#mari nbd

[vulturereyy]

You ever have a d&d session your character comes out of irrevocably changed Jesus fucking christ what a series of events

Sorbet may be coming back next session as a full oathbroken or vengeance paladin

And she will almost certainly no longer be the champion of selune, self stripping herself of the title until her hands are raw so help her gods

[unluckiestclover]

i dont get why cis women are scared of shaving their faces

[beet1031]

I was trying to figure out how to draw the difference between five year old and three year old characters (for the purposes of drawing a pair of sisters) and apparently the answer I settled on was making them look exactly the same but giving the three year old fucking enormous eyes. Not sure if it translates well but yeah.

[lcv0n]

❛   patch .   help  my  muse  patch  up  a  wound . (for aslan!)

@nightmdic / aslan

it's not something that happens very often when out riding his horse, but something spooked the animal, causing aslan to fall to the ground where he struck his arm on a rock. even with the gash on his arm that hurt a lot and bled, aslan was just lucky it wasn't his head that he struck. while his horse, duke, was taken back to the stables to rest and get some food, aslan was taken to the infirmary to get his arm treated. a kind looking nurse offered to look after him, but the prince requested marie as he trusted her more than he did anyone else with his injury.

"i must say you are very good at this." he complimented her with a smile once she started to treat his arm, watching intently as she did so. the ache subsided a bit and he felt better, but he knew it'd be a while before he would be doing any archery or any more horseback riding. "is this how you treat wounds in your mortal hospital? i wonder if i am the only patient you've had who came to you after falling from a horse."

[celadons-penultimate]

Marvel has such great potential in STRANGE ACADEMY. A live-action or animated adaptation alone could be a huge win, whether it closely follows the comics or not, as long as they give us the diverse, inclusive stories that JK Rowling's Wizarding World fails to.

Strange Academy's diversity is a central feature, not an "exotic" aside. It unites people across various cultures, so you see Norse runic magic, Voodoo practice, Aztec nahual lore & more, performed not just by fictional creatures, but women, people w/ melanin & LGBTQ ppl.

Strange Academy's headmaster is Dr. Jericho Drumm aka Doctor Voodoo & various fan favorites act as instructors to the young mages, to humorous effect: Wong, the Ancient One, Magik, Scarlet Witch, Nico Minoru, Agatha Harkness, Talisman, Daimon Hellstrom, etc

Strange Academy's prominent students INCLUDE:

-Zoe Laveau (zombie/necromancer/aspiring lich? & descendant of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau)

-Germán (Nahual animal mage)

-Iric & Alvi (Asgardian twin sons of Amora the Enchantress)

-Emily Bright (newcomer on an interesting path)

-Doyle (nbd, just a son of The Dread Dormammu™)

Strange Academy is set here in the United States, not another dimension or some other fictional locale; specifically, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

You get plenty of charismatic flavor & mystic color, whether you're reading about the mortal or mystical aspects of magical school life.

Rather than typical YA-style focus on a singular "chosen one" & companions, Strange Academy offers engaging ensemble narration that addresses multiple story lines w/ due respect, all while managing to offer impressively dynamic & flamboyant magical feats.

In short, if you're a fan of Marvel, a fan of magic users & a fan of YA stories that AREN'T transphobic or otherwise characterized by bigotry (whether implicit or overtly stated), you might want to set aside any...other options, in favor of Strange Academy. 😌

[queer-ragnelle]

So, regarding your novels, what made you write backwards? I'm so curious about it.

TL;DR I started writing in Mordred and Galahad perspective. I then became possessed by the "older" characters and went "back" in the timeline to write their origins (starting with parentified Agravaine). I did this several times until I ended up with Ragnelle/Gawain as book 1, "the beginning," of what turned into an Epic many books long.

Let me give you a timeline...

1900s: I am born and develop Arthurian brain worms.

21st century: The worms declare Ragnelle/Gawain are my favorites and I write their Wedding multiple times for fun based off what can be gleaned from Wikipedia and retellings as I have no medieval resources at my disposal.

February 2020: I think Mordred and Galahad would make neat narrative foils and write a short story about them playing chess.

March 2020: The plague. I'm furloughed from my job. Writing becomes my full-time focus. I write 60,000 words in Mordred and Galahad perspective, plotting their story to be a trilogy.

