#for further context. the man i gave it to was my older brother

[emdotcom]

I hated the Switch so fucking much, I gave mine away so I didn't have to have it around, anymore.

That said, very excited for the people who intend to play that new pokemon, when it comes out.

[fell-is-suffering]

Look...I WAS gonna finish this one but- apparently i didn't have the motivation to do so.

[I'm not a good person. Don't deny me that.]

TWs!: mentions of sh, alcoholic tendencies, abuse(?), denial of something, and perhaps other topics that I don't know myself..

Genre: light angst (yes, light angst), comfort and fluff.

Context: no context for you :)

[unfinished]

When Crust went to visit Chains for some small talk, and mostly since they haven't spoken to each other in a while, he didn't really…expect for the conversation to turn into this.

Confused? Let's start way over from the beginning to when Crust went to visit…

~~~~~~~

Crust was feeling..pretty wrecked. It had been quite a long bit since he and Chains spoke to each other. So he decided, why not visit his house? Chains gave him their address a while back and..well, he might as well give it to use.

But. He was thinking of some..things. And he wasn't all too sure if Chains even wanted to talk to him, but he quickly shook away that thought. Chains always seems glad to see him, always.

Okay, enough of his thoughts, he should knock first..make sure if Chains is awake or not.

He took a deep inhale, even if he didn't need to, and tapped his knuckles on the door, loudly. Maybe too loud…whoops.

He lets out an indignant snort at his way of thinking and then gets snapped out of his thoughts by someone opening the door.

And he was instantly met with another version of his bro. Who looked..pretty tired? He wasn't sure, but he immediately felt bad for knocking so loudly.

He went to apologize, before the other beat him to it.

“Who Are You? Are You Another One Of Those Alternates My Brother Talks To?” The other Pap1yrus asked, and despite the harsh tone of his voice, Crust could tell he was curious but also cautious.

Crust resisted the urge to smile at that. No matter the universe, paps were always there for him.

“heh- yea, ya could say. a friend of his, actually.” He huffed out with a chuckle. Maybe if he reassured the other that he wasn't some sort of threat, he would loosen up a bit?

The other raised a nonexistent brow, seeming as if he didn't believe that, but didn't question any further than that. “Hm. Okay..And Why, Are You Here?” he asked once more, making sure.

“just came ta visit mah buddy here, can't do that?” His tone was laced in slight amusement. While the others cautiousness was reasonable, he couldn't help but think it was amusing that he was like the protective older brother. Despite being younger than Chains, if he remembered correctly.

And he couldn't help the way he wanted to tuck in the other, he looked way too exhausted and Crust didn't really want that. But he also didn't want to be on the other's bad side, so he pulled away from that thought.

The other stayed silent for a moment, worrying Crust that he did something wrong before Papyrus just scoffed. “Very Well Then. My Brother Is In His Room Upstairs, Do Be Careful Waking Them Up, He Just Slept.” Crust perked up at that, then felt confused and concerned. Chains just slept? Like right now? That didn't seem..healthy.

Crust just nodded in response, and stepped in the house when his other bro just walked off, to the kitchen it seemed like.

When he stepped inside, he looked around the..rather spacious, even homey, place. Honestly, just by looking around, he was feeling rather nostalgic from his surroundings.

Damn. He's kinda jealous, how the hell did they make their place so cozy looking?? Man..wished he could have this homey abode.

He chuckled quietly and went up the stairs. If he was correct, Chains room is in the...left? Oh Wait- there's literally a name tag on the doors, damn. Why didn't he notice ‘em a bit sooner??

He quickly shook his skull, getting closer to the door with the name ‘sans’ on it and knocked on it gently, trying to see if he could get a reply from the other.

The response was immediate, as he heard a tired and annoyed groan from inside the room. Crust chuckled to himself at the response, and called out almost quietly “hey ch- fell. it's me, crust?” he said, tilting his skull slightly even though he knew the other wouldn't see it.

Meanwhile, Fell grumbled out a tired “com’ in...doors open pal..” and curled more in his bed, rubbing their eye-sockets. He felt like shit, but at least their best buddy was here. That was enough for him.

Crust gently opened the door, pausing on seeing the sight of the other. Chains looked like shit, literally and he didn't mean that in an offending way. The other looked bone tired, red eyebags beneath his sockets and he looked close to snap at someone at this point.

“geez. woke up on the wrong side of the bed or what?” He couldn't help but tease as he closed the door behind him. The room was dark as fuck. Where the hell was the light switch when you needed it?

Fell just groaned in response, staying limp on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. He honestly would've questioned why Crust was here but then they remembered that he gave him their address.. so he just won't ask anything of the sort.

But..they wonder, why was Crust here?

He thought about it, as they blinked up at the lights that suddenly came on. He groaned and turned to their side, feeling a slight headache from the sudden lighting.

Whatever the reason Crust is here, he hopes it's a good one. Simply ‘cause they don't wanna talk about…well- whatever it was that Crust wanted to talk about.

Fell just hopes it's not a bad thing, for the most part. He’s pretty tired…and they don't exactly mean it physically.

[soundwavefucker69]

Okay so popping in as a trans man here with a... weird upbringing.

I was essentially raised in a right wing Pentecostal cult. my mother and father were considered fairly eccentric in that cult and were often ostracized and reprimanded for how they chose to raise me and my brother. for reference: my mom let me read Percy Jackson. that was considered wrong. she also let me read Narnia. that was also considered wrong. they never found out about our collective family love for Lord of the Rings bc that surely would have been a fucking spiral. I was also not allowed to read Harry Potter. I was once reprimanded by an older lady in the church for watching fucking Scooby Doo bc it was "demonic" that they were fighting "monsters" when the whole damn point was they were never actually monsters. she did not know the context. she just saw that there was a ghost on the screen and told me off.

we went back and forth often on whether or not we would have a TV. we absolutely never had cable, only a VCR and gaming consoles, on occasion. when the church randomly pushed back on it a little too much, they were gone. it was a chaotic way to grow up.

my parents did want me to go to college, but never actually made the steps to save for it. during all of this time I was suffering from severe mental illness I learned how to hide just watching my mother's behavior, bc in the eyes of the church, every symptom of mental illness was actually a demon attaching itself to you, and the only solution was prayer. no such thing as psychiatric meds, those were also demonic.

I was raised half prepared for the world, but also deeply, deeply unprepared for it. my father was never sent out as a missionary bc he took our family on vacations. that was the actual reason they gave him. I did not have a single coping mechanism beyond "hide everything to do with my mental illness and undiagnosed autism and hope for the best".

when I was about 16, everything fucking collapsed. there were family issues going on i won't get into and Dad left the church. up until this point, the church had preached that divorce was bad, but also you can't let your spouse keep you from God. there was nothing my mom could do in that situation. she could not ask for help, and when she did, all she got was "pray for him to return". that was it. eventually she also got fed up and left.

she almost immediately became an alcoholic like her mother, which was the whole reason she joined the church in the first place, so she could be a better mother and provide me and my brother, who was now heading to prison, some stability. my parents left the church and desperately tried to save their marriage, but by the time my graduation rolled around, it was fucking toast. my brother, for his graduation, got 200 people invited to his party, people who loved him and grew up with him and knew him, and a trip to Thailand. my graduation party was tiny, surrounded with friends my parents were reconnecting with from before the church, who I had never met in my life. I was completely surrounded by strangers that I didn't know, couldn't know, and horribly isolated.

my dad and mom, after the divorce, started focusing on reconnecting with family. I didn't know these people. I had met them maybe a handful of times in my life, and they had been driven away by the time I was born by my parents' relentless evangelism and the church preaching that if they won't come into the fold, it's best to cut them off lest they follow the same path.

I cannot express to you how fucking devastating it is to grow up as a church kid in that kind of environment and leave it. overnight, you will lose everything. your church becomes your family. there is no room for anyone else. those precious connections you're meant to make in your childhood are robbed from you. you have no support system. you have no life skills. my parents believed they raised me independent and I would land on my feet, but that couldn't be further from the truth. everything they did to ensure I was going to be okay was canceled out by the church. at the end of the day, I was meant to be a pastor's wife, and everything else they did was just their attempt to cope with the reality of the situation they had put me in.

by most people's approximation, compared to very open cults like Westboro Baptist, my church was tame. it's not really considered a cult. because that is behavior and psychological conditioning considered normal in America. the fact of the matter is, I was told from childhood that children that leave the church end up on drugs, in prison, or dead by suicide. it's a self fulfilling prophecy and they don't even realize. to my knowledge, at least two boys I grew up with have killed themselves. I don't keep up with it bc frankly more knowledge will only upset me.

the thing about these churches that pump out tradwives like no man's business is they do, in fact, teach you coping mechanisms, and that's what's so incredibly dangerous about them. bc those coping mechanisms are specifically designed to only work when you are in the cult. if you leave, it all falls apart and you have absolutely fucking nothing but overwhelming trauma you will need a lifetime of therapy to overcome. hence why I said a self fulfilling prophecy. bc a lot of the kids do end up killing themselves bc we are taught it's either go back to church or die. and we have at least the level of understanding that it will be infinitely worse if we go back to church. it's easier just to fucking die than to live like that for the rest of our lives.

that is the danger of American evangelism and why there are so many tradwives nowadays. it's a ploy to get people into the church. and that is why you cannot listen to them. not just for your own sake. you need to do it for your children.

I am begging you as a queer, trans child that was raised in that environment. do not fucking do this to your children. do not do it. no matter how much you think it'll be better for them, it never is. it is absolutely never fucking better for them. they will be raised in a cage, and if they get out, you will either be dealing with an addict, a convict, or a funeral. sometimes all three. I have managed to survive to 28. I honestly do not know what tomorrow holds for me. therapy has never worked and I've been on a plethora of psychiatric medications that also never work. I'm surviving on spite alone and speaking from experience: spite only takes you so far. eventually, it burns out. and even when it doesn't, it's a miserable way to live. spite and desperation are my only salvation, and I'm tired. I'm so tired.

don't let your kids end up like me. sometimes, the only reason I haven't gone back to church is bc I'm trans and have medically transitioned and even if I detransition, I know they will never, never accept me. objectively speaking, transitioning saved my life. it kept me out of church and I'm so glad I made that decision. but it's all I have at this point.

so. don't do this to your kids. Just don't fucking do it.

I met a girl when I was fresh out of high school in undergrad who frankly, annoyed me quite a bit, but I also had an inkling to continue to be compassionate to her given a few things about her life/background/family

I ran into her two years ago. Last week, her daughter turned 1. This girl, let’s called her “P”, is a really good example of why I never feel comfortable mocking trad wives

Her perfect trad husband, who was a shining young figure in the local religious community, volunteered in all sorts of groups, well loved in his workplace and everything else, beat her up at 1 month post-partum. I reached out to her after seeing her desperately asking for a stroller on a page, confused and slightly concerned knowing both of them came from wealthy backgrounds.

The reality for lots of tradwives living “perfect lives” is this: P was immediately ostracised. All the wealth of her husband and her family meant absolutely nothing if she wasn’t in favour and doing what she was told. Her child and her well-being didn’t matter. P, at 25 years old, was basically deemed an oopsie, and left on her own to figure out how to pay for herself, a baby, find housing, and every other task you can think of.

Having known many of these women (and supported many of these women), another factor most people don’t consider is this: they are intentionally raised to be helpless. When I immediately offered my support to P, she really needed it. This young woman needed to be guided through how to apply for government assistance, how to weigh up rentals and apply for them, how to apply for jobs, how to sign up for childcare. How to sign up for your own power and internet, and how to connect them.

It wasn’t that she was “stupid”, or incapable, or spoiled. While it looks like they’re being sheltered, in reality, these women are practically being held hostage. Sure, they might be allowed to learn things that are expected of them (see: basic cooking, baking, cleaning, child rearing, women’s bible studies, hosting, and so forth) but they are heavily controlled from family life into marriage life, and they are never given the opportunity or the reality of what many of us would consider basic adult tasks.

She’s doing okay now. Her daughter turned 1, is happy and healthy. They live frugally, but they have a roof over their heads and the essentials. I often babysit for her so she can attend counselling, or go to a woman’s support group. She is painfully aware that she has so much to learn about how to live as an adult.

I don’t envy tradwives, but I don’t find any joy in mocking them either. Even when they live the most picturesque lives, they’re also practically living a real life Jenga game. If (and often, when) it comes tumbling down, they’re screwed too, and they often have 0 skills to help themselves or find community (that again, isn’t carefully curated).

[marigoldenchrys]

Gay... Spy Agent?

hey guys, it's my dream again! Without further ado, here's my dream last night~

my goddamn dream was both so cool and strange. first was, I'm with my little sister and older brother (idont have a sister irl) i dont remember which brother i was with but yeah. the context was, we were travelling as children who lost their home and parents. we stopped at one place and found a cheap little eatery (idk where we got the money) then we ate there for a long amount of time. during that, there's this one little boy who seemed like a spoiled one. he kept bothering both my sister and brother, I was already getting annoyed by him, he also kept bullying them. so by the time he went for me, to try to bully and bother, I didn't hold back. I stood up and yelled at him, telling him that I've been holding back my anger since he started to bother my siblings and I couldn't take his shit anymore (in this dream, i was like 8-9 years old) i told him no one can bully my siblings except me, and that they don't deserve to be treated this way by a little spoiled brat kid. The crazy part is this, "Do you know why it's me defending them right now? Huh? Do you know why they couldn't stand for themselves? Because I'm both them! I'm gay!" This dream was absolutely crazy.

And then it switched to me being an adult and context was, I'm a special agent, like a spy or something like that. My mission was to execute this bad guy (don't know exactly why he was bad but yeah) so.. even though it was just a dream, man it was exhausting getting this man be executed. The fight happened on a big apartment inside a very very big, luxurious building. Although I had a hard time with that mission, the ending gave me mixed emotions. The ending was, when this bad guy had a gun, it doesn't shoot bullets but it does— okay I searched it up and it's called Flamethrower— I managed to steal it from him, but he was already about to escape. So when he was closed to the kitchen stove, I throw the Flamethrower there and it exploded. SO MUCH EXPLOSIONS. He died. But, the neighbors apartment got included in the explosions so that made me worried SO BAD. I asked the lieutenant, "Were they included? Are the people fine? Oh my god... this is my fault" And when the police were cuffing the bad guys (the main bad guy died) I also raised both my hands so they could cuff me, but the lieutenant held my hands and shove it down and said, "You didn't mean it and you did a great job. That man could've done a lot worse of damage than you. Pull yourself together." AAAAAND MY DREAM ENDED.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

I seriously don't know how that dream happened and why. They said dreams have meanings, so.. does that mean I'm gonna be a spy agent? I'm already gay so... ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[coinandcandle]

Pandora Deity Guide

Either in Mythological context or otherwise, it’s likely that you’ve heard her name before. She was considered by Hesiod to be the first human woman. While not technically a deity, someone mentioned her in my deity suggestions post and I thought she was definitely worth a deep dive!

Who is Pandora?

Beginning as an idea from Zeus and made into reality by Hephaestus, Pandora was the first human woman on earth according to her mythology.

Pandora was a plan of revenge come to life, a punishment. Zeus was angry that Prometheus had given humans fire and had Hephaestus created Pandora from clay/earth, each god then gave her a gift. They made her beautiful, irresistibly so, to both men and gods. However, they also made her cunning.

Her name, Pandora, literally translates to “all gifts” which eludes to this story.

Zeus had Pandora sent to Prometheus’ younger brother, Epimetheus, who took her as his bride. Pandora was given a jar (pithos) as a wedding present and told not to open it. Of course, curiosity got the best of her and she opened it, releasing countless plagues and misfortunes upon Prometheus’ humans.

Parents and Siblings

None

Lovers or Partners

Epimetheus

Children

Pyrrha (though some say that Pyrrha and her husband are Pandora's mother and father)

Epithets

Anesidora (Sender of gifts or she who sends gifts)

Notes

Some say that Hesiod’s Interpretation of the story of Pandora would later influence Christian and Jewish theology.

Though in antiquity the vessel given to Pandora is a jar, a later misinterpretation or mistranslation turns it into a box.

Her name can also mean “All-giving” rather than “all-gifted” eluding to Pandora actually being an earth or a mother goddess.

Some folks think that Pandora was a completely unrelated earth or mother goddess that either got developed into the Pandora we know today—as it wasn’t uncommon for smaller or lesser known deities to be absorbed into the Greek pantheon—or a goddess who just happened to also be named Pandora.

In most retellings of the story, Pandora didn’t open the box with malice, but out of curiosity. The curiosity itself being a gift from the gods.

In some tradition, Pandora was given a jar of only blessings for mankind which was opened by a foolish man rather than Pandora, causing almost all of these blessings to be lost forever.

Some say that Epimetheus and Pandora’s roles were reversed in older myths.

Anesidora is also an epithet given to Demeter and Gaia, possibly hinting to Pandora’s Earth goddess origins.

Some believe that she may be Rhea.

Modern Deity Work

Since Pandora is possibly an earth goddess, you could associate her with items similar to other earth goddess such as Gaia or other earth goddesses.

Since there isn't much record of any worship of Pandora, these are items and activities that I personally think you could do to honor her.

Offerings

Potted plants

Handmade pottery

Decorative pithos

Acts of Devotion

Gardening or taking care of house plants

Cleaning up the earth or being more eco-friendly

Go on nature walks

Tell her how beautiful the nature around you is

Advocating for feminist movements

Symbol

Jar (Pithos)

References and Further Reading

Pandora - Theoi Project

Pandora - GreekMythology.com

Pandora - World History

Pandora - Religion Wiki

The Goddess Pandora - holladaypaganism

[ma-lark-ey]

feels imperative for me to tell y'all I mostly read this chapter in my sociology class #college.

Also note that numbered comments footnoted from the text are comments actually on the word doc I left while reading that I deemed funniest enough to share with the world so

Chapter 4:

Up until then they were fighting like cats and dogs. Now look at them. They're practically trading friendship bracelets and I couldn't fit a crowbar between them if it'd save my life."[1] "But why?" Neil asked. "Andrew hates Kevin's obsession with Exy." "The day they start making sense to you, let me know," Nicky said, moving so Neil could get a drink. "I gave up trying to sort it all out weeks ago. You could ask, but neither of them will answer. But as long as I'm doling out advice? Stop staring at Kevin so much. You're making me fear for your life over here." "What do you mean?" "Andrew is scary territorial of him. He punched me the first time I said I'd like to get Kevin too wasted to be straight." Nicky pointed at his face, presumably where Andrew had decked him. "So yeah, I'm going to crush on safer targets until Andrew gets bored of him. That means you, since Matt's taken and I don't hate myself enough to try Seth. Congrats." "Can you take the creepy down a level?" Aaron asked. "What?" Nicky asked. "He said he doesn't swing, so obviously he needs a push." "I don't need a push," Neil said. "I'm fine on my own."

[1] Not meager besties, not lovers, not a QPR, not brothers, but a secret undiscovered fifth thing.

"Nicky's scheming to rape Neil," Aaron said. "There are a couple flaws in his plan he needs to work out first, but he'll get there sooner or later."[1] "You're such an asshole," Nicky said as he started for the door. "Wow, Nicky," Andrew said. "You start early." "Can you really blame me?" Nicky glanced back at Neil as he said it. He only took his eyes off Andrew for a second, but that was long enough for Andrew to lunge at him.

[1] I can’t with these fuckers. in all seriousness, having read a good chunk of TRK at this point and also Andrew having no further context than Aaron's one out of pocket joke. He's justified here, actually. I support him. It is BATSHIT without that context though.

Neil wondered if Andrew's medicine would let him grieve, or if he'd laugh at Nicky's funeral too. Then he wondered if a sober Andrew would act any different

^^ elaborating on this in the endnotes

"You're only a year older than I am." Two, really, but he wasn't about to tell them he'd lied about both his birthday and his age.

I refuse to accept that. No way Kevin's only twenty. Surely he's like. twenty-two at the youngest.

"You could at least try," Kevin said. Andrew thought about it, then said, "I could, couldn't I? Maybe next time!"

And now, for your chapterly conversation that's really just hate-flirting;

"Get off my racquet." "Make me?" Andrew said, spreading his arms in invitation. "Try, anyway." "Don't tempt me." "Such fierce words from such a little creature," Andrew said. "You're not very bright. Typical of a jock." "Hypocrite," Neil said.

Andrew. You want to fuck him so bad it makes you look stupid.

Wymack tossed the coffee to him. Neil caught it instinctively, but he couldn't hold onto it. It bounced off the floor at his feet and the lid popped off to spill grinds everywhere. Wymack stalked toward Neil with a snarled, "You idiot." Retreating from a furious older man was so instinctive Neil didn't realize he'd flinched until Wymack froze. Wymack's face went almost dangerously blank and Neil dropped his gaze. He was careful not to look away from Wymack entirely. He needed to see when Wymack started moving again. He waited for Wymack to say something. After an endless, brittle silence, he realized Wymack wouldn't speak until he did. "Today was my mistake," Neil said quietly. "It won't happen a second time." Wymack didn't answer. He didn't come closer, either. At length he pointed at the ground in front of him. "Come here. No," he said when Neil started to reach for the mess at his feet. "Leave it...Look at me," Wymack said. "Right now." Neil dragged his stare up from Wymack's chest to his face. Wymack's expression was still too blank for Neil to feel safe, but he knew better than to look away again. "I want you to understand something," Wymack said. "I am a loud, grouchy old man. I like to yell and throw things. But I don't throw punches unless some punk is dumb enough to try me first. I have never, ever hit someone without provocation, and I'm sure as hell not going to start with you. You hear me?" Neil didn't believe him, but he said, "Yes, Coach."

^^^ elaboration in the endnotes x2

Kevin was more demanding of himself than he was of anyone around him. He set his standards impossibly high and tried for them with everything he had, and he didn't understand why others wouldn't do the same.

^^^ so much to say on him in the endnotes

"Is that your slow attempt at suicide or do you actually have sheathes built into those?" Neil asked. "Yes." "That's not the one you tried to cut Nicky with. How many knives do you carry?" "Enough,"

sober Andrew is literally the funniest bitch in this series and he's not even trying to be funny.

Also Neil how do you know which knife Andrew used on Nicky. Gay behaviour.

"Kevin says you'll be a champion. Four years and you'll go pro. Five years and you'll be Court. He promised Coach. He promised the school board. He argued until they signed off on you...Curious that a man with so much potential, who has so much fun, who could 'be something' wouldn't want any of it. Why is that?"

^^^ all thoughts on Kevin are going in the endnotes there's too many

"You are a conundrum," Andrew said. "Thank you." "No, thank you," Andrew said as he slipped past Neil without a look back. "I need a new toy to play with."[1] "I'm not a toy."[2] "I guess we'll see."

[1] is this say yes to the dress or say yes to slut jesus christ Andrew WHAT. [2] Neil: "I'm not gay!" bbg then what in the homosexual was that?

don't look back, don't slow down, and don't trust anyone. Be anyone but himself, and never be anyone for too long.

^^^ so many things to say on Neil's mom in the end notes.

He hadn't cried when the flames caught, and he hadn't flinched when he pulled her cooling bones out. He filled her backpack with everything that was left of her, carried her two miles down the beach, and buried her as deep as he could. By the time he found the highway again he was numb with shock

He was nothing and no one, and he always would be. Court wasn't for people like him.[1]

[1] Neil , bbg, your mom ALSO was abusive do you realise this please say yes. Neil the lesser of two evils is still evil.

