#i want an ending where she rots in jail

[comicwritesstuff]

okay this is so incredibly specific so please feel free to ignore BUT i’ve been wanting to read a fic for ages where the reader is Chase’s childhood best friend from Australia and she moves to New Jersey for a fresh start. She’s staying with Chase while she gets settled, and one day she comes to visit him at lunch at the hospital, where she ends up meeting House and he’s… intrigued by her 👀 either romantic or smut would be so very cool :^D <33 💐

YES. I LOVE THIS PROMPT IM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG BUT IM FINISHED!!!

Gregory House x Fem!Chases bsf!Reader

Warnings: None really, just cussing and tooth rotting fluff >:) 3k+ words.

Chase's POV: 

“Well I was just wondering if we could go out sometime, I think you're really-” My attention shifted as y/n's call lit up my phone, interrupting the conversation. It was a more pressing matter than pursuing a one-night stand.

“Excuse me for a moment.” I say walking away, the woman having an annoyed look on her face. 

I answer the phone.

“Hello, y/n? Whats up” 

“Chase! Long time no talk haha.”

“You called me yesterday.”

“Learn to take a joke, anyways, I have some exciting news for you.”

“I’m moving to New Jersey!!” 

“Wait what? Really?”

“Yeah, I kinda forgot to tell you and i'm actually at the airport right now, so I hope you aren't busy tomorrow so you can pick me up.”

“Wow, um alright, yeah I can pick you up, do you have a place to stay?"

“Um…no…” I sigh, “Just stay at mine for now.”

“Don't even with the sigh i’ve known you my whole life you can put the nightly hookups on hold for your best friend.” 

I smirk and shake my head, “Yeah yeah, I’ll see ya tomorrow y/n” 

Y/N’s POV:

I smile as I hang up with Chase, grabbing my luggage and pulling it along the airport. Ahh yes, crying babies, rushed parents, annoying couples and that one insanely attractive person you see for a split second, I love the airport. 

Glancing at my ticket I realize I might have to hurry to make it to the gate, speed walking I see a text from chase, “Have a safe flight.” Let's hope so. 

Time skip (to lazy to write all the details about fucking airports)

Relaxing on a 21-hour flight proved challenging, especially with a toddler nearby. It was unclear whether the toddler would be a source of annoyance or just be tolerable. The flight just started. So to entertain myself I decide to do some digging about Chase's job, he brags about it all the time and the infamous Dr Gregory House. To be honest I thought Chase was gay for a little while with how much he talks about him. Still speculating. 

The plane lifts off and I start my look, at first just looking up Gregory House, a surprising amount of things show up. An article titled, “Gregory House, Talented Doctor? Or a lying Narcissist?” Oh well that's a good first impression.   

Scrolling down I see another article, “The world's greatest doctor, and his deepest secrets” 

Now that's enticing. I click on it only to find out his deepest secrets, including using 3 in one shampoo and how his leg got hurt. I guess people hardly know anything about him. I click on the photos of him, there's only a couple, most of them blurry but to be honest he's pretty good looking from the photos I can see. I’d honestly be gay for him if I was Chase. 

The toddler next to me starts giggling, I glance at her and notice her staring at a picture of House. She's kicking her feet too. That's so relatable. 

For the rest of the flight I find some stuff about this guy named Taub, who somehow also figured out that he cheated on his wife which is why he had to quit. How did I find that out? I took a coding class in 8th grade. (I got lucky) 

Lisa Cuddy the Dean of Medicine, unfortunately only good stuff about her, boring. 

Remy Hadley, oddly, can't find anything on her. 

Eric Foreman, his brothers in jail, fun. 

And the others are just as boring. For the remainder of the flight, the toddler proved surprisingly chill. I passed the time by binge-watching random movies I had downloaded earlier

*Another time skip to plane landing* 

Finally, 21 hours on a fucking plane is horrible. 

I check my phone after I take it off airplane mode, seeing a text from chase a couple minutes ago. 

“I’m at the airport, is your flight done?”

“Yep, wya.”

“I’m parked in the front.”

“That's specific” 

“There's no other front dumbass”

I roll my eyes at his text, and get off the plane as soon as I can. I walk out and see Chase standing outside his car waiting for me. His eyes light up as he spots me, and a grin spreads across his face. Unable to resist, I rush forward and envelop him in a bear hug.

“Man you’re a lot uglier in person” 

I say jokingly, smirking.

“Oh shut up”  

We climbed into his car, and he drove us back to his apartment. When we arrive he helps get my crap into the house, before he gets a call saying he had to head to work. 

Eventually a week or two passes, I've gotten more comfortable in his apartment, applied for a bunch of jobs, and looked for places to stay so I’m not invading his “man” space anymore. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of options, and no jobs have replied to my applications, which is weird since im overqualified, it's almost like they aren’t even getting my applications in the first place. 

I’m doing the dishes when I get a text from Chase.

“Hey, I left my wallet on the counter, so I don’t have money for food, could ya bring it for me?” 

“Nah”

“See you soon”

I breathe out a laugh and grab his wallet, putting a coat on then driving to the hospital. 

When I get there I walk in, looking around before I call Chase, “Where do I go this place is huge” I can hear talking in the background, actually more like arguing. “Uhm just wait at the entrance i’ll be right there.” He says in a whisper.

He hangs up so I just stand there awkwardly waiting, that was a weird ass phone call. To be fair Chase is a weird ass guy with weird ass coworkers so what do I expect at this point. 

Before I see Chase I see Dr Gregory House, limping quickly towards me. And damn he’s even hotter in person than the pictures I saw of him. 

“Hey, no time to explain, you need to come with me.” He grabs my arm dragging me into the elevator. Before it closes I see Chase come out of the stairway, he sprints towards the elevator but it closes. I hear him trying to say something, but it's muffled and I can’t understand it. Wait why the fuck did I even follow House? 

“You're real compliant, you’d make a great hooker.” 

I turn around and side eye him.

“Thanks, so would you.” I say giving a fake smile. 

“Speaking of compliant, why did you drag me away from Chase? What's going on?’’

“I made a bet with Chase.”

“That's really specific and helpful thanks” 

“Oh yeah no problem” 

Sarcastic asshole. 

“If you don’t tell me, I'll stop following you and go with Chase.” 

He rolls his eyes.

“Fine, Mom! The bet is that I can convince you to work as my assistant here.”

“Really? That's it? I need a job. Why would Chase even bet against that?” 

“He thinks you’ll fall in love with me so he doesn’t want that to happen, in his words, “She has a thing for homeless looking, narcissistic assholes with beards.” So he’s trying to prevent it, and he’s sure he can.”  

Damn- I feel so called out. I stay silent before nodding.

“Well to be honest he isn’t wrong.” 

I see House smirk before we get out of the elevator, he hobbles and leads me to his office, locking the door then having me sit down. 

As I sit down in front of his desk, he grabs a ball and starts throwing it against the wall, while sitting down. 

“So are you gonna interview me or something?” 

“Yeah, I’m just waiting for Chase to get back up here so he can watch me interview you.” 

He really is an asshole…it's kinda hot though. 

“Fair enough.” 

We wait a bit before Chase comes jogging up to the door, out of breath, he’s clearly been running plenty. He starts banging on the glass door that House previously locked.

“House!! Y/N! Let me in! This isn’t fair!” He exclaims, House is grinning when he leans over his desk, crossing his arms.

“Okay! Let’s start this interview now.” 

“Y/n! You traitor!” 

Did I abandon my childhood best friend for some disabled doctor? No, I did it for the job. At least that's what I'm telling myself.   

Turning my attention back to House instead of the Australian cry baby outside the door, he asks me, “First question, do you want the job of being my assistant?” 

“Obviously”

“Great! You have the job!” 

I mean, easy enough. I smile and shake my head. This hospital really has some unique people. 

House shakes my hand, grinning as Chase is sitting on the floor defeated outside. 

As the days turned into weeks at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, I got to know everyone. Cuddy had to actually approve of me working as House’s assistant first, but once she saw a…normal enough individual, she welcomed me into the environment.

Getting to know House better, I found myself drawn to him in ways I hadn’t really expected. The bet between House and Chase, Chase thinking I would fall for House, I took it as a joke, until that joke turned more into reality. 

Despite House being a narcissistic piece of shit, there were small moments that I saw, or shared with him that made me fall for him. Ones where he seemed happy, or just easy to be around. At work he's serious but when Wilson dragged him out to bars, or other social environments, he could actually be fun. And though him being a dick is undeniably attractive sometimes, when he was…”himself” that's how I began to fall for him.  

One day, after an especially tough day for the team, and being forced to go break into houses and get coffee and food, I found myself alone with House in his office. The rest of the team had left, leaving us in a rare moment alone with each other. As I glanced up from the medical chart of the most recent patient, I caught House’s gaze lingering on me, his blue eyes intense and unreadable. 

“Something on your mind, House?” I asked, attempting to break the awkward silence between us. 

He smirked, leaning back in his chair with a casual ease, “Oh just wondering why a catch like yourself doesn’t have a boyfriend, or husband?” He responds, his tone laced with flirtatiousness.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at his response, a faint blush on my cheeks. House and I had gained an uncanny camaraderie, made from me running around doing everyone's paperwork, being the designated “you get to tell patients they are dying!!” person. And as you’d expect people didn’t respect me a lot, but if someone was blatantly mean to me, House would step in and destroy their self esteem in a second and walk away like it meant nothing. That's another thing that I think made me fall for him. 

“Believe me, I’ve been asking myself that a lot too.” I smile, placing the medical chart on his desk. 

“Do you want a boyfriend? Or girlfriend, or a pet or something.” He quips, his eyes looking like they are reading me, studying my every movement and reaction to what he’s saying, it's flattering and uncomfortable at the same time. 

“A boyfriend would be nice.” I say reassuringly, a laugh escaping me as I shake my head in amusement.

“Alright let's say *hypothetically* I asked you out. *hypothetically* what would your response be?” 

Raising an eyebrow I ask, “Are you trying to go on a date with me?”

“I said hypothetically, now answer the question.” 