June 2020: I'm back to work but I'm still writing. With money and curiosity at my disposal, I begin hoarding Arthurian books. Local quirky secondhand bookstore owner had an Arthurian fixation in his youth—I clear his shelves. He asks if I'm a medievalist major and I have to break it to him I'm just a High School drop out at the mercy of the Tell-Tale knights chattering in my head. I learn more lore. I splurge to buy the Vulgate cycle. I'm forever changed.

Late 2020: Reading medlit and retellings and watching all the movies super charged the brain worms. The Vulgate especially. I develop an obsession with circumventing the Orkneys/Welshmen blood feud with the power of gay sex. (Joan Wolf did it first in her 1988 book The Road to Avalon with Agravaine/Lamorak.)

January 2021: Historical research shows that Islam didn't exist yet during the 5th/6th century I'd been writing in. I order Zoroastrianism by Mary Boyce to make sure I'm depicting Ragnelle and Gromer's religion properly. But it's nbd their page time is minimal as background characters right? ....right?

2021 continued: The Agravaine/Lamorak brain worms take on a life of their own as I'm hospitalized and bedridden. Chronic pain and isolation become my themes. I write endlessly on my phone from bed. 2/3 novels are completed and readable straight through with a third book in pieces. These are currently at a combined total of nearly 140,000 words. (Plus the notes file with scenes I haven't moved yet...whoa.)

Late 2021: I rediscover old Ragnelle/Gawain stuff and decide to write about their wedding. Again. But this time with legit sources. Except Ragnelle isn't some ambiguous character of color, she's now very specifically Persian [Iranian] Zoroastrian. So the whole thing takes place in Persia and research goes crazy. Someone gives me their college log in so I can download and hoard essays and textbook PDFs. I do beta-read trades with people in facebook groups (bad bad idea) and yet...

End of 2021: I get sample edits from various editors including one guy who insulted my "lack of education" and said emulating J. R. R. Tolkien's old style didn't work anymore and I should take inspiration from The Hunger Games....for my queer romance in Persia. Right. Anyway I pay the $100 for the pages edited so he'll go away and continue searching for my unicorn editor....

2022: Ultimately facebook group scouting finally yields results as I stumble upon a fellow Ragnelle/Gawain enthusiast who would become my editor!! Editor says I have to cut the giant book into thirds, so what is now book 1 ends up chopped.

2023: I'm still revising book 1, now titled The Moonlit Knight, with my editor. All the while I'm drafting book 2, sporadically cheating to write in other books including an Elaine and Perceval book that appeared out of no where, and scouting out beta readers. One beta reader came via a tumblr mutual who connected me through instagram. A second beta reader discovered in a discord server. Another beta reader from a different discord server. So on and so forth.

Early 2024: Beta reading continues, until I have readers for every angle I require; queer people of all flavors, Zoroastrians, Arthurian enthusiasts, Jewish readers, people with DID knowledge etc! Slowly but surely I work through revising the book with all these wonderful people to a final 95,000 words!

Mid 2024: But now...it needed a cover. I commission a tumblr mutual and work for weeks with them on that, still editing/revising and having betas read book 2, Sunshine's Lady, which is currently almost 132,000 words long and half edited/beta read.

September 2024: I still haven't published. lol. But the process takes a long time and has a lot of moving parts!

So why do I actually recommend this method? Well, this has been hugely helpful to write foreshadowing. Forgetting for a second the blueprint drawn from Arthurian Legend itself, I know how my story with my version of the characters is going to go, so I can set all of that up way in advance. It's all well and good to know (spoiler) Arthur dies at the end, but it's never been about the conclusion so much as the journey there and the unique perspective of whichever character the author has chosen to focus on. I mean, Godfrey Turton's The Emperor Arthur is Pelleas point of view. He's instrumental at the battle of Camlann. It's the same with Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles and our one-handed friend Derfel, the reasoning for which isn't revealed until book 3. The world is your oyster! Fixate on your special character and set that shit up and pay it off!!!

Knowing what you're writing toward is extremely helpful during the drafting process. Even if it's only vaguely shaped it'll develop detail as you revise. Other than Derfel's missing hand, the best example of this I can think of is in Realm of the Elderlings series by Robin Hobb. It has a huge fanbase on tumblr for a reason, it's just an insane amount of set up you're not even aware of until the impact slams into you many books later and you're left going, "Whoa.....it was there the whole time." Mind blowing. I want have half as much narrative resonance as that.