"and I—I can't go back there. I can't, I can't, I won't, I—I have to go. I have to go. I should go now, before he has to come for me. Maybe he'll forgive me if I go back. If I make him hunt me down any more than I have already he'll kill me for sure." "Shut up," Wymack said. "You're not going anywhere." "I can't tell Riko no!" "Then don't say a word," Wymack said. "Keep your mouth shut and let me and Andrew do the talking.

Kevin. I want to study you like a bug.

"Jean," Kevin cut in. "I have to call Jean. I have to hear him say it."

I don't know who Jean is, imma be so fr, but I do know he's getting his own book?? and I also know he's a fan favorite apparently?? maybe I blocked him out of my memory somehow but I read all of the TRK I'm like, 90% sure and I dont remember him?

TBCH I have no idea how much of this series I've already read it is brain soup. the other night I was explaining it to my roommate and went 'OH and I forgot to mention, that Andrew guy? He's actually spending about 90% of the book on like, court mandated crack because he almost killed four people. No yeah, it's kind of not a big plot point beyond the fact he's loopy as hell most of the time." and she stared at me like I lost my mind (I had)

"But he broke his hand in a skiing accident," Neil said. "Bullshit," Wymack said. "It wasn't an accident...it wasn't the first time Riko or Moriyama laid a hand on him. It was just the first time Kevin was smart enough to pack his bags and walk away. So much for family, hm?" "I don't believe in family." "Neither do I."

My Dadmack agenda is making some slayful fanfic ideas in my head.

"Kevin only had the strength to leave because Riko destroyed his hand. That was finally one injustice too many. Because of that I'd like to think Kevin would defy Tetsuji, but it's just as likely we'd never see him with a racquet again. But the day Kevin stops playing forever is the day he dies. He has nothing else. He wasn't raised to have anything else. Do you understand? We cannot lose to the Ravens this year. Kevin won't survive it."

then everything else I've noted for this chapter is the family goss of the Moriyama-Josten whatever the fuck is happening here.

notes:

first, let's talk about Kev, baby.

Kevin Day is such an interesting character because he's a very different portrayal of abuse victim response than usually put in these kinds of media. Kevin doesn't let people except for Andrew and Riko push him around--- Andrew out of respect, and Riko for obvious reasons. Despite being conditioned to be a follower, Kevin IS a leader. He thrives in leadership positions. As much as Andrew has a leash on him, he has a leash on Andrew.

I think it's very clever characterization on Sakavic's part for the first time Kevin's facade of level-headed, pissed off teach coach to slip away into what he really is--- a terrified survivor who's partially in hiding--- being in the location Neil is starting to consider his home turf, whether intentional or unintentional, allows Neil to feel a bit closer to Wymack as well as humanize Kevin to him. By Kevin, unbeatable and unshakeable, Mr. Stonecold Kevin, to feel comfortable having this kind of emotional breakdown in Wymack's house, Neil sees that this person is respected and trusted by someone he at least respects.

Wymack's handling of the situation I also think is rather good. Kevin wouldn't respond to something soft and vulnerable, like Neil did. Kevin doesn't care for gentleness at all, the firm and demanding nature Wymack offers him in this moment heavily resembles what I figure Andrew would do in the situation (if sober), who is very much a comfort to Kevin.

Furthermore, Neil & Wymack's interaction over the coffee beans is something I think about so extremely often.

Neil thinks he's this big macho aloof guy, and he definitely tries to come across as such. But he's really... Not. He's kind of like an ornery cat, like yeah you could be intimidating maybe, but you're really just a baby, ain't ya? I mean, he succeeds better with the team, but he never tries very hard to hold his persona over Wymack, and whether that's his fight or flight response or a subconscious comfortability with Coach is impossible to tell.

I mean, all in all Neil is kind of just a pathetic skrunkle. Like, sorry kid, you failed at intimidation school. It's clear of the team by his aloof persona. I appreciate Neil's effort to be cool, it's just not fooling anyone. All of them can tell that Neil is honestly a pretty timid person, very quiet, very docile. Which leads me to...

His MOTHER. Listen I understand this woman was doing the best she could but if her and me are EVER in the same room I am throwing hands. It is ON SIGHT.

Now. I'm gonna chill. However, even if the way she raised Neil was for his safety and his benefit, it was abusive in every sense of the word. One of the first things Neil says in this book is that his mother would beat him senseless is she saw him playing Exy. Insane words, Neil. And I also recognize this woman had some serious issues of her own she needed to work through, like... Lord. Just. So much to unpack with her.

That being said, I want someone to BEAT some self-worth into Neil and I know that ain't gonna happen so.

I'm sure there was something else I wanted to touch on but I have no more thoughts so this is what you've got. On to chapter five.

Lark Liveblogs Literature Part ???: All For The Game Series - Nora Sakavic

I'm doing something a little bit different with this one! In the business of full disclosure, I read TFC (and about a chapter of TRK) in April this year, decided "I can't mcfucking do this" and then gave up. And then didn't stop thinking about Neil Josten for the next eight months and now we're BACK. So, instead of properly 'liveblogging,' unlike most first-reads I do, I'm actually annotating this one because it's too good to NOT.

That means I have a customized (so totally legal mhm) word doc, highlight/unline privileges, and audacity.

Here's what I knew before I read back in April (stolen from my beta version of this post);

Andrew Minyard: Gay(?), funniest bitch alive if Tumblr brackets are to be trusted. Murderer? Has Boyfriend???

Sports. Maybe. Yes? sports.

Drugs are involved. Somehow.

Now, here's where I am going in now;

Ranking the Foxes goes; Neil, Aaron, Dan, Kevin, Andrew, Renee, Matt, Nicky

I have no idea how exy works, I do don't plan on figuring it out.

Do not remember if I read TRK but what I remember happening is far too much to be just the 230 page doc that is TFC so I MUST HAVE right?

Do know his real name's Nathaniel because I did read that scene reveal and get JUMPSCARED by my brother's name.

How this is going to work is that I'm going to put in my annotations for each chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 1:

"You can't be serious." "Very serious, and very out of time,"

"were a team of talented rejects and junkies because Wymack only recruited athletes from broken homes...nice in theory, but it meant his players were fractured isolationists who couldn't get along long enough to get through a game."

"God damn it, Minyard. This is why we can't have nice things."[1] "Oh, Coach," someone said over Neil's head. "If he was nice, he wouldn't be any use to us, would he?" "He's no use to us if you break him." "You'd rather I let him go? Put a band-aid on him and he'll be good as new."[2]

[1] This is why we can’t have nice things, darling. Because you break them. I have to take them away

[2] Andrew I’ll kiss you

"blond and five feet even"[1]

blond? wrong. five foot even? correct.

"They were champions, and Neil was a jumble of lies and dead-ends."[1]

[1] Neil your self-loathing is showing

"It's not a good idea." "Your opinion has been duly noted and dismissed,"

"It was proof he existed, same as this game they both played. Kevin was proof Neil was real."

"It's about second chances, Neil. Second, third, fourth, whatever, as long as you get at least one more than what anyone else wanted to give you." Neil had heard Wymack referred to as an idealistic idiot by more than one person, but it was hard to listen to him and not believe that he was sincere

"It sounded like a dream; it tasted like damnation"

notes:

nothing much to say on chapter one--- it's a standard introductory chapter to a contemporary(ish) novel.

Wymack sets up the series' key theme with his line, "It's about second chances, Neil. Second, third, fourth, whatever, as long as you get at least one more than what anyone else wanted to give you."

Kevin's demeanor in this chapter is very similar to the Kevin we see up until Raven's come into play--- He's very good at acting very standoffish and tough.

The shift in Kevin when Riko comes into play was actually so dramatic I didn't recognize him here, I was afeared

some of the quotes I've added here are obviously because I thought they were funny exchanges--- others are me English Majoring(tm), and others are just me marking plot, characterization, facts, etc.

admittedly what i've put here is about half of what is actually highlighted/underlined in my doc.

I want to study the dynamic between Neil & Wymack under a microscpe

[shorkbrian]

Fuck the context and the way you portrayed shinso in your brother fic of him was so hot. Can’t wait for him to become unhinged and not even care what his parents would think/if they’re home and just defile you whenever he wants bc he’s just that desperate

Prelude -  gonna call this mess “FaMiLy BoNdInG” and bruh trust me it’s a mess but I tried so enjoy k gbye

Pairing - Aizawa X Reader X Shinsou

Prompt - at the top and combined with these two!

Warnings - psuedo-incest, NSFW, non con, dubcon, all the cons. Step dad Aizawa and step bro Shinsou are a force to be reckoned with. Mentions of DP at the end.

Music - I listened to https://open.spotify.com/track/1xFfbxmfenEpn4WawGWXiA?si=OUFp4ANsSR-6V_H187Eblw while writing even though it has NO relation to the fic spsosfnjsdhgsslfdn dead

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You were sitting at the kitchen table, drinking soda and scrolling mindlessly on your phone when your stepbrother had come up behind you, looping his arms over your shoulders as he leaned down.

“Hey girlie, what’re you doing?”

“Nothin’.” You shifted, moving so his mouth was away from your ear, squirming uncomfortably. 

There was a beat of silence, before Shinsou stood, his presence looming behind you like a harbinger of evil. “Come up to my room? I’m tired, wanna hold you.” You sighed, hunching your shoulders and curling in upon yourself. You knew it wasn’t a question, wasn’t a request that you could ignore or refuse. He was just giving you the illusion of having a choice. Well,  you did have a choice;  go with your brother willingly, or get dragged, risk him getting angry if you said you were feeling sick, get into a fight with the man that could pin you to the ground without breaking a sweat.

“Shinsou…. “

“C’mon.” He didn’t wait for you to figure out how to beg for him to leave you be, grabbing your arm and hauling you to your feet with ease. You went limp, what else could you do?

The purple-haired man reached under your skirt, a modest, knee-length thing, wrenching your panties down with one hand.  You squeezed your eyes shut when his hand brushed against your hip, when he eyed the panties clutched in his fist.

“Cute.”

Gross. 

Then he was tugging you along, headed towards his room. 

You were so tired.

Mind almost shutting down, you stumbled when the audible clanking of the garage door beginning to open could be heard.

Dad was home.

Wide eyed, you caught Shinsou’s equally-surprised gaze, the man in front of you tightening his grip on your arm. Without another word, his pace was quickened.  Aizawa wasn’t supposed to get home until midnight, was supposed to be working late at the office. 

Shinsou tugged you into his room, slammed the door shut,  pushed you onto the bed. He had a sense of urgency; he was stressed, thrown off by the sudden and unexpected arrival of your father. “Gotta be quiet now, don’t want dad to hear us, right?”

You nodded, dazed, exhausted. Nothing had happened yet and you were already retreating inside your mind, resigning yourself to whatever your older brother was going to do today. He had said he wanted to cuddle, but that usually meant lazy sex while he hugged you, kissing your neck and falling asleep after making the both of you cum.

Without any preamble, the man climbed onto the bed, putting a hand on your shoulder to gently guide you to lay back. Then he was scrabbling at your shirt, pulling it over your head and leaving you in nothing but your bralette and skirt. He kneeled between your legs, pulling your skirt up to mid thigh to give him more room to maneuver.

“Shinsou please don’t, dad’s-“

“Shhhh, just do what I say and you’ll be fine.”

Shinsou spat into his palm, the sound making you cringe as you thumbed at the soft blankets underneath you. He was unbuttoning his pants, shoving at his underwear until he could get his cock free. The man went quicker than usual as he slicked up his length with his spit, very much aware of the presence of someone else in the house. 

At this point, Shinsou really didn’t care.

He had been fucking you for so long, pulling you aside for a quickie when your parents ran to the store, taking his time when they went away for a weekend,  fucked you on the couch when they went out for date-night. Feeling particularly bold today, he barely thought to pause when your father had gotten home. Right now, he wanted to lay down with his little sister, fuck you until you fell asleep, and then cuddle with your pliant body. Dad home or not, he was determined.

Your skirt was pushed even further up your body, the material bunching at your waist so your stepbrother had unfettered access to your bare pussy. Clenching your eyes shut, you turned your head away as you felt Shinsou pull your hips into his lap so he could rub his cock against your folds. He hissed at the sensation, spitting into his hand again before reaching around his cock to smear his saliva onto your puffy slit, too impatient and hurried to properly prep you.

It was odd to see the purple haired man like this; usually he was very laid-back, slow and gathered in his movements. Right now he was rushing, pushing the tip of his cock slowly into your entrance when usually he would still be making you cry on his fingers. The stretch was immediate, almost burning, and your lungs tightened.

A hand reached up to cover your mouth, Shinsou’s thumb massaging your cheek as he hushed you. You grabbed onto his arm, not to pull him away (it would be useless, he was so much stronger than you), but to ground yourself,  able to do nothing but hold onto the man causing you pain.

The sound of dishes clattering down in the kitchen had Shinsou’s hips bucking forward suddenly, filling you up, pressing too far, too soon. He swore lowly, hand tightening around your mouth as you let out a pained noise.

His hips stilled, the hand not at your mouth petting soothingly at your hip in an imitation of comfort. Funny, you thought - you wouldn’t need comfort if your stupid step brother could manage to keep his dick in his pants.

As the seconds passed, both of you aware of Aizawa down in the kitchen, your muscles slowly relaxed. The stretch burned less, felt more manageable. Still, you were entirely unprepared when Shinsou drew his hips back before rutting into you.

You screeched, the sound muffled by his hand but undeniably loud.  Shinsou leaned over you, unwittingly pushing himself deeper as he tried to soothe you with his quiet “Shhh, shhh, it’s okay, you’re okay.”

If you were able, you would scream that you weren’t. You weren’t okay, nothing was okay. Everything about this was wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. The way his hips were twitching into you, the way he kissed your cheeks and thumbed away your tears. The pleasure that was sparking in your core, the fact that it was your stepbrother getting ready to pound you into the mattress.

He was thrusting smoothly now, cock drilling into you a a steady pace. You were getting wet, the slide easier and less painful, pleasure slowly filtering in. When Shinsou plucked at your clit, you squirmed, hips shamefully moving to meet his own. He started increasing the pace, breathing heavily as the two of you rocked together on the bed. Occasionally his bed creaked, the wood rubbing at the joints and squeaking. 

On one hand, you hoped dad didn’t hear. On the other, you wished he would -  that he’d come save you from his son.

You got a mockery of your wish.

“Kids?”  Aizawa was walking up the stairs, the third step that always creaked whenever someone tread on it announcing his ascent.

“Shit.” Shinsou breathed, pulling out of you, manhandling you quickly. He threw back the covers of his bed, shoved you down, settled behind you. He didn’t have to tell you to be good - the taboo, disgustingly wrong nature of what he had been doing was too embarrassing for you to reveal to your stepfather. Accusing his biological son of assaulting you? Raping you? Would dad even believe you? You didn’t want him to see you like this, you couldn’t.

Dad knocked as Shinsou pulled the covers up, covering your state of undress. You knew your bralette straps were still visible, and Shinsou still had his shirt on. It would probably just look like the two of you had been napping, but then again, it would still seem odd. Whenever your parents were home you stayed as far away from your brother as possible - you weren’t one to just go cuddle with him.

The door creaked open, and your dad peered in. You were so embarrassed, half-naked and utterly humiliated underneath the covers. You didn’t know what to feel or what to do, frozen in fear and indecision. 

“Hey dad, need something?” Shinsou rumbled from behind you, voice steady and monotoned.

Light eyes scanned the room, before settling on you and your brother. Aizawa gave you a confused glance, obviously not expecting you to be in here, before his eyes shifted to the man behind you. “Wanted to let you know I’m home. Mom won’t be back until late, do you two have any specific requests for dinner?”

Shinsou shifted closer to you, so close that you could feel his rapidly beating heart through the warm flesh of his chest.

“Nah, we’re fine with whatever.”

Aizawa nodded, giving you one more confused glance. Maybe he could tell something was up? You felt like you couldn’t breathe. As the dark-haired man turned, obviously moving to shut the door and head back down to the kitchen, Shinsou was pushing his cock into you, his heart trying to beat out of his chest against your back.

Before you could stop yourself, you were whimpering.

“Dad….”

Shinsou froze as Aizawa turned back, stepping further into the room. You were quiet, tears budding at the corners of your eyes.  You couldn’t make yourself utter another word, completely unsettled at the situation. What were you supposed to do? You wanted him to save you, but you didn’t know how to ask. Your stepfather was studying you, was waiting for you to say something more. His gaze was flickering between you tearful eyes, your bralette straps visible above the blanket, the position you and Shinsou were in. You could almost see the wheels turning in his head.

All three of you were silent, the moment seeming to stretch on forever. 

You were so tired.

Breaking the stillness, Aizawa took another step into the room, brows slowly drawing down as the realization dawned upon him.

“Shinsou.” HIs voice was low, he rolled his son’s name in his mouth quietly, almost hesitantly. “What the fuck is going on.”

Your brother’s cock was still inside you.

“I was tired. (Y/N)’s cuddling with me, she was telling me about a dog she saw-“ Aizawa snorted, arms crossing as he took another step towards the bed. “Nice try. Don’t lie to me. Tell me what the fuck you’re doing.”

Shinsou was silent behind you, his heart beating loud and fast against your back.  

“(Y/N), what’s going on?” His voice was softer as he asked you, throaty still - but softer.  The tears clouding your vision finally flooded, streaming down your cheeks as you looked up at him. 

“Please… I....” You couldn’t formulate the words, mortification surrounding your body, Shinsou’s hand squeezing bruises into your hip. It was too much. You wished you had never existed,  that none of this had happened.

Unable to get an answer out of either of you, Aizawa strode forward, grabbed the covers, ripped them off the bed and dumped them in a heap.

You sobbed.

Both men were silent as you cried fat tears, embarrassed at being revealed, gratification at dad finally discovering the awfulness you had been subjected to these past few months.

Shinsou thrust his hips further into your warmth.

You choked, eyes snapping up to Aizawa. Shinsou was supposed to stop the second the two of were caught. He wasn’t supposed to keep going. Why wasn’t dad saying anything? Telling Shinsou to get off of you, get out of the house? Why wasn’t he calling the police? Why wasn’t he pulling your skirt down, trying to preserve your modesty?

The man was staring at the mess between your legs, Shinsou’s cock sliding in and out of you as you sobbed. Aizawa was breathing a bit heavier, his face, stance, demeanor no longer angry.

Dread filled your bones, settled like hot glue.

“Can you see how wet she is? She’s dripping.” Shinsou prodded, Aizawa frozen in place, mouth dry as he watched. “She’s always so warm inside, feels so nice.“

He was egging Aizawa on, seizing the moment and capturing his dad’s hesitance, manipulating it. You let out a whine as Shinsou’s pace picked up, cock beginning to hammer into your pussy. The purple haired man looped an arm underneath your thigh, hefting it into the air to allow Aizawa a better view.

“Doesn’t she sound so sweet? She tastes just as good, feels even better.” He was breathing heavily now, as he rutted into your warmth. Dropping your thigh, Shinsou reached for your clit, trapping the nub between his fingers and flicking at it. You cried out, your own hips squirming in indecisiveness , unable to choose between puling away or pushing back into the delicious sensation. It didn’t take much more to have you cumming.

Shinsou grunted as your walls squeezed around his cock, giving a few more frantic thrusts before he shot his load deep within your cunt, hips twitching as he worked through his own orgasm

You watched Aizawa sit down on the bed, close to your knees.

“How long?” He sounded strained. Shinsou shrugged, still panting.

Aizawa’s rough hand rested on your knee, his flat eyes closing as he paused. “Get up.”

The command wasn’t directed at you, but at your brother. Somehow, you didn’t think it would end up with your stepdad kicking his son out of the house.

Shinsou seemed to think the same as he pulled out, uncaring to the way you flinched as his cock dragged against your sensitive walls. He was silent as he shuffled to the end of the bed, tucking his dick back into his pants. 

Aizawa grabbed your ankle and in one smooth move, dragged you to him. You squeaked at the sudden movement, eyes wide as you watched Aizawa look you up and down. The front of his slacks were tented.

He pulled you into his lap, your back to his chest, turning so the both of you faced Shinsou who still stood at the foot of the bed.

“Does he make you feel good?” The older man’s stubble was scratchy against your cheek. You didn’t know where this was going, felt so lost and bad and sick.

  “Sometimes…”

It was impossible to lie. You knew if you did, Shinsou would cut in, tell his father how he made you cum everytime. How most of the time, you were screaming in pleasure before he would even take his pants off. 

Looking at the floor, you missed the look between father and son.

“He touch you here?” You gasped as a large hand grasped at your chest through your bralette. Aizawa’s hands were bigger than his son’s, rougher and more confident in their touch.

“Yes.”

“What about-“ tears streamed down your face as the hand slid further, over your tummy, over the fabric of your skit, down to your abused, sensitive cunt. “-Here?”

“Please stop, please.”

Aizawa didn’t answer, let his hand rest over the top of your pussy, feel his son’s cum slowly leaking out. “Shinsou, come here.”

The purple-haired man obeyed, stepping closer, falling to his knees at the edge of the bed when Aizawa motioned for him to do so.

“Clean up your sister.”

You weren’t too surprised. It shouldn’t have been hard to see where Shinsou had learned his nasty little tricks from. Still, it hurt your heart, struggling in your step-dad’s lap as he held you in place. 

Shinsou was smiling, leaning forward to shove his face in-between your thighs, chuckling when you yelped as he tongued over your hole. You used your hands to shove at his head, pull at his hair, but he caught them in his grip. They were pulled down by your sides, where Shinsou held them still.

“No, no! Stop! You can’t, no—dad!!” You were sobbing, pleading as Shinsou continued his assault on your cunt, licking out his own cum from your insides. Aizawa was holding your legs, keeping you spread-eagled and open.

“I’m not a good guy (Y/N), neither of us are.” His hardness was rubbing up against your back as you squirmed. “And from now on, you call me daddy.” “No! I won’t, let me go!” You thrashed, putting all your energy into loosing the iron grip holding your legs. Shinsou pulled back, licking his lips as he glanced up at his father.

“She was like this when I first had her. Mouthy little thing, still hasn’t learned proper manners.” He didn’t wait for Aizawa to respond, leaning back forward to continue slurping at your swollen lips.

“That’s alright, she’ll learn… I am a teacher after all.”

You wanted to vomit. You went limp, sobbing raggedly in Aizawa’s arms - completely demoralized and humiliated. There was no use fighting when Shinsou had been hurting you.  Now with two fully grown men focused on you? Forget about it.

Aizawa was quiet as Shinsou worked you up to an orgasm, the only sound besides your crying the wet, squishy lapping of Shinsou’s tongue suckling at your pussy. When he switched his focus to your clit, you wheezed, jolting in place as his tongue started laving over the little bud rapidly, quickly throwing you higher and higher and-

You wailed through your second orgasm, almost unable to breathe. 

Moments passed before you were able to calm yourself, ugly-crying and begging the two men to please, please leave you alone. Please leave, don’t touch you.

If you weren’t numb from your orgasm, you would feel sick.

“Shinsou, where’s your lube?”

Purple hair bounced as your brother cocked his head, still kneeling between your legs. “She doesn’t need lube, she’s soaking wet.”

“She’s gonna need it if we’re both going to fit.”

Neither man seemed to be able to hear your panicked pleas, too excited about prepping you to take both of them together.

What an awful attempt at family bonding.

