#because a child needs a mother and a father and if not a mother a full time stay at home dad
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I nearly cried reading the article yesterday. The things Neil did to those poor women...It just absolutely drains all the air of the room. It really is a grueling read and I hope the victims get everything they need to be able to have happy healthy lives going forward.
I never anticipated that it would be this. The Ocean at the End of the Lane and the Graveyard Book were very important to me as a teenager because I was a victim and those books just felt so visceral to me. And the person who wrote them is a monster who, instead of dealing with the trauma he got from an abusive Scientologist father, decided to abuse people so he could get off. He fully knew what he was doing was rape, and he cannot hide behind the "neurodivergent" excuse because it's such a fucking insult to those of us who are autistic.
His son witnessed some of that. His very VERY young son was in the room when some of this took place and even was somewhat encouraged by neil to act as if one of these women was a slave even if neil kind of joked it off at the time. I hope he gets some sort of intervention, because as someone with an abusive father figure I know that sons are frequently turned against their mothers when things like this come to light (my stepfather managed to turn his sons - my halfbrothers - against all the women in my family). He needs some healthy modeling and child therapy to help unpack any warped ideas neil gave him about women.
And that brings me to Amanda. I have come to the conclusion that yes she was entirely negligent because she has known for at least a few years about some of this. I do not believe, based on the article, that she knew the extent until very very recently. It seems as though she had been trying to get him to stop and that their marriage was struggling for about a decade because of it. I believe she loved him and thought she could get him to change, which was especially complicated by the fact that they had a young child together and that if she ever aired her grievances against them she'd be the bad guy. Remember, this is the word of Amanda Palmer, one of the internet's biggest punching bags, against beloved internet darling Neil Gaiman. She knew there was no winning and that she'd come off like a vindictive harpy.
Remember in 2020 when everyone was assuming she was a narcissist because of Neil's goodreads account? in light of the article saying their marriage suffered since 2014 and that they separated at the time that this drama happened, it reads almost like a coordinated smear campaign with plausible deniability. Almost like he was thinking ahead to the possibility that she could release this information about him so he had to get in front of it to make her look narcissistic while having plausible deniability to say "oh I was just hacked." (I'm not going to say I told you so even though back then I totally did say to maybe lay off them because we didn't know what was going on behind the scenes. Amanda Palmer is not perfect and has done and said things that I personally don't agree with, but the hatred has always seemed particularly vitriolic in a way usually reserved for female celebrities.)
Not saying at all that there is no culpability and that she didn't contribute to endangering these women (we still don't have her side of the story though no sources have placed blame on her as of yet), but the article clearly stated that she had told Neil to stay away from the most recent victim and that she was horrified when she found out the extent of what had happened. I truly think she wanted to believe that he wouldn't do it if she asked, even as negligent as that last bit of hope may have made her. I say all this to remind people once again to put the most blame on the man who is actually perpetrating these crimes and not to just throw unfounded vitriol at the wife, since my familiarity with these kinds of cases suggests the angry mob often looks for reasons to hate the woman even more than the man. The article says that the divorce left her with no money and that she's living with her parents now. When they met she was an artist with no real wealth and he was a much older man with wealth and fame. He is the one who put her in this position and I would wager he was using her (and the open marriage they once had) as cover and plausible deniability for any accusations levied against him. Just something to think about until we get her side, which we may not get because she knows how the public reacts to her and because, crucially, she has a son with him and doesn't want to put him through that kind of trauma. We don't even know what Neil may have put her through during their marriage, though we know the kind of appetites he has for women.
But again, these women are so brave for coming forward to tell their stories. They have seen years of women being raked over the coals for suggesting well-liked famous men have preyed on them, yet they told their stories anyway. I know how frightening that is. I really, truly hope that they can find peace now.
I wish people would understand that it is actually a good thing when allegations of sexual misconduct are thoroughly investigated, leaving no stone unturned, and that most survivors of sexual assault who've come forward are not lucky enough to have people take their story seriously enough to look into it in good faith, verify it, and post a long, exhaustively researched researched article informing everyone that they're telling the truth.
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Ludos Imperiales III
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Summary: Saving your mates may cost more than you bargain for, but how far are you willing to go to save them?
Content Warnings: Branding; Mentions of Slavery/Abuse; Vomiting
Pt 1 / Pt 2
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Fables had largely been forbidden in the Empire, starting in the early reign of my Great Grandfather Hybern II. Fables and fairytales had no use in the practicality of his Empire. Stories and fables gave people ideas, it made them hope and dream of better worlds than this one. The Empire could not thrive on the backs of dreamers. And so books burned in the streets, and the oral traditions of many people died in the following years. Schools taught with books written by Imperial Scholars, all edited and fact checked by the Emperor himself. The world became what he saw fit to shape it as. 
To him, the fairytale idea of mates was a weakness. He declared all mated pairs cursed by the Mother. A bond was a manifestation of a weak will. If you could not thrive on your own without needing another to carry you, then you were not fit to be in the Empire. He removed all mated pairs from service, both within the palace walls and in military service. Mated pairs were not allowed to own land within the Empire, Temples were not legally allowed to recognize or perform a marriage ceremony. They were shunned as lepers and regarded as subpar beings. The bond made them loyal to each other first and foremost, and that was an allegiance torn in his mind. He made sure everyone else saw it that way too.
Father would not have such an obvious weakness. In his earlier years, he’d scoured the Empire, searching every village he ravaged and town he conquered for signs of that supposed weakness. He’d felt a pull, to a small ocean village in Elfhaven, and that pull had led him to a healer’s cottage, tucked into the ocean cliffs. He’d stood on the threshold of her doorway, cursing the Mother, cursing whatever weak will he had managed to leave unchecked, and then, he’d tossed her into the sea. His father had thrown a city wide celebration in his honor. Finally, a son who could master himself and his weaknesses. He used to tell me that story at bedtime, when my Mother tucked me in. Love was for children. Mates were for lesser beings. Mother had never argued with him about it either, this was simply a fact in their marriage. Theirs was of convenience, a mutually beneficial contract, and I often wondered if that story was also a means to remind her that she too could be disposed of if a weakness revealed itself. 
But, I had been a lonely, and curious child and would often sit with the Nymphs that lived in the bubbling brooks and streams around the River House, and would ask them all the questions I was afraid to ask my Father. They whispered their own tales of mates between the bubbling rocks and rolling waves and I’d latched onto their ideas of a bond so strong it could bridge a soul together. Perhaps it was my loneliness, my need for affection I couldn’t easily find at home, but I clung to that little piece of what everyone else swore was fiction like my life depended on it. It became my lifeline. I’d pray to the Goddess every night for something like that; for someone who could love me beyond reason.
A dream that slips through my fingers as I step into that cell.
Cassian, chained against the wall with a gorsian collar around his throat, spits at my feet as I enter. I’ve seen hatred enough in my lifetime to understand the fire that blazes in those hazel eyes.
All the air in my lungs leaves in a rush, as if he’d thrown a fist directly into my stomach. He hates me. Hates me for what I’ve done to him; hates me for what I allowed to happen in that arena. Hel, judging by the way he sizes me up next to Father, he hates me purely because I look like him in the eyes.
My chest aches like it just might crack open and spill my heart out onto the floor.
For the slight, one of the guards slams the butt of his spear directly into Cassian’s gut, knocking him to the floor.
Despite the obvious malice, I have to physically lock my knees to keep myself from moving towards him; have to bite the inside of my cheek to not tell them to leave him alone. Maybe it’s not his fault he hates me. Maybe I deserve it.
“Charming as ever, Cassian,” Father says.
Cassian glares through the locks of sweat slicked hair falling over his forehead, “Fuck you!”
The butt of the spear slams into his temple and it takes every ounce of training not to let the dark, obsidian power trying to unfurl from my clenched fists turn the guard to ash. It would be so easy, a mere flick of the wrist and the only evidence that he’d ever lived a bit of dust left to mingle in the dirt coating the floor. I want to. Damn me, I want to splatter all of them across the dingy walls; hear the last, sharp intake of breath gurgle out of their chests for putting their hands on my mate. There’s a possessive, ugly thing that rises in my chest, threatening to choke the life out of me if I don’t move, act, on this base instinct. The bond rattles against my rib cage, a beast in its own right. It demands action, swift and immediate. It demands blood.
“You sure you can handle this beast, daughter?” Father sneers.
Cassian regards me with the disdain of someone who stepped in shit while wearing new boots. 
“I’m sure,” I say with more confidence than I feel, but I’m too much of a coward to look him in the eyes when I say it. My gaze flicks to the others instead, hoping against reason that I will not see the same hatred on their features. 
Azriel remains tucked in the corner, where he can use his body to shelter his broken wings. There isn’t the same malice in his own hazel eyes, but there is a cold indifference that cracks me open just the same. His earlier appraisal must have told him enough, because there is no lingering curiosity, only apathy. I am not asking him to throw himself into my arms; hell, I don’t even need him to smile, I just need something, any hint that my name alone hasn’t ruined this before it even starts! But there is nothing.
I try to keep my shoulders back, try to stop my body from curling in on itself. I want to curl up on the floor and wait until the old stones absorb me.
“I am curious,” Rhysand says, the s slurred like he bit his tongue when he hit the wall. “Why keep us alive?”
“Why let you be a martyr?” Father counters.
Rhysand studies me, violet eyes--glassy from what’s certainly a head injury, especially with the blood still flowing freely from an inch wide gash across his temple--rove over me slowly, starting at my hairline and working down. His head tilts quizzically when his gaze reaches my cheek. He shouldn’t be able to see anything in this light, but I find myself shifting my stance just enough to block the view all the same.
He frowns as his study goes lower, to the singe across my skirts, and the dirt stains from my stumble down the stairs. 
“I’d rather be dead than dragged around like a dog!” Cassian spits.
Rhysand won’t stop looking me over, like he’s calculating something. Not exactly the acknowledgment I want, but I will take the intrigue of his study over apathy and hatred as if it is. Curiosity is better than nothing. 
“You will honor your word, and send aid to my people?” He asks.
“If anyone is stupid enough to bet on you,” Father counters. “And if it makes it past the highwaymen and looters that have been waylaying my caravans. Your people might have more food if they weren’t attacking supply lines.”
My stomach twists. So Rhysand hadn’t been lying then, things have truly become that bad? Or have they always been that bad, and the sheltered nature of my upbringing had kept me from truly seeing it?
“Do you have supply lines that run through Illyria?” Rhys counters, not rising to the bait. “I can’t recall.”
“You will be branded,” Father says, jaw ticking as he doesn’t get the results he wants. “You will remain in chains and fight when called to fight. Any attempts at escape, and I will drag your people into the arena in droves. They can’t all be as adept at fighting wargs and Giants as you.”
Azriel’s gaze darkens at the threat.
Cassian’s lips pull back in a sneer, teeth flashing.
But Rhysand nods, gaze still on me, like he’s deciding something. I can’t, for the life of me, figure out what.
“Keep your end of the bargain, Highness, and we will keep ours.” He says.
“Rhys!” Cassian seethes. 
“Quiet,” Rhysand returns. Briefly, his gaze leaves me to go to Azriel, and the other male nods, just barely. 
“How noble,” Father sneers.
“We will do what we must to save our people.”
Father waves the guard at the door in. Another follows, holding a glowing hot branding iron in his gloved hands.
“On your knees!” The doorman barks.
The contents of my stomach rise in my throat. I can’t let this happen! I can’t let them do this to them!
Rhysand kneels first, well technically, Cassian’s still down from the blow to the stomach; Azriel follows, grimacing against the pressure it puts on his wings.
I cannot beg for them. I will give myself away. I will doom all of us.
I can’t let this happen either. I can’t stand here uselessly!
“You’ll do it,” Father says to me and my panicked train of thought slams to a screeching halt. What?!
The guard holding the iron snorts out a chuckle. “Doubt she can hold the damn thing.”
Father turns to fully look at me and I do my best to keep my chin up. I have to keep the mask up; I cannot let him see. 
“You wanted this. You’ll do it.” He doesn’t think I have it in me; that much is obvious. He thinks me weak and spineless and meek, unable to do what is necessary. I have always known it, but I have never felt it so clearly as I do now.
And maybe he is right. How can I do this, even for the sake of protecting them? How can I raise a hand to my mates?
I swallow the lump in my throat. If I reach out to take that iron, my hands will shake and give me away. If I stand here and refuse, I give myself away. There is no winning; how did I think I could play a game like this? He wins; he always wins.
Not today, a voice whispers in the back of my mind. My body moves without my consent, as if I’m a puppet on a set of strings, being moved by an invisible hand. When I reach out for the iron, my hand doesn’t shake, even though it feels like every part of my body is trembling. The iron is heavy and warm in my hands, I have to use both to lift it, and though I should struggle to keep a grip on it, the invisible grip on me holds it steady.
Two guards move to grip Rhysand by the shoulders, pinning him in place, even though he offers his right arm willingly. His right arm that’s shredded from elbow to wrist from the wargs, blood still trickling onto the floor. The wound is deepest on the outside of his forearm, with enough space above the inside of his wrist to mark. This is cruel enough as is, but to add further to the injury…
One of the guards grabs the torch to reheat the rapidly cooling metal and my stomach is once again back in my throat. I can’t do this to him!
Don’t let him win, the voice whispers again.
My body is still not my own, still moving despite my best efforts to not. It feels like I’m watching myself from outside my body as the iron is pressed to his skin. I can’t even gag against the horrible smell of burning flesh, like someone locked the ability to react behind a wall of adamant. 
Rhysand, to his credit, doesn’t even wince, just draws a sharp breath in through his nose. He holds eye contact with my Father the whole time in another silent challenge and I cannot decide if he is the bravest or stupidest male I’ve ever met. 
The guards reheat the iron as my body moves away from him, and I’m sure they make some sort of snide comment, but it sounds like I’m hearing it from underwater as I take in what I’ve done to him. The blistering skin forms a perfect circle, with the Imperial emblem stamped in the center. It will be a crude scar and hard to hide. My heart clenches painfully in my chest. What have I done? 
The guards move to hold Azriel next, and if I was unsettled before, I’m downright ready to throw myself on a blade now. The apathy has left his eyes, replaced now with barely concealed panic. He pinches his lips together, trying not to make a sound as I approach, but his chest rises and falls rapidly, scarred hands clenching and unclenching in front of him. Shit those are burns on his hands and I’ve got something on fire held out to him.
