with restless hands and she never had that trouble before. Always a baby to hold if she needed the excuse, she guesses.

Her last baby is nine years old. And so she wrings out her dish towels and stares back at an old lover with the weary openness of a woman who doesn’t really care anymore. Elvis has been her one goal, and saving him is killing her as effectively as it is him. Those last days she wasn’t sure he was going to keep making it into the courtroom, shifting in his chair not from her nails furrows but from the repeated shots in his rump. The ones that have killed him a few times over.

Jesse made a visit to him in Vegas. Elaine doesn’t know what he said but her boy has barely spoken since. She asked her son how his father was, quite aware she doesn’t know the particulars from his fevered attentions in the handicapped bathroom of the Santa Monica courthouse. Her man would crawl out of his grave for the chance to make love one last time, it’s not a good gauge. Jesse said he keeps the curtains closed constantly. That he’s not letting anyone up. Charlie barely let Jesse up. His eyes are bad, so bad the curtains stay closed, otherwise Jesse couldn’t tell, couldn’t get a good look at him. He didn’t stay for the concert. Cissy says his voice has held up this time, at least.

“Pretty terrible.” She tells Marlon, because he’s always been more friend than lover, and that’s why he’s in Memphis when it’s a fool's errand anyway.

For all Marlon will speak his mind about this that and the other on things he cares about- yet God does he *care* about Elaine and so he bites his tongue at the first thought that pops into his head. *You've been pretty terrible for years and now you decided to care and do something about it*.

Instead: "You look terrible."

Which is a gross oversimplification of his feelings, but Elaine doesn't watch as his eyes slide over her pale and wan cheeks that look thinner than he's ever seen them. She doesn't watch how his eyes drift downward to breasts that are pressing against the dress she's wearing.

They remind him of when she was pregnant with Marie. They remind him of her breasts when she cried out beneath him against her tiki bar. If he closes his eyes he can picture them bouncing in front of his face, begging for him to bury his face in them. The boy- her oldest boy was right. Marlon doesn't even need to look at her stomach and yet some sick twisted masochistic tendency compels him to as if that'll change things.

It's small. Smaller than he figures any of her bumps have been and yet it's there. Mocking and growing at its own pace.

Proof that Elaine Phipps wants to remain Elaine Presley till one of them dies and maybe even beyond. Marlon can't help the way he exhales through his nose, unable to look away even as Elaine talks,

"Marlon, are you even listening?"

No. But he needs to.

"Mind wandered off, you know how I get, Elaine." He straightens up and tries to stay alert, “So, all this really fixed things for ya, eh?” he quips sardonically and she smiles, rolls her eyes, fully aware he’s not mocking her, he’s mocking the hopelessness of it ever working.

“Yeah. It’s all coming up roses.” she snarks.

“I uh-“ he stipples his fingers on the counter and weighs his next move, “-I heard that Colonel Parker’s recently landed in some seriously hot water. Something about the audits during the divorce and how certain things don’t match up. Got it from the papers, you know how long they stretch a few vague facts. I had to read two whole pages to get ‘fraud’ and ‘debts’ out of them. Anyways, I thought you’d find that nice -hot water, all that.”

“So hot it’ll boil his coat of lies right off with any luck.” Elaine seethes and her sudden passion takes Marlon by surprise. Stirs an old appreciation for just how much verve is always bubbling beneath her doll-like exterior. His fingers itch to let out the excess in a gush around his fingers. “Illegal alien.” She expounds, warming to her argument in the way of someone long overdue a listen, “Would you believe it? All those endless homebound tours -runing Elvis into the ground on the same circuit simply because that greedy fool couldn’t tag along. Couldn’t step outside the country. Always wondered why he never crashed our time in Germany, knew he would if could. Fake, heartless, toad.”

“Fuck him.” Marlon agrees vehemently and Elaine looks up with the same appreciative eyes of a decade past when she got no arguments from him, unlike all the menfolk surrounding her most days. Marlon abides by a simple rule: if it pisses Elaine Presley off, he needs no further research to say it ain’t shit.

“Yes, well, I’ll leave that to the Justice Department, I’ve done my bit.” Elaine sighs, her little victory crow short lived and even with his bias for the unattached Miss Phipps, Marlon can see how hollow her achievements are without Elvis to pat her pretty head for them. “It’s been weeks and I- I’m afraid he’s angry Marlon.” they’re not talking of the Colonel now, Marlon can tell by her love-sick face, “I knew he would be, with the divorce and probably with framing Parker but -he was so kind that day. So kind I thought he might’ve forgiven or just, I don’t know but now, now he won’t even answer my calls. Marie hasn’t gotten through either and -it’s not like him, Marlon, it’s not.”

“You got something pressing to tell him?” Brando asks and doesn’t even bother to hide the way his eyes flick back over her ripening form, pondering if her boy hadn’t been silly after all, going on about her not noticing. If he were a woman, a pretty woman like Elaine still is, Marlon would be weighing those growing tits each day with pride and mesmerization -but then again, Elaine’s had more on her mind than appreciating her own assets like a horny old star who never learned to aim for his own league.

“No I only wanted to-” she bites her lip as if unsure or else what she wants is unspeakably optimistic for a woman who just threw it all away. “I missed his voice.”

_______________________________

<<< || 16th, AUGUST 1977 ||

The knock at the door startled them both. Elvis pulled his back from it and faced it like he was gonna defend his wife from the mob he suspected was outside. Old habits die hard.

“Y’all?” Jesse yelled through the thick wood, “There’s half the city crowdin’ outside, there’s not gonna be a path to squeeze through soon.”

“Yeah alright son, thank you.” Elvis cleared his throat as he dropped her hands, straightening his posture fully. “You ready?” he asked dully, eager to get the worst moment of his life over.

“I gue- I- yes.” she stumbled over her meaning and smoothed out her black jacket.

"Daddy?" Jesse's voice was heard over the wood once more and both Elaine and Elvis took matching deep breaths, sweat droplets falling on Elvis’s eyes with a wince.

It's not pity that had Elaine putting the glasses back on Elvis’s eyes, her fingertips brushing against his temples in a simple gesture she's done a million times before. No, it's her last hurrah as his wife, her last action as his wife. They may have signed the papers within the past hour and legally she may be Elaine Phipps once more but until they walk out of this bathroom and this courthouse she was Elaine Presley, wife of Elvis Presley. A low hum reverbated against her chest before she pulled away, a soft smile across her lips.

"There there, Mopey, all better," she whispered in the sort of tone she only uses for the children when bandaging a hurt. "Let's- let's go face the music."

“Got me more nervous than any curtain I’ve been behind,” he joked even as it falls flat and his breath comes quicker and quicker. This was the beginning of their new life as separate entities. As an ex-husband and an ex-wife.

The door wasn’t that heavy when he shut it earlier and yet it felt as if someone had remade it out of concrete as Elvis tried to push it open once the lock clicked open. He could already see the flashing bulbs from the cameras and the press of the mass of people outside waiting for them. They were no stranger to crowds but this one was one none of them wanted to face. A look was exchanged between the three of them as their shoes clicked against the floor of the courthouse, a silent acknowledgement to try and get to their waiting cars as soon as possible.

"Jess! Mama!" Elvis and Elaine looked up through the mob of people as they pushed and pulled at each other trying to catch a glimpse of the former couple with their oldest son. They found themselves half blinded by flashes of cameras and the sun's own light, trying to find the source of the bellowed words. "We're over heyer!"

Jack then. Jack who was growing more and more into Elvis’s twin if not in bulk but in charm and whose shout sounds something like Sargent Presley’s in the army. Elaine looked at Elvis, biting her lip as she did.

"Soundin’ more like me everyday." Elvis commented as if he was commenting on the weather. It had never been hard to talk to Elaine. Yet in this moment, Elvis found himself at a loss for words. And from the way Elaine was looking at him, the feeling was mutual. Matching pink tongues darted out to wet dry lips and Elvis opened his mouth, his arm outstretched as if he was going to grab at Elaine's only for his oldest son to pop up between them, taking Elaine's arm without a second thought.

"I've got you mama. I gotcha, let's go."

The look he leveled at Elvis made every single moment in this courtroom for the past five months seem like child's play. To have his oldest son look at him like he did with any suitor that tried to come Elaine’s way, hurt. But that was his life now wasn't it? That's Elvis Presley’s life without Elaine Phipps. That's Elaine Phipps's life without Elvis Presley, protected only by her sons and her daughters from a man she once called husband. The man she once loved with every fiber of her being or so Elvis thought. Make peace with it, Johnny said. Make peace with her, Johnny said. Elvis didn't think that it would feel like this.

“I know you do, Jesse. Let me say goodbye to your father.” Elaine said as softly as she could in order to avoid the prying ears of every journalist between here and her car. “Jack and your siblings aren’t going anywhere. Not in this crowd. Even if Jack’d run them over to protect me.”