[inkformyblood]

You Speak Of Grace

Commander Cody Week Day 02 Origins [ @commandercodyweek ]

Pairing: Codywan

Summary: Cody is about to meet his new Jedi, but he will make sure his men are as prepared as they can be. Little does he know that Obi-Wan is anything but what he was expecting.

“Once more.” Cody’s voice rang out as the test alarms died away, eliciting a fresh wave of groans from the assembled clones. From behind his helmet, Cody glanced over the group, running through the list in his mind once again. The heavy gloves hid the faint trembling of his hands as his fingers danced over the datapad, drawing up another scenario. “Test Scenario 00726. Oya!”

Distantly, Cody could almost hear Alpha-17’s low rumbling laugh echo forth from his memory at their displays of grumbling compliance. He carefully ignored the brother at the back — Crys, he thought, judging from the bright yellow daubed over his pauldrons and the dark hair growing up through the unnatural yellow dye — who ducked behind a console and emerged after swallowing down the last dregs of his caf.

The consoles rang shrilly as they ran through the necessary checks once more, heads lowered as the other clones focused on their own work. Cody sensed movement just behind him, but didn’t turn, watching the grey painted shape of Helix, their medic, move up behind him in the reflection of a console.

“Permission to speak freely, sir?”

Helix’s voice was soft but no less filled with purpose, expecting to be heard and understood. Cody was the Commander of the Battalion, but Helix was the medic, and that was something entirely different.

“Granted.”

Helix tapped the comm on his wrist, shifting to a private channel, and Cody stifled the reflexive twinge of fear that rattled down his spine. Fear was useful, Alpha-17 had barked at the younger clones in the Command Track, echoing the words of the trainers before him, but it was also dangerous. Drawing in a deep breath, letting it flow through him rather than rule his thoughts, Cody switched to the private channel as well.

“You are doing a good job,” Helix murmured, his voice slightly distorted over the comm. “You are already a good commander, and having a Jedi won’t change that.”

Cody didn’t respond, didn’t want to think about what Helix could read in the sudden stillness of his hands or the lines of tension that flickered into life along his shoulders, but merely nodded, his throat tight.

Helix lightly tapped the back of his wrist guard against Cody’s hip in a silent benediction. “I’m going to head down to medical. Over the next few days, I’ll need to check on the troopers and the Jedi to get a baseline.”

“I’ll draw up a rota,” Cody promised, adding yet another item onto his mental checklist. Dimly, he spared a thought for how his brothers in the command track were faring. Their own comms channel had been eerily quiet since they had received their battalion allocations and left in the early hours of the morning with one final message each of “Oya”.

“Appreciate it,” Helix said with an inclination of his head and stepped away. The other medics, Border and Patience, shadowed him like ghosts, barely half a step behind in a haunting unison that would have made the trainers proud.

Cody turned back to the men, tracking their progress as they worked through the machines, feeling a warm glow of pride settle in his chest. This would work. This had to work.

A warning prickled at the base of his skull, and Cody was already turning to face the doorway by the time his mind had drawn the context clues together.

As Helix left, his pace had slowed slightly, and the soft whoosh of the doors closing took longer than it should have. One of the troopers had raised his head, gaze fixed at something over Cody’s shoulder as one of his hands formed the beginning of the symbol for ‘Mother’, a warning of being watched back on Kamino. But the critical clue was the message flashing from the Command Track Chat from Bly that only read ‘oh no my Jedi’s hot.’

“Hello there.”

“Hello, sir,” Cody said, running on instinct as the rest of his mind went blissfully blank. The only information he had been given was a name and a grainy holo picture to recognise his Jedi by. A small thrill ran down his spine at that thought. Possession was still something all the clones were getting used to, and the knowledge that this man was his, was theirs, was more than Cody could have thought possible.

“Jetti on bridge,” Cody barked over his shoulder to the others, feeling the weight of their eyes on his back.

Obi-Wan smiled, the edges of his eyes — so unbelievably blue, like the point where the ocean met the sky — crinkling. “Please, Commander, call me Obi-Wan.”

“Obi-Wan,” Cody repeated with a nod, further committing it to memory. He was grateful for the helmet that was still covering his head as he felt the heat settle in his cheeks. Full armour was cumbersome for now, but it had been better to be safe than sorry.

“From what I understand, you have names as well?” Obi-Wan’s gaze darted around the room; his voice pitched low. “I don’t wish to cause any offence; this situation is very new to me.” He tucked his hands into his sleeves, clasping them in front of him.

“CC-2224 is my designation. But my name is Cody, sir.”

It was as if Cody’s words ripped the oxygen from the room, every trooper freezing in place in perfect military rest. Obi-Wan had to feel the pressure lowering onto his shoulders, but he merely grinned once more.

“Cody. That’s an excellent name and a good choice.” Obi-Wan paused, glancing around the room and meeting the gaze of every trooper who quickly lowered their heads back to their consoles at Cody’s signal.

“I trust I can count on you to keep me right, Cody? I will defer to your expertise.” Obi-Wan’s grin was as warm as sunlight, intoxicating when it was directed at just Cody, and he felt his cheeks burst with heat once more.

“Yessir,” Cody said, snapping back into parade rest out of habit.

“I’m not sure what the Kamioans have told you, but if you’re amenable, full armour outside of active combat isn’t required.” Obi-Wan paused with a heavy sigh, looking far older than he was for a moment before he pushed whatever memory it was away. “This isn’t my first war, but no need to make it harder than it needs to be.”

“So,” Cody swallowed, turning his head slightly to track Boil and Waxer’s whispering, their heads pressed together out of the corner of his eye, “Permission to dismiss the men to store their extras?”

“Permission more than granted, Commander.”

If Cody had thought that his mind went blank before, it was nothing compared to being alone on the bridge with Obi-Wan. In every scenario, every training simulation or exercise, nothing could have prepared him for this moment. Alpha-17 and the others took after Prime almost perfectly, and that applied to his lack of attraction as well, at best able to offer rough support to a heartbroken trooper in basic training.

Obi-Wan began to move around the bridge, glancing over the simulated manoeuvres that had been programmed in with a gleam of interest in his eyes. “If you want, Cody, you can store your belongings as well. We’re going to be working together for a while, and I see no reason to start out with extreme formality.”

Cody’s hands were steady as he reached up to remove his helmet, subtly pressing at the itch that had erupted two hours ago at the nape of his skull as he did so. Obi-Wan’s face softened as he watched him, unable to hide the obvious curiosity in his eyes.

“I can definitely see the resemblance.”

Cody laughed, the noise startled out of him, jaw snapping shut with a click.

“I’m sorry, sir,” he began, but Obi-Wan cut him off with a wave of his hand, his shoulders shaking with barely suppressed laughter.

“Please, don’t apologise, Cody. If there is anyone at fault, then it is me.”

“No, sir.” Cody paused to find the correct words, tapping his fingers against the edge of the datapad as he thought. This wasn’t what he had been expecting, Obi-Wan wasn’t what he had been expecting, but he always had been quick on his feet. “As you said, no reason to start out with extreme formality. No fault here.”

Obi-Wan hummed quietly as he thought, and Cody took a moment to inspect the Jedi he would be serving under. The robes hid much of his frame, but Obi-Wan had moved with confidence, despite the fact that the fabric wouldn’t give much protection or possibly act as a hindrance. Cody made another note on his mental list, needing to confer with the other Commanders once everyone had settled again.

“I think this is going to be an excellent partnership, Cody,” Obi-Wan said at last. “With that in mind, with the full reassurance that you can tell me no at any time for whatever reason, would you like to join me for a cup of tea? I believe there is some final paperwork to go over.”

“Yessir,” Cody answered before the full implication hit him. Obi-Wan would be sharing, even serving most likely, something precious of his, something he had deliberately chosen to bring aboard a battleship, knowing the cargo restrictions. “I’d be honoured.”

“Excellent! Anakin, my padawan—” Obi-Wan paused, and Cody wordlessly fell into pace at his side, a few inches shorter than the other man as he titled his head to continue watching him, “—he never quite got the taste for it, unfortunately.”

“I am looking forward to it, sir.”

Obi-Wan gave him a look, his grin all fond curled edges.

“Obi-Wan,” Cody corrected himself. He felt like a fool to hope, but it was a hope he held onto tightly.

Out of sight, Cody tapped a message into the Command Chat before silencing it, knowing the explosions it would spawn. ‘Mine’s better, vod.’

[internalsealpanic]

Respectful Cannibalism

Summary:  Watching mystery movie with a bunch of detective was a bad idea

A/n: While this is part 3 to my Space Case series, you’re not required to read Art Gallery Smile or Cosmonauts to understand the context to this. The only note I do have is that Dick and Steph are friends with Reader much to Tim’s everlasting horror.  Special thanks to @littleredwing89 and @glorified-red for proof reading this mess.

Warnings: Tooth rotting fluff and a confusing amount of batkids in one scene.

Main Masterlist

Tim Drake Masterlist

Tim coughs, loud and ragged into the speaker. You find yourself wincing at the phone tucked against your ear. Tim sounds like he’s dying or, at the very least, he’s on his way there. 

“I’m so-”

“Fucking tired of saying sorry that you decided to go skinny dipping in Gotham Harbor? Yeah. Great, I’m sick of hearing it too. Glad, we’re on the same page, Space Cadet.” You exasperate, pulling on your jeans violently enough for Tim to hear the angry shuffling of fabric. 

“Skinny dipping?” Tim huffs, a fond smile playing on his lips as he drinks in the timber of your voice. Even when you were absolutely exasperated, your voice was still soothing or maybe he just misses your company. God, he’s such a sap. 

You shake your head in disbelief. That was his take away? “Yes, Timmy, Buck-ass skinny dipping,” you laugh, coming out derisive and sharp. Tim groans this time filled with guilt. The first few sounds of another ‘I’m sorry’ form in the back of his throat as he runs his hand through his bed head. For once, you’re thankful that you’re nowhere near Tim because you are one apology away from decking him and you’re pretty sure that that’s a terrible thing to do to a sick person, especially one with no brain cells to spare. 

“I- You were really looking forward to this (Y/n), don’t try to deny it.” You weren’t going to. He was right. You were looking forward to this date. You were impossibly, unreasonably giddy over the prospect of going to the planetarium with Tim this afternoon. WITH Tim. Sure, you’re pretty down about it but you were the tiniest bit more  concerned about the fact that your boyfriend had water in his lungs and almost died of hypothermia for a hot second. You pinch the bridge of your nose, hoping that worry and murder radiate off of you in equal measure.  “I was also looking forward to my letter from Hogwarts,” you sneer, pausing dramatically to look at your watch, “and it’s been roughly a decade.”  You hear Tim swallow and the hairs on your neck bristle in petty satisfaction. 

Tim chortles, a lively sound that startles you, then coughs but the sound comes out somehow sounding doubtful and teasing. Embarrassment flares up in you. “You were too!” you protest, hackles drawn to full height. A short breathy laugh leaves Tim and you feel the flush on your face ease into something softer and more rounded. All the sharpness in your veins dissipates as the flash of fondness for that stupid laugh takes over. You can imagine him warm under the covers smiling at the phone at your blunder. “Please, (y/n), my hopes were dashed when I was 4  and still not in the Jedi order.”

“Bullshit, you were never a child,”  you snort, sharpening the grin on your face into something vicious. “I refuse to believe you were ever a child! You probably sprang out of a textbook fully formed- Wait, I’m getting off-topic. ” Tim hums innocently and you narrow your eyes at the phone, hoping he can feel the ‘I am revoking your breathing privileges’ look.  “You always are.” Tim says before falling into a coughing fit. 

“Sorry, Cosmo, I just keep getting lost in your eyes,”  you whisper, pitching your voice rich and caramel smooth. There’s a sound on the other line. Tim is babbling you realize. You hear a shuffle of fabric and a body rising. Tim sucks in a breath, red-faced and caught off guard by the sudden shift in tone. He can practically see the cocky grin playing on your face, the light of the sun reflecting as golden flecks in your eyes.  “You can’t even see them!” Tim stammers, glowering at you through the phone. You cackle at him as if sensing the venomous look he’s giving you. “You can barely open them!” Tim rolls his, very much, open eyes, falling back into an unnecessarily large pile of pillows that Alfred insisted was necessary for bed rest with a loud ‘fwoof’. “Yes, I can,” Tim mumbles, sounding young for once. You do your level best to smother a grin on your face. “I’m just really drowsy from the chamomile tea Alfie gave me.” You stop dead in your tracks, one hand half in your coat the other on the doorknob. You blink. “You’re at the Manor?”

Tim pauses, making a frustrated noise. He shouldn’t have said that.  “Dick and B… insisted.” This draws another one of your sharp laughs. He says insisted as if it was ever negotiable. “Did they ‘insist’ before or after they blow-dried and hung you out to dry?” Tim squawks and you hear shuffling again. Tim tries to remember why he doesn’t hate you. “Tell me again how you found out about me getting sick? Steph? Cass?”

“Hmmmmmm, Dick.”

“THAT TRAITOR”

“Funny way to pronounce older brother,” you hum smug. You can feel Tim glaring daggers at you. “You-”

“There’s a home theater, yeah?” 

Tim pauses, this time longer. “I don’t like where this is going.”

“Answer the question, Space Case.”

He sighs. “Yes.”

“Great! It’s a date then,” you say, mentally preparing a route to the Manor from the vague directions Steph told you once. You could just use the maps app- 

“NO!” You freeze. Tim flinches at the volume of his own voice. He  whispers an indiscernible  ‘I’m sorry’. You turn it over in your mind before speaking. “No?” You ask, trying your best to sound hurt instead of amused. Maybe you should have pitched your voice higher, more shaky. “Look, Tim, I-” Tim heaves a loud sigh. “-(Y/n), you’re fine-” Well, you aren’t, you think. You bite your tongue, physically to make sure you don’t say anything unnecessary. “-It’s got nothing to do with you. It’s- It’s just my siblings...” Tim knows that his siblings have been talking about you.  

“Timmy, I can take whatever shovel talk they can give me,” you say with the confidence of someone who has never been dangled over the edge of a roof top. Ok, to be fair, YOU had nothing to worry about. Tim, on the other hand, was going to get roasted alive. Maybe he can persuade you into not- Tim hears the tell tale sputtering of your bike’s engine and he feels his blood pressure spike. The engine genuinely sounds like a death rattle. 

“You’ll get sick.”

You swear and he hears another sputter of the engine. “You’ll get sick,” he croaks again, louder this time hopefully over the dying engine. Maybe if your engine dies right now, he’ll be spared from a slow agonizing death via siblings. “Relax Cosmo, I have the strongest ward against whatever you got,” you say, giving the engine a light kick. Tim hears a few metallic clunks then the engine stutters to life. Tim looks up past the ceiling trying to glare at whatever cosmic being resurrected your engine. 

“Which is...”

“Being broke. It does wonders for your health.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s how it works,” Tim says, shifting burying his head against the too soft pillows. The soft fabric makes his eyes feel heavy. He yawns. He hears the sputter or your laugh. It’s hard to tell from the sudden drowsiness making his head swim. 

“I promise I’ll explain to your typical rich kid ass when I get there, Tim.”

“That’s not how it works,” Tim slurs, face pressed into a pillow. 

You laugh, he’s sure this time. 

“I’m-” Tim’s mind unfocuses and the words you say garble together ”-Tim. ”

Tim blinks, mouth moving to ask you to repeat that but the last thing he hears is a soft click. 

On the bright side, it would just be him and Alfred at the manor.

_________________________________________________________

Batmanisfake: I heard (y/n)'s coming over😶

Nightwingingit:👀 How do you even know that?

Batmanisfake: What are you? A cop?

Nightwingingit: say that again but slowly 🙄

Batmanisfake: ...

Damian: He bugged Drake's phone. For blackmail purposes, of course. 

Nightwingingit: JASON

The Cool One: Shush Dick! He's onto something

Batmanisfake: Thank you 

The Adult: I for once had nothing to do with it😌

Theactualbatman: I'm assuming we're all coming home tonight?

The Cool One: I'll bring popcorn

Damian: Nonsense Pennyworth will likely have some prepared

The Cool One:😭 We really do not deserve that man

Nightwingingit: Definitely

thesaneone: We're recording Tim's face when he sees us, right? 

Batmanisfake: From all angles

The Adult: You're all horrible

Batmanisfake: Please like you're not hacking into the cameras as we speak, Babs

The Adult: You have no proof👀

_________________________________________________________

Tim’s head felt thick and gooey like one of Alfred’s custards. He feels like he’s floating, like he’s in a fish tank. There’s a sickly Chlorine smell clogging his nostrils; it smells powdery and sterile and reminds him vaguely of aspirin. Tim blinks. His eyes hurt; they feel puffy and sore and hot. His vision is further obscured by a thick layer of fleece blankets Alfred had piled high over him. He shuts his eyes still feeling too overwhelmed by the low light coming from the window.

Tim thinks he hears his window open with a soft click. Tim quiets his breathing. His hearing is too muddled to process anything beyond it.  There’s a soft thud of heavy boots in the room; it’s imperceptible and dreamlike the way it reaches his ears that it has him shifting under the covers trying his best to discern the sound. A dozen lighter footsteps follow it and he can sense 6 shapeless bodies hovering over him.

“Should we wake him up?” asks a voice that vaguely sounds like Cass. 

There’s a shuffling sound. Leather, he thinks. “Wait, lemme take a picture.”

“Red, why? It’s not like you can blackmail him with pictures of him sleeping.”

“Because, flashlight, I need proof that Timbo sleeps. ”

“Because?”

“Ok, how many times have you seen him asleep?” 

“Uh...”

“Exactly!”

Tim hears a laugh that distinctly sounds like Dick. “Does it count if Alfie drugged him?”

“Maybe?” Steph says, shrugging. 

“It doesn’t, Brown.”

“Damn it.”

“Does that mean B doesn’t sleep?”

“Nope.”

Maybe if Tim keeps sleeping, they’ll go away on their own. Tim wraps the sheets tightly around himself, hoping the large stack  of fleece would be enough to muffle his siblings. 

“I’m pretty sure I have dibs on waking him for opening the window for you shits.”

“Red, anyone could have opened that,” Duke laughs, stepping slightly behind Cass, who at the moment was paying more attention to the moving pile of fabric. Maybe if Tim stays really still she’ll turn her attention to something else. 

“Cass and Dickface would have just broken it.‘

“I would not!”

“Sorry, Cass, you would.”

“Steph, whose side are you on?”

“Why is no one defending me?” Dick sighs. 

“No one cares, Dickface. And Blondie’s clearly playing for the right team-” Steph cackles. “-none of you have any finesse.”

“Not all of us can be drama queens, Todd.”

“You’re like the third to the last person I wanna hear this from.”

“Third? You’re ranking us now? Who gave you the right?”

“Alfred,” Jason deadpans, “And yeah. Bruce and Dick are first and second.”

“Hey!”

“Can it Mr. Pretty Man Down.”

“That was one-”

“What rank am I?”

“uh … fifth.”

“Fifth?!”

“Sorry, Blondie, Cass has you beat with that ballet kick thingy.”

“Ok, yeah I can accept that. What about Babs?”

“What about Babs? The woman can kick my ass six ways to Sunday. ”

Tim’s head throbs all over. There are soft pin pricks pressing on the sole of his left foot; his leg jerks involuntarily. He wants to scream. Tim swears under his breath. A gloved hand pries the covers away from Tim’s face. Tim squints his eyes open only to be greeted by Dick’s kind, but still very punchable, face. Tim takes a long rasp, pinching his features in a mix of annoyance and despair. “Why are you-” Cough! “-here?”

There’s a slight quirk to Dick’s smile.“They wanted to meet (y/n),” Dick explains in a sweeping theatrical motion of his hand across the room directing Tim’s attention to the expressions on his sibling’s expressions which were all a variation of devious scheming. 

“How did-” cough. “- you even know-” cough. “-(y/n) was coming?” Tim asks, shooting up from his pile of pillows causing a couple of blankets to topple to the floor to the ground. Tim’s lightheaded.  He suddenly feels a shift in his balance, a feeling of vertigo.   He nearly topples to the ground, his blood not quite catching up to his movements, when feels hands wrap around his shoulders. “Woah there Baby Bird, slowdown.”

“Answer-” Cough!

“It was Todd.”

“You mutant sperm!”

“Jay, aren’t we all mutant sperm?” Steph laughs, slinging one arm over an irate Damian’s shoulders and another over a fuming Jason’s shoulders. Tim groans, sounding pained. “How much do I need to pay each of you to get all of you to go away?”

“A lifetime of IOUs,” Dick says, casually. 

“NO!”

“All of your share in W.E.,” Duke says, laughing. Steph elbows him lightly, also laughing. “You’re shooting prelow there, Slick,” Steph teases. Duke shrugs still grinning. “Gotta  keep it realistic, yanno?”  Steph and Duke keep bickering. 

“Drake, kindly, pay with your life.”

Tim scrunches his nose. “I’m already on my deathbed, you know, dying. What else do you want from me?”

“A more agonizing death.”

Jason grins, tilting his chin. “C’mon, Timbo, we can help with your little impromptu date.” Tim groans, placing his face in his hands. “Please just help me dig my own grave.”

“What would be the fun in that, Timbo?”

“For you or for me?”

“Come on, Tim, it’ll be fine,” Cass says,  clearly not believing the words herself. All seven of them dissolve into another round bickering. Damian, Jason, and Steph hellbent on giving Tim an aneurysm.  Duke and Cass playing at being neutral; Duke leaning on Tim’s side but laughing way too hard at Steph’s well placed jabs; Cass is only mildly siding with Tim to spite Jason. Why this time? Tim has no clue. 

The string of banter is broken up by the echoing the doorbell. Tim’s heart seizes as they all fall silent, enraptured by the odd sound of a doorbell filling the hallowed halls of Wayne Manor. The chiming of bells ends with the creaking of the large oak doors in the front of the manor. 

Before Tim’s sluggish brain could even formulate a thought, all of his siblings are all bounding towards the door, bouncing off the walls and flipping over obstacles. Tim scrambles, lagging, after the hoard of vigilantes barrelling towards you. Tim tries to shout after his siblings but his voice is drowned out by raucous laughter and bickering. 

You stand at the door, head haloed by the pale afternoon light as the sky catches fire, flecks of snow sparkling in your hair. You tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear as you sheepishly thank Alfred as he takes your coat.  

Tim struggles to breathe an he genuinely doesn’t know if it’s because of his lungs, you, or the fact that of all his siblings, Babs was the one who got there first and Tim genuinely doesn’t know if Babs is there to hold off the gaggle of vigilantes or to scare you off. From the jovial grin wrinkling your features, Tim’s pretty sure Babs just gave you some blackmail material instead of putting you through the ringer- an equally scary outcome. For your part, you don’t look even slightly phased by the fact that Babs is in a wheelchair or even by the way she’s clearly sizing you up. All of this rolls off of you with an easy motion of your shoulders as you answer her questions in the most frustratingly oblique way based off of Babs’s expression. Tim can’t help the curve on his lip as you blatantly dodge another of Babs’s questions with a smile. You spot him, winking, and the tips of Tim’s ears flush. 

Your cocky demeanor fades when a gaggle of batbrats crowd you; nervousness creeps into your form, ironing out your posture into something unnatural and defensive. “Is this a bad time?” You ask through a tight lipped smile. Babs glares at them but doesn’t make any effort to hide the satisfaction at your shaken demeanor. “Don’t mind them, Sweetie,” Babs says, patting your back and guiding you away from the gaggle. You shuffle awkwardly, trying to coax your spine back into a more natural curve. 

