#i have referenced squirrel kings which are also a thing apparently

[bakawitch]

I wrote a silly little ramble for an au version of that one nutcracker au @ninjam117 expanded on in this post where Yamima and tkb get to lay hands on Atem before he could zap Malik away XD

I wrote this in a franzy, and I did not bother to clean it up, so it's not perfect, but at least I wrote something that I actually posted for once in awhile lol

Four Can Fit

"Mouserkin," Malik murmured, testing the odd name on his tongue as he kicked his feet over the armrest of the makeshift lilac throne Ryou gifted him.

"Bakura Mouserkin. That's your name?" He echoed back with a bewildered expression, casting a suspicious glance at the decrowned rat loitering behind his well cushioned chair.

"Yep," came the unceremonious response from above him in the same lethargic tone Malik has gotten used to from the rat- or, well, Bakura, he supposed.

"That makes no sense. You're a rat, why would you be called 'Mouserkin' of all things?"

An amused snort left Bakura's lips at Malik's very justifiable question, beryl-like eyes blinking open from behind the iridescent palmette. The ex-king lowered his arms down to the splat of the throne, hoisting himself over the very top in a way that his entire body weight was supported by the spacious back of the throne with his feet dangling beneath him. As intimidating rats could be, Malik found that despite their bravado, they were still quite small with the tendency to be adorably silly, even in this dream-like world.

"I'll have you know that I've had many squirrel siblings, and they were all called Mouserkin as well," Bakura announced with a self-assured leer as he hung suspended above Malik, an occasional swish of his hairless tail hinting at some kind of mischief in the making.

Malik could only blink at the oddly positioned man breaching his personal space in frustrated confusion.

"How is that even possible...?" He grunted, trying to logic his way through a feasible explanation of how a rat could have squirrel siblings, keeping the possibility of Bakura just outright lying to him for shits and giggles headfirst in his thought process.

"Y'see- when a mommy mouse is feeling especially promiscuous one night-"

"Eww- no! I don't want to hear that!" Malik shrieked, swiping at Bakura for even daring to make him think of such a revolting thought, incredibly missing the cocksure rat by a margin, causing said dethroned rodent to burst out in an uncontrollable cackle fit.

Malik glared at the manically giggling rat, internally cursing whichever fairy made him miss. Definitely Atem.

Luckily for Bakura, before Malik could unleash his full fury on him, a faint noise was heard from across the double door leading into Malik's audience room. Bakura's flat ears wiggled at the familiar sound, instantly cluing Malik in on the lovely source of the sound. The grand marble door's right wing slightly cracked open, revealing the reinstated Prince's kind face and ethereal eyes that always made Malik's heart skip a beat.

Bakura immediately pulled himself up from his previous position into a sitting one on top of the palmette, his ears fully stood up from the sight of Ryou's appearance alone. Malik couldn't blame him. Ryou tended to have that kind of effect on people when he walked into a room since his curse was broken. Though he could faintly recall the ex-Rat King looking at Ryou the same way when he saw him still as a Nutcracker and that ugly bat's influence was fully burst.

"Hi," Ryou whispered silently, slipping into the room quiet as a mouse, the heavy door falling mutely shut behind him.

"Hi," the rat murmured back with an almost shy giddiness and a small wave, which was fondly regarded by the Prince.

"Why are we whispering?" Malik grinned, speaking at the same volume as Ryou gracefully strode up to the pastel throne.

"I'm hiding," Ryou confessed with a guilty smile. "It turns out succession is quite exhausting. Room for one more?"

Malik's feet moved before he could will them to, readily making room for Ryou next to himself on the throne without the thought even fully entering his mind. Ryou gratefully beamed at him, making himself comfortable next to Malik on the soft cushioning.

"Thanks," he sighed, leaning into Malik's side, letting weariness take over him, and his limbs go lax.

"Which part about being a literal pince is exhausting exactly?" He asked teasingly as the Prince lay his heavy head on his shoulder, comfortably curling into him even more. Malik could feel the scarlet piercing gaze aimed at the two of them from above, but he decided to ignore it as it didn't feel malicous.

Ryou sighed, "All of it, I suppose? I have so many things to do now... The duties, the lessons... it is quite a lot to get reacquainted with. As a vagrant I definitely didn't have to deal with this much nonsense."