A smile unbidden crossed Elvis’s lips at the joke between their eldest and Elaine. She wasn’t wrong, but that was his boys and their love for their mother in a nutshell, wasn’t it? Capable of murder to protect her the same as him. She- she would be alright even if- even if what he suspected to be true was.

“Jack drove us here, all of us.” She explained as her eyes flitted across his form one last time to check for imperfections and for signs he might be needing anything. “I’ll make sure Ella calls you about-”

“It’s fine, Elaine. Made my bed, gotta lie in it now.” His eyes scanned across the crowd, even as he winced from the light of the sun and the flashes even through his sunglasses, finally settling on his car with Colonel Parker in the passenger seat, waiting for Elvis with a look of pure displeasure and mild panic on his face. “Gotta get him and I outta here ‘fore I give him a heart attack.”

Elaine’s face hardened at the words, and Elvis, in a fit of nostalgic responsibility for her happiness, moved to place a soft kiss against her cheek, squeezing at her hands as he did.

“S’been the joy of my life knowin’ you, Miss Phipps.”

🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀

If you’d like to be tagged in this particular series please drop a note below. 🌹

@eliseinmemphis

@ab4eva

@foreverdolly

@powerofelvis

@crash-and-cure

@elvisabutler

@heartbrake-hotel

@stylespresleyhearted

@thatbanditqueen

@crazymadpassionatelove

@myradiaz

@ash-omalley

@arianatheangelgirl

@steph-speaks

@burningloverdoll

@angelface-555

@lookingforrainbows

@missmaywemeetagain

@coolgirl462

@kingdomforapony

@18lkpeters

@richardslady121

@from-memphis-with-love

@lillypink

@artlover8992

@pennyroyalcreep

@notstefaniepresley

@ellie-24

@renaissingle

@waiting4brucewayne2adoptme

@presleyenterprise

@marriedtopresley

@ashtag2887

@dkayfixates

@vampireindistress

@ashtag6887

@i-r-i-n-a-a

@obsessedvibee

@peskybedtime

@goth-cowgirl-03

@stephthestallion

@fav-fanficssss

@loving-elvis

@honeyorangess

@soloangel

@xenaspace3-blog

@60svintage

[toomanyfandoms11]

Background on the Tim hiring Deathstroke thing in this https://www.tumblr.com/toomanyfandoms11/749474013724721152/toomanyfandoms

In my little universe that I like to maladaptive daydream in basically, Janet Drake, Slade Wilson, and Wade Wilson are all siblings.

Janet is the oldest child, and thefore according to family tradition the only child that cannot legally be linked to any crime (plz ask me about the Drake family lore. Also, Jack was the one killed by Captain Boomerang ).

Slade and Wade are twins, (their father had a sense of humor and their mother was too out of it to complain.) and bear the title of murder uncles.

Getting to the Joker bit: when Jason was being killed by the Joker, Tim was on a “family holiday”(training trip) to upstate New York (X-Mansion, most of the X-Men were too afraid to ask about the 10 year old that followed Deadpool around except for Wolverine, who taught him how to skin a moose, and Madelyne Pryor for some reason) and as a result did not learn about his death until about a month or so after it happened.

When Tim learned about his death he decided to wait a bit for Batman to settle down, thinking that he just needed to get the anger stage of grief out of the way and then he would go to therapy like a normal person. Tim was the sort of kid that would read the picture books about getting over grief when he was waiting in the doctors office.

Unfortunately, there were no picture books about superhero phycology. After about few months, Batman showing no signs of stopping and expressing his grief like a normal person, Nightwing finding out about Jason’s death through a newspaper tabloid and the two of them having an argument on top of the Gcpd station that was live-streamed by anyone with a phone and became headline news for a week, Tim decided to take matters into his own hands and hire his current favorite uncle (Wade had recently given him a pair of socks as a gift instead of the forensics book he wanted) and ask him politely (blackmail him with the time Slade had given him coffee while babysitting) to kill the Joker, “Pretty please Uncle Slade? I’ll make you cookies!”

Slade accepted this offer and went (with no small amount of glee/relief) to finally put a bullet through that waste of carbon’s skull. But, alas, Paul Verlaine (King of Assassins, Executive in the Port Mafia, Ex-Titans member and former boyfriend of Nightwing) got there first. After this, Tim’s story goes the route you would expect (with a twist~). After one too many times of Batman putting criminals in the ICU instead of talking to a therapist, Tim decides enough is enough and goes to Nightwings apartment in Bludhaven to ask him to arrange an intervention for Batman with the Justice League, or he will release Batman and Nightwings identity’s to the public.

Dick Grayson, after hearing this, dose not go “This seems like Bruce’s problem” and drop him off at the Batcave. He instead goes “who’s sassy lost child is this”, has the Bat-adoption gene arise for the first time, and decides that he will adopt this child who ran around Gotham alone stalking Batman and Robin, or die trying.

Janet, after talking with the man who drove her child back from Bludhaven at 4:30 am, is slightly leaning towards the second option, but she knows that A. Jack is a terrible father, and while she tries her best, she is also not winning mom of the year anytime soon and B. Shared custody is a thing.

And so, after 3 sword fights (one for each Drake-Wilson sibling), 5 panicked calls to Alfred about “Holy frick I’m turning into Bruce”, many late nights studying “how do I parent a 10 year old”, 1 realization of “holy **** I really do want to be a parent”, and a very well paid lawyer ( Matt Murdock), Dick Grayson becomes the legal parent of a one Timothy Drake, with the media explanation (that is true, but deleteing the superhero parts) being that Janet and Jack realized that they could not be the parents the Tim deserved to have, and that Dick Grayson could. (They got alternating weekends and cultural holidays (Jack is Chinese).

After a month or so, Dick takes Tim to meet Bruce (Dick did the intervention thing, it took the combined forces of Superman, Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Alfred, and Catwoman to get him to go to therapy.) and in the meeting Tim cheerfully reveals that A. He had figured out Batman and Robins secret identities when he was 9 (He went to a gala that the Wayne’s were at, and Dick did a quadruple somersault off of a chandelier that Tim remembered Nightwing doing) and B. He once hacked into Shield on accident when he was looking for a website that had a show he liked on it

[rose-tea-and-strawberries]

Heya 👋

I discovered your account a few weeks ago and I fell in love with your twisted wonderland x house of mouse AU and I also started posting about this AU merged with my Twisted Wonderland AU 😊

Alas here is my question

I'm a huge jungle book fan, so I'm curious how they see Yuu in your AU

Hope you have a wonderful day/night 😊

I LOVE JUNGLE BOOK SO MUCH - it's actually one of the only instances where I like the movie more than the book (mainly because the books are super depressing - though it is lowkey funny how book!Shere Khan has the exact same death as Mufasa)

So I'm setting the HoM!AU as post-Shere Khan's defeat and pre-Mowgli going to the man village.

Literally all of them ship Yuu with any Savanaclaw Student

So I've said it before but Mowgli's family - Raksha, Rama and his brothers - absolutely adore Jack. They all like to roughhouse with him it's adorable. I personally headcanon that he's twisted from Mowgli's wolf father which is why he's not as villainous as his peers and also why he has a strong sense of justice - plus why he's close to his younger siblings.

Mowgli and Yuu are best friends. He and his brothers welcome her to the pack the same way they welcomed Mowgli and Jack. Raksha's mother instincts are blaring when she sees her so she joins the other animal Disney mums like Sarabi, Duchess and Mama Jumbo in doting on her with maternal affection.

Bagheera (Disney's OG good kitty before Simba - I literally love him so much he has my heart) is like Yuu's cool uncle. He is such a dad (even though his first instinct was to eat baby!Mowgli when he first saw him), the moment he sees Yuu he's like 'must protect'. Seing a mancub that he wouldn't get grey fur babysitting is such a relief and he spends most of his time just chatting with her and preventing Baloo and the rest of his cast from corrupting her. I have a twst!Bagheera OC that Yuu befriends and he's like this cool senior that warns her of dangers of possible predators.

Baloo is ecstatic to have another mancub to impart his wisdom onto :D (lowkey think that he would be friends with Timon and Pumbaa since they have similar life philosophies of taking it easy and stuff). Yuu thinks of him similarly to how she thinks of Coach Vargas - fun uncle who means well and she probably shouldn't get any advice from.

Kaa tried to eat her when he first met her but was then stopped by Minnie and Bagheera. Yuu's learned her lesson with Jamil when it comes to staring into the eyes of a snake. He and Sir Hiss are snarky snake besties and get snek cuddles around her neck privileges.

Shere Khan with Yuu is: No mancub allowed *sees Yuu* one mancub allowed. He's like a platonic tsundere where he pretends he doesn't like her but still loves it when she gives him head scritches.