“(Y/n)!” Tim manages between gasps for air. Making a person with non functioning lungs run has to be some sort of human rights violation. His voice is  louder than he anticipated. He realizes, but the apprehension in his body flits away when you beam at him-a  wide cheeky smile that has his body vibrating with delight. He made you smile like that, Tim thinks, heart swelling almost enough to soften the impact of the next few words. “Hey, Duckie!” you chirp tilting your face in a cute lopsided smile. 

“Duckie?” Jason sniggers. 

Duke’s face passess from confusion, realization, then amusement in a matter of three seconds.“Duckie? As in ‘quack quack’?” Duke asks, pretending to still be dumbstruck. 

“Yes, Duckie, Tommy Terrific,” you say, the lopsided smile curving into a playful grin. The dumb nicknames earn you a loud, surprisingly nonthreatening, approving laugh from Jason who then says “We’ll keep those nicknames in mind” which just drags pained looks from both Tim and Duke. Dick and Damian on the other hand look absolutely delighted. 

“(Y/n), tell them about the other nicknames,” Steph says, grinning savagely. Your eyes widen and you wrinkle your nose, mouth twitching from side to side, trying to pretend away the heat rising from your cheeks. “Not on your life, Stephie.”

“Aaaaaw! Not even for lil ol’ me?” Dick pouts, throwing his arms around you. The familiarity of the action has Tim bristling. “Pleeeeeaaase,” Dick whines; a smile hidden in your hair, “not even for Alfred’s cookies?” You make a noise caught between a laugh and a groan. “Hmmmm… maybe? Throw in some candy.”

“Deal.”

Tim blinks. “You’d betray me for sugar?” 

“Cus I ain’t getting any while you’re sick,” you cackle, grinning along with Dick who looks way too pleased with the outcome of the conversation.  Tim desperately wants to melt into the floor. Looking at all his siblings who are eagerly awaiting for the litany of nicknames, Tim cuts in. “Let’s just go watch that film.”

“What are we watching?” Cass asks, leaning to look over your shoulder, clearly shoving Dick out of the way. Dick does his best to not budge. 

“What do you mean ‘we’?”

“We are under a communist regime, Timbo. We’re all watching it together,” Jason says, slinging Tim over his shoulder. 

“Have a heart, Drake. We only want to spend family time together,” Damian says, somehow still looking imperious even from where Tim is dangling. A dull ache starts spreading across Tim’s like his skull is being squeezed. 

“Hope you guys like Clue,” you say, fishing it out of your cornucopia of unhealthy junk food. “I figured you detectives would like a good mystery.” Dick snorts taking the disc from you and reading over the contents efficiently. “Bet you I can get the ending even before any of you.”

“No, you won’t,” Jason barks, setting off a long winded argument about who the best detective is. 

“Didn’t you say you would eat me if I spoiled another mystery movie for you? Are you planning to eat my entire family?” Tim croaks quietly. You scrunch your nose, twitching your mouth four times to the left and four and a half times to the right.  “Technically, what I said was ‘I’ll respectfully go back to juvie for cannibalism if you spoil another movie that night’,” you hiss low, trying not to draw attention to your conversation. Unfortunately for you, his siblings have good hearing.  

“And this is different how?” Tim asks, this time not bothering to control his volume. 

“You’ll never figure out the ending,” You say smiling innocently. Tim rolls his eyes and huffs a ‘we’ll see’. It doesn’t wipe the smile off of your face. 

As it turns out, the Wayne Manor theater is less of a theater and more of a bean bag storage closet with a large screen. Jason tosses Tim unceremoniously into one of the random bean bags in front of the couch before gracefully pirouetting into the couch. You chuckle and continue your search for something to put your Bluray in, just now realizing that you should have probably just asked for their Netflix password or something. Alfred appears out of nowhere handing Jason and Cass each a bowl of buttery popcorn and scolding Jason about manhandling his brother in front of  a guest. Jason looks unrepentant. No surprises there. With a swat on  the back of Jason’s head, Alfred turns to you, gloved hands extended out to you.  “I can take that."

“Oh… Uh thanks- Thank you,” you stammer. To your left, Tim snickers and your hand slip, somehow the blanket Babs handed you finds its way to Tim’s face. “Shut up, Ducktective. He’s practically your grandpa and I kinda wanna make a good impression,” you hiss, cheeks warming. Tim coughs, a little dumbfounded. Somehow it hadn’t occurred to him that you were nervous about this. 

Tim checks if his brain is on straight before speaking. “Relax, you haven’t physically assaulted me or any of my family yet so you’re immediately at the top of Alfie’s list.” You open your mouth to speak then curl it into a frown, looking appalled and concerned. Apparently, his brain wasn't on as straight as Tim thought. "Am I going to have to fight your exes? At some point?" 

"No!" 

"Yes!" Steph says, handing you a red bean bag. Tim scowls at Steph as he watches the color drain from your face. She just shrugs and goes off to annoy Dick. 

“Mr. Boddy?” Damian asks incredulously, reading the box summary again. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope,” you laugh, setting your bean bag next to the one Jason dropped Tim in. Damian rolls his eyes. “This is a stupid movie. Do people really consume this drivel?”

You scrunch your nose but don’t put too much heart into glaring. Thankfully, color is now returning to your face. “The movie hasn’t even started yet!”

“Relax (y/n), the tiny mutant sperm is just playing elitist,” Steph says, plopping next to Jason and eyeing his bowlful of buttery popcorn. 

“As long as it isn’t as bad as the Happening-”

“Dude, you live in a city with Poison Ivy. That thing is pretty much a documentary,” Duke says hesitantly taking the spot between Steph and Cass. 

"Please, for the love of Alfie, please, talk about something else," Dick whines, plopping a bean bag next to Tim. Jason’s face twists in confusions before his eyes light up and untwists into an expression with amusement. "Is it because of the-" Dick hits him square in the face with a pillow, all the while screeching "Think of the children!"

"Where, Dickface?" Jason ask, prompting Dick to point(jazz hands)  at Damian who rolls his eyes. Jason does the same, looking younger than the toughened exterior suggested. "That's a gremlin, Dickface. Not a child." 

"He is-"

"SHUSH! The movie is starting!" 

You giggle, curling into Tim's side and placing your head in the crook of his neck where you usually like to put it. Tim's insides shiver from the contact and his hands automatically coil around you, pressing his nose into your hair. 

"Jeez, her melons are big," Babs says flatly taking another handful of Dick's popcorn from Damian. Cass snorts and Tim feels embarrassment creep into his skin. He flicks his eyes to you, only to find you smiling into his side. 

"They're almost as big as Dick's," you chuckle. 

"Nah, Jason is bigger," Cass pipes. 

You eye Jason openly which makes the large man cross his arms over his chest.  "Huh, you're right," you note with more confusion than anything. 

"Bruce has moobs too!" Jason protests, red-faced. 

"Son, why?"

The chatter falls silent when the figure at the edge of the room settles itself into the large leather recliner in one corner of the room. You squint your eyes to distinguish its features from the rest of the shadows in the room; only to be greeted by the solemn features of Bruce Wayne. Your breath catches and you feel your skin jump twenty feet in the air. Everyone else in the room seems to have about the same reaction even as he pulls a lever to raise the foot rest.  You all follow his movements with interest. 

“Is Bruce trying to relax?” Duke whispers to Cass who shrugs in response. Steph rolls her eyes, reaching over Duke to try and snatch some popcorn from Jason who just raises his bowl higher. “Shhhhh, Duke, let the B man try to play human,” she says, snatching at the popcorn til the bowl just falls on Jason’s head. 

“He’s trying I guess.” This draws a startled chuckle out of you that you try to press in Tim’s neck. The vibrations against his skin has him shivering. 

“B, are you ok?” Dick asks. This makes Bruce’s features move in a slightly concerned fashion which in Bruce speak is very concerned. “Yes, why?”

“Ooooh, no reason, old man.” He turns to Babs. “Yeah that’s not Bruce. Five bucks says it’s a robot.” Babs snickers, grabbing a ten from her purse. “Ten says it’s an alien.” You twist to look at them, taking out a twenty. “Twenty says it’s just Mr.Wayne.” Jason sneers at you, taking your money. “You clearly don’t know the old man.”

“Can we please just watch this film in peace?” Bruce groans, running a hand over his face, finally looking more like the long suffering single dad of eight kids that he should be.  Babs looks over her shoulder, slinging Bruce an absolutely disbelieving look. “Do you even know your children?”

“Yes, father, have you even watched us bond?” Damian asks, using his free hand to do air quotes for the word ‘bond’ while using the other to try and swipe some popcorn from Cass. It doesn’t work. 

“That definitely isn’t Bruce,” Dick hisses, trying to shield his own bowl of popcorn  from an irate Damian. 

“SHHHHHH! I can’t hear the movie!”

“It’s definitely the butler,” Dick declares.  Damian scowls, throwing a pillow at him which Dick catches with ease. “Grayson, the movie has barely started.”

“It’s definitely the butler. It’s gotta be. It’s always the butler.”

“That’s very offensive to Alfred, Dick,” Cass says, grinning. Alfred sniffs poshly in his own recliner. Dick recoils but Jason piles on. “Very classist of you, Dickiebird.”

Duke snorts. “Nah, I think he’s just saying it because Tim Curry was Pennywise the Clown.” 

“Why would you trust a clown?” 

“Oh my god, why are you guys comparing Alfred to a clown?”

“We are not!”

“This conversation is a trainwreck,” Tim groans into your hair. “Dunno, Tim, it sounds like a success,” you laugh, pressing closer. His eyes flick between you and his siblings. “You planned this.” You look up at him, failing to flatten a smile. “Nope.”

“I say it’s Ms. Scarlett,” Bruce says, rubbing his chin contemplatively. 

“You’re just saying that cus she reminds you of Selina,” Tim huff, grinning and you’re half tempted to pinch his cheeks. Bruce cuts him a scathing look that has you shrinking; the grin on Tim’s face just broadens which just makes the playful scowl on Bruce’s face deepen. “Need I remind you who pays for the internet?”

“Alfred?” Tim asks, innocently. 

“Careful Tim, B man might actually do it. Hell, he’ll probably do it if he finds out what you did last Thursday.”

“Do you mean the explosion on Fifth?” you ask, turning to Steph.  Steph gives you a firm nod; in the corner of your eye, you can see Bruce arching a brow. Tim gapes at you looking absolutely gutted. “What happened to snitches get stitches?” Tim protests. 

 You shrug, grinning. “Sorry, Duckie, I stand by my cookie dealer. Who do you think sneaks Duke and me cheetos in Western Civilization? I stand by my fellow barbarian.”

“You know Duke?”

“I pay him to-”

“Shhhhh!” 

“You guys are talking too!”

“At least, it’s movie related!” Damian hisses. 

You throw up your hands with an exaggerated flail. “Fine!”

“I say it’s the shifty looking lady,” Jason declares, reaching over Duke and Steph to try and snatch some popcorn from Cass. You wonder why Jason doesn’t just snatch some from Alfred since he’s closer. You try to ask Tim but he just shakes his head at you.  “Ms.Peacock?” Cass asks, shoving Jason’s face away with butter covered fingers.  Duke tries to snatch a few kernels in the confusion only to get his hand swatted. “I think he means Mrs. White,” he says, waving his hand.  “Yeah that one.”

“It’s the butler! It’s always butler!” Dick protests. 

“I will fucking riot if it’s the butler!” Steph shoots back.

“It can’t be the butler.”

“Why not, Dami? He has motive.”

Damian rolls his eyes.“Gordon, why are you siding with Grayson?-” Babs opens her mouth to answer but Damain continues before she can get another syllable out “-nevermind. He doesn’t have as much motive as the rest of them. Besides, does he really look competent enough to hold a gun left alone with a knife?”

Tim raises his chin from your head. “Demon Spawn, your standards for butlers is too high. Alfred is-”

“You say this like you have plenty of references.” 

“Oh, Tommy Terrific, Duckie here is a posh bastard,” Jason sneers ruffling Tim’s hair. From the way, some of his hairs stick up you could guess that he still had some butter in his hand. Tim makes a face of disgust; you try your best to help him with his hair. “Jay, you say that but you’re like Mr. I need the correct type of wood for my bookshelves,” Steph laughs.  “Just because I’m not a slob like the rest of you walking disasters doesn’t mean I’m posh.”

“Yes, it does. You lived here. Yanno with Alfie,” Dick says, pulling out another pack of snacks he’d managed to snag from your bag. You’re not gonna ask at this point. Tim gives you a look which roughly translates to ‘I am very sorry for my trainwreck of a family’. You snort at him before turning towards his sibling. “I mean look at Cass. She’s still feral.” If looks could kill, the look Cass give you would melt your bones. Thankfully, Damian opens his mouth. “They’re all feral.” You have a sense that you’ve also been insulted. You hear Babs to your right laugh derisively. “You say this like you’re any less feral than the rest of us.”

“I am-”

“Are any of you still watching the movie?” Bruce asks and for the second time that night, your body tries to divorce your soul. You had almost forgotten that yes, you are watching Clue with the fucking Batman. You shift in your seat suddenly feeling a twinge of nervousness. Before the discomfort could nestle in you, Jason speaks up. “No, Bruce, we’re just watching Cass vacuum the popcorn into her stomach. What do you think?”

“You guys didn’t ask,” Cass says through a mouthful of popcorn knowing full well that’s a lie. 

“How can any of you be watching it? All you’ve done is talk over the dialogue.” You almost laugh at how exasperated he sounds. Beside you, Tim just snickers and shakes his head. 

Damian just looks at his father from his bean bag next to Dick. “Father, we can talk and listen. ” Dick, like the mature adult that he is, slaps his knee laughing. “I don’t think B is capable of that.”

“PREACH” was followed by a chorus of AMENs. 

"Alfred, what have I done to turn my children against me?" Bruce asks, tiredly leaning back into his recliner. 

"Master Bruce, how would you like me to list it?" 

"Alfred not you too," Bruce groans, putting his hands in his eyes. 

"Yeah! Alfie's on our side!" Jason cheers. 

"Quite."

"Alfie is always the sensible one," Cass chuckles sensibly between bites. You hear varying noises of agreement and Bruce ages from suave debonair to extremely tired single dad. 

"I assume Alfred is actually the boss here."

"Yeah, Bruce is actually on the bottom of the food chain here," Tim says. You tilt your head in  contemplation. "Yanno that makes Batman so much less scary." 

"B-man's just a giant softie," Steph chirps, slinging her legs over Duke and Cass's laps narrowly missing the nearly empty bowl of popcorn. 

Dick turns to you winking. "Yeah, just give him the puppy eyes and he'll  get you anything you want in 2 seconds flat." 

"Dick…" 

"It's true!"

"Even a carnival?" 

"Can we please just watch the movie?" Bruce says, in an almost pleading voice. 

"I wouldn't hold my breath, old man," Jason chuckles, earning a glare from both Bruce and Damian. "It's not like you know how to shut up, Todd." 

"Sorry, I don’t speak gremlin."

"That's bull Jay!" 

"MOVIE IS STILL GOING ON! SHUT YOUR CAKE HOLES." 

“I TOLD YOU IT WAS THE BUTLER.”

“Yes, yes, it has been publiced and noted, Birdie,” you giggle into Tim’s side, shaking your head. He wraps his arm around you, pressing a kiss into your hair, winking at you. “Does it count?” Tim asks over his shoulder. A look passes between him and Cass. “I don’t think so,” she says grinning. 

“It so does! It’s one of the endings,” Dick protests vehemently. Jason’s mouth flattens then curls into a grin. “By that logic, the old man is right too.”

Dick thinks for a moment, tapping his chin. “Well, we can’t have that.”

“Why not?” Bruce protests. 

"I'm still sticking with the butler. I'm sorry this is the only logical conclusion." 

"He wasn't even an actual butler you butter brain!" Steph protests, throwing a pillow at Dick. 

"I'm sorry but can we address why you're all mounting a mutiny against me?" 

"Teenage rebellion!" Dick answers. 

"Chum, you're not even a teenager." 

"Father's right. At most, Grayson is five years old," Damian pipes from beside Dick seemingly unaffected by his brother's pout. 

"Alfred, you're going to have to check my blood pressure before patrol." 

"Quite, sir."

“They’re all so dramatic just like you said,” you whisper into Tim’s shoulder. 

“I AM NOT DRAMATIC”

“Ah, yes, because the pretty man pose is so pragmatic.” Damian deadpan.  

"That was one time, you assholes!" 

"Hey, what else did Timmy say?" 

"Well he- Oh wait!" You fish out your phone and Tim snacthes it away faster than you can blink. "No-" cough "-you don't." Cough. 

Jason snatches it from him, snickering at the photo of Tim kissing you on the cheek. You're pretty sure Tim has a matching photo with you kissing him on the cheek. "Nice lockscreen, (y/n)."

"Oh, you should see the homescreen!" 

"No. Please don't. You might need eye bleach." 

"Relax Space Cadet, it’s not that one." 

"Ohohoho, what didn't you want big daddy bats to see? Haaa, Timbo?" 

Tim turns every shade of red before settling on fire hydrant red. "None of your business!"

Bruce clears his throat, looking at a stupidly expensive watch. “It’s time.” Dick springs up, stretching and showing off.  “Is it really that time already?” Steph asks in almost a whine. Duke and Cass take the opportunity to shove her off and sadly, she lands with a loud thud and a mangled curse. You wince but laugh unsympathetically which simply earns you a face full of dust covered popcorn. You frown at her and she grins at you as Jason hauls her up by her hoodie. “C’mon Blondie. Let’s leave the love birds alone.”

“It’s not like they’re actually gonna be alone. Alfie’s here. So is Babs.”

“I’m going back to my place. You people give me a headache.” 

“You say that like you weren’t having fun,” Dick teases, walking after her. 

“I’ll be down in the cave if you need me,” Alfred says waving at both of you. “Will do, Alf,” Tim yawns, nuzzling into your hair. 

Cass pops her head back in. “Make sure Tim doesn’t do anything stupid,” She calls back. You grin, bright and wolfish. “Don’t worry! He can’t do me while he’s sick.” You hear Bruce choke in the hall and you just know that you’ll mentally kick yourself for that later. Luckily for you, Tim physically kicks you now. “What the hell?!” Cough. “Sorry, got caught in the moment.” You huff, trying to look a little sorry. Tim just glares more. “You’re not even close to sorry.”

“Ok. Yeah.”

“I have no idea why I love you sometimes.”

“My amazing personality?”

“Sure.”

“Love you too, Tim,” you chirp, kissing him. Tim’s lips feel hot after the quick peck and he pulls you closer. “I love you but I was pretty sure my family was gonna eat you alive.”

“They would have done it,” you hum, pausing before adding, “respectfully.”  

  Tag list: @batarella, @anothertimdrakestan, @lucy-roo, @multifandomgirl-us, @idkmanicantenglish,@birdy-bat-writes,  @boosyboo9206, @americasmarauders , @l-inkage, @arestorationofbalance , @cloudie-skay, @wunderstell   @hyp-oh-critical @glorified-red

[asset35-maya]

HEAT WAVES

This is a short multi-character series about different kinds of love blooming in the summertime. Written as part of the DBH LATE SUMMER PROMPT CHALLENGE

(Read Parts 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 and 6 first!)

[PART 7/7: HEAT OF THE NIGHT]

**TW: SEXUAL CONTENT

//

\\

“Hey baby.”

Gavin was barely audible as he shifted on Hank’s couch to make room for Nines. He opened his arms and let the android lay down with his back to his chest. He wrapped an arm around Nines’ middle and nuzzled his neck.

“I couldn’t find Sixty anywhere. Are you sure you didn’t see him leave?”

“Hmm…? No…”

“I think he’s disabled his tracker. The little shit! The house keeps coming up as his last location when I search for his signal!”

“Don’t worry, babe. He knows his way back. Like our cat… If Con went missing that would be a real problem. Like if Sumo went missing. But with Six… it’s like our bitch-ass cat. She comes and goes as she pleases. We shouldn’t wait up.”

Nines rearranged his husband’s sleepy grip to be less stifling and relaxed into the cuddle.

“Hmm. You always did understand my own brothers better than me. I just can’t figure out why he was so upset earlier.”

Gavin yawned and pulled Nines closer despite having just been pushed away a little. He tended to get handsy after a few drinks.

“He should be fine now...”

Frowning, Nines twisted in the human’s grasp. He was smooched lovingly before he could articulate any response. He allowed a few messy kisses before breaking off with a quiet whine.

“Gavin, if you know where he is, just tell me. I’ll sleep better for it.”

“Babe, I have no idea-”

He broke off as a rumble came from overhead. Something scraped across the tiles on the roof and came to a stop with a muted thud. Nines looked up at (and through) the ceiling, eyes glazing over and LED spinning rapidly. 

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.” 

A detective through and through, Gavin chuckled as he easily deduced whatever Nines saw using his x-ray vision. He pressed a kiss to his husband’s throat. 

“Just like us back in the day, huh?” 

//

\\

Allen broke away panting. He put a hand on Sixty’s chest to still him. It had been years since he’d done anything like this. Lying on top of a man’s house and making out with his son for hours like a teenager.

Their chaste first kiss had evolved into something decidedly more mature. Months of mutual pining and sexual tension spilled over effusively and now the two of them were rock hard and desperate for some kind of release. 

Sixty moaned in Allen’s ear and ground against his thigh. With the way they were lying intertwined, that action also brought some much-needed friction to Allen’s groin. He sucked his breath in through his teeth. 

“Sixty... just... Fuck it. Just touch me.” 

“Are you sure, Cap?”

“Fuck, don’t call me that if you’re going to jerk me off!” 

“Yes, sir.”

Sixty kissed him once more and undid the buttons of his jeans with ease. A hand slipped past the waistband and palmed his erection through his briefs. Impatient, Allen lifted his hips and brought both his underwear and jeans down to his thighs. Sixty’s eyes widened at the sight of the exposed and leaking cock.

Despite having very limited experience in this department, the android moved with confidence. He rolled over his captain’s body and captured his chapped lips in another deep kiss, wrapping a hand around the turgid shaft and stroking. 

Allen sighed into the kiss with satisfaction and began to unzip Sixty’s trousers. He quickly found his prize and ran a thumb over the tip of the synthetic penis, producing a garble of static and glitching noises from the android. 

Their wrists moved in tandem, speeding up and slowing down in a well-coordinated rhythm. Allen let his consciousness wander and allowed himself to forget that he was perched two floors above the ground. He placed all his trust in the android holding him. It wasn’t the first time he’d done so, albeit in a very different context... so it was incredibly easy. 

Sixty soon felt himself get near to the close and could tell that Allen was even closer. He withdrew his hand and peeled Allen’s fingers off his own dick. Looking deep into his new lover’s eyes, Sixty lowered himself further and brought their slick cocks in direct contact with each other. 

That was absolutely the right thing to do, considering the loud moan that Allen let out. The older man clapped a hand over his mouth in shock at his own reaction, but quickly recovered when Sixty spat between them and began to move. Trapped between their abdomens, their cocks slipped and slid against each other... hardening and pulsing and twitching... and then finally releasing.