A smirk plays on my lips as I roll my eyes in a mock annoyance. 

“Well.” I say, “Hypothetically, I would say yes.” 

“Great, meet me for dinner at (some random fancy place idk u make up a name i'm too lazy to), wear something cute.” 

 With that, he sauntered out of the office, leaving me to think about what just happened. Glancing at the clock, I realized I had just enough time to get ready for our “hypothetical date.” 

The anticipation bubbled within me, standing outside (IDK A RESTAURANT NAME IT), waiting for House to arrive. My heart raced with nervous excitement, unsure what to expect from a…unique…guy like House. I had used all the time I had to work on my outfit, settling for a simple dress (or suit, or just anything you're comfy in :) ). 

As I scanned the busy street, searching for any sign of House, I heard the obnoxiously loud sound of a motorcycle approaching. House rode in, parking his bike before getting off and walking (limping) towards me. My breath caught in my throat as I saw him, he looked impossibly handsome, in a tailored suit that made his rugged charm come out, good god he looked fine. 

“Y/n,” he greeted with a warm smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners in genuine affection. “That outfit makes your ass look nice.” 

I scoff playfully, hitting his arm. “So much for acting like a gentleman, at least you look like one.” 

He chuckled, offering me his arm in a more gentlemanly gesture. “Yeah yeah, shall we?” 

With a nod, I looped my arm through his, savoring the warmth of his touch as we mad our way into the restaurant. The ambiance was elegant and inviting, with a soft candlelight casting a warm glow over the decor. 

As we were seated at a table in a quiet corner of the restaurant, I couldn’t help but feel a flutter of excitement in my chest. I’m finally going out with House, damn Chase was totally right. 

Throughout the evening, our conversation flowed surprisingly easily between us. I had half expected him to be rude or stuck up, but he seemed actually interested in me, in my life. He was asking questions, laughing and joking with me. Sharing stories of his own, and treating me like an actual human. Honestly it was scaring me a bit, but it was making me fall harder for him. 

House raised an eyebrow, a playful glint in his eyes. ‘So, tell my Y/N. What’s the most embarrassing thing that's happened to you?” 

I laughed, shaking my head as I thought about the memory. “Well, there was this one time in college-” 

“Let me guess,” House interrupted, a smirk playing on his lips. “It involved copious amounts of alcohol and very questionable decisions?” 

I chuckle and nod in agreement. “You could say that. Long story short, I ended up streaking through the campus fountain at three in the morning. I'm pretty sure Chase might still have a video of it still.”

House raises an eyebrow, an amused laugh coming from him. “I wish I could say I was surprised, oh and also. I am finding that video.” He states, with a determined and mischievous grin. 

The dinner continues and our connection just seems to get stronger, fueled by shared laughter, stories of shit Wilson and him did in college, things Chase and I did in highschool. With each passing moment, I found myself more and more under House’s spell, captivated by the complexity of himself, his character. His gaze, laughter, even his personality. Maybe it was the wine or something, but House was being nice, he had charisma, and was being attractive in general.  

I don’t even realize that we’ve spent almost three hours in the restaurant just talking. I check my phone seeing that it's 9:30 already. We had got and paid the check awhile ago, but had stayed to talk longer. The restaurant closes at 10, and I felt a sudden pang of disappointment that our date was close to being over with. I didn’t want it to end, I was savoring this moment I was having, this seemingly perfect night. 

When the waiter arrived to take our dessert order, I couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment that the evening was drawing to a close. I wasn't ready for it to end—I wanted to savor every moment, to prolong the magic of our time together for as long as possible.

House notices my look of disappointment, “I’m aware how amazing I am, but if its up to me, this won’t be our last date.” 

A smile tugs at the corners of my mouth, my cheeks heating up as I blush. The butterflies in my stomach going absolutely insane. 

So with a quick glance around the restaurant, I rose from my seat, House grabbed my hand as he led me towards the exit. 

Stepping out into the cool night air, I felt a sense of happiness coursing through me. This was it, the beginning of a new relationship, a surprisingly healthy one so far. 

As House’s hand tightened around mine, his touch sent sparks of electricity coursing through my veins. I knew now that maybe Chase knows me better than I know myself, in all fairness he predicted this, but right now I wasn’t afraid to admit this, to admit the undeniable attraction that I had towards Dr Gregory House. 

His touch leaves mine, his hand pulling as we stand in front of the restaurant, close to each other, staring in each other's eyes. I glance at his lips before leaning in, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, not sure if he expected it, but I pull back.

“Goodnight House. I’ll see you tomorrow.” And with that I walk away, to my car. When I get in my car, I look in the mirror, seeing House standing there with a lovestruck grin, one a child would have over some school crush. But it was cute, he was cute. And this was just the beginning of an annoyingly predicated relationship with a Vicodin addicted, asshole, who I suspect has a soft spot for me.

[celebtf]

THE NEW PRINCE, HOOK

Under the night-cover, Hook seeked out the witch who was hiding in the outskirts of town. Her lair was a maze of twisted roots and flickering candles, and the air was thick with the scent of herbs.

"I need a potion," Hook demanded, his voice edged with desperation. "One that will let me swap lives with another."

The witch, her eyes glinting with joyfull glee, made a potion with ingredients known only to her dark arts. "This will do the trick," she said, handing Hook a vial of swirling, iridescent liquid. "But be warned, such magic comes with consequences."

Hook didn't care about consequences. All he wanted was to live the life of a hero, to be adored as Prince Charming was. That night, during a grand banquet in the prince's honor, Hook found his chance. He slipped the potion into Charming's drink, his heart pounding with anticipation.

As the potion took effect, a strange sensation overcame them both. Hook felt his body shift, his very essence being pulled and stretched. A violent surge ran through him, as if his bones were melting and reforming all at once. His skin tingled and burned, muscles twitching uncontrollably. He clutched the edge of a table to steady himself, his vision blurring as the room spun around him.

He looked down to see his hand, once rough and scarred from years at sea, smoothing out, the skin becoming fair and un-scared His fingers lengthened, becoming more elegant and refined. He felt his face contorting, bones cracking and rearranging. His jawline softened, the rugged stubble that had always marked his chin receding until his skin was smooth. His nose narrowed, cheekbones rising higher beneath his eyes.

His hair, once dark lightened to a golden color, the strands growing softer and more luxurious. He felt his body stretch taller, his posture straightening from the familiar pirate’s slouch to the proud and straight posture of a prince. His clothes, rough and worn, transformed into fine, royal garments, rich with intricate embroidery and vibrant colors.

Across the room, Charming experienced a similar torment. His handsome, noble features twisted and warped. His golden hair darkened, becoming a tangled mess of black curls. His clean-shaven face grew rough with stubble, his jawline becoming sharper, more angular. His muscular frame shrank slightly, becoming leaner.

His royal attire morphed into the rugged, leather-clad outfit of a pirate. The new elegance of a prince went away. He looked down at his hand, now rough and scared, a pirate’s hook replacing where his left hand used to be.

When it was over, Hook, now in Charming’s body, looked at his reflection in a polished silver goblet. He saw not the feared pirate, but the beloved prince. A big grin spread across his face. He was now Prince Charming, and the real prince, trapped in Hook's form, stared back at him in horror.

The transformation was seamless. No one suspected a thing. Hook reveled in his new life, soaking in the adoration and respect that had always been out of reach. He performed heroic deeds, courted the beautiful Snow White, and lived a life of luxury and honor.

Meanwhile, the real Prince Charming, now in Hook's body, faced a grim fate. Labeled as the notorious pirate, he was swiftly arrested and thrown into the town jail. His protests of innocence fell, for who would believe the words of a pirate like Hook?

Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Hook, living as Charming, found joy in every stolen moment of his sad new life. He had no regrets, only a deep satisfaction. For him, there was no need for a happy ending beyond this—the life he had coveted was now his, and he intended to keep it that way.

As for the real Prince Charming, bored in a cold, dark cell, hope seemed a distant memory. The town had moved on, and so had Hook, leaving Charming to rot in the misery of a fate that was never meant to be his.

And so, the tale concluded not with a happy ending, but with a cruel twist of fate—Captain Hook living the life of Prince Charming, while the true prince languished in obscurity, a prisoner of envy and dark magic.

[bibibbon]

MHA mustard deserved better

Mustard is a character that many of us forget but surprisingly his character really stuck to me for some reason.

Mustard is around 13-14 years old and was part of the training camp attack. His quirk is known as gas and looks very similar to midnight it also has a very similar effect to midnight's. I think that it's such a shame that his story was never explored and that we never got much of what happend to him. We don't even see him in the final arc. All we are told is that mustard is captured by the police after the attack and is then imprisoned to never seen him again.

I think that if MHA wanted to truly and properly redeem villains or explore the idea why villains became the way they are we should of gotten more exploration when it came to mustard. You can easily assume that mustard probably had a horrible life that drove him to villainy because how is it that you become a villain and don't have enough of anything to change out of your middle school uniform. How is it that a 13-14 year old knows how to wield a gun and there are so many more questions like how was mustard treated?

Personally I would have it so that we are shown more about mustard. How did he end up where he is? How did shigaraki even allow him to join? Did he somehow stumble or was in the wrong place at the wrong time and just got swept by the crowd? Who taught him how to wield a gun? And so many other questions to build his character. Mustard felt like an empty character with wasted potential. From the little amount of screentime we can tell that he acts like a child and is a bit annoying like a middle schooler would be but he definitely acts,fights and does so many more things above his age. I personally would be more interested in a tiny arc to explore how society failed mustard. Why is his name mustard anyway? He is one of the only characters who we don't know his real name so does that mean mustard could of been a name a bully gave him?

For some reason thinking about the character of mustard distinctly reminds me of middle school Izuku midoriya. They seem ironically similar in a way🤷‍♀️.

Also can we talk about how after he gets captured nothing really happens. Like where does mustard go? He is too young to go to prison so does MHA have something equivalent to a delinquent center or juvenile detention? Do they just let mustard rot in jail? Does mustard have a family that tried to fight his case? Did the family get any backlash (like toga's family)? So many questions to think about. Was there or could of there been a rehabilitation programme out up for mustard. Like mustard is young and shows a lot of signs that say "society failed me" or something similar so was there or could of there been something similar to that.

