#justice for lucius

[thecoolestcowboy]

stede sends ed the sweetest little message in a bottle, like DOWN HORRENDOUSLY bad for this absolute beast of a man, but there’s just one minor problem. the scribe is overboard and no one on blackbeard’s crew knows how to fucking read.

this is gonna be one hell of a season 😭

(jim does not gaf enough to read that long ass letter ☠️)

[lovemelikerealpeopledo]

Lucius Spriggs is a nobleman HC

my personal hc which i love with all my heart and soul and which seems so real to me is that he is from a noble family. my judgments are based on the behavior of the character in certain situations, and i hope that there are those who also think so.

first of all, let's remember that Lucius knows how to write, can read, and draw beautifully (whatever his drawings are). as far as I know, not everyone could get an education at the beginning of the 18th century (when the series takes place). the ordinary working class had no access to education, and the ordinary family never had books, and no one exchanged letters. even clerical work was available only to those who had money or connections (most often family). for example, in the Russian empire (I am from Ukraine and studied its history), only the children of wealthy citizens or nobles could become clerical officials and any other workers that were in any way connected with writing and papers. to get such an education, one had to either hire personal teachers or attend boarding schools (lyceums), where education costs a lot of money.

the working class never had access to education and even those who lived in the cities rarely knew how to read. such luxury was available only to wealthy merchants, family business owners or doctors, who also did not come from ordinary families. education needs money. much money. and so it has always been.

even if we assume that Lucius learned to write, read, and draw on his own, it still seems unlikely. how? tell me how many of you learned this on your own. to start reading, you must at least learn how letters are read. if his parents are ordinary workers, then they most likely could not even write their own name (they would not need to). and Lucius was able and very legible.

second, his behavior. Lucius is squeamish about blood, does not like to work, and most likely simply does not even know how to do any difficult work. looking at him, I see a man who has never worked and never did anything himself. even household chores seem to him incomprehensible labor. it seems that he will not survive on the street for a week if suddenly he does not have a penny in his pocket. it’s just that a boy from a working-class district cannot be such a kid glove, because in those days children were attracted to real work from the age of 10 (sometimes even earlier). if so, then a Lucius who is at least 17 should be able to do a lot of menial work, and not shirk even the simplest task.

i would also like to remember that Lucius is not inclined to communicate only in obscenities and simple sentences. he can speak in hints, express his thoughts, and formulate sentences. he understands people well, and even with his free attitude to love and sex, he fucks anyone just for the sake of sex. this and much more speaks volumes about his level of education.

also, let's remember how back in the first episodes he was able to tell where to go based on his knowledge of the weather. believe me, a cat man has never been to school and has not been to the sea, he will not know this. to understand such things one needs knowledge in geography, biology, and astronomy. such knowledge is given only in lyceums or colleges.

Lucius, I think, left the house after learning that he was engaged to some noble lady or that his wedding was already planned. such marriages without the consent of the newlyweds themselves were not uncommon in those days among noble families who thought only about purity of blood, status, and wealth. for him, his own freedom is clearly higher than material wealth, therefore this is a completely expected step for him.

call me weird or challenge my headcanon but I can't shake the idea that Lucius Spriggs is a runaway aristocrat from an unwanted marriage.

[smokeygrayrabbits]

some leaguer asking batman how much money he actually has because "how can you possibly afford all this bats I mean really our base is in space how did you do that"

and he just kinda looks at them with a blank face, maybe smirks a little, and leaves. and everyone thinks he's just being cryptic and nonchalant but really he's freaking out internally because how much money does he actually have?

between the Wayne family money, his stockpiled stolen mob money that's yet to make it's way into various charities, and whatever tim and Lucius are doing with the company these days, he really has no idea

[lucius-official]

CALLING ALL NRC STUDENTS/STAFF

Are you sick and tired of being a pawn in Dire Crowley's twisted game?? Of being used to boost his own ego? Of always fighting his battles while he cozies up in the safety of his office neglecting to pay his child support??

Then join the rebellion. Rise up against the birdman. And take back your freedom.

We will storm Dire Crowley's office on the morrow and remove Crowley from his position of power by force.

(Bring your own pitchforks/broomsticks/nukes-and prepare to lay down your lives for the cause)

It's time for the Crow to fall 🐦‍⬛❌️✊️

[haruu-luv]

https://archiveofourown.org/series/4206862

[heavenboy09]

20 Years Ago Today. On September 11th, 2004

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WARNER BROS ANIMATION, DC COMICS, KIDS WB & CARTOON NETWORK

PRESENTS

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HAPPY 20TH ANNIVERSARY TO WARNER BROS ANIMATION, DC COMICS & KIDS WB / CARTOON NETWORK'S

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#TheBatman2004 #BruceWayne #AlfredPennyworth #Robin #Batgirl #LuciusFox #TheWayneFamily #JusticeLeague #EthanBennet #EllenYin #ComissionerGordon #GCPD #TheJoker #ThePenguin #Catwoman #Bane #MrFreeze #TheRiddler #ManBat #Firefly #Clayface #KillerCroc #PoisonIvy #BlackMask #GothamCity #TheDarkKnight

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[gently-decaying-flowers]

oh yeah i forgot also THEY DIDNT HAVE TO KILL LUCIUS.

I WAS JUST STARTING TO REALLY LOVE HIS CHARACTER.

BASTARDS.