I feel like Shere Khan has a love hate relationship with Scar. Tigers are actually stronger than lions are and have been known to beat them in fights even though Scar is, by twst lore and probably also Disney lore, a more important figure and much above SK in the villain pecking order so there would also be that whole fighting instinct over the hierarchy between them. This fighting instinct is also included in the whole Custody Battle™ because they both keep on making jabs at the other's expense (Shere Khan likes to say that Yuu deserves better than some lion whenever Scar is near him). The two of them are also best friends - it's hilarious. It's also funny to watch them gripe about Tigger and Prince John who they both consider the embarrassments of their species.

The elephants are cool. They hang out with the other Disney elephants (like the ones in Dumbo and Lion King). I forgot his name but that baby elephant that Mowgli befriends is totally bffs with Dumbo and the two of them like to play with Yuu and Mowgli together.

[14buddy22]

Lanterns

WC: 5.4K // Masterlist

A/N: This was a request, but I’m choosing to leave them anonymous. Fight me.

Warnings: Haley’s death, Shooting, Death, Minor Character Death!, Pregnancy, INFANT LOSS, funerals, tiny casket, this is sad, with a twist of fluff. Chinese Lanterns, major mourning and grief. 

Being at the BAU came with a lot of good things, just as it came with it’s fair share of bad. But, in your life right now, you were living on a trail of good things. You met Aaron Hotchner at the BAU. He was your unit chief, however over time, you slowly became his best friend, his girlfriend, his fiance, and now you were his wife of a year.

Being with Aaron meant a lot. It meant you weren’t always his partner in the field, he was very over protective of you. He made sure you always ate food during a case, just as he would let you cuddle into him in the hotel room at night so you’d get the best sleep.

It also meant that you were his outlet just as he was yours. If he was getting overwhelmed, he’d ask to talk to you in his office and he would be on the verge of tears by how stressed out he was, and you were there to just calm him down and hold him if he did ended up crying.

You had a built in best friend at work when you got married. It was amazing. How many people could say that the person they work with is the love of their life. Not to mention that you also got a bonus son out of it. Jack was amazing.

You knew Jack since the day he was born. You had been working with the BAU for a year before he was born. You helped plan out Haley’s babyshower. It’s funny how things would work out almost 10 years later. When Aaron and Haley got divorced, you let Aaron come stay in your apartment as you had extra space that you weren’t using. You didn’t think anything would ever happen, that’s why when you offered for him to move in with you, he agreed to it, knowing that you had a boyfriend, and that eventually both of you would hae to sell the place and move on with your lives.

Except, what happened over time is that the longer you and Aaron became roommates, the more and more chances you had to fall in love with him, and for him to fall in love with you. As you had multiple conversations on what your relationship with entail, he was finally ready to go public.

Jack was very good with you. You were his favorite BAU auntie. You and him had always been close, and you think that’s because you were Aaron’s best friend. When Aaron had a budget meeting and he was with Jack, you watched him. If Haley brought Jack into the BAU, she always stopped at your desk, asking you to watch him so she could talk to Aaron.

However, just when you were about to go public with your relationship, Foyet happened. You watched how it tore Aaron apart. He was way more stressed out, as he should have been. Just then, when you thought you’d be in the safe space of your apartment, Foyet got to Aaron. You were going to go home with him, but you promised a girls night with Penelope, Emily, and JJ, thus you all decided to stay in the confines of Penelope’s apartment.

When you saw the puddle of blood in your apartment, your heart immediately dropped into your stomach. You saw the bullet in the wall, you knew that it was Aaron’s height. You were scared, not knowing where he was, if he was alive.

After finding him in the hospital, you watched the worst thing happen to him. He had to watch his son and his ex-wife go into protective custody. He wasn’t going to be in touch with his son for God knows how long. The weeks that came after were terrible, he didn’t want to do anything. Well, he did, but he knew he couldn’t give up. He wanted his son back in his life, unharmed, he wanted the same for his ex-wife. She didn’t deserve this, neither did his son.

You spent a lot of nights crying with Aaron. He didn’t show emotion with the team around, but for you, the flood gates broke lose. He could be vulnerable in front of you. You were glad you were in his life. You were glad he had someone. You wanted Jack back safe and sound. You wanted Haley back safe and sound.

So when the heinous day came around, it happened when you were in the car with Aaron and pulled up to his house. It was a race against time. You heard the gunshots. You didn’t know it then but that feeling means you just knew. You heard him say goodbye to his wife, now he was just praying that his son was still alive.

That day would forever be engrained into yours and Aaron’s minds. You hated that Haley lost her life that day, but she saved Jack’s life, there’s no doubt about it. Shortly after Haley’s death, some good things happened in Aaron’s life.

He had you. He realized that you were the one for him, so when he decided to propose one night, he knew that if you were to say yes, he’d never let you go, that he’d protect you of every evil thing in the world. Jack was so thrilled that you were going to marry his dad. Aaron knew that having you around had been a lot easier when they lost Haley. Jack had a “mother-figure” in his life, and it was someone he already knew was going to love him like his mom did.

And it was true, you loved him so much. He was your step son. He would come to you with questions, if he was scared, for extra cuddles. Jack was amazing. He was a great bonus son that you were so happy was in your life.

It wasn’t long after you and Aaron tied the knot that you and him started talking about having a baby. His biggest fear was that you and him would bring a child into the world, but that child not growing up with both parents, that child losing his mother or father due to the nature of their job.

It was a conversation you and Aaron had had multiple times. You knew that if you and Aaron kept talking about it, you would never be able to have kids. His doubts were always the topic of having conversations, you understood all the doubts he had, but if the baby you and Aaron brought into the world had two loving parents and Jack as a big brother, that baby would be very happy. You knew you just had to get Aaron out of his head, to show him that he was already an amazing father to Jack.

It wasn’t long after that conversation when there was a case the BAU had that involved a family. The family you ended up saving had a baby about a month old, a 4 year old, and a 7 year old. Very similar to the family you were going to have with Aaron. When Aaron saw you being so gentle with the baby and the two older kids, he knew right then and there he wanted you to be a mother to more of his children.

He saw the way you cradled the baby’s head and protected the baby from the mess that was being cleaned up of the unsub. He watched as you sat with the older kids and played a game with them while feeding the baby, waiting for the parents to come get them. He was head over heels in love with you, and seeing you with kids got him going. He wanted to give you a baby, if he was the parent that were to go first, he knew that Jack and any other children you may have would be in good hands.

A few weeks later, you found yourself going to the doctor with Aaron and finding out you were pregnant. It wasn’t a surprise, nearly a shock that Aaron could knock you up on the first try. You were in awe at the way he was already so in love with the little blob of what would be your baby with Aaron.

You began crying at the sight of Aaron and the fact that this was your life. Your best friend who became your husband who was now going to be the father to your child. You couldn’t wait to start telling your BAU family. You couldn’t wait to tell Jack. He’s been asking for a baby brother or sister ever since he got into elementary school. A lot of his friends have siblings who are younger than Jack’s age and so you know Jack would be ecstatic to hear that his Dad and Mom were going to be having a baby.

The preganncy was special. It was your first pregnancy, so you didn’t know what to expect. You had many friends who had been pregnant, but you were always prepared for the auntie role, not the mom role.

You decided to give Jack an ultrasound photo because he had a little nightstand that he had decorated with photos of Haley, you, Aaron, and his BAU family. You remember saying, “Hey Jack, daddy and I got you a new photo to add to your night stand! Do you want to see?”

You felt Aaron’s hand tighten on your stomach, as you reached down to give Aaron the gift. He opened it up and saw the picture of the ultrasound. He looked at you and Aaron with a puzzled look and said, “What’s this mom and dad?”

“Well, we wanted you to have a piece of your newest sibling on the table. What do you think?”

You immediately saw Jack begin to process the words that Aaron just spoke and his eyes immediately light up, asking the question of “this is my sibling?”

You were so happy that Jack was happy. You watched him race to his nightstand and place the picture next to you, Aaron, and Jack. Aaron kissed your cheek and whispered in your ear, “Told ya he’d be happy.”

Slowly as your pregnancy went on, Jack was fantastic. He was always giving you extra cuddles when Aaron wasn’t around. That’s when you found yourself around 22 weeks pregnant. Aaron basically told you that you were on desk duty, not letting you go into the field.

You got to spend more and more time with Jack, which was great. He was a mini-version of Aaron. He always followed you around the house, he never let you lift anything and if you needed something, he wouldn’t let you get up from the couch. He would always do it. It truly was learned behavior from Aaron. Aaron was the same exact way with you.

Jack was at school, you were at home, deciding to take the day off from the BAU. You found yourself more exhausted so you told Aaron you were taking the day off, try to get some house work done. By housework, you mean by just catching up on some of your favorite TV shows.

