#i love writing mopey arthur

[my-funky-little-cowboy]

Has anyone brought up what Arthur’s reaction would be when his s/o calls him Artie for the first time? I’m curious as to how he’d react.

Aww, I haven't gotten this yet. I only know one other person who has written something like this, and honestly I cried. @squidproquoclarice did that to me, and I think they agreed on Art. If you're not reading Sunrise you may want to. (Don't be put off by the word count, 100% worth it)

I went with gender neutral pronouns.

Arthur sighed, rolling over on the cot. The camp was silent, the sun was still below the horizon but the first rays of morning light were breaking over the horizon. Sleep had evaded him for the third night, he swung his feet over the side of the cot, pushing himself to a stand and trudging over to start the coffee, if for no one else but himself.

He placed the lid back on the percolator and wandered over to grab some more wood for the fire. Three days, they should be back by now. What could be keeping them? Why did Dutch need you to go with him? Both he and John had been quiet when Arthur asked about the outing. It didn't sit well with Arthur, what were they doing that he wasn't allowed to know? Hosea had been no help, he had conferred with him shortly after you rode out. The only advice he could offer was to not worry, that Dutch and John would keep you safe.

The smell of coffee hit his nose as he placed the new wood on the fire, the sap crackling as the fire licked the freshly cut wood. He pulled his cup from his satchel, pouring himself a generous cup of coffee and turned toward the rising sun, walking to find a quiet place to sit and write in his journal. Take his mind off the time and how each hour you hadn't returned made him feel more restless.

The sun had pushed over the horizon and the others in camp had begun to stir as Arthur drew. He heard the soft footsteps approach and he looked up to see Tilly walking toward him, coffee in hand. She sat down quietly next to him, without saying anything, ge felt her there but let the comfortable silence settle between them. Finishing his drawing and closing his journal, he turned to her. Her face feigned innocence as she watched him over her cup of coffee.

"Morning, Ms. Tilly. How's ya coffee?" He smiled hollowly at her, she wasn't fooled.

"You know, I can always tell when you make it. You're the only one who makes it strong. Did you sleep at all last night? You look like shit. You worried about y/n?" Tilly's eyes searched his face. Arthur sighed, taking a swig from his own cup, which was now cold.

"I just wish Dutch woulda told me what they was up to, I know y/n can take care of themselves, but it's the not knowin." His face showed just how tired he was, and Tilly moved closer.

"Arthur, you think y/n would be okay with what you're doing to yourself?" He yawned quietly. "Go get yourself some sleep, I bet they will all be back today." She grabbed the coffee from his hand, pouring it into the dirt between them. "Now if you don't git I'll send Ms. Grimshaw your way. Go get some sleep, and before you begin, ain't nothing around camp that needs doing that we can't get one of the other men to help with." Arthur opened his mouth to argue, but thought better of it. Pushing himself to his feet before offering a hand to Tilly, pulling her effortlessly to her feet. She smiled and bowed her head. "You always was the perfect gentleman, y/n is lucky to have you."

"Don't know about that Ms. Jackson." Arthur scoffed as the young woman walked away. He trusged heavily back to his tent, his body felt heavy as he sat on the edge of his cot. He really was exhausted, he laid back his head hitting the cot as he laid with his eyes closed. The sound of Javier's guitar drifted into his tent lulling him to sleep as the sounds of the camp buzzed around him.

"Arthur. Arthur, wake up. What are you doing, Artie, it's so late!" Your voice drifted through the sleep. /Was he dreaming? No, your warmth next to him, your touch on his face was real./

He opened his eyes, the late afternoon sun shone harshly through the flap of his tent, backlighting you and obscuring your features. He reached his hand up, holding yours to his face.

"Did...did you call me Artie?" His voice was husky with sleep and you blushed, you never had caught him sleeping before he was usually the one who woke you. His rough hand gently brushing your hair from your face before he planted a feather kiss on your forehead. You leaned in close, whispering before kissing him hungrily on the lips.

"I did, what are you gonna do about it?" You felt his arms snake around your neck and waist, pulling you on top of him and breaking the kiss long enough to growl.

"Guess I'm gonna show you how much I appreciate it."

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

Hey, have you ever tried writing something about George and Merlin friendship? Normally people describe their relationship as mere fellow servants, with some hints of annoyance but reading your works in which they work together got me thinking, Merlin is a sweetheart and Goerge doesn't seem that bad, so, why not make them friends? Also, it woule be hilarious if Arthur being the lovesick fool he is misunderstands their frienships and think they were courting or that there was something between them XD god I wish to see their reactions!

(This is #28 on This List)

I can not describe to you how much I love this Andromeda, thank you so much!!

George is so like... blank-faced and stoic unless he's making an effort to be likeable and amusing (he misses the mark a bit but we love him anyway), but he's also a very good servant. Which means he's very observant, so he figures out Merlin has magic like two months in, and just keeps it to himself because it's none of his business, and he doesn't seem like he's any danger to anyone. Of course he tells Merlin, and it doesn’t matter how much Merlin may have disliked, or just been weirded out by him before, we all know how attached baby boy becomes to people who know about his magic and DON’T try to kill him and DON’T think he’s a monster.

So they become besties, Merlin is always trying to get George to act out and have fun and George is always on Merlin's arse about being more careful, both with his magic and just in general. Then Arthur "introduces them" like they haven't been working in the same building and been friends for years, and they just go along with it, and then Arthur gets all mopey because he's all "I introduced the man I'm in love with to the man he's now courting. FFS" because he's a dumbass. All the while Merlin is complaining because "It's not fair that Arthur doesn't like you, I think you're super cool and I love you!" and George is all "*sigh* I love you too, Merlin, though I don't think it's that he dislikes me, he's just jealous is all." and Merlin is "Wdym?" And George stares at him like he's an idiot until he figures it out.

George is the well put together, regal looking cat, and Merlin is the bouncy fluffy puppy that's always jumping circles around him and trying to get him to play. It's precious, and whilst no one quite understand how they became friends, they all also thinks it's weirdly sweet.