I FINISHED OFMD

so spoilers btw

so i am sad and gay. so this show made me sadder lmao.

i am happy that i KNOW there is a season 2 coming out (october bby!) because otherwise i would be kinda disappointed with the ending :/

i was genuinely concerned that Stede’s crew was gonna die but then he found them on the island and i nearly cried i swear TvT

ALSO ED NO. NONONO. don’t do this :(

final note: srsly just kill Izzy Hands already. i don’t like the guy- and they’ve gotten so close to killing him like six times ;-;

anyway- very excited for s2 because i need some closure on the sad gay pirates

[scordoesart]

Season 2 is right around the corner but here’s an au

Picking up from the end of season 1, Stede and the part of his crew that was marooned are sailing around trying to catch up with the revenge, but are ill-supplied to be doing so both due to the small size of the boat on the open ocean and that Stede didn’t seem to have much in ways of supplied with him when he left Barbados. I don’t think the marooned crew would consider Stede as their captain at this time (given that he abandoned them to the kraken!Ed). Stede would probably be avoidant in talking about where he’s been (in the “rules for thee but not for me” way he operates) other than he’s back to stay, has no money, and only what little experience he’s had in his brief time sailing as skills. They wouldn’t abandon Stede though, seeing him as maybe the only person who could fix this mess. Stede and his bunch get picked up by another ship who, turns out, is also looking for the Revenge. This ship is either operated or in the command of Bellamy (though he’s using a different name these days because he’s supposed to be dead). When Stede introduces himself, he’s somewhat met with “a pirate captain without a ship and that wasn’t mutinied upon?” questioning (some amusement there on Bellamy’s behalf), and Olu or all of the marooned people explains to their understanding what happened on the Revenge while Stede was gone to the best of their ability. The tale of the Revenge’s crew’s current state was left in just drives them both to want to find it even more. (A good chunk of this story is tracking down information to find the Revenge, which fortunately, Bellamy still has information sources in spades. Sometimes things just happen on the sea. Maybe they run into Jack again?). Bellamy may or may not be a less than open about who he’s chasing after on the Revenge (haven’t decided, or maybe it’s something that eventually comes out but isn’t said directly at first? Bellamy would have little reason to give up his many-year alias/charade to Stede and also strikes me as the kind of man to hold his cards close until he wants to play them). Stede gets to know more about Ed as a person from someone who knew him years ago without Ed there to curate ( Much like Jack and Ed, they act like no time has passed next they meet. I think they would have had a kind of rivalry but also an underlying respect for one another. or at least some base kind of comeradery) and also about pirating when money isn’t your background. Just to complicate things, because Stede and Ed have escaped the royal navy, pirate hunters have been sent after the Revenge (Hornigold maybe?). This is discovered at one of the ports they stop at for information. Time is ticking for them to find the Revenge. Stede no longer has the family inheritance money to lean on, and from the change in lifestyle he’s had to take to compensate, he develops a kind of understanding if not respect for Izzy’s steadfastness in duty of running the ship. ------------- Meanwhile back on the Revenge.... Things keep getting worse somehow. Izzy knows he Fucked Up (see walking on thin ice with Ed), but keeps telling himself Blackbeard is back and this is what he (Izzy) wanted. It’s what’s best for Ed. Izzy tells himself this, but even he knows it’s all gone wrong. He can’t face that reality because Izzy only finds the value of himself in serving Blackbeard. This wasn’t always true. It’s not something he’s ready to confront yet. Izzy is also managing (not well) the missing pinky toe whose stump is healing about as well as Lucius’ finger did. His swordsmanship has also suffered due to the lack of balance from its loss. He must hide all this to the best of his ability to keep up appearances, but of course things will go horribly wrong. Ed notices none of this of course; too wrapped up in his own grief and trying to be the Kraken for the one last reliable person (Izzy) he’s scared will leave him if he isn’t being exactly what Izzy expects him to be. After all, Stede disappeared on him without a word, Jack helped Izzy sell Stede (though ed probably interpreted it as selling both ed and stede) out to the British. Ed and Izzy haven’t been talking outside of strictly first mate-captain business talk. And even then, sometimes it’s Izzy (nervously but with a front to show the crew otherwise) managing without Ed. Lucius is living in the walls at this point and sees and hears much from people when they think they are alone. Ed’s fragile state and crying. Izzy’s struggles with his foot and brief forlorn expressions when he’s alone. Maybe there’s times when he’d grip the ring, saying nothing but mind going mile a minute to something Lucius wouldn’t know at this point. He could probably pick up that it’s a thought of someone missed. Lucius can’t keep a secret for long so he’d start conversing secretly with some of the crew. Jim perhaps? The two of them have a precident of secrets kept a  la season 1. Those that were part of the Revenge both don’t see a way out of this and start trying to plan for a means of a way out of this. Would there have been more crew transferred from the Queen Anne’s Revenge to the Revenge to fill out the crew with competent pirates? Maybe. Eventually though Izzy can’t ignore that this isn’t anything like the usual moodswings of  Blackbeard he’s accustomed to managing. Things aren’t changing and he’s already been dragged too deep underwater by the kraken to surface from the situation. Might as well continue to try and keep the rest of the crew afloat and working as they should be. ---------- (A maybe possibility of an event but not sure how it fits in characterization wise?) Lucius eventually reveals himself to Izzy (under funny accidental circumstances probably). Perhaps when things have gotten Really Bad for Izzy’s foot and he’s bed bound with fever and infection? Would Izzy admit to Lucius he didn’t think an infection would be the thing to do him in? Probably not, but maybe in such a situation he would? (I didn’t think through this scene too much, but maybe some more direct hints that there was someone else (Sam) for Izzy a lifetime ago? But since Izzy never really dealt with the loss other than just shove it down, he doesn’t really want to talk about it? This would provide an opportunity for those that were left from the Revenge crew to gain a kind of respect and the briefest of peaks beneath the demanding middle manager demeanor Izzy has. HOWEVER, this seemingly conflicts with two of the truths Izzy upholds for himself: Loyalty to his captain above all else, and, pirates all just in the process of screwing eachother over) ------------ Back with not the Revenge... Bellamy, Stede, and the rest of the marooned crew eventually catch up to the  Revenge with barely enough time before the pirate hunters arrive. If Stede hadn’t but it together by now just who Bellamy was looking for, it would be outright said who specifically is being sought after. (Stede probably wouldn’t put it together that the man he calls Iggy has the name Israel or may be referred to by the nickname Baz) Stede could say it’s him and he’s returned, but Ed wouldn’t believe him. By now, Stede looks quite different a man. No matter what Stede says, It takes a proper pirate boarding and takeover to get Ed to listen. Maybe Stede getting stabbed by Ed (just like he was taught) to get Ed to listen. The revenge crew on both sides wouldn’t want to fight their friends/companions. The jig is seemingly up on romcom logic where everyone is going to be okay. Maybe Ed boils over and Stede sees the Blackbeard the books he has tell of? Does Ed kill someone in his kraken rage or just think he killed someone in order for him to snap out of it enough to allow that emotional vulnerability to show again? (It would have to be him directly doing it, not throwing someone into the sea, or fire, or anything like that. As with when Jack was talking about Ed burning people alive in ep 8, Ed considered it the fire doing the killing, not himself.) There is of course a dramatic and emotional reunion of all the couples. Them all dealing with what happened in their own ways. Izzy of course is beyond words. Not knowing how to emotionally deal with 1) Sam being alive. Sam being here. 2) Stede Bonnet is back. 3)Pirate hunters (Hornigold?) on the horizon coming right for them. That third point would cut everyone’s emotional reunions short, but also be the only one of the three that Izzy has any inkling of how to deal with after years of shoving his own emotions down and never dealing with them. The fight to even get on the Revenge having caused enough fatigue that a fuckery has to be used to get away. Stede gets to showcase what he’s learned as a practical, broke, pirate (and that probably not enough if he creates the fuckery without assistance from others). There’s a grand kind of confrontation between Hornigold and the two captains who were once under his command. Stede gains a deeper understanding of the man that in many ways shaped Ed (and Izzy and Sam and Jack and maybe other figures that could have been encountered while looking for the Revenge such as Anne Bonny and Mary Reed). And then finally, the crew can start to unpack and sort out the situation. It’s a long process. The world, under normal logic, wouldn’t wait for them to sort such things out. Maybe romcom time makes a comeback and they can sort through at least a good chunk of it. Ed, for his part, does a lot of growth or at least tries to. In the end, Izzy ends up leaving with Sam for retirement. Ed tells him to go, be happy. Releases him from service (much to Izzy’s conflicted feelings on it). Izzy insists that no that’s a big mistake. Ed insists that’s what would make Ed happy (even if that too is a lie in some capacity?): to see Izzy finally have that same happiness with Sam that Ed’s now found with Stede. -------------- As for what happened between Izzy and Sam all those years ago... Years ago, Sam was sweet on Izzy when they were both serving under Hornigold. It was a whirlwind romance. Sam promised Izzy fine things and retirement together- something so rare for those in their line of work. It seemed like the stuff of fairytales, but something made Izzy give Sam a chance to make it a reality. I haven’t decided what the reason they weren’t sailing together. Izzy and Sam would have been on different ships under Hornigold’s command. Sam with his own ship and Izzy under Ed’s command. Maybe Izzy’s sense of loyalty to his captain was there (as instilled by Hornigold in all his men), but at the time, he wasn’t giving both of his hands to his job. One for the ship and one for his own interests. Maybe Ed was jealous and didn’t want to “share” Izzy with a someone else and he pressed the loyalty to the captain aspect? Maybe there was some other fuckery a la Ed afoot? Maybe Izzy, being torn between duty and love, said he’d go with Sam once Sam got the money needed for that retirement? That seems to conflict with the intensity of which Izzy holds loyalty though. Hmm.... In any case, after splitting off from Hornigold and some time passing, Sam ended up reported dead along with almost all of his crew in the sinking of the Whydah. (The timeline with Hornigold’s involvement and if he’s still alive even seems to be pretty loose at this point as far as OFMD canon goes in comparison to history. Therefore the timeline between Bellamy being elected captain of what once was Hornigold’s fleet, his independent ventures, and the sinking of the Whydah can be played with fast and loose.) Ever since then, Sam’s been working under another name to regain those funds, find Izzy, and give his love the retirement he promised. News of what happened to the Whydah and Sam eventually made its way to Ed and Izzy. Izzy never really processed the grief. Just bottled it up and dedicated his whole self to his captain. Both hands to the ship. (“The only retirement we get is... death”)

