#it's in roughly chronological order of his story

[voidfragments]

fuck it. check out my forever-being-adjusted kunikuzushi playlist

[writingwithcolor]

Naming International POC Characters: Do Your Research.

This post is part of a double feature for the same ask. First check out Mod Colette's answer to OP's original question at: A Careful Balance: Portraying a Black Character's Relationship with their Hair. Below are notes on character naming from Mod Rina.

~ ~ ~

@writingraccoon said:

My character is black in a dungeons and dragons-like fantasy world. His name is Kazuki Haile (pronounced hay-lee), and his mother is this world's equivalent of Japanese, which is where his first name is from, while his father is this world's equivalent of Ethiopian, which is where his last name is from. He looks much more like his father, and has hair type 4a. [...]

Hold on a sec.

Haile (pronounced hay-lee), [...] [H]is father is this world’s equivalent of Ethiopian, which is where his last name is from. 

OP, where did you get this name? Behindthename.com, perhaps?

Note how it says, “Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. Check marks indicate the level to which a name has been verified.” Do you see any check marks, OP? 

What language is this, by the way? If we only count official languages, Ethiopia has 5: Afar, Amharic, Oromo, Somali, & Tigrinya. If we count everything native to that region? Over 90 languages. And I haven't even mentioned the dormant/extinct ones. Do you know which language this name comes from? Have you determined Kazuki’s father’s ethnic group, religion, and language(s)? Do you know just how ethnically diverse Ethiopia is? 

~ ~ ~

To All Looking for Character Names on the Internet:

Skip the name aggregators and baby name lists. They often do not cite their sources, even if they’re pulling from credible ones, and often copy each other. 

If you still wish to use a name website, find a second source that isn’t a name website. 

Find at least one real life individual, living or dead, who has this given name or surname. Try Wikipedia’s lists of notable individuals under "List of [ethnicity] people." You can even try searching Facebook! Pay attention to when these people were born for chronological accuracy/believability. 

Make sure you know the language the name comes from, and the ethnicity/culture/religion it’s associated with. 

Make sure you understand the naming practices of that culture—how many names, where they come from, name order, and other conventions. 

Make sure you have the correct pronunciation of the name. Don’t always trust Wikipedia or American pronunciation guides on Youtube. Try to find a native speaker or language lesson source, or review the phonology & orthography and parse out the string one phoneme at a time. 

Suggestions for web sources:

Wikipedia! Look for: “List of [language] [masculine/feminine] given names,” “List of most common [language] family names,” “List of most common surnames in [continent],” and "List of [ethnicity] people."  

Census data! Harder to find due to language barriers & what governments make public, but these can really nail period accuracy. This may sound obvious, but look at the year of the character's birth, not the year your story takes place. 

Forums and Reddit. No really. Multicultural couples and expats will often ask around for what to name their children. There’s also r/namenerds, where so many folks have shared names in their language that they now have “International Name Threads.” These are all great first-hand sources for name connotations—what’s trendy vs. old-fashioned, preppy vs. nerdy, or classic vs. overused vs. obscure. 

~ ~ ~

Luckily for OP, I got very curious and did some research. More on Ethiopian & Eritrean naming, plus mixed/intercultural naming and my recommendations for this character, under the cut. It's really interesting, I promise!

Ethiopian and Eritrean Naming Practices

Haile (IPA: /həjlə/ roughly “hy-luh.” Both a & e are /ə/, a central “uh” sound) is a phrase meaning “power of” in Ge’ez, sometimes known as Classical Ethiopic, which is an extinct/dormant Semitic language that is now used as a liturgical language in Ethiopian churches (think of how Latin & Sanskrit are used today). So it's a religious name, and was likely popularized by the regnal name of the last emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie (“Power of the Trinity”). Ironically, for these reasons it is about as nationalistically “Ethiopian” as a name can get.

Haile is one of the most common “surnames” ever in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Why was that in quotes? Because Ethiopians and Eritreans don’t have surnames. Historically, when they needed to distinguish themselves from others with the same given name, they affixed their father’s given name, and then sometimes their grandfather’s. In modern Ethiopia and Eritrea, their given name is followed by a parent’s (usually father’s) name. First-generation diaspora abroad may solidify this name into a legal “surname” which is then consistently passed down to subsequent generations.

Intercultural Marriages and Naming

This means that Kazuki’s parents will have to figure out if there will be a “surname” going forward, and who it applies to. Your easiest and most likely option is that Kazuki’s dad would have chosen to make his second name (Kazuki’s grandpa’s name) the legal “surname.” The mom would have taken this name upon marriage, and Kazuki would inherit it also. Either moving abroad or the circumstances of the intercultural marriage would have motivated this. Thus “Haile” would be grandpa’s name, and Kazuki wouldn’t be taking his “surname” from his dad. This prevents the mom & Kazuki from having different “surnames.” But you will have to understand and explain where the names came from and the decisions dad made to get there. Otherwise, this will ring culturally hollow and indicate a lack of research.

Typically intercultural parents try to

come up with a first name that is pronounceable in both languages,

go with a name that is the dominant language of where they live, or

compromise and pick one parent’s language, depending on the circumstances.

Option 1 and possibly 3 requires figuring out which language is the father’s first language. Unfortunately, because of the aforementioned national ubiquity of Haile, you will have to start from scratch here and figure out his ethnic group, religion (most are Ethiopian Orthodox and some Sunni Muslim), and language(s). 

But then again, writing these characters knowledgeably and respectfully also requires figuring out that information anyway.

~ ~ ~

Names and naming practices are so, so diverse. Do research into the culture and language before picking a name, and never go with only one source.

~ Mod Rina

[ihavetoomanyocsdealwithit]

Stone Heart AU:

The theory that the 7 statues are simply the petrified great 7, trapped in stone for 1,000 years. Yuu, being a magic user that can use the old magic, is capable of setting them free. But how have they changed after their stories were told, and what did they learn? It is roughly in chronological order, but sometimes I add little extra scenes. I simply let the muses take me when I have the time. Should be able to go down the list in order or check the ao3:

Story on Ao3

General theory

Scar: Part I Part II Part III Part IV

Queen of hearts: Part 1 Part II Part III

Story: Azul

Ursula: Part I Part II

Jafar: Part 1 Part III

Maleficent:

Queen Grimhilde:

Hades:

Dark Mirror Academy AU:

Yuu graduates from NRC with an understanding of how privileged it is to learn magic. Several years down the line, she creates an academy where those who do not have enough magical potential or are considered too old for traditional colleges may go to learn. These are their students and their stories:

W. Right AU:

A Yuu OC who absorbs the ink from the phantom blots to finish their portraits and stories, allowing them to finally pass on into the next life. It comes at a heavy price though. Walker was able to save everybody else from their overblots, but can they save him from his own? And can it even be called that when his overblot isn't made from ink, but thinner?

General summary

The first Overblot

RSA Corruption AU:

NRC has seven overblots. At the same time, Cass, a student who shouldn't be at RSA, helps seven other students through their overblots. Students who others would never suspect.

Neige Le Blanche: part 1 Part 2

Fortune de Ante:

Prince Rielle

General fluff, stories or analysis:

Unexpected things you did that delight them

The audacity to ask a question

Reasons I would marry Ruggie

Rook Hunt x Reader

Asking Malleus to marry you

Twist Boys try Drag

Moments the boys fall in love with Yuu

Analysis pieces:

Grim the Cat-Sith

Azul as a former fat kid: analysis

Rook Hunt

Riddle: King of Heartslabyul

[nefarious-nightjar]

Jack's list of Various Omega Red Media

@strongestbanner this is for you, if you are still curious about getting more into Omega Red's character! :D

EDIT, as of 09/17/2024: THIS LIST IS OUTDATED GO FIND THE SPIFFY NEW ONE HERE :)

———————————

Beneath all the murder, the bloodshed, the Soviet State intervention, and the medical malpractice, I really like Omega Red and I find him to be such and intriguing character; if not, in the least, quite the illusive one.

Marvel has never really given him a proper origin story, nor have they fleshed out his background like they have for other villains (like our boy Sabretooth). We don't really know all too much about him and his past apart from the few bits and pieces dropped here and there throughout his very scattered appearances. Even then, there are still some contradictions in the little we do have about him, so good luck with piecing together his past lol.

Regardless, I hope this list can at least give a glimpse into Arkady Rossovich as a character, and how he has been written and portrayed by the various writer throughout his 30 years of existence :)

— Comics —

So! We start with the comics! I'm going to try and place these in a roughly chronological order, but some of it gets a little hard to place timeline wise. This is also by no means a wholly comprehensive list, but I thought I'd highlight some of the more prominent ones I like and let you go from there!

X-Men (1991) #4-#7 Omega Red makes his first ever comic book appearance, yippee! These comics officially introduced Omega Red and his powerset, a well as his history with Wolverine, Sabretooth, and Maverick during their time as CIA operatives.

X-Men (1991) #17-19 Enter, the Soul Skinner! This little ark isn't too widely talked about (at least where I am), but I find this to be an intriguing one nevertheless, especially in it's regards to Omega Red. With a mutant that is terrorizing an isolated Siberian town, the Russian Government sends Omega Red to investigate. Turns out Omega is just as vulnerable to his psychic powers as the rest of the village, and he Soul Skinner ends up mind-controlling and manipulating Arkady into fighting the X-Men when they arrive to help.

Maverick: In the Shadow of Death (1997) This little one-shot is about as close to a 90’s followup to Omega Red’s debut as you can get. Focusing almost entirely on Maverick, Omega Red, and John Wraith, this little comic does a decent job at trying to explain his mutant death factor and his motivations for all of his killings, as well as using the words “carbonadium synthesizer” and “mutant death factor” more that was probably necessary. (also John Wraith gets to use a bazooka and i think that's fun. they need to let him do that more often lol)

*Iron Man (1968) #295-#297 Another one of his earliest appearances. Being such a new character, there is, sadly, not too much to him here. BUT it does establish the character of Olinka Barankova, Arkady's creator and someone who remains an important figure to his history.

*Cable (1993) #9-#11 This ark gives us some very good insight on how Arkady views himself, especially during the early period after which he was unfrozen in the modern day.

*Generation X (1994) #10 and #11 Arkady attacks Emma and Banshee’s little team in the present, while Banshee has flashbacks to his time as an Interpol agent, when he chased down and arrested Arkady BEFORE he went through the Carbonadium bonding process.

Wolverine (1988) #170, #173-#175 Here he shows up, working alongside Lady Deathstrike for Sabretooth.