Another thing that came of this is, since I wrote Agravaine/Lamorak first, and I'm obscenely Ragnelle obsessed, she pops up in their pov as a hag, only for them to not realize she's one and the same as Gawain's bombshell wife they "meet" later. I wrote this as the lads first, but it's extra funny now that, actually, the reader will experience Ragnelle's perspective first. Hottie uncursed Ragnelle does know she met them before, but feigns otherwise. So it's very fun to see the same encounters happen a second time a few books later. Agravaine is like, "Okay granny whatever. Bye... :^/" and Lamorak is like, "That granny was weird but I like her! :^)" meanwhile the reader is like, "AHHHHH! I KNOW HER!!! YOU FOOLS DON'T KNOW HOW IMPORTANT SHE'LL BE AHHH!!!" At least, that has been the beta reader reaction, which is gratifying. Even better, the books can be read out of order, so actually if you read Agravaine/Lamorak before Ragnelle/Gawain, it works in reverse, too. So if the reader knows who Agravaine is from reading his perspective, when Ragnelle or Gawain runs into him, the reader will realize who he is before it clicks for the point of view character. I had a lot of fun developing all of this across the series for multiple characters, it certainly happens more than once.

Wow that was long but I hope it makes sense and gives you an idea how it all went down. Thanks for taking an interest and I hope you enjoy my books when they're out. Take care! :^)

[kestrelteens]

hi mari! I love your nostalgia loving conversions so much! I was just wondering: most items are quite shiny. I prefer them more matte, so I used pforests shine remover on them, nbd. But I was wondering if that’s on purpose? Your previews don’t look shiny, so maybe the lighting in your game is different? It’s most noticeable on the sofas, the blanket and the pillows.

I’m looking forward to the kitchen conversion!!

hiii, thank you so much <3

I personally haven’t noticed the shine, it could be due to me focusing on other aspects or maybe because of reshade in the preview screenshots, I was pretty burnt out from the set towards the end ‘cause there were so many items, I wanted to finish it asap or it would have dragged out way too much, so that could be the reason! if a lot of people are bothered by the shiny items I could update them as soon as I have time :))

[terriblygrimm]

loled to myself this morning at how everyone on earth makes priscilla out to be a vicious heartless golddigger and decided to do 1 second of research into the matter to conclude that as expected, the internet is hysterical and off base. to me, she seems like she’s just out there trying to do her best and handle her enormous life.

disclosure: i did this for my own knowledge because i was curious. i’m not out here trying to engage trolls or tell anyone what to think.

read that she was really hesitant abt priscilla but ultimately thought coppola did enough research and made it “spot on”. she cried when she saw the film. she elaborated by saying that when you live with someone so famous during a crucial part of their life you go through many ups and downs and experience their struggles and fears alongside them. also that all of her/their privacy is hard to give up and hard to share so she doesn’t want to give out too much because she wants some of it for herself - that’s theirs and theirs alone. which, ultimately leads someone with common sense to believe (who didn’t already assume) that the elvis & me novel (and priscilla) are just the most dramatic snippets of their relationship (without lots of context).

she also went on to say that she vowed not to remarry as long as elvis was alive because she didn’t think he could handle it - and not only did she not, but she also kept that promise long after his death. saying she never wanted to remarry after him, that no one “could ever match him”.

i also knew next to nothing about lisa marie and the drama surrounding the estate and/or their relationship - but again, one quick search and applying my years of doing estate work as a paralegal makes it clear that priscilla was challenging the validity of a purported amendment made in 2016 which removed her (and barry siegal) as co-trustees (and instituted lisa’s children instead) to the graceland trust. which fine, lisa probably did want that, but it was stated that in the amendment, lisa’s signature was not her “usual signature”, her name was misspelled, and the amendment was never given to priscilla during lisa’s lifetime which was an expressed term of the trust. it was also never witnessed or notarized. so, given that, questioning its legitimacy is an entirely expected thing to do. it’s hardly insidious 😂. especially during such an emotionally difficult time. a contract is a contract. even if lisa did want to change the doc without priscilla knowing, she was legally required to give it to her and she didn’t. also, a settlement of 1 mil plus a graceland burial is hardly “gouging” of her daughter/granddaughter’s money. graceland is worth what? 718 million? and ppl complain about priscilla getting some money after keeping elvis’ legacy alive and graceland relevant for the past 50 yrs? lordy. not only that but the attorney for riley even stated at the proceeding’s conclusion that everyone is unified and happy and ready to move forward.