LED flashing a myriad of colors and cooling fans running high, Sixty finished with a groan and fell onto the roofing tiles beside Allen. They both lay there staring at the moon… thoroughly undignified… shirts hiked up over their nipples…spent cocks dribbling onto their stomachs. 

“Great job, Cap.” 

“You too... bud.” 

//

\\

Tina arched her back and clamped her thighs over his hips as she rode him, backwards. She tossed her hair and rolled her body in ways she’d only seen in certain films. If she thought about it for too long, it felt kind of silly. Like she was just playing a part and the director would yell cut any second. 

But this was real. This was not a Hollywood studio. This was her boyfriend’s bedroom and this was the sex life she had now.

She wondered whether it had anything to do with him being an android... Connor was insatiable. He wanted her all day, every day, everywhere. 

She didn’t know if or how long it would last, but hell, she wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. It was the best sex of her existence and she would take however much of it she was given, especially if it came with heaps of adoration and praise and affection.

Connor jerked his hips underneath her. She got the message and picked up the pace. His hands came to rest on her stomach from behind and slid upwards slowly to cup her breasts. He held on tightly and sat up, pressing his chest against her back with enviable core strength. 

Tina turned in his grip and he brought his mouth to hers. She parted her lips and invited his tongue in. He then leaned forwards and brought her crashing down onto the mattress. Another position, then. 

With a series of implicit gestures, Tina relinquished the lead and passed the control back to Connor. He flipped her onto her back and hooked her legs around his waist, all the while buried deep inside and pumping ceaselessly. His deft fingers circled her clit and she knew that she’d be coming again... for the fifth time in a row. 

“Hey T.” 

“What?” 

“I love you.” 

//

\\

Gavin sighed against Nines’ bare back. Falling asleep was proving difficult, given the clamour from various parts of the house. He knew his husband was wide awake too.

“Baby…”

“Shhhh.”

“Don’t act like you can sleep through all this.”

“What?”

“Your siblings making multiple trips to bone town? Plus your dad trying to out-snore his dog. It sounds like we’re on a farm here.”

Nines made a petulant noise but Gavin could tell that he was also amused.

“So what do you suggest we do?”

“Well, I’ve always said… if you can’t beat ’em… join ’em…”

Gavin scooted around on the couch a little and pressed his groin flush against Nines’ backside. A sharp hiss escaped the android.

“Really?”

“Yeah, why not?”

There was a pause (during which a series of snores and moans echoed in the living room) while Nines considered the proposition. He apparently found little objection to it and ground back against Gavin’s hardening length.

“Now we’re talking.”

Gavin gently bit down on his husband’s shoulder and pulled on the drawstrings of the sweatpants they both wore. He eased the fabric off the both of them. In no time at all, his stiffening cock was between Nines’ cheeks and his hand wrapped around Nines’ shaft.

Self-lubrication was one of the things about androids that Gavin was eternally grateful for. He gathered the drip from Nines’ tip and coaxed him to full mast, all the while rutting against the slick crease of Nines’ ass.

Their motions were easy, well-practiced.

Once they were both fully aroused, he stroked his hands over Nines’ body and guided one of his thighs up to fully expose his entrance. There was absolutely no resistance. Even in the dark, there was no hitch to any of these proceedings. They’d made love like this a hundred times before and would do it a hundred times again.

Gavin took hold of his cock, gave it a few pumps and aimed. He slowly found his mark, slipping in and bottoming out with grace. He hooked an arm around Nines’ raised leg and waited a beat, before pulling halfway out and pushing back in exactly once.

“Ohhh…”

“Is that good, baby?”

“Shhh… don’t talk.”

Gavin smiled into the side of Nines’ neck and set up a gentle rhythm with his hips. He had to go with the shallowest of thrusts if they intended to stay on the couch. But that was fine, they’d had plenty of rough, fast sex in the early days of their relationship. They weren’t missing out on anything. In fact, nowadays both of them preferred the sweeter, gentler kind of lovemaking.

Nines reached behind and cradled Gavin’s head in the crook of his arm, pulling him down for a deep kiss. He obliged easily, and for his part, used the extra room to slip his free hand around Nines’ body and grasp his cock.

Under each other’s careful ministrations, they took turns to sink into the pleasure and fall apart. Eventually, when he could hold himself back no longer, Gavin began taking all the steps to make sure Nines came first. He sinfully grazed the synthetic prostate on every thrust…caressed his chest… teased his nipples… massaged his laden balls… and pumped his cock with dedication until Nines seized up against him and came with a muted gasp.

Gavin stroked him throughout the climax and caught the ejaculate in his fingers. Without any instruction, Nines grabbed his hand and licked the mess off his digits. Keeping his breath steady, Gavin pulled out and lay flat on the couch with his flushed and wet cock in the air.

The android moved over him with absolutely no need to be asked. Nines took his husband into his mouth and swallowed down to the base of his shaft with an utterly inhuman lack of gag reflex. Gavin finished down his throat and the two of them fell back into the spooning position that they’d begun in.

They lay together quietly, catching their breath and basking in the afterglow of yet another round of happily married sex. It was so blissful that they almost forgot where they were until one of Hank’s rumbling snores resounded through the house. Nines had the presence of mind to get up and pull their sweatpants back on before both drifted off to dreamland… uninterrupted by lustful moans from the spare bedroom and heavy thudding from the roof.

//

\\

@connor-sent-by-cyberlife

[saby-chan]

Fire Lord Ozai: A blood thirsty monster or the less fortunate “Zuko” of his generation?

Hello again and thank you as always for clicking and allotting some of your time to read my humble post! Since I’ve happened to notice quite an increase in posts lately regarding the controversial character and nature of the former Fire Lord, the now imprisoned fallen prince Ozai, and I’ve personally promised in my previous post that I will share my own analysis on him if people asked me to do so (which actually happened), I am here to deliver my own take on this very intriguing man’s character, while also building a potential past for him based on stuff gathered from the show’s cannon.

I would like to start this essay with what I find to be my favorite quote ever: ”Monster’s aren’t born, they are created.” ~ Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto) What I like about this quote soo much and find very inspirational is the truth it holds within its short, yet powerful message. We are often fast to judge a “book by the cover”, to reduce others to what we assume of them by their appearance or latest actions that we’ve seen them do, but never actually take a moment and wonder where they come from, if this person we soo harshly look down upon really has been this way since their very beginning?

I’ve come across many comments on social media related to ATLA, especially on YouTube videos on which people would throw with harsh comments such as “Aang being a coward for choosing to spare the villain just because they saw a dumb baby pic of them” or “Ozai is the essence of evil and even as a baby he’d been a monster”. I can’t help but wonder who hurt these people to make them be so cruel? Like, how messed up must you actually be to say that a baby, a friggin baby, is the embodiment of all evils? Or that a child was a coward for choosing to see his opponent’s last bits of humanity and opted to spare them?

Aang was soo morally conflicted about the idea of killing Ozai not only because it contradicted the morals of his people, but because he himself understood that this man hadn’t always been the cruel beast he came to met in their first and final showdown. It’s important to note here the fact that upon finding that picture, Aang was actually convinced it had to be Zuko as a baby since it looked so innocent and cute and was actually surprised to learn it was Zuko’s father. And that’s the thing, Ozai was born like us all as an innocent and sweet baby. Babies aren’t in any way evil or twisted, they don’t even have the notion of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ defined in their small, still developing minds. In fact, the very choice of the creators to add this picture in the show is meant to tell us this very thing: this man wasn’t always like this. But if he wasn’t always like this, then what happened to make him become this way?

Well, in order to find out the reason, we must go back in time to the very beginning: Ozai’s childhood and upbringing. For this next part I am going to solely focus on the show cannon, as the comics aren’t the products of BryKe and have a lot of inconsistencies to the source’s cannon (you can go and read my other post on why they fail when it comes to Zuko’s character and his family).

 From what we know and can easily deduce by ourselves just from their appearances, Ozai and his brother Iroh have a huge age gap between them (somewhere between 10 and 15 years). This has to be our first red flag: isn’t it soo odd that this family opted to have their children at such a long distance between pregnancies? It almost feels as if Ozai hadn’t actually been part of his father’s actual family planning... In other words, he was a ‘mistake’ child (I actually hate having to use this terminology, but it will become relevant to when we expand on Azulon’s relationship with his sons). Sure, some may argue that Azulon actually decided to have two sons in case something were to happen to his first born, but wouldn’t it have been more logical to have his second born at 2-3 years max distance from his first? Why choose to have your second child when you are much older and thus risk having a baby with issues, if your sole purpose of this child is to serve as an insurance that you don’t ‘run out’ of heirs? It just doesn’t make much sense, so let’s go for the moment with the possibility that Ozai was an unplanned pregnancy.

This perspective actually gives way to another very interesting aspect: remember the infamous “Born lucky...Lucky to be born” quote? What if I tell you that there is a possibility that this quote wasn’t Ozai’s personal wicked invention, but actually something he himself heard from his very own father? It had been puzzling me for a long time why he choose to say “You were lucky to be born” to Zuko, which implies that Zuko wasn’t supposed to exist. I mean, it’s soo odd that Ozai went with something implying that Zuko was an unplanned pregnancy, since Zuko was the first born. So my theory is that maybe Ozai wanted to convey a different message to Zuko when he said that quote, but due to his anger he ended up replicating the same line he received from Azulon at some point in his childhood. We never got the exact flashback when the line was delivered from Ozai to Zuko, so we don’t have the exact context that lead to it (remember, we are excluding Yang’s take on the matter from the comics).

I mean, this feels like something that wicked old Azulon would have said to his least favorite child. Okay, so let’s go with the scenario that Ozai was an unwanted child, to which we could also add the possibility that Ilah’s health deteriorated after the first birth, which makes plausible the family’s initial decision of stopping at 1 kid.

Moving on, we know from the old ATLA character wiki’s that Ozai’s character design was made with Zuko in mind, being meant to be a grown up version of Zuzu, without the scar. An interesting choice indeed and even Iroh’s letter to Zuko on Ozai from one of the ATLA books describes Ozzy in a similar way to teenage Zuko in book 1: stubborn, feisty, determined and with a volcanic personality (easy to anger and competitive), so it means that these were intentional choices to imply that Zuko and his father are more similar than we were led to believe at first glance. Maybe Ozai was the “Zuko” of his generation. Also, in one of the interviews on the royal family, BryKe stated that Ozai worked very hard to get where he is in book 3, referring to his firebending specifically (we all know how Ozzy got the throne, so clearly, he didn’t “work hard” for that), so maybe he wasn’t always the strongest man alive, with the most exceptional firebending skills out there, like Azula who showed ease in her learning, but rather someone closer to Zuko’s weaker performance as a child, building his way to success through endless hard work until he became the prodigy we know today.

Continuing with our theoretical scenario, after his birth, the second child show’s lesser skills compared to his brother Iroh (by that I don’t mean that he wasn’t gifted at all, but that maybe Ozai wasn’t as fast and great of a learner like his big bro), so Azulon opts to just ignore him and continue focusing solely on his golden child. In my headcannon I actually think that Ilah survived the birth and so she was left in charge of the younger child’s education and upbringing. At this point Iroh is already 10 or older, so he is forced to focus on his development, which prevents him from spending time with his lil brother, but just for the sake of being positive, let’s assume that Ozai still had both his mother and his big brother to keep him sheltered from Azulon’s darkness for a small portion of his childhood.

I choose to believe that Ozai had his mother’s love for a small bit of his childhood due to his willingness in the show to allow Ursa (who mind you, as the granddaughter of Roku was considered a treacherous individual) to spend a ton of time with both Zuko and Azula and share her philosophy with the children, as seeing his wife playing with their children probably reminded him of his own bitter-sweet memories he had with Ilah. They also probably spent a lot of their time near the turtle-duck pond since that pond’s existence prolly dates long before Ozai and Ursa married and had their own children.

Unfortunately, Ilah dies and little Ozai remains all alone, to be influenced negatively by his father (and even by his grandpa Sozin, we don’t really know for certain when the old man died, so he prolly was there for a short time when Ozzy was still a child). Azulon most likely blames Ozai for his wife’s death as the second birth might’ve really had a huge toll on Ilah’s already fragile body, bringing her closer to death, so he still neglects and ignores the child, if not straight out bullies and abuses him for not being on par with Iroh. This prolly leads to Ozai becoming jealous of his brother since Iroh has their father’s love, pushing them further apart. I headcannon that this jealousy between the siblings led to Ozai complaining to his dad when he finally had too much of their father’s discrimination (at a similar age to when Zuko prolly did and got the infamous line, if not younger) only to get the “Iroh was born lucky, you were lucky to be born!” line with the sole purpose of hurting him since now the child knows that he was never wanted.

When Azulon scolds very furiously adult Ozai in Zuko’s memories for daring to ask to be named crown prince, he literally says something like “What, you dare ask me to betray MY own son?!” (this is like red flag number two), line that pretty much testifies how Azulon chose to pretty much treat Ozai as if he wasn’t his son too, showcasing how much he despised his second born and favored the first child over him. Since we are on the topic of their last conversation, the punishment Azulon gave to his son alone proves this man’s level of sadism, which leads me to be believe that Ozai’s childhood was full of this type of punishments for bad behaviors that could be easily corrected trough a long serious lecture or a lesser punishment focused more on teaching him an actual lesson. 

The old wikis also mention on the page about the hall with portraits of the previous Fire Lords that it was the place where Ozai chose to spend most of his time in his youth, seeking advice from his ancestors. I mean, seriously now, if he had a good and supportive father and a present brother in his life, would Ozai had chosen to seek guidance from the dead instead of his living family? That piece of information that was easily overlooked by many proves how lonely this man was in his youth.

So for the most part of his life, Ozai grew up under the toxic influence and abuse of his tyrant father who refused to acknowledge him. Yet he managed to grow up still full of determination to one day prove his worth to Azulon and gain his acceptance (just like we saw with Zuko in book 1, who was desperate to regain his honor and be accepted by his father). But unfortunately, no matter how strong he became or how good of a firebender he was, Azulon was unmoved and unphased by his second son’s performance.

From what we could gather from the little info we received in the show, it seems that Ozai was never sent to the battle field to aid his older brother, being kept as a stay home prince, with the only occasion he actually left home being to search for the Avatar (I don’t think Iroh was sent to do his part on searching the Avatar since he strongly believed that there wasn’t going to ever be one, so it’s safe to assume Azulon assigned Ozai with this mission just to get rid of him for a few years) and the only purpose he ever served to his father was to become part of the old man’s genetics experiment in order to create strong unparalleled firebending offspring (which I am pretty sure were meant to be ‘biological war machines’ used by Azulon in the war, as he didn’t really seem to give a shit about Ozai’s children compared to Lu Ten). So just imagine the level of disappointment and dishonor Ozai must’ve felt as a man and young aspiring soldier to find out that he was going to be used like a ‘non-bending daughter’ in a strategical marriage and never get to serve his country in what he’d been taught was the greatest and most important war for their Nation.

All in all, this marriage didn’t really end up that badly because it seems he and Ursa were actually very compatible. The old wiki for Ursa states that she was a noble woman and the perfect match for Ozai, which leads me to believe that show Ursa was intended to be a very strong willed and determined woman who earned his respect. The show never stated that Ozai never wanted his first born or that he was disappointed with Zuko from birth like the comics say, so it’s safe to assume that Ursa and Ozai actually ended up falling in love at some point since they had not one, but two kids with relatively a short time in between pregnancies. 

There are actually many signs in the show that actually prove that these two loved each other and Ozai didn’t abuse his wife: from the fact that they went every year to see Ursa’s favorite play despite Ozai hating the poor performance of the Ember Island Players (I mean, what man would do such a sacrifice as to endure the same torture every single year just to make his wife happy if he never loved her?), Ursa’s undeniable and sincere love for their children (in the show it was never stated that Ursa saw Zuko and Azula as someone else’s children, so if she were indeed an abused woman who was forced to have these children, she wouldn’t have ever loved them to such an extent, especially Zuko who resembled his father the most physically), the fact that Ursa had equal rights in their marriage and raising of their children (her even scolding and grounding Ozai’s favorite child without hesitation), to the most significant scene to the Urzai ship in Zuko’s flashbacks: Ozai sitting troubled all alone in Ursa’s favorite spot by the pond, in a sad and brooding atmosphere, after he lost her, instead of celebrating what had to be the happiest day of his life since he was finally crowned Fire Lord (it’s clear who had more importance in his heart: Ursa meant more to him than the throne, so losing her outshined his achievement). In fact, Ursa must’ve been the only thing that still kept him outside of the darkness that threatened to swallow his heart and once he lost her, Ozai had nothing else to keep him on the right path.

And even as a father, it seems that Ozai wasn’t always cold and distant to his children, as his true self depicted in Zuko’s memories on Ember Island shows him caring for both of his children, even holding Zuko close to him with a protective arm on the boy’s shoulder. Except the Agni Kai, there don’t seem to be any instances in which he was physically violent towards his son before the banishment (Iroh literally let Zuko in to join that faithful war meeting willingly. Would’ve he done that if he knew his brother to be very violent towards his children in case they disobeyed? If yes, then it would make Iroh actually very questionable on a moral standpoint) and even on an emotional level, I don’t really think that he was actually abusive to him (at least while Ursa was there) because from Zuko’s conversation with Zhao, he’s adamant that his father will take him back and even states "You don't know how my father feels about me. You don't know anything!", meaning that the father he used to know showed him a level of respect and genuine affection (if Ozai were to bully Zuko since the boy’s very early childhood, do you think this kid would grow up to be so sure that his father wants him around and would he defend this bully when someone badmouths them in front of him?).

Even with Azula, despite people demonizing her from early childhood and saying that she was manipulated since birth by Ozai to become a war machine, I do believe that she shows genuine love and affection towards her father. I do choose to believe that back in the good times when the family was happy, Ozai spent quality time with his daughter, filling in the gap left by Ursa’s neglect. I theorize that the reason why kid Azula badmouthed her grandpa and uncle was because she was being very protective of her father: since she used to like spying and eavesdropping, it’s safe to assume that she prolly witnessed many instances in which the old man bullied or insulted Ozai, favoring Iroh over him. It’s a bit harder to see it that way since her snarky comments involve dark topics, but since they live in a society governed by power and war, I see them as something similar to if Azula would’ve said “Uncle sucks and he will surely be fired from his job!” or “Grandpa is old and weak, he should leave the family business to dad!”. Even the fact that the only thing capable of shattering her to pieces was her father leaving her proves how much she cared for him. Ty Lee and Mai’s betrayal was a big blow on Azula’s control and sanity, but she didn’t breakdown until Ozai discarded her after his coronation as Phoenix King. There’s nothing more painful in this world than to be left behind by the person you loved the most and was there by your side your whole life, whom you wanted to follow to world’s end and back. That was the moment Azula finally realized that the father she used to know and love was actually gone and had been in fact, long gone for years at this point.

But if Ozai cared for his family what made him change? Easy, it all comes back to the fact that his father never acknowledged him. The throne doesn’t seem to be his ultimate goal in life since Ozai discarded of the Fire Lord title very easily, tossing it to Azula without any remorse or hesitation. It was more about the meaning behind getting the crown: replacing Iroh in the line of succession was the ultimate proof of his father’s acceptance, that he wasn’t only a “mistake” and “failure” in his father’s eyes, but since Azulon ended up saying and doing what he did, backfired Ozai and made him understand that no matter how hard he tried, the old man will never see him for what he is. So yeah, for a proud man like Ozai this was a hard defeat to swallow, which in turn sparked his strong desire of winning the war and becoming the king of the world: if Azulon wouldn’t accept him even in death, then Ozai will prove to the whole world that he was above his father and his “perfect” brother by accomplishing what they never could and even better and no one was going to stop him, not even his own family.

This is what differentiates Ozai from Zuko: while both had similar upbringings, Ozai never broke away from his obsession of gaining his father’s admiration, allowing himself to fall prey to the darkness left by Azulon in his heart and abandon his true self, only to become the copy of his abuser, while Zuko stood up to his dad and chose his own destiny. If Aang were to come back around 20 or 30 years earlier, then he might’ve actually been able to save Ozai just like he saved Zuko, but unfortunately it wasn’t this way.

Do I think that Ozai could still be saved and redeemed even after the events of book 3? Definitely! Since he’s actually a broken man and still has a tiny bit of humanity left within, I think he still has a chance to change his heart. The only thing is that it’d be a long lasting process: first off he needs to spend a long time in solitude and reflect on his life’s choices and his past, understand where he went wrong and that what happened to him in his childhood is called abuse, which he ended up replicating on his own children. After he understands his wrongdoings and becomes willing to rediscover his true self, he needs to understand the truth about the war, that everything he’d known was fake propaganda and that there was nothing glorious in what he, his father and Sozin did under the excuse of “sharing their Nation’s greatness with the rest of the world!”. But most importantly of all, the only remedy that could possibly save him is love. It sound cliche, but by responding to hatred with more hate like Zuko did in the comics would never change the world “for the better” or bring it “to reality”. The only way to save both Azula and Ozai would be trough showing them the power of love, hope and empathy, how they don’t have to struggle alone and push everyone away. And especially by redeeming Azula, she would be a very important piece in Ozai’s redemption: since he had a closer parent-child relationship with Azula and cared for her the most when he did care, realizing how much he made her suffer through his actions, that would probably break Ozai enough to make him admit that he was wrong all along.

So yeah, this is my analysis on Ozai’s character using the cannon information from the show and old wikis and why I think he is just the product of a very bad environment and an abusive parent who never showed him love (if there’s a reason for why Ozai might be uncapable of showing a healthy parental love to his children is because you can’t show what you’ve never learnt yourself), being the Zuko of his generation who never got to experience the positive influence of an “Uncle Iroh” to guide him on the right path. 

You can agree with me or not on this one, but this is what I choose to believe. Maybe I am way too good by choosing to see any potential good in anyone, but I feel it’s a better way than to counter hate with more hate like Yang did in his monstrous portrayal of Ozai in The Search.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments and if you agree with anything I’ve said, feel free to leave a like and to reblog this post.

See you next time and stay safe! Bye-Bye!

Saby out.

[descendantofthesparrow]

Interlude - POYW Rewrite Mini-series - Part 4 - Pickup

=

-two months after D2, just for context (August 2016)-

The isle masses waited in uneasy silence as they waited for the tell-tale sign of the barrier opening to let in the limo that would take the new six vks to Auradon, would King Ben keep his promise?

CJ gripped tightly onto Harriet's jacket, other hand clenched tightly around her bag as she stared anxiously at the barrier, waiting for her brother to come get her and Harriet off the isle like he promised to.

Harriet's crew stood protectively around the six vks, daring anyone to try to ruin their day. Dizzy grinned and looked back at her aunt and mother as the barrier shimmered, a black limo rolling closer into view as it passed through.

The car stopped a good ten feet in front of the vks and almost immediately Evie popped out from the back, eagerly calling Dizzy’s name as the younger vk squealed and bolted towards Evie. Dizzy slammed into Evie and the older teen held onto her tightly as they started to babble random things to each other. Jay, Gil, and Ben climbed out of the back with smiles and Ben gestured towards the trunk for the vks to put their bags into it.

CJ grinned as Harry climbed out from the passenger side in the front, her eyes blowing wide as you climbed out of the driver's seat. “Harry!” CJ yelled, laughing as Harry picked her up just as she was about to slam into him and spun her around. You and Harriet nodded at each other and Harriet moved towards the back to put her bags away, Mr. Smee stepping forward with his three sons and reassuring his youngest that they would be safe with his brother and pseudo siblings in Auradon.