~

Anyway this is incredible and I love it, thank you <3

[vegalocity]

Angst 27, with Macaque and Bai He hanging out in Lady Bone Demon's prison

Dialogue meme

27. “What happened to their happily ever after?” “Not all love stories get a happily ever after, sometimes it’s just once upon a time.”

How dare you make me write macaque with any redeeming attributes

--

There wasn’t much to do in the void, though Bai He would say that she preferred it over being puppeted around by the Lady Bone Demon, so she wasn’t going to complain.

That said, it was a bit boring. There were only a couple of other people trapped here, and three out of the four of them knew her as nothing but a vessel of something terrible. It was obvious that she was just the carrier of an otherworldly force, but that was difficult to navigate against the trepidation the spiders all seemed to treat her with.

The smart one was the only one of the three of them that actively tried to fight that survival instinct, telling her directly that of course they all knew, intellectually, that she was no threat, he was simply the only one who was intelligent enough for that to mean much of anything; but even then he was clearly on edge and prone to flinch whenever she was around, still bracing for the impact that sent them there in the first place.

So naturally she had no one else to chip away at the boredom with other than the Monkey.

The Six Eared Macaque wasn’t much for conversation, but she wore him down eventually. If it would shut her up he’d tell her stories. Sometimes about his life, other times about others that he’d picked up over the years.

He’d traveled a lot in the interim between where his stories generally petered out and his reappearance in modernity, and he’d gathered a lot of stories from around the world from it. Some she had passing familiarity with, King Arthur of Wales (“I thought he was English?” “That's what they later said he was, but he wasn’t”) the Kupua Maui (“Isn’t Maui an island?” “They named the island after him”), some fairytales, the myths of Egypt, Sub-Saharan Africa, Scandinavia, Ireland, the Polynesian Islands, Mesoamerica, it seemed the Macaque had been everywhere gathering stories in his time. Stories he claimed he’d only tell if it was the only way to quiet Bai He’s growing questions, but she could see the excitement on his face when he’d tell them.

She noticed he tended to stray away from anything she might have already known.

“-And so Pele and Hi’iaka combined their strength and brought Lohi’au back to life, Pele told him he could marry either of them if he so wished, and she’d give her blessing. But Hi’iaka claimed that she did not want Lohi’au’s love, she’d merely embraced him to hurt Pele, as she’d hurt her by killing Hopoe.”

“So… they revived Hopoe too?”

“Nope. Pele was summoned back to Hawai’i by her sister and Lohi’au died of a broken heart without her.”

“That’s messed up, What happened to their happily ever after? Hi’iaka didn’t deserve to be miserable! She and Hopoe were happy together.”

“Not all love stories get a happily ever after runt, sometimes it has to be enough to just have a once upon a time.”

“Spoken like a true cynic. Great now I’m all mopey.”

Macaque snorted. “How about I tell you about how the Norse say the world is gonna end?”

“Uuugggghhhh”

“What? That’s cheerful!”

--

Send me stuff!

[blinder-secrets]

Which of the boys do you think would be the best with period things? Love your writing <333

thankyou bb!

hm... i think this is easier to answer by tackling who would be worst at it first and thats arthur arthur arthur ! i just think he’d want nothing to do with it and if you asked him to get something for you he’d say, ‘Alright, alright, spare me the details’ and shove a wad of notes in your hand before you can see him go red

tommy would be good i suppose. i think ada would have talked the awkwardness out of him once she had to start dealing with them, so he’d probably not be at all phased by things like leaking, or crying, or needing a little extra care. he’d stay out of your way mostly, but help when it mattered.

michael would be sweet, but not unlikely to push the line a bit. one too many ‘alright, keep your rag on’ jokes for your liking... i do think he’d never turn away a mopey cuddle though, kisses to the top of your head while he’s reading and things .

isaiah and finn i just imagine as being absolute boys about it. too scared to mention any change in your behaviour, too smart to challenge you when you ask for something, or snap too quickly. but sometimes keeping quiet is just as helpful as anything else <3

so i think that leaves me with john being the best at period care... firstly anything that makes you hornier is an absolute win in his eyes. Secondly, he’d love being needed and getting to be sickly sweet without judgement for once... im talking ‘oi, leave her alone’ protectiveness at even the smallest altercations, ‘you need anything, baby?’ murmured in your ear every time you looked tired... king shit really. any excuse to look after you

[specsnsarcasm]

My Review of... the Sanditon finale

(Warning: SPOILERS!)

With much left unresolved, the series finale of Sanditon left me wanting. It’s certainly the bleakest of the Austen stories (though I suspect this would not have been the case, had Austen completed it herself). I don’t expect every character or story to have a happy ending. I can get behind a good tragedy *if* it’s done correctly, but I don’t think Sanditon managed this.

The series started off with lots of potential. It was grand, beautiful and ambitious, with a lot of themes to tackle -- some complex (e.g. class warfare, social transformation, regency-era racism, and even female sexuality), and some simple, like misunderstandings, romantic rivalries, and love. But with much to deliver, it buckles under the weight of its own promise.

Structure:

It looks like a quintessential Austen story, but it doesn’t feel like one. Even though it's unfinished, we know how it should go: after some troubles, good things happen to good people, bad people get their comeuppance, and at the end of the day there's hope for a better life. It’s what we know and love about Austen. I was disappointed by this ending because after setting us up for a good outcome, a lot of the characters end up exactly where they started (or worse!), without any lesson or point. Not sure what hope I can take from that.   

Characters & Their fates:

From the beginning, I didn’t feel a connection btw Sidney and Charlotte. I thought their age difference was too great, the chemistry wasn’t there, and Sidney is too prickly, so despite their obvious collision course, I never warmed to him. Charlotte should have ended up with Young Stringer. I’m beyond tired of the narrative that the ‘best’ man is the most difficult. Anyway, it makes no difference because a ridiculous thing happens and she ends up with precisely NO ONE! Which- sure. Whatever. Thanks for wasting my time?¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Speaking of which... I’m disappointed by how they wasted the Miss Lambe character. As a black girl who LOVES period dramas, I rarely get to see myself in them, let alone in a main role, so I was excited to see what they would do with her. The fact that the character was actually written by Jane Austen was very progressive for the time, so no doubt she had high hopes for her as well. Instead, the show turns Miss Lambe into a miserable, mopey, petulant brat, who exhibits no growth. She might as well have been any generic heiress. They do away with the feisty, defiant woman we saw during the pineapple reception, and they abandon her friendship with Charlotte too, so after her ‘Mr. Molyneux’ arc, she’s relegated to the background. We don't even know what will become of her, and the show simply does not care. They toy with a relationship btw her and Arthur Parker, but the ramshackle pairing falls apart anyway when they allude to Arthur being gay/ace. (I'm not sure if it's in the book or just the show).

