#mary gold verse

[thornfield13713]

Mary Gold: Snow teaching Emma magic

“I still don’t see why I can’t just shoot people,” Emma said mournfully, after the third failed attempt.

Mary - Snow, Snow White, Emma was still having trouble getting used to that - shrugged. “You’ve only got so many bullets. And you can only use them once. Magic is…” she paused, her mouth moving soundlessly for a moment before she went on. “...I mean, it has its price - all magic comes with one - but it doesn’t…run out, the same way.”

“Okay, but…you said there’s a price, what- What is it?”

“It…varies.” Snow glanced away. “I- For me, it was mostly…I’d need to eat more. The magic took the power it needed from my own body, like…well, like any sort of exercise. Other people use…different things.”

Emma squinted at her. “Different? Different like what-?”

“Different like tearing out people’s hearts.”

“...oh.”

Emma…was going to do herself a favour and try not to picture that. Or just try to block it out as much as she possibly could.

“Who-?”

“Regina.” Snow’s mouth was pressed into a firm, hard line, her eyes very distant. “She- You don’t need to hear this-”

“Did you ever-”

“No.” Snow cut her off. “No, never, I- It’s not a sort of magic I ever learnt. Or…wanted to learn. I…well, I favoured…nature magic.” She smiled, a little awkwardly. “Speaking with animals, or…getting them to do what I needed, or…plants, I was particularly good with, and…moving through shadows…”

“Right…” Emma stared at the bush she’d been trying to conjure into attacking someone with thorns, and grimaced. “...I don’t think I’m going to be all that good at that.”

Snow bit her lip, considering.

“...maybe we’re just not looking at the right sort of magic - it’s very personal. I can…there are things Regina can do that I can’t, and things I can do that she can’t. Not because they’re more or less evil - well, all right, the heart-ripping is quite evil, but…that’s not why I can’t do it. It’s…” she trailed off. “I’m explaining this all wrong, sorry, I- I’ve never had to teach any of this before.”

“So, how did you learn?”

Despite herself, Emma was actually curious about that. Nothing in Henry’s book had ever mentioned that.

A smile flitted over Snow’s face.

“Dad taught me.”

Emma blinked.

“Your- You mean…the King, right? King…whatsisname…”

“Leopold.” Snow frowned. “And…no, that was…he was Papa. Dad is- I’ve only ever called one person that.”

“Gold,” Emma filled in.

“Rumpelstiltskin,” Snow corrected. “He…he trained me. Raised me. After my stepmother sold me to him for potion ingredients-”

“Wait, what?”

“I can…tell you the story later.” Snow coughed. “Let’s try again! Focus on the bush, try to…reach out to it. It’s…this is hard to explain. Belle’s better at this part of it than I am-”

“Belle?” Emma was starting to feel like a parrot. “Who-” She shook her head. “Never mind. Okay. Focusing on the bush. That bush. Over there. Right.”

She breathed in, focused, and-

For a moment, she could feel it, the power just beyond her reach, and if she just strained a little harder-

It was about then, of course, that the bush burst into flames.

The two of them stared at it.

Snow spoke first.

“...okay. Good. That’s good. Let’s…try and do that to the next ogre we run into, all right?”

[lord-here-i-am]

[metamorphesque]

verses that colored my january days

"Poems are not written...", Andrey Voznesensky

"Two Phantoms", Vahan Teryan

"To Live...", Paruyr Sevak

"I love to love...", Paruyr Sevak

"Piano Lesson", Richard Siken

"Prayer", Marina Tsvetaeva (translated by Andrey Kneller)

"Two Morning Poems", Yevgeny Yevtushenko (translated by Anselm Hollo)

"Pomegranate", Sol Rios

"Cascando", Samuel Beckett

"Kissing in Vietnamese", Ocean Vuong

"To Say Dark Things ", Ingeborg Bachmann

"Ballad About A Smoke-Filled Wagon" (Don’t separate from your dear ones…), Alexander Kochetkov

"The Roses of Saadi" Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (Marie Felicite Josephe Desbordes)

"There Is a Gold Light in Certain Old Paintings", Donald Justice

"Where Does the Temple Begin, Where Does It End?", Mary Oliver

"Love and Hate", Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal

[wosoamazing]

Williamson v Williamson

Summary: It’s the Semi-Final Match against England, you’re playing against your sister for the first time, you lose, but an absolute legend wants your shirt.

A/N: Just a short one, can’t decide if I like it or not but oh well. (Tried to keep it as real as possible but obviously some things are fictional)

Today’s match was a monumental one, not just on a team level but on a personal level. Today was the Matildas’ Semi-Final match against the Lionesses, it was make or break. It also meant you would be versing your sister today, someone would finish the game better off than the other.

The game was going well, you were even, 2 all, you and Sam had both managed to score and so had Ella Toone and Lauren Hemp, it was looking like a large chuck of added time would be needed and then possibly penalties, that was until Alessia Russo scored England’s third goal in the 86th minute, that was it, there was no way you could come back from that now.

The final whistle blew, and you just collapse onto the ground, you played so well and tried so incredibly hard, but it wasn’t enough. Your team isn’t going to the gold medal match now, there is no guarantee of a medal, all because you couldn’t get a second goal past Mary Earps. The media and public caught many heart-warming moments of Lionesses comforting their fellow Aussie club teammates, Aussies comforting Aussies, but the moment that had grappled the world’s attention was when, one of the Lionesses defender’s and their goalkeeper sat down on the pitch either side of the youngest player of the match, a young Matilda, a complete stranger, club rivals if anything. However, they weren’t strangers, they had been to your house many times, they were your sister’s friends but somehow no one had thought about that. However, them not being strangers doesn’t lessen their gesture in anyway though.

Mary Earps and Millie Bright had come to comfort you, they sat down either side of you, “Hi,” you mumbled to them, wondering if they heard you as your head was in your hands.

“You’re a good player kid, you-” Mary started speaking but was interrupted by you “Obviously not good enough though, I wasn’t good enough score another fucking goal, a single goal” you yelled.

“Hey, none of that, you know you had the most attempts and the most shots on target for the whole game, they said it could even be for the whole tournament, you were fucking incredible,” Millie told you as she pulled you in for a hug.

“You truly tested my abilities today Kid you did really really well, and you should be proud of yourself, one of the hardest strikers to keep for I would say.”

“Thank guys, I’m sorry for yelling, you both played really well today too, well at least Mary did” your comment sent the three of you into fits of laughter, you then chatted to them for a few more minutes, they were friends after all, and even though you did just loose to them you hadn’t seen them in ages.

“We better go,” Millie said as she saw your sister walking over to you “But first, can I swap shirts with you kid?”

“Sorry Millie, but there’s already a shirt with my name on it,” you nodded you head in the direction of your sister.

“I see what you did there, Leah’s not wrong about you being smart too” Mary said as she grabbed your hand to pull you up.

“What can I say, I can’t help being the better Williamson,” “Shit, I think someone heard that, run” Marry said to Millie as she started running.

“I must admit today you were the better Williamson,” you hear you sister’s voice say as she placed a hand on your shoulder and turned you around, “Now, I think that shirt is mine, it does have my name on it after all,” she joked, you both quickly took off you shirts before putting the others on, you both posed for some photos, before you were called over for an interview.

“Well, I think it’s time we let you go, best not miss the team huddle” “Yeah probs shouldn’t miss that one might get in a bit of trouble, thank you it was great chatting with you” “Likewise good luck”

“I think yellow looks better on you,” Tony said as you joined the team.

“Yeah, so do I,” “Well, I’m relieved, saw you talking to Sarina before, got a little worried.”

“Too bad you already gave your shirt away, Beckham messaged me, asked if I reckoned he could have your shirt, he was thinking about coming down from the box,” Sam said, she had a serious tone in her voice so you couldn’t tell if she was lying or not, but then you caught your sister talking to a guy out of the corner of your eye, it was the David Beckham.