Sammy shared a smile with Harry as he passed by him to put his and his brother's bags in the trunk, shifting his shoulder bag a bit as the twins continued to cling to their father.

Harry shared a look with Harriet and pushed CJ to get her bags into the trunk, moving towards the twins and kneeling in front of them. After a few soft-spoken words, the twins released Smee's arms and moved to clutch onto Harry, the older vk squeezing their hands and nodding at his pseudo uncle before moving the twins towards the Limo.

The twins stared up at you as Harry moved them past you, Skipper hiding his face in Harry’s leg as you gave a soft smile. You and Harry shared a look that only communicated ‘oh my fuckinggodthatssocute’ the twins were shuffled into the limo and all that was left to do was for Harriet to leave her last few commands to her crew and then the lot of you to get back in the limo and leave for Auradon.

Jay and Gil checked to make sure all the luggage was in the trunk before closing it and standing near the back doors, everyone was ready to leave.

Harriet walked towards her crew and gave a few words to Xiaohui, who was now appointed captain in Harriet's stead. The girl nodded and saluted Harriet, the rest of the crew following in suit.

Harriet let a smile break across her face and nodded back, she turned on her heel and walked back towards the limo, sliding into the back and sitting next to the twins.

You stopped Harry from getting into the front passenger seat and nodded towards the back “sit with the twins, I think they’ll be more comfortable with you, Harriet, and CJ all together with them.” Harry nodded and moved to the back to join his sisters and the twins. You stopped as Dizzy popped out of the limo and raced back towards the crowd, slamming into a smaller black girl with curly red Ombre hair, you spotted the man behind her and quickly deduced that she was the daughter of Dr.Facilier. Dizzy gave the girl a tight hug and said a few words before running back to the limo, you laughed to yourself a bit as the girl's face crumbled in embarrassment and turn to hide her face in her dad's side, Facilier laughing at his daughter and patting her back.

You slid into the driver's seat and called into the back “everyone ready?!” once everyone called back with either a “yes” or “uhuh!” you buckled your seat belt and started to drive out of the isle, smiling at the reflection of the isle people as they waved the villain kids goodbye.

The Smee twins pressed themselves against the glass as they watched the isle roll by them, their father getting further and further from sight. Harriet pushed them back into their seats, nodding towards the bridge you were driving at.

“Ready?” Harry asked, smiling as the twins gave a nervous nod and clinging to him and Harriet. Dizzy squealed and pressed her face to the window, Evie turning with her and biting her smiling lips as the limo passed through the barrier.

“oh, my, goooshh~!!!!!” Dizzy squealed again, giggling to herself as the magic bridge built itself and the limo coasted over the ocean. “it's happening, it's really happening~!!”

“it is” Evie sighed happily, laughing as Dizzy launched herself into Evie's arms for a hug “when we get there, you have to try ice cream” Dizzy pulled back with a wide grin.

“and go swimming!?”

Evie looked off to the side for a moment trying to think of a place before it came to her “I can take you to the enchanted lake!” the two girls squealed, making Harriet and the twins cover their ears for a moment before the two stopped.

Harry leaned forward and grabbed two peanut butter cups and handed them to the twins, Skipper staring at him unsure before Harry smiled at him “go on, yer not allergic ta chocolate or peanut so yer fine” the twins took a careful bite before they turned wide-eyed to Harriet, who chuckled and held her hand out as Harry handed her another cup. CJ attempted to climb out of her seat to get herself one but was stopped by her older siblings as they gave her a look and Harry handed her the candy. The twins downed the candy, dancing in their seats as they tasted it for the first time.

“so where’s Mal?” Dizzy asked, eagerly taking the small red twist candy Evie had handed her.

“she's taking mind medicine right now” Jay laughed, falling onto Gil slightly as Ben shoved him with a smile.

“she's at therapy, not something she's really allowed to miss, well she can but we didn’t really need her to come today so she just decided to go.” Dizzy nodded and turned back to Evie, the two girls delving into babbles of fashion, science, and ice cream.

“Mal….at therapy” Harriet stared off into space for a moment before she laughed “that’s a sentence or thing that I ever thought would happen” Harry heard you snort very loudly from the front and let out a loud giggle.

“aye, but she finally bit the bullet an’ accepted she’s fucked in the head an’ let us chuck ‘er in the office an’ the rest of us fukin’ bolted” Ben slapped his hand over his mouth and turned into his shoulder, closing his eyes and letting out a few muffled bits of laughter.

After a few moments of the limo laughing, it was silent, only to be broken by Gil “actually I think all of us need therapy considering the shit we’ve all gone through” the limo erupted into laughter, Ben almost slipping out of his seat as he held his chest.

The twins ignored them and continued to eat their candy, Sammy wiped away a tear and shook his head as he grabbed a handful of small multicolored candies “ahhhh yeah we’re all fucked up”

“I think the only non-fucked up person in this limo is Ben and (y/n)-“ Sammy was stopped by a small snort from Gil, Ben, Harry, and Harriet who looked at each other with wide teary eyes of stopped laugher “what?”

“sam-Sammy you were there remember?” Harriet chuckled, nodding towards the front of the limo where you were “the uh…incident?” Sammy's cheeks turned pink at the reminder.

“Ohh….okay yeah the only non-fucked up person in the limo is Ben” Ben pursed his lips and gave a slight shrug “oh come on what happened to you for you to be fucked up in the head?!”

Ben shrugged again “my parents pushed all their responsibility onto me when I was barely 16 and they never seem to trust me with anything even after they seemingly trusted me with an entire kingdom and judge me for everything that has to do with anything and my ex-girlfriend love spelled me for the wand and only just told me that last week~!” Ben gave a wide grin, while everyone else in the car stared at him with wide eyes.

“okay holy shit you win” Sammy stuttered and Harriet chuckled, Sammy sighing in relief as the car delved into laughter again. Jay let out a small sigh, leaning back in his seat and resting against Gil's shoulder slightly, he remembered the day, which was only last week,  when Mal had finally bit the bullet, and told Ben the real reason she had love spelled Ben, not because she had a crush on him, but because he was a stepping stone for the wand.

And he took it…surprisingly well, Carlos, Evie, and Jay had been there in moral support of both Ben and Mal and to apologize to Ben formally for helping Mal deceive him all those months ago.

It was a surprise to them but a “normal” reaction for Ben when he had just smiled, accepted their apology, and opened his arms for a hug. the four vks immediately went in for it, happy they didn’t lose the friend that made them realize they deserved love and safety.

The four vks still worked on being supportive of Ben and learning how to be better friends in an attempt to still make up for their wrongdoings to him, while Ben said it wasn’t necessary, the four still did so.

The only time they weren’t supportive was when Harry, Gil, or Jay (and sometimes Mal) dared Ben to do something that would probably kill him…like riding a skateboard off a roof into the deep end of a pool.

Jay blinked back into the present time and smiled as the Smee twins twisted around in their seats and gasped as Auradon’s shore came closer and closer, the golden bridge behind the limo de-materializing as it rolled onto Auradon soil.

“Welcome to Auradon” Ben hummed, smiling as the new vks gasped at the bright colors and the signs of life surrounding them, Harriet's eyes being locked onto the white and orange flowers the limo rolled by.

“it'll be another hour before we get back to the welcome area, so” you waved your hand in the view of the divider window “just figure out how to entertain yourselves” the limo chuckled a bit and delved into quiet conversation, the younger vks going back to the candy, with Harry and Evie keeping a close eye on them to make sure they didn’t eat too much.

-

The limo rolled to a stop in front of Auradon prep, the welcome party waving their flags and the band going crazy as the vks inside stared with wide eyes.

“it's not as crazy as last time, believe me” Harry chuckled, unbuckling his seat belt and moving towards the doors “there was like double the people and even louder music” Ben gave a sheepish smile at that, he might have gone a bit overboard with the original welcome party for the vks.

Harry stepped out first, holding the door open as Harriet and CJ climbed out after him. You joined Harry at his side after turning off the limo and wrapped your arm around his waist, grinning as CJ bounced over to your side and looked around wildly in excitement.

Gil and Jay helped the twins out of the car then went to get all the bags out of the trunk as two chauffeurs came to help, the twins clinging onto Harriet as they stared wide-eyed at the welcome crowd. Dizzy bounced on her heels as she grinned so wide it almost seemed that her cheeks were going to rip.

Ben stepped in front of the welcome crowd, waiting until the music stopped before flinging his arms wide open “welcome to Auradon! First things first, I want to say I wish to apologize for taking so long to get you here, but a formal apology can wait till later cuz I think we are all restless and just want to get moving, so on with the tour! The chauffeurs will take your bags to your rooms and you’ll have the next week to do whatever you want because school doesn’t start till the week after that! Let's go!”

Doug and Evie reunited and Dizzy trailed ahead of them, eyes wide with fascination and wonder as she took in the sight of the Auradon prep dorms.

The twins clung to Harriet's hands as they walked into the dorms, eyes widening as they saw the massive and lavishly decorated main foyer. Ben spun on his heel and threw his arms open again “so this is the dorm building, where those of you who will be attending Auradon prep will stay” Harriet raised her brow and looked down at the twins. “Auradon prep is a high school so the twins, unfortunately, won't be unable to attend until they are fourteen, but the middle school is connected to the high school so they’ll be staying here with everyone else, you’ll be living somewhere else though.” Harriet looked up at that.

“why meh?” she muttered, pursing her lips as Ben gave a sympathetic smile.

“well as you are over the age of 18, we’ve decided to have you attend one quarter here to start you off, then the rest of the first semester and the second semester in Auradon college. fully paid for by the way, none of it will be from your own pocket. then you’ll have full range to do whatever you wish in Auradon, whether it be a job or to continue in college.” Harriet pursed her lips again in thought, before nodded.

“sounds…reasonable” she muttered, smirking as CJ leaned on her shoulder, getting the attention of Ben.

“enough chit-chat, where’s our rooms?!” Ben smiled and shook his head, already expecting CJ’s impatience thanks to Harry's “warning” about it before they had gone to get the vks.

“Alright let's go, CJ, Dizzy, you two are rooming together” the two girls shared a look, CJ glancing away as Dizzy beamed at her. “Harriet you’ll be temporarily rooming with (y/n) until your housing is ready for you after your first quarter, and Sammy you’ll be rooming with the twins until we have the single room ready for you, it's still under refurbishment.”

The mentioned vks nodded a bit and followed Ben as he lead them to the upstairs dorms, where the girls stayed. You stepped in front of him and opened up a room with the number 221 on it.

Swinging it open, you motioned to CJ and Dizzy and nodded inside. The two girls stepped inside, CJ looking around wearily as Dizzy squealed and bounced on her heels.

Unlike Mal and Evie's room when they first arrived, it wasn’t decorated in pink and frills as it used to be. the walls were painted a light blue, and one side had a bed with an Ombre blue duvet with black and red sheets, the drapes a light silver. Next to the bed was a short and wide black dresser with silver handles, and a desk with a computer ready to use. The walls were covered in “pirate” décor, maps of the oceans, of neverland, a flag with skull and crossbones, a map of the world, and in the corner of the side of the room, was a painted ocean wave with a pirate ship just coasting atop of it. obviously, CJs side of the room.

The other side matched Dizzy, the bed was forest green with painted flowers decorating the duvet, shades of pink and green decorated pillows, and the drapes were paint-splattered. Next to the bed was a large dresser that was painted white and then splattered in paint, and a midsized desk covered in crafting items ready for Dizzy to use. Her side of the room was decorated with blank canvases ready for her use, finished paintings from you, Evie, and Mal, and hanging wall shelves completely filled with books ranging from geodes to art history.

“oh, my.GOOOOD!!” Dizzy screamed, running towards her bed and jumping onto it, twisting midair to land on her back “OH MY GOD ITS SO FLUFFY!!”

Evie covered her mouth to hide her huge grin as Dizzy cuddled into her bed, the younger teen looking up and inviting Evie to join her. Evie eagerly took the request and ran and jumped onto the bed next to Dizzy, who bounced as Evie landed.

Harry and Harriet smirked at each other as CJ stayed close to the doors, hesitant to enjoy her new room, she squeaked as Harry hoisted her into his arms and walked over to her bed “Harry put me down I swear to hades I’ll-“ she squeaked again as Harry tossed her onto the bed and laughed, CJ’s cheeks turning red as he just flopped on top of her to keep her on the bed “I SWEAR TO GOD ILL KILL YOU”

“do it then, no balls!” Harry cackled, yelping as CJ flipped him off of her and tackled him. “oh come on! Yeh can do better tha’n tha’!!” CJ growled again and attempted to get Harry into a headlock but he just slipped out of her grip and trapped her head with his hands, her arms suspended as they threaded through his arms. “gotcha~”

“Lemme go!” CJ screeched, which turned to a scream as Harry tossed her back onto her bed. She wiggled around a bit in an attempt to sit up and launch herself back at Harry but stopped midway “…” she let herself sink into the mattress, her ears turning pink as Harry and Harriet started to snicker at her “okay yeah this is comfortable”

Ben covered his smile with his hand and looked to Evie, who was busy giggling with Dizzy, and clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention “okay! That’s one out of three dorms! Let's continue, shall we? Then, lunchtime!” Gil gasped at the mention of lunch and started to pull Harry out of the room.

“Gil-dude-bro, okay im coming!” you laughed a bit as you watched Gil drag Harry back towards the stairs towards the twins and Sammy’s room. So food-driven that boy.

Doug, Evie, Jay, and Dizzy followed Ben as he walked out of the room and trailed after Harry and Gil. Harriet, CJ, the twins, and Sammy waited for you to start moving before they followed after Ben.

A few doors down from Jay and Carlos’ room, to which Jay unlocked and threw his jacket onto his bed since he was getting a bit too warm, was the smee boys' room. Ben unlocked it and let the boys inside, the twin's eyes going wide as they spotted the large twin-sized bunk bed with rustic painted dark oak wood and light blue sheets.

“woah!” they gasped, separating from Harriet and launching themselves at the bunk bed. “I call top!” Skipper yelled, kicking at Sterling as he pulled at Skipper's foot to prevent him from going up the ladder any further.

“no, I want top!”

Sammy ignored his squabbling brothers and walked over to his bed, sitting down on the soft sky-blue sheets that were balanced with red pillows. Sammy looked around with a small smile, the walls were painted with the colors of the sunrise, the bottom of the walls painted with curling waves. On the twin's side were wall bookshelves decorated with books and bottles with ships inside them, and on Sammy's side were maps and a tall bookshelf filled with books and random nick-nacks. Next to the twin's bed were two matching dressers painted white with blue drawers, one had Skipper's name painted in gold, the other with Sterling's name in gold.

Sammy looked to his right, nodding as he spotted a tall dresser painted a darker blue with his name painted in gold just above the first drawer.

“how do you like it?” Ben asked, his fingers spinning his class ring as the Smee boys looked at him. Sammy gave him a small smile and nod while the twins grinned and went back to fighting for the top bunk.

Harriet stepped next to Ben and gave him a look ‘I got this’ it said, she walked up to the twins and picked them up by their collars, both of them going limp as they looked up at Harriet.

“rock paper scissors, now” the twins glared at each other and immediately went at it “winner gets first pick, two outta three”

After a few moments of aggravated rock paper scissors, Sterling won out and raised his arms in victory “I win! Top bunk!” he scrambled up the ladder as Skipper pouted at him, crossing his arms.

“he won, get over it” Harriet snickered, patting Skippers back as he launched himself into the bottom bunk. “all right, im starving and I haven’t eaten breakfast, how bout we wrap up the dorm room tour and get food?” Gil pointed at Harriet and nodded.

“yes! Food, food sounds good!” Harriet snorted and rolled her eyes at Gil, the twins trailing after her as Ben turned on his heel and gestured down the hall.

“yes! Come on, last room!” the group of vks and two aks plus you traveled down the hall till you reached your room, which had been moved around a bit to make room for Harriet.

“Welcome to your temporary home” you smiled at her, swinging open your door and letting Harriet step inside, grinning as she let out a whistle. “like it?”

Harriet only nodded, moving further into the room and spinning on her heel to get a good look. Her eyes drifted to the king-sized bed that laid across from yours. The duvet was crimson with gold curling patterns with black sheets and pillows “you can take the sheets with you when you go for college if you want” Ben spoke up, stepping into the room a bit with a smile. Harriet looked at him and slowly nodded, walking over to her bed and pressing her hands into the sheets.

“soft” she muttered, sticking her hands in her pockets as Gil yelled from outside the room.

“food please!”

“Okay okay!” Ben laughed, biting his lip as he heard Evie, Harry, Jay, and Doug snicker at the food-driven vk “let's go get lunch”

The group cheered and made their way to the cafeteria, Dizzy squealing as she spotted Mal sitting at one of the tables “Mal!!” Mal looked up from her turkey sandwich, a grin spreading on her face as Dizzy raced toward her

“Dizzy! You made it!” Mal opened her arms and Dizzy slammed into her, wrapping her arms around Mal's neck “okay love the energy but you’re choking me!” Dizzy squeaked and pulled away, the smile not falling from her face “oh! Here, I got you something” Mal picked up a bowl, filled with two scoops of smooth vanilla ice cream “ice cream~ just for you” Dizzy gasped, going to grab it but Evie got to it first, giving Mal a look.

“food first, then dessert” Mal and Dizzy pouted at her but Dizzy followed you as you nodded at the lunch line.

“come on, it's not going to disappear in the time you get your food and eat.” Ben sat next to Mal as the others went to get their food, Carlos plopping on Mal's other side a moment later, his tray filled with food.

“Hey Ben, how’d pick up go? And the tour?” Carlos asked, Ben grinned wide, Mal and Carlos grinning back “im guessing it went really well then?” Ben nodded enthusiastically, crossing his arms on the table and leaning forward.

“really really well, we arrived and got all them in like, 10 minutes, there was some hesitance from the Smee twins but Harry talked to them and they hopped into the limo after that.” Carlos and Mal nodded at that.

“yeah, the twins, as far as I know,” Mal started, scratching her cheek as she looked at the new vks in the lunch line “the twins are really really attached to their dad, the next would be Harry, if the twins weren’t attached to Smee's hip they were hanging off Harry or following him around, he acted like he hated it but everyone could tell he liked his little ducklings” Carlos hid a smile behind his soda and nodded.

“yeah, it was kinda cute” Carlos looked back to the lunch line, seeing the twins cling to Harry as he filled their trays for them “sometimes you would just walk down the market and see one twin on his back and the other wrapped around his leg and he would just walk around as if they weren’t there, point it out and you’d lose an eye but” Carlos shrugged at the mention of Harry gouging someone's eye out for pointing out his “care” towards the twins.

Ben had gotten used to the odd humor and gory references that the vks used so he brushed off the mention of Harry's old violent tendencies.

“that is very cute” Ben chuckled, moving closer to Mal as Evie and Dizzy walked back over the table, Jay suddenly appearing next to Carlos and sitting at his side, the two boys fighting as Jay attempting to snatch one of Carlos’ fries.

There was hardly any room at the table for everybody, something which Gil and you noticed. You set down your tray next to Evie’s and rolled up our sleeves, walking over the adjacent table, which was thankfully empty, and started to push it to connect to the first table.

Gil joined you and picked up the table, helping you to connect the two tables. Ben grinned and  watched as the vks spread out a bit more across the two tables, you, Harry, and Gil sitting next to each other as usual. “thanks you two”

“No problem” you and Gil chirped back in unison, Gil digging into his side of deviled eggs as you picked at your (preferred lunch) and took a bite, happy to finally eat something after a long morning.

Ben couldn’t keep down the giddy feeling in his chest as he looked around at the table, the twins, Harriet, Sammy, and Dizzy, all here, finally in Auradon. He was getting closer to his dream of giving every single vk on the isle a proper chance to live free. “I want to say a toast” Ben grabbed the drink that Evie had gotten him and raised it, the vks plus you and Doug looking at him with raised brows “it's been over half a year since I promised you all that I would bring more vks over, and I apologize that it's taken this long for you to be here, but I promise now that I will do whatever it takes to give every child on the isle a real chance at freedom. And I want to say thank you for trusting me to bring you here.” The new vks followed the first six vks as they raised their drinks with Ben and grinned at him, you and Doug doing the same. “to the future, and its generations of villain kids”

Harriet bit down her smile as everyone clinked drinks “to the future!”

-end of part 4-

part 4~six more vks are finally in Auradon!!! happy times!! and hopefully more to come!!! hopefully i described the rooms and the situation for the new vks correctly, i think i did but idk.

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[alliluyevas]

@oysterish-sympathies this is a great question! The answer is complicated and depends partially on the time period and the individual family.

I’m putting this under a cut because it’s insanely long lol

Just some context introduction before I get into the actual doctrine on the subject: when Joseph Smith (and a select few other high ranking members of the Mormon Church) began the practice of Mormon polygamy in Nauvoo, Illinois, they did so in secret and this practice was not widely known in the broader church. Doctrine & Covenants 132 was the revelation regarding polygamy that Joseph Smith claimed to have received during this time period (in 1843), but again it wasn’t publicized until after his murder in 1844.

Some background on the composition of Joseph Smith’s revelations including D&C 132: these revelations were dictated by Smith, who seems to have been overall much more comfortable with oral as opposed to written communication, to a scribe (in the case of 132, it was his brother Hyrum). The revelations are spoken in the narrative voice of God, and the Mormon church party line is that God was speaking through Smith in his role as prophet.

The part of D&C 132 that is relevant to your question is towards the end where God/Joseph Smith addresses Emma Smith (his first/legal wife) by name and, through her, other first wives. After explicitly threatening Emma with eternal damnation if she doesn’t comply with polygamy a few times, the revelation introduces something called the Law of Sarah. Initially, this states that the husband must have the first wife’s consent to marry the second (or, presumably, further wives), much like the Biblical Sarah gave Abraham her consent to take Hagar as a second wife. However, then two paragraphs later the revelation completely backtracks on this presumably because while dictating this Smith realized he had accidentally implied Emma would have real veto power and he needed to give himself a loophole.Then, we get the Law of Sarah restated as only applying to first wives who accept that polygamy is God’s law, and that wives who deny this have no say and are the “transgressor” against God’s laws and their husband can override their wishes and marry whomever he wants. So basically if the first wife accepts the basic tenant of polygamy, she has say in who the plural wives might be, but she doesn’t get to have a say in whether there will be plural wives at all.

(Note: on the reality tv show Sister Wives, which portrays a modern Mormon polygamist family, they seem to have interpreted this theological doctrine to apply not just to the consent of the first wife but of all existing wives in the selection of subsequent wives, because when Kody wants to take Robyn as his fourth wife, they definitely portray this as something that he needs the collective approval of wives #1-3 for, removing the at-least-theoretically-privileged position of the first wife implied in the Law of Sarah. However, from my memory of my years-ago watch of Sister Wives, at least two of the three existing wives’s approval seems to be very unenthusiastic and conflicted. So like, in general whether you interpret this doctrine as applying to the first wife or to all existing wives, there’s a loophole written quite explicitly into the idea of the Law of Sarah and in general it is definitely a situation of de facto male authority)

Okay, let’s step away from the doctrine and into the actual practice of polygamy. Back in early days, as you’ll remember, polygamy is not yet publicly part of Mormon religious practice and Joseph Smith is a stealth polygamist. During this time period, he’s living with Emma and their young children in what externally appears to be a typical monogamous household, while secretly having a variety of plural wives who did not live with him. There is no shared household and, as far as we can tell, he did not father children with any of the plural wives. So there’s definitely a pretty strong delineation between Emma’s situation and the situation of the plural wives. However, I don’t think we can necessarily view this as deference to the first wife: while Emma’s situation and that of the plural wives were obviously very different, none of the women involved in this seem to have been exactly thrilled with the situation to say the least and there was clearly a lot of religious coercion (carrot and stick of salvation and damnation, promised by their prophet/husband) being used to get them to comply and go against what they had been taught their whole lives was the natural order of marriage. (There are also obviously some extremely troubling implications here regarding sexual consent, especially for the plural wives). Again, I think we’re very much looking at a situation where patriarchal and religious authority are being dual wielded by the men against the women in their own interest.