If done differently though, I could also see Miss Lambe marrying Arthur. He’s defended her from the beginning, finds her initial outspokenness refreshing and doesn't seem too concerned about what people think. He laughs at the ridiculous pineapple incident, springs her from her house confinement, and attempts to cheer her up. He’s the light, carefree counterpart to Sidney’s dark, oppressive guardianship. Plus, he's wealthy in his own right, so we know he’s not after her money. Also, if she married Arthur and Charlotte married Sidney, the two would have been sisters-in-law, which is the kind of tidy symmetry that Austen would have loved. 

The real MVP is Lord Babington. He’s patient, noble, and a gentleman. He's persistent, but not creepy or pushy. His story with Esther is actually the most romantic and well-formed of the lot. I hated the way that Edward charges into the ball, drunk, professing his love for her. I found it unnecessary and redundant. We already had closure with his character in the previous episode when Lady Denham disinherits him, Esther finally frees herself from his hold, and Babington comes to learn the true nature of their relationship. Him coming back adds nothing to the story. 

After a huge row, Young Stringer’s poor, overworked, recently-injured father dies of a heart attack(!) and is burned in a fire(!!). AND THEN, with nothing keeping him in Sanditon (except for guilt and honour), Stringer gives up on the dream he’s been talking about for the entire series, he DOESN'T get the girl, will likely remain in his station forever, live with regret, and become his father anyway!?!?!?! Ducking bleak! Not sure what the take-home from this should be. Don't try? Lol.

And after everything, Tom doesn’t have insurance??!?!?!!!!?! Oh, f^ck this guy! His family and everybody are constantly bailing him out, sacrificing their money and happiness to do so, and he still doesn’t learn! Ugh.

To sum up their fates: 

Charlotte - unrequited <3, wasted summer, a little worldlier, unhappy.

Sidney Parker - married to s/o he doesn’t love, deadbeat bro, unhappy. 

Young Stringer - unmet potential, grieving, guilt, alone, broke, unhappy. 

Old Stringer - DEAD. 

Tom Parker - SO ducking broke, a wanker, lucky, unhappy.

Mary Parker - married to a f^ckwad, lawfully-wedded broke, unhappy.

Miss Lambe - far from home, friendless, unrequited <3, racism, unhappy.

Mr.  Molyneux - alone, ashamed, racism, unhappy. 

Sir Edward Denham - broke, alone, banished, disgraced, unhappy. 

Miss Brereton - disgraced, broke, unhappy (*but will land on her feet).

Arthur Parker - regency-era queer = alone, but good-natured. Happyish?

Diana Parker - hypochondriac. unhappy. 

Mrs. Campion (soon to be Mrs. S. Parker) - A bitch. Got the ring. happy.

Lady Denham - lateral move, maybe unhappy? (no more companion).

Lord & Lady Babington (Esther) - happily ever after. <3

[Note: As always, these are just my opinions, you don’t have to agree. I just like watching stuff and writing stuff about it!]

[thedeviltohisangel]

He’s A God, He’s A Man: 14

Spin me round again.

masterlist is my url/writing

send me any requests for the upcoming interlude!

When the crowd of people and their voices began to approach the wagon where they were hiding out, Lydia and Tommy figured that meant it was time to join the party again. She smiled as brightly as she would and let Ada pull her closer to the fire for a dance and some warmth.

“Tommy take you away to make you forget about the fact he uses his family as pawns?” Ada sounded cheerful as she asked the biting question. 

“Something like that,” Lydia replied without any emotion behind her voice. She couldn’t imagine the psychological toll being here was putting on Ada. That combined with the late stage of her pregnancy and the alcohol that was flowing made it so her brain and mouth weren’t properly communicating. 

“I need something to drink. I’ll be right back!” Ada kissed Lydia on the cheek before scampering off to the barrels that were on the periphery of the party. Lydia spun in a circle trying to find someone she knew. John was with his new wife, laughing and dancing and stealing kisses. She smiled. At least they would be happy together no matter how it was that they got together. Arthur was sitting with Polly and enjoying a drink and a smoke and a conversation. It was odd to her what all these people now meant to her. It wasn’t so long ago that she had forgotten about everyone in the Shelby family save for Tommy. Now they were part of her support system. A home away from home of sorts. Perhaps looking for stability only in the arms of Tommy was the wrong answer. She needed to find it all around her.

“I never got to tell you that you look stunning tonight.” Lyda turned to see the man in question. 

“I was keeping you preoccupied with other things,” she teased with a hint of a smirk. “It’s been nice to see a bit more of your gypsy heritage. The energy is a bit intoxicating, isn’t it?” It made her wonder why Tommy kept so much of this part of him hidden. Polly was very embracing of the gypsy blood that ran through her veins. It was one of the things Lydia loved most about her.

“Takes me back to when my mum was here. When she was happy.” 

“You never talk about her.” He hadn’t in France and he hadn’t since they reunited.

“How do you talk about someone that left before I really got a chance to know the true them?” Tommy wishes he had been able to shoulder some of the burden his mother so clearly had felt. Maybe she’d still be there if she hadn’t felt so alone. “Would you join me for a dance?” he asked in a bid to change the subject. He couldn’t let his mind run wild. It did that enough without his permission. 

The song was somewhere between fast and slow when he gathered her into his arms. She pressed as closely as she could to him and let her lips brush against his as they swayed softly to the music. “Have you thought at all about having a gypsy wedding?” she inquired as he spun her around so now her back was to his chest.

“I used to think about it. Before the war. I haven’t thought about much of anything in that vein since then.” Tommy dipped her and a gleeful smile spread across her face that was contagious enough to reach his as well.

“Could one, conceivably, do both a gypsy wedding and a traditional church wedding?”