I personally think we should of gotten some mustard and midnight interactions. They have similar quirks with similar effects one became a hero the other a villain they don't have many differences I wonder if midnight struggled with her quirk I wonder how she would interact with mustard.

[moldypoff]

God, I want to make a fanfic where you kill (accidentally or not) Jimmy after you find out that he assaulted Anya and the crash doesn’t happen but now you have to deal with the consequences.

Even if you do the “morally right” thing everyone’s gonna hate you (they won’t say it but they’ll think it).

With the way Pony Express operates I think Curly will have to severely punish you. Either A. Lock you up in a secluded space for the rest of 8 months or B. Kill you, as per policy because you’re mentally unstable and at risk of harming the rest of the crew.

Besides the mental strain that’ll be on just you for the next few months, everyone else has to bear the consequences as well.

(Elaboration under the cut)

Explaining the situation to the company and cops is going to be hell for Anya, because when you explain that you did it on Anya’s behalf they’re immediately going to assume that she may have been an accomplice/and or orchestrated the attack. Not even that but you’ll permanently stain her already half-baked resume since this can be seen as her being an ineffective healthcare provider since she’d clearly misjudged your mental state during psyche evals.

What’s worse is that Curly might not get that promotion because of you since he failed, as Captain, to settle the dispute. Not only did you kill his long term friend but you ruined his life and now he has to deal with keeping everyone calm and Jimmy’s rotting body on the ship.

Daisuke? Considering you’re probably the closest to him out of everyone in the crew because of his friendly personality he’s going to feel so betrayed on top of stressed from living in the environment you created for the next few months. Again, rotting body. Next, everyone’s going to have to decide on how to collectively come up with a solid strategy to get out of this somewhat or completely scot free WHILE continuing to perform their usual tasks on the Tulpar.

Swansea’s probably furious right off the bat. Not just because he already know’s there’s going to be so much work when you all get to your destination (too which he will simultaneously be unemployed), but because he thought you were better than this. Jimmy’s an asshole and rapist, but you? Adding to their troubles of already being laid off and traumatizing them at the same time just because you felt like playing hero? You’re almost just as bad as Jimmy.

Of course they didn’t know how things would play out if they kept Jimmy alive, but is this really any better?

They’re filled with impending doom, they need to keep the smelly, rotting crime scene untouched to prove their innocence, and worst of all they probably still have to take care of you, if you’re alive, AND take over your tasks for your role on the ship as well as Jimmy’s.

Inspiration + Reflection:

Tbh I feel like this is a good reflection of how society treats heros. I remember hearing about this dude who had his daughter SA’d and out of pure rage he killed her abuser, and upon realizing that he was going to jail he went on a spree to kill as many predators and rapists as he could.

That man will never see freedom again but he saved countless young girls and women from being taken advantage of.

It’s also interesting to think about the families and friends of the predators and rapists. Did they even know about what their friend, brother, or husband was up to? Do they comprehend the sheer capacity for cruelty at which this person they trusted operates themselves at? And are they sad to see them go? Are they mad at the person who took them away? Are they willing to accept the fact that they were a bad person or do they desperately cling to the memory of them when they were ‘good’?

I’d really like to explore these topics with multiple endings. Writing a whole fanfic is hard man- I’d rather just get to the important stuff, I’m sorry 😭

Speaking of, I have a couple in mind.

Endings:

Estimated reader satisfaction: # / 5

Bad Ending: -1 - 0 / 5

Everyone dies under the pressure of it all.

Mini Bad Ending: 0.5 - 1 /5

Curly kills you.

Neutral ending#1: 1/5

You live, everyone’s alive (except for Jimmy, duh), all of the expected consequences occur, you’re in jail, you all go your separate ways and struggle like hell. (The most realistic ending.)

Neutral ending#2: 3/5

You only kill yourself. Everyone else is proven innocent and gets to live a somewhat “normal” life, but is forever haunted by your sacrifice.

Good: 5/5

Pony Express is sued, and you all (well… maybe except for you) are awarded a shit ton of money in compensation. You all live happily ever after (you’re actually in jail but the others can easily bail you out). <- Very unlikely, kinda vanilla if you ask me, but fix-it AUs do go hard tho, I just wouldn’t write it myself.

Side notes: Did I remind you that Anya’s pregnant this entire time? Also, this can serve as justification for Curly for his ‘inaction’. If this were him instead of you it might be two times-ish harder on him to be honest.

[into-september]

Haven't watched the London special but have two observations on when we'll see Adrien learning the truth

DIEGETICALLY: The butterfly miraculous is still lost by the time Alix is in her twenties

ON THE META LEVEL: People talk a lot about Adrien being denied the truth about his dad but I haven't seen anyone bring up Cat Noir being denied the truth about Hawkmoth's demise.

Between "your dad was the supervillain who wanted to change history so your mum never died" and "your dad spent his last months in agony and died by literally rotting to pieces because of the magic that it was your job to use responsibly", we all know which is the worse news. The Movie showed us the first being overcome even after said dad had laid Paris in ruins; the NYC special showed us Adrien's collapse after less than half of that happened to a stranger and then was fixed.

From the way people are posting about the London special, I have the distinct impression that it was also not the part of the problem that the writers were interested in milking for angst. The real focus of this episode should've been Plagg, Alix and Tikki dealing with the aftermath of "Destruction", but instead the fandom is here discussing whether or not we should absolve Marinette for being used to strip the flooring after the writers painted themselves into a corner. The show asks us to pass our judgment on Marinette's choice, but claiming that this is Marinette's choice to make is a fallacy.

Let's be clear on this: "Destruction" exists because there had to be an in-story explanation for why the show won't deal with Adrien learning Hawkmoth's identity. There is a pretense of discussing the morality of Marinette's decision to heed Gabriel's wish above Adrien's autonomy, but per the genre and the tone and the focus and the target audience, there was no other option.

Because here is the truly wild part of this whole debacle: Marinette isn't even making an informed decision. She doesn't have an inkling of what Hawkmoth's identity would do to Adrien. Only when The Reveal happens will she know the gruesome extent of the tragedy that is Adrien Agreste and the true weight of the secret she opted to keep; if she hadn't decided to hide the truth on her own, Plagg/Tikki/Alix would be forced to interfere. Yes Marinette's actions are terrible horrible no good very bad, but if stopping Cat Noir from activating his cataclysm in the wax museum would inevitably lead to Gabriel reviving his angelic wife (which was somehow a worse ending than him reviving his supervillain secretary???), then the solution should be to go back to "Origins" and make sure Master Fu gave Plagg's miraculous to literally anyone else than his son. The real question left by the S5 finale isn't "should Marinette tell Adrien", it is why it was a cosmic necessity that Gabriel Agreste was killed by his own son when Ladybug's team has access to the miraculous who could prevent that tragedy.

There is no universe where the thematically coherent and narratively satisfying climax of the story about Cat Noir and Hawkmoth is "Adrien confronts his girlfriend about lying", and the bitter comfort is that it won't be. If the truth of Hawkmoth's identity ever were to reach Adrien, his girlfriend lying about it would be the least of his sorrows, because those sorrows would be so grotesque that there is no way the show will ever acknowledge them; closure to this storyline was made impossible the moment it was decided that Gabriel would take his death at Adrien's literal hands. When "parents go to jail" was too dark for the networks, I somehow don't think they'll be interested in doing the first ever production of Oedipus Rex for the 4-10 audience.

[raygirlramblings]

Welp I guess I’m going to have to go into some detail now XD

So here is a very basic timeline of the key events in this AU and how it fits into the Blood Dragon universe. There’s even a few pictures!

WARNING this is a LONG post and features discussion of scientific abuse and torture so read with care.

The setup starts before Eden takes over with the Rabbid invasion of the US and Rayman being dumped into this universe from Dimension X

The Rabbids are dealt with by the military but Rayman is captured and held as an alien by the government, who don’t really know what to do with him but he seems friendly and hey it’s a free alien they can keep as a science project.

Rayman is not ok with this but he has nowhere else to go and these military guys seem to not want to kill him so ok.

Then Eden takes over. They basically do this through corporate meddling and financial control and managed to do it without needing Rayman as a mascot.

BUT now they have control over the government and all the stuff they have they find Rayman and go ‘oh cool, free test subject’ and start to experiment on him to figure out a) how he works and b) tie this into their plans to create a dimension portal gun.

Rayman is VERY not ok with this but he doesn’t have much choice.

Cue poor Ray getting physically tortured for months as Eden tries to figure out how he works.

MEANWHILE we cut to Sam Fisher. He’s pretty much the same as he was in the show. Ex us military guy who doesn’t like how Eden is corrupting the youth and destroying the nation etc etc

He lives with his daughter Sarah who is at the age where Eden is trying to corrupt her young mind (but they don’t have the Rayman Kids concept so it’s not quite as effective). Plus Sam is a good dad who is trying to keep his little girl on the right track.

Sam connects with Marcus Holloway and his hacker network in the hopes of getting Sarah out of Eden to stay with a military buddy of his.

Holloway agrees to help him smuggle Sarah out but in return wants the ex military badass to do some recon for him to figure out what the hell Eden is doing with this whole dimensional portals thing.

Sam is like ‘sure if it helps my daughter and messes with Eden a little I’m game’

So Sam uses his super espionage skills to break into one of Eden’s science divisions to get info.

He doesn’t get far before he gets discovered and has to retreat, but not before he ends up finding Rayman locked in Eden’s basement,

Eden has pretty much taken everything they need from poor Ray and left him to rot until they can figure out what to do with him.

Sam being a cool dude takes pity on the limbless guy and invites him to escape with him. Rayman is 100% ok with this plan.

Cue daring escape.

Sam takes Ray home to meet Sarah who is instantly fascinated by the little limbless alien and the two form a sibling like bond. Rayman is just happy to be somewhere safe where he’s not being tortured for science and is reminded that humans are ok actually.