"You're literally the only one in line for the throne. Can't you just not do things you don't want to? It's not like anyone could do anything about it," Malik offered as he weaved his fingers into Ryou's long silky hair. Even its texture felt different from when Ryou was still the Nutcracker...

"As nice as that would be, I still need to fulfil my duties. If I am going to be crowned King soon, I need to be in the know-how about my kingdom and my responsibilities," Ryou explained, though he did not seem all too enthusiastic about it as he sunk deeper against Malik.

"Pff- I didn't do any of that when I overthrew your father," Bakura piped up for the first time since Ryou took a seat next to Malik, still sitting above them. "I just made the mice deal with that kind of busywork." Why he phrased it like something to be proud of was unclear, but in some superficial way, Malik found himself agreeing inwardly.

Ryou's nose scrunched up at the rat's words as he shifted his head to look up at him.

"That's exactly why I need to do this. Because you and your mice ruled the kingdom into the ground."

Bakura visibly flinched at Ryou's words, withdrawing from the conversation by letting his upper body drop down behind the throne, his legs keeping him anchored to the crest rail. His tail completely stilled, perhaps out of guilt, perhaps out of disgruntledness. The rat was more often than not hard to read.

It took Ryou a good couple of seconds to register what he had just said and its true weight. Penitent, the Prince's head sprung up from Malik's shoulder to seek Bakura out.

"I'm sorry, that cane out wrong... I'm just very tired, I didn't-"

"No, no, I did do all that," Bakura firmly cut him off before Ryou could finish, his voice small, almost quivering as he protested Ryou's tact in the matter.

Ryou apologetically sighed, reaching a hand up to gently grip the tip of Bakura's boots.

"Bakura... I didn't mean it like that... It wasn't all your fault. Zorc took advantage of you, you couldn't have-"

"But it was."

Malik couldn't help but feel incredibly awkward right then and there in that situation. The whole conquest and conquering subject was an incredibly touchy subject for both the Prince and the ex-Rat King, and Malik often witnessed them tiptoeing around the topic in conversation. Since he was never directly involved with the incident, it never really did feel appropriate to involve himself in these discussions. But on the other hand, the pain in Ryou's and Bakura's voices always affected him, made his heart ache. He really wanted them to just move past it, but he understood that it wasn't that simple, there was more nuance to it than a simple 'sorry' and 'I forgive you'.

Malik's inner musings were suddenly stalled by a determined huff from Ryou, seemingly all his tiredness leaving his crystalline eyes for the moment as his grip tightened on Bakura's boot.

"Listen to me, Bakura," Ryou started, determination ringing clear in his voice. "I know what you did. But I also know why you did it. I know it was very difficult for you with my father around... Malik told me about what he wanted to do with you."

If it was possible to grow stiffer beyond the level of tension already freezing Bakura's body, then it happened.

"You... know about the execution?" The rat almost rigidly croaked out from behind the throne.

"Sorry," Malik sheepishly whispered, feeling a little burdened for not keeping Bakura's secret.

"I... I know there wasn't anything either of us could have done", Ryou continued. "You we're ambushed, and my father and his soldiers never gave you a fighting chance! It was cruel and unjust, and you only did what you had to for survival's sake. Your heart is not fundamentally evil, and I know you would have never accepted Zorc's deal if it weren't for the dire situation.

"I know that if our roles had been reversed, I would have made very similar if not the same sacrifices and choices you made." The Prince solemnly spoke, his free hand coiling around Malik's for support.

"They were very bad choices," Bakura admitted, his tail anxiously shifting behind his frozen feet.

"At least you can admit they were bad," Malik grumbled under his breath.

"Malik's right. If you can admit they were bad choices, that's already one step towards betterment," the Prince affirmed, his clasp on the rat's feet tightening again.

Bakura stayed silent for a moment, maybe what they said helped a little, but knowing how stubborn he was, Malik had a feeling the discussion wasn't over yet.

As if on cue, Bakura spoke up again.

"But I don't regret them. I don't regret any of the choices I made," the rat growled, pulling his boot away from Ryou's hold and sitting up again, his distraught eyes betraying the anger in his tone.