“I don’t see why not,” Tommy shrugged as they fell back into a traditional dancing stance.

“Means the bride would need at least one more dress…”

“At least?” 

“At least,” she repeated with a stern tone. 

“What am I going to do with you?” Tommy joked as he puckered his lips for a kiss. She granted his request with a smile and giggle. So in love and so oblivious to anything else that was happening around them. 

“Spin! Spin!” Lydia cheered as she raised their hands and urged her partner along. Tommy caught her and dropped her into another elaborate dip before going back in for a deeper kiss. One that felt like it was leading to something more. “Thomas-”

“I need one of you to help me get Ada to calm down.” They paused their joyous dancing as Polly came over. “She’s been stuck in that basement for weeks and is going off like a firecracker.” Lydia looked and saw Ada spinning in dizzying circles on the verge of stumbling into a heap. Tommy sighed deeply and went over to his sister after pecking Lydia’s forehead in apology that their lighthearted moment had to come to an end.

“Come have a rest, Ada, let’s sit down,” Tommy spoke as he extended his hand towards his sister. She stopped dancing and turned to look at him but Lydia saw malice in her eyes.

“Come have a look, Esme. Come and look at the man who runs the family you joined. Chooses his brother’s bride for him. Hunts his own sister down like a rat. Doesn’t know how to let a good thing go unsullied,” she spit as she pointed at Lydia for the last part.

“Ada, that’s enough.” Tommy could feel his voice raising in volume and his tone growing in resentment and impatience. These were personal issues she was now screaming for all to hear. These were meant to be resolved behind closed doors, just between the few of them. 

“Now he won’t even let me have a fucking dance!” she screeched with a jabbed point of her finger.

“Please take a deep breath,” Lydia urged as she took a few steps towards the girl. “Let’s sit down and relax for a moment.” As her hand rested on Ada’s elbow to help guide her to a table, they both froze.

“Holy shit, water,” Polly said with wide eyes as they watched it trickle down her leg.

“Quit your groaning. Would one of you bring the car around?” Lydia instructed as the Shelby brothers were moaning and groaning over her timing. “Now, breathe with me, Ada.”

----

“I got the word from Tommy that it’s safe for Freddie to come out tonight,” Polly announced as she came back from The Garrison. Lydia’s ears perked up at her words. She knows she scared Campbell off with her own threat but that didn’t mean his hadn’t resonated with her. 

“Keep going, Ada. Push when your body is telling you to.” Lydia had helped deliver a few babies since the war. A couple of officers wives back in New York had asked for her soothing voice to be with them on the night. She couldn’t decline the request of an expectant mother. “Polly, will you take over hand duty while I got heat up some water?” They exchanged Ada’s grip with ease, Lydia grabbing a bucket and heading down to the sitting room where the fire was roaring hottest. She let the bucket sit on top of the logs before sneaking into Tommy’s office where the phone sat on his desk. It was taunting her. Asking her if she was really going to do it. Call Campbell and alert him that Freddie Thorne was going to be out on the streets of Birmingham tonight. That his guard was going to be down. On one hand it seemed like the right thing to do. In the long run, it protected the members of the Shelby whom she had grown to love beyond recognition. On the other hand, it meant breaking Ada’s heart and forcing upon Freddie a fate she would never truly be aware of. A scream from upstairs broke her inner turmoil. She had one minute to make her decision.

----

Lydia tried to put a smile on her face as it was announced that Ada had given birth to a baby boy.

“Oh, he’s beautiful,” Ada cooed as she showed her husband the little bundle. 

“Welcome to the world, son,” Freddie whispered. She was about to excuse herself from the room and go drink a cabinet’s worth of alcohol at The Garrison when a multitude of police officers burst through the door. 

“Don’t hurt him!” Ada called as one of them grabbed Freddie roughly by the shoulders. She held her arms around Ada’s shoulders to keep her from lunging after him. To keep her from hurting herself or the baby in the process of this moment. Polly would always remember the lack of emotion in Lydia’s eyes as she caught a brief glimpse of her in the fray. It was then she knew she was capable of surviving in this world.

----

She sighed when she saw the basket of rotten food at Ada’s door. Lydia had been making trips in an attempt to feed her and her baby but clearly they were not working. She always tried to talk to her, make her see reason. But there was no use. She barely believed the words coming out of her mouth let alone having the capacity to convince someone else of their veracity. All she could do was swap out the old basket for the new one and be back on her merry way.

“Did you talk to her?” Tommy asked once Lydia appeared back from brief and fruitless errand.

“Yes but she didn’t talk back,” she grumbled as she angrily removed her gloves. Tommy sighed and leaned back in his chair. Not only was it horrible to know his sister was secluding herself and her baby from the family and blamed him for the incarceration of Freddie Thorne, but Lydia’s light had been severely dulled by the entire situation. She was moping about Watery Lane, moped about all of Small Heath, he even thought she looked mopey in her sleep. “I know you fired me from The Garrison but I might pop over there today. Speak to some of the regulars and see if they can cheer me up.” She understood that not only would she have to quit in order to attend nursing school but also that the girl of Tommy Shelby shouldn’t be working. He said one day he’d make her a kept woman but, in actuality, nothing sounded more dreadful.

“I’ll pop over with you. Some paperwork of Arthur’s that needs double checking.” He placed a fresh cigarette into his mouth before helping her back into the coat she had just thrown off.

“Have you mentioned anything to them about New York? Give Polly and Arthur a chance to start planning for your absence?” Tommy sighed and she felt a sense of dread settled within her. The thought of disappearing across the ocean with him had been the only thing keeping her going the past couple of days. 

“There are a couple of things I need to take care of personally before I fully can transition to that mindset.”

“Things I can help you with?” Tommy playfully tugged her hat over her ears.

“Perhaps,” he relented. She was always so eager. It was the constant light within her that made him smile more often these days. 

“I know this isn’t supposed to be a work trip but-”

“The dreaded word,” Tommy groaned as they began to finally make their way out the door.

“I am near positive that the books and the diary have not been updated or kept in good order since I left. Perhaps you will allow me to give them a look over?” She smiled at him toothily. Working kept her busy. Kept the thoughts away. Lydia had taken on The Garrison like a sort of child that needed to be nurtured and minded. Leaving it solely in Arthur’s hands had somewhat kept her up at night.