This bond also helps Sarah because the idea that Eden would hurt Rayman helps her not fall for their bullshit propaganda so easily.

The little family spend a few months together to form a bond until Marcus gives Sam the all clear for Sarah to escape Eden

Originally Rayman is supposed to go with Sarah but she asks him to stay with her dad to keep him safe in Eden. Rayman agrees and he and Sam send Sarah out of Eden safely with Marcus’ help.

Almost immediately after this Marcus and his hacker group are raided and captured.

Sam is obviously gung-ho to rescue him in return for what he did for Sarah, so he and Rayman bust into the VR jail to rescue Marcus.

Sam, Rayman and Marcus form their own rebel group to take down Eden and retreat to the desert VR facility as the foundation of their base.

Cue several years of recruiting and fucking with Eden’s propaganda as Eden grows in power.

Sam trains Rayman to help him take part in stealth missions with him and Marcus is the tech guy support. Basically Rayman becomes the Splinter Ray skin from Rayman Legends

Through this they also make contact with the Assassin organisation that Bullfrog is part of and the teams start working together to wreck Eden.

Sam and Rayman meet Bullfrog. Yay!

More cool training and sharing of skills between Sam, Rayman and Bullfrog.

This leads into Wasteland War as Eden strikes back against the rebels.

During this time Dolph is working for Eden but his story more of less plays out the same with him meeting Alex, ditching the military and going on the run. He’s not really involved with the rebellion at this point.

MEANWHILE Sarah returns to Eden and reunites with Sam.

Because she wasn’t brainwashed as a kid she believes in the strength of the rebellion. She came back to either take her dad somewhere safe or join the team. Obviously she does the latter.

Sam and Rayman are obviously overjoyed to see Sarah again.

BUT SHE IS NOT ALONE.

In order to locate her dad she had to make contact with someone on the inside of Eden who would be willing to send her updates and info

SURPRISE ITS JADE AND PEY’J :D

Jade and Sarah are penpal buddies yay

By this point we pretty much have the whole gang together on the rebel side.

THEN Alex betrays Dolph for his own goals and Dolph gets captured. THIS WOULD BE THE STARTING POINT FOR THE STORY FROM DOLPH’S PERSPECTIVE LIKE THE SHOW.

Marcus is like ‘hey guys we should have this badass on our side’

Sam and Rayman are like ‘lol ok’

They bust him out and ‘encourage’ him to join their rebellion.

Dolph is hesitant until Marcus tells him he can get him info on Alex.

Dolph joins the rebellion strike force because he’s just that easy to convince XD

Everyone is here and as stated above we follow Dolph’s story coming to terms with his new team, learning about their history and how they all work together.

IT WOULD BE A BIG OLD GROUP PROJECT AND IT WOULD BE AWESOME.

And there we go! Basically all the setup for an alternate take on the Blood Dragon universe. Let’s call it the ‘Splinter Cel Remix’ :D

Obviously there is a lot less death and double crossing in this version and some people might thinks that’s lame but this is only the background for a continuing plot line so anything could happen. Also I’m SURE my timelines are all messed up with character ages and when the Wasteland war was, and even more screwed up with removing Rayman as Eden’s mascot. BUT WHATEVER it’s just a fun little what if.

Thank you for reading this utterly self indulgent nonsense from my tiny brain. I hope the pictures helped!

[woofs-silly-ships]

Ahem

Spoilers below

WHAT

THE

F U C K

WAS THAT

THEY WERE ACTUALLY GOING TO MAYBE REDEEM HIM

MEGGY ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING WITH THAT, SHE DID WHAT ALL THE PUZZLES FANS HAVE BEEN WANTING TO DO

LEGITIMATELY FUCK YOU MARIO

IT HAPPENED IN ALL OF 5 SECONDS TOO

I WAS TRYING SO HARD TO PROCESS WHAG JUST HAPPENED

(Mario has gone from one of my favorites to by far my least favorite character and will never be moving back up, no matter how silly or resentful my guy is he had zero reason to do that, especially when puzzles was now friendly with the person standing RIGHT NEXT TO MARIO… that genuinely broke me beyond belief and even if Puzzles breaks out I’m still not changing Mario’s rank now /srs)

I mean I’m glad he’s not dead but still

He’s going freaking insane rotting in a freaking jail cell and it broke my heart

I still get to have my AU where the didney crap doesn’t happen and the canon storyline where my s/I starts killing everybody so yippee I guess?

Aside from that the episode and song were freaking awesome

That song went from me happily head bopping to depressed head bopping near the end LMAO

Oh and I NEED that puzzles plush and shirt grrrrrgrgrgrggrgr

I do hope that they’ll maybe give the arc some time before putting Puzzles into play again, because they clearly want to and I’m happy about that, but we need time to breathe or the fandom will implode again lmao

TLDR: not as depressing as I thought but still sad lol, good WOTFI, Western Spaghetti is still my favorite smg4 movie tho

[taamlok]

this time i decided to do the "good ending" where i convinced solas to sacrifice himself to restore the veil, and i was happy with that ending don't get me wrong; i think it was a satisfying full-circle moment for his character. he voluntarily returned to his beloved fade, lavellan by his side.

HOWEVER i really think muireann would do the fake dagger trick instead. like does she want to fight him? no. she likes him, kind of. but i also don't think she's convinced he can be swayed, especially after varric failed to do so. and also he was fully prepared to let her rot in fade jail. she's also a freak so she would love the opportunity to outdo the doer.

most importantly though i don't think i like that ending for my lavellan. she loved him once upon a time, sure, but to go with him after everything? it doesn't seem like her. i envision her helping rebuild the south moreso than just fucking off into the fade (no shade to anyone who likes that option though, it just is ooc for my specific inky).

in writing this i have convinced myself to do the scam next time lmao

[seabugsbaby]

babes!!!!! need help deciding somethin abt my Rotting of the Lamb au. @puppydogwithlargeeyes specifically. (no pressure ofc) but also everyone else!!!!!

explanation under the cut bc this is abt to be a longggg post

(cw: mention of abusive character)

ok so. my original idea for The Rotting of the Lamb was that Lacey would sacrifice her time n safety n comfort to help all the bishops make up and live happy mortal lives. she'd sort of expose them to the good abt mortality and help them thru their emotions w unconditional positive regard. she also helps Camilo almost be at peace.

then one day there's a new realm where the doors to darkwood and such should be. n it's Rin, in the purgatory Camilo put her in. So they do the whole defeat-and-spare thing but Nari is adamant that they need to kill her and she's going to destroy them n Camilo is just so overwhelmed that they dip. Lacey puts Rin in jail to put off the decision until Camilo comes back.

Eventually they do, and they want Lacey's happy dream world to be realized, so they let her try to help Rin. But Rin isn't like the others. Lacey doesn't know how to begin to make her better. n later on she realizes that Rin's been hurting Camilo again and Lacey is actively enabling it by letting her be there. She has a huge fight with Rin where she does an act of divine wrath--sending Rin to a purgatory where she lives out Camilo's old life as her vessel, dying again and again and again. That's what makes her ascend. ofc there's more but that's a summary of the relevant parts.

Here's the problems with that. It feels off to have a second party be the one to 'resolve' the abusive situation between Camilo and Rin. It makes that situation into a plot device. But w Lacey's character, Rin's continued abuse toward her mirror--who she understands more than anyone n the only one who rly understands her--is the only thing that would make her have that act of wrath. Like Rin is a ticking time bomb for Lacey. Everything Lacey hates. And Camilo isn't going to resolve things w Rin themselves--they're going to keep destroying themselves until something gets in the way. Back when they killed her the first time, they hadn't seen what their life could be like. Now seeing Nari and Lacey (and the rehabilitation of the bishops) makes them hold onto hope that Rin will change.

Another problem is that her retaliation isn't rly "rotting of purity," and feels off for the name of the au. It's just retaliation against an abusive party. She does go crazy w it (finally saying she doesn't want Rin there, something she's felt but never said nor acted on, and making her 'disappear') but it still feels off bc she's just putting her feelings ahead of everyone else's for once. That could add to the unfairness of the situation (like godhood doesn't care abt cruelty vs retaliation, u ascend anyway) but idk.

BUT!!!!!!!!!

i thought of a second option. Lacey actually does sacrifice something for Camilo's happy ending. Her powers, or something like that. Maybe she sacrifices her mortalhood. But she gives something huge that she actually doesn't want to give to bring Camilo a "good end" version of Rin(?) Something like that--a good ending for Camilo. Maybe thru the mystic seller. And over time, she gets more and more resentful, but she shoves it down. Eventually she kills Rin for taking her happy ending, and that causes her ascension (if she's not ascending already.) it's still an act of divine wrath and a rotting of purity. N if she's already ascending, it's an act that officially 'rots' her. Slippery slope type deal.

The only issue is that Camilo would still have memories of Rin's abuse n it feels kinda off to resolve that thru adding in "non-abusive version of abuser." N it feels a little like Lacey just suddenly turning evil, instead of a twist of her normal psyche. BUT she would be rotting AND she would have actually sacrificed too much, instead her sacrifice being more of a metaphor.

idk. if anyone's gotten this far, lemme know what u think.

[tvckerwash]

I'm thinking about price again my dudes. like I honestly don't think he was a bad guy or that he had bad intentions. he—like everyone else involved in project freelancer—choose to wholeheartedly believe in the director, and he genuinely thought that an out of the box/unconventional solution like project freelancer could've been the key to winning the war.