“Wait, you’re not joking, you’re being real” Sam nodded, “Shit, I need to go get my shirt back from my sister,”

“Nah, it’s all good, he said he’ll just make sure to get your Bronze Medal mat-” “Girls focus, I’m pretty sure I’m more excited about Beckham than you are but can we just debrief quickly?” Tony said cutting Sam off.

“So, I guess this isn’t a good time then?” an ever so familiar voice said as a pair of hands you could recognise from a mile away were place on your shoulders. Everyone looked to the person standing behind you, you didn’t bother you knew exactly who he was, “Tony, if you don’t mind, maybe they’ll listen to the real DB,” you internally cringe at those words, when you were little you idolised Beckham so instead of saying MVP or the real VP as some might say you instead insisted on saying the real DB, you hadn’t heard it in years, luckily your family forgot about it, but obviously someone remembered and told him.

“Take it away,”

“Girls, wait move over let me in,” you all shuffled and he slotted in between you and Charli. “Okay let me start again. Girls you played amazingly today, but you were outplayed, your attempts were good, there were some I can’t believe she managed to save let alone believe they were from a sixteen-year-old,” you blushed “but some of them were too clumsy, a lot of those shots could’ve gone in if they had more power behind them, you hesitated to much, questioned whether you should pass or shoot, your decisions need to be instantaneous, but overall amazing work, great defending and great goal keeping, its England you are always going to concede to England especially to that team right there, their hungry and so are you but you know what the difference is, they believe they can’t get there but I’m not fully convinced you lot are. Great game though, very entertaining, thanks girls, and thanks to the real DB, I’m hoping I get picked for the shirt next game” he said to you, you nod at him, before heading down the tunnel.

[annabelle--cane]

so I don’t have the knowledge of details that you have (complimentary) but is there anything in the computer code Colin looking into being written in German and Jonah Magnus’ buddy living in the Black Forest and finding that crypt that one time? Or is that Too far a reach?

vibrating at the speed of sound. so there are a couple of floating details around from the podcasts, the arg, and some promotional materials that may point back to germany having particular relevance. some of this is absolutely me going full pepe silvia, but there are enough threads here that I feel like it has to amount to Something.

so. germany.

archives 'verse:

-> point 1: johann von württemberg. while staying with his nephew in the schwartzwald in 1816, albrecht von closen finds an old mausoleum with the inscription "johann von württemberg" over the door, and it is guarded by a man with no eyes who nonetheless seems to be able to see. in a deep chamber well beneath the ground is johann's coffin, and the room is completely lined with books so old that they'd all rotted through and fused together, the marble shelves they're placed on having little carvings of open eyes all along them. the only two objects in a good state are an illuminated manuscript in arabic that had been kept apart from the rest of the books, and a gold coin with an engraving of a young man with flowing hair, the initials "JW," the year 1279, and the words "für die stille" (google translate tells me that’s “for the silence”). albrecht asks around for any information about johann because the name is unfamiliar despite his quite good knowledge about local history and nobles, and someone says they remember him being called "ulrich's bastard," likely referring to ulrich the i or ii, two counts of württemberg from the 1200s. with that information, in the present day jon is able to find some historical records that point to ulrich i having a son out of wedlock in 1255 who was rumored to keep the company of witches.

-> point 2: the von closens. it seems that a servant nicked the coin albrecht found before he could go home with it, and that was probably for the best for albrecht, because that servant Died Badly from what was ruled to be an animal attack. albrecht did take the book with him, however, and presumably went on to show it to jonah magnus. he then must have gone back for the rest of the rotten books at some point, though, because when doctor jonathan fanshawe visits his estate in 1831, albrecht has a full library of recently re-bound books that he tells fanshawe he got from the tomb, and owning them has done terrible beholding-esque things to him. fanshawe, in his capacity as a doctor, says they should return the books for albrecht's health, and they do so, but just as the last book is returned, albrecht dies, and fanshawe realizes that all the books were blank and finds out that jonah arranged to have them all swapped out by the book binder. when fanshawe performs an autopsy on albrecht's body, all of his insides are covered in eyes.

in his statement from 1816, albrecht says he and his wife carla have been unable to conceive, though in 1831 fanshawe mentions that all of albrecht's sons were away at school when he came to visit. not something that's impossible, they could have managed to have children shortly after 1816, but it does make me raise an eyebrow. magically blessed fertility? dimension shenanigans? fanshawe does mention a tree being burned on the von closen estate that feels remarkably similar to the tree on hilltop road.

anyway, wilhelm, albrecht's nephew, has some children, and the family stays in germany for about another century, but one branch eventually moves to england, and their descendants include mary and gerard keay. according to gerry, mary was big into mythologizing about the von closens and really tried to get him to continue her idea of a legacy for the family, but he thought most of what she said was made up.

protocol 'verse:

-> point 3: colin's comment about source code being written in german. nothing much to explain here, just that it's Weird that source code for some Weird bespoke program for the british civil service is written in german, right? Bit Odd.

-> point 4: the usenet forum. okay so I'm an avatar of the idiot and only read up about the arg after it was already over and don't know anything about code and whatnot, but as best as I can understand: on the OIAR's official website, if you try to submit a form, you get an error message, and if you look into the source code for the error then you find Some piece of code with an IP address shaped hole in it, and there's an IP address hidden in an OIAR advertising video, so you put that IP address into the code, do something else (???), and then find yourself at an old defunct usenet forum from the 90s/00s for people who left east germany.

(it is from here that I got too verbose for my own good, so the rest is under a cut)

notable things about the forum: most of it is pretty normal, and, naturally, it was pretty much all in german, massive shoutout to everyone who helped to translate all 21k words of it. there are threads about finding work in various countries, weird cultural idiosyncrasies, resources, reminiscing about berlin, yknow, normal stuff. the mod “SandmannS” (translates to exactly what it looks like) ran the forum with a bit of an iron fist, which I guess makes sense, it’s the kind of forum that attracted people who wanted to say some heinous stuff and he was really serious about not letting anyone solicit personal information, but he was also kind of overzealous about keeping threads on topic and locking any discussions that he thought were “pointless.” he was eventually strongarmed into opening a thread for cat pictures, and that’s as good an opening as any to talk about some of the Weird things about the forum.

one of the cat photos was posted in february 1994 and shows a cat standing in front of the thames, with what looks like the completed o2 arena in full view (great choice of a red flag landmark to include @ whoever chose it. nice big landmark that was called “the millennium dome” when it first opened, a handy reminder that it was made to celebrate the turn of the millennium and construction wouldn't even have started in 1994). several comments across the threads are dated as earlier than the comments they’re replying to, one person references the content of the phantom menace a few months before its release, and several comments were somehow made after the mod locked the forum in dec 2001/jan 2002.

and okay. the forum locking. I’m going to condense this to all hell because this is already [redacted] words long but basically, “einsamernarr” (translation: lonely fool) was an active user of the forum with a big conspiratorial streak, real paranoid about “the government” spying on him, always getting warnings and just dodging getting banned just before going too far, yknow, a Type of Guy. in december 2001, he mentions in a book rec thread that he was trolling through some databases and found a bunch of old records and he can’t tell if they’re fictional or not, but he’d like to share them if he can. about five days later, he starts posting in several threads that he did something really dumb, people are after him, the meetup they were planning is not safe and this forum is being watched, people should look for him if he doesn’t come back within a week, and he’ll try to leave some info behind for them just in case. a few days later, a couple of people post worried messages asking if anyone’s heard from einsamernarr and that they’ve been getting weird cryptic emails about an “institute” from him, and sandmanns says that he did everything he could, but he can’t keep doing this, and he closes the forum.

marina “avatar of the idiot” annabelle--cane showing my face here again, I don’t know how this next part happened, but it’s possible to retrieve the email einsamernarr sent, open it with a password found in colin’s code repository (that’s a whole ‘nother thing), and find inside: 1. some pictures of bonzobucks, 2. a weird pdf of an old german book on alchemy with a lot of symbols and codes in it, and 3. a spreadsheet of the names, ages, and test results of the hundreds of children the protocol 'verse magnus institute was performing psych studies on. which finally brings us to our next, much shorter section.