Wolverine: Origins (2006) #6-#10, and #36-#40 I have not read all of this run yet, so I cannot speak too much on it. Only that showing up briefly in issues #6-10, Omega is mostly there as a back ground antagonist. And, come issues #36-#40, he reappears to be killed off.

X-Men Gold (2017) #9-#11 To Quote the Stone Roses, "I am the resurrection and I am the life". The ones in which Arkady gets his ass resurrected, yay! Can't say much on the run itself, but I'm mainly mentioning it to help place the status of Omega Red, so that you are not left questioning why on earth he's suddenly alive the next time he appears :/

Weapon X (2017) #17-#27 With Sabretooth newly leading Weapon X, he ends up being lured and dragged away by Omega Red during a mission. After a good amount of back and forth and a lot of bloodshed, Creed ends up offering Arkady a chance at redemption from all of the Soviet medical malpractice and lack of autonomy he's been put through at the hands of S.I.C.K.L.E. Accepting the offer, Arkady ends up joining Creed's X-Force in defeating S.I.C.K.L.E.'s Director, Vassily Rossovich.

Now I feel like I need that Gordon Ramsey meme with the "finally some good fucking food" text. These issues, especially #17-#21, are some of the best for Omega red and his characterization. Hands down. As well, this is technically the first time we every get to see him be a “good guy” of sorts, and joining Sabretooth’s version of Weapon X/X-Force for the rest of the comics' run.

Now, this brings us to the Krakoa era! There is quite a bit, so bare with me. Outside of his prominent presence in the X-Lives of Wolverine special, his appearances are very sporadic and a little hard to follow, though you'll usually find him kicking around in both Wolverine or X-Force. I will also admit that I am NOT up to date with all of the krakoa era stuff, so there may have been a good few comics in which I've missed.

His Krakoa appearances, in order (that I can remember) are:

Wolverine #1, Wolverine #4, X-Force #12, X-Force #15, Wolverine #8, Wolverine #11-#12, all five issues of X-Lives of Wolverine, X-Force #27-Present, and Wolverine #26-#27

* Lastly, there is also this website you can check out for finding all of Omega Red's comic book appearances in chronological order. I will admit, I found this a hard list to start with because it can very easily get overwhelming from the sheer amount of stuff to it. But then again, I'm not your boss, and if you want to got combing through every last little bit of Arkady's appearances, then by all means go hog wild and check it out! for yourself :)

— The Animated Series —

I thought I would add Arkady's appearances in the Animated series for the sole purpose of verity. He is in no way a major occurrence, but when he gets his spot light, I feel that he shines like like hell.

"Red Dawn" S2 Ep.4 Outside of a very brief flash of his face seen in Sabertooth's flashbacks during the S1 Ep.4 "Deadly Reunions", this episode is Omega's first real and proper appearance, as well as his introduction into the animated show. Having been resurrected by some radical Generals looking to reclaim and reform the Soviet Union, Arkady wrecks havoc on the Republic's capital and ultimately tuns on the Generals to try overthrowing the Russian Parliament and take control of the Soviet Union for himself.

"A Deal With the Devil" S4 Ep.2 Arkady gets his ass unfrozen by the American government to clean up the remains of a Soviet submarine filled with nuclear war heads off the Hawaii coast. This episode really showcases his cunning and his drive for self determination, even as he drags Wolverine and Storm kicking and screaming into his evil plot to nuke the world.

"Weapon X, Lies and Video Tapes" S4 Ep.16 Not much to mention of Arkady here, but he does shows up in flash backs to the Weapon X Mission where they were tasked with retrieving the C-Synth.

— Fanfiction —

Yes, I am recommending fanfiction, sue me. But honestly, although fanfiction is fanfiction and "rrraaagh Not Canon Material™!!! >:(", I still wanted to honourably mention the work of Soviet_Supersoldier's Living Weapon, Living Computer and a touch of Luck on ao3. It is, as they describe, "A behind-the-scenes journey through the 2019 X-Force and Wolverine series."

With passionate dedication to weaving together the gaps of the sporadic appearances of Omega Red through the Krakoa Era, and to giving characters outside of Wolverine their due, I find this work to be a lovingly crafted case study of Arkady, Sage, Neena, and other non-titular characters we see in the Krakoa Era. I will happily pour my heart out for this work, even if it one day bleeds me dry.

[fanfoolishness]

My Bad Batch Fanfiction Masterpost

Looks like I've started writing enough Batcher fic that a masterpost would be helpful! Fics are always tagged under #my batcher fic. My stories are typically canon-compliant genfic focused on angst, whump, family feels, PTSD, and grief. But, there's also the occasional bit of fluff and TechPhee. And Crosshair, Crosshair, Crosshair ❤️💀🖤

The whole series can also be found on AO3 in my Clone Force 99 series.

If looking specifically for Summer of Bad Batch 2024 prompt fills, my SoBB masterlist is here.

Last updated: 10/10/2024

Here's what I have so far, laid out in roughly chronological order from the Clone Wars on:

Growing Pains: Crosshair can’t sleep, but Tech has an idea that may help. Cadet fluff, 1700 words.

Stargazing: Crosshair and the batch go stargazing. Summer of Bad Batch prompts stargazing/you think you're going without me? not a chance. 2500 words.

Injury: Crosshair's first use of the Firepuncher. Crosshair and Wrecker, cadet days, summerofbadbatch prompt injured, drabble + art.

Comfort Zone: Tech and Crosshair relaxing on Kamino, drabble + art, summerofbadbatch prompt.

Flash and Bang: Wrecker loves the poetry of explosions. Drabble.

Field Experience: On one of the Batch's first missions, Hunter is unexpectedly injured and learns a valuable lesson. Hurt/comfort, whump, ~2000 words.

Lightweight(s): The Bad Batch's first night ever out on the town. Boys being boys and plenty of shenanigans at 79's! 4200 words.

Kashyyyk: Headcanons about each of Clone Force 99 from a mission on Kashyyyk during the Clone Wars. Drabble.

The Armory: Written for summerofbadbatch, prompt "It's not what you think." Wrecker and Crosshair visit the Armory in 1x01, drabble.

Evaluations: A series of evaluations of CT-9904 through the years. Nala Se POV. Angst, medical whump. 3200 words.

32 rotations: Drabble/art of Crosshair after being rescued on Kamino. Whump.

The Poncho: Wrecker and Tech debate the merits of ponchos. Cut and Run, Ruins of War. 450 words.

Ill-fitted: Crosshair prepares for his first mission after the fall of Kamino, but something feels wrong with his armor. ~1000 words.

The Hug: Drabble + art of Tech and Omega hugging.

A Light in the Darkness: Crosshair and Mayday struggle through the frozen night, 1100 words.

The Soldier: Hunter isn't sleeping well on Pabu. Set in late S2. ~830 words.

A New Fascination: Tech isn’t sure why Phee fascinates him so, but when she tells him about a mysterious creature near the shore, he takes the opportunity to investigate further. TechPhee first date fluff, 8000 words. Illustrations: TechPhee cuteness, Crosshair whump.

When You Wake: Hunter tries to figure out what to tell Omega, after Tech calls Plan 99. -1000 words, angst.

Radio Silence: Echo tries to send a message to a familiar channel. Written for the summerofbadbatch prompt of the same name. Plan 99 angst, 483 words.

the mess you left behind: Tech called Plan 99. Wrecker’s still here. Wrecker tries to cope with newfound grief, but he can’t do it alone. Shortly post-Plan 99. ~ 3500 words. Sibling grief.

Pretending. Omega pretends on Tantiss, but grief will always out. Drabble + art.

Something’s Off: Drabble + art. Crosshair tries to grapple with news of Tech’s death.

Visitation: Hunter has a conversation with a visitor, shortly after Plan 99. 1400 words, sibling grief.

heightened: Hunter struggles to understand Tech’s death, but even heightened senses don’t help. ~1000 words.

Lost Time: Echo works on Omega's crossbow after Plan 99. Drabble.

haunted: Crosshair's first trip to Pabu is more fraught than it would seem. Or: Crosshair sees Tech's goggles for the first time. 1375 words, all hurt no comfort.

dust: Crosshair reconciles with his old armor. The Return. Drabble.

Patching Up: After the events of The Return, Crosshair realizes Batcher needs patching up. She’s not the only one. ~2770 words.

Blind Side: Wrecker catches Crosshair for a heart-to-heart, and reminds him of something that happened long ago. Set between 3x05 and 3x06, ~ 1700 words. Illustrated by @collophora!

Breathless: After Crosshair nearly drowns in 3x07 - Extraction, the Batch heads back to Pabu to rest and regroup. But the danger isn't over yet, and they'll need to work together to save one of their own. Crosshair angst, medical whump, family feels. Canon-compliant/missing scene, ~5100 words. Illustrated by @collophora!

Still: When Crosshair can't hide his tremor any longer, Omega does her best to help. Maybe this time it'll be different. Fill-in-the-blank for episode Bad Territory. ~1900 words.

Patience: Set shortly after Bad Territory. Crosshair continues to attempt meditation with Omega's encouragement, but it's slow going, especially when the rain interrupts. 1500 words.

Under Sun and Shade: Omega and Crosshair share memories of Tech on a sunny day. ~ 900 words. Illustrated by @collophora!

Dawn, After: Hunter finds Crosshair after Point of No Return. Drabble.

In the morning: Hunter takes Crosshair aside before leaving Pabu. Set during Juggernaut. Drabble.

no choice: Wrecker struggles in the approach to Tantiss - no he doesn't. Whump, drabble. Written for summerofbadbatch prompt, "it's just a scratch."

Captured: drabble with art of Crosshair and Hunter being transported to the CX conditioning chamber during the finale. ;_; WHUMP.

aftershocks: Wrecker struggles to get through the assault on Tantiss and the aftermath. But no matter what, he’ll always look out for his little brother. Wrecker and Crosshair angst and whump and family feels. SPOILERS for the finale. 2200 words.

Breaching the Wall: After Crosshair’s injuries on Tantiss, AZI is forced to treat him with heavy doses of pain medication — and Crosshair starts talking. To everyone. Family feels, whump, hurt/comfort. 5800 words with 2 illustrations :)

Need a Hand? Crosshair knows he can ask for help, but it’s harder than it sounds. Post-finale, 655 words, summerofbadbatch prompt.

a rain that sounds like home: Complete; 43,000 words, 8 chapters. After the destruction of Tantiss, the Bad Batch is safe at last. As Crosshair begins to recover from his injuries, it becomes apparent that not all of his scars are physical, and that guilt and grief are wounds that cut deeper than any blade. His family is determined to be there for him -- if only he can let them in. [Chapter 2] | [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7] [Chapter 8]

Getting a Haircut: Wrecker helps Crosshair. Drabble + art, summerofbadbatch prompt.