You had been feeling off since the morning, but you didn’t know what was going on. It wasn’t until you felt a gush of water come from your legs, your water had just broke. You were only 22 weeks, too soon to bring a baby into the world.

You got in the car, making your way to the hospital. You called Aaron, you didn’t want to freak him out, but you were scared. You don’t remember any of your friends going into labor this early. You were scared, you had every right to be.

“Honey, what/s going on?”

“So, um, my water just broke, I’m at the hospital. Can you, can you please come here.”

“Of course. I’m. I’m on my way, is our baby okay?”

“I don’t-I don’t know Aaron, but I’m scared, I’m getting ready to walk in. Please hurry.”

Everything felt like it was in slow-mo. You got into a hospital room, the doctor’s quickly hooking you up to a monitor and figuring out if your son or daughter would be okay. Nobody would tell you what would happen.

You just know that a frantic Aaron had burst into your room, quickly finding you and running to your side. He hadn’t felt so nervous or sick to his stomach since the day Haley died. He didn’t want the same outcome today.

“Any updates?”

“They’re just monitoring me. I’m scared, Aaron. It’s too early. Everyone knows that.”

“Let’s just take a deep breath. I’m here. We’ll get through this.”

After a few hours later, your contractions weren’t getting any better. It was making you nervous. Your nervousness never subsided, especially when the doctor came in with the NICU team, saying that your baby boy or girl was going to be born today.

After less than an hour of pushing, you finally heard the cries of your baby. Cries meant your son or daughter was alive. It would be the most joyous sound you heard that day.

“Congrats mom and dad, it’s a boy.”

You looked at Aaron and he kissed your forehead.

“We had a boy. We have another son. We did it.”

As your baby was getting cleaned up, the NICU team took him, while your OB/GYN was taking care of you. You knew your son wasn’t out of the clear yet, he was born at 22 weeks. That’s a lot earlier than most babies. His lungs were barely developed. It scared you.

Within the next couple hours, you met your son. He was beautiful. He was tiny, but beautiful. You and Aaron hadn’t thought much about names, but you two had some in mind. You thought a lot about what you wanted and took some name suggestions from Aaron.

“Jordan Hotchner. What do you think, Aar?”

“I love it. Jack’s going to love it too.”

When your baby was rolled into your room, the nurse explained skin to skin contact would be best for him. Aaron quickly shedded his dress shirt and picked up Jordan, sitting carefully on the bed with him next to you. As you two held your son, you were just missing Jack, who would be excited to meet his baby brother after school.

And you were right, when Jessica brough Jack in to meet his baby brother he was so excited. You couldn’t believe the sight that was happening in front of you. Jack had run to Aaron and immediately began crying at how excited he was that his little brother was here.

It brought a tear to your eye to see how complete your oldest son be so excited to meet the newest addition to the family. When Aaron let go of Jack, he carefully sat on the bed next to you and Aaron explained to him that Jordan was very tiny so Jack needed to be super, super careful with him. You watched as your three boys were on the couch, Jack being so gentle with Jordan. Aaron watching as the two boys he loved more than anything in the world be so gentle and loving with each other.

That night, as all four of you slept in the hospital, eveyrthing was just right. You had your sons and your husband by yourside. Everything was great. Life was good. You were thanking your lucky stars that your little boy was okay.

Until that lucky star crashed. You woke up early morning to the sound of the nurses rushing in, saying that they noticed something off on the baby monitor and were coming to check him out. You were scared. Not really knowing what was happening. When you reached over for Aaron, he just held you. He was scared too, but he knew he had to be there for you. If he was scared, he knew you weren’t any better.

It was only a little later, after Jack left for school with Jessica that the doctor came in. You couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. You didn’t want to believe it. This had to be the biggest punch in the stomach known to mankind. You and Aaron wanted a to have another baby, and now that Jordan was here, you wouldn’t be able to raise him into a sweet young man that you envisioned for him.

The “I’m sorry, there’s nothing more we can do except monitor and keep him comfortable” is one of the worst things you could ever here, and you never want to hear it again. You wouldn’t wish it on your worst enemy.

How were you going to survive this? What were you going to do? This had to be your fault. You couldn’t create a home in your body and your son couldn’t survive the outside world just yet. It had to be your fault, right?

As you sat with Aaron in the nicu, just watching your son, he held you in his arms as you began to cry for what seemed like the 100th time that day.

“I’m a terrible mother, Aaron. I-I couldn’t even keep him safe, couldn’t keep him healthy. Our son is going to die because of me.”

“Hey, hey. No. No. It’s not your fault, you can’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault, honey. Listen, let’s just make what time he has left some of the best moments we’ll remember with him. Getting to hold him for the first time, hearing him cry. Watching Jack interact with Jordan for the first time. Jordan knows how loved he is. We still have him here, maybe there’s a miracle somewhere. The world owes us something good, don’t you think? We’ve been through enough trauma. Maybe Jordan’s going to be okay.”

You didn’t have the strength to argue with him. You didn’t have the strength or the heart to tell him he’s wrong and that Jordan wouldn’t be okay. Even if he were to survive the next two weeks, it would still be a long way until he’s out of the clear to go home. You couldn’t fathom a life without Jordan now that you had a small glimpse of it with him in your family. You couldn’t begin to even THINK what you were going to tell Jack. Jack was 7 years old and has already experienced more loss in life than anyone 3 times his age.

You didn’t know what to think. Jordan was still alive in your life. You couldn’t start prepping for a life without him just yet, you haven’t had any time to experience much life with him. You didn’t think there was any way to imagine a life without your child. You didn’t want to lose him. Not yet. You wanted more time.

The next few days were awful. You were discharged from the hospital but you weren’’t going home with your baby. As Aaron helped you into the apartment, you couldn’t help but breakdown crying.

Your son was still alive, but you were crying as if he was gone already. You never imagined that you’d have to come home someday without your baby. That instead of planning a little get together with your family and friends to meet the baby, you and Aaron would have to plan a funeral. You couldn’t begin to imagine the size of the casket he’d be in.

Over the next week or so, you and Aaron spent every minute you could at the hospital. Aaron decided that it was best if he tried to explain to Jack what was going on, so while you stayed at the hospital with Jordan, JJ came and relieved Aaron while he took Jack home to explain what was happening.

You and Aaron talked about it, and you just weren’t ready to have that conversation with Jack. Aaron knew what headspace you were in and knew it wouldn’t be good for you either, especially when Jack would have questions. You weren’t able to answer his questions and Aaron understood.

After that, the BAU constantly came and checked in, one of them always staying with Jack when needed. Will had been bringing Henry over more and more for Jack in hopes that it’d keep Jack’s mind off things.

You were glad you had a loving family. You were happy the BAU brought you something good of the additional family members and their endless amount of love and support. As you and Aaron stayed in the hospital the next couple days, you soaked up as much time you could with Jordan.

Only a few hours later, the doctor had come in to tell you that Jordan’s lungs were getting weaker and that he didn’t have much longer.

You and Aaron sat on the hospital bed, holding Jordan in your arms, as close as you could to the both of you.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t give you a longer life, Jordan. Just know you’re one of the best things to happen to me, your daddy, and your big brother Jack. We love you so much.”

The tears wouldn’t stop flowing from your eyes. You felt Aaron take a deep, shaky breath and kissed your cheek. He pulled your body closer to him and you passed Jordan to Aaron. You know that if Aaron never got to hold him in his arms again, it would ruin him.

Aaron held Jordan against his chest and it amazed you how his hand was the same size as Jordan. Your baby boy was tiny, he wouldn’t grow any more than he was born. It hurt your heart. You hated seeing Aaron upset, you hated knowing that your baby boy was in the final hours of his very short life. You hated that you couldn’t do anything about it.

What kind of sick world was this?

As you and Aaron both held your little boy in your arms, you watched him take his last breath. Sobs overtaking both of your bodies as your little boy, os full of life, was now just a lifeless body.

You didn’t want to let go of him. You held him and when the nurses came to take him, you tried to tell them just one more minute. You weren’t ready to let him go. If you let him go, it became real.

When the nurse was finally able to take your son, you couldn’t help but grab onto Aaron even tighter. How were you now going to go home and tell Jack that his little brother wasn’t here anymore? How were you going to survive this?

“What do you want to do? We can go home, we can pick up food, we can go to your parents’ house, we can go anywhere but here.”

“I want to go see Jack. He-He needs to know, Aaron. I just want to hold our one little boy that we still have.”

“Okay. Let’s go. Let’s go.”

Spending the rest of the night with Jack, just being vulnerable and open with him and Aaron was a part of the healing process you didn’t know you needed. You didn’t need an explanation when you burst into random tears. Aaron didn’t need an explanation when he just wanted to hug you and never let you go. The team didn’t need an explanation when Aaron texted Rossi the devastating news and that you guys needed time off and time alone, not up for visitors just yet.