-> point 5: “gerard kaey” (sic). gerry’s name is on that spreadsheet, which I think is relevant to this conversation given mary’s obsession with the von closen legacy. archives ‘verse mary keay resented the magnus institute for what she felt it stood for comparison to what she felt she stood for; she saw jonah magnus as a thief who stole away her family’s honor, so what might be different about the protocol ‘verse situation? why would mary keay in this universe send her only heir to go get scrutinized by a bunch of self-important academics?

-> point 6: the berlin dead drop. more arg stuff, we’re getting into things that I’m sure probably have more to be said about them than I’m capable of saying, but from some clues in a picture of cookbooks that einsamermarr posted in the cat pictures thread of the usenet forum to annoy the mod, and a voicemail on the OIAR’s telephone line, people found out the date and location of the first irl arg event, and it was for somewhere in berlin. a newspaper covered in alchemical symbols was found in a bookshop, and from that people somehow derived coordinates, and those coordinates lead to the last irl event where a battered old video tape with a video of a creepy ritual was found (note: the tape was too badly damaged, so another copy of the video came from an arg affiliated tumblr account).

-> point 7: klaus.xls. from a floppy disk found in the second irl arg event, klaus.xls is a spreadsheet originally written in german with about 100 dates and times of potentially paranormal sightings. a lot of it is corrupted and unreadable, but there are columns for category, rank, “TSHU,” and notes. translated into english, notes sections that aren’t corrupted say things like “mr. b,” “war people,” “avoid, “unhappy child,” “ink,” “lady m,” “cats lol,” and “I hate witches.”

-> point 8: albertus magnus and the philosopher’s stone. right, this is where I go a bit off the rails, and credit to this post by @misfitmagpie for discovering some of this. first, nearly every official visual we’ve had for tmagp has been covered in alchemy symbols. they’re all over the logo, they’re all over the in-universe OIAR and magnus institute websites, they highlighted hints in the arg, they’re everywhere, and the end goal of alchemy was the pursuit of the mythical philosopher’s stone, a substance that could turn base metals into gold and produce an elixir for eternal life. the tmagp logo/the coat of arms for the OIAR is centered around an upside down alchemical symbol for the philosopher’s stone, a circle in a square in a triangle in a larger circle. 

albertus magnus (aka saint albert the great) was a bavarian philosopher and scientist who did some writing on alchemy and has been widely rumored to secretly have been a master alchemist, mainly as a result of a lot of people attaching his name to writings about alchemy that he never touched. some have credited him as discovering the actual philosopher’s stone, and while he never made that claim in any way that survives, he did record that he’d witnessed seeing base metals be turned into gold. something of which to take note is that he didn’t go by the name “magnus” during his life, that was appended to him posthumously, it’s just another way of calling him “the great” with a fancy latin word, but it does kind of remind me of that edmond “reimer” halley -> maxwell rayner thing from mag 140. if you discovered the elixir of life and became immortal, you would probably need to nab a new identity at some point, and if people have already been nicknaming you “albert the great,” well…

anyway, the thing that’s really cemented his potential relevance in my mind is his birth and death dates: c. 1200-1280, lining up perfectly with the time period of johann von württemberg (thought we’d moved on from him, didn’t you?). I know magnus timelines are notoriously a bit unruly, especially the further back into the past we get, but it’s scratching at my brain. besides that, I think it would be a really cool move if the magnus this podcast is named for was a completely different person than the magnus the last podcast was named for.

if albertus magnus isn’t directly relevant then I’ve got another theory about the title that I’ll be posting in a hot minute, but it’s not germany related and this ask is already long enough. 

just, to sum up, a lot of protocol content so far has been germany-adjacent, and even if nothing more comes of it I think there are a lot of interesting threads here to speculate about.

[imslowlydisintegrating]

you look a mess, ho,

broke dick got you lookin’ real stressed, ho.

FREE PALESTINE, HAITI, SUDAN + THE DRC!

you can call me evvy, teo, dorian, ruth, rhiannon, or any variation of those names. i use they/he/she pronouns (in order of preference) and i am genderfluid, sapphic and maybe ace :)

◘　who let the dope boys out?　◘

i do have some personal obsessions on this blog that you’ll find

music (as on record): abba grandes exitos vol. 2 (abba) ✦ the returner (allison russell) ✦ outside child (allison russell) ✦ aretha’s gold (aretha franklin) ✦ self-titled (carpenters) ✦ “awaken, my love!” (childish gambino) ✦ visions (grimes) ✦ self-titled (hozier) ✦ wasteland, baby! (hozier) ✦ grace (jeff buckley) ✦ self-titled (kc & the sunshine band) ✦ be the cowboy (mitski) ✦ bury me at makeout creek (mitski) ✦ greatest hits (queen) ✦ i am the dog (sir chloe) ✦ sawayama (rina sawayama)

tv/movies: bullet train ✦ arcane ✦ spider-verse trilogy ✦ knives out film series ✦ brooklyn 99 ✦ jurassic park ✦ the brothers sun

what’s the screen playing? [arcane s2.]

i spend my time writing, playing drums, pacing around my room, listening to music, and doing fuck-all with my life ❤️️

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 you do it to yourself, you do, and that’s why it really hurts 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

my official unofficial bandmates: @literatureisdying ✦ @bassguitarinablackt-shirt ✦ @gently-decaying-flowers

★ say i ain’t the guy, they must be smoking ketamine ★

my tagging system:

#ruth speaks — answering asks/joining tag games

#dorian talks to the void — random (usually) text posts

#evvy still uses wired headphones — music related posts

#ruth engages in media consumption — posts about what i’m enjoying at the moment

#teo is typing — stuff about my writing projects

#innocent sin — band stuff

we’ll wait with knives after class (becky!!)

eventually i will have a sideblog for writing, but for right now just know that i have two WIPs, Made Of Our Own Storms (#mooos) and Way Down On The River (#wdotr).

mooos is about a group of teenagers doing their best to survive 100 years after the apocalypse while also struggling to balance their mental health and the burden that comes with being alive in the post-apocalypse. tags: (#mooos, #art o’cahan, #arun nidhi, #cy segal, #daya da silva iglesias, #azi tyali, #domi larieux morais, #naia zorita.)

wdotr is about a collection of serial killers that all manage to find themselves on the same riverboat, heading to the same destination. it only gets complicated when they set their sights on each other as their next victim. set in an almost-Earth, wdotr takes place in a steampunk-y world with parallels to earth, but it’s not exactly the same. tags: (#wdotr, #anastasia marie, #cheli malviya, #sam malviya, #zexi malviya, #the triplets, #akachi moriai, #moriai toyoko, #the brides, #ruhi arana, #don nekvasilová, #ash vanich.)

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

lyrics used in this post:

‘you look a mess, ho, broke dick got you lookin’ real stressed, ho’, nissan altima by doechii.

‘who let the dope boys out?’, buzzcut by brockhampton ft. danny brown.

‘you do it to yourself, you do, and that’s why it really hurts’, just by radiohead.

‘say i ain’t the guy, they must be smoking ketamine’, sticky by tyler, the creator ft. glorilla, sexyy red & lil wayne.

‘we’ll wait with knives after class (becky!!)’, becky by be your own pet.

[letters2fiction]

Welcome to Letters2fiction!

The concept here is to send in a question or a letter request, and you’ll get a response from your fictional character of choice, from the list below. Please stick to the list I’ve made, but of course, you can ask if there’s some other characters I write for, I don’t always remember all the shows, movies or books I’ve consumed over the years and I’m sure I’m missing a lot 😅

Status: New Characters added - Thursday March 21st, 2024

TV SERIES

A Discovery of Witches:

Matthew Clairmont

Baldwin Montclair

Gallowglass de Clermont

Marcus Whitmore

Philippe de Clermont

Jack Blackfriars

Sarah Bishop

Emily Mather

Diana Bishop

Ysabeau de Clermont

Miriam Shepard

Phoebe Taylor

Gerbert D’Aurillac

Peter Knox

Father Andrew Hubbard

Benjamin Fuchs

Satu Järvinen

Meridiana

Law and Order:

Rafael Barba

Sonny Carisi

Joe Velasco

Mike Duarte

Terry Bruno

Peter Stone

Hasim Khaldun

Nick Amaro NEW!