“What’s the matter?” One of the guards leans down to hiss in his ear. “Scared of a little fire?”
“You motherfucker!” Cassian shouts, trying to stand to get to Azriel. He’s quickly knocked back to the floor with the butt of a spear again. 
“Do it!” Azriel hisses at me.
My body is still not my own as it moves to comply. The whole cell reeks of burnt flesh and it is by the sheer force of whatever will moves my limbs that I haven’t heaved up the contents of my stomach on the floor. What kind of mate am I?
Gods I am as bad as my Father! Cassian knows it too; when it’s finally his turn, the look he gives me is one I’ve seen thrown at the Emperor a thousand times. There is nothing but venom and hatred there and the bond in my chest feels raw and thin, like it has been scraped and worn down to a single, solitary thread. And yet my legs still move and my hands still hold the iron steady.
He won’t ever forgive me for this. Even if I can get them out of the Empire, even if I can save them from dying in the arena, it will never be enough. I’ve ruined my chance before it even had a chance to start.
Cassian growls when the brand touches his skin, but he doesn’t scream. None of them did. This displeases my Father, who frowns, even when it’s done. At least he is not proud of me; that would be the final nail in the coffin. 
The invisible hand still won’t let go of me, I feel it holding me upright, like it knows, given the chance I’ll crumple to the floor and never get up again. How could I have done this?
Father turns to the guard closest to the door, “Go ahead of her to the River House, make sure the place is secure. Post extra guards.”
The elven male bows with an exaggerated flourish and disappears. I suppose I should feel relieved that we are almost out of this godsdamned arena, but dread settles in my stomach. It is not like my Father to make this quick, not for a convicted rebel, and not for anything I’ve shown an interest in. Taking them home now feels too good to be true and I am not inclined to believe luck or mercy have ever been on my side. 
“The arena will have to be fixed before we can proceed with the Games,” Father muses. “I expect you to bring your new toys with you to entertain our guests at Amarantha’s celebration tomorrow.”
They’re throwing her a whole parade for her exports over Illyria, of course she’d want them there to see it. I doubt they’ll be the only Illyrians in attendance.
Cassian growls at that. I’m inclined to share the sentiment. 
“As you wish,” I say instead. Hopefully, if I can manage to not let the guilt clawing its way up my insides to consume me, I can remain upright long enough to find us all passage out of here by the morning. This will all be a terrible dream. Even if we have to part--the bond roars in my ears at the thought--at least I will have saved them. It might be the only thing I have to give them.
Father leaves first. I don’t let myself look at my mates as I follow. The guards untether them from the wall and push them out after me, keeping a guard in between us, just in case they attempt to attack while my back is turned. I wouldn’t blame them if they tried; I’d attack me too.
I can’t get the smell of their burnt flesh out of my nose. Every time I blink I can see their blistered skin behind my eyelids. I branded my mates. 
The way out of the tunnels beneath the arena is a blur, it doesn’t even register that we’re out until the sudden flash of harsh summer light sears my eyes. 
There are horses waiting, and a wagon. At least he’s not forcing them to walk behind my horse, as some of the lords and councilmen make their sponsored champions do. 
I don’t remember swinging into the saddle. I don’t remember urging the horse forward, or when my caravan of guards split off from my Father’s. We rode together until we didn’t. Starlight, my childhood horse, does all the directing, taking me home on instinct. The house I grew up in, the house I sequestered myself in with the curtains drawn for months and months looks foreign. The staff coming out to greet us swim in and out of my vision. I must answer their questions, because they move things around for our new guests, instructing the guards to take the wagon around to the back of the house, where there’s a guest wing turned into a cell for them. All this sounds like it happens under water. 
I hear the wagon roll that direction, and even though I feel eyes on my back, I don’t allow myself to turn. I cannot bear what I will see.
Someone helps me to my rooms, holding me by the elbow, telling me I look pale and sick. I feel like I’ve stepped outside my skin. The tether in my chest feels raw. What have I done?
The sizzle of the iron on skin echoes in my ears. I can’t stop seeing the smoke. Can’t stop thinking about the panic in Azriel’s eyes. I hurt my mates.
I hurt my mates.
Whatever invisible force had been holding me together in the cell gradually releases me. Inch by inch I become aware of my body again. And I make it to the toilet just in time to hurl the contents of my stomach up. It’s the wine first. Then breakfast. And the acidic burn of bile out my throat and nose. 
After Mother’s execution I hadn’t been able to stop crying for days. I’d laid in my bed with the covers over me, hiding in the dark where no one could hear the ugly sounds of my wrenching sobs. I’d thought I’d never weep that hard again. I was wrong. This is far worse.
When I no longer have the strength to hold myself up over the edge of the toilet, I curl into a ball on the floor, the tile cool and smooth against my flushed cheeks. The tears won’t stop flowing and the thing in my chest coils and tightens until it feels like a rock. What have I done?
Eventually the tears run out. The thin slit of a window in the wall bathes the room in varying shades of orange, then pink, then purple as time passes by, uncaring to my turmoil. I still can’t bring myself to get up, even as the heat of the day turns to a cool, evening chill. No amount of cold could move me now, a little suffering is what I deserve. 
Someone knocks on the bedroom door. I don’t remember closing it behind me.
I shut my eyes against the noise. All this crying has given me a headache, the echo of the door against the tile makes my head throb. Good. I deserve that too.
Another knock, more insistent this time.
Why should I answer it? I should just lay here until the earth swallows me. 
Another knock, followed by a muffled, “Highness?” Anise, my maid. Anise had come with my Mother, a gift from her father as she travelled here for the wedding. Mother had freed her from her servitude and Anise had asked to stay as part of the staff. She loved my Mother like she was her own; I have always thought of her like an Aunt.
“Don’t make me kick the door in!” A grumpy Aunt, granted, but her temper is always warranted. 
Shakily, I manage to maneuver myself onto my knees. She really will kick the door in and her joints are old and worn, she’ll likely break an ankle, or a hip, trying. It’s for her health that I manage to get up and get to the door, not because I feel well enough to get up.
She pushes her way in as soon as I turn the handle. “You look awful!”
I feel awful. “Thanks.”
“What the hell is all of this?” She demands, waving a hand towards the hallway. She’s half Dryad, her skin like tree bark, her graying hair made of vines and leaves. Though she is old and weathered, her emerald eyes are still bright and shining. “And why are you so distraught over it?”
She paces as she speaks, not letting me get a word in as she wrings her gnarled hands together. “What’s with all the guards? And those… winged males? They are strange and gruff and I don’t like the looks of them. Which reminds me, why the Hels are they asking for you?”
My heart skips a beat in my chest. “What do you mean, Anise?”
She stops her pacing to come take one of my hands, a gesture for a Dryad that is closer to a hug. Her other hand pushes some hair off my cheek to see the yellow tint of a blooming bruise. “Did they hurt you?”
I’m going to be sick again. “No, Anise, they didn’t.”
“You promise?”
“Trust me, if anyone did any damage, it was me.” And I’ll never forgive myself for it. 
She nods. “Ok, then, I will tell you.” Dryads, like Ents, are known for their long winded conversations. They never know when to get to the point. I am used to her extra long pauses and rambling tangents. 
I am not, however, prepared for her to say, “Well they were brought food and a medic, as the guards ordered, but they refused it.”
Why the hell would they do that?! Was this some kind of hunger strike? By the Mother did they think I was trying to poison them?
“They said they wouldn’t touch it until they’d spoken to you.”
I think the heat has gotten to me. Did she just say they asked to speak to me?
“It’s very strange,” she continues. “Males in that bad of shape usually fight for a chance to see a medic, but they said they wouldn’t let anyone touch them until they’d talked to you alone.”
Alone? They wanted to talk to me alone?
“Are you sure that’s what they said, Anise?”
“They were very adamant about needing to see you. Rude if you ask me. Who demands to see the head of a household like that? They’re trouble, I’m telling you now.”
“They didn’t say why?” I ask.
“No. They wouldn’t say it around the guards either. I don’t like this, Highness. It’s a bad omen if you ask me. The winds have been whispering all day. Bad, very bad things will come of this, mark my words.”
Bad things had already come, couldn’t she see that? They were not the issue; I was the issue. This whole damn Empire was the issue. We ruin everything we touch. They knew that better than anyone, so why ask for me? What did they want? It certainly can't be the bond.
I absently rub my knuckle against my breast bone. The bond feels like a bruise. No, they can’t be asking about the bond. If they know it’s there, they’re not tugging on it. There is no curiosity, only pain. I’ve ruined the chance for anything more, of that I am certain. 
This has to be something else, but how can I face them? There is only so much I can bear.
“You’ll make them wait, won’t you?” Anise continues. “You certainly should. It’s improper for a host to be asked for this late into the evening.”
They need medical attention. Their wounds have to heal. And they need to eat. They have to be starving, I doubt they were given a last meal before being thrown into the arena. Raw and damaged as it is, the bond still prompts me to move, even if I’d rather hide from it for the rest of my life.
“No,” I might as well rip the bandaid off. Maybe they need to tell me to my face that they hate me and never want to see me again. It can be arranged for us not to interact, even with me sponsoring them. 
If that is their wish, I will honor it. Whatever it is they need, I’ll find a way to make it happen. I owe them that. “I’ll go see them.”
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Taglist: @sirenpearldust, @saltedcoffeescotch, @littlemissfix-itfic, @waka-babe, @raisam
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@anainkandpaper, @rafeecameronsbitch, @whothehelliskayleigh, @lifetobeareader, @blimpintime
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@hjgdhghoe, @krowiathemythologynerd
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red-phantom-0 · 2 days ago
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Yandere Platonic Batfam x Neglected Reader pt. 3
-> continuation of these aus 🍁 , 🍁🍁
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- fast forward and 3 weeks have passed, and readers blissfully living out their best life.
- currently they're chilling out in their hot tub , sipping on an oreo milkshake on a casual Tuesday . They're enjoying life when they can hear some very familiar voices comming from inside their penthouse.
- cue their so called adopted siblings walking out into their patio . " Holy fuck guys they got a whole back yard out here " exclaimed Duke as he looked around eye wide .
- " they're giving Bruce some competition " Jason mumbled as he opened up reader's outdoor fridge and took a swig of their orange juice .
- reader just looks at them with a ' are you serious ' expression because like why are these people in their house ????.
- " I've seen better " complained Damian as he made himself home on one of reader's expensive plush chairs in the patio. Reader let out an offended scoff. " first off you idiots break in my house and y'all are complaining ?"
- everyone stills in their movement - they hadn't seen reader in their hot tub and was fully expected them to be at work . Reader takes a dramatic sip out of their milkshake and gives them all a death glare .
- " Get out before I tell your grandpa " reader threatens . The bat siblings look at each other confusingly . " Wait grandpa ? Do You mean Bruce?" Dick questions and reader just nods .
- " Bro Bruce is our adopted dad and yours too-" Tim says with a horrified look . Reader's eyes bulge open in disbelief . " Tch he ain't my dad because he looks like he's old and can't pull any " reader says confidently.
- bat siblings all let out a shocked gasp . " Dude Bruce literally pulls " Dick says defensively. " Yeah my father has immaculate , amazing , perfect taste in women an example would be my mother " Damian says as he propped up his feet with a confident smirk. Everyone just stares at him.
- " WHAT ?!" He exclaims defensively . " Bro your mom is like - probably one of his worst relationships " Jason says matter of factly. Damian scowls , " y'all just jealous that as the blood son I was the product of one of his best decisions "
- bat siblings all scoff and started arguing and readers just there like 🧍‍♀️🧍‍♀️🧍‍♀️ because they're just tryna have a good night and these idiots are ruining it .
- bored out of their mind reader slips away to put on decent clothes and goes to their kitchen to get a glass of much needed wine only to find the man of the hour sitting on one of their kitchen stools drinking their wine.
- reader has to hold themselves back from throwing him out their penthouse . " Monseiur Bruce " reader hums out as they opened their fridge .
- Bruce smiles at them " good evening my beloved daughter /son what a lovely family dinner we are having " he says with a smile . Reader shoots him a glare as they pop a cherry in their mouth . " I didn't know breaking and entering a stranger's house is considered a family dinner- well that's another charge to go along with your tax evasion " reader says nonchantly.
- Bruce's eye twitches because what do you mean reader thinks they're strangers - yeah maybe they haven't acted like family to you but that doesn't mean they couldn't start now -
- in walks in bat siblings - still debating and arguing over readers statement . Bruce raised his eyebrow at the sight , " what are you guys arguing about ?" . " Reader thought you were our grandpa and says you can't pull " tim says exhausted.
- Bruce froze - his son/daughter thought he was a grandpa - he's not - he's not that old right ?? He immediately whips over to reader . "You think I'm old ???" He asks them seriously.
- reader looks at him with a poker face , " Yeah bro, you look 67 " . Bruce then literally crumbles in his seat like a child . " Bro I think we broke him - " dick says with concern while Jason laughs hysterically. " Father why does it matter what age reader thinks you are " Damian says confused.
- Bruce just looks at them and then back at reader , " because I always thought everyone considered me fairly young " . Reader just shrugs. " You might think you're young but I'm sure your back pain screams otherwise " .
- Bat siblings just ' ooooo ' at Bruce . " They got a point Bruce " Jason pointed out, and Bruce sent him a glare . " Listen guys we came to get to know our amazing sister/brother not argue " Duke says .
- reader let out a sarcatic cough and is fustrated with everyone's bullshit . " first off like hell i wanna know you and secondly get out of my house before I throw yall out " reader threatens , throughly done because their night was ruined by some delusional family.
- everyone began arguing and begging to stay but reader threw a butter knife at dick which made the boy fall to the floor and scream . " OKAY WE WILL LEAVE " exclaimed Tim and he grabbed Dick once again and hauled everyone outside .
- reader follows them out their front door and watches them all haul into their limbo not before screaming , " AND STAY THE FUCK OUT " and slamming the door shut .
- reader leans against the door , relief washes over them and they return to the comfort of their bed and began to get ready to sleep . Reader scrolls through their socials for a while until they stumble upon a post by Bruce Wayne himself.