I also think that he did genuinely want the best for the freelancers, and that his psychological experiments were not intended to result in the outcomes that they did. I don't think price wanted to see /his/ freelancer agents that he personally hand-picked fail—or continually be put into positions that would result in failure, but, unfortunately, he was at the mercy of the director's whims and a fundamentally broken system as much as the agent's themselves were.

when I look at the way he interacts with wash in recovery one and s6, I don't see someone who is doing what he is solely due to underlying ulterior motives. like don't get me wrong, price didn't trust wash, and the extensive therapy sessions did have hidden agendas, but I think he really did want to see wash up and running again, and he does express some level of remorse over the whole epsilon incident along with south betraying wash and shooting him in the back. but again, unfortunately for price, he's dealing with a man who already had an inherent dislike of people poking around inside his head, who also doesn't want to beat around the bush and deal with all of price's bullshit therapy jargon because he's fine, so just give him a gun and tell him where to shoot.

at the end of s6, price wanted to negotiate with wash and meta, but unfortunately (for the umpteenth time), he was dealing with 3 people who were far past the point of negotiating and already had their minds made up. wash was prepared to die if it meant the destruction of freelancer and the meta, the meta was prepared to do anything he was asked if it would lead him to the alpha, and the director was prepared to continue using his agent's to carry out his personal agenda and eliminate those who got in his way.

then price gets sent to jail, left to rot by the man who he trusted. some years pass and he hears about how a group of colorful soldiers brought the director to justice, and then the prison transport ship he's called home gets hijacked by some mercenaries, and finding himself free (relatively speaking) for the first time in a very long time, he decides he's not taking any chances.

sharkface was doomed to die—price made sure to direct his single focused rage and desire for revenge towards agent carolina, for she had always been an empathetic and deeply caring woman even if she wasn't the best at showing it, and her competitive nature was an easy and obvious exploit. unfortunately for sharkface though, with all of his attention on carolina, that meant that agent washington would fall off his radar, and he would have no problem delivering the finishing blow that carolina herself couldn't—wash is a pragmatic man first and foremost, and he has no qualms about killing people if they pose a danger to himself and those close to him, and unlike carolina he only let's his emotions get the better of him in the field when he can logically justify his actions to himself as being unrelated to his feelings.

locus is a man who has been irreparably scarred by the great war along with so many others, and he has no sense of identity outside of being a soldier. his interest (and subsequent disappointment and anger) over agent washington not accepting him as a fellow soldier is very telling. price wonders what locus would think if he told him that agent washington had been court-martialed and demoted prior to being recruited for freelancer for disobeying orders and attacking his CO.

when locus has a sudden interest in the meta, he decides to take the opportunity to sow the seeds of doubt and open locus' eyes to the truth of his partnership with felix, and how the other man wants locus to stay a broken, mindless soldier when he does not need to be one. after all, price is and always will be a counselor, and while he thoroughly failed at his job in the past due to things that were both in and out of his control, here he sees a chance to do some good and make amends on his own terms.

[decadentworld]

The Baptism.

Billy’s journey to changing his last name, in a last attempt to fully disassociate himself from Neil, takes him to a place he’d never have expected.

※ Billy Hargrove-centric. Side Billy Hargrove/Male Reader.

※ 3,106 words

※ Personal work (not request).

※ Trigger warnings: Child physical, verbal, and emotional abuse. Gaslighting. This might be very triggering for some people.

※ Content & warnings: Original character. Hurt/Comfort. Billy cries a lot. Character death. Non-graphic mentions of smut at the end. Neil is in jail because I said so but it’s not mentioned.

※ Work available only on Tumblr and under ArchiveOfOurOwn pseud of the same name (DecadentWorld). Do not repost, edit, or redistribute. Do not use for TikTok videos.

Billy’s always wanted to do change his last name. Initially, he wanted his mom’s last name, but after everything that’s happened and the growth he’s had, he finally understood that, while his mom might have showed him some kindness, she still abandoned him. Left him to rot in that cemetery he had to call house, with the man who murdered him on the inside. She did; Billy did not jump to conclusions. He did his detective homework and found her having already formed another family. So, in that same vein, he does not want to associate himself with her anymore. It hurts to have this notion of his challenged, but it’s getting better with time.

Billy thinks. Paces, in his mind. Scratches at his head, thinking what else there could be, where he could get a new last name from.

At your now shared house, his newfound group of friends (friends!) try to give him some help. Mostly.

“What about your grandpa’s last name?”, asks the puppy of a metalhead he has as a friend.

“Dumbass. That’s ma’s last name, too.”

“Oh. Right.”

The exasperated babysitter chimes in. “Can any of your relatives reclaim you?”

“No living relatives that I know of, Harrington. Plus, I’m already legal. What’s the use?”

“You can still be adopted if you’re over eighteen. Maybe Susan could adopt you…? She has the grounds for it, now.” The badass columnist has a point. But.

But.

Billy looks uneasy. “M-Maybe not.”

There’s a bit of rueful tension after this. You, his anchor, hold his hand and rub circles on it with your thumb.

Billy’s newfound emotional support lesbian chimes in with a sly smile, and she’s joking, but. “Maybe you could take his last name, hm?” Points at you. Wiggles her eyebrows.

Billy blushes so darkly he has to hide in your chest. But quickly deflates. Right. It’s not allowed.

Maybe he cries a little bit over it at night.

And one day, the epiphany.

His littlest superheroine touches his cheek again, like he always allows her to, ever since that 4th of July.

“You have a memory right here. On the tip of your tongue. Wants to come out.”

“Which of all, mousey?”

Her eyes quickly flit over left and right. “A woman. Is old. Has kind eyes.”

Billy feels something rattle at his chest. “What do you mean?”

“She is good to you. Touches you like I am. Makes it better. But is so… ‘ephemeral’.”

Billy doesn’t realize he’s tearing up. Doesn’t even ask the girl where she learnt that big person word. “Wh-What— What does she look like?”

“Red hair, but it’s… She dyed it. Her teeth are all crooked. Her right eye is—”

“White.” Billy can’t speak. “C-Cataract.”

How could he forget? How could he have forgotten?

Granny Maude.

Billy saw her exactly one time in his life, but he’s not sure why he might have forgotten about her even then, for all the impact that she had in his young life.

Billy’s mind fills in the blanks. A little Billy running away from home, limping all the way across the empty beach at night, right after Neil laid into him with steel-toed boots included. When he can’t run anymore, he still runs a little more, just so that he can collapse on the doorstep of a random house and bang his fists on the door.

That’s the only time in his life when Billy asks for: “Help.”

He sees her so clearly right now. He recalls almost being thrown off by her appearance at first, but quickly pushing this aside when she takes him into her little secluded house, sits him on her rickety old individual sofa, asks him if he’s alright, gives him water, aspirin, treats him so nicely that he cries. Ruefully tells him he looks like someone she knows. Asks his full name so that she can call the police.

“Hargrove?” It’s not a common last name. The old lady has a foreboding at the back of her mind. Quickly puts her hands on the boy’s shoulders. “Sonny, what is your father called?”

Little Billy tells her. It can’t be possible. The septuagenarian runs to the phone but the banging on the door stops her.

“Maude, open up! I know he’s in here!” The booming voice of the monster roars.

The woman continues to the phone, dials the emergency line, starts to rely the message but the quick turning of a key in a keyhole makes the phone slip off her hands and shatter on the floor from the impact.

The big bad barges in and rips the base of the rotary phone off the wall for good measure.

“You never told me you had a son! I have a grandson?!”, she screams at him with all the vigour a 74-year-old can manage.

“Senile bitch. This doesn’t concern you.” The villain’s boots shake the foundation of the house as he approaches his son. He grabs him by the hair. “I fucking hate you right now. I do not want to hear a single word from you—”

“How can you treat your own son like that—”

“Shut up! Cops are on their way and not for me. Maybe they’ll finally commit you.” He turns to the boy. “Go to the fucking car. Get in and don’t let a single person see you. If anyone does, I’ll fucking kill you.”

It’s a bit of a blur after that. From what the therapist told him, it’s normal that his mind might have supressed some memories, especially if they had to do with Neil’s abuse.

Wait. The words. He remembers— He keeps hearing them—

“She doesn’t exist, William. She’s not fucking real. Forget that you ever thought up someone like that. She’s not real.”

He understands. Neil forced him to forget she ever existed.

And as always, with everything Neil said, Billy obeyed.

Billy finds himself hysterical and screaming with how much he’s crying after resurfacing from this memory. Jonathan, Will, Joyce, and Jim are now on the sides of him, trying to calm him down without understanding much of what’s going on.

“H-He made me forget her. He m-made me think she n-never existed. But she’s real. She’s real.”

She’s real. Or was.

Deep digging doesn’t do much this time. Any leads on who Maude Hargrove is or might have been are hard to follow. Which is when it occurs to them to hire Murray, see if he has any knowledge on genealogical tree tracking.

And he does. He’s an expert, actually.

“Largo al factotum, I said.” And with that sentence, he closes the case.

Maude Rathbone.

It turns out she never took her husband’s last name. Billy commends her for it, knows how unusual and frowned upon that must have been in her era.

Maude Rathbone passed away at the age of 77 in 1981, when Billy was about to turn 14, about four years after that fateful night. She died not in the comfort of her cozy old home or in a caring nursing facility, but in a psychiatric hospital. Neil did end up committing her that night. Dialed the charm up and told the police officers he was so worried for his mother, that he was afraid she was turning senile, that she had called him into her home because she was seeing a boy that just wasn’t there. No one even bothered to check Neil’s car, within which a frail little boy was fearing for his life.

Billy learns a new word in therapy the next day: ‘Gaslight’.

Murray helps them more. The next few days you, Billy, and Hopper gear up and go to the psychiatric facility all the way in California to get more answers.

Everyone there believed Neil that time. Who wouldn’t have? A charming middle-aged man versus an old woman they found undesirable because they thought cataracts and crooked missing teeth and cheap red dye was a sign of poverty, of carelessness, of mental illness. All things society is not ready to tolerate. The folks in charge at the psychiatric are nonchalant as they imply all this when the three ask for a Maude Rathbone, saying she wrote letters to a boy that didn’t exist, that they assured her the boy received if only to palliate the outbursts of a senile elder in her last days. Only, those letters never left the facility.

But when Billy soon-to-be-ex-Hargrove announces himself as that very boy, the people in charge can’t believe it.

“Of course I’m fucking real, you fucking assholes! ‘You never thought to look me up or anything?!”

Hopper lets him have this. He all but demanded to be brought in with you and Billy if there needed to be some more convincing on his behalf, but he figures it’s not necessary, in the end.