Mike Dodds

Grace Muncy

Kat Tamin

Toni Churlish

Amanda Rollins

Olivia Benson

Rita Calhoun

Casey Novak

Melinda Warner

George Huang

Sam Maroun

Nolan Price

Jamie Whelan

Bobby Reyes

Jet Slootmaekers

Ayanna Bell

Jack McCoy

Elliot Stabler

One Chicago:

Jay Halstead (Could also be Will if you want)

Antonio Dawson

Adam Ruzek

Greg "Mouse" Gerwitz

Dante Torres

Vanessa Rojas

Kevin Atwater

Sean Roman

Matt Casey

Kelly Severide

Joe Cruz

Sylvie Brett

Blake Gallo

Christopher Hermann

"Mouch"

Otis

Violet Mikami

Evan Hawkins

Mayans MC:

Angel Reyes

Miguel

Bishop

Coco

Nestor

911 verse:

Athena Grant

Bobby Nash

Henrietta "Hen" Wilson

Evan "Buck" Buckley

Eddie Diaz

Howie "Chimney" Han

Ravi Panikkar

T.K. Strand

Owen Strand

Carlos Reyes

Marjan Marwani

Paul Strickland

Tommy Vega

Judson "Judd" Ryder

Grace Ryder

Nancy Gillian

Mateo Chavez

The Rookie:

Lucy Chen

Tim Bradford

Celina Juarez

Aaron Thorsen

Nyla Harper

Angela Lopez

Wesley Evers

BBC Sherlock:

Greg Lestrade

Mycroft Holmes

Sherlock Holmes

Moriarty

Molly

Bridgerton:

Anthony Bridgerton

Benedict Bridgerton

Simon Basset

Daphne Bridgerton

Eloise Bridgerton

Kate Sharma

Edwina Sharma

Marina Thompson/Crane

Outlander:

Jamie Fraser

Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser

Frank Randall

Black Jack Randall

Brianna Fraser

Roger MacKenzie

Fergus Fraser

Marsali Fraser

Jenny Fraser Murray

Ian Murray Sr.

Ian Fraser Murray

Murtagh Mackenzie

Call The Midwife:

Shelagh Turner / Sister Bernadette

Dr. Patrick Turner

Nurse Trixie Franklin

Nurse Phyllis Crane

Lucille Anderson

Nurse Barbara Gilbert

Chummy

Sister Hilda

Miss Higgins

PC Peter Noakes

Reverend Tom Hereward NEW!

Narcos:

Horacio Carrillo

Peaky Blinders:

Tommy Shelby

Downton Abbey:

Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham

Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham

Lady Mary Crawley

Lady Edith Crawley

Lady Sybil Crawley

Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham

Isobel Crawley

Matthew Crawley

Lady Rose MacClare

Lady Rosamund Painswick

Henry Talbot

Tom Branson

Mr. Charles Carson

Mrs. Hughes / Elsie May Carson

John Bates

Anna Bates

Daisy Mason

Thomas Barrow

Joseph Molesley

Land Girl:

Connie Carter

Reverend Henry Jameson (Gwilym Lee's version)

Midsomer Murder:

DCI Tom Barnaby

Joyce Barnaby

Dr. George Bullard

DCI John Barnaby

Sarah Barnaby

DS Ben Jones

DS Jamie Winter

Sgt. Gavin Troy

Fleur Perkins

WPC Gail Stephens

Kate Wilding

DS Charlie Nelson

Sergeant Dan Scott

NEW! Once Upon A Time

Regina / The Evil Queen

Mary Margaret Blanchard / Snow White

David Nolan / Prince Charming

Emma Swan

Killian Jones / Captain Hook

Mr. Gold / Rumplestiltskin

Neal Cassidy / Baelfire

Peter Pan

Sheriff Graham Humbert / The Huntsman

Jefferson / The Mad Hatter

Belle

Robin of Locksley / Robin Hood

Will Scarlet

Zelena / Wicked Witch

Alice (Once in Wonderland)

Cyrus (Once in Wonderland)

Jafar (Once in Wonderland)

Gideon

Tiger Lily

Naveen

Tiana

Granny

Ariel

Prince Eric

Aladdin

Jasmine

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Hercules

Megara

Tinker Bell

Merida

Red Riding Hood

Mulan

Aurora / Sleeping Beauty

Prince Phillip

Cinderella

Prince Thomas

NEW! The Vampire Diaries / The Originals

Stefan Salvatore

Damon Salvatore

Caroline Forbes

Elena Gilbert

Bonnie Bennett

Enzo St. John

Niklaus Mikaelson

Elijah Mikaelson

Kol Mikaelson

Rebekah Mikaelson

Freya Mikaelson

Finn Mikaelson

Mikael

Esther

Marcel Gerard

Davina Claire

MOVIES

The Pirates of the Caribbean:

Captain Jack Sparrow

Barbossa

Will Turner

Elizabeth Swann

James Norrington

Kingsman:

Merlin

Harry Hart

Eggsy Unwin

James Spencer / Lancelot

Alastair / Percival

Roxy Morton / Lancelot

Maximillian Morton / The Shepherd

Orlando Oxford

Jack Daniels / Whiskey

Gin

BOOKS

Dreamland Billionaire series - Lauren Asher:

Declan

Callahan

Rowan

Iris

Alana

Zahra

Dirty Air series - Lauren Asher:

Noah

Liam

Jax

Santiago

Maya

Sophie

Elena

Chloe

Ladies in Stem - Ali Hazelwood books:

Olive

Adam

Bee

Levi

Elsie

Jack

Mara

Liam

Sadie

Erik

Hannah

Ian

Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros:

Xaden Riorson

Dain Aetos

Jack Barlowe

Rhiannan Matthias

Violet Sorrengail

Mira Sorrengail

Lillith Sorrengail

Bodhi Durran

Liam Mairi

[godblooded]

the slap makes trish‘s spine go rigid. get in the fucking car, pats, can’t you do anything but stand there with your stupid mouth drooling off your pretty goddamn face?! her pupils pool. her palms itch.

click click click. there are bandages dotting her toes where her feet are shoved inside glittering gold heels that match her sparkling gilded minidress. her hair is the same incredible sunshine. she almost trips over her clumsily long legs when she spills into the backseat. tears spring to her eyes immediately.

“i’m sorry! i’m sorry!”

she throws her arms around mary’s neck when she hears the back door slam behind her. she pushes her nose into the other’s shoulder. she sobs hard and fast, clinging with hands clawing in quiet desperation.

a stream of constant apologies jettisons past painted pink lips again. she’s sorry, please don’t be mad at her, she’s sorry, she’s sorry.

@godblooded | starter call.

"Just get in the car, please, can you just do this one thing I'm asking!"

Mary had called from across town, already in the backseat of the town car and already with a flittering note of hysteria rising in her voice, and now stared at Trish out of the open door with bloodshot and glazed eyes, beating the knuckles of one tightly curled fist on the leather seat as if to punctuate her own distress.

The unmistakeable shape of a handprint was blooming deep red across her cheek — the volume of her own voice, the near shriek to it, had stunned her like a second slap. She sat back.

"Please, Trish." The word, in her mouth, still had a faintly performative feel to it. Clumsy. "Please, just get in. I wouldn't have called otherwise."

[s10127470]

Meet the Spider Family

Hey there folks!

I'm back again with another post about Spider-Man!

But luckily, this one isn't gonna possibly give me a hernia.

I'm here today to introduce you to the main cast of my upcoming fanfic, Spider-Man: Family Values, which will be premiering next month during Thanksgiving week.

I don't really have much of a intro to this, so we're just gonna ahead and get in.