- ' spending quality time with the ones that matters ' and it's a post with the boys and him in their house with a picture of them scowling in the background . Reader can feel their jaw clenching in rage . The post had already one million likes in the span of only thirty minutes .
- reader then gets several notifications- it was the batfam following them on their official social accounts . Reader scowls as their inbox is practically filled with persons commenting about them and questioning them.
- reader just turns off their phone and goes to bed because that's a future them problem .
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shyamanuensis · 2 days ago
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dad!headcanons - hl boys
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because i'm hormonal and maternal at the moment and feel like subjecting you all to the crack inside my head.
𝕕𝕒𝕕!𝕘𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕙
★ dad!garreth who wanted a massive family because chaos and mayhem are what he's use to but has somehow found himself second guessing his taunts of 'how about one more to add to the bunch' with all 5 kids being girls. he thought 'eh girls - they're easy'; WRONG! he's never been driven this mad in his life but secretly adores every second of it.
★ dad!garreth who has perfected the art of braiding hair and listening as if his life depends on it to all the drama your daughters rambling on about 24/7. who's dating whom at hogwarts - who got caught by a professor in the broom cupboard - the cute boy who made the quidditch team - how professor ronen is still teaching and isn't fair on his grades. he loves the small talk; but it does get confusing keeping up.
★ can we take a moment to appreciate the way dad!garreth handles the fact all the members of his household have gone through or are experiencing the discomforts of becoming young women? the screaming, the crying, the insecurities, the hormones. for a week each month his wage goes directly to chocolate, tissues and tampons; maybe not always in that order but nonetheless, it's a shopping trip he's become accustomed to making.
★living under a roof with 6 women was probably a teenage dream for dad!garreth but no… he appreciates his time away from the madness that is the weasley household. he's never out for more than a single drink though and irrespective of how old his little girls are, he's always at home by 8 to tuck the youngest into bed and give the oldest a peptalk about how anyone with the last name sallow isn't good enough for them (much to your humour and dismay).
★ summers in the weasley household when the children were younger were often spent outdoors from dawn until dusk and dad!garreth makes a point of keeping every single daisy chain crown his daughters have made him over the years; pressing them in his office between old textbooks he never opened during his time at hogwarts to keep them as memories.
𝕕𝕒𝕕!𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤
★ dad!ominis who was reluctant to start a family at first not wanting to pass down his insecurities or imperfections however is smitten over how delicate yet ambitious his twin girls are. their feistiness definitely comes from their mother; their sarcasm their father.
★ dad!ominis that makes sure he takes time off work and makes arrangements as required to attend every single 'parent/child' school day - not so he can brag but so his daughters can brag about him and how wonderful they think he is. he'd be lying if he didn't get a kick out of it. parents needed as volunteers for fieldtrips - his name is on the list. every - single - time.
★ it took a year of solid practice for hours on a saturday and for 15 minutes or so each night after school but dad!ominis was able to teach both girls how to play piano by the age of 6. patience his absolute virtue - plus it meant that you got time to yourself too. the girls however, have a habit of playing dramatic classics whenever you have a headache or are just not in the mood and he smirks; aloof to the behaviour whenever you question him.
★ strict? yeah dad!ominis likes to think he rules with an iron fist but that is absolutely not the case. he's the first to bend and break at any demand you or your daughters make. "daddy, read to me?" - he's sitting on the bed with them until they fall asleep to the sound of his voice. "daddy! you said i could have xyz!" - somehow he's found himself carrying around a bag of shopping and a lighter wallet.
★ as with garreth - dad!ominis is quick to remind his girls that any of the sallow boys are not worth their time. he could barely handle sebastian as a friend let alone does he want him as an in-law. although it is no secret that you're aware of one of the twins dating the eldest sallow boy you've kept that news under wraps, unsure of when to break it to him.
𝕕𝕒𝕕!𝕤𝕖𝕓𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕒𝕟
★ dad!sebastian who views parenting as not only the greatest gift in the world but a chance for him to relive some of his childhood now that he has 3 boys of his own - and no, your genetics clearly failed to turn up to the party because your sons are all spitting images of their father.
★ dad!sebastian who has no care for curfews or rules - boys will be boys in his eyes and this behaviour can range from rough housing in the kitchen and breaking your wedding crockery to staying up until the early hours of the morning assiting him with research and usually stealing a sip of whiskey when the kids think he's not looking. "but they need sleep sebastian!" no… according to him their body clocks will settle when they need to; as will their behaviour.
★ the amount of heart attacks dad!sebastian has managed to give you swinging off of trees or climbing into ruins with your sons you've lost count of. it's almost expected behaviour now for the 4 men of the sallow household to make your heart race - a sweat wash your skin at the start of every morning wondering what on earth they could get up to next but you're just grateful he hasn't managed to end up in hospital or have himself arrested.
★ the boys need something? dad!sebastian default response is "ask your mother". will he ever come off as the bad guy - not unless he really has to. you can count on one hand the times he's had to discipline his sons and rather than traditional oldschool tactics, sebastian is far more fond of empty threats like 'don't make me tell you the story of how you were conceived' or 'play up and i'll make sure you have a baby sister.'
★ aware of his charm that his sons have clearly inherited, dad!sebastian is more than happy to prod and poke fun at both garreth and ominis about how their daughters would one day carry the last name sallow. although the taunts are often received with rolled eyes and in jest, he's very aware that his eldest boy and one of ominis daughters often sneak away together when the families get together and you have to near beg him every single time not to open his mouth knowing that ominis wouldn't handle it.
★★★ leander, amit and others to follow.
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kumkaniudaku · 1 day ago
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White Lies
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Summary: Terry and Patrice work together to a little white lie.
Pairing: Terry Richmond x Black!OC
Word Count: 4,521
Warnings: Mentions of Pregnancy
Recommended Reading: Caught, Me and Your Mama
MASTERLIST
Something was…off. 
From the moment Patrice and Terry stepped into Marvin and Diedra's freshly renovated two-story home, which was primped and primed with all the luxury finishes one could ask for, Patrice could sense that their carefully crafted plan was in jeopardy. 
Terry's father was far too cheery. Diedra was always high energy, often smiling and hugging to celebrate a cloudless sky or the fresh sprouts of garlic cloves in her window sill garden, but Marvin was more even-keeled. In her teenage years, Patrice often questioned whether he liked her because of the lack of meaningful communication with her until she became a legal Richmond when he acknowledged her as something other than "the Ellis girl" at their wedding reception. In reality, Marvin carried immense respect for his daughter-in-love and regularly sang her praises in private despite carrying an exterior that felt more like casual indifference than familial affection. 
That's how Patrice knew their surprise announcement had been compromised. When Marvin greeted her with a hug so tight around her shoulders that she felt the bone pop from the pressure, her intuition perked up, sending red alerts to every corner of her brain. Still, Patrice kept quiet. No need to throw accusations when she couldn't prove her suspicion. 
Terry knew something was up when Rosalyn called him out of the blue to reiterate that she was excited to see them for dinner an hour before they arrived to share a feast from their collective favorite local soul food spot. Rosalyn rarely called him. If she needed to speak to Terry, she called Patrice and relayed a message through her daughter. If the situation was urgent, she'd send a text as a last-ditch effort. While he loved his mother-in-law dearly, finding himself in a 15-minute conversation about the weather felt strange. He hung up with the nagging feeling she knew more than what she was letting on. But he buried the thought to keep Patrice stress-free and excited about revealing their news to the grandparents-to-be. 
In the dining room, with an Aretha Franklin CD playing softly from Marvin's old standing radio system, the Ellis-Richmond clan conversed around a decorated maplewood dining table featuring all of their favorite Sunday dinner staples. They passed around Diedra's expensive glass bowls full of potato salad and pristine china platters of baked chicken between discussions of matters equally important and frivolous in nature. How was your vacation? Did you hear what so-and-so said about such-and-such? Your cousin is having a baby. Isn't that great?
That revelation made Terry pause as he spooned collard greens into his mouth. He chewed quickly to expedite a response to his mother. "Sure. Gerald has had a lot of kids, though, Mama. Ain't this number five?" 
Five that they knew of at least. 
"I know," Diedra sang after a sip of lemonade, a smile fighting its way past the neutral expression she'd been trying and miserably failing to maintain. "But a baby is a blessing every time. Especially when you're a grandparent getting to love on all those little ones. Sheila calls just to brag about them babies every weekend." 
Patrice rolled her eyes internally when Rosalyn added her two cents as if she didn't already know how her daughter felt about having a child one day. 
The older woman adjusted her black-rimmed glasses on her nose and hummed to signal her agreeance. "You know you get to treat your grandbabies different. Get 'em all hyped up on sugar and toys so they can go back home and be out of your hair until next time." 
"That's exactly what I plan on doin'," Leon laughed, the sound booming throughout the room. "Have fun with Pop-Pop, then go right on back to your mama 'nem." 
Terry tried to ease the annoyance emanating from Patrice's bouncing leg with a short chuckle and a soothing rub on her denim-covered knee under the table until she slowed to a halt. "If this is y'all's way of asking when we'll have children, I feel like I gotta remind everybody we just got married. Can't we enjoy some time alone for a little while? We haven't really dated, you know." 
"And I have shared my very detailed five year plan for us, which does not include trying for a baby until year three. Please, let's not rush my well-thought-out process, people!" 
Part of what Patrice said was true. Her laptop had a detailed five-year plan tucked neatly inside a folder labeled "Crack In Case I Marry That Man." She shared it with her mother a few weeks before Terry's surprise proposal, and there was a multi-page section on when and how they'd prep for parenthood after exactly three years of marriage. It was all there in 12-point Times New Roman and adequately disseminated to all interested parties to reference when the timeline called for them to reconvene. 
The lie was that they were still following said plan to the letter. 
Their parents exchanged knowing looks they assumed their children wouldn't understand. Terry and Patrice let them live in their bubble without calling attention to the many side eyes and allusions to pregnancy by frequently changing the subject but always ending right back at the starting line. 
Forks scraping against bright white porcelain signaled the end of their main course, just as an attempt to steer the conversation toward sports proved successful. 
Marvin waived his arms in a spirited attempt to direct Terry and Leon's attention toward an invisible clipboard of surefire inbounds plays for the Charlotte Hornets after another regular season loss. "See, this is why they didn't win the other day. The damn coach don't know what he doin'," he rambled without interruption. "Why the hell is Bridges inboundin' the ball with five seconds left? He oughta be in the paint waiting for the lob!" 
"Probably a decoy, Pop. Get 'em to inbound, then he cuts to the basket. They just botched the play because they're a bad team. Which you know. I'm not sure why you keep devoting your time to them." 
Marvin scoffed, miffed by the insinuation that his perpetually bottom-of-the-barrel team was ill-equipped to win. "Boy, I used to take you to Hornets games all the time." 
"I know. And they were bad then. Why do you think the tickets were so cheap," Terry laughed.
Terry's father shooed him away with a grin that slowly turned into a laugh, joining the small chorus around the room. "Yeah, well, at least they're exciting and bad this go 'round," Marvin countered before leaning back in his chair, full from the feast. "Better to watch LaMelo Ball get 50 in a blowout than sit through 48 minutes of Keith Bogans." 
"Hey, now. I had a Keith Bogans jersey!" 
"Because it was cheap," Marvin winked. 
More laughter filled the room, easily replacing the awkward tension marring their earlier interactions. Dinner was supposed to be fun and light-hearted to usher in big news for the year ahead. If conversations about the bleak future of their shared NBA team could offer a distraction, Terry and Patrice would watch every 40-point loss with glee.
Patrice cleaned the corners of her mouth and tossed her napkin on top of her clean plate in surrender to the indulgent meal. "I think some of my students are gonna sing Lift Every Voice at a game during Black History Month. We could go as a family. It'd be our first little mixed outing."
"You sure you'll feel up to it?" 
Chatter stopped. Terry swore he heard Aretha gasp before the final track faded into silence. The air in the room felt stagnant as if it were also holding its breath in anticipation of the fallout. Patrice blinked twice as her head tilted to one side in the confused look she sported right before she picked her victim apart for answers. It was the calm before an ugly storm.
Rosalyn wished she could've put the words back in her mouth and swallowed them whole so they'd never come forth again. The question was meant for her internal dialogue and a side conversation with her good friend and gossip partner, not the group discussion. 
She waited with the rest of the crew, breath drawn into tight lungs, praying that her daughter hadn't caught her innuendo. 
Patrice smiled a tight-lipped smile, the expression looking more like a grimace than an indicator of true happiness. "Why wouldn't I be up to it?" 
"Somethin' goin' on that day, Mrs. Ros?" When Terry said his vows, the part left in the margins was the commitment to join his wife in conflict, even if his parents were on the other side. They'd sort through the details later. And, honestly, he enjoyed a sprinkling of mess every once in a while.
Rosalyn released a cool titter to erase the lines creasing her forehead in worry. "I figured it'd be in the middle of the week. You know how P gets about her babies." Another slip to make Patrice's ears perk in curiosity. Leon wiped a large palm across his face to muffle a quiet groan. Diedra pretended to pick at sweet potatoes she had no intention to eat. Marvin nearly choked on a heavy gulp of water he didn't need. Rosalyn tripped over her words to clear up her mistake again. "She loves her students! Whew, is it warm in here, or am I having one of my personal summers?" 
"It is a little warm. Must be that oven," Diedra rushed to confirm. "Mo, can you turn the oven off? I'm sure the cobbler is done by now." 
"Leon and Ros, y'all ain't had my peach cobbler yet. Make sure you loosen up your belts and make some room by the time I get back." Marvin's deep baritone reverberating in uneasy laughter did little to lighten the mood. Everyone was in deep shit. 
An unholy mishmash of utensils clanging and plates stacking interrupted Leon's response as Patrice scrambled to collect dishes before Marvin could push away from the table. "We'll grab it!" she blurted while tugging Terry to his feet hard enough to make him force down a cube of ice he wasn't ready to swallow. "Come on, TJ. I need your help." 
"Shit," Terry hissed, rubbing his aching throat. "I'm comin', girl. Slow down."
Curses and grumbles about being far too rough with a pinch to the underside of his upper arm followed Terry and Patrice out of the dining room and into the sweltering kitchen across the narrow hallway. 
Patrice chucked spoons and forks into the dirty side of Dee Dee's farmhouse sink before reaching the counter and gripping for dear life with both hands, her arms shaking in rapidly rising fury.