but funny how the narrative of “evil priscilla sues her granddaughter” became so popular. this instance is the most uneventful, run of the mill thing lol. obviously we don’t know the absolute truth or facts of the situation (and i did not look up the proceedings), but if a document isn’t witnessed and notarized it’s always ground for suspicion. also, if someone’s signature isn’t their usual signature, it arises the question of coercion or signing not in your right mind. so, like i said, entirely expected and nbd.

priscilla is also human and fallible, so i’m sure she’s made mistakes, bad business dealings or even acted recklessly or spitefully over the course of her lifetime, but she continually speaks to how much she loved/loves elvis, lisa and the family legacy. she clearly still burns a candle for elvis and does her best to keep things moving forward and alive and relevant. i don’t blame her for wanting to make sure things are secure and in order as she gets older.

i also know practically nothing about lisa, but it seems like she was troubled (?) to some extent (she reminds me of britney spears a little in that way), so i’m sure some of priscilla’s “controlling and hovering” over her life was misconstrued protectiveness and burden-bearing. i’m sure mistakes were made, but i highly doubt she was the manipulative vulture ppl make her out to be. (it’s like the britney situation - everyone advocated for her “freedom” when in reality she’s clearly ill and her state rn is pretty questionable imo).

i also don’t blame priscilla for not having issue with priscilla being made. it’s controversial but it’s 2023 and she probably figured it was timely and likely to get good reception. she’s surely had an incredibly difficult life, and wanting some of her truth (the ugly truth) to also be known and added to the legacy must be validating. because elvis was a flawed person, a product of his time, and likely very cruel at times.

anyway those are my two cents and i think the internet is a plague. not looking to engage stans or fact police, just wanted to get my thoughts out there. not tagging.

[nologiconlystyles]

Tag Game

Rules: Tag 10 or more people you want to get to know better.

As always, thanks to my darlingest sunshine @sun-lt for the tag ☀️🌻☀️🌻

Relationship status: hopelessly and eternally enamoured, aka married 💍

Favorite color: blue

Song stuck in head: Saw Giant Rooks in concert last week (I think? time has no meaning anymore) and I am obsessed; What I Know Is All Quicksand has been in my head on loop ever since

Favorite food: gotta be sushi 🍣

Last song listened to: Somebody Like You, Giant Rooks

Dream trip: tbh, probably just a l'il jaunt to all my long distance girl friends? So, Quebec to Seattle to New Mexico to Sweden to Dubai, nbd ✈️

Last show/movie: oh fuck me, Marie got me hooked on 911 and I'm currently binging it and blowing up her phone with my meltdowns

Spicy, sweet, or savory?: s a v o r y, all day, e'ryday

Last thing googled: timbits flavours, because I took a box to work and they only gave us five varieties?? and I was sure there were more in existence.

[iamtaran]

WIP Title Game! oh good lord

rules: in a new post, post the names of all the files in your wip folder regardless of how nondescriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet and tell us about it!

thanks @allyunabridged for the tag! Lmao I stared down the barrel of not one, but two google drives to gather these and all I can say is

😬

IN AN ORDER ONLY THE GODS UNDERSTAND:

The Twilit Gate (BG3, when in want of more fey bullshit in your BG3, do it yourself!!! TavxAstarionxGalexliterally everyone i'm gay alright???)

Island (The Guest/손 AU, horror and survivalism; Hwa Pyung, Choi Yoon, and Gil Young follow Park Hong Joo's and Park Il Do's machinations out to open sea, to an island with long forgotten history where the real struggle for survival begins.)

But For Grace (SW:Preq's, modern-character in GFFA aka "what to do when you accidentally change things and the Chosen One dies?", started as a silly question but now I'm committed; Qui-Gon Jinn lives; what would happen in a galaxy without Anakin Skywalker?)

The Mage's War (DA2 + DA:I, what if Bethany Hawke was the Herald, Modern/Avvar OC, playing Fade chicken with the Dread Wolf nbd, put on my tinfoil hat for this one re: the Fade, the Abyss/Void, Forgotten Ones, etc.)