The next few days went by in a blur. You had to go to the funeral home with Aaron, pick out a casket for your little boy. That’s something you never wanted to experience. You know, with your line of work, other families had to experience it, you just never thought your family would be one to experience such a small casket.

The funeral went by in a blur. You just remember crying more than anything. You had your parents hold you when Aaron couldn’t. Aaron spent a majority of the time talking to everyone who had shown up. You just weren’t ready for a conversation yet. It also made you think that people thought you were a horrible mother. Deep down you knew you weren’t, you knew you would blame yourself, but you couldn’t help it.

After the funeral, you, Jack, Aaron, and the BAU family decided that they needed to get you all out of the house and decided to treat you to dinner. Aaron’s hand never left your body the entire night. He always had his hand on you, whether it was in your hand, on your leg, your back, over your shoulder, he was always touching you, trying to comfort you, trying to ground you to reality.

You and Aaron took a month of leave from the BAU. You knew they were down two agents, he’d have a lot of work to come back too but you two needed to be with each other, needed a break from the world and just be with each other.

During your time, you slowly were getting better. Of course you would never forget Jordan and the pain of losing him will never be easy, but when you thought about him, you would smile, knowing you gave him the best life you could for the time he was on Earth with you, Aaron, and Jack.

What you didn’t expect on your time off from the BAU was your BAU family stopping over all at once, bringing over lanterns. Reid has his fact explanation about Chinese lanterns being lit and you tuned him out, just soaking in the time with your extended family. You wanted to do this. Everyone was coming together for Jordan.

As you all gathered outside to light the lanterns, you and Aaron lit one together with Jack and you all carefully let it go into the sky. Part of you felt a weight lifted off your shoulders, knowing that doing this would give you a happy memory of your son.

You just hoped that you were making your son happy, for the amount of time he kenw you, he hopes he knows how much love you gave him, how you would have give him anything he needed if that meant you had to go first, how he knows he was loved so much by you, Aaron, and Jack, and of course his BAU aunties and uncles.

As you leaned back into Aaron, he kissed your cheek and wrapped his arms around you. There was hope that things would get better as you watched the lanterns be delivered to your baby boy. You knew you and Aaron would be okay. You knew Jack would be okay. Uou knew someday when you thought ofJordan, you wouldn’t cry, you would smile and be proud of your son, and how hard he fought to live on this world for two weeks.

**Five Years Later**

Sitting around the table with Jack, your twin sons, Jason, Jasper, and your newest addition, Josie, you couldn’t help but think about Jordan and how he would’ve been 5 years old today. You miss him everyday. He’s always a part of your life. The best picture that Jack has on his nightstand and you have framed in yours and Aaron’s bedroom is a pic that Penelope took. The night the BAU came over to light the lanterns. Penelope snagged the picture of you, Jack, and Aaron sending them up to the sky.

Jordan was always with you. Jack may have not gotten a lot of time with Jordan, but he was a great big brother to Jason, Jasper, and Josie.

“So, what are we doing today, mom? Dad?”

You looked over at Aaron as he was rocking her to sleep. Aaron smiled and began talking.

“Well, your aunts and uncles are going to come over to hangout with us and spend some time with Josie, and then tonight, we’re going to say hello to Jordan. We’ll get Josie in on our tradition.”

“I think that sounds great, Dad. Can I tell you guys something?”

You looked at Jack, eagerly nodding so he could tell you whatever is needed. You watched as Aaron shifted in the chair a bit, letting Jack know he had his full attention.

“I think Jordan is with us all the time. I know I was young but it feels like yesterday I got to hold him for the first time. I absolutely loved being his big brother, even if it was only for two weeks. But, I think he sent Jason, Jasper, and Josie to us. He’s with us when we light the lanterns every year for his birthday. He would be so proud of us. I just know he’s looking down on us right now and seeing how happy we are with our family and how much we miss him.”

You didn’t miss the way Aaron had moved to stand and make his way over to Jack. Aaron was proud of his son. That was his first born. His little boy that he had with Haley. You stood up, too. This was the little boy you held in the hospital for the first time after Aaron and Haley held him.

You took Josie from Aaron’s arms and watched as Aaron wrapped his arms around Jack. Jack reached out his other hand and you amde your way with some of your favorite boys. The twins got off their seats and came to hug you all as well.

“I love you, Jack. Jordan is so lucky to have you as his big brother. Just as the three kids are so lucky to have you as their big brother now. You’re the best big brother in the world. You’re a better big brother than I ever was to uncle Sean. I’m so proud of you.”

You wiped the tears that had begun to fall from your eyes at the sentimental moment that was happening in your kitchen.

Later that evening, as you all were standing outside, you grabbed the lanterns and knelt down next to the twins, letting them “help” you hold the lantern. You told them to wave Hi to Jordan and tell them they loved him.

As your family stood there, watching the lanterns fly into the sky, thinking of how Jordan should have been 5 today, it made you realize how lucky you were that even after the loss of Jordan, you were still able to have three more kids who were living their best life.

As you kissed Aaron, he wiped a tear from your cheek. You and him had been through a lot, the loss of a child takes a toll on a family. But, through communication, counselors, you both got through it. You certainly knew you couldn’t replace Jordan with more kids, that’s why when you found yourself pregnant 8 months later, you were shocked to say the least. To find out it was twins was an even bigger shock. You two weren’t trying and twins didn’t run in the family. When Josie came around, you were trying to get a little girl from Aaron and you think somehow Jordan knew that his dad needed a little girl.

Life has been rough, but if it weren’t for Aaron, your kids, and the BAU family, you never would be able to make it through. They give you strength for getting up everyday and every morning when you wake up, you always think to yourself “how am I going to make Jordan proud and be the mom he should have had.”

Getting the kids in bed that night, you kissed them all and then made your way with Aaron onto the couch. As he held onto you, he hugged you and said, “I know Jordan wasn’t in our lives for long physically, but he’s with us everyday. He’s lucky to have us as our parents. I know losing him was hard and we have to go the rest of our lives without him, but for the short time he was physically here, we gave him every ounce of love that we could give him, and I just know that’s what he remembers about us.”

“I’m so lucky to have you in my life, Aaron Hotchner. I wouldn’t want to go through this life with anyone else. Thank you. I love you.”

[zahri-melitor]

Look out, it's time for the Potted Fanon History of the one, the only...BRUCE WAYNE!

Bruce, 8: His parents were shot dead by [Someone/Joe Chill/the Mafia] outside the theatre in Park Row where they just saw Zorro. Kneeling in blood, pearls, etc etc.

Bruce, 8: Jim Gordon was the cop who responded to the scene and took care of Bruce.

Bruce, 8: Alfred takes custody of Bruce and they live in the Manor together.

Bruce, 12-16 (optional): Bruce attends school with people like Oliver Queen and Lex Luthor (at a boarding school), or Zatanna and Harvey Dent (at a regular Gotham school). Bruce is known as the cryptid who hides in the library reading forensic pathology textbooks in his free time.

Bruce, 16-18: Bruce finishes school and embarks on a Secret World Training Tour. Highlights of the Tour definitely involve the League of Assassins and probably several nameless monks. Bruce may have an intense homoerotic relationship with Minhkhoa Khan. The following individuals may be namechecked but are unlikely: [Shiva, David Cain, Henri Ducard, Richard Dragon]

Bruce, World Training Tour Edition: Bruce will first meet Talia at this time, and they may get married/conceive Damian. Do not look at the timeline too closely.

Bruce, early-mid 20s: returns to Gotham, is reminded that he is scared of bats. "Yes father, I will become...a Bat!"

Bruce, early-mid 20s: has encounter with An Individual (name varies, solidifying to 'Red Hood' these days as everyone's hung up on Jason) in the ACME Chemical company vats, the other person falls into the chemicals. The Joker is born hahahahahahahHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Bruce, mid 20s: meets Superman and Clark Kent, they simultaneously figure each other's identities out. Shortly after they form the Justice League with Wonder Woman.

Bruce, mid 20s: Bruce goes out for the night to see Haly's Circus when it visits town. Graysons fall, Bruce sees crying kneeling Dick Grayson and immediately imprints on him and takes him home.

Bruce, mid 20s: Dick Grayson becomes Bruce's Ward (TM). Dick also becomes Robin. They swear an Oath (TM) by candlelight to "fight together against crime and corruption and never to swerve from the path of righteousness!" (Actually I don't think the words of the oath are that well known but I couldn't help myself)

Bruce, mid 20s: has many undetailed adventures with Dick. I cannot reinforce how big a blank hole this period is.