"Rinse the dishes with me and turn your back," Patrice instructed the moment they were safely out of earshot. She waited impatiently for Terry to drag his feet toward the kitchen sink, already exhausted and ready to rip the bandaid off the whole ordeal if it meant he could get back home enough time to fall asleep on the couch with Troy Aikman commentating in the background. 
He sighed like he'd worked a full day's shift and reluctantly placed one of his mother's fancy ramekins under a steady stream of warm water. 
After Terry's long, lip-flapping huff, he and Patrice spoke at the same time. "They know." 
The pressing, the slips of the tongue, the looks across the table like there was a joke Terry and Patrice weren't in on – they knew. But when? And for how long? 
"Did you tell your sisters?" 
"No, I didn't tell my sisters. I know how to keep a secret." Terry answered, taking exception to the insinuation that he would be the one to blab despite their ironclad pact. 
Patrice kissed her teeth. "Oh, whatever. I asked you not to tell Robert Mitchell what I said about the senior formal, and not only did you tell, you punched him in the mouth!" 
"I did not tell him what you said. I punched him in the mouth first, then went to class. No words were exchanged." 
"You are a liar, Terrence James, but that is not the point." Patrice whisper-yelled as laughter swelled from the other room. "Think. Have your parents said anything weird since we got back?" 
Terry directed his eyes to the ceiling to rewind through the previous two weeks but came up empty save for an insignificant conversation the morning they got in from D.C. "My mom did ask if you felt okay. Something about not being able to smell like you used to." 
"I never told her that. The only person who knew I was having trouble with certain smells was –" 
"Your mom. When she called on Christmas Eve." 
Like the missing piece to a puzzle, an innocuous conversation unlocked the key to their Scooby-Doo mystery. The mention of cinnamon and its all-out assault on Patrice's senses must've been the first domino to fall. That's why her mother rushed off the phone when they'd typically spend no less than an additional 15 minutes pretending to hang up while sparking insignificant nuggets of conversation until someone broke the seal. That's why Terry received a call from his mother asking if Patrice was feeling sick. And that's why, despite supposedly being entirely in the dark about the reason for their first-ever Sunday dinner as a family, none of the older adults in the room could stop themselves from talking about babies and parenting. 
As the realization that their surprise was ruined long before it could take shape, fresh, hot tears began to cascade down Patrice's cheeks. Terry sprang into action, shutting off the water to softly catch the evidence of his wife's inner turmoil on his index finger's knuckle. "It's alright, baby. Come here." 
Faint cries joined shaking shoulders as Terry pulled Patrice into his chest by her elbow before peppering kisses at her crown. Her arms encircled his waist, squeezing tight while he ran his hands up and down the back of her oversized sweatshirt to soothe her second emotional outburst of the day. "Talk to me. What's the matter?" 
"It's all fucked up," Patrice heaved before muffling a short sob against Terry's body. "I want to go home. Fuck today! I don't care anymore!"
Assuming the role of reliable comforter didn't deter Terry from smiling down at Patrice with a plan that made his eyes twinkle like an excited child. "That's no fun, sailor," he cooed into her hairline before a quick kiss. "I planned to make this worthwhile, and I need those acting skills I love so much." 
"What's the plan?" Patrice sniffed as she looked up at her knight in shining armor to wait for his day-saving plan.
"Terrence James is a liar, remember?" Embers of mischief animated thick eyebrows wiggling on Terry's forehead, leaving Patrice silently begging for more context. He kissed her nose and held his lips in place to keep their plan confined to their bubble of solitude. "We're gonna lie, and I need you to follow my lead."
"You have to tell me something! Don't leave me in the dark."
Clamoring in the other room snapped their attention toward their parents, who were still waiting for the sweet treat they'd been promised. 
"What's goin' on in there?" 
"My sugar dropping, now! Stop all that kissin' and bring the cobbler before I pass out." 
"And make sure you wash your hands!" 
Minutes were dwindling into precious seconds, which required more spooning cold ice cream on top of warm dessert neatly packed into bowls for a room full of antsy elders. 
Terry quickly started an assembly line, with Patrice falling in line but still pressing for answers. He carefully pulled vanilla ice cream from the ice box, procured his Mama's good scoop, and hummed while he worked like the world around him hadn't capsized into chaos. That didn't stop Patrice from pestering him incessantly until he turned to briefly kiss her forehead in the process of preparing worthwhile servings. 
"Have I ever steered you wrong?" When she opened her mouth for a rebuttal, Terry cut her off with a rough finger on her pouty lips. "Don't answer that. What I'm saying is trust me. I got the three of us at all times. What I need from you, gorgeous, is to give me that winning smile, put some sweetness in your voice, and…" Terry held his final word as he plopped hefty round dollops of sweet vanilla ice cream onto three servings of cobbler then carefully balanced them on a serving tray with the needed utensils. "Follow my lead." 
"How will I know what to say, Terry?" 
Terry tapped her nose and gently pushed her toward the room's threshold before gathering three additional bowls in his hands. He winked as he walked past her. "Takes a liar to know a liar. Come on."
Patrice didn't refer to her truth stretching as lying. She preferred to view it as world-building, taking a page from her lesson plans to explore weaving exciting narratives together for entertainment's sake. And, sure, she was the only one who would derive any pleasure from falling into her elaborate storytelling, but so what? Plus, that part of her life was long gone. She was rusty, unprepared, and dreaded having to be the supporting actress to a leading man she hadn't seen in action since they were teenagers. 
A deep exhale helped Patrice's still racing thoughts and put on a believably happy face in enough time to shuffle behind Terry into the dining room. 
"Who wants cobbler?" Her chirping sounded too eager for someone who was shaking from rage moments earlier, but she was committed to the bit. It was too late to turn back. 
Various answers in the affirmative provided enough of a distraction for Terry to shoot Patrice a warning look. Calm down. His eyes said it all, and Patrice didn't need a second eyebrow raise to get the memo. 
They took their seats side by side, allowing their parents a few moments of unwitting happiness before Terry began his charade. 
"So…we have some news. We thought about calling on New Year's Eve but figured this was something better shared in person." Like children anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus by Christmas morning, Terry and Patrice's parents practically jumped from their seats to hear what they already knew. Chairs scraped against the polished hardwood to get closer to the table. Eating stopped. Bodies leaned forward in suspense. Terry had their attention in the palm of his hand left hand while he placed the palm of his right hand on Patrice's thigh to keep up the facade. 
"We're…moving." 
The words didn't quite register to anyone but Patrice as she sat there fighting to keep her eyes from squinting in uncontrollable laughter. Moving? Of all things, moving was Terry's grand plan to catch their parents off guard. But, as she watched the light of expectation slowly turn into confusion, she made a mental note to give her man his props. He'd successfully thrown a cartoonishly large wrench into their assumptions. 
Diedra cleared her throat and smoothed a hand over her auburn pixie cut. "I'm sorry, James, can you say that again? You two are –" 
"Moving," Terry reiterated plainly. "When we were in DC, we talked about finally getting out of here and startin' somewhere fresh, right, baby?" 
Patrice chimed in. "I disagreed with Terrence at first, but he convinced me. How amazing would it be to explore a new city together? And the DMV is perfect. There's government work for him…" 
"And teaching work for P. We'd live in the suburbs, so y'all wouldn't have to deal with the city noise when you visit. It's perfect." 
If they were ever asked to rate their improv for the afternoon, both Terry and Patrice would mark their performance at a solid seven and a half. There was room for improvement, but, dammit, they were a worthwhile team. Terry gave Patrice an appreciative squeeze, and she expertly played the role of sweet, innocent wife by wrapping her arms around his bicep while they waited for the shock on Rosalyn's face to transition into the only version of happiness she could muster. 
Patrice watched her mother's lips purse in a tight smile until she found enough wherewithal to respond kindly. "That's great, but what's so wrong with Fayetville? Don't you two want to be around your Mama and daddy?" 
"Exactly," Marvin chimed in. "Why now? What's there that you can't get here?" 
Perfect. Terry couldn't have concocted a more perfect scheme if he was given weeks to prepare. The spontaneity of it all made for air so thick that he could've cut into it and served a slice alongside his daddy's famous cobbler. 
Terry looked over at Patrice to defer, preferring to let her flex her strongest muscle. She seamlessly took on both questions without faltering. "New opportunities," Patrice exclaimed as if the answer was as clear as a summer day. "Fayetteville has been good to us, but imagine how we'll grow together in a new city. We love y'all dearly, but it's time for us to spread our wings as a couple. You understand, right, Daddy?" 
"Not really, baby girl." Leon shook his head in silent disbelief as he wrung his hands together. "Can't say I'm ready for you to leave yet. Feels like I just got you back from A&T, and here you are all grown up and trying to leave again." 
Crestfallen silence blanketed the room. In all her years, Patrice had only seen her father look so forlorn one other time. They'd just finished unpacking her freshman dorm. Once the sobering realization that he was leaving his only daughter behind to tackle new horizons, sadness overtook him faster than he could wish it away. Patrice could see him reliving that afternoon and so many more as he pushed bits of crust and peach chunks around in his bowl for a distraction.
"We'll miss y'all," Terry answered, still holding on to the lie for a few moments longer, hoping his mother would cave to set up their grand finale. Diedra tried to remain cheerful in the face of heartbreaking news. 
She clasped her hands together and smiled wide. "Well, I think that is incredible news! You know, I have a realtor friend out there who is still selling houses. Let me go in my purse and grab her card. We'll get you two set up with a down payment, make sure we coordinate a moving plan and tour with you to make sure you're getting the best available, and oh, it'll be wonderful! Let me go and grab my purse!" 
Mission accomplished. DeeDee had cracked like an egg, still trying to contain the runny yolk of suppressed feelings while the remains ran through her fingers and made a mess. 
"Mama," Terry called out. The show was over. Curtail closed. Time for the big reveal. When Diedra didn't stop rambling, Terry dialed up the volume. "Mom!" Dee Dee stopped in her tracks. Terry released an easy chuckle. "Sit down. We have one more thing to tell you." 
"Oh, hell. No more bad news, boy. It better be something worth hearing." 
Marvin's exasperation drew stilted laughter from Terry, and then Patrice, who joined him with her eyes closed and tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. A shared, all-out cackle they couldn't contain any longer helped further confuse the four sets of eyes looking back at them. 
Patrice tried to calm down with a deep breath, but a look at Terry's smiling face sent her back to the top of her guffaw. "Oh my goodness! I can't breathe. Baby, help!" 
"I can't stop until you stop!" They tried again several times over, waiting for the other to calm down until they could force the truth out between giggles. Terry wiped at his waterline, then chuckled through an answer. "We're not moving, y'all. It's all a joke." 
Rosalyn blinked back her bewilderment. "I don't get it." 
"That's not the news. We had to get y'all back for thinking you could know that we're our business before we knew our business and then laugh without us. How rude!" 
"So it's true," Diedra questioned, eye beginning to buck with newfound hope. "Are you…"
Patrice nodded and leaned into an already beaming Terry. "It is. You're gonna be a grandma alongside that lady over there," she confirmed, pointing at Rosalyn. 
"And y'all are going to be granddads. Or Pop-Pops. Whichever you prefer." 
Terry's additional barely registered over the sounds of hands slapping together in excited hi-fives and high-pitched squeals full of the kind of love only a baby boomer with dreams of cradling children born from their children could exude. 
Leon raised his hands to give the Lord a high-spirited thanks once he saw Patrice's grainy sonogram, which made the news all the more real. A grandchild was on the way, and not from his knucklehead of a son like he'd imagined—not yet. 
Marvin rushed in and out of the room, returning with a black and Carolina blue onesie filling once empty hands. Terry looked on in shock. Where had his father been hiding that? 
Rosalyn and Diedra immediately jumped into visions of floral arrangements for a garden party baby shower and talked about how their children could avoid childcare costs with both nearing retirement. 
The youngest Richmond couple found themselves ushered out of chairs and forced into a group hug, surrounded by unconditional love and bubbling excitement to meet a person still developing lungs. 
Patrice struggled to speak against their embrace. "I take it y'all are excited." 
"Over the moon, little girl." Rosalyn gushed. "The babies are havin' a baby. You're all grown up! Congratulations!" 
Terry used a little wiggle room to return his mother-in-law's excitement with a rub against her arm. "Thank you, Ms. Ros. We appreciate y'a– ouch! Mom! Let go!" 
With her pointer finger and thumb, Diedra tugged and twisted a new spot on Terry's inner arm as punishment for his earlier antics. She let go with another harsh pull before smacking his arm for good measure. "You might be grown, but not that grown. Don't play with me, boy!" 
"And don't think I forgot about you, Patrice Nicole!" 
"Sorry, Mama. It was Terry's idea!" 
Though things were changing, some remained the same. No matter how much Terry and Patrice grew and prepared to take on the responsibility of ushering their own child through the world, Terry and Patrice would never escape their parent's love or discipline.
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iamverynormalaboutsge · 22 hours ago
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Those screenshots are for context as to why I decided to lay out my view on Aric and Japeth there and to also avoid repeating myself.
Now back to the grind! (I will put a 'read more' because this WILL be long, be warned)
Topics: Aric and Japeth's origins, the context of their surroundings, the perfect isolation and the communal influence
@liketwoswansinbalance take a cup of tea or an espresso shot, this is gonna be a while
I will lay out a few of my takes on these two characters before I move forth and talk about their relationship because I feel that if I don't some details will not be understood or they will lack, what I call, flavour!
First, let us start with Aric who I am more experienced with because, well what do you know? He's interesting to think about.
Of course, we have to begin with his origins. That means Lady Lesso and his unknown father who for whatever reason the fandom wiki assumes is deceased but we have no confirmation of that. Perhaps it's because after the 'We can't imagine anyone who would miss him' his father didn't appear yet again Nevers have a very different way of 'loving' their children. Aka it's practically medieval times royalty but without the money, make the baby 'pure' for the bloodline, and move on. In our case make a baby for your lineage(with a willing or unwilling participant or with a sacrificial goat to a demon to clone yourself like it happened in Hester's case) and then we see where the rest goes. Now there is no doubt in my mind Lady Lesso loved Aric and she still most certainly held motherly love for him when they reunited despite him wanting to murk at her and managing to do so in the end. She admitted she was never afraid of him and more so afraid of what he could do to the people she cared about. But she WAS afraid of him when she realised that he was not HER son anymore.