In God's Eye (Vampyr, human!Jonathan, ekon!McCullum, Mary lives, I'm a hobby WWI & Spanish Flu researcher so hold your britches I have FEELINGS)

For Want Of Two (Vampyr, wanted more mythological beings & nemrod lore so I'll do it myself gdi, put-that-thing-back-where-you-found-it-or-so-help-me-god.gif ; JxMcCxOC)

Lights All Hung On Nothing (Star Wars Preq's to Clone Wars era, modern-character-in-SW with a big twist, Force + time fuckery, Ani + Obi focus, the butterfly effect changes everything)

The 72nd Cycle (SW: Mandalorian, AU - Grogu is not the only Force sensitive prisoner Gideon had captured. Without room in his ship for multiple students, Luke tags along, not expecting the sad Mando's ride Boba Fett (w h a t) to show up and offer the poor guy use of his bacta tank; well, soon-to-be-his. He just has to kill its current owner, Bib Fortuna, first. You know. On Tatooine(WHAT!!). Meanwhile, on Tattooine: Cobb Vanth gets the nagging feeling his life is about to become much more stressful.)

A Heavy Thing (KOTOR, amnesiac Revan works a shitty food service job on Taris and definitely isn't a Jedi/Sith/Soldier, I mean, clearly. Slice of life becomes tragedy becomes adventure becomes mystery becomes ??? RevanxCanderousxCarth DON'T LOOK AT ME)

Life, Happening (The Shining/Doctor Sleep introspective piece on Danny Torrance, life & death, what it means to be gone, and not gone.)

Led To Water (Mandalorian, Din takes off the armor having broken his Creed and, unsure what to do next, returns to Kuiil's homestead to brood and sweat manfully through his existential crisis; his friends help him through it.)

Mando'ad'ika (Mandalorian/Original SW movies, The Mandalorian is taken into custody and now Leia has to deal with a sweet but stressed frog lady, a green gremlin with too much Force power, and this intimidating tin can who won't budge. Since Han laughed at her, she decides to make it his problem, too.)

Time Travel, & Other Ways To Die (Mandalorian/SW:Bounty Hunter video game, Din & Jango centric, whilst trying to get to Grogu on his magical big rock, Din & Grogu end up chucked through time onto an outlaw space station. Jango Fett's no good very bad day begins. Coincidentally, it coincides with Din Djarin's SUPER no good very bad day. They most assuredly do not bond over this.)

I am, or was. (Dragon Age: Inquisition, a spirit takes an interest in Solas after he helps it in the Fallow Mire and begins following him around like a lost puppy. Which would be cute, if it weren't possessing more and more alarming vessels to do so. The Andrastians are starting to get a bit twitchy.)

Rookie, Shiny, Soldier, Spy (Mandalorian/Clone Wars, Din Djarin accidental time travel into the Clone Wars AU. Caught without his 'gam on a battle field and forced once again to wear trooper armor, he is Not Impressed--and why do all these guys look like Boba?)

This Prodigal Son (Hades/Dragon Age: Inq, Zagreus goes through the wrong Chaos portal. Magister Alexius finds a powerful spirit in the Fade and, as is his way, decides fuck it, we ball. Also his way, it doesn't go very well for him.)

Send me a title via ask and I'll post my favorite bit I've currently written!

Lmao this was wild to throw together given how many WIPs of age past are staring me down; these are just all the recents. Go ahead and chuck some WIPs out there if you're interested @singoallala @narwhalninja @mauverawrites @in-a-trans-like-state @terresdebrume and @jackironsides ! And if you don't/aren't currently writing, everyone loves to see the pet tax paid C:

[strawberryjamsara]

I love your ocs please talk about them (if you haven't already)

Okie dokie so!

I’m kinda workshopping this premise of a magical girl academy and the first season is the groups antics before they graduate and put on separate teams with some veterans.

The main character is Elena!

Elena has the special ability to talk to the generic monsters in this series (which I’m calling ‘shadow creatures as a placeholder name) and she has a little pet blob named Meep!

She was sorta pushed into becoming a magical girl by her parents, but found her own passion in hoping to meet and make peace with shadow creatures on the job! She also originally starts off with a boring store bought transformation, but her school rival/Gal Pal Courtney helps her make her own! Speaking of Courtney…

Courtney comes to magical girl school to earn money and provide for her family. Think Uraraka MHA. She befriends Elena because of her interest in Meep, and begins to bond and have friendly competition with her. Unfortunately, shortly after graduation she’s dragged into the villains organization and now has to fight with Elena!