[incendiorum]

IOVITA LEARNS EARLY THAT THEY and lucius don’t see eye to eye when it comes to killing a person.

and it’s not a problem of moral standpoints. lucius simply cannot handle it. he gets flighty at the very idea, and sick at the actual implementation. iovita stands over him in annoyance during one of these times, while he vomits into the grass.

“ are you done? ” they ask. lucius groans.

“ you could be a little kinder about it, ” he mutters.

“ you could be a little faster about it, ” iovita snaps back. they offer him a hand, though, and he takes it, pulling himself up and wiping his mouth with the back of his arm at the same time. iovita wrinkles their nose. “ gross. ”

“ be quiet. ” his tone is so sharp that iovita is startled into silence. they watch as he picks up his sword, cleans it off, and sheathes it again. his gaze is blank. “ we should go. ”

it’s not just the fact that he gets nauseous about it. he gets quiet and distant afterward. he wanders off on his own and sits in silence. his presence feels as tangible as fog under a hot sun.

and what truly bothers iovita is that they don’t feel the same way. death is easy. death is permanent. death means that the person trying to hurt them can never do it again.

they start pushing him aside, when the situation calls for someone’s permanent end. they don’t miss the way lucius gives them a sideways look every time. iovita grabs at the fury that seems forever rooted in their mind and takes care of it and they don’t feel anything at all, afterwards.

lucius's men start talking in hushed whispers and cutting glances after this happens multiple times. and iovita still can’t bring themself to care.

iovita comes to still choking on hot, metallic blood. when they twist onto their hands and knees, they can see it coating the grass beneath them in a viscous, sticky pool.