Five Times We Woke: Five times the Batch wakes up in the middle of the night. Nightmares, PTSD, hurt/comfort, soft ending. ~2200 words.

sweet tooth: Wrecker and Crosshair, there for each other through the years. Drabble.

touch: Crosshair has nearly forgotten what it's like to be touched, but time changes that. Whump, hurt/comfort, family feels, soft ending. ~1160 words.

morning caf: It's an early morning on Pabu, and Crosshair hasn't slept well. Neither has Wrecker. When Crosshair goes to check on him, he doesn't expect the question Wrecker asks: "What was it like?  When your chip… when it activated?” Angst, family feels, ~2400 words.

Healing: COMIC. Crosshair finds a new use for his mirror pucks.

The Bad Birders: Headcanons and art of the Batch as birders. Crosshair’s up first, the rest to follow :)

Sick Day: Crosshair wakes up sick, and Omega proves herself the best big sister. ~1000 words.

the waves flowing, the dawn blooming: Hunter and Crosshair have a heart-to-heart, after their girl takes wing. Set directly after the epilogue, stuffed full of soft Dad Batch feels, lots of healing, and Hunter and Crosshair being close again. ~1900 words.

Senescence: Clones have always lived on borrowed time. On a trip home from the Rebellion, Omega and her brothers reach a new understanding. 2700 words, bittersweet family feels. Written for multiple prompts.

Clone Studies: a little meta post about the field of clone studies, long after the clones are gone — but not forgotten.

[umbrellacam]

Post-Knightfall - Batboys and Domestic Chores

aka What To Do When Your Alfred Quits Because Bruce Is A Self-Destructive Dingus With No Regard For His Own Health And So Now You Suddenly Have To Adult All By Yourself

aka despite both being raised by Alfred from roughly age 9 onward, Bruce is still a completely helpless fumbling rich boy when it comes to domestic tasks, while Dick is very much not, lol.

Tim also starts out as a typical sheltered teenage boy who doesn't even know how to fold laundry... But fortunately for him, he has a new older brother to teach him what's what while they're partnered up during Prodigal! :D

...Sort of. Once Bruce is back and he and Tim are on their own, they both still fumble without Alfred or Dick around. Tim's embryonic domestic skills can't make up for Bruce being a sad wet cat re: household tasks, pfft.

In chronological order, starting after Bruce and Alfred have both fucked off and Dick and Tim are holding down the fort in Gotham as Batman and Robin:

DICK AND TIM

Batman #512 - Dick can cook! And he cooks for Tim :) Also, the house-robes are adorable, as always. Tim: "I can't believe you can actually cook..." Dick: "I like to eat." Tim: "So does Bruce - but he had to order Chinese last night." Dick: "That's where I'm one up on him - I've lived on my own without an Alfred. Still miss him, though... He was good for a lot more than cooking and cleaning." Tim: "Yep - but at least we don't have to miss him on empty stomachs."

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #32 - The Manor was thrashed after Bruce's fight with Bane, and was never cleaned up after Bruce's back was broken and Jean-Paul Valley took over as Batman. The Batbros are on the job! Dick (sweeping): "Bruce told me a story once: Two philosophers talked all day." Tim (blithely eating a banana): "And...?" Dick (tossing him the broom): "The mess was still there next morning!" Tim (grinning): "Message received and understood, Captain!"

Batman #513 - Timmy is amazed at Dick's mastery of the household arts! Tim: "Awesome - you can cook and do the laundry?" Dick: "Hey, if there's time, I may even putty some new panes in those smashed windows." Tim: "Blimey - does Alfred the Pennyworth know you've mastered all his domestic secrets?" Dick: "Who do you think taught him?" Tim: "Not to get too serious, Dick, but it's good to see you loose again - and good to see the Manor taking shape, too. Since Jean Paul didn't care about it and Bruce relies on Alfred, it looks like you can teach a trick or two the other Batmen couldn't."

Robin #12 - More Dick handling the laundry, and Dick flinging a towel in Tim's face - er, teaching him how to fold so that he can pitch in instead of sitting on the side and moping. Dick: "Does that mean that things are going smoother between you and Ariana?" Tim (mopily): "Not really. Every time I think we're finally getting along, something happens to change all that." Dick: "Welcome to the opposite sex, Tim." Tim: "Look at you with the laundry. You're going to make some woman happy someday." Dick: "Well, it's about time you learned to fold a towel." (throws one in Tim's face) Tim: "Hey!" Dick: "I can't do everything around here until Alfred gets back."

BRUCE AND TIM

Bruce is back! And he straight up sucks at all this stuff without Alfred, lol, and doesn't have a Dick to lean on like Tim did.

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #35 - Bruce attempting laundry in the washer (laundry strewn all over the room and bubbles ominously emerging from the machine), getting pizza delivery, and asking the delivery boy for limo service recs, lol. Delivery Boy: "Good afternoon, sir. Three-cheese special, right?" Bruce: "You don't happen to know a good limo service? Or anything about washing machines...?"

Detective Comics #685 - Bruce infamously ruining tuna fish sandwiches. Bruce: "Sorry about lunch, Tim. I'm not much of a hand in the kitchen. With Alfred gone I'm pretty much helpless." Tim: "It's okay, Bruce. How can you screw up a tuna fish sandwich?" (takes a bite) "Oh. That's how."

Detective Comics #687 - Bruce attempts to toss an Armani tuxedo in the washing machine because reasons. Tim: "Are you sure you know what you're doing, Bruce?" Bruce: "How dangerous can it be, Tim? Alfred never seems to have a problem." Tim: "Well, he makes everything look easy. What are you washing here?" Bruce: "My summer tux. It smelled like the river." Tim (pulling out the now-tiny tux jacket and smirking): "Guess you didn't know you were supposed to dry clean these things, huh?"

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #40 - The central heating system at the Manor has gone down, and Bruce is aghast that he (a) has to make a reservation with the maintenance man, and (b) it might take him more than a week to take care of it. Bruce decides to just fix it himself - I wonder how that went, lol. Bruce (hand to his forehead dramatically) : "A butler, at butler, my kingdom for a butler!" Tim (coming down the stairs into the basement): "Specifically Alfred?" Bruce: "Very specifically. He'd have had these central heating tyrants fixed in minutes. Losing Alfred has caused me as much pain as anything Bane did to me."

THE RETURN OF ALFRED! Yaaaaay! And more Bruce and Tim.

Batman #521 - More overflowing laundry shenanigans 😂 Bruce: "Not again, Tim!" Tim: "Honest, Bruce - I know I didn't go overboard on the detergent this time!" Bruce: "You mean you added detergent too--? After I already did it?" Tim: "Uh oh. Hey, I was only trying to help..." Bruce: "The mops." Tim: "Yeah...again." Alfred returns to Bruce and Tim both attempting to mop up, suds everywhere, including in their hair. To preserve both his and Bruce's dignity, he's pretended to come in answer to a Help Wanted ad that he himself placed in the paper, for a butler at Wayne Manor. Bruce and Tim both warmly welcome him home.

Detective Comics #689 - Batman and Robin pick the wrong rooftop to talk on, and startle a woman coming up to hang her laundry so badly that she faints, dropping and scattering the whole load. Robin: "She'll be okay. Just passed out." Batman: "I hate when this happens." Robin: "Well, what do we do now?" Batman: "How about demonstrating some of your new skills - the ones Nightwing taught you?" Robin: "Man..." He does, and the woman wakes up to her neatly folded items in her basket, while Bruce and Tim swing away. Tim (indignant): "It wouldn't hurt you to learn how to fold clothes, even though Alfred is back." Batman (grinning): "You know what they say about old dogs, Robin." Robin: "Right."

(All of these were published within a one year span, from November 1994 to September 1995. Very fun little recurring D-plot in the aftermath of Knightfall c:)

[queenofbaws]

hi queenie i find myself humbly at your doorstep again (if there was a bowing emoji i would put it here) so question! do you outline your stories? and if so, how? another writer i admire was nice enough to lay out a "tutorial" of sorts but i have so much trouble with the small stuff. like i have so many Big Moments planned and tiny tiny moments planned but the medium moments? do you have any idea on how to plan the medium moments???? i'm going crazy! 😩

(as always, your answer is appreciated and cherished)

why hellooooooo quill!!! what a treat to find you on my doorstep! please know it is i who is bowing and scraping - it's always a delight to be visited by THE hawke/varric queen! ;)c

extremely long story short: i do outline my stories! i live in constant awe of people who can write by the seat of their pants. alas, like the humble ant, i am always digging out pathways to follow later...usually the pathways are intricate. maze-like. bottomless. 😫 hehehe but i know E X A C T L Y what you mean, finding ways to connect everything can be...so much, especially when all you really want to do is get to those big, juicy moments, AHHH!

i'll throw my general process under the cut, and i hope it'll help in some way/shape/form!!! 💖

OH FUCK, I THINK I HAVE A FIC IDEA an outlining process by theicyqueen

hehehe okay, so as always, this is my general process, and what works for me might not work for others, so by all means take EVERY LAST THING I SAY with a boulder-sized grain of salt ;P

for the most part, my outlining process for oneshots and multichaps is roughly the same: (1) i get a central idea i want to expand on, (2) i write that fucker down in as much detail as possible, (3) i sit squinting at it like that kate beaton comic with edgar allan poe for a week or two waiting for a divine vision to hit, (4) profit. in all seriousness, though, this is typically my order of operations:

get the main idea down: this could be an overarching idea for a story (e.g., hawke and varric attend a fancy party and a murder mystery occurs) OR a big, juicy influential scene (e.g., incensed at hubert being an asshole, varric hurls a pillow at him and uncovers a secret door hidden in the wall!)

think about where you want to go from there: do you want this to be a oneshot? a multichap? how much MORE do you want to add to that main idea, essentially, or how far do you think you can stretch it?

get the biggest scenes down first: you know the ones. the ones you REALLY want to get to. write them down NOW. just trust me on this. WRITE THEM DOWN RIGHT NOW I STG!!!

if there are little scenes in your head, get those down too: don't worry about getting them down IN ORDER, just get them down! you think you'll remember them later: you will not. i love you. you will not remember them later. you're so smart. you will not. remember. them later. this is the writer's curse.