We know that Lady Lesso was afraid of Aric's father. Perhaps the whole 'let's make an heir for our bloodline' was mutual but something happened and Lesso wanted to keep her son and avoid her husband(?)/father of the child. It is funny to me how people assume Ares, the God of War, is his father and honestly? I could see it. Lady Lesso has this aura of power around her and I wouldn't exactly be shocked if the woman who deemed Sophie as truly evil despite all of her flaws would only be swooned off her feet by a literal God, similar to how Sophie was very eager with the prospect of a powerful lover and having therefore a power of position. However, Lady Lesso perhaps sought out more than just power. I believe Aric's dad simply wanted to take Aric for who knows what reasons and Lady Lesso, one of the most powerful sorceresses that we know of(because come on. She managed to make the powerful protecting shield Rafal did at his full strength. That takes something) was AFRAID to confront a 'simple' man.
Now how does this all play in Aric's story if he didn't even know his father? Well, genetics count. Dovey recognised Aric's father from her memories after meeting Aric who had a similar outlook on him. Therefore Aric being very eager for war, battle, and savage violence in general despite maintaining a certain level of discipline which IS needed to win a war regardless of how brutal, would justify the Ares theory.
We know Gods can be charming or persuasive, we saw the air of confidence and undoubtedly strength Lady Lesso carries herself, and we see it in Aric how he has no issue getting where he wants, how he wants it, and deceiving everyone along the way. Despite supposedly having no interactions with girls whatsoever, given that the timeline only mentions that Aric's interaction with a girl ever before ending in the Arbed House was with the daughter of the family that rescued him that he nearly killed(not to mention that I remember that he DID murk their family dog. Perhaps the fact that the family's daughter was 'so weak' paired with his recent trauma of being abandoned by his mother who he most likely loved the most led to his whole 'women are weak, frail and pathetic' beliefs).
Therefore, how does Aric go on to 'seduce' Sophie and Hester? Although he didn't exactly go somewhere with either of the plans he had in mind with Rafal punishing him for going near Sophie and Hester not faltering for the guy he got stabbed by(even if the stab was meant for Agatha), we still see he has some maddening skills in being a charming devil and effortlessly so. Let's not forget that he ended up captain of the boys against any better judgement from Tedros. Sure he broke through the magic shield and we see Tedros question it even if he never gets an answer from Aric on it. A completely strange boy showed up on his doorstep and he just- let him in despite the clear threat he possessed simply because he claimed to(and didn't lie) that he was there as well because like everyone else he had something in this 'game' to go after. We see Tedros acting aggressively to Aric when he loses his patience in regards to the whole 'start a war already' situation, being threatened to be kicked out, but THAT was after Aric already become Captain of the boys. Aric must have proved himself in a different way than just breaking the shield. I mean sure he managed to gather up some henchmen between the time he left the Albert House to the moment he got to the schools, and we know that Aric didn't exactly have any friends. He was persuasive enough to get some other aggressive individuals to follow him and potentially even make them obedient to him. We never know what happens to them after book 2 but most likely just like the other princes and boys they are thrown out/leave because they are no longer needed therefore Aric doesn't keep them around.
Where does this play in the whole Aric-Japeth relationship? It does. Sure, Aric is very conscious about what he does and what effect he has on people but he had to learn he could have such an influence on others, and who was his first 'victim'? I believe that to be Japeth. Now I doubt Aric was aware of what he was doing. He was just a boy, no older than six who had been abandoned and turned spiteful against the cold harsh world. We know NOBODY liked Aric. Rhian and Kei surely didn't yet Japeth did. And I think the reason Rhian and Kei didn't like Aric is for the same reason that Japeth did.
Aric's natural charm worked on Japeth as they grew up together and 'explored'. While Japeth's acts of violence until then were to terrify both his twin and mother to the point Evelyn Sader who was very determined to raise Rafal's children(and who she also carried willingly despite being abandoned) turned to leave them in the exact spot where hearts so evil that they would ruin the endless woods if they were to be properly trained in the School for Evil were hidden (another screenshot y'all).
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Aric wasn't sent there by HIS blood nor guardian but rather by a family mortified by exactly this, a heart truly evil. He ended up there as an external factor who heavily influenced Japeth's perspective and views to the ones they were already being taught in the Albert House. That school's purpose is to redeem evil hearts like redeeming sinners in the Hazbin Hotel. However, the Arbes House had a far bigger success than we see happen with the demons from hell(weird parallel I know but you can't tell me it's entirely wrong given that Japan didn't do far more malicious war crimes than the characters we are presented in that indie animation). Anyway, as previously stated I believe that just as Aric's genetics made him charming, persuasive and manipulative, effortlessly with little to no struggle if I may, Japeth's genetics made him psychotic, prone to delusion as well as overly blinded sighted by his goal to account for all the details that may go wrong. These characteristics we seen in both Rafal and Evelyn.
We know that Evelyn was supposed to raise the boys and with the Mistral, sisters to help make them into what they are supposed to be. Japeth knew of his true nature while Rhian didn't and I don't think that it was Evelyn or Rafal to reveal that to him but rather the Mistral sisters AFTER Evelyn effectively abandoned the boys. I say abandoned because it wasn't until Evelyn saw how truly awful Japeth was that she was willing to truly drop this entire grand master plan despite carrying it so far. House Arbed specialises in hiding these evil souls from the schoolmaster himself therefore as far as Rafal was concerned in the context that he didn't exactly send monthly letters to his sisters, his sons were gone. Therefore even if Evelyn was still delusional enough to think he could be near Rafal, he rewarded her for helping bring him back or better said punished her for getting rid of his bloodline. It would make sense for Rafal to have noticed the impossibility of tracking down his sons the moment they stepped into the Arbed House which wouldn't exactly lead him to believe that there could be any magic more powerful than his to shorten his vision, because why would he? He never even considered that the students who loathed him could secretly work to overthrow him, or at least he didn't believe he'd get far so clearly while this is certainly a far stretch with the whole believing Japeth and Rhian are dead, it isn't entirely deniable. It would also make sense that after knowing of Aric, despite forcing the whole 'abandon your child or your career Lesso' he went off the radar when he got to the Arbed House just like it happened to Japeth and Rhian. Aric was evil just enough for Rafal to make him a DEAN on the SPOT despite having 0 experience whatsoever(outside the whole 'captain of boys)' and went as far as to give him the title of LORD.
I got a bit sidetracked but the point is Aric and Japeth were perfectly isolated and unbothered by any external factors in the Arbed House(perhaps the mistral sister keeping an eye on Japeth but not a lot more than that in the case of which Japeth and Rhian BOTH came in contact with the three only AFTER they left the Arbed House once they 'graduated' which could have been around the same time Rafal kicked the bucket, and Japeth was given more information than Rhian because the mistral sisters saw that unlike Japeth, Rhian's evil nature as little as it was ended up being stomped on and only Japeth was left with more authentic evil purity).
Japeth had violent tendencies but not out of any specific hatred or anger, but simply how he truly was we do not know whatsoever that Aric had such tendencies until after he was abandoned which would explain how compared to Evelyn who was mortified Japeth and willingly abandoned him and Rhian(perhaps Rhian too in the fear he could at any time turn like Japeth), Lesso had NO reason whatsoever to feel such genuine deep fear towards his son despite everything he did, despite the magic he inherited from her and the strength/mentality he might have taken from his father like Evelyn did. Lesso was afraid of Aric's father but loved Aric genuinely while Evelyn was supposedly madly in love with Rafal but FEARED Japeth. See the contrast?
Now that we have this cleared out we can finally begin the TRUE Aric-Japeth analysis as a WHOLE.
Japeth was corrupted by Aric. Yes, you heard me, Aric who undeniably is less evil than Japeth, is the one to have corrupted Aric and not the other way around. As I mentioned everyone saw it as troubling that Aric and Japeth interact with each other and given that it was Aric who ended up going to extreme lengths and being kicked out, rightfully so to think of it. Aric and Japeth only had each other as friends. Japeth was wicked by nature and birth, and Aric was wicked by his surroundings. While Japeth was relatively kept tame, that most likely changed the moment Aric came along. Aric who despite not being as horrible could NOT be contained(Just like Lady Lesso outright acted on betraying Rafal in the favour of the balance instead of just Evil).
Aric was also the first one to do an actual proper kill and not just torture or frighten as Japeth did to his brother and mother. Aric was the one to go the extra mile the moment he was pushed while Japeth despite all his wickedness never did such a thing or considered it even UNTIL Aric came into view and did as far as nearly killing Rhian. I mean a stab to the head-? Rhian had a hell of a skull not to die from it. A parallel to the False Rafal/OG Rhian on how HE had no issue with Hook eliminating competition but he wasn't able to do so himself until he was corrupted by external factors and did it himself at the end of the prequels by killing Rafal.
Likewise, Aric had an unconscious influence on Japeth. Aric had this natural attraction to get his way through. He got Tedros to place him as the Captain of the boys when Chaddick failed Tedros. He got Rafal to make him the new Dean/Lord of New Evil. He could have easily persuaded Sophie if Rafal didn't catch him in time and I dare say that even Hester was more than likely stunned enough by Aric's shenanigans for his action to still count as effective in playing with the victim's mind. However, while Aric was in conscious control of all of this, he never realised how he influenced Japeth. He was just growing, exploring who he was as a person and Japeth was the first-hand witness to that. Aric is more in the spotlight. He is in the shadows enough to not be noticed until it's too late but in the light enough for people to know to keep clear of him even when it is unclear the full extent of his power. Japeth is more of a shadow villain. He has no desire to step into the light, no need to put himself on display or hurt people just for the sake of it like Aric does, instead he does so by his simple nature, unconsciously.
And when growing up, a child takes from what they see around them including other children. Aric's naturally charming and suave behaviour put a spotlight on him from Japeth's perspective. One bright enough so that to him everything else becomes irrelevant as long as it's not related to Aric. If Aric didn't die I highly doubt Japeth would have helped Rhian with everything because he wouldn't have a reason to. Rhian wouldn't have what to bribe him with, even if Rhian didn't know he was beating Japeth out with the promise/idea of bringing back a person who most certainly everyone in the Arbed House despised. (Also the fact that Aric tried to kill Rhian and Japeth was dead serious on seeing Rhian choosing his safety over Japeth's happiness as a betrayal when he decided that Aric is to be kicked out. I mean I doubt it was Rhian's entire choice but that is the way Japeth saw it. Rhian chose himself over him so why should Japeth ever do otherwise for Rhian?).
Now that we established who wore the pants in the 'relationship' and as to HOW and WHY this is, let us define the status of it.
Japeth loved Aric. No doubt. I mean, having a magic space where you scribble your initials EVERYWHERE? I believe Japeth IS aware of how B+C scribbled on anything is usually a sign of romance or at least a very deep feeling. We see Rhian saying that Japeth considered Aric more of a brother than him, however, we then see Japeth ask decoy Aric for a kiss as a trap. Japeth was aware of his feelings towards Aric and so was Aric. However, Aric rejected that part of Japeth. In this regard, Japeth took after Evelyn's delusion that someone who didn't love him the way HE wanted it to, could ever, and also took after both Rafal and Evelyn, with Japeth believing that if he were to bring Aric back he could make him love him. (Rafal who thought he could make Sophie genuinely love him outside of desperation. Also, Evelyn who had thought that being of service to Rafal would gain her anything in her favour).
Japeth is the more powerful one in any aspect but mentally, whereas Aric in contrast naturally shines in through with his 'good' genetics. Japeth doesn't even think of stepping over Aric's authority over him, he lacks that rebellious spirit that Aric shines in. Aric dominates because he wants to. Japeth ended up dominating others because that was what was needed to get the one person he ever loved back. Japeth obeys Aric in his wishes, but during the scene where Tedros pretends to be Aric, we see that Japeth, from the demanding and cold snake, turns into a pleading puppy desperate for affection. He was right there and then ready to accept everything decoy Aric said if he didn't, to his credit and cunningness, test to see if this was even HIS Aric that he is so desperate about. Once he saw it wasn't his Aric, Japeth's delusion settled back in.
I highly doubt that the interaction would have gone any differently. Tedros didn't truly know Aric but he knew how he acted enough to realistically impersonate him for somebody who knew Aric on a far deeper level. Although he certainly must have had a flaw if Japeth decided to test out if this was Aric or not(outside of the fact that Aric was dead because we did later see Arthur talk to Tedros in the plane of dreams/magic so it's not wrong to think Japeth might have truly considered that decoy Aric was indeed Aric talking to him from the realm of the dead).
Now we established the relationship from Japeth's point of view + the view of everyone else but what about Aric? Now we know the romantic side of love was one-sided. We do know that Aric would send letters to Japeth, begging to come to him because he felt off without him, but I doubt that this was because of romantic feelings. Japeth states Aric was ashamed of their love, but this could be his perspective and rather Aric was ashamed of Japeth loving him like that or doing something to make him believe he could ever do that because loving someone also means hoping the feeling is mutual(unless you are that one sexuality where apparently to love people but you don't want them to love you back-??? Don't ask, I saw it once and that was enough for me to decide that the expertise of sexuality beyond bodily and mental psychology is no place for me to study). Aric was disgusted that Japeth who knew him best could ever think Aric could have such awful thoughts. Sure Aric hates women and he may have influenced Japeth in that aspect too because it's not like anybody else told him that women are pathetic creatures outside of Aric, which might result in a healthy young growing boy's hormones turning their attention to the same gender.(Reminder that places such as the military or conservative schools with only one of the gender present raises homosexuality because, in the age of teenhood where hormones flare up, they won't stop just because the opposite gender isn't present. Aric had contact with the opposite gender and saw examples of heterosexual couples, for example, the family who took him in, compared to Japeth who didn't exactly see Rafal around Evelyn I doubt that in the Arbed House, their biggest concern was making the boys good Christian boys and rather just oppress the evil as much as possible so that they can pass by as good. I mean Tedros is supposedly good and he deadpan chose the 'a villain will burn the world for you' route for Agatha so-).
I believe Aric missed Japeth because Japeth completed Aric. These two were the yin-yang of evil. The spiteful, fiery, rebellious part, and the calmer, colder, tamer part. Evil nonetheless but still, there is a very clear contrast between why these two are evil. It's a spectrum at this point.