“ easy, io, ” latona says, voice trembling. her hand is on their back. “ spit it out. there you go. ”

their eyes burn when they finally look up. latona stares at them, face twisted in concern. if iovita’s mind weren���t so foggy, they’d be surprised. latona is cool and collected. never worried.

lucius is on his knees on the other side of them. his cheeks are damp and glistening. his sword lays on the ground nearby, blade coated in blood. beyond that, facedown, lies a body. iovita lifts a hand out of the pool of crimson underneath them and wonders how much of it is their own.

“ can you stand? ” latona asks. iovita reaches for her. she lets them hang onto her arms as they struggle to their feet. lucius stands as well, and she hands them off to him. a strong arm wraps around their waist, guiding them away from the viscera.

iovita lifts a hand as they walk, brushing their throat. wet and sticky, as well. still hot. but the deep gash that had been there only minutes ago is gone. latona’s quick handiwork.

“ you were very close to dying from that, ” she murmurs. iovita jerks in surprise to see her still lingering at their other side.

lucius stops near the horses and pulls away. iovita stands, dazed, at xanthos’s head, watching as he pulls the four-horned saddle off her and hands it to latona. xanthos nudges them, gently, and iovita sets a hand on her neck, trying hard to not lean their entire weight on her. it leaves a red handprint on her tawny coat.

“ io. io. ” slowly, too slowly, iovita shifts their attention to lucius, who holds both hands out, expression pinched. “ I’ll help you up. ”

they reach for one of his hands, and try their best to not be completely useless when he boosts them up onto xanthos’s back. he keeps a hand on their thigh as he leads the mare over to a nearby boulder. his hands never truly leave them, fluttering up to their side or their shoulder as he uses the boulder to climb up behind them, and every touch leaves a tingling patch of warmth in its wake. “ back home, ” he says, “ and you can rest. ”

“ I am fine, ” iovita insists. their voice fails them – small and hoarse.

“ no, ” latona says from somewhere nearby. despite her snippy tone, iovita thinks they detect some semblance of relief. “ you are not. go back and rest. you lost a lot of blood, and my healing almost certainly took your energy, as well. ”

“ mmgh, ” iovita mumbles back. lucius huffs what sounds like a strained laugh, and nudges xanthos into movement.

xanthos’s walk is long-strided but smooth. lucius keeps one arm wrapped tight around their waist, letting their head lull against his shoulder. too exhausted to dwell on this, iovita lets the rhythm lull them into half-sleep.

the journey travels in that haze. at some point, they’re aware of xanthos stopping and lucius sliding down to the ground, pulling them carefully into his arms, and then they’re no longer aware of anything at all.

iovita wakes with the first soft light of dawn. exhaustion pulls at each and every one of their bones and their head pounds in slow, painful throbs. there’s a mountain of blankets heaped over them and under them to cushion them from the hard ground, but they still feel cold prickling along their back. they shift and realize that they’re in different clothes. no blood crusts to their skin. they touch their throat. the long ridge of a fresh scar greets them.

their movements stirs a person laying near them. “ you’re awake, ” lucius murmurs. his voice sounds odd. distant. he doesn’t sit up. he stays on his back, tilting his head towards them.

they remember, through the thick fog of their mind, lucius on his knees. wet-faced and stricken. “ you were crying, ” iovita whispers.

“ was I? ” lucius replies. his words are flat.

a red-edged sword. “ you killed him, ” iovita says next. lucius squeezes his eyes shut. “ the man who tried to kill me. ”

silence falls over them both. so heavy that iovita can almost feel it. but it doesn't take long for lucius to confess. “ I… didn’t even think about it. I just… acted. I haven’t done that since… ” he swallows and clenches one hand. it’s the one he keeps wrapped up with a long, thin strip of cloth. but iovita has seen the ragged scar hidden underneath. “ I haven’t done that in a long time. ”

his eyes open and meet their own. the warm brown of them has turned impossibly dark in the low light. “ I did it for you. ”

the immensity of his words hit iovita like a landslide. “ oh. ”

they don’t think his affections are a secret, anymore. lucius has always been patient with them despite their anger. he has always leaped at the chance to include them or join them in the most mundane of tasks. iovita may have been oblivious at first, but they could only remain so for so long.

iovita scoots a little further away and lifts up the thick pile of blankets draped over them. “ come here. ”

lucius props himself up onto an elbow. “ are you sure? ”

“ I wouldn’t have offered otherwise, ” iovita grumbles. slowly, lucius shuffles over to join them, and they let the blankets drop onto his back. they pillow a hand under their cheek, and watch as he does the same.

“ better? ”

lucius nods.

iovita lets quiet fall over them again, but they don’t let it linger. “ you didn’t have to do that for me. I know… I know how much you hate it. ”

“ I did, ” lucius says, so fast the two words jumble together. “ I did, ” he repeats, slower. he reaches out, and pauses. “ can…? can I? ”

iovita feels dizzy all over again. unlike the blood loss, however, this one is edged in a new kind of excitement. they nod. lucius’s callused fingers brush over their cheek. light and soft and barely there. his thumb traces their cheekbone. in the growing light, they can see his gaze fall to their mouth. something tightens in iovita’s chest.