In later years, once the Mormon Church colonizes Utah and Brigham Young institutes polygamy as the official and open doctrine of Mormonism, the situation looks very different because nothing is secret anymore, polygamy is status quo, mixed households are the norm, and especially in later generations you’re looking at women who have been raised to believe that this way of life is both normal and the will of God. So you’re not going to see as much pushback from either first wives or potential plural wives as you did in Joseph Smith’s period, because they’re not being completely blindsided by something that goes against their sense of morality and social norms. I don’t think that necessarily means that later polygamy was any better for women, it’s just that they were less likely to express open dissent and that the exercise of religious coercion came more in terms of lifelong indoctrination than a sudden onslaught meant to convert them to this new system of marriage. I also want to point out that I’m not saying that every 19th century Mormon polygamist was abusive or coercive towards his wives or that every plural wife was clearly desperately unhappy. I just think that those are the roots of the doctrine and that it’s a system rooted in an absolutist sense of male authority with a high potential for mistreatment.

Once polygamy has been established as the norm, I wanted to get more into your question of hierarchy among wives in terms of how polygamy was practiced. One point I’d like to make: the majority of Mormon polygamists had only two wives. Church doctrine taught that you needed to embrace polygamy in order to be exalted in heaven, but for logistical and financial reasons, having more than two wives was out of reach for most men (they also may have viewed it as emotionally overly complicated, I’m sure). It’s really only the upper echelons of church leadership that you’re seeing with wife numbers in the double digits. So obviously the dynamics in a household that has Husband, Wife #1, and Wife #2 is going to be very different than a household with Brigham Young and thirty different women living under one roof, both in terms of how the wives interact with their husband and, perhaps more crucially for your question, how they interact with each other.

Typically, you might often see the first wife taking on a head-of-household role among the women, because she was the most established and also almost certainly the oldest. (While, again, really striking and disturbing age gaps were more common with church leadership, the first wife was more likely to be close in age to the husband, who would then continue to marry young women as he himself aged). The stereotype was that the first wife ran the household but the second wife was the husband’s favorite because she was younger and prettier, and I’m sure that was the case in a lot of families. (That also seems like it would breed extreme resentment on both parts, potentially). However, particularly as the number of wives goes up, you can also see other practical matters have effect in terms of who did what and who had what authority--a wife with ten kids, a wife with four kids, and a childless wife would have different positions and duties in the household. A wife who was viewed as intelligent or better educated might end up serving as schoolteacher for the family’s collective children.

In Brigham Young’s household, one of his wives, Zina Huntington Young, was seen as a figure of authority and admiration among the other women because she was very intelligent and had strong leadership skills, even though she wasn’t the oldest or had the most children or anything. Sometimes in bigger polygamist families the man almost becomes less important in determining who stands where, because there are so many women they kind of have their own community standards. Brigham Young didn’t decide his other wives would see Zina as a leader, they did. There are definitely situations where the husband’s actions directly affect relationships and power balance between wives, though. In 1863, 61-year-old Brigham Young married 24-year-old Amelia Folsom who was apparently extremely pretty and became the recipient of a lot of favoritism and special treatment from her husband, which seems to have pissed off the other wives to some degree because they felt Amelia’s presence and Brigham’s treatment of her was upending their normal household structure and elevating her above the others. So sexual favoritism on the part of the husband could also have an impact on wife power structure. (Interestingly, this seemed to sometimes brook more resentment than wives taking on more status within the family because they were older/more experienced or because they had a special skill, at least in Amelia’s case).

This is a long ass post, but I hope you/other people find it informative!

[keanureevesisbae]

The alluring charm of Henry Cavill - Chapter 4

Summary: Henry and Adelaide are on the road for some more challenges, some disgusting, some almost romantic. 

Henry Cavill x Adelaide Park (ofc)

Wordcount: 6k

Warnings: They’re eating weird things (no not each other), but it’s disgusting. I nearly had to vomit when I wrote it and you can thank me later for not including pictures of the certain cuisines they were eating. 

Masterlist // Previous chapter // Next chapter

Henry can’t say many positive things about ‘The Celebrity Project’, but the fact that they edited a very decent first episode in a matter of twenty four hours, so it could air, is very impressive. It covered the days up to the late night swim. Though the swim was pulled out of context and he hated that (one of the reasons actually he didn’t want to join: reality tv is never reality) the editors made it seem like they were a couple.

Henry realized that they left out the ‘dyslexia question’ he asked her about. Why would they want to do that? Did she specifically asked for them to keep that out or do they not want people to understand her a bit better? He did realize that he had a lot more understanding for her and the way she handles interviews.

Henry walks around the cottage, hoping to find Adelaide, because he saw the new challenge on the coffee table and he can’t to do it alone. He hears her humming from the bathroom. The door is wide open and he catches her standing on a little stool so she can actually see herself in the mirror. He can’t help but smile.

Adelaide owns a huge variety of cute pajamas and today she is wearing a pink short with little avocado’s on it, with a matching shirt. ‘What are you doing?’ he asks, leaning against the doorframe.

She looks up, dots of her night creme spread over her face and flashes him a smile. After they swam in the pool, he felt the desperate need to win slowly slipping through his fingers, as if the dream of becoming James Bond was like desert sand. What was happening to him? He turns in a pile of mush whenever Adelaide is around him.

Yesterday, when the first episode would air, all the duos made dinner with each other and watched the episode together. While they were making dinner, he kept holding himself back, to not pull everything from Adelaide’s hands. It was ridiculous. He knows that she is a mature, independent woman and that she can totally manage.

‘Skin care,’ she says, as she massages in the creme. ‘What are you… here? Doing here?’

They have spend so much time together, that she grows more comfortable around him and of course she makes slip ups every now and then, but her cheeks don’t turn into a fiery red as they used to.

‘We have a challenge downstairs. Figured we should do that.’

‘Of course.’ Adelaide flicks off the light and together they walk down the stairs. She notices the stuff spread out on the table. The two empty wine glasses, the red wine that he got from the cellar and the cards to get to know one another. She takes a chip and plops on the couch. ‘What is it?’

‘Get to know cards,’ he says, trying to hide his wide smile, but he simply can’t. This is what he wanted. He wanted to get to know Adelaide and though they have become closer over the course of the days, she is a professional in not going too deep into her family life and her personal life in general. He sits close to her, her feet almost touching his thigh.

Yesterday, when they all were watching the first episode, she kicked off her sneakers and was almost hiding underneath a blanket. Her feet were warming underneath his leg. He didn’t think she noticed what she did, but as soon as she did, she started softly apologizing, but he simply shook his head and said it was okay. It was well hidden underneath the blanket and despite the warm weather, her feet were really cold.

Henry grabs her ankles and places her feet on his lap, after he poured in the wine in the glasses and gave her one. ‘Ready?’ he asks, placing his hand on her ankle.

‘I think I am.’ Adelaide looks right in his eyes, but he notices her lips pursed together.

‘If you don’t want to answer it, you don’t have to,’ he tells her. ‘Remember that, okay?’

‘Same goes…’ She carelessly gestures to him, but he got the message. Same goes for him.

‘What is your most unusual talent?’ he asks and he visibly sees her relax when she realizes that these are the types of questions. ‘Want to know mine?’ Maybe that’ll ease her mind even more if he starts.

‘Yes, please.’

‘I can do make a four leave clover with my tongue.’ He shows off the ridiculous thing and Adelaide places her hand in front of her mouth.

‘That’s so weird,’ she chuckles. ‘I can’t even do the roll thing with my tongue.’ She sticks out her tongue, almost looking crossed eyed as she tries to roll her tongue. A laugh leaves his lips. He likes it when she’s goofy with him, it shows him that she trusts him. ‘My unique talent is that I can hit a whistle tone.’ Knowing that he wants to hear it, she clears her throat, does some vocal exercises and goes from a pretty high note, all the way to a whistle tone.

‘Damn,’ he mutters out. ‘So I take it that you can sing too.’

She shrugs. ‘Hardly.’

‘Sing something for me,’ he says with a smile.

‘That wasn’t a question on the get to know me-cards.’ She takes the first one out of his hands and says: ‘Next one.’

He’ll get her to sing.

‘Next question,’ he says, getting another card of the deck. ‘Sing the first song that comes to mind.’ Henry can’t help but laugh, throwing his head back against the wall.

‘It does not say that,’ Adelaide says, snatching the card out of his hands. She frowns as she reads the question and she pouts as she realizes it does say exactly that. ‘This is just mean.’

‘I’ll go first,’ he says. The first song that comes to mind, after totally blanking for five whole seconds is the most ridiculous song he has ever thought of in his entire life and that is all thanks to his mom who played this non stop when he and his brothers were growing up.

Waterloo, I was defeated, you won the war

Waterloo, promise to love you for ever more

Henry doesn’t get further than two sentences, because he bursts out in laughter when he catches Adelaide’s eye, who is trying her hardest to not laugh at him. He never heard his voice this squeaky and shaky and hides his face in his hand. ‘I’m so sorry you had to listen to that.’

‘Why are you singing Waterloo by Abba? How is that the first song that comes to mind?’

‘It’s all my mothers fault. She used to listen to that song all the time.’

She simply cocks an eyebrow.

‘I blanked, okay and this was the first I could think of. You sing something now.’

Adelaide looks like she is trying to think of all different types of excuses, but knows deep down that she can’t get out of this.

You’re the only one that saves me when I’m alone

You’re the only love that I’ve ever known

But we turned into a flower that never grows

I was hiding like the moonlight that never shows

I should’ve told you that I loved you

One more time, one more time, one more time

She wasn’t looking at him when she sang, but after she said the last “one more time”, their eyes meet and her voice slowly fades out. She had a lovely tone, a warm, nearly hoarse singing voice.

He really does not want her to stop, but he can’t force Adelaide to sing more. The fact that she sang six beautiful sentences to him already, is something he should cherish. ‘Wow,’ he admits. ‘You have a beautiful voice.’

Adelaide doesn’t take the compliment. She simply gestures for the next question. He wants to overload her with compliments, about how she should record an album and he would buy it in a heartbeat, but he decides to listen to her and grab a new question.

‘What celebrity would you most want to sit next to on an airplane?’ he asks.

She smiles. ‘Easy: you.’

‘Me?’ Henry asks, placing his hand on his chest. ‘Why me?’

Adelaide simply shrugs, as a blush appears on her cheeks. ‘I like you.’

She likes him? The smile on his face, is inevitable.

‘But you can pick any celebrity you want,’ he says, ‘and you already know me.’

‘I know,’ she tells him, ‘but I’m not really looking to get to know someone new. I’d rather learn more about people that I already know.’

That is adorable, especially since it’s in the combination with her cheeks turning slightly pink.

‘Who would you like to sit next to on an airplane?’ she asks him.

‘You, of course. We could play some of these cards. You could maybe sing for me.’

‘Shut up,’ she chuckles.

He grins, probably like an idiot and the hidden camera’s here most likely pick up on it. ‘What’s a weird family tradition you have?’

‘Can we skip that one?’ she asks in tiny font. ‘Please?’

He actually doesn’t want to, but he simply nods, taking a sip of his wine. ‘If you joined the circus, what would your act be? I’d be a lion tamer for sure,’ he chuckles. ‘I’d love that.’

‘I could see that happen,’ she says. ‘Especially in a nice costume they always wear. I want to be one of those flexible people.’

‘A contortionist?’ he asks. ‘Why?’

‘That’s fun. Here, see this.’ She straightens her arm in front of her, holding her hand as if she’s telling you non verbally to stop. She turns her hand ninety degrees to the side, another ninety, another ninety, before she actually turned her hand a full 360 degrees.

‘No, no, no,’ he says, as he sees her hand totally twist back to normal. He takes her wrist in his hand, checking her elbow and her shoulder, to see if it’s all okay. ‘That can’t be normal.’

‘Little trick I taught myself back in the day and if you keep it up, you can still do it when you’re older.’ She nods, emphasizing that that it’s true.

‘I believe you.’ He grabs the next question card. ‘Think of a warning label for the other person.’

‘Yours would say…’ Adelaide purses her lips and says: ‘Something about: beware of the charms, because you are by far the most charming man I’ve ever met.’

Henry shouldn’t be blushing, but on the other hand: this is the nicest compliment he has gotten in years. The host of that stupid trivia game kept calling him ‘Handsome Henry with a Brain’ and it annoyed the shit out of him. Being called charming, especially by someone like Adelaide, is something he never knew he wanted this much. ‘That’s sweet, Addy. Yours would be: will kill you with her adorableness.’

She hides her face in her hands, but he is thankful that she does that, since it gives him a moment to hide his own blush.

He finds out a lot about her. She’d rather have teeth as hair, then hair as her teeth (something that he completely agrees with). If she could talk to an animal, she’d talk to a koala because they are so cute, while he would want to talk to Kal. She can’t reach her nose with her tongue, while he on the other hand can.

But he also discovers that she really must have a low tolerance when it comes to alcohol, because after just finishing her glass, she is becoming more and more tired and he watches her drifting off to sleep. He slowly lifts up her legs, so he can stand up. Her neck is craned in a weird position, and he doesn’t want her to feel that in the morning. He lifts her up and carries her to bed. When he placed her on the mattress, she immediately turns around to hug the pillows.

Henry checks the locks and turns off the lights, before he steps into the bed as well. When the room goes completely dark, he hears the soft breathing of Adelaide and he feels her fingers against his arm. He looks to the side, only to see that she is still asleep.

He smiles, before closing his eyes to fall asleep.

◎ ◎ ◎

The next morning Henry wakes up because Adelaide nudges him awake. She is all dressed  up and ready for the day. He stares at her in a lovely white dress, her short light brown hair dancing around her face. The smile on her face is infectious, because he feels one appear on his own face. ‘Good morning,’ she says. ‘I made you breakfast.’

‘You did?’ Henry sits up straight, rubs his face and says: ‘I usually make you breakfast.’

Adelaide nods. ‘I know, but I wanted to do something for you. You know… In return.’ She tells him to hurry and she nearly skips out of the room. He quickly puts on some sweatpants and socks, checking his phone in the process.

Richard: You are definitely doing everything you can to win, now do you?

Why is his agent messaging him? He barely messages him.

Henry: What do you mean?

Richard: I mean, I know you. We’ve been working together for years now. You don’t actually like her now, do you?

Henry: Well, I enjoy her company. I mean, it’s best for me to make most out of it, right?

Richard: That’s not an answer to my question. You like her?

Henry: I like being around her, yes.

Richard: Don’t go catching feelings for her now, Cavill. When you lose, who are you going to blame then?

Henry stares at his phone. Shouldn’t he catch feelings for her? Is that even what he is doing? He meant what he told his agent: he enjoys her company and likes being around her.

But he also likes her. A lot.

He quickly walks downstairs and when he is in the living room, he discovers that Adelaide knows exactly about his preferences. She made orange juice and four sandwiches for him, while she only made two for herself. He also spots some boiled eggs in the middle, some watermelon and even tofu.

‘Wow,’ he says, impressed by the amount of food and how well she actually knows him. This isn’t helping for the not catching feelings, if he even wanted to do that. ‘Really?’

‘Really.’

He takes a seat, just like her and takes a sip of the orange juice. It’s weird, but everything always tastes better when it’s made by someone else. They eat, Henry in his own tempo, while she goes in a much slower pace, as usual.

They have established a certain routine already, a morning routine, a night routine—it’s all so domestic and it isn’t even awkward or forced.

‘I read the next challenge and we’re going on a…’ Her voice drifts off and he sees her frown, as she is moving her lips, syllable for syllable. ‘Sca-ven-ger hunt.’

Henry smiles, proud of how quickly she does it. It usually takes a bit more time. ‘That sounds like fun.’

‘Probably with a twist again,’ she says, taking a bite of tofu.

He can’t help but be amused with how she eats, almost like a hamster. She pouts her lips as she chews, staring into the space. He wonders why she eats so slowly, why she doesn’t even talk his ear off?

Was he disappointed yesterday that she did’t answer that question about a weird family tradition? Sure, but he told her himself that if she doesn’t want to answer anything, she doesn’t need to. And she felt safe enough to tell him her boundaries.

After they ate, he reads the card and he quickly gets ready for real this time. When he comes back, he sees her sitting on the couch, her posture amazing as always. He grabs the keys and he sees she actually has a brown paper bag filled with goods as she stands up.

For a few moments Henry thinks that they are just going on a trip together, no camera’s, just them. He can see it happen: going to the beach, with the snacks Adelaide packed and just enjoying the sun.

But when he opens the car door for her and sees not only the carseat and the camera’s, he realizes again he is on the Celebrity Project.

◎ ◎ ◎

They have to drive for at least an hour and it’s actually Adelaide that turns on the radio. They hear One Direction’s Best Song Ever and Henry doesn’t want to admit that he knows this song by heart and that it’s his favorite song by the former band.

He doesn’t want to sing it, but then he hears Adelaide’s beautiful voice sing: ‘Maybe it’s the way she walked.’

He can’t help but to growl out: ‘Wow!’

She opens her mouth to sing the second line, but the ‘wow’ stops her and she looks to the side. ‘Oh my, is Henry Cavill a Directioner?’

‘Please don’t call it that,’ he says, a blush appearing on his cheeks. Great, if they put this in the next episode (and they will, Henry knows for sure), the whole world will know that Henry Cavill is a Directioner.

‘This is cute,’ Adelaide laughs. ‘Tell me, who was your favorite.’

Knowing he can’t get out of this, he mumbles: ‘Harry.’

‘Figured.’

‘Yours?’

‘Niall Horan,’ she says. She places her hand on his forearm for a brief moment. ‘No need to blush, Henry. It’s quite cute.’

Adelaide continues to sing and Henry decides to just sing along, not caring anymore about his singing voice. They even sing a few ABBA songs and the song she actually sang yesterday, “I should’ve told you’’ by Fiji Blue. He had never heard of it, but he concludes that her voice is beyond beautiful and fits this type of song perfectly.

‘Our voices go well together,’ she admits, after their duet of ‘Beauty and the Beast’, the official version of Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson. ‘When you’re not singing ABBA songs, you have a nice voice.’

He pinches her in her side, causing her to squeal. ‘Careful now, Addy,’ he chuckles. ‘Otherwise I have to push you off your carseat.’

‘Mean,’ she says, rolling her eyes. ‘Maybe after this, you could participate in those shows where celebrities who aren’t singers, go on and sing songs for charity as well.’

‘Only if you are my partner,’ he says. ‘I don’t want to go alone.’

Adelaide frowns, before she nods. ‘We do work good together, don’t we?’

‘We do,’ he says.

She stares at him for a few seconds, he can see it out of the corners of his eyes. ‘Can we stop for a minute?’ she asks, pointing to a gas station. ‘I have to pee.’

He gets off the lane, parks the car and together they walk inside. A crew follows them, after they parked the car that drove behind them the entire time. Adelaide rushes to the bathroom and he goes on and buys some bottles of water and an iced coffee. The man behind the counter is pretty nice and they talk a bit about the show, but when Adelaide walks out of the bathroom, shaking her hands dry, the man completely ignores Henry. ‘Miss Adelaide Park?’ The man gets away from behind the counter, brings some paper towels for Adelaide and hands them to her. ‘I’m big fan.’

‘Oh,’ she says with a smile, drying her hands. ‘That’s sweet.’

‘I loved all your movies, but ‘Remembering High School.’ He kisses his fingers. ‘Amazing. I watch over and over.’

Henry leans against the counter and he can’t help but smile.

‘Really? What is your… favorite episode?’

‘Where you graduate. Very sweet, very beautiful and emotional. Me and girlfriend cry a lot about it.’

He wants to take a picture with Adelaide and Henry offers to take it for them. Adelaide actually stands on her tippy toes, to look a bit taller. The man is very happy to have met Adelaide and she even records a little video for the man’s girlfriend, something that Henry never thought of doing.

He did see some fan videos on YouTube of Adelaide with fans and it always warmed his heart. The way she takes her time.

Adelaide manages to tear herself away from the man and the two of them get back in the car. ‘Did he even notice that you were Superman?’ she asks.

He shakes his head. ‘I mean, I’m pretty famous, but nowhere near as famous as you are.’

‘That’s not true,’ she says, as he drives off.

For a few seconds, he places his hand on her thigh. ‘It is, Addy and you can admit it. No need to be humble about that.’

◎ ◎ ◎

Their first challenge contains eating certain cuisines from all over the world and in order to win, both of them have to take a bite of every dish. Every person has one pass, but if they don’t use it, they get even extra points.

Henry rubs his hands together, because he likes to broaden his horizon when it comes to food and this seems like an easy challenge to win. He isn’t afraid of trying out new things and he wonders what Adelaide is like with different types of cuisines.

Adelaide takes off the silver cover off the food. Instead of water running out of his mouth in anticipation, Henry nearly gags when his eyes fall on the first dish. ‘What on earth is that?’ he asks, placing his hand over his mouth.

Adelaide grabs the card and without looking away from the dish, she hands him the piece of paper says: ‘I think it’s on here. It looks like a spider.’

Henry clears his throat, before he reads the card. ‘It’s a fried tarantula and it originated from Colombia. It’s crispy on the outside, and gooey on the inside.’

Adelaide grabs one by its paw and holds it front of her, inspecting the snack.

‘They also say it tastes a bit like chicken,’ he continues. ‘Can I use my pass already? Because this is— Oh fuck, Adelaide, what are you doing?’

Full of disgust he stares at the petite woman in front of him, who actually took a bite of the most unappetizing looking snack ever. Did she actually just do that or is he hallucinating? He sure hopes it’s the latter.

However she looks up and says: ‘It does taste like chicken. You want to have a bite? It’s really not that bad.’

‘Did you actually just eat that?’ he asks, just in case he was hallucinating.

‘Yes.’ She frowns, staring at him with the biggest: are you fucking blind-face he has ever encountered in his entire life. ‘Come on, don’t be a big fat baby.’ She holds the disgusting looking fried tarantula in front of his mouth. ‘Henry, take a bite.’

‘Is it really not that bad?’ he says, as he feels vomit come up. He can’t seem to do it, because it’s… so disgusting.

‘It’s actually pretty good.’

With a scrunched up face, he opens his mouth, closes it again when he thinks about it for a while and shakes his head. ‘I can’t do it. This is disgusting.’

‘You already want to use your pass? What if the next thing is even more disgusting?’ She frowns. ‘I thought you wanted to win, Henry. Do you give up already?’

That is true. He wants to win and he keeps thinking about her holding him back, but now it’s the other way around. He holds her wrist and brings the disgusting looking snack to his mouth. Only Adelaide scares him by moving the tarantula in front of his mouth. Henry lets out a scream that is much higher than expected and he nearly tumbles backwards. She folds over as she laughs out loud. ‘You should’ve seen your face and what was that scream? You sounded like al little girl.’