put those scenes into some sort of skeleton: here's where you start thinking about the order you want scenes in. where do you want those big, juicy things? where will your smaller moments fit in between them? what KEY POINTS need to occur before juicy scene b so it makes sense to the reader? what KEY POINTS will have to come AFTER juicy scene b to make sense? if you don't quite know where to put something yet, keep it separated, either in a separate doc, or just off to the side; don't touch it again until you have an idea of where it should go chronologically

look at what you have so far: sometimes, if you're lucky, the way to connect these pieces together will become apparent once you see what you already have laid out in one place. life is beautiful when this happens, but it doesn't always, so don't beat yourself up if you just CAN'T figure out how to get from point a to point h - let it sit. let it simmer. let it STEW. maybe eat some stew. it can't hurt.

consider the evil bits >:)c : what this means FOR ME is usually foreshadowing. is there some big twist you want to drop breadcrumbs for throughout the rest of the story? think about what that might look like! if you decide, for example, that you want to reveal a character was evil the whole time by the end of the story, think about what little nugget of foreshadowing you could insert sneakily into the beginning - a lot of the time tiny, almost insignificant details like this can help trigger bigger scenes in your head, "connecty" scenes, if you will. other examples of "evil bits," might be winks to canon material, easter eggs referring to other works of yours (or a friend's!), wordbuilding info that doesn't fit anywhere else, or not-so-subtle inclusions of your own headcanons that you have no earthly reason to include other than to make yourself smile (for example, in the project i'm working on right now, i'm making it a point to have travis hackett smell a girl's hair against her will! this is not a necessary detail by any means, but god help me my characterization of that freak will be known 🙃). it sounds fake, but seriously, sometimes the tiniest details can help you connect things later. the human brain is inscrutable.

determine whether you NEED to fill every gap: if you can't think of a way connect two scenes no matter how hard you try, it's ENTIRELY possible that they just don't need to be connected. at all. the reader doesn't always need to see characters move from one classroom to another, and we don't always need to see their skincare routine before they go to bed. those might be important scenes to include for what you're writing, don't get me wrong, but if they're not??? just...just skip 'em. DON'T connect the scene before and the scene after. if you're writing a oneshot, ask yourself: could i put a line break in here and just keep going? and if you're writing a multichap, the question is similar: can i just end the chapter here and pick up with the next one? sometimes you just don't NEED a medium-sized scene at all. just skip it!!!!!

talk to a friend who has no idea what any of this means: i'm. i'm so serious. if you're writing fandom stuff, please ask a friend with little to no knowledge of that fandom if you can talk at them about your story for a minute. if you're writing something original, please ask literally any friend at all if you can talk at them about your story for a minute. you will be. shocked. the words that come out of your mouth once you start doing this. shocked. sometimes there's stuff up in your brain you didn't even know was up there. i can't recommend it highly enough asldkjflakdjf

when in doubt, consider a humble "blanket paragraph:" i feel like...i feel like a lot of us...who got into creative writing...and who took creative writing classes...came to hate the simple blanket statement. but we shouldn't. we should love it. sometimes you don't need a scene at all - sometimes all you need is, "and then they ate dinner and watched some movies before bed." that's it. that can be your link. it can. i promise. i promise.

i really, truly hope that helps you in some way! or, if nothing else, kickstarts something in your own way of planning 💜

what a hobby we chose, huh? what a hobby. :P

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting Results: Rubkawat

Here are the results to this week's bestiaryposting -- still only a few people on board for this one, really hoping this is just because people are sick of Birds. As usual, if you are confused by what I'm talking about, you can find out about it at: https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

The entry our artists are working from is here:

Results below the cut, in roughly chronological order:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has again given us a realistic-looking creature drawn in an impressive naturalistic style. It is distinctly skinny as the entry suggests, with a pointy beak for its stabbing behavior. The explanation linked in the above post notes that this design takes inspiration from the kiwi and the bittern, which makes sense and I think works well here. Cute little bastard, too -- look at him. I think it can hiding in reeds very well. (This one is in reeds currently. Or grass at least.)

@sweetlyfez (link to post here) notes that the blood thing is almost certainly a Biblical allegory, but she likes the idea that it's just a reinterpretation of natural red coloration. I agree -- it definitely is an allegory, as the Aberdeen Bestiary makes clear in the "interpretation" section I usually leave out of these:

Thus after three days, it revives its young with its blood, as Christ saves us, whom he has redeemed with his own blood.

... but I think I much prefer it as a fanciful interpretation of a natural feather pattern. Also, check out those Stylized Plants. I know I'm kind of a broken record about this, but over the course of this project, one thing I have learned about myself is that I am unaccountably delighted by Stylized Plants every time. These are thematically appropriate for a bird said to live in Egypt -- they look like they would fit right in with ancient Egyptian depictions of papyrus reeds or lotus flowers. Apologies to anyone who is tired of me pointing out the Stylized Plants at every opportunity; it will happen again.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) is clearly having some fun with these, based on the tone of their (detailed and interesting) post about the design and artistic process, please go read that. (Also thank you for including alt text.) Apparently they were informed by @coolest-capybara that their Rubkawat chicks resemble Woodstock from Peanuts, and... you know what? I see it. What I particularly like here is the decision to fill the nest with a cartoonishly large amount of blood -- I just find it charming in a way I can't articulate. Just... just hose those chicks down, that'll fix them.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) never disappoints with her medieval stylization. I am delighted with the decision to make the Rubkawat a flamingo -- the linked post explains that this is inspired by flamingos having red crop milk, which is not something I know about because I am not a Bird Expert. I also really like the sequential-art style of the chicks at the bottom, so we can see them being resurrected by the blood. The one on the right makes me smile, because it looks very much like it's contemplating the blood on it and thinking, like, "...ew."

@pomrania (link to post here) is Tired of Birds, so they decided this one could be a dinosaur -- technically a bird, just not a modern one. I like it; dinosaurs are great. They've also taken the route of deciding the story about resurrecting chicks with blood is just a fanciful interpretation of red feathers, which I still like. (In the linked post, they explain their design decision and artistic process in detail, go look at it.) Also look at that little chick -- it's darling.

Pretty much everyone involved here said something along the lines of "I absolutely know what bird this is supposed to be because I've heard this myth before", which I suppose shouldn't be surprising. I don't know how widespread that particular bit of trivia is in the general population, but in the demographics of "people who follow this blog about medieval stuff" and/or "people who like playing with bestiary entries", I figure it's probably pretty well-known. So here's the Aberdeen Bestiary version:

Yes, this is the pelican.

The birds in the illumination don't particularly look like pelicans, though apparently one doesn't really find them in Western Europe, so I suppose that's to be expected. (Particularly since the entry doesn't describe their most identifiable physical feature, the beak / throat pouch arrangement.) The fact that pelicans are associated with Egypt and apparently don't really show up in most of Europe is surprising to me -- I grew up on the east coast of the U.S. and saw pelicans all the time, so I kind of just assumed they were common to other Atlantic coasts. But you know what they say about assuming.

Anyway, for anyone who didn't know about the story with the pelican and the blood, versions of this were pretty widespread in the medieval period. It was a sufficiently popular symbol that it found its way into heraldry -- the pelican in her piety is a heraldic device that shows the pelican wounding its own breast while standing over its young. (In some versions of the story, it feeds its young with the blood rather than using it to resurrect them.) Not only is it still present in surviving heraldry, but it also occasionally appears in more modern contexts, like the Louisiana state flag:

You can decide yourself whether this information changes your opinion on whether, as this post claims, a pelican mouth is a good place for a baby: (link to post).

That's about all the pelican material I have, but allow me to leave you with a song (which is itself part of an old Edward Lear poem set to music):

[angelqinladsfandomaccount]

A Conundrum

Author: @angelqinladsfandomaccount

Imagine: An AU where MC is actually a Princess. In this AU, the guys come into her life roughly about the same time and for different(ish) reasons. This isn’t a story per say, but more like a collection of one shots/drabbles all taking place in this AU I have created in my head. I just wanted to share with the community for those interested! :) 

Pairing: All LADS men x F!Reader

Trigger warnings: arranged marriage, violence, mentions or rape/torture, mature themes (MDNI), mentions of weapons/wounds/blood

Word Count: 2,196

The LADS AU Collections

I own no rights to the Love and Deepspace characters.  

Author’s Notes

Not everything mentioned in the AU will be cannon. Just something for me to write about/occupy my time with :) 

Not every part posted will be in chronological order. I’m just writing as I have inspiration for the AU

Some important notes about the Princess: she is an artist/can draw; she has dreams of her past/future lives with the LADS men; just like in LADS, the Princess is a little bit of a bad ass and takes no shit; and lastly…her evol in the AU is one I’ve made myself…I’m calling it a “chameleon evol” but she can replicate/mimic/use any evol she resonates with….

The organ responsible for the blood flowing through the Princess’ body was frantically beating as she sat in her bedchambers with the four men who were occupying her mind during all hours of the day. She fought the urge to squirm in her spot on the couch as the doctor across from her watched her with narrowed eyes. Prince Xavier occupied the chaise lounge next to the couch the doctor perched on. Sylus leaned against the wall behind the couch behind me, and I could feel his ruby eyes watching me. Rafayel sat on the floor in front of the fireplace with his back to me.

“Can you tell me why we are all invited here, Princess?” Zayne’s question came out as cold and indifferent as he looked at the other men in the room. All eyes in the room turned to look at the nervous Princess as they all shared the same spoken question as the doctor. With a dry swallow, the Princess got up and walked over to her writing desk and pulled out her leather sketchbook before she sat back down on the couch.

“I have never met you all before…” The Princess’s words came out unsteady as she asked her question. “Right?” A heavy silence greeted her as the men in the room processed her question.

“We had meet briefly when we were children.” Zayne’s honest words temporarily filled the awkward silence in the room, but his words did nothing to ease the beating of the organ in the Princess’ chest as the other three remained silent.

“I saw you at the council meeting when you exposed that one guy for being a horrible guy.” Xavier’s calm voice said as he kept his face stoic as he watched the Princess’ reaction.

“I was also present at that meeting.” Sylus and Rafayel said at the same time. The heavy sigh that left the Princess’ lips at the news made her hands shake slightly as she tried to control her emotions.

“I was afraid you’d all say that.” She muttered to herself as she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Eyebrows of the men in the room raised as they studied the Princess as she struggled with her internal turmoil.

“Ever since I could remember, I have had these vivid dreams about a woman.” The Princess’ voice started off in a low whisper, and the men all leaned forward to hear what the Princess had to say. “In the dream, she was always doing something different with someone new in a foreign place.” Princess [Y/N] played with her fingers as she laid out her secret to the men in the room.