Obviously, they allow him to take all those letters and the rest of her trinkets with them. It’s the least they can do.

Later in the evening, at the hotel, you comfort Billy, who’s already started to cry as he reads the first letter.

Dear Billy,

You are real and I am real. Whatever my son has told you, because I know he has, is untrue. That man is a real piece of work and never told me about you. War changed him, but that’s not an excuse for him, because he walked right into it all on his own. He would get violent with me, cut all contact with me because I was spot on in telling him he was spiraling. Reminds me of Mortimer, but the piece of shit died before he was even born, so I had quite a few years of peace before all that.

Billy laughs softly between his tears and lays his head on your shoulder. Mortimer Hargrove was her husband, Neil’s father. So his grandfather was also shitty, but he felt glad Maude could lay into him and say things like they were.

Neil got paranoid after some time. I knew he thought I was going to report him to the police. I wouldn’t have. I didn’t have anyone. No one would have believed me. So of course I believed you. He hurt you badly, his own son. I think it’s fate that you knocked on my door last night. I still don’t know if it was completely out of the blue, or if you felt like I would be welcoming enough, and for that, you are very brave.

Tears drip constantly on the yellowed sheet of paper. Billy was about to enter a void of self-deprecation, but the next few lines stop him in his tracks and pull another laugh out of him, because it’s like she was reading his mind at the moment she wrote the letter.

Now, don’t you dare think any of this is your fault, sonny. I know your kind, because I was it. I know you’re probably thinking I got put in this place because of you. Stop it. None of this could have been avoided. I would’ve surely ended up in a place like this sooner or later.

Billy disagrees. The way she expresses herself in these letters is so clear; she was extremely lucid for a 74-year-old at that moment.

Billy’s heart breaks as he keeps reading the last few lines.

Please, find me. Come live with me. We can run away from him together. I could prove to them that you’re real, and they’d give me the grounds for adoption. I know there’s no saving that monster.

I love you, sonny. I will find you somehow.

Gammy Maude

Billy breaks down in your arms. “Sh-She only knew m-me for like ten minutes and she still lov-ved me.” He starts hyperventilating. “She f-found me. She found me, in th-the end!”

It takes well over half an hour before Billy’s composed enough to keep reading the rest of the letters. His heart breaks a little more with each one.

At first, they end with:

Hope to see you soon. Love you.

But as he keeps going, it gradually turns into:

Neil’s not letting you see these, is he? Please write back.

And then, into:

Are you real? Lord, give me a sign that my sonny is real.

Fuck Neil. Fuck the police. Fuck the psychiatric handlers. Fuck society. Fuck everyone who ever saw this little old woman and wholeheartedly believed she could be a menace. Billy cries for her. Mourns her, because Lord knows no one ever did.

For the night, Billy forgets that this all started because he wanted to change his last name. Even if he can’t, in the end, he’ll content himself with this.

But he can!

“Look, she’s a direct relative. Blood-related relative. They have to allow you. It’s basically your God-given right. And if for whatever reason they wanna fight it, then all these letters of hers? They’ll be as good of an evidence as there can be. Look at the writing. The exact same as all the legal files on her name. And the signature! God, I love your grandma. She made this so easy.” Murray is almost histrionic as he shoves sheets upon sheets of paper on the table.

Billy can’t help but agree. Gammy Maude was a genius. She somehow had the foresight to add her signature onto the letters, like she knew they could be used as evidence someday.

Everything is arranged that same day.

Billy starts crying before Hopper even hands him his new identification card.

“Kid, you haven’t even seen it yet. Save the tears for after.” Another one of Hopper’s hidden skills: be persuasive enough to accelerate the ID card making process, photo-taking included. So much so that the shiny new plastic is in Hopper’s hand before the day even ends.

“C-Can’t help it, chief. This is my new life we’re talking about.”

Hopper just gives him a gruff chuckle and puts a hand on his shoulder. Billy takes the card and pointedly doesn’t look at it until he goes to stand next to you, near the stairway outside. There are curiously-colored flags in this part of California. They make Billy feel even more accepted and at home.

“Come on,” you gently encourage him. “Look at it.”

He does. The tears can’t stop.

You hold him through it, and even as his eyes get so blurry from the tears that he can’t possibly read what’s printed in the plastic card anymore, he still looks at it like his eyes are pulled to it.

That’s how everyone’s going to call him from now on.

Billy Rathbone.

Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

Billy doesn’t answer you, and you realize that he didn’t even take in your question. He cries, so hard that you worry for him, but he’s smiling so widely at the same time, and that dissipates any doubts you might have.

“You did it, honey.”

“N-No. We did it. A-All of us.”

You hoist Billy up and spin him around, rejoicing in his screaming laughter.

Back in Hawkins, things gradually change for the better.

Steve challenges him for a basketball match, wanting a redo of their previous rivalry without the bitterness.

“Come on, Rathbone. You stomped on my crown twice. Was King of Highschool and Keg as well. Not gonna let you be King of Basketball, too.”

God. Steve is so obvious with this attempt, even trying to channel his King Steve persona into his words, but Billy’s smiling so much he temporarily forgets he should respond with anything at least vaguely antagonistic.

Steve smiles shyly. “Creamed your pants for a second there?”

Billy rolls his eyes. “You’re insufferable. Bring it on!”

Robin all but drags him to a big gathering with the party. “Hey! You guys remember Billy Rathbone?!”

Robin’s even more obvious than Steve, emphasizing his last name so overtly Billy’s almost worried for a second of how everyone’s going to react. Eddie and Steve almost chide her.

No need for that. The kids look at him in wonder. El gives him the biggest grin ever. Lucas raises his eyebrows amusedly. Dustin gives him the toothiest toothless smile. Erica only looks smug for once in her life. Will has the softest smile on his face. Mike can’t keep his self imposed grimace of someone who’s sucking on a lemon for long enough because it’s clear he’s trying not to smile.

And Max?

From her sitting position on her wheelchair, she extends her fully healed right arm. “Let me see it.”

“Let her see it! Yeah!” Robin is so enthusiastic about Billy showing Max his new ID that she’s almost jumping in place.

Max takes a good look at the shiny new plastic. Then slowly looks up at him.

Billy doesn’t know what to make of her expression and the sepulchral silence that follows before she speaks.

“Of course you had to go and call yourself Rat Bone.”

Everyone laughs. Billy does, too. He doesn’t know why he was worried.

Wait. He’s tearing up a little bit as well.

Max downright forces him to hug her.

“Don’t you dare say anything, shitbird. What kinda name is May Field? Sounds like… uh…”

“Yeah, yeah. Give yourself an aneurysm thinking of something, will you.” They separate. “Just tell me everything after it.”

And he does. He tells them about Gammy.

“Hey,” you say to Billy, him so comfortable deep in the bedsheets after you’re done laying all your love on him. “If… no, when we’re able to marry,” and he of course has to blush to the tips of his ears, even after you’ve literally just finished making love, “…you’re not gonna take my last name, right?”

Billy tears up. “Please, d-don’t make me—”

“Of course I won’t. That was a threat.” You smile at him while you make him this oh-so-scary threat. He smiles as well. “You better not. ‘Billy Rathbone’ just sounds too good to change.”

There’s always hope.

Billy Rathbone wears a different necklace nowadays. Whereas he used to have a Virgin Mary one, which belonged to his egg donor, he now has one in the format of a locket. There is a photograph inside, the only one Murray could find. But it’s perfect.

Of course, he did not crop the original photograph. He put it through the photocopier once, twice, three times before it was the perfect size.

In this locket, he keeps a photocopied picture of Maude Rathbone, smiling with her gorgeous missing and blackened crooked teeth, sporting a lovely frizzy hairdo that’s just the perfect hue of vintage red, looking at the camera with one ethereal cataractous eye.

[stoopid-noah]

Watching The Crowded Room and going in completely blind..

Haven't seen a trailer, no idea what it's even about lol

Here are my thoughts as I move along..

After watching Ep 1, I think:

Danny and his brother where SAed as children, maybe by the stepdad.

Ariana is a sex worker?

His brother either died due to abuse or offed himself because of it.

Ep 2:

Ariana was sexually abused too, I think.

Danny might have Multiple personalities and seems to be unaware about it.

Some charracters might actually be part of his system?

Is the "ghost house" actually his mindspace?

Ep 3:

Yup, multiple personalities!

Yitzhak is definitely one of them!

Jonny probably too & if he is, so must Mike.

Ariana might be aswell, maybe she's his sexual protector & SA trauma holder.

Did he ever have a twin brother, or was he also part of the system?

I love Yitzhak, best protected ever!!

I think Rya, the psychiatrist might suspect him having DiD, but isn't sure yet & the police has no idea.

But how did eye witnesses see Ariana?!

Ep 4:

I think Jack is also part of Danny's system.

Jack seems to be a protector aswell.

I can't tell if his brother was another alter or his actual brother?

All the drawings in his (burned) sketchbook might be of alters.

Oooooo shits 'bout to go down!!

Ep 5:

Gee, straight to the intro, no little scene before that? Is that a good sign or a bad one?

I really hope his mother didn't know what her children where going through.

I love Mario, he's cool!

I feel so sorry for his mom (Candy?)  too, she just wanted the best for her baby.. :(

I think Adam was his first protector & trauma holder, not his actual brother.

Ep 6:

I hate how the police officer is talking about poor Danny. :(

I hate the psychiatrists son, he's a brat and a nuisance lol

Hell yeah Jonny, get right outa those cuffs!!

God, I love this woman.. she's an amazing doctor and I NEED her to succeed!!

Why do I kinda like his lawyer?! He's such an asshole lmao

Oh, Danny.. My poor baby.. He's so scared :(

Ep 7:

Yayy, Yitzhak is back!!

Jack, Jonny, Mike, Yitzhak and Ariana confirmed alters, yay!!

Goddam Jonny... At least try to keep it together man >:(

These "psychologists" are so insufferable.. and so is the judge..

I love Yitzhak so much.. please don't let him be gone gone AAaAaa <3

Oh god.. please help him, poor puppy boy :(

Ep 8:

GET OFF MY SVREEN YOU FUCKIN PEDOPHILE PIG PIECE OF SHIT!!