Bruce, early 30s ish: Bruce runs into Talia and sleeps with her again (as written by people who CAN count to 10)

Bruce, 30s: Dick gets injured during a fight. Maybe with Joker, maybe with Two-Face, quite possibly with no details. Bruce tries to ground Dick for his own good. Bruce and Dick have a big fight over Dick being an adult now and you can’t tell me what to do. End result: Dick is no longer Robin and moves out (to Blüdhaven). Bruce immediately sulks.

Bruce, 30s: Batman parks his Batmobile in the middle of Crime Alley and comes back to find the tyres being jacked. The teenager attempting this then hits Batman with a tyre iron. Bruce, missing Dick yelling at him, is immediately charmed and takes Jason home and proceeds to instantly adopt him and make him Robin.

Bruce, 30s: Bruce learns about classism from Jason. Bruce Wayne, a man with the biggest charities running in Gotham, years of criminology experience and who travelled the poorest parts of the world in his quest for training, had never contemplated that poor people commit crime because they’re poor and the laws are against them. This rocks his world.

Bruce, 30s: Bruce fails to call Dick to tell him about his new adopted Jason!Robin. Dick comes over to have a screaming match with Bruce in the Manor/Cave about this. These will be a regular feature of Jason’s entire time as Robin.

Bruce, late 30s: Felipe Garzonas occurs. Bruce accuses Jason of killing Garzonas. Bruce will shortly feel intense guilt for this.

Bruce, late 30s: Jason runs away to Ethiopia and is blown by the Joker in a warehouse. Bruce arrives just out of time, to find Jason's body. He is devastated and blames both himself and Jason. He takes Jason's body back to Gotham where there is an autopsy. Joker just disappears with no trace.

Bruce, late 30s: gets more and more violent in his despair over Jason's death. Tim comes to him to explain why Batman is going off the rails and offers to be Robin.

Bruce, middle aged (don't look too closely): Bruce accepts Tim as his new Robin, however insists they are Just Coworkers. He may still be suicidal at times. He probably calls Tim 'Jason' by accident. He insists he never wants to be close to another child again.

Bruce, middle aged: Bruce comes face to face with Bane, who Breaks His Back (TM). Bruce then recovers. This is a very important moment, however any details of the recovery or who was Batman in the interim are unknown. Good job, Gotham healthcare services set up by Thomas Wayne!

Bruce, middle aged: Bruce becomes worried about Tim's parents (as he's reluctantly become attached to Tim). They are never around, which is how Tim manages to be Robin. They are definitely neglecting him. They might be abusing him! Bruce either fosters Tim because of his terrible neglectful parents OR Janet dies and Jack ends up in a coma and Bruce fosters Tim. Either way, Bruce becomes Tim's guardian.

Bruce, middle aged: there's a new crime lord in Gotham called the Red Hood. Batman must track him down. Bruce discovers that this is Jason. Jason begs for Bruce to kill the Joker to avenge his death and Bruce refuses because He Has A Code. Bruce throws a batarang at Jason's neck and slits his throat.

Bruce, JLA edition: at some point Bruce made some Protocols, or possibly some Killer Robots, just in case someone else on the Justice League goes evil. The rest of the Justice League find this out, due to this situation going wrong and the plans being activated by something. Everyone on the Justice League gets very upset with Bruce.

Bruce, middle aged: at some point Bruce adopts Dick and Tim and Cass. Details of when or where are scanty. They're his kids now. Everyone moves into the Manor (except Dick, who visits from Bludhaven every weekend to see his siblings).

Bruce, middle aged: Talia drops Damian off on the doorstep. Bruce now has a (biological) son! Unfortunately Ra's Al Ghul wants to steal his body. Damian must be protected.

Bruce, middle aged: dies. How does this happen? What are you, a cop? Fortunately Bruce being ultraprepared for anything including incipient death, he has left extensive notes about who deals with what when he's dead. Dick gets custody of Damian (but only Damian). Tim gets Wayne Enterprises.

Bruce, middle aged: returns from being lost in time (not dead). Thanks, Tim. No I will not return to being the main Batman in Gotham or take back Wayne Enterprises, it's time for me to travel the world and create Batman Incorporated in every nation on Earth!

Bruce, middle aged: eventually returns home and moves back into the Manor. Damian is now his Robin. Everyone else may still be living in the Manor, may have moved out because of Sad Conflict Drama because Tim feels like he's Just A Coworker or Cass is In Hong Kong. Dick may or may not return to Bludhaven now.

Bruce, middle aged: begins to reconcile with Jason, because he finds out about Jason's Pit Rage and trauma. Jason promises to use Rubber Bullets or to just shoot people in the knee, and says he will patrol Crime Alley because nobody else understands it and the people inside it like him. Bruce is just fine with this.

Bruce, middle aged (Damian edition): Damian dies. Bruce is extremely distraught about this due to his trauma over Jason and immediately works to hunt down a way to resurrect Damian.

Bruce, middle aged: meets Duke and seeing another teenager who is trying to fight crime, immediately brings him home to foster/adopt.

Bruce, Good Dad edition: at some point Bruce has Seen A Therapist and gotten Therapy. He is now completely au fait with the latest things you read online about complex PTSD and is sorry for the hurt he has ever caused any of his children. He goes around talking his children down from disassociation and panic attacks and nightmares. He wraps them up in weighted blankets and watches TV shows You Like with them. He has a new Ace, who is a Therapy Dog for Trauma. When someone has a bad night the entire family sleeps in his giant bed as a sleepover. He is completely focused on the mental health of his children.

Bruce, Bad Dad edition: Bruce has punched Dick/Jason/Tim/Damian (choose whichever set you want) in the face and accused them of not following orders. He has rages and demanding expectations on everyone. Multiple of his children can no longer put up with it any more. He does bad things to them and says it's for their own good.

Bruce, currently: Bruce is a Good Dad! Everyone is either living at the Manor or stays over after patrol regularly. They have regular movie nights. Bruce is actively running Wayne Enterprises. If he sees an unattached teenage vigilante anywhere he might adopt them and bring them home too! He looks after all the associated Gotham vigilantes and does not know what money is worth. This is hilarious as he tips 3000% or whatever on every purchase.

Bruce, currently (alternatively): Bruce is a Bad Dad! After failing his children nobody wants to be near him and he needs to apologise to all his children so they forgive him. Bruce has left Damian for Dick to raise all by himself (that's ok, Dick is really Damian's adoptive dad) and Tim to struggle with the pressure of being a high school dropout CEO of Wayne Enterprises. He is fighting with Jason over the One Killing Rule and won't compromise, even to kill the Joker, despite Jason desperately wanting that proof that Bruce loves him more than he loves the killing rule.

Bruce, currently: Bruce is dating one of Selina, Talia, Clark or Minhkhoa. Whichever on this list he is dating, he would never ever consider getting with Selina and/or Talia again (delete whoever necessary).

[goodolddumbbanana]

Ever thought how funny it is that both Sun and Dark Sun have their own kind of pets? /genq

Sun with his two cats meanwhile Dark Sun has a freaking dragon/baby wither storm (unless Dark Sun does see 'em as his own child👀)

Also I love your rants and thoughts about the two sm along with "Be a mirror", keep it up!! (Without any rush tho ofc) <33 /pos

Hehe thank you!!! Tsams is the first fandom that I am able to be this much rambling!! There is so much more to analyse, with Sun, Dark Sun, Nexus, Moon, Lunar, even with Earth I don't have time to be content with.

And yes, there are a lot of similarities and coincidental between their two.

They both have pets. With Sun is the cats and Dark Sun with the dragon.

They both have a helpful bot that tags along to help them. (Neptor -Dark Sun and Jack, Computer with Sun)

Moon joked about Sun having kids on Monty and Puppet postcard maybe it can be a foreshadow that Sun can adopt a dragon or a wither storm too. Because he was attracted to one Wither crystal? Or Sun and Dark Sun can be fighting over the custody of the baby Wither storm? There are a lot of possibilities!!!

Especially They both kinda lock their Moon inside a cell. I just love that they have so much similar yet so different. It makes their dynamic so interesting and potentially that makes me want to explore it more!!

[baratiddyappreciator]

Hii! I heard you take requests? How about some childhood headcanons? Like what were these guys like when they were small… :0

Oh I am so glad someone asked this one because I've been having ideas bouncing around but haven't actually thought of making a post of my own. (Throwing in a bonus Natsue and Tokugawa because why not?)

Baki:

He was a trouble-maker through and through. He didn't pay attention whenever he did attend school, and he'd always pick fights with any kids bigger or stronger than him so he could improve and get stronger, like his father.

Emi probably got a lot of phone calls from the schools to come get her rowdy ass child because he was being a menace. He wouldn't bully kids, but he would bully the bullies, and while a lot of the younger kids admired him because he'd get the bullies off their backs, they also feared him.

Baki has chilled out a lot since he first fought his father and joined the underground arena, bro used to be a fireball.