“One night she’d be laying under a huge bell next to a sweet man who looked at her softly as she teased him about his star tassel.” [Y/N] didn’t notice how Xavier tensed at the mention of the star tassel before he stared at the Princess seated before him with wonder. “Another night she would lie in a field of jasmine flowers with a fear of going to sleep because the man she loved wouldn’t be there when she woke up.” 

“Some nights, she would stand on a beach covered in blood before she’d fall to her knees crying. Other times, she would be in a gorgeous city under the water next to a beautiful Lemurian.” Rafayel was glad for the mask hiding most of his face as the memory of his home caused his heart to break in his chest. “The young woman would sometimes come to on her knees with blood on her hands and the world ablaze around her.” Sylus visibly tensed at these words spoken by the woman on the couch who refused to look up at the men around her. “The next thing I know she’d grip the hilt of a sword that was buried in someone’s chest.” Taking a deep breath, the Princess held out the leather book to Zayne.

“I’ve had an obsession with each man from every dream I’ve had.” Brown eyes remained staring at the floor as the book was gingerly taken from her hands. “Their faces, voices, and memories have haunted me day and night for as long as I could remember.” Tension in the room grew thick as the Princess’ confession weighed on the shoulders of three of the men. “From the moment I could pick up a pencil, I knew I had to bring life to their faces.” Deciding to be bold, the Princess lifted her gaze enough to look at the closed book in the doctor’s slender fingers. “That sketchbook has their faces drawn in it.” A pained emotion danced in the Princess’ eyes before she snuck a glance at the men in the room as her words hung heavily in the room. Zayne looked relaxed as he carefully opened the sketchbook, but the other three men in the room had visible tension in their shoulders.

“I must say you have impressive art skills.” The doctor commented as he looked at the portrait on the first page. His eyes slightly widened as he read the name scribbled in the bottom of the page before he looked up at the masked man with white hair. The doctor then looked back down at the book and flipped through more pages. The Princess knew when Zayne reached a new man she had drawn when he looked up at the individual then back down to the book. After flipping through to the last page I drew, Zayne said nothing as he casually handed the sketchbook to Xavier. 

The woman felt like her whole body was pens and needles as she watched Xavier open the sketchbook. Unable to handle the anxiety anymore, the Princess stood up and wordlessly walked out to the balcony. The men in the room shared a look, but Zayne shook his head at the other three. 

“Allow me to talk to her while you see what she drew.” Zayne casually said as he got up from his spot and followed the Princess out to the balcony. The young woman was leaning against the rail as she looked out to the endless ocean behind the castle, but she refused to look back at whoever had followed her outside.

“Your art skills are exceptional.” Zayne’s even voice said as he slowly walked over to stand next to the Princess. “Xavier’s picture looks almost identical to him.” A heavy sigh left the Princess as her shoulders slumped.

“I have no idea what my dreams mean.” She admitted in a low tone. “They feel so real. Almost like the dreams themselves are memories from another life.” Zayne nodded along as he listened to the Princess’s somber words. 

“I can see how that would be a conundrum.” Zayne’s voice was flat as he spoke, which only served to make the Princess sigh heavily.

Inside the castle, the foreign prince handed the sketchbook over to the man sitting in front of the fireplace as the silver haired man chewed on his lip. Rafayel opened the book and stared at the first page with narrowed eyes before he looked up at the other masked man. After Sylus raised an eyebrow at the man with cosmic eyes, the Lemurian shook his head then proceeded to look through the book. However, he felt his heart stop when he saw the delicately drawn picture of him when he had first met [Y/N] many centuries ago. His name was written in a beautiful script underneath his portrait, and he immediately understood why the Princess was so nervous. Rafayel said nothing as he held out the book to the man with crimson eyes.

Sylus walked over and grabbed the book before opening to a random page. Stunned by the perfect portrait of the doctor, Sylus flipped through the rest of the book; his heart began to beat rapidly in his chest when he found his own face staring back at him and his name beautifully written underneath it. Closing the book, Sylus looked at the other two men who appeared to be lost in thought. 

“So, our kitten, who doesn’t remember her past lives with us, is having dreams about her past lives with us?” Sylus’s words were meant to be a statement, but they came out more like a question. Xavier nodded his head.

“It appears so.” The prince said in a soft tone, and the Lemurian sighed heavily as he stood up and walked over to the balcony doors. He paused as he watched the Princess’s slouched shoulders through the glass pane as she spoke to the doctor. He straightened his shoulders before he slid open the door, causing Zayne to look in his direction.

“Princess [Y/N], I think it’s time we talked.” Rafayel said, which caused the Princess to stiffen before she slowed turned around to look at the masked man with cosmic eyes. Seeing his eyes convey a serious conviction, the Princess nodded and followed Rafayel as he turned to walk inside.

[Y/N] was aware of everyone’s eyes watching her as she sat back in her spot on the couch. Rafayel took a seat next to the Princess before he cleared his throat.

“There’s something we need to talk about.” The Princess stared at the man with purple hair and cosmic eyes as he took his mask off to reveal an unfamiliar expression on the same face she had seen many times in her dreams. Unconsciously, the Princess held her breath as her eyes danced over his face and she reached out to cradle his face in the palm of her hand.

“You are right in that we haven’t met in this life.” Rafayel’s words were spoken in a dangerously low tone, and the Princess’s eyes immediately snapped to meet his closed eyes and he gripped her hand and nuzzled slightly into her palm. “We met a long time ago when the seas still held the people of Lemuria.” The Princess blinked at the guard nuzzling her hand as flashbacks of a city underwater briefly flooded her mind before she shook her head to bring her back to reality.

“You saved my life back then, right?” Her question was answered with a quiet nod of the Lemurian’s head, and a flash of sadness danced across the woman’s eyes as she recalled the countless dreams of the Sea God she’s had.

The white haired man took this moment to come to sit on the other side of the Princess on the couch, which made her turn her head to look at the man with the crimson eyes. She stopped caressing the Lemurian’s face as she turned to remove the mask from the other guard beside her. His harsh eyes softened as she pulled the mask away from his face then placed her hands over his heart.

“We’ve met before too, haven’t we, Sylus?” Her softly spoken words melted Sylus’ heart as he reached out to tuck a strand of her beautiful red hair behind her ear before he nodded.

“We have, kitten.” His soft words made her face burn slightly as her cheeks reddened with a memory from one of her dreams at the mention of the nickname.

“I guess before you ask,” Another soft voice came from the silver-haired man as he crossed the room to kneel on the floor in front of the Princess. “We have met before too.” His blue eyes looked up at the Princess as her hand came to caress his face, which he nuzzled into. “You are still as beautiful as ever.”

The Princess’s heart began to beat faster at the Prince’s words, but she looked up to the doctor sitting nearby and motioned him to join their little group. With flushed cheeks, Zayne stood up and kneeled beside the Prince. The young woman rested her other hand against the doctor’s face, and he nuzzled slightly into her hand.

“I have a confession to make to you all.” She spoke softly as she looked around to make eye contact with each of the four men around her. “I have been unable to accept a suitor because I have such high expectations from the men in my dreams.” She bit her bottom lip as she watched each man’s eyes soften as they listened to her words. “The men in my dreams protected me fiercely, loved me deeply, and would give me anything I asked for.” Her hands left the faces of the two men kneeling in front of her to grab the hands of the men sitting beside her.

“How could anyone other than you four ever compare?” Her eyes shined as unshed tears pooled in her eyes. “How could I give my heart to another when I have given it to you all?” Rafayel and Sylus’s hands squeezed hers possessively at the mention of giving her love to another.

“I’m afraid there’s another problem.” She whispered as she looked amongst the men around her. “It’s quite the conundrum.” Each set of eyebrows around her furrowed as they each asked her the silent question—what’s that? “How can I give my heart to one of you when all of you occupy it?”

[theduckofindeed]

Chapter 1 of My Sun and Moon Fanfic is Almost Done!

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about a fanfic I’m writing about Sun and Moon from FNAF: Security Breach.  I’ve really been struggling with the story’s opening, but I’m finally starting to make some progress there, so getting this story published in the “near” future is starting to look more and more likely.

Chapter 1 has now been relocated to much later in the story.  So chapter 2 has become the new chapter 1, and I’m rather proud of how it’s coming along.  I want to be careful to avoid filler and make sure that every scene progresses the story, and I’ve managed to pack a decent amount of detail into that first chapter.  Oh, and chapter 1 is already over 6000 words, but there’s nowhere to break it in half!  We start at a very logical opening, Sun’s first day at the Daycare.  Splitting that in half would be weird.

Just gotta get this first section done (maybe spanning a month?), and then I should feel more comfortable publishing chapters.  I’m just struggling a bit because some of the scenes I have planned don’t have a clear order, chronologically speaking.  Especially at first, as Sun is just doing his day-to-day job, so there are plenty of things that could happen in any order.  Instead, I have to figure out which scenes serve my current purpose of progressing more abstract themes…not sure if that makes sense, but I think that explains why I’m having a harder time writing this story than I have others.  I have roughly four things that must be established during this first section of the story.  But now that chapter 1 is close to being done, I should at least have a very solid foundation from which to continue.

Last of all, I wanted to mention that the story is more or less going to be strictly from Sun’s POV.  Except for the original chapter 1, which was relocated for a reason.  At first, Sun isn’t going to be quite as we remember him in the game.  He’s still a new AI and has yet to fully learn how to communicate with humans without coming off as, well, robotic.  But worry not, for soon enough, he will grow into the Sun we all know and love!  It will take a bit more time for Moon to appear in the story, but I’ve already written a lot of future scenes starring the both of them, and I’m liking my interpretation of Moon so far.

So my next order of business: continue the story’s opening and decide on a proper title and summary!

[loudlooks]

Day 24 - Ladybugs

30 day challenge notes: quantity over quality, limited editing, stand-alone/unrelated stories unless specifically stated otherwise, not always tiva, chronologically randomly set in whatever pre-s11 season seems to fit

A/N: Tony and Ziva getting distracted at a crime scene, tbh, the only thing I knew when I started writing this was the Attenborough line, whatever happened after that was completely out of my hands

Tag for blocking/following: 30 days of spring

Prompt: ladybugs (thanks @hopeless-nostalgiac), and vaguely "risking something in order to achieve something"

Word count: 1196

-

“That’s unusual,” Tony said looking at the dead marine’s corpse which was practically covered in ladybugs.

“Not really,” McGee said casually.

Tony pursed his lips. “Those are ladybugs, Magoo, not maggots.”