Spider-Man:

Real Name: Peter Parker

Age: 28

Height: 5'9

Weight: 162 lbs

Physical Appearance: Has a lean and muscular build, fair skin, brown hair in the form of a mullet with his trademark frontal bangs, and hazel eyes.

Relationship Status: Married

Causal Outfit: A red sweater with a white, long-sleeved collared shirt underneath, a open blue jacket, blue jeans with rolled up cuffs at the bottom, red and white sneakers, and round lenses glasses.

Hero Outfit:

-Still goofy and kinda silly, but also mature and very empathic.

-Is a HAPPILY MARRIED to Mary Jane and the proud father of Mayday Parker.

-An amazing and valuable mentor to Miles and many of the other younger superheroes.

-Works part-time as a substitute teacher at his old high school, Midtown High. He's essentially kind of a stay-at-home dad and house husband, which gives him more time to patrol the streets.

-Always visits his dear Aunt May.

-A true friend.

-Well-liked and respected by nearly all of the superhero community.

-Honorary member of The Fantastic Four and a part-time Avenger.

-Still the Friendly Neighbor Hero we all know in love.

Mayday Parker:

Age: 5

Height: 3'4

Weight: 49 lbs

Physical Appearance: Has a slim build, fair skin, long brown hair, and green eyes.

Relationship Status: Single

Casual Outfit:

-A little ball of hyperactive joy and wonder.

-Inherited her father's goofiness.

-Also inherited his spider powers. Luckily, Peter is helping her learn how to control her strength.

-Currently in kindergarten.

-Wants to follow in her father's footsteps and continue his legacy, which while touched by, makes Peter a little concerned.

Mary Jane Watson-Parker:

Age: 28

Height: 5'10

Weight: 130 lbs

Physical Appearance: Has an hourglass figure with a top heavy build, fair skin, long red hair with her trademark bangs, red lips, and green eyes.

Relationship Status: Married

Casual Outfit: A green navel-bearing sweater, blue jeans with a black belt and gold buckle, and black Mary Jane heels.

-Confident and free-spirited, but also loving and understanding.

-Got with Peter during their college years, and eventually got married shortly after graduation.

-Works as AN ACTRESS, MODEL, AND FASHION DESIGNER. She also pays the apartment's rent (thanks to how much she makes from her career), hence why Peter only has a part-time job.

-Has a stash of weapons just in case of a potential home invasion. Her favorite is the shotgun.

-Always thinking of new suit ideas for Peter.

Spider-Man:

Real Name: Miles Morales

Age: 18

Height: 5'9

Weight: 165 lbs

Physical Appearance: Has a lean and slightly muscular build, dark skin, brown hair in the same style from the Spider-Verse films, dark brown lips, and brown eyes.

Relationship Status: Dating

Casual Outfit: A red hoodie with a white X-Men symbol at the center, black shorts, black socks, and red and white Nikes.

Hero Outfit:

-Cool, friendly, artistic and street-smart.

-Has been a Spider person for about 4 years now.

-Peter and Mayday see Miles like a brother.

-Is a freshman at Empire State University, majoring in art.

-Currently dating Hailey Cooper.

-Works as a freelance artist.

Venom:

Real Name: Eddie Brock

Age: 38

Height: 6’5 (7’5 as Venom)

Weight: 270 lbs (470s as Venom)

Physical Appearance: Has a broad and muscular build, fair skin, scruffy blonde hair in something of a flattop style, a beard, and blue eyes.

Relationship Status: Divorced

Casual Outfit: A black T-shirt, blue jeans, and tan army boots.

Hero Outfit:

-Was once Peter's greatest enemy and hater, but eventually became his friend and one of his most trustworthy allies.

-Awkward, a little reversed, and pretty goofy (especially as Venom).

-Is not only Mayday's honorary uncle, but also her godfather.

-Still works at The Daily Bugle as a reporter.

-Was previously married to Anne Weying and they owned a dog named Woody together. But due to his previously slipping sanity and madness caused by Peter, she left him and took the dog with her. To this day, Eddie is still ashamed by this and wishes to patch things up with Anne and Woody, but doesn't know if he can.

Agent Anti-Venom:

Real Name: Flash Thompson

Age: 29

Height: 6’3 (5'3 while in wheelchair)

Weight: 170 lbs (470s as Venom)

Physical Appearance: Has a broad and muscular build, fair skin, long curly blonde hair with frontal bangs that cover his eyes, a stubble beard, and no legs.

Relationship Status: Single

Casual Outfit: A blue T-shirt and tan shorts.

Hero Outfit:

-Was once Peter's bully, but grew to become his closest friend.

-Still quite prideful and boastful, but far more humble than when he was a teenager.

-Is Mayday's other honorary uncle.

-Dropped out of the college to serve in the Army.

-Lost his legs during his service. Usually gets around in either a wheelchair or with a pair of prosthetic legs.

-Works as the gym teacher at his old high school, Midtown.

Silk:

Real Name: Cindy Moon

Age: 27

Height: 5'7

Weight: 130 lbs

Physical Appearance: Has an hourglass figure with a well-rounded and muscular build, light skin, long black hair, pink lips, and black eyes.

Relationship Status: Dating

Casual Outfit: A black bandeau, blue sweatpants jeans, and black sandals.

Hero Outfit:

-Was an old classmate of Peter's who mysteriously disappeared one day during high school. The reason why was because during the Midtown sophomore field trip to Oscorp, Cindy found herself bit by a radioactive Golden Silk Orb Weaver spider. Unfortunately, she caught the attention of the company and soon enough, found herself whisked away by them to an off-shore facility, where she was experimented on like a guinea pig for the next 10 years. Luckily, she was discovered by Peter and Felicia, who promptly broke her out.

-Suffers from a bit of social anxiety, so she tends to come off as quiet and quite reserved. But she's ultimately quite caring, friendly and imaginative.

-Isn one of Mayday's honorary aunts.

-Is currently dating Felicia.

-Shares an apartment with Flash.

-Works at The Daily Bugle as a journalist. Usually works close with Eddie.

Black Cat:

Real Name: Felicia Hardy

Age: 29

Height: 5'11

Weight: 125 lbs

Physical Appearance: Has an hourglass figure with a well-rounded build, light skin, long platinum blonde hair, black lips, and green eyes.

Relationship Status: Dating

Casual Outfit: A black crop-top, black leggings that bear the G-string of her thong, black heels, and golden neck rings (with similar sets on her arms).

Hero Outfit:

-Thanks to Peter, Felicia has given up her thieving ways. But she hasn't gotten rid of her skills though. She's now uses them as a private detective instead.

-She's the founder of Cat's Eye Investigations, which she runs with street-level heroes Tarantula and Humbug.

-Still flirtatious and sassy, but does have a lot of sincerity and heart.

-Is one of Mayday's honorary aunts.

-Despite her previous romantic feelings for Peter, she holds no ill will towards MJ. Essentially since she's moved on to someone else (Cindy).

Well that's all for now!

Let me know what you guys think about this little family idea of mine! Definitely planning on doing some more with other Marvel characters!