Aric missed Japeth because Japeth was secure, Japeth was Aric's safe space. Japeth was the only other soul in this world Aric could share his dark thoughts and desires with, without being judged. Humans are still social animals even if some prefer solidarity, even our beloved introverts feel the need for a pet or some sort of emotional connection. Aric needed that connection. His status of power made it to be out of reach from others. His power build on terror and fear. He wouldn't trust those who loath him most to share his most intimate thoughts with.
Aric effectively isolated himself with his title, just as Rafal had. Aric needed someone wicked enough to understand him yet loyal enough to not choose their selfish reasons over his. Rafal had Sophie for that, however, he underestimated Sophie's external factors, the need for validation from a familiar person(Agatha/Tedros). For Aric though, this would have worked perfectly for Japeth. Japeth had no external factors to care for, not Rhian, not Evelyn, or anybody else. Japeth and Aric were only with each other. No other boys or girls between them. No other friendships or relationships. The only one who could have those was Aric and he effectively couldn't have them. Aric and Japeth wouldn't have been as deadly of a duo as people think. Yes if we take them from a standpoint of view in power and personality sure, but that's where they come and neutralise each other. While I believe that Aric most certainly expressed his feelings of wanting to kill Lady Lesso without hesitation and wanting to hurt Rhian for getting into his friendship with Japeth, he had no other specific targets. Sure Aric killed a dog, terrified a whole family and had an attempt on their lives, but you don't expect a rescue animal, abused, abandoned or traumatised to trust anyone right away. That unfortunate family wasn't the one Aric needed to cool down and recover from the essential meltdown he had for being abandoned and struggling severely in a highly dangerous forest with not just animals to worry about but magical/fantastic creatures who were ten times more deadly and could appear there as well. The Albert House was Aric's anchoring point back to reality and sanity but he had no one to coordinate his evil thoughts constructively like Lady Lesso does with her students because the Albert House works to OPPRESS these tendencies and that didn't sit with Aric's rebellious behaviour. If Aric wouldn't influence Japeth I believe his evilness could have been oppressed to an acceptable extent. Instead, we got the mastermind and his loyal henchmen. While Aric most certainly viewed Japeth as an equal and a person he desired to be around because he could feel human and natural around with, he didn't need him the way Japeth did because Aric experienced genuine unconditional love before Japeth, making him able to depict certain patterns and behaviours unconsciously.
Were Aric and Japeth friends? Yes. If these two weren't bothered would have half of the series happened? No. Were Aric and Japeth lovers? Not really. Did Aric love Japeth? Sure. Did Aric love Japeth? No. Did Japeth love Aric? Yes. Did Japeth love Aric? Yes. Did Aric see Japeth the way Japeth saw him? Not. Did Aric see him as an equal and or counterpart? Yes.
These two were most certainly each other's safe space, however, they viewed one another entirely differently.
Take this as you will.
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elvensorceress · 2 days ago
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monday snippet
had a few tags for things from some lovely people 😘 and I now have 12K+ and counting of a sequel to snickerdoodles... so have some of Eddie arriving in Texas @tizniz @hippolotamus @eddiebabygirldiaz @daffi-990 @exhuastedpigeon @spaceprincessem @spotsandsocks @kejfeblintz @smilingbuckley @sofa-king-lame @chaosandwolves @smilingbuckley @kitty-covey @bekkachaos @blutterlie @sazanahashi @livinginsunnyhell @epicbuddieficrecs @sparklespiff @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove @dangerpronebuddie 💕
He walks to the house, up the porch steps, and knocks on the door. After a good two minutes with no answer, he rings the bell. It’s another minute or so before the door opens to his mother in her gray apron. 
“Oh. Eddie. You made it,” she says flatly and he can’t tell if she’s annoyed at the interruption or just displeased to see him. Or if she was hoping to hear about a plane crash somewhere over Arizona with no survivors. “I thought you were coming next week.” 
“I—” No. He texted her. He called and talked to her. Briefly, but he wasn’t the one who hung up and rushed off to do something. He’s pretty sure he did. He did. He knows he did. His brain isn’t that much of a sieve. “No, today. It was always today.” He opens his arms but doesn’t step forward. Just in case she doesn’t want to hug him. “It’s good to see you?” It sounds like a question but he really can’t help that. 
She hums dismissively, looks at his offer, but doesn’t accept. Which doesn’t mean anything. His mother was never all that affectionate. But some people aren’t. Some people don’t care for it. Doesn’t mean anything. “Yes,” she says in a way that sounds like anything but. “This isn’t a good time.”
Eddie drops his arms. What the hell does that mean? 
“I’m in the middle of making dinner. And Christopher is doing his homework.” 
“Okay?” Eddie doesn’t know how that means it isn’t a good time. Not a good time for what? Him being here? He’s not company. He grew up here. He’s tidied and cleaned everything in the house at least ten thousand times. She doesn’t have to make small talk and host him. “I can help. Whatever you’re doing.”
She waves that off and smiles like it’s funny. “That’s all right. It’ll be faster if I do it myself and the kitchen is no place for you.” 
Because it’s her kitchen? Or because she thinks he can’t cook? Or because she looks at him like he’s still a child? Or he's a man who shouldn’t be doing ~women’s~ chores? It could be any one of those. Or every one of them. “Can I just see Chris then? I won’t be in the way. You don’t have to do anything for me.”
“Eddie,” she says and her voice gets sterner. Colder. “It’s not a good time right now. Why don’t you come back— hmm, we have activities tomorrow and your father is taking him out after school. How about on Wednesday? Or Friday? That would be better. You could come over then.”
He could— come over then? Then? He could wait days and then see Chris? They’re busy today and tomorrow and he’s supposed to wait around and do nothing? “You don’t have to feed me or host me. I just want to see my son.”
“Christopher is doing his homework right now. You’ll only distract him.”
Distract him? Eddie, Chris’ father, is a distraction? “I can help him with his homework.”
That earns him a disapproving scowl. “It won’t help him learn if you are doing the work for him.”
“I know that,” he almost snaps. It’s far too close to it. Which will not help. She’ll scold him if he’s angry. He would’ve been sent to his room and ignored, and it was awful when she wouldn’t talk to him and was disappointed in him. He tries to take a breath. Shove it down. Put it away. “You think I don’t know that he needs to learn for himself? Mom, I’m not—”
She puts her hands up but doesn’t touch him. She wants to quiet him. Because he’s the one who is overemotional and unreasonable. “It’s best if you don’t distract him while he’s working. You’ll only upset him if he sees you now. Now is not the time. He needs to finish his school work first.”
Okay. Sure. Maybe. 
Would Chris really be upset to see him? No, they haven’t exactly worked through or resolved anything. They need to. Obviously. Hence Eddie in the middle of this whole situation. But they’ve had conversations. Would Eddie really be detrimental to Chris functioning? 
Why wouldn’t he be. Hasn’t he always been that to everyone? 
“I— I flew all the way here,” he says. It’s quiet, tempered, but desperation and anguish are difficult monsters to conceal. “I’m moving here.”
“Then you’ll have plenty of opportunities to see him when it’s a better time.” 
A better time? “What do you mean a better time? I won’t bother you. I’m not going to distract him. I can’t have two minutes with him?” It’s angry. It sounds too angry. Too cracked. Unstable.
She steps forward onto the porch and closes the door behind her, clearly blocking him from the house and anything inside. “Is that what’s best for your son? Or what’s best for you? Are you thinking about his needs at all or only what you want?”
There’s no air in Eddie’s lungs. There might not be blood in his body for all he knows. He swallows hard and it’s rocks and dryness and everything hurts. He won’t see Chris. He can’t see Chris. She’s not going to let him. What can he do? Is there anything he can do? Besides make it worse? 
“Okay,” he says quietly and feels like he’s maybe ten years old and two feet tall. “I’ll come back on Wednesday.”
“Good. Thank you for finally choosing Christopher instead of yourself.” She turns and shuts the front door behind her, and leaves Eddie on the porch all alone without another word. 
No invite for a visit. No invite to dinner. No “good to see you, how are you.” He can’t help, he’s not allowed.
No Chris. 
What in the actual hell just happened? 
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moonysmoothies · 2 days ago
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the shadowhunters show is so wild to me for so many reasons but ones of them is that i am so baffled by how they manage to hit most of the major story beats of the books and yet mess them up SO BADLY?
here's every major fuck up i can remember in chronological order because i feel like ranting
they go to the silent city but instead of finding out about magnus's block on her memory, they find out that valentine is clary's father through a conversation that she overheard between luke and her mother
simon is kidnapped by the vampires on purpose instead of accidentally because they want the mortal cup from clary since it can control demons, which is the stupidest thing ever because raziel gave jonathan shadowhunter the cup so that he could make more shadowhunters with the objective to kill demons, not control them
oh and they're not allowed to use the cup to make more shadowhunters, so mundanes can't ascend (do none of them have the sight?) and the cup has no purpose other than to sit there and look pretty
all of them were in on rescuing simon, not just jace and clary and the wolves are not there at all, but for some reason camille is and has a weirdly sexual relationship with simon
they go see magnus to get clary's memories back and they end up having to give up their memories like they did with azazel except it's to this random demon who magnus gave clary's memories to for the plot but then clary kills the demon so she never gets her memories back
instead of getting the cup from madame dorothea, they sneak into a police station to get it while luke is being questioned for MURDER
simon is turned into a vampire except it turns into this whole uprising where everyone turns against camille and it's this whole moral dilemma for clary
they still find out clary and jace are related while at renwick's except the scene is just very different and valentine had been glamoured to look like michael wayland this whole time because there's a shapeshifting rune now!
jace goes with valentine at the end of season one
they wake up jocelyn at the end of season one and she fully believes that jace is her child and tries to kill him
also jace finds out that he "has demon blood" at the very beginning of season two while on valentine's ship from valentine himself
he is imprisoned in the silent city and the attack on the silent brothers happens while he is there, but he is also put on trial and for some reason it is more about his feelings for clary than about his actual "crimes" (which was just being basically forced onto a ship with valentine in order to save his friends from being murdered)
instead of imogen herondale distrusting jace it's a weird british dude, also maryse just straight up equates jace to a cancer that they need to kill and didn't just tell him to leave the institute in an attempt to protect him from the inquisitor like she did in the books
the weird british dude gives izzy yin fen, except its made from vampire venom and not demon poison in what is the worst storyline to ever exist and is basically just shadow world heroin (not a tmi major plot point but i literally cannot not mention how much i fucking hate this storyline)
izzy and clary visit the iron sisters to find out why valentine wanted the mortal sword where they find out that if an angelic being and a bolt of lightning touch it then it will be able to emit a heavenly light that can kill anyone with demon blood (raziel really had no faith in these guys)
they actually imprison valentine and are just using a rune to torture him (idk why they had a rune to torture people considering that all of their runes were given to them by raziel and i don't know if he wanted them torturing each other? also i looked up the rune on the shadowhunter books wiki and it was the super powerful healing rune that clary used on jace in cohf - kind of the opposite of torture)
clary and jace find out they're not related halfway through season two (not entirely objecting to this but it did mean a full climon relationship)
they still go to the seelie court, except it's just simon, jace, and clary and the seelie queen makes jace and clary kiss in order to show simon that shadowhunters always choose "their own kind" over anyone else because she's obsessed with him and his daylighterness
sebastian still attacks max because max tracked him with a single hair from the bottom of the baby jc box except max survives (not really objecting to this either because max was so sweet but like what was the reason for changing this!!)
ok, time to go into the jace + sebastian fight - instead of jace goading sebastian into a fight by making him realize that valentine will find out that sebastian just killed him in cold blood and didn't give him a fair fight and then hate him for it, not by just making him really angry - jace literally passes out several times on the way to where they fight and sebastian just keeps dragging him along. this is just a little change that irks me so much because it shows a lot about their character imo. here, they have a fight on a random bridge where we get the line "care to find out who's the best jc once and for all" which should be considered a crime against humanity. izzy does intervene but she does not get to cut off sebastian's hand and then jace stabs sebastian in the special spot on the back and kicks him into the river, sebastian somehow survives long enough to float all the way to a beach and summon lilith
jace does get possessed by lilith except he's turning into a weird looking demon who possesses mundanes to kill their loved ones and serve lilith and not whatever the fuck was going on with him in cofa that was definitely not turning into a demon and possessing other people
jem is american
instead of maureen being maureen she's another person their age named heidi who forces simon to drink his sister's blood which leads to his mom throwing him out like she does in the books, and then heidi proceeds to try to take over the entire downworld until maia kills her in the same way she kills maureen in the books
clary gets the twinning rune instead of jace and instead of it being an instant thing clary is just slowly becoming more like sebastian except she's not and she still has free will which jace didn't really have in cols - they're more like equals instead of one having power over the other like in the books
instead of raziel giving them glorious because simon was like "if you don't i'll just use my mark of cain to annoy you for all of eternity" izzy has a woman in stem moment and remakes the sword herself with particles of glorious that she extracted from a serum that the weird british dude was using to turn downworlder prisoners into mundanes again in an illegal project
instead of having the two family swords made by wayland the smith, they have one sword that has the ability to open rifts into hell and release demons and getting that sword is sebastians goal for the season instead of making the endarkened
sebastian does have a relationship with the seelie queen but then he kills her
izzy gets the heavenly fire instead of jace even though clary was the one who was stabbed with glorious because izzy gets hit by shrapnel from the sword exploding
they still go to edom but it's to save magnus from lilith because she wants to start a war with him so she can go to earth and he's there because he's holding closed the rift the sebastian opened with the family sword
clary loses her memories instead of simon because making her own runes went against the will of the angels - especially the one that tied shadowhunters to downworlders even though that was literally what won the mortal war in the books
magnus and alec still temporarily break up except it's not because alec was trying to remove magnus's immortality (although they did have issues with that earlier in the season) it's so asmodeus will give magnus his magic back after taking it in exchange for giving magnus the power to free jace from lilith's possession
anyways that's everything i can remember - there's probably more
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englandsgirl18181234 · 3 days ago
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how shocked will Annabeth and her siblings be to see the difference in Athena? If her mind has been degrading and she didn’t start to make kids until quite a long time after the Odyssey, I don’t see how Athena’s children would have ever known her true self.