Shiro is Courtney’s childhood friend, and another member of the friend group! She’s got a ton of passion, and is willing to follow her best friend to the ends of the earth, but conflict arises when during school and post graduation, she notices the two of them drifting apart culminating in… well, you know.

Elmira is another school friend of the trio! She has the very good motivation for magical forking that is ‘prove my parents wrong’ which like. Good for her, but it leads to her growing resentment of Elena as she watches her surpass her and leads to her joining the same base as her upon graduation. Oh and shes a clone, nbd.

Now for some veterans! These are Malerie and Mary, the group Elena and Elmira are assigned to after they graduate! Malerie is an autistic queen, and Mary is her chill punk girlfriend, and a pretty cool mentor.

Annnnnd here’s the team Shiro and Courtney get assigned to! To be honest these guys were repurposed a bit from some old ocs, so meet Alice, Marina, Jay and Emma. Three magical girls, and Jay, a magical boy who discovered his identity while in school! Marina can be a little strict, but she mostly just wants everyone to be their best, and Alice is her rebel biker gf! And Emma decided to become a magical girl because she thought shows about them were cool. Also they’re childhood friends!

Ms Lotus is the main fours teacher! She has a low tolerance for nonsense, but she’s extremely caring! Little do the characters know she’s working for the villains with a deal ongoing for them not to hurt her students!

[nehswritesstuffs]

Cora Week 2023 - 6 - Fantasy AU

It’s Cora Week, everyone, so time to celebrate our favorite doomed puppy clown with some fic!

Prior fills: Smile [FFN/AO3] - Gun [FFN/AO3]  - Season [FFN/AO3]  - [...]a change[...] [FFN/AO3] - Family [FFN/AO3]

1062 words; I was given an opening to write a fantasy AU and I’m running with it; basically everything’s the same except for the addition of one weird detail that could make or break the show nbd; I flirt with very recent manga spoilers with this one so please be forewarned; this is by far the longest of the fills and that’s alright since I wanted to make it LONGER but restrained myself because that was not the purpose here; technically contains stuff from the prior fill but not really

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“You must remember,” his father had said, so long ago now. It had been a quiet night, with Mother embroidering by the fire and Doffy already asleep from the day’s adventures. Father had pulled Rosi aside and set him on his knee like the proud papa he was. “You are only Human, Rosinante, but a very special Human.”

“Cousin Mjsogard says we are gods,” the boy parroted. “What does that mean?”

“It means that your cousin believes a lie, no more,” Father replied. He sighed, which he often did while talking about cousins and aunts and uncles and neighbors. “You, your mother, and I… we were all born as Humans, just as much as many of the people in Mary Geoise. It is something to love about yourself, to embrace, to love…”

“…and Doffy too!” Rosi’s face fell as he saw his father’s expression grow weary. “Is… is Doffy not a Human?”

“He is not, unfortunately,” Father said. “His birth had been foretold for a long, long time—no. He is not Human, not like us… and even then, not like you.”

“Like me…?”

“Yes.” Father’s face was so incredibly sad as he stroked his younger son’s hair. “You are the only one immune to Doffy’s power. It is not powerful now, but given time and practice, it will be deadly to others. You must learn how to protect him and those around you, or else the tales will come true.”

“What tales?”

“The Death of Joyboy and the Age of True Darkness.” Father stared at the fire for a moment, thinking. “It is why we shall be moving in a few weeks.”

“…moving?! Where?!”

“That remains to be seen, but you mustn’t tell, because Doffy mustn’t know until we are preparing to leave,” Father said. “This is a big change, and it will hopefully help you as you care for your brother.”

Rosi pondered that. “What is Doffy…?”

“That, my child, is something for another day.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Rosi was seven when he finally learned what his brother was.

“…a cockatrice…?” the boy wondered. He frowned almost exaggeratedly. “What’s that supposed to be?”

“The books in our old library said it was a powerful creature that could kill by looking into its eyes. Sometimes touching, sometimes breathing.” The older boy sifted through the trash and found some bread that wasn’t quite terrible, passing it to his brother. “They’re a type of dragon.”

“…but why…?”

“A cockatrice is supposed to be born when it’s time for the Celestial Dragons to defeat Joyboy,” Doffy said. “I was supposed to be the one to bring in the True Age of Dragons… but Father went and ruined it.”

“Why would you want to destroy Joyboy? People ask him to come and free them.”