[queenmarytudor]

Mary I's Fight For The Throne

1st October - Mary is crowned England's first Queen Regnant

On the 31st September, the day prior to her coronation, Mary had processed through London "sitting in a chariot of tissue, drawn with 6 horses, all betrapped with red velvet". 1 The Earl of Oxford bore the sword before her and Sir Edward Hastings led her horses. After the queen's chariot came another covered in cloth of silver "and therin sat at the end, with her face forward, the lady Elizabeth; and at the other end, with her back forward, the lady Anne of Cleves." 2

There were a variety of different pageants across the city, including one by the Florentines where "an angel clothed in green with a trumpet in his hand [...] was made with such a device that when the trumpeter who stood secretly in the pageant did blow his trumpet, the angel did put his trumpet to his mouth as though it should be that he blew the same." 3 Arches in the display included an image "of the Queen triumphant [and under] was written Salus Publica [Public Welfare]. Under the image of Pallas (Athena) Invicta virtus [Invicible Virtue]. Under the history of Tomyris, Libertatis ultrici [Avenging of Liberty]. Under Judith, Patriæ liberatici [Liberator of the Country]. 4

Another one involved "children clothed in women's apparel, the middle having a crown on her head and a sceptre in her hand called Grace, the other on her right called Virtue with a cup and the third Nature with an olive branch. When the queen passed they knelt down and sang." 5

Many featured children and singing; children from the schoolhouse in Saint Paul's church sung verses to Mary, and "there she stayed a good while and gave diligent ear to their song." 6 Another had children holding burning lit tapers "made of most swete perfumes." 7

The star of the show was an acrobat on Saint Paul's steeple, that stood on the weather vane and shook a little flag with his hand, and "after standing on one foot did shake his other leg, and then kneeled on his knees upon the said weather cock, to the great marvel and wondering of all the people which beheld him, because it was thought a matter impossible." 8

The next day, 1st October, Mary's Coronation officially takes place. The streets are "again covered with flowers and decked with stuffs." 9 as Mary goes "from the Hall of Parliament and Justice to the church, in procession with the bishops and priests in full canonical dress." 10

In the church, "the Quire [was] very richly hung with cloth of arras [and] well strewed with rushes, and the place between the high altar and the chair." 11

Once she had entered, "She mounted a scaffolding that was erected at the church for this purpose, and showed herself to the people." 12 The scaffolding had "stairs up to the same and down to the altar, and thereupon a throne of seven stairs, whereof the four uppermost covered with fine baudekin, and the other stairs covered with carpet. And in the middle of the throne set a great royal chair, covered with baudekin damask gold, with two cushions; one black velvet embroidered with gold very richly, and the others of cloth of tissue; the said chair having pillars at the back, whereon stood two lions of gold, and in the midst a turret with a fleur de lys of gold." 13

The Bishop of Winchester conducts Mary to the four corners of the dais and cries "If any man will or can allege any cause why queen Mary should not be crowned, let them speak now :" and then the people in every place of the church cried, " Queen Mary!" 14 He then proclaims the queen's pardon, and Mary is "brought unto the said throne again, and immediately removed into a rich chair by the gentleman ushers before the high altar, upon which altar her Grace offered her pall of baudekin [and money], verifying the words of Scripture,' Thou shalt not appear void before the Lord God." 15

She then returns back to her chair, where a cushion of velvet is then "laid before the altar, upon the which her Grace lay prostrate while certain oraisons were said over her." 16

After oath is taken and the Litany chanted, Mary prepares to be anointed. She had requested fresh oils from Rome to be anointed with, as she had "a scruple that the holy chrisms prepared in England may not be such as they ought because of the ecclesiastical censures upon the country." 17

Now she has "a pall holden over her by four knights of the Garter, the Bishop of Winchester applying the holy oil and chrism and saying unto her certain words, with divers oraisons and prayers. Then after the inunction the Bishop of Winchester did dry every place of the same with cotton or linen cloth." 18

Mary is then brought to the alter again, where she offers up a sword, before returning to her throne at the high alter where "the Bishop of Winchester and the Duke of Norfolk brought unto her Highness three crowns; to wit, one King Edward [the Confessor]'s crown; the other the imperial crown of the realm of England; the third, a very rich crown purposely made for her Grace. Then the crowns were set one after another upon the Queen's head by the Bishop of Winchester; and betwixt the putting on of every crown the trumpets did blow." 19

After the crowning, the choir sing Te Deum accompanied by organs. While the singing occurs, "a ring of gold was put on her Grace's marrying finger by the Bishop of Winchester." 20

Mary is then given bracelets of gold and precious stones by the Master of her Jewel House, before being delivered the royal sceptre, Saint Edward's Staff, the royal spurs, the ball of gold, and the regal of gold by various nobles. 21

"And the Queen thus sitting in her chair apparelled in her royal robes of crimson velvet, containing a mantle with a train, a surcoat with a kirtle furred with the wombs of miniver, pure, a riband of Venice gold, a mantle lace of silk and gold, with buttons and tassels of the same, having her crown imperial on her head, her sceptre in her right hand, and the ball in her left hand, was conveyed again to the throne to St. Edward's chair; having a pair of sabatons on her feet, covered with crimson cloth of gold, lined with crimson satin, garnished with a ribbon of Venice gold." 22

The nobles gathered then pay homage to her, while the Lord Chancellor declares "a goodly large and ample pardon for all manner of offences except certain persons and conditions [...] not worthy to be pardoned." 23

After, Mass is sung while the Gospel is brought to Mary, who kisses it. At the offering part of the Mass ceremony she makes an offering of bead, wine and a pound of gold, and after is conducted to the alter where the Bishop "took the crown from her head and set it on the said altar. Then she was conveyed again into her traverse, and the Lord Great Chamberlain received of her all the regalia, and delivered them to the Dean of Westminster, to be laid upon the said altar. Then her Grace was unclad of her apparel, and other royal apparel given to her by the said Great Chamberlain, a robe of purple velvet with the kirtle and surcoat overcoat, and a mantle with a train furred with miniver and powdered ermine, and a mantle lace of silk and gold, with buttons and tassels of the same, and riband of Venice gold, the crown set upon her head, and a goodly canopy borne over her by the barons of the cinque ports." 24

By this time it is almost 4pm, and Mary has "in her hand a sceptre of gold, and in her other hand a ball of gold, which she twirled and turned in her hand as she came homeward" 25 out of the church.

Mary is carried from the church to Westminster Hall, where a banquet is prepared. After she leaves the church, there is a "scramble for the cloth and rails." 26

At the banquet Mary sits "on a stone chair covered with brocade, which they say was carried off from Scotland in sign of a victory, and was once used by the Kings of Scotland at their crowning", 27 and is served by earls, lords, knights and officers.

The Bishop of Winchester sits on Mary's right, while on her left is her sister Elizabeth and former stepmother, Anne of Cleves. 28

After the first course, "there came riding in on two goodly coursers the Lord High Steward of England, and the Earl Marshal, both richly apparelled, and their horses trapped according to their estate". 29 After the second, "the Queen's Champion appeared upon a courser richly trapped with cloth of gold, holding in his hand a mace, and on the other side of him a page, one holding his spear, another his target with a herald before him. The usual challenge having been made, and repeated thrice, the champion received the cup as his fee from which her Majesty had drunk to him." 30

While the "earls, vassals, and councillors paid homage to her, kissing her on the shoulder", 31 "The Queen's style was then proclaimed by Garter with the rest of the officers of arms, in Latin, French, and English, concluding with ' largesse, largesse, largesse.'" 32

This leads to poor people swarming the kitchens for the left over meat, "And when they had done casting out meat there was no less scrambling for the kitchen it self, every man that would plucking down the hordes thereof, and carrying it away, that it might well be called a waste indeed." 33

After, Mary stands with Elizabeth and Anne of Cleves while the Mayor of London brings another "goodly standing cup of gold to the Queen's Majesty, and after her Highness had drunk so, gave the Mayor the cup." 34

Mary finally withdraws to her private Parliament chambers, and after changing back into her original clothes, is conveyed by water back to Westminster palace, where there is yet more "feasting and cheer." 35

As a relived Simon Renard writes after the event, "the ceremonies came to an end without any of the interruptions or troubles that were feared on the part of the Lutherans, who would rejoice in upsetting the Queen's reign." 36

At the age of 37, Mary has finally achieve her birth right and is the first crowned Queen of England.