I hope Marlin rots in hell, fucking piece of shit.

I love the directive so much!!

Candy, how could you? How could she cover for that piece of shit?

Oh, I feel bad for Arianas boyfriend.. and for Ariana :(

Why should they try to "get rid of the alters"?? I know that this plays in a different time, but it's so frustrating that the alters aren't really seen as whole ass human beings by the professionals.. :(

Jerome is so sweet and kind, I cant- I want them to be friends forever AAaAaa

If that boy doesn't get the help he needs, I'm going to scream...

Ep 9:

I hate him. I hate Marlin so much.. why do I have to look at him right now?!

How can candy live with herself, protecting this pig????

I hope she fucking turns around and stands up for Danny in the end :(

Stan is such a good guy, I hope he's a great lawyer too.

I hate it.. D.I.D. is real for fucks sake.

The trial just started and  I'm already crying..

I'm starting to hate candy, she's acting like a real bitch right now, ngl..

FUCK YEAH CANDY!! GO SAVE YOUR FUCKING SON!!!

Aaand she went home.. goddamn it..

Yay Jerome is back!!

Goddamn.. she's a really good psychologist.

I swear to God Candy, if you mess up again I'm going to scream.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Danny, baby.. no :(

How dare you end the episode like that?!

Ep 10:

Jesus Christ, please don't let my baby die.

God damnit Jack..

I hate his smug fucking grin.

I hate him. I hate him. I hate him..

Oh, If Danny can come back, so could Yitzhak, right? I miss him. :(

"Adam is me" I'm fucking crying again wtf..

I'm on the edge of me seat, please don't jail this boy!!

OH THANK GOD!!!

I can't stop crying aaaaa

If Danny can forgive Candy, I guess I should too.. but I don't wanna >:(

He looks so cute, with all the paint on his shirt. <3

Don't try and make me feel sympathy for Candy.

Hell yeah, no forgiveness for Candy!!!!

I love the friendship of Danny and Rya, they have such great chemistry!

Last thoughts, after doing some research:

They handled this whole theme so respectfully and good!

Tom also did such an amazing job portraying his roles, it's amazing!!

Especially considering that this series and the movie "Split" where apparently based on the same case.. I fucking hated how DiD was portrayed in Split.. Like it's something to fear. Like it makes people violent. And as something fucking supernatural.. I fucking hated that.. But "The Crowded Room" is so honest and respectful.. It's beautiful!

[watermelons-dont-grow-on-trees]

Home

masterlist

TW: restraints, intimate whumper, past relationship with whumpee, lady whump, choking, betrayal (sort of)

“I want to go home” Claire cried into his chest finally breaking down. They were sitting in the basement, by the she was chained to by her collar. He held her close to him, soothingly rubbing circles on her back, careful to avoid the bruises covering her all over. In an attempt to coax some reaction out of her yet again, he changed his previous tactics, and cornered her emotionally. They talked and talked, superficial things, easy conversations. They ended up sitting next to each other, then Claire in his lap, “Hold me” she’d asked. The more her body relaxed, her mind raced. How comfortable his body was pressed up against her, how he manipulated her to barely notice the change from fiance to owner, how his proximity brought comfort against all odds. How she missed her family, her life, their home together with Luke.

“I know, love” he kissed into her hair.

“I miss my family” she admitted for the first time out loud. She sobbed into his chest, grabbing onto his t-shirt like a lifeline. Luke smiled, as if he was breathing her desperation in, inhaled deeply and sighed.

“We could call you mom, if you wanted” he offered innocently.

“What?” She shot up looking at him warily. It’s been weeks and he never even hinted at such a thing. Would he actually let them talk? Would this put her in danger, if she knew where her daughter was, wouldn’t he have to hurt her?

“I mean, I could call her, and you could listen, how does that sound?” She could scream for help when her mom picks up. He would finally be caught and she would be free. He could rot in jail.

“Would you really?”

“Of course I would” he laughed. There had to be a catch “In fact let’s call her right now” He pushed Claire out of his lap, to get his phone out of the back pocket. After a few clicks he held the phone out between them, the screen was dark, she could see her tear stained reflection on it. She took a deep breath, she needed it to scream as soon as her mom would pick up. It looked way too easy. Did he become so careless after a few minutes of heart-to-heart? Something was wrong, and this was her only chance.

He playfully put a finger over his lips, smiling, asking her to keep quiet as the line started ringing. After the fourth agonizingly long beep, they were connected.

Claire didn’t waste a second waiting for a greeting before locking eyes with Luke and started screaming for help. There was no sound coming from the phone, then laughter erupted on both ends of the line.

“Are you really kidnapped?” Cole laughed into the speaker “Foolproof escape plan, Sherlock” he teased.

“I don’t know, she doesn’t look kidnapped to me” Luke joined in “She looks a bit stressed though, is this how married life is treating you?” he pushed the phone in her face to answer. She couldn’t back away any further, the chain on her collar was pulled taut. A new wave of tears spilled from her eyes, tears of frustration mostly. She shook her head.

“Thanks man” He hung up when she wouldn’t reply. The smug grin wouldn’t leave his face “I know you, Claire, way too well for this” She stayed silent “But as promised, we’ll call your mom” “I just need to take some precautionary measures” he reached up and unbuckled her collar, just to pull it tighter. It was too late when she realised just how tight he actually set it. She opened her mouth to protest, but no sound came out, and then even worse, no air went in.

“Let’s hope Mrs. D is not in a chatty mood today” he looked her up and down as she struggled to get a breath in.

“Luke, what a nice surprise” she picked up cheerfully. Claire wished she could actually cry “I was just about to call you today”

“Oh, really? Are there any updates on Claire?” she couldn’t fathom how he made his voice sound so honestly hopeful and desperate.

“Actually yes!” she exclaimed “Well, not actual news, but someone reported seeing a girl that fits the description a few towns over. They’re extending the search to other cities”

“That’s… I… I’m more hopeful than I had ever been, this is the best news I could ever receive”

“It’s not set in stone yet, let’s not get carried away” There was a soft hopeful smile in her voice.

“No, I know, honestly I just wanted to check in if you needed anything, but this one is better than anything I could offer” “Call me if you hear anything else?’

“Will do. And Luke, take care of yourself!”

He unbuckled the collar with a swift set of movements as soon as they hung up.

“Have I told you I’m the head of the civilian led search for you?” he fumbled with the collar, taking it off the chain, and putting it back on her neck. She didn’t protest, just tried to catch her breath. “I guess I haven’t, but it’s over now anyway” he sighed contently.

“Why are you doing this?” she wheezed out between a few breaths.

“I thought you wanted to hear your mom’s voice, and I feel like you didn’t really appreciate my gesture” he stated, and started fidgeting with the loose end of the chain he took off her collar.

“I-” She was so caught up in the whirlwind of emotions that she almost forgot about what started it all. The feeling was the opposite of finding that one thought that grounds you and takes you back to where a painful thought process started. It made her heart sank. She heard her mom’s voice. She’s looking for her, full of hope, and she’s never going to see her again.

“Wasn’t it just so generous of me to let you hear all that? Now you know she’s okay” he gloated.

“Why-?” she tried to get a word in, but she broke out in a coughing fit. He just shrugged.

“I told you… I w-wanted… home”

“And you got a piece of it, come on, you heard her voice, isn’t that precious?” he started petting her hair, coaxing her to sit back in his lap. She violently shook her head. She could’ve crawled away from him now that she wasn’t held back by a chain but she stayed in place.

“Please” she tried when pulling away didn’t stop the unwelcome touch.

“Get back here and we can talk about it” he taunted.

[iris-sistibly]

GOD! EPISODE 13 IS BITTERSWEET, but I think this is by far the episode where like 80-90% of the scenes were happy. So I love it!

📍I knew they'd find nothing in the panic room, it's kinda frustrating but what's new? At least Hyun-woo had a back-up plan to fuck up Eun-seong and I can't wait for him and his mother to rot in jail. But WAIT--hear me out, if Seul-hee finds out that Eun-seong went to Germany to follow Hae-in, this bitch would be livid and since she sees every member of the Hong family as an obstacle, she'll most likely going to do something to eliminate Hae-in. What if Eun-seong sacrifices himself and dies in the process to save her, then Mo Seul-hee will lose her mind and she'd spend the rest of her remaining days locked up in a mental asylum, alone and lonely. I think that would be a perfect ending for her and Eun-seong don't y'all think?

📍Aunt Beom-ja and hubby number 4 moments, Hae-in and Mama Hong slowly rebuilding their relationship, Baek and Hong parents being besties, Soo-cheol continuing to stand up for his family...I appreciate these little family moments so much I just don't want it to end.

📍Team QOT be blessing us with lots and lots of BaekHong moments!!! Ah, I feel so spoiled as a fan, I never considered their divorce as legit, but more like they went back to the way they were...you know, carefree, happy, being so in-love, making great memories. I love that they re-created the honeymoon scene in episode 1, then the first OST to ever be released (The Reasons of my Smiles by BSS) started playing in the background, it felt so nostalgic to me.

📍I also love the fact that Hae-in's parents, especially her mom didn't argue when Hae-in decided to move-in with Hyun-woo in his apartment. It feels like they are finally giving their full support and blessing for BaekHong to become a married couple. Also, those hubby and wifey moments made me smile a lot!

📍But Hyun-woo once again going above and beyond to make Hae-in happy 🥹🥹🥹 hubby really made the "snow fall in October" so wifey could witness it first hand, then hearing his most genuine laugh when Hae-in confessed that he was his first love was just the best. Those scenes were just so good it made me wish that they could stay like that.

📍But of course, those happy moments won't last because well...who says we can have it all? Now, if this was a typical Kdrama and the lead character would be put in Hae-in's situation, normally we could expect the lead character to take the risk and the other lead as well the people on their side would help her remember or perhaps create new memories. However, I do appreciate the fact that Park Ji-eun didn't romanticize that kind of situation but instead gave us the reality of how complicated it is to be in Hae-in's shoes. It's easy to say, "Oh it's fine Hyun-woo's gonna help her remember," and this guy bless his heart would be willing to do that, but what about Hae-in?