“I suppose you know that I can never say no to you.”

“Why I think that is the wisest thing you’ve said in awhile, Mr. Shelby.”

----

She watched with a keen interest as he drew a black star into the diary. “What does that mean?” she asked as her own fingers traced over the symbol. Something about it felt important. Felt like a signpost along the route of their life together.

“The day we takeout Billy Kimber and his men.” Her finger stopped. 

“Who knows that you’ve picked this day?”

“My family hates me, why would I tell them?” She wanted to rip her hair out and scream. No one but Thomas Shelby would think this was a feat he could accomplish all on his own. She felt like her heart was going to explode out of her chest. Not just with worry for him but also for herself. Knowledge and information was power. He was letting her hold all the cards. Letting her have access to information the people he loved and trusted the most didn’t have.

“Because you need people standing by your side, Tommy. Your family, and your love for them, aren’t a weakness but a strength.” She stood from the desk and held his face in her hands. “I know you’ve reconciled yourself with what comes after if you don’t succeed. But I need you. I need you. I need you.” Normally, Tommy hated feeling needed. He wished the world would give him a break from people relying on him. But hearing the words fall from her mouth strengthened something inside of him. Made his heart pump more sure. His eyes open wider. His brain work faster. 

“I love you.” He wanted to say he needed her back but that felt like a show of weakness. A secret that would dig both of them a grave. Tommy hoped he made it past black star day. He had a ship to catch.

@flecksphoenix​ @girl-w-a-quill​ @odetostep​ @itsilvermorny​ @shadow-of-wonder​ @lemmyjelly​ @blues022​

[dc-x-readers]

Misunderstandings (Orm x Reader)

So I have been getting a lot of requests for an Arm x Reader fic, I hope y'all enjoy it. This one was hard because I didn’t love the Orm from the movie, but he is worlds kinder than the Orm from the comics so, I really tried.

I also tried a different writing style, so I apologize if it was confusing

Orm didn’t know how any of it started, but he hated it. His fingers drummed against his knees as he thought about how messed up this had all become.

Because you had traveled to Coast City, where Arthur lived. You had moved into his little light house.

Sure Orm knew somewhere deep down that the two of you would never happen, you were a God Damned Superhero and he was a villain. There was no way that anything could happen between the two of you. But when the two of you fought you both traded flirty and witty remarks. He felt something when he was with you.

But when he was with you, even if he was fighting against you, he felt something. Something he hadn’t felt since he was banished from Atlantis. He felt like he was home.

Orm cursed and stood up, grabbing another beer. This was not the kind of day he had been looking for.

Blackmanta didn’t say anything, just followed Orm with his eyes, taking a sip from his beer. He was tired of the mopey Orm, and wanted to plan another attack against the Aquaman.

“Let’s kill him.” Black Manta said, looking at Orm carefully.

And Orm liked that idea, because the anger that was bubbling inside of him needed to be let out. He didn’t care if it broke your heart, he didn’t care if you never looked at him the same way again, there was no way you were allowed to be with his lesser half brother. Orm wouldn’t allow it.

“Hey thanks for letting me stay with you.” You said moving in the final box into Arthur’s house.

Arthur shot a smile over his shoulder, holding your heaviest box. “Are you kidding, I should be thanking you. You are literally uprooting your life to help me with my super villain problem.”

You smiled and laughed. Arthur was your best friend in the world, so of course you dropped it all to help him when he needed it. And of course Arthur offered for you to stay with them. It was for convenience and if it helped him save on rent, that was a plus too.

You and Arthur had been friends long before you both became superheroes, and you had grown up near each other, always playing together when you were kids. You loved him like a brother, and he felt the same way about you.

Orm’s hands tightened into fists as he stood watching you and Arthur sitting in a restaurant. His stomach clenched as he watched you two on your date.

He was disgusted, how could you be into Arthur? Of all people, why him?

Orm ignored the burning fire in his gut when he saw you throw you head back and laugh. He hated that Arthur could make you do that, he wanted to be the one that made you laugh and smile like that.

It wasn’t fair, Orm had been in love with you sconce you were ten and he was six. He used to follow you around when you played with Arthur, but Arthur got you, just like he got everything else. He got to live with his biological dad, he got to be the ‘true’ king, he got to be a hero. Of course he also got the girl.

Because that’s how it always was. Orm was always second place to his brother, and that wasn’t going to change.

He felt a fire burning in his gut, he wanted to look away from the two of you. But something deep inside of himself told him he couldn’t, he just had to sit and watch as the woman of his dreams laughed and smiled with someone else.

“Arthur,” You laughed, “Your dad is going to officially propose to your mom!”

“What?” Arthur asked looking up from his cooking with a big smile on his face. “How do you know that?”

“I heard your dad talking about it.” You smiled, you were super excited. Arthur’s parents had become like your own as well, and they had gone through so much. You were excited for them to be married. “You need to help him. Your dad has the worst taste in everything. Make sure he doesn’t pick out a ring that is tacky and ugly.”

Arthur flipped a pancake, the smile wide on his face, “I don’t know if my taste in jewelry is much better. Maybe we should go together.”

You smiled and agreed, calling Arthur’s father moments later to bully him into letting the two of you help pick out the ring for the woman of his dreams.

The fire that had been steadily burning in Orm’s gut hit an all time high when he saw you, with Arthur and his father. The three of you were walking into a jewelry store, a jewelry store that specializes in engagement rings.

Orm’s thoughts were on fire, how was it possible that the two of you had grown so close? How was it possible that he lost you before he could even have you?

Orm couldn’t stop himself the anger the boiled in him needed to be let out, so he did it in the only way he knew how. Orm attacked the jewellery store the three of you were in. He used his control of water, smashing display cases and ripping you away from Arthur, forcing the two of you onto opposite sides of the store.

His brother was screaming at him, but Orm didn’t care. He was just so angry, his entire vision had turned to red.

“Orm!” He stopped for a moment, enjoying hearing you say his name, “Stop it. What are you doing?”