Sources:

1. Wriothesley's Chronicle

2. Wriothesley's Chronicle

3. Wriothesley's Chronicle

4. Giulio Raviglio Rosso’s Historia, somegreymatter.com

5. Wriothesley's Chronicle

6. Wriothesley's Chronicle

7. Wriothesley's Chronicle

8. Wriothesley's Chronicle

9. Spanish State Papers, 3rd October 1553

10. Spanish State Papers, 3rd October 1553

11. Crowns & Coronations: A History of Regalia

12. Spanish State Papers, 3rd October 1553

13. Crowns & Coronations: A History of Regalia

14. Wriothesley's Chronicle

15. Wriothesley's Chronicle

16. Wriothesley's Chronicle

17. Spanish State Papers, 9th September 1553

18. Wriothesley's Chronicle

19. Wriothesley's Chronicle

20. Wriothesley's Chronicle

21. Wriothesley's Chronicle

22. Wriothesley's Chronicle

23. Wriothesley's Chronicle

24. Crowns & Coronations: A History of Regalia

25. Wriothesley's Chronicle

26. Chronicle of Queen Jane and Queen Mary

27. Spanish State Papers, 3rd October 1553

28. Crowns & Coronations: A History of Regalia

29. Crowns & Coronations: A History of Regalia

30. Crowns & Coronations: A History of Regalia

31. Spanish State Papers, 3rd October 1553

32. Crowns & Coronations: A History of Regalia

33. Chronicle of Queen Jane and Queen Mary

34. Crowns & Coronations: A History of Regalia

35. Crowns & Coronations: A History of Regalia

36. Spanish State Papers, 3rd October 1553

[catholic-paladin]

was going through my book of ballads and found this lovely short one from the mid 15th century called "The Corpus Christi Carol"

Lully, lulley, lully, lulley, The falcon hath borne my mate away He bore him up, he bore him down, He bore him into an orchard brown. In that orchard there was a hall, That was hanged with purple and pall And in that hall there was a bed: It was hanged with gold so red And in that bed there lieth a knight, His wounds bleeding both day and night And by that bed's side there kneeleth a maid, And she weepeth both night and day And by the bed's side there standeth a stone, "Corpus Christi" written thereon.

I came up with a very simple melody for the words but my dog was making noise so I only recorded the first few verses.

With the omitting of the last verse this could easily be adapted into a romantic ballad like The Three Ravens or Twa Corbies, but the veiled symbolism in the song refers to Christ and His passion.

The falcon represents the Holy Spirit - the hall that is referenced is a church - "hanged with purple and pall" describes funerary altar cloths - "gold so red" for royalty - "His wounds bleeding day and night" are His perpetual sacrifice - "there kneeleth a maid/weeping both night and day" is Mary, both maiden and mother - and of course "Corpus Christi" meaning literally "body of Christ".

[himehikoshrine]

Oh, Rama Havenna Stage Script (EN)

This is the full Stage Script from the game menu for Oh, Rama Havenna (occasional typos and all, though I tried not to add any that weren't already there, but no promises).

Another verse, much like the first, I've gotten through Oh, Rama Havenna with a few weeks to spare. You can read Mary Jane here [x]. Some notes - the formatting is a bit different on this one. I've gone without the constant quotation marks, and tumblr let me do different things with line breaks.

There are some things in this script that are not in the game version - in-game, parts of the script are elided in favor of summary.

The Stage Scripts don't include any character ad-libs from the in-game performance, though. Of course, you can access it from the game menu, if you've got it, but this version is searchable! The play is a touch under 700 lines long, and is thus behind the cut. I have a version saved elsewhere if you'd like an easier way to save it, feel free to ask.

Oh, Rama Havenna

By Neji Kokuto

(1) Singing Havenna

◆Havenna Lakeshore

Father:   …

A boat docks.

Father:   A boat.

Father:   You in the boat, stop in the name of the Lord.

Chicchi:   …

Father:   This is Havenna. A town of decadence and pleasure.

Father:   Step ashore, and you will never be able to return to the other side.

Father:   Do you desire gold? Or fame? Succeed, and the town will be yours for the taking. Fail, and you will become a mugwort seller in a back alley.

Father:   Young woman, clean and pure. Will you still enter Havenna?

Chicchi:   Yes.

Chicchi:   I have no intention of returning to the other shore, Father.

Father:   I see.

Father:   Then dance until you collapse.

Father:   Oh, Rama Havenna.

◆Singing Pub

★Song “Oh, Rama Havenna, Oh Beloved Havenna”

Man A:   Oh, Rama Havenna! Indulgence is sweet and nothing to be ashamed of!

Man B:   Oh, Rama Havenna! Just give into your desires!

Rukiora enters with a flourish.

Rukiora:   Oh, Rama Havenna! As warm as a baby’s first bath. Oh, Rama Havenna! As gentle as a rocking cradle.

Man A:   Love the setting sun. A trash bin can take the place of a hotel!

Man B:   Aimless pleasure. A place for the lazy!

Rukiora:   Melt down to your bones and forget it all in Havenna. Let the lovely food and drink sing to your core in Havenna.

Rukiora:   Oh, Rama Havenna! Oh, Rama Havenna!

Customer A:   Rukiora, Havenna’s singing princess.

Customer B:   I want to be ripped apart by those beautiful arms of hers!

Customer A:   Hey, cut that out. Just imagining that will get you kicked out of here. She is well known for being a fine woman.

Customer B:   That’s even better!

Chicchi quietly appears

Chicchi:   …

Rukiora:   Oh, Rama Havenna! …That’s all for my singing. Thank you very much. Have a good night.

Applause

Customer A:   Oh rama! Oh rama! Secanda!

Customer B:   Give us more! Secanda, secanda!

Rukiora:   Haha, how many times are they going to make me sing… Ah.

Chicchi:   …

Rukiora:   I’ll sing one more song. Only because a friend is here today.

◆Town Streets

Rukiora:   Chicchi! You came.

Chicchi:   Rukiora. You sang beautifully today, too. Your guests were so delighted.

Rukiora:   Thank you for the praise… However, haah, I’m unhappy.

Chicchi:   Unhappy?

Rukiora:   With the song itself! Those lyrics are just atrocious!

Rukiora:   'Oh, Rama Havenna, we are a bunch of sloths', 'Oh, Rama Havenna, even so, our life is great!

Rukiora:   Ugh, I hate it. The guests at the club are just excusing how pathetic they are with these lyrics.

Rukiora:   They're filling the singing club with their muggy stench.

Rukiora:   If my nose weren’t so stuffy, I’d have thrown up from such a horrid stench. I’m so glad it is!

Rukiora:   Though I want it fixed because it’s difficult to sing.

Rukiora:   …But what I detest even more is the fact I’m making money by interacting with them.

Rukiora:   My living is dependent on them!

Rukiora:   Aagh, I just hate it.

Chicchi:   I think anyone’s amazing who works hard at what they do. I love your singing, Rukiora.

Rukiora:   Chicchi! My friend I love so much! You’re my one and only solace here in Havenna.

Chicchi:   Heh heh…

The two of them hug.

A little distance away, a dirtied man address a charming woman.

Dirty Man:   … I can’t sleep. Can you sell me some mugwort?

Suspicious Woman:   Yes, I just got some good mugwort in.

Rukiora:   …Look, Chicchi. A mugwort seller. The most indecent and immodest women in all of Havenna.

Rukiora:   The smell of mugwort will get all over you if you get near them. What a revolting smell.

Chicchi:   Right. Let’s walk far away from it…

The two of them walk away from the mugwort seller.

Girl:   Waait!

Rukiora:   What now?!

Fugio:   Ah, I’m in trouble…!

Rukiora:   Someone’s being chased by that crowd of women…! They’re coming this way.

Chicchi:   That’s…

Woman:   Wait! Waiiit!

Fugio:   I’m going to get caught at this rate…!

Chicchi:   This way. Come hide in the shadows.

Fugio:   Huh? You’re…!

Rukiora:   Chicchi?!

Girl:   Hey, let me shake your hand! Hug me! Come talk to us!

Sound of footsteps run past.

Rukiora:   …Looks like they’re gone.

Fugio:   Thanks, you saved me!

Rukiora:   …Are you Fugio, perhaps?

Fugio:   Oh, you know my name.

Rukiora:   You’re the princeps of the Agua Club… The most famous celebrity around! There isn’t a woman in Havenna who doesn’t know you! Right, Chicchi?