"I don't regret killing your father," he snarled with furrowed brows.

"I don't think anyone would regret that," Ryou chimed in.

Seeing his point wasn't getting across, Bakura continued.

"I don't regret taking over your castle, I don't regret chasing away the faries, I don't regret taking all seven of your crowns-"

"They do look better on you," Ryou shrugged with a serene smile on his lips.

"I don't regret stealing Master Ginger's rod, I don't regret fighting with him, I don't regret going into the other world, and I don't regret stealing Malik!" He inished with a heaving chest, his face red from hardly breathing throughout his tirade.

A few moments of deafening silence ruled the room as Bakura waited with baited breath for the condemning words to come. But they never did. Instead, Malik's laugh rang across the bright room, which was soon joined by Ryou's chiming one.

"Bakura-" Malik managed to choke out between giggles before he could calm down and finish his sentence. "I don't think anyone here regrets you shrinking me, least of all me!"

"You really should have picked a better example to finish with..." The Prince chuckled in unison at Bakura's flustered expression.

Grumbling, Bakura could only hide his red face in his palms, claws digging into his ratty mane in frustration.

"I hate how little you two hate me for the things I've done..."

"We love you too," Ryou smiled, bidding at Bakura with an inviting finger. "Now stop excluding yourself and join us. This throne is big enough for three," he winked.

"But-"

"We can talk about the other things later, but I don't have the energy for that conversation right now," the Prince promised, leaving no more room for argument.

Peaking out from his hands, the rat tentatively stared at the two of them for some time, like a skittish rodent. It took Malik to provocatively poke his tongue out in a childish manner, for Bakura to finally hop down on to their lap, knocking the air out from both of the men sitting on the throne, but neither of them complained as Bakura flumped down on Ryou's lap extending his feet and tail onto Malik's thighs.

They sat like that in comfortable silence, forgetting all their troubles for the time being.

"Do you think we could make room for a fourth person on this throne?" Ryou mused with a giddy smile. "I invited Chuncho for the afternoon, but I don't really want to get up..."

"He's too tall. We'd have to make him our communal pillow for that to work." The outlander deduced, comfortably placing his arms over the defeated tyrant's legs. "I don't think he'd mind if Ryou asked."

"I could wrestle him down on to the throne for you if he refuses Ryou's princely orders." The rat confidently declared, seemingly over his episode now that he was with the two of them.

"He'd probably enjoy that," Ryou chuckled, contenly settling down next to his favourite people on the throne.

[pluckyredhead]

Daredevil 101: The King of Hell’s Kitchen

And we’re back! Last time, Matt beat the crap out of Fisk, unmasked in Josie’s, and declared himself the new Kingpin. We pick up a year later, with Ben explaining to an unseen companion at a diner just what’s been going on for the past twelve months. This is gonna be a long one, guys, sorry. (Bendis/Maleev, DD v2 #56-60.)

[Content Warning: There is a passing reference to Squirrel Hill, as in the Pittsburgh neighborhood - no connection to the recent tragedy there, as this comic is about 15 years old. I just didn’t want anyone blindsided.]

Basically, despite Matt unmasking in front of a room full of criminals, everyone is too terrified of him to actually admit that they saw his face, which means that he’s been able to keep up the double life game, even though fewer people than ever believe he’s not Daredevil anymore. This is all stuff Ben has gathered through hearsay, since Matt told him to stay away for his own protection and they haven’t spoken directly since before Josie’s.

Matt even had time to grow a horrible goatee!

It’s SO BAD, MATTHEW, WHY.

He also won his lawsuit against that one tabloid, meaning that currently, in the eyes of the court, Matt Murdock is not Daredevil. He donated the enormous amount of money he won to neighborhood charities. Please note this line: “See, Matt’s new girlfriend, Milla Donovan, actually works at the Hell’s Kitchen housing commission.” Just hold onto that for a minute.

Matt’s so popular, in fact, he’s approached to run for mayor!

“I am dizzy from you.” Wow, Franklin. WOW.

Not everyone is happy with Matt’s recent choices, though, as evidenced by an intervention from some of the local superheroes:

Do you think Luke got all the way to that fourth panel before realizing he was the only one here without an alliterative name and felt suddenly self-conscious? Do you think he had a split second of “Should I try to go by Carl Cage just for right now? Could I pull it off?”