Also, I hope the gods find out just how important Odysseus, Penelope and Telemachus are to her, and that Apollo makes it clear how much Athena was suffering in mind and body, that they really made an already horrible situation even worse. Especially with Demeter’s needless cruelty towards Athena for petitioning Hades respectfully and the attack on the Olive tree bed. Athena’s grief sounds like it was on a similar (if less outwardly destructive) level as Demeter’s own when Persephone was taken (and in a sense, Telemachus was Athena’s child—Demeter was being cruel to a mother who wanted to see her spouses and child just once more). Also, Hera’s actions towards Athena anger me, Athena was Zeus’s first child by his first wife, who was not Hera. Hera acted like Athena was a bastard when she is just as legitimate as Hera’s own children.
also, also, how is Triton—who was a father figure to Athena before Zeus’s actions caused Pallas to be lost (and in all the myths I have read, it was him, not Athena, who caused Pallas’s death by distracting her during a friendly spar)—going to react when he learns Zeus murdered her? I mean, unless there were no witnesses I don’t think it’s likely that by the time Athena dies Triton didn’t know what happened. So now Zeus has brought about the deaths of both of Triton’s daughters.
this whole mess is gonna bring up some bad memories for Hera, Demeter, Poseidon, Hades and Hestia
And that's the tragedy of Athena and her children, isn't it? They didn't know their real mother. None of them did. Even the earliest children that she was allowed to be closely involved with only ever knew her through a haze of grief and trauma and brain damage. To see her without all that is something they'll barely even be able to comprehend. And when they realize just how much she had suffered and how hard she had to fight just to present in their lives in even the faintest way, they're going to realize that she loved them so much more than she was ever able to show.
And Athena here actually communicated with her children more regularly than all the other gods. She wasn't allowed to be overt, wasn't able to assist and assure them of her love the way she wanted to. But they still got signs from her that she cared, even if they didn't always understand that that's what they were.
Not a single child of Athena went unclaimed for more than a day, and even that long was often only because of her seizures. Many were claimed as soon as they hit the border of camp. The rest of the campers, and particularly the unclaimed, were always extremely jealous of how all of Athena's kids were claimed so quickly. And Annabeth's Yankee's cap was not a one off in this verse, it was just the one that was the most difficult to hide. All of Athena's children got some kind of gift, it was just a concentrated effort by the rest of the cabin to make sure that went unknown because of how upset it would have made the rest of camp and potentially the other gods.
Apollo and Athena are actually the only cabins that didn't have anyone go over to Kronos in the Titan War in this verse too, because Apollo did pretty much the same thing. He couldn't get away with gifts to the same extent, because he and his children were watched much more closely than Athena, but all of his kids were claimed by the next dawn.
(I promise there'll be an explanation for the Mark Of Athena and Annabeth's treatment in it, it's just gonna take a while to get there because Athena needs to heal first)
And oh boy, are the rest of the gods gonna find out. Apollo is not pulling any of his punches on that front, he is going to show them Exactly how much Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus meant to her. Because he knows how the others viewed Athena, how they saw her as distant and uptight and emotionless. But he knows better than them all that she Wasn't that. That it was all a product of brain damage and all the masks she wore to keep the others from using her love against her like Zeus did.
Apollo is about one more badly timed comment away from hitting them all with a plague that would mimic the worst of Athena's symptoms, just to make them all truly understand how badly she'd been suffering. Because she was suffering, and all he could do was watch as she slowly got worse and worse. Knowing all the while that there was nothing he could do beyond be there for her because none of his treatments ever worked.
And the other gods are going to realize how shitty they were, at least most of them, it just might take a little bit because they're all still in shock at this point.
Hera is... not great in this verse. To anyone really. She's pretty much based her entire life and personality around being Zeus's wife, and Athena is a glaring reminder of both the fact that it Wasn't always her at his side, and the fact that she's replaceable, which is why she's so much more awful to Athena than the others.
And Triton? Boy oh boy is Poseidon having a Rough time with Triton. Poseidon is physically unable to not tell Triton about what happened. He literally could not stomach the idea of not telling his son about Athena's death the moment he got back. He even made sure to tell the rest of the Council that he was going to before he left.
And Triton. Goes. Ballistic.
He is two seconds away from flashing to Olympus and going after Zeus with nothing but his gods-damned teeth.
And he is only being kept from doing so by Poseidon doing the godly power equivalent of sitting on him to keep him in place. The very second Poseidon's attention wavers enough for him to get out, he is going to be in that throne room ripping out Zeus's throat with his bare hands.
This is both of his children that Zeus has now killed, both of his beloved daughters that had been stolen from him by the so called King. And Triton is determined to destroy him for it.
Sorry this took so long to answer, you had me thinking about a lot of things and it took me a while to find the right words
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agentrouka-blog · 3 days ago
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I try not to rely too much on the hope that they will be made canon (ultimately i will ship them even if the books don't go that route, and will then just marvel at how GRRM accidentally created the perfect solution he didnt see/want to see) but since this is a Book!Jonsa theory blog can I just say that I really appreciate how you're one of the few Jonsa speculation blogs who is hopeful about them getting a happy ending? I know it's not the most realistic ending (GRRM saying he finds lovers NOT ending up happy together more romantic and fulfilling than an ending where they live happily ever after) and there's a huge chance that if (big if) they do become canon it'll end with them separated but it makes me so sad to think about Jon being punished for existing/the romantic notions him and Sansa have not being fulfilled.
It's nice that among a sea of people constantly theorising about the most tragic way for them to end up, there's your blog offering some hope that maybe a bittersweet ending DOESNT mean (in case of them having kids) Sansa raising a bastard child who will never know their father like Jon never knew his mother/Jon never being allowed to be part of his kids life etc. Maybe the bittersweet aspect of this all is the "big romance" ending up being about two kids who thought they were siblings. And the bittersweet ending is already being fulfilled by the overall narrative (fire and ice threat over but at what cost, tragic villains, reluctant kinslaying, the "heroes" getting what they wanted but not how they thought ...).
Hi there! Glad to see my optimism is appreciated. :)
And the bittersweet ending is already being fulfilled by the overall narrative (fire and ice threat over but at what cost, tragic villains, reluctant kinslaying, the "heroes" getting what they wanted but not how they thought ...).
That there is where I think a lot of people get lured into expecting a much darker ending that GRRM has in mind. Because it's the overall balance that is bittersweet. Not a strict ratio of bitterness and sweetness for every single character, which let's be honest, usually errs on the side of bitterness in people's expectations.
(Also what would be sweet about Dany's ending? Is Tyrion going to wipe a tear thinking about that prostitute he violated, about murdering Shae, as he stares into a melancholy sunset with no discernible consequences? No. Some people just have grim stuff coming, and what happens to the ratio then? It doesn't exist, is what.)
A bittersweet ending contains pain within it. It is an ending that doesn't fix everything that went wrong. It's an ending that - much like the whole book series - gives its due to the importance of grief. Horrific things happen in the book series and they leave scars. The world is forever changed. But. There is a future, too!
In order to have an ending that is not simply bitter, you will need actual sweetness. The spring, the rebirth, the renewal of it all.
Couples separated and children growing up fatherless is not that. Because it's just piling more grief on grieving people. Only for the sake of preventing them being happy, essentially. We already know that these characters will sacrifice personal happiness for the sake of duty/doing the right thing/safety/justice. Nothing significant would be revealed by that. So what would be the point? Some dogmatic allergy to happiness?
No. Sansa did not rebuild that castle from snow that tastes like lover's kisses to find no true joy in the future. Bran did not feel the strength in the deep roots and the stones, in order to preside over a world of regret. Jon did not love his family so deeply in order to spend his days forever banished over some arbitrary pretext.
It's illogical to me. Nope, sorry, they are going to be happy.
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mohammed276sblog · 2 days ago
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Help my family🍉📌
Hello, I am Muhammad, from Gaza. I am 32 years old, married, and I have my child who was born in war and is currently eight months old. Now my child does not have sufficient supplies and basic necessities.
Before the war, I used to work as a plasterer and painter, but currently there is no work because of what we are living through. I lost my job and because there is no source of income. I was aspiring for my child to come and I would prepare him with everything he wants and to have better conditions and not to live in the shadow of war and be deprived of his most basic rights, but the war came and destroyed all our dreams and our future. And our wishes
My wife was studying at university, and because of the war, she stopped studying
I would like to add that my parents live with me, and my father suffers from chronic hypertension and cartilage disease, and my mother suffers from chronic diabetes, and because of what we are living through, we cannot provide treatment for them, and their condition is getting worse. We have also lost our relatives and our home. We suffer from diseases, and we also need to buy food and clothes for my son.
We need bread and clean, uncontaminated water. We also migrated to the Rafah area called Tal al-Sultan, then to Mawasi Khan Yunis. Please help me protect my family and my child to restore hope and life to them. I feel ashamed and sad to ask for help from you, but I have no other options left.
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midnight--sadness · 3 days ago
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had an idea—early 2010 games, like 2012/2013. gi-hun is VERY newly postpartum and looking for ways to make any money for his baby. in-ho doesn’t really give a shit about anything and is just looking for a semi-honorable way to die bc of the death of his last mate or some other circumstance.
I think it would actually be really interesting for in-ho’s character especially, because we know he’s very sensitive to things like pregnancy and children. I think it would be sick to see how he would react to postpartum stuff, especially considering he never actually got to live through it. The development of him going borderline suicidal to “I have to protect you, no matter what.” wondering how he would react to gi-hun’s postpartum heavy bleeding, difficulty walking/being physically active, etc.
I had this really vivid idea of gi-hun being insistent he can’t let his milk dry up, because if they do vote to get out and he leaves with nothing, he won’t be able to afford formula. Idk just. The thought of gi-hun in the bathroom w in-ho rubbing his back/holding his hand while he has to waste everything into the toilet or paper towels because the pressure gets to be too painful. (I thought abt in-ho “assisting”, i says horny-ly, but i think it would take away from the narrative)
so basically it would leave in-ho w/ very difficult decisions like
a) gotta kill a shitton of people to make sure everyone votes out so gi-hun can get away
b) kill a lot of people to ensure him winning, at the expense of his own life (which is worst case scenario for him, bc he LOVES milky bbygirl and wants to stay with him/care for him on the outside)
c) idk some other scenarios I haven’t thought of. asking to hear other perspectives/thoughts
note: gi-hun’s baby wouldn’t be in-ho’s, would be some jackass alpha’s who abandoned him w/ it because he was in debt or couldn’t accept responsibility. Another motivator for in-hun, he’s got a vendetta against the mf for essentially forcing baby mama gi-hun into dying to save his own baby—basically same thing that happened to in-ho’s wife different flavor
ooohhhhh i love this!!
i'm assuming that gihun's baby would be gayeong.
in this case, maybe inho signed up for the games but before he could actually be picked up and taken to the island, his wife and child both died. and now he kinda has to go to the games anyway since he cant pull out (lol), maybe even to repay the money that he was given by that unknown criminal.
so there they are, an alpha grieving his mate and child and a newly postpartum omega.... the possiblities are so delicious!!
i like to think that the first game is always red light, green light because it eliminates a large ammount of players (kind of like the cornucopia bloodbath in the hunger games). so, inho is there, considering not even making his way across the field when gihun's scent reaches him. he smells sweet, like honey and milk, clearly a new mother and inho's alpha instincts immediately put him on alert. maybe he is especially sensitive since his body was preparing to be a father and he needed to immediately pick up the scent of his new pup (or whatever idk). and he sees how gihun is moving, hand clasped to his belly, still sore from birth and thinks "i need to protect him".
gihun basically becomes the reason inho actually tries to survive the games. taking care of him calms inho down, makes him "docile" in a sense, and even when gihun is stressed and on the verge of a breakdown bc it isnt normal for omegas to be separated from their babies so soon after birth, inho helps him relax, telling him that he will do anything to get gihun to see his baby again and gihun, our sweet girl, says that inho has to get out alive as well so he can meet gayeong.
inho has no issues with killing other players if necessary, doing anything to ensure gihun leaves during the next vote. but as the money piles up people get greedier and not even their lives are worth much....
if they stay for most of the games, i can see inho helping gihun with his milk is a more traditional way, since breastfeeding helps the uterus contract and lowers general pains and aches in the body. it would kinda relax inho as well, since helping this omega would make his alpha hindebrain feel proud to be useful.
when they get out, both richer than ever, gihun introduces inho to gayeong (who had been staying with his mother). gihun and inho bond and inho becomes gayeong's new father and like two years later he gets gihun pregnant with twins 🫶🫶
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syndrossi · 1 day ago
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How would Restoration!Daemon react to his future, and that of Rhaenyra/his sons/ect? Once he accepts that he’s in the future, I’m sure he’ll immediately find the nearest history book and find out how things go for his family. Needless to say, I don’t think he’ll be very pleased with the results. I guess this ties in to his reaction to House Targaryen in general, but I feel like it would hit a bit harder than Robert’s Rebellion because he was there. He was alive and he didn’t stop it. He’d be super upset by Rhaenyra’s madness, and would probably insist that it’s just Green slanders. Anyone heard referring to the “Mad Queen” or “Maegor with Teats” in his vicinity would immediately become closely aquatinted with Dark Sister. I think Aegon’s fate would be a more complicated thing to him, since on the one hand he’d be in agony over the fact that his son ends up being afraid of dragons, but on the other he might end up being a bit resentful that the dragons died out under his son. I think he’d be proud of Viserys for holding the realm together. As for his own death, I can’t even begin to sort through all the feelings he’d have about that.
I think what would upset Daemon the most, since they're his world right now (and he's not yet married to Rhaenyra) is this utter absence of his twin sons in the histories. I don't know what he would conclude from that. They were murdered early on and omitted from the histories? But surely the intrigue of hidden princes would merit at least a mention! His marriage with Rhea is described as childless, which is not true, going off their cover story.
I have to think he'd conclude that things didn't happen the same here. He never learned of their existence, they were taken to Blackcrown and killed by Otto or some other horrible fate befell them.