“Yeah,” McGee replied undisturbed. “The weather’s getting warmer.” He crouched down and inspected a plant next to the body. “It’s full of aphids, ladybugs love aphids.”

Tony stared at him blankly. “Are you moonlighting as David Attenborough’s assistant now that you’re no longer writing about us?”

McGee stood up, opened and closed his mouth, then pointed in the direction of the van. “I forgot my gloves.”

Tony grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back. He nodded at Ziva. “You’re the book worm, has he published anything new about us?”

Ziva stepped in closer and stared down McGee. “I don’t know.” She narrowed her eyes. “Have you?”

“I, erm.” McGee swallowed hard, then recovered and shook himself loose from Tony’s grip. “I have not published anything new about you.”

McGee’s sudden confidence, triggered Tony’s suspicion. “You’re playing some linguistic game of semantics, aren’t you?” He pulled at McGee’s lapels, then roughly patted them until they lay flat. “You’re confusing Ziva, you know how Ziva gets when words confuse her.”

Ziva sent Tony an icy glare, and when he said, “See,” she slapped his arm.

“You’re not that interesting,” McGee said, with a forced smile, and walked off.

Tony scoffed. “Not that…who does  McPopular think he is, anyway? We should give him something to write about.”

Ziva rolled her eyes. “That is the opposite of what we want to do.”

Tony stared at McGee who was loitering near the van, occasionally sending them a furtive glance. He snapped his fingers. “We should make out in front of him now that he’s still nervous.”

Ziva stared at Tony blankly. “I am not making out with you next to a dead body covered in ladybugs.”

Tony frowned and glanced at the dead marine. “Can’t be too difficult to get rid of them, they fly, right?”

With extreme restraint, she said his name.

“You’re right.” He pretended to think deeply, then said, “The bullpen.” He grabbed her shoulders, and raised his eyebrows. “Gibbs’ desk.”

Ziva avoided his gaze, her teeth barely grazing her lip, and fiddled with her earring.

Tony let go of her shoulders. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

“That glint in your eye?”

“There was no…” Ziva looked everywhere but at him, and shrugged with exaggeration. “It was probably just a reflection of the sun.”

He grinned widely. “You’ve thought about making out with me on Gibbs’ desk, haven’t you?”

She suddenly stood taller and looked him straight in the eye. “No, I have not.”

Tony frowned. “Wait,” he said, and cocked his head, “are you playing a game of semantics now?”

Ziva looked at him innocently. “According to you, I don’t know what that means.”

Tony chuckled. “You know I start blabbering to get people to say things they don’t want to say.”

She raised an eyebrow, and went back to fiddling with her earring. “Is that why you asked me to make out with you?”

“No, my mind was still extremely focused on annoying McGee when I asked that.”

“And now?”

“Now…it’s very focused on …the thought of making out with you.”

“On Gibbs’ desk?”

“I asked you first,” Tony dodged her question.

“I already answered.”

“Right,” Tony said, and tried to stall for time. He looked her up and down, which didn’t help his confusion. “Not recently?"

Ziva’s face tightened. “Oh, you do not find me attractive anymore.”

“I,” he said with hesitation and ran a hand through his hair. “That’s not what I meant.”

He glanced away, trying to quiet the nervous energy running through his veins. With a frown he focused on McGee, who was writing on a notepad, occasionally looking at them. “Is McGee taking notes on us?”

“Tony,” Ziva said calmly, and placed a hand on his cheek to get him to look at her. “Focus.”

He stared at her mouth and tried to remember where his mind had trailed off. “It’s different now.” He glanced to his right, spotting the dead marine, and huffed out a breath. “Do you really want to have this conversation here?”

“I did not start this conversation.”

“Fine.” He took a deep breath, and leaned in closer so he could lower his voice. “Making out with you on his desk would be all kinds of hot, and exciting, and something I would remember on my deathbed no matter how demented I become, but.” He shook his head lightly as his brows squished together briefly. “It’s just…not worth it anymore.”

Ziva tugged on her earring. “You mean, possibly getting caught?”

“No,” Tony breathed out, and briefly closed his eyes. “I mean possibly ruining our…friendship.”

“Oh.” Ziva blinked rapidly, and looked away, at a loss for words.

“Yeah,” Tony said dejectedly, and stood up straight, clenching his jaw.

As the awkward silence dragged on, Tony dropped his head briefly, and moved to get back to work right as her hand reached out to his chest, not quite touching, but enough to stop him in his tracks.

“You were right,” she said.

With a flutter in his stomach, yet as casually as possible, he said, “I always am.” He cocked his head, and stared at her intently, feeling the mood shift in his favor. “About what, specifically?”

Ziva inhaled deeply while trying to avoid his probing stare. With a quick scan that there was nobody within hearing distance, she hesitantly said, “I have thought about making out with you…in the bull pen…on your desk.” The intensity of his look and silence were too much to bear, and she continued against her better judgment. “And my desk…the elevator.” She shrugged casually and waved a hand. “The men’s room.”

His mouth went dry, and he resisted the urge to touch her. “Recently?”

“Well.” She wiped at her hair, even though it was still neatly contained in a bun. “Not since you stopped wearing your shoulder holster.”

“I thought you hated my shoulder holster?” Tony asked confused.

“It is distracting, Tony,” Ziva said, voice laced with a tinge of desperation.

“Oh, like your yellow blouse, with the …” He drew an imaginary line on his chest and bit his lip.

Distant voices drifted towards them on the wind, and reminded them, once again, that this really was neither the place nor time for a conversation like this.

“Perhaps,” Ziva started, and licked her lips, “you should come over tonight, for dinner, to, erm, discuss taking revenge on McGee.”

He grinned widely. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Of course, we would need to practice making out, I don’t like making out in front of people.”

Tony frowned, remembering the times they had been undercover. “Could’ve fooled me.”

At her raised eyebrows, he simply said, “Oh.” He glanced to his left, to check on their approaching co-workers. Leaning in, he said in a warm voice, “We can practice as long as you need to feel completely comfortable, whether that’s an hour, or a week.” He glanced at her lips, then got lost in her eyes. “A year, or even a decade…or five.”

[allthatglittersisnotgoldrush]

The Road So Far: A Brief Summary of the Gold Rush AU (Part I, by TolkienGirl)

Recently a reader brought to our attention the need for a succinct narrative summary of the events of the AU. In addition to compiling that (please see Part I, covering the "pre-series" timeline through Maedhros' capture), we refer you to our Wordpress, which includes a timeline and an organization of our first four "Series"... that is, the order of chapter fics and one-shots, vignettes and flashbacks etc., into plot arcs that could roughly provide the basis for "All That Glitters," the prestige TV show.

EVENTS OCCURING PRE-1851

 [Stories detailing these events are sprinkled throughout the chronological timeline]

The pre-canon timeline begins in the late 1700s/early 1800s when Finwe, a talented metalworker, emigrates from Ireland, settles in Philadelphia to work in the steel-business, and marries Miriel (whose mental and physical health are precarious). Feanor is born in 1807, when Miriel dies in childbirth. Finwe, a Catholic, marries Indis, an Anglican woman (whose family disapproves of the match) in 1808. Thereafter, Fingolfin (1809) and Finarfin (1810) are born.

When Feanor is going on eighteen, Finwe relocates to New York, where Manwe Sulimo is a rising politician. Finwe is interested in locally representing Irish interests. Feanor is apprenticed in Boston to Aule, a blacksmith, and meets Nerdanel (b. 1809), then a lonely girl in finishing school.

They are married in 1827, despite the disapproval of Nerdanel’s Scottish father (Mahtan), settle in the Hudson Valley on Formenos farm, and have seven sons: Maedhros (b. 1828), Maglor (b. 1829), Celegorm (b. 1832), Caranthir (b. 1835), Curufin (b. 1836), and twins Amrod and Amras (b. 1837).

Meanwhile, Finarfin elopes with Earwen in Ulmo’s Bridge (Missouri) in 1828, temporarily earning Finwe’s disapproval. Finrod is born in 1829, Angrod in 1833, Aegnor in 1834, and Galadriel in 1836.

Fingolfin marries Anaire (of French descent) in NYC in 1830. Fingon is born in 1831, Turgon in 1833, Aredhel in 1834, and Argon in 1837.

In 1832, Manwe’s older brother Melkor Bauglir (who inherited the family plantation in the antebellum South) visits New York, taking an interest in influencing politics. At a dinner hosted by Manwe, Finwe and Feanor encounter Melkor, and Feanor (being an abolitionist, naturally) helps Melkor’s slave Rumil, an accomplished mapmaker, escape.

Following his encounter with Melkor, Feanor’s paranoia increases, which leads him to be stricter with his children (especially Maedhros) and to secretly abuse Maedhros as a way of trying to teach him to endure pain. When Nerdanel discovers this, she puts a stop to it, but Maedhros develops an early understanding that he is to serve as a protector of his family, including his father, if need be.

In 1835, Finwe is elected to City Council in New York. In 1837, Feanor buys an additional home in the City to keep tabs on his half-family. In 1841, Rumil, who has relocated to California, has met a land-holder and cattle-rancher, Elu Thingol (a Spaniard, married to a Chinese woman, Melian). Rumil and Thingol have negotiated for Rumil to take over a property called Mithrim, which contains a diamond mine that Rumil thinks Feanor would be best able to help access and harvest. Feanor conducts a secret mission to California, reconnecting with Rumil, building the Mithrim bridge, and finding a large diamond. Suspicious of Feanor’s activity, Melkor visits Formenos in April (shortly after Feanor’s departure) and takes an interest in 13-year-old Maedhros. Without Feanor to manage the farm or provide for the family, Nerdanel and the boys endure a hard winter. Maedhros begins to develop a tendency towards disturbing premonitions.

Feanor returns in 1842, gifting the diamond to Finwe. Melkor, intrigued by the happenings out west, visits Doriath but is turned away after showing lecherous attentions to 13-year-old Luthien. He begins to explore the continental U.S. more broadly, and, in doing business with a former nautical mapmaker, takes an interest in his 18-year-old daughter Estrela (Arien). After Estrela refuses his proposal of marriage, Melkor has his protégé Mairon capture and torture her. Renamed “Belle,” she is then enslaved as part of a workforce that Melkor uses to advance his westward projects, supervised by a former plantation overseer of his, Cosomoco Gothmog.

In 1843, Morgoth’s steel manufacturing enterprise (one of his eastern ventures) is found to be corrupt and rife with worker abuse. He is recalled from his western travels and sanctioned. He is confined to house arrest rather than being imprisoned. Meanwhile, Feanor sends Maedhros and Maglor to be educated in the city, though he chooses not to send any of the younger boys, which negatively contributes to Celegorm’s self-perception. For the next several years, Maedhros struggles against the temptations of high society while Maglor begins a promising musical education/career. There is increasing unrest between Feanor and his half-family, but Fingon and Maedhros form a very strong mutual friendship.