Kozue:

She was an angel, a quiet child, but an angel. She was sweet and helping her teachers with any tasks that they were doing. This girl cleaned the chalkboards, helped tidy up the class, and would even collect test papers and set them on the teachers desk, all without even being asked to.

Sweet to even the other kids, she wouldn't get picked on because most of the older kids thought she was just too adorable, and any attempts from younger students to pick on Kozue were very quickly thwarted by older kids, and once even Baki, though that was completely unintentional.

Despite her hard-working personality, sometimes Kozue would finish up early enough to just sit and doodle on her work instead of doing other things. The margins of her notebooks would be full of little flowers, butterflies and cats.

Hanayama:

Quiet. Very quiet. He didn't really have a lot of friends as a kid, he was just big and quiet and other kids were too scared of him to really bother him. He spent a lot of time with his mom instead of his dad, though considering his dad passed pretty early on in his life, that wasn't really something he did willingly.

He didn't talk to a lot of kids, instead, he found himself mostly hanging around adults, so he's got a very old man way of speaking compared to other people his age, but sometimes he slips into a more expected tone.

It wasn't until he was about thirteen that he really started getting a cocky attitude, and by that point it was just puberty, which, obviously, hit him like a fuckin bus.

Katsumi:

Before he was adopted by Doppo and Natsue, he was a pretty careless kid, but seeing his own biological father get mauled by a lion did a number on him. He used to have nightmares about it, but after a few years of therapy and care from Doppo and Natsue, he came to terms with it.

Given the chance, with the proper financial support and some of the best out there, Katsumi absolutely flourished. Doppo was teaching him Karate, sure, but he also had tutors to help him get some of the best grades in class.

He started slacking off when he was about sixteen, but he still did fairly good. He was a major spoiled brat when he was in his mid teens, though he did still at least treat his mother well.

Jack:

He was always a really quiet kid, even before he was put back into his mom's custody, and he just kept getting quieter as he got older. Part of that is due to Diane's poor parenting, but another part of that is just his own personality.

Man was an absolute menace, he would crack back at anyone if they annoyed him enough, teachers, other students, anyone. He's quick with his words, though he doesn't always use them.

He's really good with younger kids, purely because he'd be running around just as much as them when he was younger in an attempt to get his stamina and strength up. He quickly became that cool older kid that would lay the younger kids climb all over him.

Kosho:

He was very similar to Kozue as a child, surprisingly enough, very quiet, but super sweet towards his teachers. Unlike Kozue though, the only thing protecting him from bullies was Kureha, and if Kureha wasn't there, he was free game.

By the time Kureha was going into high school, Kosho was left alone by bullies, because good lord he had this feral look in his eyes and nobody was about to mess with that.

He'd lose his homework a lot, not when it was time to turn it in, but right when it was handed to him. It would go into his bag, and then it would just vanish. He'd always find it in time to fill it out and hand it in, but it was just an odd occurrence he never knew how to explain.

Kureha:

He was a well behaved child, but ask any of his old teachers and they would tell you that they just got this feeling that this kid was weird, but he never really did anything worthy of getting into trouble.

He was sly, and he was really good at being sly. If he wanted someone to do something, he'd find a way to get them to do it without him even having to ask them to do it.

Definitely had a reputation as a boy scout to literally everyone but the kids that would pick on his younger brother. Because once there were no eyes on them, this man was a straight menace.

Retsu:

An ANGEL, just an absolute sweetheart. He looked up to his teachers and mentors. Really, before he accidentally, you know, killed a man, he was a perfectly sweet person.

He absolutely was the kind of kid that got jealous that he didn't have a full beard. Look at some of the people he grew up around, he was absolutely fuming that he didn't have a full beard. Until he tried to grow one, then he realised that they weren't for him and has been clean shaven since.

Someone had to show him how to braid hair at some point, and he was just flabbergasted by the idea. He tried to braid literally everything that he could just do that.

Doppo:

An absolute charmer. We all know that super charismatic kid, and that was definitely Doppo. Just look at that smile! You can't tell me that he didn't learn that a grin like that could get people to do what he wanted.

He was a smug bastard too, definitely one kid that would annoy the hell out of any adult, but one that would absolutely be popular with other students because "oh look he's talking back to the teacher"

He was a class clown in high school, all charming and funny, but he would start stuttering whenever Natsue walked into the room. Man was head over heels for her, even back then.

Natsue:

Natsue has always been somewhat of an old soul, even when she was little, but she was absolutely a girlie girl for a long time. Everything had to be pink or purple, pastels were her favourites.

She loved going to different field trips to important landmarks, she's always liked them and finds them relaxing to go to.

On her first date with Doppo, he took her to a festival, got all dressed up and everything, only for him to get a "random" and violent nosebleed (he got punched in the face before he went and it was a delayed reaction) and they wound up just ditching the festival to go sit up by the river and watch the fireworks.

Shibukawa:

T R O U B L E. Just trouble. He was a brat and a little shit. Stinky man. Problem causer. He would constantly pull pranks and cause problems in his classes and at home.

If this man had siblings then I guarantee you he was simultaneously the favourite and least favourite. Because he absolutely would do something stupid and blame it on his siblings, then make it up to them later... Only to do the same thing and get them in trouble.

He was absolutely the fun older kid that showed the younger ones cool tricks and funny jokes, if only to spread some mischief.

Tokugawa:

He wasn't too different, admittedly. Just take him, remove the wrinkles, give him hair and shrink him a little bit, and boom, you have child Tokugawa, relatively care-free and happy-go-lucky.

Really, the only thing that made him stand out was his knack for finding talented fighters. He would just get really quiet, and then, in a sweet little child voice, he'd point at someone and go "you've killed someone before"

He and Sabuko used to be really close, but when he inherited the dome they started to grow apart, especially since she had her own life to handle.

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Good day, can I request Human and God Fighters with a Female Mikey Reader from Tokyo Revengers (But the child elementary version, which I find too damn cute) who are fighting with each other over custody over who gets to adopt this child who REALLY likes to fight for fun and is surprisingly strong for a child (She gave both Human and God Fighters a run for their money with her ‘play fighting’, which they found quite endearing, and are the ones who want to adopt Reader the most)

And Buddha just snatches Reader and takes custody over her, winning Reader over with snacks and putting flags in all her food kid’s meal (And everyone is ready to go to war with Buddha)

Buddha: *Puts flag on top of their meal*

F!Mikey!Reader (Eyes sparkle): Wow! Alright Bu-Bu you got me one! Yay!

God and Human Fighters: *Ready to brawl with Buddha to get Mikey!Reader because of how ridiculously cute she is*

-Ares smiled warmly at you as you kicked his hand, actually blowing his hand back, “You’re so strong Y/N! Even stronger than last week!”

-You landed easily, an almost bored look on your face, knowing that he was tricking you, keeping you busy until the gods and humans finished their arguing with each other.

-You were very mature for an elementary school student, not really running around like other children your own age, you were calm and collected, observing the world around you.

-That’s not to say that you didn’t have fun, because you did, just something a bit different then a girl your age, you loved to seek out teenagers or even adults, bullies and delinquents, and kick their asses.

-You were very fast- light on your feet, but your punches and kicks were anything but light, able to cave someone’s nose in easily with one well-placed kick.

-However, you now realize that all the fighting you’ve been doing might be the reason why the two sides of your massive family were fighting so much.

-You had two families, both very large, one made of the Gods of Valhalla, and the other made of human warriors of Valhalla, who all adored you but didn’t really get along with each other, save a few of them, like Raiden and Shiva who had a friendly rivalry, and Hercules and Jack who were pretty good friends.

-They were arguing that each other’s side was the cause of your violent hobby, many of them worried about you getting hurt, despite knowing that you were strong.

-You trained with members on both sides, mostly unarmed, as you didn’t really see the appeal of weapons, finding it like a cheat, you would rather use the weapon you had been given at birth, your body, to fight.

-Many knew you were going to be really strong, once you were older, as they treat your fighting at the moment as if you were playing, despite being able to injure a few of them, nothing seriously, as you didn’t like hurting your family.

-You sighed softly as your massive family ran outside, demanding that they were going to get sole custody of you, arguing with themselves rather than just asking you.

-Ares tried to keep the peace, not wanting them to fight in front of you before they heard your delighted squeal, “You’re the best Bu-Bu!!”

-All heads turned to see Buddha, who had brought you some food for you, not taking part of the stupid argument, bringing out a rice omelet and he even included a little flag on the top and a pudding for dessert with another flag, both of his rabbit on his tank top.

-Buddha sent a grin over to the gawking gods and humans while you chowed down, showing your bright smile, which only appeared while you were eating, chowing down on the omelet with glee, dancing lightly in your seat.