As much as I really, really want her to get the surgery, I do understand why she refused after finding out about the possible side effects. It's not just about losing her memories, it's about losing her loved ones. It's so fucking cruel because if she doesn't take the surgery, they'll lose her, if she does then it's the other way around. She could wake up becoming a completely different person, forgetting about how much she loves her family, her husband and it will hurt them really badly. She loves Hyun-woo so much that she doesn't want to lose that love she has for him in exchange for extending her life. If she loses that love, then what's the point of living? I still do hope for some miracle though, because she deserves to live a long life with Hyun-woo.

ANYWAY, Since episode 14 is coming up I am mentally and emotionally preparing myself for a pretty painful episode. Next week is finale week and I hope, I REALLY hope that BaekHong will get a happy ending they both deserve.

[ternfic]

Reboot

Chapter Nineteen

Rex slowly rose to consciousness once more. His head throbbed where he’d been pistol whipped, and he could feel the beginnings of a caffeine withdrawal headache too. How long had he been out? He couldn’t hold back his sigh of relief when he spotted a water bottle sitting nearby. He grabbed it and yanked the cap off, not even bothering to twist it off, and had half of it chugged down before he realized he had company. He glowered.

“S’pose I gotta give you kudos for finally learning how to play dirty. Never thought you had it in you.”

Emmet, to his credit, didn’t even look guilty. Just tired. “I learned it from you.”

Another low blow. Rex fought not to flinch. “So what now? You gonna turn me over to your queen? Throw me in jail and leave me to rot for the rest of my life?”

Emmet shook his head. “I don’t think so. I told Watevra a little about what happened to you, I think she’s willing to be lenient. But it mostly depends on how your talk with her goes.”

“Jail it is then.”

“Why do you insist on being so obstinate?” Emmet huffed. Rex raised his eyebrows at the sound of his little brother using such big words. “You have a chance for a happy ending and it’s like you’re doing everything you can to avoid it. Why are you fighting it? Do you honestly enjoy being so miserable and angry and bitter all the time?!”

“…I don’t think I know any other way to be, at this point.”

“Just try?” Emmet sighed. “For me? I actually want you to be around to fight and butt heads with all the time.” Rex stared at him.

“But…”

“It’s in the past, Rex. You’ve been carrying this with you for far too long. It’s time to let it go.” Rex gripped the sheets covering his legs, blinking rapidly against the moisture welling in his eyes. Emmet scooted closer to sit on the edge of the mattress and wrapped his arms around Rex. “You’re not alone anymore, and you never will be again.”

Rex froze, it finally hitting him how Emmet now registered in his mind- no longer ‘past self’ but ‘little brother’. He could feel his temper flare, but also… an overwhelming sense of relief. He was so tired of fighting. He drew in a shuddering breath, his shoulders shaking. “You’re a little shit,” he hissed. “Sneaky underhanded bastard and I’m pissed at you, don’t think I’m not!” He couldn’t hold back anymore, and started sobbing into Emmet’s shoulder. “Why would you do this to me?!”

“Because I’m not willing to give up on you, you stupid jerk.”

Rex choked out a laugh. They sat like that for a long time.

Bad Cop was given a clean bill of health after being checked over by the palace’s doctor. His armor had taken the worst of the damage; all he would really suffer was some bruising, for which he was prescribed painkillers and restrictions.

Watevra slipped into the room as the doctor left. Bad Cop arched one eyebrow over his sunglasses. “Something we can help you with, Your Majesty?”

“Oh, no,” she said, flapping a hand at them. “Actually, I came with the hope of helping you.”

“Really?” Bad Cop seemed intrigued. “With what?”

“Sirius and I might have figured out a way to restore Good Cop’s face.”

Bad Cop tensed. “We don’t want anything to do with anything that he had a hand in coming up with.”

“I know what he put you through,” Watevra tried to soothe. “When Discord first rescued him, he told me everything he’d done as President.”

“Everything?” Bad Cop echoed, doubtful.

“Everything,” Watevra confirmed. “No details spared. I think he was trying to convince me he’d be a terrible choice for an advisor, but while he certainly puts on a convincing show…” She smirked. “There’s not much you can hide from an empath. I could feel the guilt eating away at him.” Still, even with the sunglasses hiding so much of his face, Bad Cop was clearly skeptical. “I can understand your hesitation. But even if you can’t trust him, can you at least trust me? I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I really do just want to help your people, to help you.”

Bad Cop relaxed minutely. “Seeing as how our entire conflict was based on one giant misunderstanding… I suppose I could try. What did you come up with?”

“It’s…” Watevra scratched her cheek as she thought. “I suppose it’s like one of Sirius’ relics, but one we created ourselves rather than discovered, and tested thoroughly. We’ve only used it on one person so far, a Duplo that had an unfortunate encounter with some form of acid that took off one of their eyes, but it worked. I’m confident we’ll be able to give Good Cop back his face. I’m sure it’s been exhausting for the two of you, for him to be hiding the whole time you’ve been here, and you to be fronting.”

“…It has been… in more than one way,” Bad Cop admitted. Watevra tilted her head. “Good’s the people person, not me.”

The Queen nodded. “I understand. There’s no need to hide anymore, though. And tomorrow morning we’ll begin the procedure. Doc says you should at least take tonight to rest first.” Bad Cop nodded.

“Thank you.”

“No problem!” Watevra chirped. “And one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“You really ought to tell Benny that you like him.”

Bad Cop spluttered. “Wha- how-”

“Empath, remember?” she giggled. “When you all came back from the Rexcelsior and he was supporting you, you felt all fluttery. I’ve sensed that enough by now to know what it is.”

Bad Cop’s face burned. “One, that’s hardly your business. Two, there’s no point to it anyway… I was there for your song. I know he’s not interested.”

Watevra blinked at him. “Well that explains that weird stabbing I felt… I mean it, though. Don’t be so quick to write yourself off.” She pulled herself upright again. “Ice Cream Cone should be on his way now, he’ll show you to your room. You and your friends are all welcome to stay in the palace for as long as you’d like.” She breezed back out of the room with a jaunty wave and a cheerful “good night!”, leaving Bad Cop to his thoughts.

Don’t be so quick to write yourself off.

Bad Cop bit his lip. Empath, he reminded himself.

Did that mean…

…he might actually have a chance?

I agree with her, Bad. I think you should tell Benny too, Good Cop chimed in.

“I…”

Good Cop’s consciousness brushed up against his own- the closest he’d ever be able to get to giving Bad a hug- supportive and reassuring. You can do it, Bad. But wait until tomorrow, it’s been an exhausting day for everyone.

Bad Cop nodded, and glanced back up as the Queen’s majordomo opened the door. He couldn’t deny that he was very much looking forward to falling face-first into a mattress and being dead to the world for as long as he was allowed.

[thequeenofthewinter]

Work-in-Progress Wednesday

Uh, hi. It's me again. That person from your worst nightmares and your wildest dreams. I have a sample of something that you might like. Take a bite. I promise it won't hurt you. Tagging some friendsssss <3 @oblivions-dawn @sneaksandsweets @blossom-adventures @rainpebble3 @rose-like-the-phoenix @dirty-bosmer

(Also just a little word here, if I am not consistently tagging you, it's because I don't want to constantly be pestering you as I do this ever week, and I know not everyone is as crazy as I am.)

On most nights, The Bannered Mare is a hub of activity. With its warm fires, cozy atmosphere, and decent mead, the tavern is normally full of life no matter the time of year. However, with the Moot’s festivities going on, it is near exploding.

As Lydia makes her way through the crowds, a sea of both unfamiliar and familiar faces meet her, and some of them call out to her having recognized the housecarl. With a smile and a wave, she greets most of them, but continues her way to the bar with Ralof, Rikke, and Galmar in tow.

It takes her a couple minutes to wade through the crowd along with a few good elbows to some of the more stubborn customers, but eventually, she finds them all a seat in front of Hulda.

“The usual?” The older barmaid calls to her as she dries the insides of two freshly-cleaned mugs.

“Do you even remember what that is by now?” Lydia asks with a smile. While Windhelm is her home now, She had missed being here.

“Pfft,” Hulda scoffs as she sits four tankards on the bar, “it’s the same thing every self-respectin’ Nord gets ‘ere.” She then plunks four bottles of Honningbrew mead in front of them. “And if you think I’d try ta’ serve Black-Briar to these two,” she points a thumb towards Galmar and Ralof, “then you’d be sorely mistaken. I like my head right where it is, thanks.”

“I doubt you’d want to get your hands on that stuff now anyway.” Galmar chimes in as he takes his tankard. “I hear Ingun took over since Maven is rotting away in a Riften jail cell. Word is that she’s been doing experiments on the mead.”

Ralof slides a tankard to Rikke before taking one of his own. “Ah, but did any of you ever taste Vilod’s juniper berry mead before Helgen burnt to the ground? That really brings me back to the old days. Things were a lot simpler then.”

“And morally corrupt.” Galmar mutters.

“Just because—” Rikke shoots him a look.

“Why does this feel like the butt end to a very bad joke?” Lydia interrupts after taking an swig of her mead. “Two Stormcloak officers and an Imperial Legate walk into a bar…”

“And what about you?” Rikke asks. “Should I assume you’re with them? You’re the Dragonborn’s housecarl after all.”

“I am…but would you like to know what the joke is?” Lydia looks down into her tankard, a smirk pulling at her lips.

“What would that be?” She asks, curious even if she is sure she’ll regret asking.

“That you are in fact here with us.”

“Here, here.” Galmar and Ralof laugh as they crash their tankards together, sloshing mead all over the counter. “To High King Ulfric.”

“And High Queen Dahlia.” Lydia adds with a smile as she raises her own mug.

Rikke looks at them, an uncertain expression on her face as a finger traces around the mouth of her own mead. Should she raise it? On one hand, she is the Imperial Legate, but on the other, Lydia does have a point. She is in fact here with them.