Anyway one of the things I really love about Maleev’s art is the specificity of his...well, either photo referencing or just drawing from life. I could take you to the exact spot they’re standing in Bryant Park. (It’s a logical meeting place for this group, too, since it’s centrally located and walking distance from - but not inside - Hell’s Kitchen.)

Anyway, the others are pissed because Matt saying “Get out of Hell’s Kitchen!” to criminals just...made them do crime above 59th Street and below 34th, which was a pretty foregone conclusion. Matt’s unsympathetic:

Who wants to tell Matt that Hell’s Kitchen, Harlem, and the Village are all in Manhattan and his little plan here doesn’t make sense? Like, Matt and Luke covering neighborhoods while the other three, who can travel further and faster, cover the city as a whole, does make sense, but also “go do crime over there” doesn’t stop crime. As Peter points out, while wearing a very strange facial expression.

But Matt ignores the warnings, and ignores the growing tension in Hell’s Kitchen, and then, just a few days before Ben’s telling this story, he and Milla are attacked by like a hundred Yakuza assassins. He sends Milla running for safety...and hasn’t been seen since. And that’s all Ben knows.

And that’s when we see who he’s been talking to:

I want to clarify that Ben’s explanation of the past year of events has taken two full issues. That’s like five bucks worth of comics that is Ben mansplaining Milla’s own recent history to her, including explaining to her what her job is. They should have killed 616 Ben instead, Jesus.

Also, Milla and Matt are married! Hey, how about that?! She goes on to explain to a stunned Ben (who, I guess, didn’t ask her any questions before he started talking for two entire months holy shit Ben what is wrong with you) that they got married about four months ago, and we later learn that Milla’s the one who proposed. So she proposed to a man she’d known for eight months, who is...sort of a crime boss? An anti-crime boss? Anyway, keep that in your pocket for a bit.

(I’m sorry, I’m still so angry about these two issues. Anyone who wants to hear me rant about decompression, the ask box is open.)

Uh, Milla, that’s not a compliment. You want Matt to be in love with you as a human being, not the abstract concept of you as a conglomeration of eight million people and island real estate.

Anyway, Matt told Milla that if anything went wrong, she should contact Ben. She and Ben are both baffled by this, so Ben goes to see the actual person most likely to know where Matt is:

Take the money and just make shit up, Fogy! Anyway my poor beautiful tired boy has no idea where Matt is, and is also rather wounded that Matt had a contingency plan in place for Milla but a) not for Foggy and b) didn’t tell Foggy about it. Especially since the Yakuza are out in full force and Foggy has been sleeping in his office because he can’t safely leave it.

My heart. Foggy has never really gotten to grieve on page for Karen, given that he was in jail for her funeral, but he knew her as long as Matt did (technically slightly longer) and he loved her too.

Ben tracks Matt to the Night Nurse (who, remember, is not Claire Temple in the comics) and floats a new theory by him:

I’m very sorry Matt but i can’t take you seriously with that facial hair.

Matt stops crying long enough to deny it, but by now Ben knows he’s right:

I’m...pretty sure this is the first time someone has seriously said: “Matt, your behaviors are unhealthy and I’m concerned about your mental health.” And, like, itemized them (including explicitly saying that flaking on Foggy and leaving him in these crisis situations is cruel!). People have said “you’re crazy” or “you’re being a jerk” but it’s always been said in anger. This is uncompromising but compassionate. This is “a terrible thing happened to you and I know that you’re still in pain.” No wonder Matt cries.

And Matt’s not the only one who’s listening:

Wow, Foggy has a good memory. And the face of a man who is contextualizing the past few years of his life and doesn’t like what he sees.

(A+ for the frazzle of of hat hair, Maleev.)

Matt goes to a safehouse. Foggy goes...somewhere undetermined. A spa? Everyone gets naked:

No, seriously, I have no idea why everyone needed to be SO NAKED in this scene (although I’m not complaining). Anyway please enjoy FOGGY’S TATTOO (WHAT???) and also Matt calling him both “Franklin” and “good boy” in a single page.