Orm turned to face you, his beautiful hero, whom he loved more than he was willing to admit, yet.

“You shouldn’t talk to me like that!” Orm screamed and he could see the confusion on your face, but he didn’t stop yelling, “You lead me on for months, letting me think you liked me. You flirted with me while in costume. But you went back to him, my brother.”

He felt his anger explode in trifold when you began to laugh. It was a beautiful laugh that he loved, but now it felt mocking, and burned his ears.

“Orm,” You said with a small smile, “I wasn’t leading you on. I think you’re very cute.”

“But you are with my brother.” Orm tried.

“No,” You smiled softly, “I am friends with your brother. I want to be with you.”

And with those small words, the anger that had be inside his chest began to leave him. He stared at you for a long moment unsure of what to say, and embarrassed as to what he had done.

“I want to be with Orm, the man, but I can’t be with Orm the villain.” You spoke cooly, your voice like steele, and Orm knew he had to listen, this is his one chance at having you, “Prove to me you can be good, and we’ll try this out.”

[codenamesailordarillium]

I just stumbled across your tumblr & saw the thing where you said you don’t mind random asks, so I hope this ones ok: I got into DW over the past year & am now hardcore RiverDoctor. Unfortunately it seems like I’ve arrived to the party about 10 years late. Which means I stumbled across the section of the fandom that hates on THoRS bc 12 wasn’t “River’s Doctor” & 11 didn’t get to take her to Darillium for the first time today... Would you have any thoughts on that whole thing?

Wow…well, first I wanna say it’s always great to have new people on board. I know it might seem like you’ve gotten into it too late in the game, but trust me, new people in our corner in the fandom are always welcome (as with any fandom, of course). Feel free to send asks gushing about it to people, I’m sure fellow shippers would be happy to welcome you with open arms. ^_^

As for the rest well…this is gonna get long and probably have the potential to piss certain ppl off bc I have Opinions™, so gonna put the rest of this under a cut.

Hoo boy…yeah, 11/River *ONLY* shippers. See, the thing was, initially, back in late 2013/early 2014, when we were fresh off of Matt’s regeneration ep and all, I could sympathize to a certain degree with ppl who were sad about him leaving and were reluctant to see River/Alex with 12/Peter because it wouldn’t be the same or whatever. I didn’t agree personally (tho initially I was p bummed about Matt leaving, Peter started winning me over real quick not long after he was announced), but I understood that people have a certain attachment to characters and specific dynamics shippy or otherwise. 

But to me, River was always the priority when regarding my interest in DW, and I wanted to see more of her in the show again, regardless of which Doctor it was with. I didn’t like how abruptly Moffat decided to end her story, just because the majority of the big reveals unfolded with Matt as the Doctor and suddenly because he and Karen and Arthur weren’t gonna be on the show anymore it meant Alex had to go as well. That didn’t really seem fair to River as a character, ‘cause it felt like we’d only been shown the bare bones of her story, her background/origin, her getting married to the Doctor, and then her dying. It didn’t feel right for her to just…not be there all of a sudden. Certain episodes (and lbr character dynamics) during series 8 and 9 would have probably benefited from her presence (off the top of my head I’d say Time Heist, how the hell did this show have a heist episode with no River using her time-traveling archaeologist sleuthing skills, like dafuq).

So…pre-THoRS, the Doctor/River fandom after Peter took over the role was a bit of a mixed bag. There were the people who only wanted River with 11 and just angsting in general because there wasn’t gonna be any more of that, but there also was a significant bunch of us who were DEEP into wanting River & 12 to happen. People were still in the fandom, writing fic, drawing fanart, what have you, probably at a slower rate than they had previously, but there was still stuff being put out there, simply because we wanted to entertain what that hot Capalston Sex Storm chemistry might look like. So when news of THoRS suddenly hit us in the face like…

…needless to say, a good number of us were suddenly stoked, new life had been breathed into the fandom and there was pretty much constant excited yelling for like the three and a half-ish months after it was announced. Once the episode finally came out and Darillium got switched from that big dreadful moment where River’s story turned tragic (well, even more tragic than it already was) to literally the most warm and fuzzy soft 24 years of domestic marital bliss for River, there were diverging opinions.

Post-TNotD the fandom had come up with all these headcanons about 11 having lost River directly after losing the Ponds, which was why he was up on that cloud for a century and the generally accepted consensus was that Darillium had to have happened with 11. Admittedly, it doesn’t really paint 11 in the best light after the fact that he seemed to have tried dying on Trenzalore without ever having taken River to Darillium like he’d promised. But, looking back, a lot of 11 & River’s relationship as it was depicted in series 5 & 6 was fraught with emotional hurt on River’s end, so for me personally (and some others), it didn’t really seem entirely out of character for 11 once we really started thinking about it. 

Really, it’s more complicated because of the nature of TV and how with a show like DW it’s really impossible to plan out these big story beats ahead of time with different Doctors. Moffat initially tried getting David to stay an extra season after RTD left, and had David said yes, that means a good chunk of River’s story would have unfolded with 10. It kinda just ends up being a case of who’s currently part of the cast and how can we mold this particular part of the story around them. By the time Steven decided on the way in which he wanted to show Darillium unfold, Matt was already gone, so it had to happen with Peter.

(And I mean, if you wanted to put a positive spin on it, you could see it as 11′s big blustery last-ditch attempt at trying to prevent River dying in the Library from happening.)

I was admittedly a vocal cuntface about how much I DIDN’T want THoRS to end on Darillium before “24 years”. I hated the idea of 12 finally seeing and being with his wife only for it to end all unnecessarily angsty again. Moffat managed to completely upend and rewrite my expectations in that regard, fortunately. 

For a lot of us, it was about River being shown to finally have some no-strings-tied happiness with a Doctor who knew her. I think a lot of people wanted that to be with older!11, but narrative-wise, I think regardless of whether it’s older!11 or 12, the point is the Doctor being at a point where he can be the husband who River needs. One whose memories don’t need to wiped after the fact like all the classic Doctors, War, 9, or pre-Library 10. Aside from the whole HELL YEAH SPACE WIVES angle, I think that’s also what fuels a lot of the desire for River to be with 13 as well, a Doctor who knows and loves her regardless of what face their wearing.