“Exactly.” Rosi shivered as Doffy’s face got real scary. “Only the powerful get to truly be free. That’s what I’ll be: the most powerful person in the world. Greater than I—”

“No…!” Rosi dropped the bread and put his hands over his brother’s mouth. “We’re not supposed to!”

Doffy shrugged Rosi off and huffed indignantly—he knew his brother was right. “All I need to do is get strong, and then I can find Joyboy and look at him.”

“Why… why would you want to do that…?” Rosi picked up the bread and saw it was still close to edible. “He could be old already, or not even born. He could be a she, or an it, or a they—do we know if Joyboy is even Human? Already a slave?”

“All I know is this,” Doffy took off his sunglasses, his glare piercing and scary and full of rage, “is going to bring the New Age, and instead of the Dragons at the top, it will be me… us…” Something rustled in the garbage and both boys looked—the moment the elder brother saw the rat it began to convulse and froth at the mouth. Rosi turned away as Doffy reached for a rock, the sickening thud confirming that the poor rat had been put out of its misery. “Father can roast this over a fire.”

Rosi was certain he did not like rats, though he did pity them.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“He’s done a convincing job, Young Master, but how do we know this man is telling the truth?” Diamante frowned. He, Pica, and Trebol were in Doflamingo’s office, with the strange mute man who claimed to be their leader’s long-lost younger brother sitting off to the side. The three Elite Officers were wary of this man—he looked so much like their leader—and wondered.

“Indeed,” Trebol agreed. He sucked up a drip of snot into his nose with a snort. “Identifying marks can be faked and information learned.”

“Then let’s try something that can’t be faked or learned,” Doflamingo stated, voice even and dark. The Elite Officers all shuddered as Doflamingo went past them and stood in front of the stranger. “Stand.”

He did, then scribbled something on his pad of paper: What do you want?

“Look me in the eyes.”

Doflamingo took his sunglasses off and stared at the man. He stared right back, meeting his mangled gaze head-on without so much as a falter. Tears began to well in his good eye and he palmed them away.

“It’s him,” he said, trying not to sniffle. Doflamingo put his sunglasses back on and hugged Rosinante. “Welcome home, brother.”

“He survived?!” Diamante gasped.

“He’s not writhing in pain…” Pica marveled.

“Most people are rendered helpless in an instant!” Trebol puzzled.

“Not my brother—he’s the only one it doesn’t work against… always has.” Doflamingo led Rosinante towards the Elite Officers with a grin. “Gentlemen, I do believe we have a new Corazón for the Heart Seat after all.” He felt Rosinante tug at his shirt and he looked at the writing pad.

Rendered helpless? I thought your glare killed.

“Not anymore,” Doflamingo replied sadly. “It hurts, it tortures, but it’s not like it should be. You can thank our fool of a father for that.”

But you—Rosinante stopped writing when his brother’s hand rested on his.

“You have a lot to learn about the last few years, dearest brother,” he whispered. “Don’t worry—I’ll make sure you stay at my side… at the top…”

Rosinante gulped and nodded, though inwardly was doing a dance for joy.

He was in.

[prosennas]

i wish you the happiest of birthdays!! hope you have a good day 🥳🫶🏻

aw Mary tysm 😭😭 and you too ofc!! my day was great overall i just had a 2 hour exam to stress over but it was nbd hahahah just shit timing 💗💗💗

[princehendir]

Isabela: so how's it going :)

Adrian: [evasively] it's. It's fine.

*long pause*

Adrian: hey so, quick question, nbd if the answer is yes because it was admittedly very funny but, were you aware that Mari's full name is Marian when you set us up?

Isabela: no I wasn't aware her name is actually Marian. Why would that-

Fenris: (has seen Adrian's birth certificate) (long story) her name is Marian?

Not to steal a joke from transsexual seinfeld but dating a woman who has his deadname is kind of exactly the kind of thing that would happen to Adrian

[ggomos-maribat]

[58/?]

original prompt | complete masterlist

Batman looks up at the abomination adorning the sky. It’s a large disc-shaped . . . thing hovering in space. Not a spaceship from another planet, he confirmed, but a weird extraterrestrial structure that is currently causing an international panic. 

He turns on his comms, entering the Hall of Justice. “Hal, do you have a vision?” 

“Looks like it’s solid through and through,” Green Lantern replied. “It’s not a disc, more like a bit dome shaped. Oh, and it’s red all over with black spots.”