In 1847, Finwe retires from City Council (with a ceili/party at Formenos). Maedhros meets Finrod’s friend Esther Landau, a young Jewish woman. Feanor and Finwe intend to have Maedhros fill Finwe’s seat on City Council, while Maedhros is more interested in proposing to Esther. In the end, neither event comes to pass: at the end of 1848, Maedhros rejects his grandfather and father’s plans, quarrels with Feanor, and privately breaks off his relationship with Esther without ever introducing her to his family. Just before this, Finrod departs on a solo western adventure.

Meanwhile, Melkor has been quietly released from his imprisonment. In addition to his frontier developments, which he has been remotely managing, he now advises Manwe and other council members. Feanor is aware enough of this to wish for Maedhros to help him investigate Melkor’s doings.  By 1849, Maedhros has sunk into a debauched lifestyle, which Fingon (studying to be a doctor under Olorin the physician) is largely unaware of but which Fingolfin notices and is dismayed by. Increasingly paranoid, Feanor threatens Fingolfin’s life after a tense spring and growing conflicts. This creates a rift between Fingon and Maedhros for a time.

In 1850, Melkor has Finwe murdered on the front steps of his home and steals the diamond. Feanor is convinced that Melkor had a hand in the murder, but is unable to completely convince Fingolfin. Maedhros and Fingon reconcile to an increased degree, although both still feel uncertain.

EVENTS OCCURRING 1851 – mid-1852 (“SERIES ONE”)

The timeline for the story officially begins in 1851, in New York. Finrod has recently returned from his western exploration, during which he befriended Beren, whose (now-extinct) tribe is indigenous to the Pacific Northwest, and who, some years before, met and fell in love with Luthien in Doriath. Still unable to seek justice for Finwe’s death, Feanor now wishes to move out west and join Rumil at Fort Mithrim. Feanor and Maedhros gain information from Finrod about the gold prospects in California.

Manwe selects Melkor as the spearhead of the western railroad expansion. Disgusted by this assignment of power, Fingolfin agrees to join Feanor in relocating. Finrod intends to go as well. Finarfin and the rest of his family stays behind, but Galadriel (Artanis) secretly stows away with Fingolfin’s train. Feanor, who is leaving first, has been entrusted with the money to procure wagons at Ulmo’s Bridge in Missouri, where Finarfin’s father-in-law Olwe lives. Nerdanel initially opposes the plan to go west, but is persuaded by the inevitable.

On the road, Feanor and his family encounter Gothmog, who taunts them with Melkor’s rising power and the diamond taken from Finwe’s body. Gothmog injures Nerdanel, which increases Feanor’s resolve to move quickly and trust nobody. In early July 1851, Feanor double-crosses Fingolfin and the townspeople at Ulmo’s Bridge, stealing enough wagons for himself and destroying the res, then killing a number of the town’s militia. He then escapes by burning the titular bridge behind them, knocking Maedhros unconscious when he (Maedhros) refuses to cooperate. Nerdanel, having refused to join in this plan, remains behind.

Now wanted, Feanor, Maedhros, and the other boys continue west, collecting new allies along the way, largely through Maedhros’ recruiting efforts. Celegorm engages in a skirmish that ends with a man being killed and a new manhunt being launched. Maedhros also barters sex for information with a string of barmaids and prostitutes along the way, including Melkor’s spy Thuringwethil, who assaults and scars him by way of claiming a “trophy” for Bauglir.

Rumil tries and fails to communicate to Feanor that increased hostility in the vicinity of Mithrim means it is no longer a safe place for them to join forces. Mairon has insinuated himself as a spy within Mithrim, for a time, and then massacred several of Rumil’s best men. An increased number of militia-men of unknown allegiance are also patrolling the countryside and harassing Mithrim’s inhabitants (who include natives tribespeople and former slaves).

Meanwhile, Fingolfin and his family arrive at Ulmo’s Bridge to find themselves betrayed. After seeing Nerdanel, who intends to return east to Indis, Fingolfin chooses to advance his course with a northward river-crossing. Turgon’s wife Elenwe gives birth to their daughter Idril on the trail, which causes the family as a whole to stop for a time (as autumn closes in). After leaving Elenwe and Idril with a settler family, Fingolfin’s company continues onward. They encounter a posse seeking to revenge Celegorm’s kill, which results in Argon’s death. Fingolfin’s company flees farther north and is caught in a Nebraska blizzard which takes Anaire’s life. While the rest starve, snowbound, they are rescued by Haleth (a native leader who works cooperatively with Thingol, and, unbeknownst to Thingol, with Beren) and her company, which includes Beren and Wachiwi, another native woman who forms a close relationship with Fingon.

Shortly before arriving in Mithrim (between Christmas and New Year’s 1852), Feanor and company encounter Mairon spying on them. After being taunted and questioned by Maedhros, he escapes.

At Mithrim, Rumil is somewhat reluctant to assimilate Feanor’s company. It is revealed that Feanor’s interventions in Mithrim’s development a decade past led to a falling out with Thingol of Doriath, specifically with respect to the diamond mine and the diamond that Feanor gave Finwe. Feanor returns to mining, and also begins to launch attacks on the railroad. Maedhros and Celegorm, on an exploratory mission, discover that the nearby Mount Diablo is being excavated.

Amid growing tensions within Mithrim in the late spring of 1852, Amrod decides to write to Nerdanel. Rumil attempts to mail the letter for him, but returns seriously injured/poisoned. Amrod then rides out himself. Urged by Maedhros and Amras, Feanor and his sons go to find him, but end up embroiled in a standoff with Gothmog at the Utumno headquarters of the railroad project. Feanor is mortally wounded by Gothmog. Maedhros leads the return to Mithrim, but after Feanor dies, rides out without his brothers to attempt to track Amrod down. Mairon and then Gothmog surround and capture Maedhros. Gothmog reveals that Amrod’s horse slipped down a riverbank, and he is presumed dead.

Maedhros is delivered to Melkor in “Angband,” the fortress built within “Thangorodrim” (Mount Diablo).

[ask-zerotrio]

Epilogue/Author’s final note

Idk if anyone’s been paying attention to how the blog has been transforming over the course of the story, both in answers + meta blog layer, but I hope it’s been a fun ride! I wanted to thank you those who wrote really nice words again ;u; it means a lot, especially when I poured a lot into this blog (Probably more than I should lol.)

Anyway, I really wanted to do a full write up of the blog’s plot/timeline... A summary of the vision, if you will.

Arc 1: An idyllic universe

I’d be lying if I had this plot from the beginning, but the whole of it certainly came in a rush. Anyway, the beginning of this story was very much an AU where Sada and Turo did leave the crater, reuniting with Clavell and Arven before dying. It’s a universe where everything is perfect, and certainly one that Clavell of every universe dreams of, regardless of whether he’s romantically involved with anyone.

Arven gets to have his parents, Clavell gets to have his childhood friends by his side, Sada and Turo see that Paradise was never something found in the past and future.

Arc 2: A crumbling dream

Then, a desire to explore zerotrio “canon” overcame me, and I thought it might be fun to pursue a change in direction via story, as opposed to usual ask blog announcements/retcons. So... upon the mention of harm coming to the trio, Clavell assures himself that Sada and Turo are fine.

Thus begins the crumbling of this ideal world, with Clavell becoming sickly and grieving for something he doesn’t know... But Sada and Turo do. Throughout these few asks, whoever’s responsible for this dream is implied... and I think I’ll leave that for you to guess :)

Reality is rushing back at Clavell, and eventually time runs out for him. Sada and Turo know this, and I hoped I made it clear how apologetic they are (Love these complex, problematic, but fiercely loving professors lol. Their personalities are so intense, Clavell always in the crossfire)...

Arc 3: Zero Lab era

Suddenly, Clavell was no longer available to respond... as per his injury. Instead we have the Zero Lab Search queries: An opportunity for people to investigate what truly happened between the trio historically. No better certainty in happenings than real video footage, no?

An added plus was to show the trio’s early relationship together during the Tera Orb research eras... Fluffy filler between the grimness of what becomes of them.

Although the “footage” isn’t posted in chronological order, they are all still roughly dated to show a coherent-ish timeline of Sada +Turo and Clavell beginning to have different priorities for Arven’s sake. Arguments had and never truly resolved... logs of Sada and Turo’s absence in Arven’s young life... so forth.

Peppered amidst all these were little clues, as well as puzzles. I attempted to throw a red herring, wanting to keep Sada and Turo’s deaths a not so secret for longer.

Eventually however, we reach present day, with lots of footage locked or damaged. Clavell, Sada and Turo are never shown, but their impacts of their action are. (These poor poor wild Scream Tails haha.)

Arc 4: Present day

We finally arrive at the true present day... with Clavell facing off Protocol Sada and Turo on his own.

The reveal isn’t a crazy twist, nor did I really want it to. But the build up had been for a tragedy we already knew/are familiar with: that Sada and Turo died for their dreams....

But in these final moments where Clavell woke from a vision that felt too real, Protocol Sada and Turo weren’t immune to it either.

Zero Lab queries no longer function as they used to, and asking about the past hurts. Sada and Turo’s conscious speaks through the logs. (Its true workings I leave to your imagination, but I liked the thought of the AI and Protocol representing the two parts of a whole Professor.) We see the final moments of Sada and Turo in what is a death-defying retrospective.

What next... complicated/messy resolutions. Clavell saved, Sada and Turo “alive” but different. It’s more open ended than I intended, but I think it’s also alright to leave things to the imagination... 

The trio have always been in search of their respective treasures, and though it takes a long and rough journey...

... lost treasure can always be found.