For some ppl in this fandom tho, that didn’t suffice because it didn’t happen with Matt & Alex. And I mean, if that’s how someone feels, that’s their prerogative, but I don’t see any reason to rain on everyone else’s parade when it literally brought new life and excitement and joy and FUN into our fandom after what felt like quite a long dry spell without any River content. 

And I mean, not to get mopey and sad about it (trigger warning for some potentially upsetting stuff), but the news about River being back on DW in September of 2015 couldn’t have come at a better time fore me personally, bc that was literally a time in my life where I had sudden and overwhelming/dangerous mental health issues, to the point where daily I contemplated suicide and knowing that River was finally gonna meet the Scottish version of her husband was quite literally the thing that kept me alive, because I fucking HAD to see it. So, I do tend to bristle when I come across opinions that trash that particular episode, because it means a HELL of a lot to me. 

The only thing I can say about dealing with people who stew in negativity is to just try to avoid them. I don’t follow anyone who professes THoRS-negative opinions and in some very rare cases I’ve blocked certain people. In addition to this, bc Tumblr’s blocking system is balls, I use the xkit blacklist extension and literally put people’s urls into it so I don’t have to see their stuff when others unknowingly put it on my dash. (Tho be aware that if ppl change their urls you might need to go in and change it to their current one, but it’s not that hard to do.) Because at the end of the day, you just want to be able to enjoy the ship. You are the one curating your own fandom experience, and once you know what you want to avoid (or who), you gotta just take the necessary precautions.

[galadrieljones]

ah I'm sorry you're feeling mopey, hope things get better! (it's a feeling I know too well myself, lolololol.) Anyway, I was wondering if you notice a pattern in the couples you're drawn to? are there any similarities, differences? :)

Thank you!! I’m sorry I didn’t get to this last night. I was on my Chapter 6 playthrough because I am a masochist and randomly ended up with Sister Calderon at the train station, and I had forgotten that it was coming at that time and was not emotionally ready lol :’) But I am far less mopey today! Sleep works wonders.

For the couples I’m drawn to, whether it’s with writing or reading or watching or playing or whatever, I think at this stage in my life it’s pretty clear what I go for. It’s usually something like: tortured champion falls for practical heroine with her feet on the ground. All my ships tend to be this way. I like a warrior who has been broken down by many years of serving a cause he does not believe in, and/or who lives in a constant state of apology for who or what he is. I then like his girl to be practical and somewhat ordinary–even if she has super powers, she is not, in her heart, “super.” She’s just a girl. Buffy and Angel are a good example for this. Angel is the tortured vampire with a soul and champion for the weak. He is on a long, sweeping redemption arc and both outwardly strong and intimidating but also inwardly sensitive and neurotic. He is always searching for meaning and trying to grapple with what and who he is. Meanwhile, Buffy is the Slayer, and so she is, by definition, extraordinary, but in her heart, she is just a normal, practical girl. She falls in love, makes mistakes, must grapple with home life stressors and also get her homework done on time. She longs for a normal life. She knows who she is and what she wants. She is far less complicated than Angel, and she really has no neurosis at all.

I like heroines who know what they want and heroes who are tortured by self-doubt. The reason I like this is because, at some point, the tables always turn, and then you have couples that are helping each other grow at different times in their lives, when they need it most. At some point, my heroines usually upstage my heroes, because it is just their “time.” This is super apparent in The Dead Season with Sene and Solas and also becoming more apparent in The Lily Farm as Mary Beth is turning out to be a VERY valuable asset to the van der Linde gang–it’s just that no one ever knew until she got together with Arthur.

I am not sure why I’m so drawn to “ordinary” heroines. I like female characters that are deeply practical in their mind and skill set. Mary Beth is kind of my ultimate ordinary, practical heroine in my fanfiction. She has no super powers. She is not a hardcore badass gunslinger. She is just a pickpocket and a conwoman who is very brave and will hit you over the head with a frying pan if you mess with her man. It could be wish fulfillment for me, too, because I am ordinary? And I am practical? It also draws on how I view my dynamic with my husband: He is lofty and gets lost in big, longterm dreaming and ideas, while I tend to live in the here and now and get frustrated by anything that is not concrete. Where he tends toward philosophies and the abstract, I like stories and things I can see and prove. This dynamic I’m always finding in the couples I like to write and read about. ^_^

Ask Me Anything!

[homosociallyyours]

a friend just posted a pic on fb of the coffee shop we used to hang out at, taken way back in the day. it’s just a shot of the place taken from inside, looking out the big glass windows and onto the street of downtown chattanooga. but one friend pointed out that she could see another friend’s van parked across the street, and one of the baristas came on and said he’d taken the photo and then proceeded to post a bunch more. 

anyway i’m feeling nostalgic so i’m posting about it. memories behind the cut. 

i started going there when i was maybe 15 years old. i don’t remember why, but it’s likely that the artsy nerd club i was a part of (we stayed after school to watch amadeus and monty python and we’d sometimes go to the local art museum) went there after a meeting one day. or maybe someone told me about it. anyway, it was my favorite place to go. i would drink pots of tea, always trying new things. 

on my 16th birthday my parents got me a teapot from there and a gift certificate to buy tea with. i had that teapot til it broke a year ago. 20+ years! it moved with me to and from college, to nyc, california, texas, and back to california. damn. 

anyway after i’d been going for a while i started talking with the owner. his name was ian, and he was pretty young. he loved tea and coffee and he had a roaster where they’d make their own coffee. it was loud and lovely, and for a long time it lived up front, right by a little elevated area with couches. when it was running you couldn’t hear anything and had no choice but to either shout or be quiet. 

ian encouraged my love of tea, and offered to keep track of everything i’d tried in a little notebook that was kept behind the counter. i got to make notes on every pot i drank, and i remember writing “terrible! grass!” after my first pot of green tea (it was oversteeped--my fault--and probably made with water that was too hot--their fault). i had my first pu-er there, and fell in love with its damp leaf flavor and that turned earth scent that it has. i drank multiple pots of jasmine pearls and wrote a caffeine fueled poem about it with a friend. i loved that little coffee shop. 

i don’t remember when i went from hanging out inside to hanging out outside, but i feel like i was 18 or so. the older people (they were probably barely 21-25, fucking babies) sat out there smoking and drinking coffee. i developed a crush one summer on a guy who made me think of arthur dent for some reason (don’t ask because i don’t know) and we went on one awkward date and didn’t kiss, and now i wonder what’s happened to him and if he, too, wasn’t straight. who knows? someone, i’m sure, but i can’t remember his last name anymore so is it even relevant? 

i’d never felt cool til i went off to college. it was like leveling up without trying, like when you’re playing a game and do one action and suddenly all your stats are refilled and you’re like...this is unexpected? but i’ll take it? i think that’s why i decided i could really sit with the outside tables. that and my bff, who was dating someone who was friends with a lot of those people, would show up sometimes and sit out there. 