“. . . What?”

“Batman.” Wonder Woman walks in along with other League members. “I asked Kal to fetch the person who can solve this for us. They should be here any minute now.” 

Everyone mutters and whispers restlessly. It’s not like they are wholly unprepared for any kind of emergency, but a sudden alien invasion is the last thing they need in their hands at the moment. Batman focuses on examining the object through the computer, looking out for anything else of note. 

Then, Superman flies in, carrying a bundle wrapped around in his cape. 

Said bundle is actually a sleepy girl, still clad in her pajamas and mussed hair. 

“Marinette?” Batman chokes out. 

Wonder Woman throws a glare at Superman for bringing the guardian in her civilian form. 

Marinette yawns, rubs her eye, and scans the room briefly. “Oh, hi.” 

Wonder Woman’s smile is strained as she gestures to the strange object on the monitor. “Marinette, dear, there’s an emergency that we think you can help us with.” 

Marinette barely spares it a glance. “Huh. Tikki’s got the munchies again.” 

Meanwhile, Batman turns to his fellow members. “You knew?” 

Superman responds with wide eyes. “You found out?”

“It wasn’t their secret to tell, Dad,” Marinette butts in, yawning again. “They did the right thing.”

“By keeping this from me and my entire family?” 

She scowls. “By giving me a chance to deal with the identity thing by myself.” She stretches her arm. “Also, can I deal with that big cookie later? I want to sleep.” 

Flash snorts softly. Aquaman makes a somewhat amused sound. Wonder Woman raises her eyebrows. “This . . . it’s showing signs of crashing onto Earth, Marinette. We need to remove it as soon as possible.” 

The young heroine whines a little as she looks at the monitor again. Her eyes narrow. “Wait a minute . . .” 

In a second, Marinette is in front of the computer, pushing Batman away from the buttons. While Batman thinks that she’s working on solving the problem, she calls a familiar number instead and yells at the screen in front of the League. 

“Damian Al Ghul Wayne!” Marinette screeches. “What have you done?” 

“The kwamis are all safe, thank you very much,” Damian answers, face blase. “They are here, but you can’t see them.” 

“Oh? Care to explain the giant cookie in space?” Marinette crosses her arms. Batman wants to massage his temple. 

“It is not my doing.” 

“And what have you fed Tikki this past hour?” 

“I had Pennyworth make some ma’amoul and I gave her some as a treat.” 

“She was obsessed over it, wasn't she?” Marinette put a palm to her face. 

“She loved it and—” 

“Where is she now?” 

Damian pauses. “. . . She’s here. With me.” 

Marinette points an accusatory finger. “Liar! I’ll make Dad ground you.” 

“I was only granting her cravings and—” Damian turns to the side. “Ziggy! Trixx! Give the remote back!”

“Tikki’s. Munchies. Were. Underlined and Highlighted. On. The. List!” 

In a fit of rage, Marinette hangs up, calls her transformation with the ring and angrily chews on a colored macaron. The others watch silently, too afraid or shocked to speak up. 

She faces her father. “Please lecture your son.” 

With that, she says a phrase to summon the power up and blasts off into space. The League watches her fly to the gigantic ma’amoul, catacylsming it with one touch and gliding back to Earth. Not even a minute has passed when she returns. 

Marinette yawns for the umpteenth time. “Can I go nap now?” 

Taglist:

@tinybrie @sinoffalsejudgement @its-maemain @kamarallil @toughluna @golden-promises @whatamoodhoney @trippingovermyfeet @m4ster0fnone @alexizlazy @plz-excuse-my-inner-gay @maybeanalien0-0 @imchaotic-dontmindme @ev-cupcake @flowers-n-fandoms @crusherccme @ji-nk-ies @depressed-bitchy-demon @duskyashe @multplelifes @authorpendragging@iloontjeboontje@thatonecroc@user00000003@paradoxaloccurance@kking13@laydeekrayzee@chaos-inperson@astol07@the-coffee-fandom@nerd-nowandforever@nightmarewasteland@certainmuffinbagelcalzone@the-hospitality-of-knives@stainedglassm@talia-scar123@trying414@starling218@buginetye@ascetic-orange@myazael@child-of-the-clouds@ladythugs@adrestar@therealkotlc@blueneko9314@kinda-craz-fan@kitsun369@talia-scar123@ghostdoodlen

[yerimoonlight]

yeah so um...determination...