[vinelark]

Thank you for sharing your amazing stories, I love your fic...you are such a phenomenal writer! Can you talk about your writing process? What is your favorite/least favorite things to write (e.g. dialogue/plot/atmosphere, etc.)?

hi! this is so nice of you to say, thank you! ❤️

my fic process broadly looks like:

say i’m not going to write a fic yet

then have an idea (usually by accident, “haha wouldn’t it be fun if—”)

talk about the idea until it begins to take an actual shape and i go oh man. this is a whole fic isn’t it. oh no

“this will be a fun, short idea” [is not that]

(for shorter fics i can actually keep the plot tight, depending on how strict the parameters are, but every time it’s “just a fun concept” that i can run free with i get way plottier than i intended and i’ve accepted that by now. it’s why i can’t just go write every idea i have even if i wanted to.)

broad messy outline in a gdoc, including any dialogue snippets i think of as i go.

i’m a fast plotter but a slow writer, so from there i start drafting, roughly in chronological order because that works best for my brain, though sometimes i jump around to rough draft later parts.

first draft goes out to friends who read, comment, catch some errors, and delete many of the abundant first draft commas and em dashes. (this is functionally beta-ing but by people who know every thought i've ever had.)

post! and on to the next chapter/story.

a very important part of my creative process is having friends who are just as enthusiastic about the concept/characters as i am, so shoutout to those people for being the main reason i get any actual writing done. what is fandom if not wanting to feed your friends to the point of creation!

my favorite thing to write varies depending on what world/characters i’m working with, but usually dialogue comes easiest/is most fun to plan out! i often have whole convos planned out dialogue-only and then i fill in the actual action once i get there. and my least favorite thing is probably…very specific, but describing characters’ outfits? unless it’s immediately action-relevant i always have to go back and remember to work that in as part of general scene description, if i remember at all. the outfits are in my head, i just usually feel clunky describing them on the page!

[themirokai]

Continuing with posting the stories from my His Professional Capacity series here on tumblr in anticipation of posting the first new story for the first time in three years.

First installment: What He Does.

Second installment: The Dangerous Parts.

Which brings us to this, the third installment:

Alright Now

Mycroft wakes from a nightmare. Greg is there.

Tags: Nightmares, Aftermath of torture, BAMF Mycroft Holmes, Hurt/Comfort, Mycroft whump

~1,104 words, minor tweaks from the version on AO3. I'm posting these stories in chronological order for the events of the story, rather than the order in which they appear on AO3.

Note: This one is a direct follow up to The Dangerous Parts and contains descriptions of violence and torture. Please take care if that's not for you. Also, neither this nor The Dangerous Parts is required reading for the new story, so feel free to give them a skip and pick up with the next story.

Read it below or on AO3

Oh god Barrett was going to die and it was his fault. They had stopped hurting Mycroft several hours ago, after they had broken his leg - smashed it with a metal pipe wielded with force by a giant of a man - and when he regained consciousness still refused to read the script they wanted from him on video. 

And now that damn rope was back around his neck and they were using it to hold him up, keeping him from collapsing to the floor. The pain from his broken leg was making his vision darken at the edges and his breath come in gasps. They held him and made him watch as they beat Barrett senseless. 

No, that wasn’t right. His leg was in a cast. Barrett was in hospital. 

He had seen the change in their leader when the man decided the negotiation was going nowhere and it was time to do something reckless. He had seen it but hadn’t reacted fast enough and now Barrett, clever, quiet Barrett, was going to be beaten to death. He hadn’t seen the other members of his team, wasn’t sure if they were still alive.

Tears rolled down his cheeks and he begged them to stop.

No, no, that wasn’t right either! He hadn’t cried, he had spit blood on his captors’ shoes and told Barrett that he was a credit to the Service and it was an honor to serve with him. 

He cried out in pain and fear, scrabbling at the rope-

“Mycroft!”

Everything around him was suddenly soft, his fingernails clawing at his bare throat. He was gasping for breath, covered in cold sweat, looking wildly around for Barrett, for their captors. 

“Mycroft,” came a gentle voice nearby. “Easy Mycroft, it’s just a nightmare, darling.”

Mycroft wiped his eyes roughly and looked around in the dark. He could just make out silver hair in the moonlight. 

“It’s me, darling, it’s Greg. You’re alright. You’re in your house in London. You’re safe.” 

“N-no! I didn’t - that wasn’t how it happened!” He barely recognized the words coming out of his mouth. 

“Mycroft, darling, it’s alright now.” The voice was steady, calm. “I’m gonna put my hand on your shoulder now, Mycroft. Okay? It’s just me, it’s just Greg. You’re in your bed, and you’re safe.” A warm hand came to rest on his shoulder and the gentleness of the touch in contrast to the scene replaying itself in his mind, was enough to pull him the rest of the way to wakefulness. 

“Gregory,” he croaked hoarsely. 

“That’s right, darling. I’m here with you. You’re safe.”

The nightmare may have been gone, but it left confusion in its wake. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been sleeping across the hall in the spare room since you got home from hospital a few days ago, darling. You’ll remember when you wake up a little more. Here’s some water.” Gregory’s hand stayed on his shoulder but a glass of water appeared before him. He took it with his uninjured hand and sipped, then handed it back. 

 “Thank you,” he murmured. 

“Can I sit down with you, darling?”

Mycroft nodded, then realized that Gregory probably couldn’t see him in the dark. “Yes. Please.”

Mycroft felt the bed dip, and then Gregory was sitting at his right side, leg brushing against his unbroken leg.

“Did I wake you?” Mycroft asked softly, his voice tremulous. 

“Sounded like a bad one,” Gregory said instead of ‘yes.’ “Can I put my arm around you? You’re shaking.” 

Mycroft nodded and tried to move closer, but was hampered by the full leg cast. 

“Alright, I’ve got you,” Gregory soothed, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and kissing the hair behind his ear. Mycroft was sure that it was still damp with sweat. He took a deep breath that shuddered more than he liked on the exhale. 

As he came back to himself more, he began to feel the sour taste of embarrassment creep up his throat. “Gregory, I’m sorry to have woken you. You don’t - I’m alright. You should go back to sleep. I don’t need to be hushed like a child.” Even as he said it, he knew that he was desperate for Gregory to stay, to hold him, and closed his eyes in gratitude when Gregory’s arm stayed wrapped around him. 

Gregory chuckled. “I’m not treating you like a child, Mycroft, I’m treating you like someone who was injured and traumatized.” 

“Traumatized,” Mycroft scoffed. “I was an intelligence officer for decades, Gregory.” 

“And that makes you immune to trauma?” Mycroft could hear Gregory’s raised eyebrow. “Nah, darling. I don’t know all the specifics, but I know that you’re not an agent anymore and that this was meant to be a negotiation, not dangerous black ops, but your people were hurt and you came back looking like you were run over by a fleet of trucks. You’re allowed to have nightmares, darling. Frankly I’d be more concerned if you didn’t.” 

 Mycroft huffed a soft laugh. “That still doesn’t mean you should be woken by them. You’ve gone so far beyond the call of duty with helping me in the last few days. Your nights should at least be peaceful.” 

“Duty?” Gregory chuckled. “I’m not here out of duty, darling. I’m here because I love you. Because I want you to be cared for properly, and not just by whatever nurse could pass your security clearance. I want to hold you when you have a nightmare.” 

Mycroft, at an extremely rare loss for words, pressed his forehead against Gregory’s chest. 

“Now, if you’re really concerned for my sleep, you could let me stay in here with you so that if you wake up again, I don’t have to go through the trouble of dashing across the hall. I promise to be careful not to jostle you.” 

“You want to stay?” 

“Wouldn’t be the first time we’d shared a bed, darling.” 

“No,” Mycroft said, choosing his words carefully, “but previously there was … intercourse involved.” 

“Yeah,” Gregory agreed amicably, “we mostly shagged each other senseless and fell asleep-“

“Gregory!”

“-but I’d like to try this way. If you’re willing.” Gregory kissed his hair again. 

And what could Mycroft possibly say to that? He tipped his head up to kiss Gregory’s lips softly. 

“Good.” Gregory smiled. “Now let's get you comfortable.” 

After some maneuvering, they settled with Gregory on his side and Mycroft wrapped in his arms. The warmth of Gregory’s body quickly warmed him from the cold sweat of the nightmare. 

“Are you ok?” Gregory asked. 

“Thanks to you,” Mycroft answered as he sank back into sleep.

~*~

Thank you for reading! The next, much lighter, installment in the series is up over here.

[semper-legens]

11. Society of the Snow, by Pablo Vierci

Owned: No, library Page count: 358 My summary: October the 13th, 1972. A plane carrying a rugby team, some of their friends and family, and a few other people who decided to take a cheap ticket, crashes into the Andes. Months later, two of them stumble down a mountain, having walked over the mountains to bring help for their friends - sixteen survivors out of forty five people. This is their story. My rating: 5/5 My commentary:

Well, it's happened again - Jamie's reading books about the Uruguayan Flight Disaster. I don't think this should come as a surprise to anyone who's followed this blog for more than a few months. Still, this book surprised me. I have a lot of knowledge about the disaster (survival cannibalism is one of my weird special interests) and while this book didn't teach me anything new with regards to the facts, it did have a lot to say about the opinions of the survivors, their reflections on this horrific event, and the impact of the disaster on the rest of their lives. I didn't know that the author of this book, Pablo Vierci, was a member of the community where the boys came from, and personally knew most of the people involved in the disaster. Although he refrains from editorialising until the end, it's clear that this connection colours the way he chooses to tell this story, and the clear compassion and humanity that shines through his narrative here.

The book is structured with alternating chapters - the first will tell a third-person episode from the disaster in roughly chronological order, the second will be a testimony from one of the survivors, where they mostly talk about their reactions to the disaster and their philosophies around it. All of the survivors are reflected here; the book was written before the deaths of Javier Menthol in 2015 and Coche Inciarte in 2023. As I alluded to in the opening, one of the things I really appreciated here was the space allowed to the survivors to just talk about how they feel about the crash. Reactions ranged from those who openly talk about their ordeal on the mountains, giving lectures and motivational speeches, to those who have not spoken of it at all in the years since. Yet all of them gave their voices to this book. And even through the disparate opinions, some commonalities can be drawn. Not wanting to be seen as heroic for surviving, when it was just chance that meant they lived while their friends died. Helping each other no matter what, the love and kinship felt between the survivors even when their personalities clashed. Respect for those who died, wanting their names to be remembered with equal weight.

Every one of the survivors' chapters ends with a little biographical information about them. It starts with the facts - year of birth, career - then dovetails into a description of their character, as Vierci sees it through their interviews. He is respectful to all of them, shining a light on this diverse group of men and their personalities, showing them in the best light. It's really sweet. Vierci is giving the survivors the humanity that the press sensationalised away, particularly after the cannibalism became public knowledge. These were real human beings who were fighting for their lives, and it's unfair to judge them from the safety and comfort we enjoy. Those who died, and cannot speak for themselves, are still immortalised in the memories of those who survived, and by the printing of the names of all who were on that plane within the book. Vierci wants their stories to be told. And I think he did an admirable job here.

Next up, drama and intrigue in 18th century London, as a fortune teller tries to claim her inheritance.