(if you’ve actually been reading along so far, here’s where i’m gonna introduce you to a bunch of people i’ve never talked about before and will likely never mention again. just so you have fair warning.) 

the cast of characters shifted a lot, but there were always the constants. scott, the barista, who was much older than most of the people hanging out but looked young and seemed young. i look back with adult eyes and question the relationship we had, but at the time i just thought it was cool that someone so much older thought i was worth hanging out with. but he was 30 when i was 19, and man that’s a lotta years. he had a summer where he hit on my friend and i constantly, after his wife left him and he was kinda floundering a bit. but it never went past flirting and it never bothered me, though like i said it kinda does now. we were still hanging out when i was 21 and we’d go get beers after the coffee shop closed at ten or midnight. he’d turn up obnoxious music really loud and i’d sometimes help close. 

there was gabe and george, brother and sister in a family of people with names starting with the letter g. george was tiny and cute and either very drunk or very hyper from coffee at all times. gabe was a nerd who was usually quiet but loved to play scrabble, and we’d take the board inside sometimes and battle one another. he was much better than me, i won’t lie. liz and ever were both writers who would play with us sometimes. ever had changed her name at some point (to ever; any name she had before is irrelevant) and when we met she explained the meaning of her new name, which i won’t give because damn it’s very google-able. 

she was a so fascinating to me, always talking about some feminist theory or philosopher, and i always felt so smart when we’d hang out. like a Serious Thoughtful Adult and not a kid. and liz was less serious but no less smart. she played scrabble a lot more and for a while we got pretty close. she took me out after coffee sometimes to a shitty bar with pool tables and tried to teach me how to play pool. she had her own cue and even though she was like 5′2″ she could break like nobody’s business. i never figured out how to do that part. 

alex would come with us sometimes. he was tall and handsome and rode a motorcycle, and was the first openly bi guy i ever met. one time he invited me over to his house and we laid around listening to the smiths and talking. he burned me a copy of their greatest hits that i still have, all scratched up so it probably doesn’t play anymore. he crashed his bike more than once driving drunk. dumb fuckin kid. now he repairs coffee machines and sails, i think. life is funny. 

a few other people ran in groups. meg and waide and the aforementioned jason and ardyce. some people called meg “big megan” and another megan (her family was really wealthy, rich southern politicians who knew the clintons and have a mention in sweet home alabama--the song, not the movie) was “little megan” because she was still in high school. i joked that i was medium megan, but the whole thing was awkward because big megan was fat and i was small fat and little megan was skinny. i’m gonna blame it on thoughtless dudes, but who the fuck knows? we all pretended not to mind it anyway. 

waide ended up being a connection with other people who i met later. my hometown is weird in that it’s actually a pretty big part of the southern punk scene, so a lot of punks i meet have spent time there, and anyone over a certain age probably spent time at the bar waide worked at (the stone lion, and then maybe also the pickle barrel) so he’s one of those people who i’ll end up mentioning even though we haven’t spoken in years. 

at some point a kid named ory showed up. i think he was 16 when he started coming around, and i used to call him puppy because he was excitable and silly, full of energy one minute and then mopey crashing the next. like a lot of people there he drank a lot and would be fucked up sometimes and make dumb choices. i always wanted to protect him. when i was 22 (and he was 19, i think) we ended up sitting together at the second lotr movie and having some kind of weird chemistry. that summer i drove him home one night and we had a super heavy make out with lots of clothed grinding. honestly the furthest i’ve ever gone with a cis straight(ish, he hooked up with a couple dudes but idk if he’d say he’s bi) dude and it was awkward in that we never talked about it? and then he came to visit me a couple years later in new york because he was in the navy, and he got super drunk and passed out on my couch and was a mess because he literally never stopped being a puppy. 

he’s fucked up now, fully cancelled bc he said shit about girls rock camp (really dude?) and also probably cheated on his wife on their honeymoon? idk, it was fb rumors and then he deleted. but i’d believe it, honestly. 

and then there were all these absolutely random downtown characters: dirty mark (a crusty punk who was drunk or high most of the time) and shirtless dave (yeah he really didn’t wear a shirt that much) usually came as a pair. sometimes dave hung out with a guy my friends and i called blue hair. he once hit on my friend and she panicked and gave him my number instead of hers because her brain didn’t make up a fake number fast enough. 

there was sandy the flower man, who just passed away a couple weeks ago. he’d get flowers from local florists and go around on his bike, stopping into the coffee shop or to bars with roses and carnations and daisies. people gave him money usually, but sometimes he’d just hand you a flower because he wanted to. i saw a picture from a memorial and there was a portrait of him that was sat on top of his bicycle, all of it surrounded with flowers on flowers. so pretty. it’s what he deserved. 

things changed around 2005 or so, i think. by that time, all the old baristas had left and the kids who came in were all weirdly religious and went to the christian college on the mountain. they made shitty coffee and sometimes played xtian rock and most of the old regulars couldn’t take it anymore. ian got sick around that time, too, and ended up selling the place. they stopped carrying much tea, if any. 

but they finally sold the space and moved in like 2015. i remember the first time i drove by and didn’t see the lights on inside. it felt like seeing a friend from grade school all grown up, maybe the kid you had a crush on but they have a family now and you don’t think they’d recognize you at all so you just have to walk away. gone. 

fuck this post is long as shit, i’m sorry for anyone on mobile. but damn it was good to get my memories out.