“ I am glad you’re alive. I do not regret what I did. ” he pulls his hand away. lets it fall between them. “ go back to sleep. ”

they can’t find the energy to argue. iovita falls asleep imagining what it would have been like to feel his lips on their own.

and they don’t stop thinking about it.

it doesn't help that lucius's hands start lingering a little longer when he touches them. or that he always stands so close that their shoulders touch. but he's also far too much of a gentleman for iovita's building frustration. despite his lingering looks, he doesn't try anything. or even ask.

when it's just the two of them one day, iovita decides that they can no longer stand it, yanks him off the road, backs him up against a tree, and says, “ just kiss me already. please. ”

the way his eyes light up makes something in their chest flutter. “ really? ” iovita tightens their grip in his shirt and nods. “ really? ”

“ lucius, ” they hiss, reaching up to tangle a hand in the wavy black locks of his hair and yank him against their mouth. lucius grunts in surprise, and then brings his hands up to cup their face. his mouth softens against their own, slow and curious.

foreign warmth seeps into their face and down their neck, tingling pleasantly under their skin. it takes them a moment to realize that it’s lucius’s magic. every rapid beat of their heart spreads it further and further, until they can feel it from the top of their head down to their toes. iovita pulls away, eyelids heavy. their mind is pleasantly foggy. “ you can do that? ”

lucius raises his eyebrows and says nothing. he traces his thumbs over their cheekbones and heat slinks along the back of iovita’s neck and down the curve of their spine.

“ you can do that? ”

he laughs. “ I’m delighted that I could be the one to introduce you to it. ”

iovita is hazy and fuzzy and tingly all over, so they say exactly what they shouldn’t, “ no. I didn’t know it could feel good. ”

lucius’s hands drop from their face. the feeling dissipates like steam. “ what? ”

iovita blinks. a rush of shame hits them not a moment later, and they look away. “ nothing. ” he’s so close to them. legs pressed against their own. breath fanning across their face. they put a hand on his chest and step back. “ forget I said anything. ”

he reaches for them, fingers closing around their wrist. “ are they still looking for you? ”

iovita jerks away. the memory of their mother’s magic, searing itself into the muscle under their skin, won’t leave their mind. “ don’t touch me. ”

lucius winces. “ are they still looking for you? ” he repeats.

they rub their nose. “ no. ”

“ iovita. I know you just lied to me. ”

“ they’re not looking for me, ” iovita snaps. lucius raises his hands, placating. “ they… gave up. I’m sure of it. I haven’t seen or heard anything in months. ”

lucius gives them a look, but he doesn’t press the matter further. iovita knows that they’ve given him the truth by avoiding it so viciously. there’s nothing - their vanishing in the first place, the rumors that trail their (changed) name, or even their age - that has kept their parents from pursuing them, even after all this time. “ I’m fine. I swear it. ”

he sighs and turns to start walking back to the road. “ we should get back to camp. ”

iovita lingers for a moment, kicks uselessly at a rock, and trails after him.

later, they spot lucius grab latona by her arm and drag her aside, dipping his head low and towards hers so that they can whisper. latona peers over her shoulder once, at iovita, and then drags him further away.

iovita stands there, entirely unsure of how to react. in the end, they don’t.

the next day lucius and latona both leave in the early morning.

“ I’ll be back soon, ” lucius promises them. iovita says nothing back, except to grab his wrist and give him a hard look.

“ it’s nothing. ” he’s lying through his teeth. iovita lets him go anyway.

latona and lucius are gone for a week. iovita flips from annoyance to anger to utter boredom. and when the boredom gets to be too much, they find themself right back at step two: anger. they snap at anyone who tries to talk to them until the entire group gets the message and leaves them be. iovita uses it as time to stew in their own irritation. they could have handled this themself. they don't need lucius and latona to do it for them.

as if they haven't had years to handle it.

it’s col who finally approaches them. “ do you know where pater went? ”

I know exactly where he went. “ no, ” iovita replies. they see col stiffen, from the corner of their eye, and take a long breath. when they speak again, their voice is more level. “ he said he would be back soon, though. ”

“ oh. ” col fidgets. iovita finally turns to look at him completely. he’s started to get gangly. all elbows and knees. they wonder if lucius looked the same at this age. “ do you want to go practice with me? ” he lifts the bow he’s holding in his hands.

iovita blinks. “ practice? ” they echo. when col just tilts his head, they stand up. “ how about you put your skills to use and hunt something for us? ”

col’s eyes light up. “ and you’ll cook it? ”

“ of course. ”

col grins and turns to hurry away. he stops, throws his head back to stare skyward with a loud sigh, and whips back around. “ I’m going to go get the horses. I know a really good spot for rabbits. ”

iovita raises their eyebrows, amused. “ I’ll be there in just a moment. let me go grab what I need. ”

“ okay! ” col yells over his shoulder, already sprinting off again.

col proves to be a good distraction. he wakes them up as early as he can get away with each day and drags them around the nearby countryside. iovita doesn’t mind. his good mood is infectious.

they come back one afternoon after a failed fishing attempt, and when they round a copse, they both spot xanthos at the same time. col glances at them from the corner of his eyes.

“ you can say hi to him, first, ” he says.

iovita tightens their jaw. “ no. it’s fine. go say hello to your pater. ”

“ if you’re sure, ” col says hesitatingly. he’s giving them an even weirder look, now. “ io? ”

“ hm? ”

“ are you and him… um… ”

iovita’s head snaps towards him in alarm. “ what? ”

col blinks. “ nothing, ” he squeaks out, and hurries off ahead of them.

iovita makes their own entrance quiet. latona catches them, at the edge of camp, and gives them an unreadable look. she doesn’t say a word, either. and leaves iovita feeling vaguely unsettled. they lurk, until the sun starts to dip further towards the horizon. without col, their annoyance has started to build again. until, finally, they can take it no longer and stalk away to find the subject of their ire.

iovita finds him, as expected, alone and far away from everyone else. sitting on the ground with his knees pulled up and arms wrapped tight around them. his eyes are firmly locked on the horizon. he looks small, sad, and bogged down with a kind of exhaustion that iovita knows only he will ever feel. at once, their anger trickles away.