Tangent: the fun thing about the Redfort twins is that the absolutely could have existed in canon! There's nothing to contradict their existence; Daemon just never "discovered" them. I mentioned this in a comment somewhere, but I like to think that they were fostered in Blackcrown and ended up in Dorne together, adventuring. Raymar married into House Dayne (hence the occasional pale-haired child), and perhaps Jon did as well! But it cheers me to think that their lines continued somewhere. Heck, Dyanna Dayne could be one of their granddaughters, perhaps from a cousin marriage between Dayne daughter x Redfort and the Dayne main line! Or there could have been a circumstances where there were no sons at all and it was a matrilineal marriage, so his children were already in the main line.
/tangent
Rhaenyra's (and Viserys's) deaths would hit him hard, as would the loss of their dragons. Learning that he had four more children, and that his sons both suffered (Aegon being a prisoner and forced to watch his mother's execution, Viserys disappearing and being taken to Essos) would also mess with him. What was he doing when all of that happened? How could he have let himself be killed when they needed him?
OTOH, I don't know how easy it will be to read a single history book of his family's reign. It'll probably be scattered accounts, with different biases, and difficult to get a clean/clear view of it. Lots of contradicting things, both because the accounts got it wrong and because he lived in an alternate timeline, might cause him to doubt a good chunk of its accuracy.
He would 100% discard the Rhaenyra stuff as slander, just as he assumes Aerys's reputation is pure slander. (I almost wonder if he thinks Aerys = his reincarnation, given that he's Rhaegar's father, though once he hears enough firsthand accounts he may reconsider.)
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I rly need a fic where John keeps getting women pregnant and leaving the kids with dean…like Dean carrying one baby on his hip, holding the hands of Sam and another toddler. deans only a teenager forced to be everyone’s mom
I love you so much right now. Y E S
(And obviously I've kept this for mommy dean monday mwahahaha.)
And this could escalate sooo much. Because we aren't talking about one woman but multiple. So we could even have 2 or 3 children popping up in the same year. (Pretty sure half of these women wouldn't let a shady guy like John nowhere near their children even if he is their father though but some would and so it brings us the possibility of mother-of-multiple-children teenager Dean!)
I'm thinking the women he had gotten pregnant would ask him to keep the kids for a while at least and spend time with them. John (tired of listening to their whining on the phone) accepts to take the kid but instead of spending time with him/her, he just leaves the kid with Sam and Dean. (Needless to say that when the kids go back to their actual moms, they keep talking about their big brother Dean with total admiration and love.)
Dean had enough practice with Sam. He can take care of any child at any age. He doesn't, however, know how to handle so many kids at once. He ends up with 3 other kids along with Sammy one time and he's freaking out but still manages to keep them all safe and fed.
Dean's willingness to care for other kids though has Sam FURIOUS. He's the worst big brother ever. He acts like Dean is his property and the other kids are tresspassing.
If the kids go back to their mothers talking lovingly about their big brother Dean, they don't say anything about their big brother Sam. If their mothers knew what Sam had done to them under Dean's nose, they would never let them go see Dean again. And they don't want that.
Dean of course is oblivious to Sam's jealousy or underhanded methods to keep Dean's attention on himself. He's just glad no one has died yet.
And if we are talking about some of these kids mothers dying (for whatever reason) and John actually having to take care of those kids well... let's say that the kids get into the habit of calling their big brother Dean "mom" quite a lot. Dean doesn't mind it. Sam used to call him "mom" too in the past.
Dean is so focused on making sure everyone is safe and fed that he doesn't notice how much Sammy wants to call him "mom" along with the other kids. It's unfair. John doesn't get angry when the little kids call Dean "mom" but when Sam did it in the past, John would threaten to throw him out if he did it again. Unfair unfair unfair. Sam hates the little kids. He wants Dean all to himself.
(But also, Sam is still Dean's number one priority. He tries not to show it but Sam is definitely his favourite, his weak spot. Dean being all strict with the other kids but one pair of puppy eyes from Sammy and he's sold. Spoiler: the other kids have definitely noticed. Sam has noticed that the other kids have noticed and he's smug about it.)
Anyway, this idea has soooo much potential. Love this. Thank you for the ask!
Happy Mommy Dean Monday everyone!!
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baked-potatoes-rule · 1 day ago
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Shauna, the people closest to her, and the endless, painful, herculean task of loving emotionally unavailable people.
Jackie,Callie,Jeff...hell, let's even add Adam Martin, the naive artist who didn't know better.
Jackie; Your best friend, who you plan your life ahead with, assuming they are in for the ride. You sign up for a sport together, you do everything together, you're attached to her to such a degree that the moment you feel she might abandon you for someone else to be her closest friend (Taissa), you withdraw.
You do everything with her in mind. "I have Jeff so I'll tell Shauna about Randy bc I feel bad that she doesn't have someone." "Shauna gets anxious on the plane, I'll get her some Valium." "The plane is on fire, I have to get Shauna out because she's more important to me than Van", "I'll give her my last piece of meat because she's hungry", "I'll agree to Laura Lee flying the plane because Shauna's pregnant and needs medical attention".
And then, when you confront her, after giving her multiple opportunities of telling you the truth herself, she tells you she feels sorry for you and spits out so much bile that you end up questioning what is happening. You had little to no idea that she felt that way, overshadowed by you. Because Shauna never straight up communicated it.
Jeff ; What are you even doing? Emotionally inattentive to Shauna's needs and wants. I understand Shauna being traumatised further after the wilderness but I don't get Jeff's deal. Marrying her out of guilt because he cheated on Jackie with her. That's definitely a recipe for a healthy,long lasting relationship.
And that is why I believe Jeff was in love with Shauna. Sure, the Jackie bond they shared- but he very well knew he was just the "highschool" boyfriend. How out of touch was he? Plenty. They even went to therapy together and things just didn't seem to be going very well straight from the first episode. "That means you had an affair?" Surprise Jeff. Your wife's dark side includes being prone to committing infidelity. Also, she settled for a life that wasn't hers to begin with,had a second kid she didn't even want (at least at first, we see her telling Lottie when she had the goat with her), had no time or space to find herself because she went from being Jackie's extension to getting tied down with a you and a kid. A wife with no stable sense of self.
Callie; Sweet summer child, your mother is emotionally stunted and you can't even be mad at her because she went through hell and came back. It's downhill for Callie if she doesn't save herself from her mother and father.
___________________________________________
Emotionally unavailable friend. Emotionally unavailable partner. Emotionally unavailable parent.
What's even worse is, none of the Yellowjackets had the chance to properly heal. They had to bury everything because going to therapy/seeking help/ would mean coming clean about everything that happened in the wilderness.
Shauna and Taissa. We have something interesting here.
Shauna finds a friend in Taissa. She has her back in the wilderness. She stands by her during her finding out she's pregnant, during her fallouts with Jackie, when she tries to abort the baby, when she has to give birth.
Shauna follows Taissa to the attic because no one else will. Shauna does actually care about people. I don't believe she does good deeds with an agenda. No. Her intentions are pure. Shauna has no problem being open and vulnerable with people who can't abandon her. Yes, she's close with Tai and they form a strong friendship but it's not the same. Taissa is not Shauna's favourite person. But Jackie is. She can't handle losing Jackie but she also hates Jackie for being so glued to her, because she can't find her own self. She's drowning in Jackie.
_____________________________________________
Shauna and Adam
Adam shows up and gives Shauna the one thing she's always longed for; to be seen. Jeff saw her at first but with everything between them and the trauma, the thrill has been long gone. Shauna didn't have feelings for Jeff. He just fulfilled her need to be seen separately from Jackie and let herself be disinhibited for once, make something hers. Have someone love her "Tell me you love me, I won't hold you to it" (Please don't throw tomatoes at me for this one. Shauna's moon has to be in Scorpio. People with their moon in Scorpio want the other person to want them intensely. They want connection beyond the physical.They are way too impulsive and emotional but keep it under wraps. They also hold a grudge big time).
Back to Adam Martin. He's younger, he likes her, he sees her, he is interested in her beyond just having fun. It's what Shauna wants. (Shauna telling Tai and Natalie : I thought he loved me.)
Anyway, she ends up killing him because she thinks he's the one blackmailing them. She's also incapable of letting people get genuinely close to her because she's afraid they will see her for what she is (unworthy,not good enough,fucked up, a freak).
Shauna either keeps people at an arm's length or they manage to get close to her and they get hurt or simply, well,die.
She's afraid to love her own daughter because she can't handle the thought of losing her like she lost Jackie and her stillborn baby. But she's also scared her daughter won't like her if she does let her close.
Shauna has small t's and big T's in her bag. Her small trauma being her being abandoned by her father and possibly not having her needs met by her mother. And of course her big Trauma comes from the wilderness(plane crash, starvation, cannibalism,losing Jackie,the baby etc).
For Shauna to find peace, she would have to go within and do the work, find her sense of self and then integrate other people in her life,while setting healthy boundaries. It is YJ however so...not holding my breath and hoping for a happy ending.
I apologise for the long, probably poorly written post. I've just been contemplating on the long term effects of C-PTSD, and how much the needs we don't get covered can affect the quality of our life.
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ask-miike-don-lotf · 1 day ago
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HEY GUYSSS, HERE IS SOME OC LORE/ REFERENCES!!
Okay, first off I’m gonna leave some design references
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(I know I posted this before but idc, I’m posting it again)
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(This one is a quick uhhh idk choir uniform thingy?? I’m leaving it here just in case)
SOME THINGS TO NOT FORGET WHILE DRAWING BRO!!:
-give him his acne and freckles 💔
-give him his tummy too
-kinda weird to explain but his hair is curly, but the bottom back part of it is straight (for some reason)
Anyways, lore/personality is gonna be down below!!
Pre island
Btw his full name is (Michael Donovan)
Mike’s story starts in Central America, his grandparents moved from England to there.
There he was happy. He had friends, he went to a private school, he was in violin lessons, etc. He was happy there.
His mom was a single mother and was raising him and his younger stepsister, his father was out of the picture. When he turned 10, Miike and his mother both moved back to England 2 years prior to book events.
There he enrolled in school. He wasn’t very social, but he still was a very talented and pretty academically good child. (Although there were some kids that picked on him, he just ignored it.)
He joined the choir and met some sort of friends there. He also plays the violin since he was 7.
He never felt that he was important there. He felt like a background character in a place full of important people.
Island
Since he was part of the choir he spent most of his time with them. He had a great admiration for that Jack. He didn’t talk to him much tho, he mostly talked to Maurice, Robert, and Simon (when simon still hung out with them.)
He doesn’t like hunting, at all. The whole process of killing a pig makes him want to vomit. The noises, the textures, everything creeped him out. He mostly tried to stay in the background.
He also liked Ralph’s group. He didn’t think what they were doing made much sense, considering he had already lost hope on returning home, but he respected their ideas.
He also admired Ralph. He knew his role was a serious manner, so he also had great respect for that.
The way he managed to become the island’s “messenger” was essentially Jack’s fault and his own people pleasing tendencies.
It all started when one day Jack and Ralph had another one of their stupid arguments. Jack refused to speak to Ralph, but they still needed to communicate. Miike volunteered to go deliver the message, and that stuck ever since. In Jack’s mind he thought Miike only hung out with Ralph’s lot because he was gathering information and plotting against them, for the benefit of the hunters.
Now for Ralph’s side, Miike managed to convince him that he didn’t like Jack at all. He told him that he was forced to be there since the choir and all. But that he would be an inside spy and work for the benefit of his group.
In reality both of these were right. He was essentially working for both at the same time, all because of an ocean full of lies he pulled out of nowhere. Honestly he’s truly neutral and prides himself on the idea of the island falling apart if they didn’t have their “trustworthy” spy/ messenger.
Personality
Michael is a smart, awkward, and complicated kid. He is constantly doing stuff to please others, although won’t think twice about refusing if he feels that might humiliate him or make him look bad. He has no problem on stepping up for himself, and when he does it’s hard to hold back.
Having a constant mentality that everyone hates him makes him not fully like everybody. This and the need he feels for having everyone like him play a part on his role on the island. When he is with Ralph he talks crap about the hunters, when he is with Jack he talks crap about Ralph’s group.
This also encourages his lying tendencies. Growing up in such strict religion before moving to England (being a Jehovah’s Witness) caused him to finally rebel in some sort of way. He honestly felt that all hope was lost the moment they got to the island, and he simply accepted it. There was no point in life anymore. Why not do whatever the hell he wants?? He can’t die, at least in a non painful way, so there’s no easy way to end the suffering.
He’s also somewhat full of himself. He really prides himself on the fact that he is a messenger on the island. Not just for the hunters, but for Ralph too. He believes it’s something important and in his mind he holds himself as high status just for his stupid little job. He can also get really obsessive or envious from time to time.
Now to make it short, he just wants to be free and be liked by people. That’s the only thing that cares about at this point. He would never be rude to anyone in their face (unless they really REALLY deserve it, otherwise he just talks crap behind their backs). Most of the time he just goes with the flow.
Quick facts
-He’s sort of a nerd. Not in the same way Piggy is, he just knows a bunch of fun facts.
-Bro is not simply chubby, he’s big boned (/ref) but speaking fr, this makes him actually pretty strong.
-He misses his home country a lot, he curses the day they moved to England.
-He doesn’t take past of any religion now. His mom is a very spiritual person, and doesn’t believe in the church and stuff.
-He’s a picky eater, mostly because of sensory issues. This is why he mostly eats meat.
-He loves anything that has to do with art
-Considering that he grew up in a Spanish speaking country and that English lessons weren’t that common back then, his English is kind of bad sometimes. It did get better when he got to England.
-He loves Godzilla
-His hair is always messy. He has curls in the top, but the bottom of it is straight.
-He has a deep respect for women since he saw how amazing and independent his mom was.
-Secretly really judgy and has an opinion about everything and everyone
-Loves to gossip (sometimes he adds a few extra details to messages just to cause drama)
-His voice has changed due to puberty for the most part, but he does still have voice cracks pretty often (before the island he considered dropping out of choir for this)
-He has two birthmarks on his neck that look like a vampire bite.
-He has a very interesting sense of humor. Sometimes he’s really funny and sometimes no one understands his jokes.
-He has a short temper, especially when someone is criticizing him.
-He can get really self conscious about his appearance (sometimes weight or acne, considering he got picked on because of that) but he pretends not to care.
-he misses his sister a lot. Kikita reminds him of her, so he sees her as a younger sibling.
also heyy @lolita-ily
Leans over car and flips hair seductively
I’ll give you my soul if you draw this idiot 🙏
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