‘That is really mean,’ he says, his heart pounding painfully in his throat. He watches as Adelaide places the thing on the tray again and wipes away the tears in her eyes. ‘I can’t believe you did that.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ she laughs, but she doesn’t mean it at all. ‘But I saw my moment and took it. You can’t blame me.’

He chuckles softly, because it was pretty funny and he would’ve done it the exact same thing. It takes him a few seconds, but he quickly takes a bite and chews on it, trying not to taste it.

But Adelaide was right: it does taste like chicken.

The next thing, makes her clap her hands. ‘Beondegi,’ she says with a chuckle.

‘You know this dish?’ he asks, looking at the most disgusting pile of silkworms on the plate.

‘My mom made this once.’ Her expressions falters a bit, but before he can comment on that, she says: ‘It’s not that bad, but not great either. It reminded her of home, so that’s why we ate it.’ She grabs a tiny skewer and sticks one on it, before she eats it.

‘You know no fear, now do you?’ he says, a smile appearing on his face, because he is in fact proud of her. ‘How are you such a dare devil?’

‘I can eat everything,’ Adelaide says, simply shrugging. ‘Come on, eat it.’ She sticks another one on the skewer and holds it near his lips. ‘I won’t scare you this time, I promise you.’

He takes a step closer to her and quickly eats it. Oh shit, it has no taste, but the texture makes him shiver. Henry actually doesn’t want to continue this, but she is right: he wants to win and besides, if she can eat it without blinking her eyes twice, so should he, right?

They continue to eat other disgusting things. Adelaide fed him grasshoppers that didn’t taste that bad, except for the surprising juice that came out of it. The frog legs were disgusting and they even ate some crocodile and whale. It is surprising that Adelaide continued to persuade him into eating all those disgusting things, but he has to really. She eats it without hesitation and since he doesn’t want to look like a wimp, he eats it too.

However, he does feel like he needs to throw up any second now.

They are at the last tray and Adelaide steps back when she lifts up the cover. ‘No, I’m not eating that,’ she says.

He stares at the very unappetizing snack on the tray, before he starts to laugh. ‘That’s escargot, Addy.’

‘I know that, but I’m not eating that.’

‘You ate all of that,’—he gestures at the rest of the table—‘but this you won’t eat? What is wrong with you?’

She gives him a push that brings herself out of balance and he has to catch her arms before she tumbles over. ‘Well, this is really disgusting. I mean— Henry, stop laughing.’

‘I can’t help it! You are being ridiculous.’

She grabs the tray and holds it in front of him. ‘Well, eat it first then.’

Adelaide Park, the sweet woman he has come to adore—oh no, is he falling for her?—is actually testing him right now? Is he seeing that correctly?

Henry doesn’t actually want to. ‘How about we use our pass?’

‘If you eat it,’ Adelaide says, ‘I’ll eat it too. Promise.’

He takes something off the plate and barely chews on it, before he eats it. ‘Disgusting,’ he gags.

‘You are a big baby,’ she chuckles, before she takes one off the plate and she eats it without a hitch, though she scrunches up her nose. ‘Strange texture.’

‘I can’t believe you,’ he chuckles. ‘You know no fear.’

◎ ◎ ◎

Their next challenge is not one, not two, but three dance classes. The first class is a kids dance class. henry has no idea what kind of song this is, but he feels it’s in the baby shark category. The young Italian kids continue to look over their shoulders, to stare at him, before looking over at Adelaide, who must be less intimidating to them.

After the most tiring hour of his life, Henry becomes the laughingstock of the training, because the little kids insist on him and Adelaide performing the dance. However Adelaide starts to laugh, causing the kids to burst into a fit of giggles, especially when she falls on the floor because of how hard she is laughing at his not so great performance.

After that, they have to attend a line dance class and somehow Henry is a whole lot better in that, than Adelaide is. He holds out his hand for her to take and hoists her right back up when she trips. He never would’ve thought that this was something that he would enjoy, but seeing the alternations between Adelaide’s frown and her infectious laugh, he has to admit that this is nice. The people who are teaching them the dance are friendly and someone even lends out his cowboy hat for Adelaide to wear, completing the look.

With a water bottle in their hands, they walk through the corridors to the next and thankfully final dancing class. ‘This is intense,’ Adelaide comments. ‘But you looked like quite the cowboy, mister Cavill.’

He can’t help but laugh. ‘And you fit right in with the kids. About the same height.’

She slaps his stomach and he chuckles. ‘What do you think is next?’ she asks.

‘I have no idea. Maybe tap?’

She bursts out in laughter. ‘I would pay money to see you tap dance.’

However it’s not tap dancing they are going to do (thankfully), but salsa dancing. The age ratio in this room is probably sixty plus, but these people know exactly how to move. One woman spots them and quickly stops the music. ‘Oh! Superman!’ she exclaims, but when she walks over to them, her eyes fall on Adelaide. ‘Oh my, Adelaide Park. Beautiful woman! So talented. You here for dance class?’

Adelaide nods.

The woman pulls Adelaide into a tight hug. ‘We watched your movies,’ she tells Adelaide, holding her upper arms. ‘You are fenomenale!’

Henry watches his partner starting to blush. ‘She is,’ he agrees.

‘My name is Elena.’ She ushers a man over and introduces him as her husband Gianluca. ‘I really look forward to teach you the basics.’

Elena helps him with the basics, while Gianluca is helping out Adelaide. He constantly hears Adelaide apologize for yet again stepping on the older man’s feet, but he doesn’t seem to care.

Salsa is a lot harder than he thought it would be, but Elena is an excellent teacher, who, with her sternness, teaches him exactly what to do. He continues to hear that he apparently has very stiff hips, while he genuinely thought he wasn’t that bad.

‘You know, how you do boom-boom?’ Elena says.

Boom-boom? ‘What?’

‘Sex!’

The entire room looks over to them and he notices Adelaide trying to hide a smile. Did Elena really have to yell that word out loud? ‘I do know my way around,’ he says, his throat tightening out of discomfort.

‘No hips forward and backwards, but do same thing, same power, but sideways.’

He doesn’t quite understand, but when Elena places her hands on his hips, forcing him to “sway” his hips sideways, he feels pretty uncomfortable, but when he looks over at Adelaide, those discomforts all seem to go away, when he notices her still watching and still smiling.

‘You finally get it,’ Elena says. ‘Gianluca! How did Adelaide do?’

‘Very good. Very talented.’

‘Superman,’ the older woman says, ‘you and Adelaide show us how you can do this.’

Henry’s heart starts to pound painfully fast and he figures the entire room can either see or hear it. Elena pats him on the back, as she tells him to stand in the middle of the dance room. Gianluca escorts Adelaide towards the middle. ‘Nervous?’ Elena asks him.

‘What? No, no, no,’ Henry quickly says, though it’s a lie. He is really nervous.

‘Pretty woman,’ Gianluca says. ‘Intimidating for you. I understand.’

Adelaide looks away, but he notices the smile on her face. She is amused. He holds out his hand after he wiped it dry on his jeans and she places her in his. He pulls her body closer to his, as he places his hand on her back. Her other hand she places on his bicep, as her eyes meet his.

‘Don’t just look,’ Elena says. ‘Dance!’

Dancing with her was easy and out of the corners of his eye he noticed that Adelaide had no problem dancing with Elena’s husband. She was actually a pretty good dancer from what he saw.

Just what he did with the older woman, he does that with Adelaide, but he feels the swaying of her hips underneath the palm of his hand. Henry swallows hard as he leans forward, to place his forehead against hers, her hot breath against his lips.

The older people that were all around them, dancing and laughing at them before, are now all clapping on the beat of the music, but Henry only has eyes for Adelaide Park. He feels her nails in his bicep and he has to swallow, since his throat became real dry all of the sudden.

‘Is this okay?’ he whispers, just in case, because he really doesn’t want to make her uncomfortable.

‘This is okay,’ she chuckles. ‘You’re a good dancer, Henry.’

Henry feels her body closely against his. Feeling her forehead against his, her lips so close to his… He wonders about her dating history. Her kiss on ‘Remembering High School was her first and after that she lived in the spotlights and she never dated. Well, she never publicly dated and not because she is undateable (she is a whole catch, if Henry is being completely honest), but he thinks that she has been single since the moment she came into the spotlight. Who does that many movies a year and has time to date?

However, when he thinks about it, she is becoming more and more touchy. And not in a weird, sexual harassment sort of way. More in a way as if she is looking for comfort. She slides her feet under his thigh, doesn’t pull back her legs when he places her ankles on his lap and during the night, her fingers keep grazing over his skin.

And now, her hand holds onto his tightly and he notices her fingertips disappear underneath the hem of his sleeve.

The music stops, but he does not let go. He can’t even let go. There are so many things that he want to do. Pull her even closer to his body if that’s possible, to push that strand of hair out of her face and let his thumb graze over the apple of her cheek.

Don’t go catching feelings for her now. When you lose, who are you going to blame then?

Henry clears his throat, hoping to get the words of his agent out of his head, but Adelaide must have interpreted differently, because she lets go of him, smiling quickly at him, before turning around and giving Elena a hug.

◎ ◎ ◎

Comments a week later when the episode airs:

Taglist: @thelastsock​ // @jolly-polly​ // @henrythickcavill​ // @maan24​ // @diegos-butt​ / @agniavateira​ // @onlyhenrys​ // @turkish276​ //

[sleevesareforlosers]

Yes do please elaborate on cherri and its relationship to gender and personhood! (if you want to!)

oh i SO do!! i gotta give some context on my regular cherri first bc i never go into his gender in fics bc it just like. has no way to come up and i think it helps give an insight into things (and its my blog and i want to /lh)

bc like. my regular cherri is a ‘man’ hes ‘male’ but in my universe(s) the desert has incredibly loose concepts of gender and nothing is enforced widely so theyre just kinda fun labels and they dont rlly mean anything. so cherri would be like, “cis” by modern standards (amab and identifies as “male”) but he rlly had the whole choice of genders in front of him and was like ‘yeah this is comfy’ hes cis in a very nonbinary way if that makes sense

but twitter cherri has a different backstory than regular cherri bc it didnt get raised around ghoul (thats its whole own thing and this post would be so long if i got into it now). it got raised around newsie (zie’s either a few years older or theyre twins i havent rlly decided yet, zie’s the older sibling regardless tho). which gave Cherri a different outlook on like? gender and stuff especially once childhood ended and it became a wavehead and newsie started up their (both of them) scheme as [redacted] and it was very much the two of them like, looking at the people that they worked with/around and sdkjfh basically pronouncing all of their gender vibes as rancid. like not outwardly. they dont talk abt gender. but internally they see ppl with their genders and gender presentations and were like ‘huh. that fuckin sucks lmao couldnt be me’

so cherri like. understands and identifies with masculinity but it does so in a way that it feels is wholly unique to itself (and its not gonna talk to anyone else to confirm or deny this) and on top of THAT its got weird relationships to personhood from like. being a wavehead

bc as much as the desert is like. ‘nondiscriminatory’ it does sure have a lot of weird prejudices abt waveheads (not so much other addicts, mostly just waveheads) and they dont get seen as like. people. theyre part of the scenery and theyre to be pitied and/or ridiculed but theyre not meant to be talked to or sympathized with and how much of that are You gonna put up with before deciding “okay fuck all of you. you dont want me to be a part of this? im not.”

so twitter cherri is very much isolated and dehumanized by the society around it and further has no real interest in getting along with people other than its sister (which was a thing even before the waveriding stuff) so. it/its cherri cola

(in more direct terms both twitterverse cherri and newsie are nonbinary, but theyre brother and sister, it/its for cherri and zie/hir for newsie)

[adragonhoardingstories]

Of Blood and Bonds - Chapter 4

@mystery-5-5 @synnesstra @thesunanditsangel

@abrx2002 @clumsy-owl-4178 @daminett4life @zalladane

@heaven428 @unmaskedagain

@dawnwave16 @kris-pines04 @emeraldpuffguide @hypnosharkrebeldreamer

@weird-pale-blonde-person

@ravennightingaleandavatempus

@persephonebutkore

@be-happy-every-day-please @blue-peach14 @annabellabrookes

@jaynintodd @st0rmy-w1th1n @bluerosette23 @ladysblackcat @18-fandoms-unite-08

@vixen-uchiha @novicevoice @jessigurl-design @tinyterror333

@rebecarojas07 @sparkle9510 @magicalfirebird

@mewwitch @shamefullove

@ravennightingaleandavatempus

@sassydepression @caffeinetheory

@reyna-avila-ramirez-alreanaldo

@krispydefendorpolice @mermaidofthelost @zalladane @drarryismylife101 @ladybug-182 @northernbluetongue @i-like-fairytail-and-stuff @iloontjeboontje @mjisntme

@dorkus-minimus @firesong323 @chocolatecatsthero @wargraymon0709 @bamagirlkrista

@moonlightstar64 @captain-lostkid @angelicbookfangirl @lunar-wolf-warrior @roseunivers999 @dur55 @emeraldpuffguide @evil-elf16 @crazylittlemunchkin @moonlightstar64 @semaalcocer-blog @skyel0ve

On that note, this book will contain swearing, mentions of rape and torture. I will try not be explicit but that's really relative. Read at your own risk. There will be warning before if I make a explicit scene so that you can skip it.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy and don't hunt me down for this.

___________________________________

"Colin this is Marinette, my sister, Marinette this is Colin." Damian introduced the redhead who seemed a bit bewildered but he recovered quickly. 

"Pleased to meet you ma'am. I didn't know that Damian had another sibling."

"Well neither did he before yesterday." Marinette laughed good-naturedly. "So you're his best friend." 

"Yep!" Damian didn't refute the statement. 

"So Miss Marinette where are you from?" 

"Just Marinette is fine Colin." 

"Bu-"

"Miss makes me feel old, you don't want that now, do you?" The boy looked scandalised. "I'm only about two years older than Damian anyways so if you want to call me by a nickname, that's fine too."

The boy grinned shyly. "Okay Marinette."

Damian looked distinctly surprised. "Well done, he still calls the others Mr, they are going to be annoyed by this development."

"Oh Damian." Marinette turned on her heels and winked at them, eyes full of mischief. "This is nothing. I got Alfred to  call me by just my first name?" 

Now, both boys looked very impressed but still disbelieving. "I'll believe it when I see it." The redhead claimed. Marinette laughed but said nothing more on the matter.

"So where are you bringing me?" 

"The Gotham's Botanical Garden. I think you'll enjoy it. However, I must warn you to stay clear of anything that may anger Poison Ivy. "

She took it in stride. "Of course, I'll ask before I do anything." 

"It'll be so fun. People don't talk about it because of Ivy but the gardens are so beautiful." Colin started ranting and Marinette hid a smile at the fond expression on her little brother's face. If one didn't know what to be looking for, they would miss it but Marinette had become very very attuned to emotions, especially after she gained the Miraculous and became Guardian. 

"-attract so many different kinds of butterflies."

"Huh." Marinette mused. "It'll be nice seeing some actual butterflies and not akumas for once."

"You mentioned akumas before too." Damian interrupted. "What are they?"

She seemed a little surprised. "Do you - do you really have no idea of what's going on in Paris?" 

Both of the boys shook their head. Even Colin looked curious now. 

"It's pretty surreal but, when I was twelve, this guy surfaced. He calls himself Hawkmoth. He sends out these magic butterflies called akumas to anyone who's experiencing any negative emotion to possess them. He makes a deal with the victims to give them powers for them to be able to take revenge upon whatever wrong happened to them and return he asks for the Miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"Who?" Colin interrupted and Marinette blinked. She had sounded so...old, so burdened as she spoke - so different from the bubbly macaroon making girl that Damian had learnt to know. 

"Right, context. After his first akuma, two heroes surfaced in Paris too. They're powered by the Miraculous too. Hawkmoth wants Ladybug's earrings and Chat Noir's ring. No one knows why exactly and well we're not interested to find out. More power in that madman's hands can only cause harm." 

"You mean to say." Damian's voice was flat. "That there has been a sociopathic terrorist in Paris for five years and no one knows of it. Why didn't the mayor call for the Justice League?"

Marinette's face darkened. It almost made both if the boys shudder and take a step back. 

"Oh but we did. More than once, more than ten times in fact. We only stopped whenthe Leaguers asked us to stop wasting their time with pranks."

"What?" Damian exploded. "They just disregarded all the damage that must have been caused, all the phone calls. They didn't even look into it."

Marinette placed a hand in his shoulder, urging her aura to seek his and calm him down. "The thing is one of Ladybug's powers is the Miraculous Cure. It fixes all the damage caused in the midst of battle."

"All the damage?" Even Damian didn't seem to believe it at that point. 

"I know it seems too good to be true." She fished out her phone and tried to look for a video. "And we understood that but everyone in Paris is pissed that they didn't even bother come verify our so called claims. I mean for God's sake, they have aliens, shapeshifters, magicians and even guys who are themselves powered by magical jewelry if I'm not wrong." 

Marinette huffed as she found a video. It was one of the first ones from the Ladyblog, when Alya was still a reliable reporter. She played the video. It was of The Mime and it showed how he cut the Eiffel Tower in two as well as the Miraculous Cure taking effect. 

The boys especially Damian seemed horrified and Marinette felt a little of guilt for subjecting them to that. 

But then Damian looked up at her and his lazarus green eyes of reminded her that he probably had seen worse. 

"That's…" He didn't seemed to know what to say. 

"Terrifying." Colin said. "Are they all really that strong?" Marinette winced, debating whether to tell them the truth of not. 

Damian seemed to sense that. "You can tell us." He prompted and she sighed, reaching out to ruffle his hair.

"That's actually one of the tamer villians." She admitted. "The Mime appeared during the first year of Hawkmoth's reign of terror. One of the worst akumas back then that come to mind is Syren. She flooded the entirety of Paris, about three quarter of the population died and were brought back by the cure." She took another look at them and decided that she wasn't going to be the cause of their further trauma. 

"Hey, this is it, right?" She promptly changed the subject, knowing very well that she hadn't been subtle at all. "Gotham Botanical Gardens." She beamed down at them. 

"Wow, it's beautiful." She took a moment to appreciate the sight. "Hey you're right, there's a lot of butterflies. Can we go there first?" She was basically bouncing as she turned to look at her brother and his best friend. 

Colin looked gleeful while Damian seemed just amused. "You act like a child." Her brother informed her. She stuck out her tongue at him. "And you speak like an old man but you don't see me complaining." 

"Fair enough." He chuckled. "What are you waiting for? Let's go then."

He couldn't help the full-blown smile appearing on his face as both his sister and his best friend literally ran to the butterflies and started gushing together. 

He started to make his way to them when someone appeared in front of him blocking his view. His usual scowl and glare were back on his face when he looked up. The boy seemed to recoil slightly at his look but it didn't deter him more that that. 

"I don't know who you are." His tone clearly gave away that he felt like he was the one in power here. Damian cursed the time when he used to act like that. He had learnt that lesson the hard way - had learnt not to underestimate an enemy. "But you're gonna stay away from my princess. She doesn't need children like you around." 

Damian took a second to analyze him. Blond Hair. Green eyes. He remembered  reading those as Marinette's triggers during his research. He had to clench his fists to stop himself from reaching out to his weapons.

"She can decide that for himself." He said instead and went to walk around him but the boy grabbed his shoulder. 

The next thing he knew he was standing behind his sister. "Adrien." She cut in smoothly. "I didn't expect to see you here, especially not without your bodyguard." Damian could see that she was tense, her back muscles were coiled as if she was ready for a fight. 

"Princess." He was beaming. "I snuck out." He said almost proudly. "We need to talk."

"Gotham isn't Paris." Her words seemed more like a warning rather than the facts they were which the blond idiot obviously didn't catch on. "And I want nothing to do with you, haven't for  three years. I owe you nothing. Give up."

That was a clear dismissal if Damian knew one. "Princess you need to listen to me-" He reached out to grab her hand but was cut off.

The younger boy had seen her lurking but she hadn't seemed a threat so he didn't know whether he was thankful or not that she had jumped in. 

Ivy spoke "The girl asked you to go away." Thankful, he finally decided.

The boy looked a little nervous - so he did have some braincells. "Ma'am, respectfully, this does not concern you." Well not enough it seemed. 

"Oh well, respectfully." Her plants towered behind them. "I don't give a damn. Stay away from them."

The plants grabbed him and threw him just outside the park boundaries. It seemed a little tame for the likes of Ivy but then again she always did go softer for children even if they were brats.

Damian watched as the boy scrambled back to his feet and glared in their direction before he stomped off. 

"Damian." His sister was clearly fretting over him, he would never admit it but it felt good, he felt loved. "Are you alright? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"I'm alright, I'm alright. I told you, I can take care of myself." 

She smiled, soft and relieved. "I don't doubt it but promise me if you see either him or Lila from yesterday, you need go the other way."

"Why?" He frowned. He had a doubt on blondie but what about that Lila girl? 

"And by Lila, do you mean the sausage haired girl?"

His sister cracked a grin at that thought she was still serious. "Yeah her."

"Why?" He repeated and she became grim at once. "Because he's sick in the head and she's a psychopath so please, promise me." She met his eyes and really, faced to that did Damian have any other choice but to accept?

She beamed at him as Colin approached them. "That was so cool. Are you okay Dames?" He turned to talk to his best friend and gave him a once over before nodding. 

"Thank you for stepping in." He heard his sister and turned around. Ivy may be one of the villains-turned-anti-hero but it didn't mean that people didn't need to be wary around her. What was Marinette thinking?

"Boys like him need to be taught a lesson before it's too late." Damian's mind immediately went to Harley's and Joker's relationship. 

"I don't think a lesson would do him any kind of good at this point but thank you." 

It was very apparent that her words made Ivy re-evaluate her. 

The woman gave a nod. "Don't mention it." She said nothing else but didn't move away. 

Marinette smiled. "By the way, I love that flower in your hair. That's a lily right?" 

"Yes." She said slowly but the spark in her eye showed that she was now interested. "You know flowers?" 

"I have a garden of my own." Marinette revealed. "I tried growing some lilies but they're no where as beautiful as this one." Marinette fished for her phone again and started showing her images. The older woman didn't say anything but Damian could see that she was interested and she seemed almost pleased.

Deeming it safe for now, he slowly turned to Colin who was staring at the scene with amazement. 

"Colin." His friend turned to him wide-eyed, "Your sister is amazing." 

He couldn't help but feel smug at the words. "Obviously." He said but then lowered his voice. "Tell me, how did she get to me so fast when she was watching butterflies with you." 

Colin sobered up at that. "She was talking to me when suddenly she just snapped her head up to look at you. I think that's when the boy came. She told me to stay there and started walking towards you. The thing is when the guy touched you, she was about half-way there, I didn't register but the next thing I knew she was standing between you and the blond." He shook his head. "There's something about her…it's not necessarily bad but she's just...different…special."

"I know what you mean." Damian agreed.

~

"-and then she spoke with Poison Ivy for one hour straight about plants and gardening. Ivy even gave us a personal tour of the botanical gardens." 

"Seriously? She usually takes forever to warm up to someone especially if the other sirens aren't with her."

"Marinette seems to be the exception." The youngest Wayne said as he but into another macaroon. Once again, he had been ambushed on his return home - this time however, it was only his brothers and that had demanded he tell them all about her. 

His felt his phone vibrate and knew it was the message he was awaiting. "She's busy during the day." He informed his brothers. "But she invited us for dinner."

His brothers looked at each other and grinned. Tommorow looked promising.