“ lucius, ” iovita says. he doesn’t respond. “ lucius, ” they say again, louder. when he still doesn’t turn, they reach out to touch his shoulder. he startles, whipping around.

“ oh. ” his shoulders slump. “ salve .”

iovita sits down next to him. “ lucius? ”

“ hm? ”

he’s gone back to staring into the distance. iovita reaches out to turn his chin towards them. when he finally meets their gaze, they say, “ can I ask you a question? ”

lucius’s eyes turn hard and flinty. “ …yes. ”

iovita tries to swallow the lump in their throat. there’s a feeling, building in their chest. dark and nervous. they’re afraid to name it. I know what you did, sits on the tip of their tongue. the cloth he keeps wrapped around his hand has a dark, rusty stain on it.

“ can you show me how you did that… ” their gaze darts away as they gesture in a vague series of hand flips. “ that thing… with your magic? ”

the breath that leaves lucius is sudden and strained, twisting into something a bit like a laugh and a bit like a sob. “ yes. yes I can show you. here. ” he reaches for their hand with the one of his not wrapped in cloth. “ press your fingers to my wrist. ” iovita does, and the pads of their fingers press flush to his pulse. “ just do what you always do. will your magic to do what you want it to. ” he pauses. “ do it with… intention. good intention. ”

don’t do it with pain in mind remains unspoken. iovita focuses. the warm trickle of their magic curls out along their arm, growing hotter and hotter under their skin by the moment. they imagine it brushing lucius’s skin. sinking underneath and spreading, and they hear him sigh. his fingers curl, stiffen, and then relax.

“ your magic is hot, ” he murmurs. “ hotter than mine. ”

“ yours is… ” iovita thinks. “ cozy. ” it felt like how they would imagine the stroke of his hands, but they don’t say it aloud. that… doesn’t make them feel cozy, exactly. “ it felt good. ”

they let their hand fall. lucius takes too long to pull his own back. he feels… distant to them again. like he’s not even sitting next to them. like io could waves their hands through him and he’d fade away before their eyes.

“ io… I – ” his voice catches in his throat. he swallows, hard, and tries again. “ io I did something I… I don’t think I should have. ” his eyes are bright. iovita looks away. “ I did it – ugh. ” iovita looks back to see him press the heels of his palms into his eyes. “ I did it for you. ”

silently, iovita reaches for him. they pry his hands away from his face. the cloth catches their attention again and they take his hand into their own, unwrapping and rewrapping the strip into a loose roll that they set aside. when he doesn’t pull his hand away, they trace a thumb over the twisted scar on the back of his hand. if they look closely, they can still see some of the black ink of the old tattoo lingering in between the ridges of it. “ lucius? ” they murmur again, looking up to see him with his attention fixed on their hands, eyes wide.

he meets their gaze. iovita says nothing. they stare, unwavering, back. and then give him a little nod. I know. it’s okay. after a moment, lucius lets out a long, shuddering sigh and nods back.

iovita pulls him into a kiss and pretends not to feel his cool tears pricking against their cheeks.

[thecoolestcowboy]

poor little guy… pussy facing the world :(

[nicnacsnonsense]

OFMD fic in the style of AtLA Southern Raiders where Ed tries to reconcile with Lucius by taking him on a field trip to get revenge on the guys who killed Pepper.

[femslashspuffy]

I LITERALLY just remembered something that I have felt weird about for weeks. Ok gay pirate women episode of ofmd with Anne Bonny and Mary Reid they are just sooo horny the entire fucking episode and they're so violent but they love each other and at the end of the episode they have this nice little moment in the flames and ever since I've seen it I've been talking about it because it just feels off. They do not kiss there. They are the horniest characters on the show and they make fun of Ed and Stede for not having sex yet but they don't kiss there in their big pivotal I love you moment from the episode

And when I saw that when I saw them get that close and then skirt away I thought to myself hrmm, that felt like the homophobia of "era's past" and I said that is really weird, it's really weird that in this show where every person is queer they did not let these two women kiss

Now my friend said maybe it was actor preference and sure maybe but it just didn't sit right with me and it didn't fit. So I thought maybe, maybe the network will have limited how explicit they can make this but then no because Ed and stede have their kiss next episode and I would've been like oh they took that kiss from the girls so they couldn't do it. But then they kiss harder and they go all the way and they have sex and I said hmm. And then lucius and black pete are very affectionate and stede and ed get their other really big kiss in this last episode and I'm just like hmm. (Although I can't remember exactly but Pete and Lucius might not kiss after the proposal and hold that thought)

And now. Now. We have Izzy Hands. And he's been killed for seemingly no reason be it tonal or for a character reason. And he was killed in a very confusing very out of character way. And then the creator of the show goes on to describe his relationship with ed as a "father figure." And I can't help but think that this, again, feels like-- reeks of the homophobia of "days past."

And I think that's why I've been so confused the last few weeks. At a glance this appears to be a decidedly queer show. So why then, why then is it falling back on things that buffy or supernatural did. Shows that were created for different audiences in a "different time" why are we once again hiding and skirting away from kisses like willow and Tara had to do or killing our gay characters from non fatal wounds in a barn on a ship and rewriting their relationships, claiming they have no family. Why are we doing this? In a show about queer love and acceptance? In 2023?

The days of typical queerbait may have passed with the passing of supernatural but there is something dark that I am noticing in this season of ofmd and I really do not like it. And I am in no way saying that this show is queerbait because that is ridiculous but why, in our own shows in shows made for us that aren't being put out on cable or anywhere where people wouldn't know what it is. Why does it feel like our shows are being censored?

[pupmusebox]

Tag dump 6/?