If you want to, like, read the actual words and pay attention to plot, I GUESS, Matt promises to deal with the Yakuza situation. Foggy’s still not happy:

YES I HAD TO INCLUDE THIS DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD, IT’S IMPORTANT. Text if you can’t embiggen:

Matt: Are you breaking up with me?

Foggy: I don’t think you’ll let me.

Matt: I need you, Foggy. I’ll fix this. I’ll make it right.

Foggy: Yeah, okay. So just do what you have to do.

Matt: I need you to bring me something to wear.

Foggy: Something red?

Matt: It’s red?

Foggy: What?

Matt: I thought it was yellow.

Foggy: ...Are you serious?

Matt: No.

Foggy: That was pretty funny.

IT IS A VERY GOOD AND IMPORTANT EXCHANGE and it is only slightly marred by Milla draped in silent nakedness over Matt the whole time because...of reasons? Ugh.

Matt goes to get backup and finds himself being dragged for like the third time in 24 hours:

Haha! Pregnant women! So hysterical about being lied to by their friends and employers who they are risking their lives for! Hormones, fellas, amirite???! LOL.

(Seriously, fuck this shit.)

Anyway. Main Yakuza Dude Whose Name I Forget is still pretty confident about moving on Hell’s Kitchen now that Matt’s out of the picture:

Oh man, sorry about your life, Main Yakuza Dude!

“Are you guys sure you want me to do this pose? It feels more ‘boy band’ than ‘badass.’“

“Yeah, Luke, definitely!"

“Yeah? I don’t know, I kind of feel like...”

“No, dude, it works, it looks totally cool, I promise!”

They beat up the Yakuza. Meanwhile, Foggy joins Milla at the safehouse:

Why is Milla still in her underwear???????????????? #cancelmen

When Matt returns to the safehouse after defeating the Yakuza, Foggy is gone, and Milla is finally dressed...and very unhappy. She tells him what Foggy told her:

Here are the things that jump out at me about this page:

1. Milla says “this Karen Page person,” which implies that she has rarely or never heard Karen mentioned before. Considering that Matt (and Foggy!) knew Karen for, as Ben pointed out, almost all of his adult life, and that she was intrinsically tied not just to Matt (and Foggy!) but Daredevil and Nelson and Murdock, this is stunning. How do you spend a year with your wife and almost never mention someone you were intimately close to for at least a decade? I know Matt is secretive by nature, but this makes me think that Matt and Milla essentially never had any real or deep communication. Which, honestly, checks out.

2. We don’t see the conversation between Milla and Foggy. Theoretically, he could have said “LOLOLOL MATT NEVER LOVED YOU HE STILL LOVES MY DEAD FRIEND SUCK IT” but that seems...out of character, to say the least. I suspect, given how confused and distressed Milla is, that he said something more like “I think the reason Matt is acting like this is because he is still processing his trauma over the death of someone he loved very much.” Which shouldn’t be a surprise to Milla, considering that one of the very first things Matt told her was “Two women I loved have been murdered.” But apparently this is a great betrayal somehow??? Because:

And this is why I just can’t with Milla. So much of what doesn’t work with her character, like the thin personality and the helplessness and the fact that she’s IN HER UNDERWEAR ALL THE TIME FOR NO REASON, is because of sexist writing and drawing, and I’m not laying that at her feet. And I’ll be the first person to declare that Matt Murdock is a shitty boyfriend/partner and has been to literally every single woman he’s dated.

But the compassionate response to “the person I love is having a nervous breakdown because he lost someone he cared about” is not to scream “SHUT UP!!!” and accuse him of lying. I’m not married but I’m preeeeeetty sure the vows don’t include “I swear that I definitely never loved anyone else and if I did, I don’t love them anymore.” Matt broke no promises here (for once!) and, as I’ve said before, Milla went on two highly dangerous dates with Matt Murdock and then he declared himself Kingpin and then she proposed. She had all the evidence she needed that life with Matt is dangerous, bizarre, and full of ethical pitfalls and the ghosts of murdered girlfriends, and as an educated, intelligent adult woman in charge of her own business, she decided to sign up. This one is absolutely not on Matt and it pisses me off that it’s treated like it is.

Anyway. *breathes*

Next up: Black Widow returns!