-You shoved another spoonful of rice into your mouth as Adam and Zeus approached, both all smiles, trying to get you to agree who you were going to live with, Zeus speaking with a bright smile, handing you a lollipop, “Y/N~ are you going stay with us gods, or do you want to stay with the humans?”

-Adam went to punch him for trying to bribe you as you thanked him for the candy before you turned back to your rice, “I’m gonna stay with Bu-Bu, he’s the only one who asked me, instead of arguing like you guys. Besides- Bu-Bu always makes my favorite foods and doesn’t coddle me.”

-Your blunt but true words hit them all hard, as Buddha grinned widely, showing off his fangs as Zeus and Adam turned on him, fury on their faces as Buddha was dragged into the argument while you continued to eat your food, eating around the flags carefully, happy flower surrounding you.

[creaturefeaturecommando]

And it’s the fact that they don’t acknowledge Jack as Chase’s baby daddy when he’s the sole reason why Chase got pregnant in the first place, the least you could do to make this weird ass plot more interesting is I dunno, have them fight over custody for the egg ?

[hexcrystals]

Sorry to be another anon in your askbox doing this, but yeah, the Izzy stans have genuinely ruined parts of the internet for me. There's a forum I just can't go to anymore because describing Izzy's canonical actions (getting the crew to pressure Ed, trying to kill Stede repeatedly even when Ed said no, sending Jack after him, having Ed "released into his custody", insulting and threatening Ed while Ed was in a breakdown) was enough to get accused of hating him, even though I do not. I got dogpiled for saying that Izzy's words to Ed at the end of season one were more than just mean. And I like Izzy. I cannot state this enough and frankly shouldn't have to keep repeating it. I do not think any of this makes him irredeemable (If you even want to redeem him. I love far worse characters like Hannibal and don't want to redeem him for instance.) but the fans have gone so wild that doing anything more than calling him *grumpy* is hate, and you either have to prepare for a fight every time you want to talk about him or just leave those spaces entirely. It's sad, and it's pathetic that they're acting like this. Meanwhile, some of them are building TJLC-style cult behavior but you shouldn't bring even that up because they're not all responsible for those nutjobs so it's not fair to the normal fans or whatever. Well then why the hell am I responsible for whatever perceived anti-Izzy crusaders you ran into somewhere else, huh?

sorry anon i saw this first thing this morning and thought ‘i’ll reply to this in 5 mins when i’m less sleepy’ and then instantly forgot

but yeah you’re right about everything basically. the woobification is out of hand. people will swear over and over that ed is izzy’s abuser and izzy never did anything except love him loyally and unconditionally

and the double standard with being ‘guilty by association’ is so obvious. none of them want to hear about izzy fans being ableist or harassing the writers even though that is definitely happening. but if you breathe a word about izzy in the tag that isn’t glowing praise then you’re just another anti

[stephiethewephie]

Piper’s Relationship With Each Character: Part 2

Alright, Now it's time for Svanaclaw and Octavinelle! Part 1, Part 3, Part 4

Leona:

'LION MAN! MAN WITH FLUFFY LION EARS AND FLUFFY LION TAIL!' Pretty much what went through Piper's mind when she first saw him after stepping on his tail. While initially intimidated by him, after figuring him out, she became more confident in her ability to tame this lion.

Thank goodness Leona would never put his hands on a lady, but he acknowledges the bravery she has to face him and respects her for it. She's also one of the only people to show appreciation for Leona's efforts. She likes to make flower crowns for him and calls him, "your highness," when she is with him. Even when he keeps telling her to stop (he doesn't want her to stop).

Ruggie:

Not really that much to say about him. She thinks he's a very good acquaintance. She knows he can be chill sometimes. When he's not causing any trouble that is. She helps him with his chores whenever she isn't busy, which he greatly appreciates. Especially after all that happened with Leona at the tournament. She wants him to rest his arm. She also likes give him treats when he's done some good work!

Jack:

How is there a boy at this school that is EVEN FLUFFIER?! I swear whenever he's around, Piper has to fight the urge to pet him and say "Who's a good boy?" Anyways, both of them are pretty good friends.

She really appreciates all of the help that Jack has given her over Books 2 and 3. She tried to pay him back, but he hasn't offered anything. She just settled with giving him a few cactuses which she had to actually go to a dessert to get since she is broke.

Even if he doesn't admit it, he does care for her and sees her as an older sister. All in all, yes indeed a good boy to Piper.

Azul:

If only they haven't met when the boys were being idiots. And of course, it's in her nature to help out anyone she can. Even at her expense. When they first met, Azul thought she was so gullible and dumb the way she automatically agreed to the deal. So it definitely surprised him when she was able to be both kind enough to help her friends at all cost, but also was able to outsmart HIM! To him, it was impossible! But, she was able to do it! He can't lie and say he doesn't envy her for it. She even showed kindness to him multiple times even after everything. WHAT?!

She's pretty much the only one Azul can be truly honest too besides the twins. Not just because she is now able to tell when he is not being truthful, but she's pretty much the first person that he knows will not use it against him, at least he hopes.

Jade:

Also someone who she was intimidated by at first. Who wouldn't be? He and his twin are the size of the trees in the woods! And the way he speaks and acts is a bit unnerving! Doesn't mean she doesn't find him fascinating. Especially once she found out he was a merman. Being able to climb aboard him and ride his back certainly was a fun and interesting experience.

Her fascination for him grew once she found out about his mountain lovers club, which she of course joined. She put her guard down whenever she and him were in the mountains. Some would say that's an incredibly stupid and dangerous move, but she's pretty much too invested with her and Jade's adventures to care.

Two people who originally fought for custody rights soon became two nature nerds geeking out on their discoveries. Both happy to find someone who shares in their interest. They made MANY terrariums together! Jade ended up becoming one of Piper's closets friends. Much to the shock and concern of everyone around her.

Floyd:

THIS ONE ON THE OTHER HAND! While personal space is pretty much out of both of the tweels' vocabulary, Floyd is very much the one that crosses the line more often than naught. He finds every possible way to overstimulate her. Surprise hugs, getting too close, becoming loud all of a sudden. It's come to the point where even when she hears, "SHRIMPY!!!," she freezes up like a deer in headlights. Which, of course, Floyd finds hilarious.

One day, however, Piper became so overstimulated that she had a panic attack and broke down on the floor. This caused Floyd to not find her reactions amusing anymore (and maybe he felt a little guilty, who knows) and pretty much stopped his antics all together. He's... slowly learning how to respect her boundaries, and she appreciates that. She now thinks he’s a pretty chill guy. She doesn't mind the cute nickname, "shrimpy,” and thinks it’s pretty cute.

[winchestergirl2]

June Reading Recs

Here are all the fantastic fics I've read this month!

Many of these fics and blogs are 18+ only, and NSFW please heed the author's individual fic warnings and requests regarding no minors. I am not responsible for your media consumption.

2023 Reading Rec List

Supernatural

Dean Winchester

The Talk @avanatural

Authors Summary: Jack catches Dean and Y/N while they're being intimate. The Nephilim has a lot of questions about what he witnessed, and Dean takes it upon himself to answer at least the most important ones.

I Still Hear You

@dean-winchester-is-a-warrior

Authors Summary: Y/N can still hear Dean's voice echo around her. She doesn't know if it's a blessing or a curse.

Promise Me @justagirlinafandomworld

Authors Summary: No one is guaranteed a long life. Least of all hunters. Dean knows this and so do you. Still, you pull promises from each other to protect the sliver of happiness found together.

Sam Winchester

Breaking and Entering @watermelonlipstick

Authors Summary: Someone breaks into your house during a case.

Making Up @talesmaniac89

Authors Summary: The reader and Sam fight over her recklessness in hunts, leading to some heated makeup sex.

Big Sky

Beau Arlen

Taken For Granted Part One | Part Two @pink-sparkly-witch

Authors Summary: Having had his share of dangerous situations and close calls in Houston, this was meant to be the start of a quieter, slower life for Beau, Y/N and their daughter. Taking the job as Acting Sheriff in Helena, Montana, was a dream come true until Beau starts to spend far too much time with Jenny Hoyt, in and out of the office. At first, Y/N doesn’t mind too much, but one night Beau misses his daughter’s hockey tryouts and phone calls in favour of shooting tequila in a bar with his co-worker, and Y/N isn’t sure if she’s being taken for granted or if something bigger is going on that she needs to worry about.

The Boys

Soldier Boy

Break Me Down Prologue | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | @zepskies

Author's Summary: You’re a private investigator by trade, but now you happily sit at a desk — leading a surveillance team at Supe Affairs. After managing to end Homelander in New York, Soldier Boy escapes custody. You are recruited for the manhunt, joining Butcher’s team.

Truly, you joined the S.A. for the right reasons. But after you become his accidental hostage, Soldier Boy will break down every single one of them…