{ First Brother and Avatar of Pride - Lucifer } { Second Brother and Avatar of Greed - Mammon } { Third Brother and Avatar of Envy - Leviathan } { Fourth Brother and Avatar of Wrath - Satan } { Fifth Brother and Avatar of Lust - Asmodeus } { Sixth Brother and Avatar of Gluttony - Beelzebub } { Seventh Brother and Avatar of Sloth - Belphegor } { Human Exchange Student Among Demons - Yuki/Male!MC } { Royal Demon and Future King of Devildom - Lord Diavolo } { Loyal and Impeccable Demon Butler - Barbatos } { Powerful and Immortal Sorcerer - Solomon } { Calm and Serious Archangel - Simeon } { Quiet Spear Wielding Seraphim - Raphael } { Reaper and Caretaker of Life Candles - Thirteen } { Young Devil Bird of a Son - Lucius(flameandindifference) } { Playful Half Demon and Prideful Bird - Dante } { Royal Heir and Half Demon Dragon - Caius } { Crafty Bird of a Half Demon and Fae - Mael } { Mystery Demon of a Moth Pet - Samuel } { Warm Heart of Royal Dragon - Silas } { Sharp Witted Bird of Pride - Ignatius } { Noble Demon of Wickedness - Belial } { Shepherding Archangel of Justice - Raguel } { King of Knights - Arthur Pendragon } { Solitude Psychic of a Legendary - Vero/Mewtwo } { Tech Talented Alibaba and Oracle - Futaba Sakura } { Team Rocket Boss and Former Gym Leader - Giovanni } { Cold Eyed Rocket Executive - Archer } { Team Rocket's Master of Disguise - Petrel } { Team Magma's Boss - Maxie }

[pupmuseboxmovedarchive]

Tag dump 6/?

{ First Brother and Avatar of Pride - Lucifer } { Second Brother and Avatar of Greed - Mammon } { Third Brother and Avatar of Envy - Leviathan } { Fourth Brother and Avatar of Wrath - Satan } { Fifth Brother and Avatar of Lust - Asmodeus } { Sixth Brother and Avatar of Gluttony - Beelzebub } { Seventh Brother and Avatar of Sloth - Belphegor } { Human Exchange Student Among Demons - Yuki/Male!MC } { Royal Demon and Future King of Devildom - Lord Diavolo } { Loyal and Impeccable Demon Butler - Barbatos } { Powerful and Immortal Sorcerer - Solomon } { Calm and Serious Archangel - Simeon } { Quiet Spear Wielding Seraphim - Raphael } { Reaper and Caretaker of Life Candles - Thirteen } { Young Devil Bird of a Son - Lucius } { Playful Half Demon and Prideful Bird - Dante } { Royal Heir and Half Demon Dragon - Caius } { Crafty Bird of a Half Demon and Fae - Mael } { Mystery Demon of a Moth Pet - Samuel } { Warm Heart of Royal Dragon - Silas } { Sharp Witted Bird of Pride - Ignatius } { Noble Demon of Wickedness - Belial } { Shepherding Archangel of Justice - Raguel } { King of Knights - Arthur Pendragon } { Solitude Psychic of a Legendary - Vero/Mewtwo } { Tech Talented Alibaba and Oracle - Futaba Sakura } { Team Rocket Boss and Former Gym Leader - Giovanni } { Cold Eyed Rocket Executive - Archer } { Team Rocket's Master of Disguise - Petrel } { Team Magma's Boss - Maxie }

[itswhatyougive]

FUCKING THIS

Just watched s2e08 again and I'm still so so mad that everyone just stands around and watches Izzy die!

We know Jim is weirdly good at surgery -- they already saved him once from a far worse injury and THEY JUST SAVED AUNTY but this time they just stand and watch!!!? Please. It's insulting. I mean, I know, once you've decided he has to die, you can't clutter up the tender death scene with frantic bids to save the doomed man, but that did a disservice to Jim's character as well.

I can't even think about the funeral. Lucius just looks pissed off?

[sanguinesmi1e]

A Round Door Like a Porthole, Lazarus Green Pt. 1 (you're here) Pt. 2 Pt. 3 Pt. 4

Wayne Enterprises didn’t really need a small business specializing in “ecto-weapons” invented by self-purported ghost hunters, but S.T.A.R. Labs tipped Lucius Fox off that Lex Luthor was trying to buy an obscure little company in Illinois, and thwarting Luthor was always worthwhile. Now Tim just had to figure out what to do with all the equipment and the concerningly large arsenal of guns and things that looked like normal household items but seemed to have other, horrific purposes. He would have laughed at the way they slapped “Fenton” in front of every invention name (do ghost hunters really need a Fenton thermos? Won’t a normal thermos keep their coffee hot just as well? Are ghosts like trout, to be caught with a Fenton Ghost Fisher which just looks like a normal fishing rod but glow-in-the-dark. And what the fuck even is a Fenton Peeler!?), but he thought with some chagrin about the batarangs, batmobile, and everything else that had “bat” as a prefix in the batcave. 

However, of all the things Tim hadn’t expected to find when he flew out to do an inventory of assets after they bought the business sight-unseen, a portal generating a Lazarus Pit in gaseous form was probably at the top of his list. He didn’t even know that Lazarus water could change states from a liquid to a gas like that. Maybe there actually was something to the whole ghost thing. He supposed that it made sense for ghosts to exist, after all Deadman was part of Justice League Dark. Speaking of. . . he should see if Bruce could call in someone from JLD to assess things. He was feeling decidedly out of his depth.

John Constantine did not like to consult for mega corporations like Wayne Enterprises, but Batman had specifically requested he go check something out and he figured, where's the harm? 

There. 

There’s the harm. 

It turned out the “thing” he’d been called in to look at is a machine that can tear open a stable portal into the Infinite Realms. That is not something that should be possible. That is not something technology should be capable of achieving. That is definitely not something that should exist. Bloody hell, what had the Bats roped him into!?

This really should have been Zatana’s job. Or Deadman’s. Hell, Raven or Secret would be preferable. Because John would prefer not to be dealing with this. In fact, he would prefer to be back in literal Hell than deal with the crazy shit in the Infinite Realms. Could John handle demons, archangels, and even gods? Yeah. He can bind or exorcize most supernatural threats. Does that mean he relishes the idea of going toe to toe with heavy hitters from the Infinite Realms? Absolutely not. 

Some beings who lived there were just little blob ghosts made from ectoplasm and emotion. Some were the restless undead who could not or would not cross over to their afterlives. And some were the embodiments of concepts like nature, destructive weather, and dreams. He wasn’t sure where Death fit into the Realms, whether she ruled or visited, or if it was actually just an extension of her, but he didn’t really want to find out. There were many things John could defeat. Death wasn’t one of them. And now he was looking at a portal into a realm where the living were not meant to be. 

Danny hadn’t returned to Fenton Works since graduating high school. It turned out that he was less anxious when he was not living with people who fantasized about “tearing him apart molecule by molecule” and thought that discussing their plans to dissect him (although he maintained that it would be a vivisection since he’s only half dead) made for fascinating dinner conversation. Who would have thought that his constant stress, anxiety, and insomnia were caused by environmental factors? He’d been unpacking things with a very nice therapist his sister helped him find, and seen great improvements in his mental health. It really helped that she was dead too, and unlike Spectra she didn’t feed off the misery of her patients.

Danny hadn’t intended to ever return to Fenton Works, but when Jazz told him that Jack and Maddie sold their life's work to Wayne Enterprises and a multibillionaire playboy was about to have unfettered access to the Ghost Zone, he was. . . concerned. To say the least. And that was why he was in the middle of doing some light sabotage when Tim Drake-Wayne and a guy in a trenchcoat who reeked of cigarette smoke entered the basement lab. It’s why he was hiding under the Specter Speeder removing the ecto-engine, and there to overhear the conversation that followed.

“So, am I right in thinking that’s a Lazarus Pit?” Tim asked Constantine.

The older man stared at the portal, then at Tim, then at the portal for an uncomfortably long time. Then he pulled out a flask and drained half its contents before saying, “Yes and no. That is basically the same substance as the pits, but I think that this does something else entirely. It seems like this machine basically functions as a summoning circle, but instead of pulling one entity from one side to the other, this is just an open doorway that is perpetually pulling in anything or anyone who gets within its sphere of influence.”

“That doesn’t sound like a good thing, John.”

“It’s really not,” 

“So what does that mean, is it like a blown hatch in space causing rapid depressurization?” Tim felt a little ill at the thought. “What is it even pulling into our world?”

“No, no. Nothing so dramatic as that. It’s more like, hm, so the way summoning circles work is they invite or compel a specific entity to manifest, by basically making a one-way magical portal for them. This portal is kinda like an invitational summoning, which entices, but doesn’t force anyone to enter. Usually a summoning will have a purpose though, and the being you summon will be offered a deal. If this is doing what I think it is and pulling citizens of the Infinite Realms through and leaving them on this side without a contract or direction, they’re probably getting pretty frustrated and causing havoc. It’s like offering someone a job in another country so they have to get a visa and uproot everything, only to get off the plane and find an empty office, no housing, and no paycheck.” John lit up a cigarette and took a drag.

Tim wrinkled his nose, but knew from long experience that it wasn’t worth it to argue about American tobacco restrictions in the workplace with Constantine, especially while the man was doing him a favor. Also, the man looked like he really needed either a cigarette or another drink, and he’d prefer second hand smoke to a drunk sorcerer. “So then why hasn’t this town been overrun by these beings from the Infinite Realms?”

“Good question kid, but what I really want to know is how is this portal staying open? Really, how was it opened in the first place is the most pressing issue.” John mused.

Tim had already located the blueprints for the portal while waiting for Constantine, but either the Fentons had intentionally falsified the documents to seem plausible just long enough to make off with the money, or he just didn’t understand enough of the interaction between physics and the occult to comprehend how the portal could possibly function. 

He flipped back through the blueprints while the blond man sat cross legged in front of the swirling green portal and his low, distracted mutterings took on the cadence of a chant. The curl of smoke from his lit cigarette unfurled into some kind of spell array, and began to glow. Huh, maybe Tim shouldn't be too quick to judge him for tobacco misuse. Tim triple checked the flat file for any more information about the portal, and came up empty handed.

John, meanwhile, kept chanting as the magical array grew and spread to encompass the entire entrance to the portal. At last he stopped speaking and stood up, stepping back to double check his work. “Alright, Drake. You might wanna close your eyes for this one. It’s gonna be bright,” he said, popping his cigarette back between his lips. Then he stepped forward and blew a mouthful of smoke on the center of the array. The smoke caught against the softly glowing lines, pushing them until they floated back and collided with the nebulous green swirls and, despite Tim closing his eyes, flashed so incandescently white he could see them through his eyelids.

“OW! Fuck!!” John clutched his face, pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes. “I’m doubling my consulting fee,” he grumbled under his breath.

“You alright?” Tim asked, blinking spots out of his vision.

“Yeah, yeah. Just give me a sec.” He too was blinking now. “That was not supposed to be so bright.”

“I’m assuming it worked though.”

“It had bloody well better ’ave worked.” The older man squinted at the slightly dimmer lines which still shone painfully bright against the green. “Oh. Yeah, that worked. Fuck. . .”

“What?” Tim looked on in alarm as Constantine pressed a hand over his mouth. 

“Oh man. What wanker did you say created this portal?”

“Presumably Drs. Madeline and Jack Fenton. Why?” He drew the last syllable out skeptically. 

“Because, they opened this portal with a child sacrifice, and bound his death and all the lost life potential to their bloody machine to create a perpetual gateway to the Infinite Realms.”