Chicchi:   R-Right…

Fugio:   Haha, thanks. You two really saved me. Come see my show if you’re free. I’ll prepare some VIP seats for you.

Rukiora:   Really? For both of us?

Fugio:   Of course! All right, bye then, Chickachina

Chicchi:   …!

Rukiora:   ‘Chickachina’?

Fugio:   Oh, that’s just a way of saying goodbye that’s making the rounds at the club! It could be old news by tomorrow. 

Rukiora:   I see. Chickachina!

Fugio leaves.

Rukiora:   Oh, he’s so cool. Fugio, the finest treasure of Havenna. I never imagined running into him here.

Rukiora:   They say not even thieves can get their hands on tickets to his shows. Could this be a reward for trying to live a clean life?

Rukiora:   Well, looks like our next meeting will be at the Agua Club! Bye-bye, Chicchi!

Chicchi:   Bye-bye, Rukiora.

Chicchi:   …

A man comes closer as Rukiora leaves.

Jire:   …Chicchi. I see you went to meet Rukiora.

Chicchi:   Jire… That’s because she’s my one and only female friend in Havenna.

Jire:   …Is that all right? She’s famous for being so clean that she won’t even eat a rat.

Chicchi:   Even I won’t eat a rat. Except for the kebabs on Tigris Street.

Jire:   The kebabs there are fantastic, huh?! They say there’s a secret in the spices.

Jire:   Er, no, I didn’t come here to talk about that.

Jire:   …It’s almost time for your shift at Pontartia. Domina said to come to your room an hour before.

Chicchi:   I was just a bit late from running into a guest. I always make sure to do my work.

Jire:   I’ve heard as much from Domina… More times than I’d like.

Jire:   All right, let’s go. Time for ‘Chicchi’ to become ‘Chickachina’.

(2) Bright Havenna

◆Back Alley

Sounds of murmurs

Girls advertising their store and men looking around.

Mugwort Vendor A:   Hey mister, need some mugwort?

Mugwort Vender B:   Our’s is much better than that shop… Hm? Oh my, it’s the priest.

Father:   …

Mugwort Vendor A:   He sure is faithful, proselytizing in a town like this. But we’re sick of those sermons!

Mugwort Vender B:   Our customers are going to run away, fearing God’s wrath. Go on, get out of here!

Father:   This place is once again gloomy with the smell of mugwort…

◆Pontartia - Chicchi’s Room

Jire:   Chickachina, your next guest is here.

Fugio:   Hey, nice to see you again!

Chicchi:   Please don’t call me by my work name outside the shop.

Fugio:   Sorry, Chickachina… Er, Chicchi. I was just so happy since I never thought I’d see you around town.

Fugio:   Shouldn’t you be the one who should be more careful?

Chicchi:   What do you mean?

Fugio:   You could have just ignored me like you do your other customers.

Fugio:   You’re hiding it, right? The fact that you’re a mugwort seller.

Chicchi:   This conversation is absurd. As absurd as someone like you coming to a shop like this to buy mugwort.

Fugio:   It’s really tiring to be the princeps. The eyes of the public are on me, so I can’t ruin my image.

Fugio:   You understand, right Chicchi?

Chicchi:   I’m going to light some mugwort. Set the money down. You can call me by my alias here.

Fugio:   Haha, sorry. You keep a lot of secrets, Chickachina. Ah, what a nice smell.

Chicchi:   Hey, take off your coat.

Fugio:   Right.

Chicchi:   You like having my arm around you, don’t you?

Fugio:   Yeah… So hurry, wrap it around my neck already…

Chicchi:   All right, then… Hmph!”

Chicchi wraps her arm around Fugio’s neck from behind, choking him.

Fugio:   Rrgh…!

Fugio falls unconscious without any resistance. 

Sound of a thud on the bed.

Fade out.

Fugio:   …I think I’m sick.

Chicchi:   Yeah. Did you sleep well?

Fugio:   Really, I wonder what kind of person first thought up of a business like this?

Chicchi:   I’m sure anyone would think up a business to make men who can’t go to sleep fall unconscious. Someone from this town, at least.

Fugio:   Havenna’s full of guys who can’t sleep, after all… Can I stay by your side a while longer?

Chicchi:   Yes, I’m your Chickachina until morning.

Fugio:   Seriously, I hate the sun for that.

Fugio:   Someday, I want to take you away from Havenna. I wonder how I can have you all to myself.

Chicchi:   There’s nothing outside of Havenna, Fugio.

Fugio:   Haha, you speak as though you’ve seen it for yourself. Outside Havenna is overflowing with dreams and hopes bigger than here. 

Fugio:   Someday, I’ll get out of Havenna… with you.

◆Pontartia

Chicchi:   I smell like mugwort all over… 

Chicchi:   I’ll be taking a shower. I don’t know when Rukiora’s stuffy nose will get better.

Jire:   I’m sure it’ll be fine if she’s seeing the same doctor. That guy’s a quack, after all.

Chicchi:   With any luck, he’ll hit his head and get some sense knocked into him.

Chicchi:   If her nose gets better, she might notice even the faintest scent of mugwort.

Chicchi:   If that happens, it’s not just my job that’s in trouble.

Jire:   Pontartia’s earnings would plummet instantly. All your customers are the good ones, after all.

Jire:   Even that Fugio’s all over you. My ear gets itchy every time I hear his pickup lines.

Chicchi:   He’s popular in Havenna. There’s no way he’d actually fall for a mugwort seller.

A man and woman in gaudy clothing approach them as they talk.

They are Facchio and Domina, the owner of the shop and his lover.

Facchio:   Chickachina!

Jire:   Its Facchio. Pontartia’s owner and the millionaire of Havenna. If he’s here, that means…

Domina:   The smell of mugwort is so strong here. I’m sure you’re not wasting any of it, are you?

Jire:   Domina… The madam of Pontartia and Facchio’s lover…

Chicchi:   Good evening.

Facchio:   Did that prince boy come by again?

Chicchi:   Not ‘prince boy’. The princeps Facchio.

Facchio:   Prince, princeps, whatever. The fact that such a popular boy is mad about you is what’s important. 

Domina:   So, how much did we earn from him? Ah, here it is.

Chicchi:   Ah.

Domina:   A bit low for the star of the Agua club. He could be more generous with the tip.

Domina:   Subtracting the rent for the room, equipment expenses, other miscellaneous fees… Here’s your share.

Chicchi:   …This is it?

Domina:   What’s that I hear?

Domina:   Who was the one who plucked you off a dirty street corner stinking of matrik into a fine mugwort seller?

Chicchi:   You, Madam Domina.

Domina:   I thought so.

Domina:   The one who taught you how much pressure to apply to block one’s airway, how to charm the beastly men of havenna and send them into heaven was me, right?

Domina:   I can be real scary if you mouth off to me.

Facchio:   Come now, my little butterfly. The reason you’re upset is proof that Chickachina sees herself as worth more. Let’s give her a little bonus later. 

Domina:   Facchio, I’m going to get jealous if you keep treating Chickachina so well. Enough to kill her!

Facchio:   You’re flapping wings are the most beautiful, my butterfly.

Domina:   Hee-hee

Jire:   Um, can we leave now?

Domina:   Oh, Jire, you’re still here. Get out already.

Facchio:   Later, Chickachina.

The two of them leave Facchio and Domina.

Jire:   That Domina. She took all that after you worked so hard, Chicchi. I’m going to complain about it later.

Chicchi:   There’s no helping it. Those two were the ones who took me in.

Jire:   Domina’s jealous of you, Chicchi, because you’re so young and beautiful.

Chicchi:   Domina’s beautiful, too. Even though she’s not young.

Jire:   Chicchi. What’s so worth gaining here in Havenna that you would go this far?

Chicchi:   Jire, Havenna is the town of desire and pleasure. I am a woman of Havenna, too.

Jire:   I don’t understand, Chicchi. I can’t imagine this kind of work being fulfilling for you.

◆The Edge of Town

Facchio and Domina enter a church confessional. The priest listens to them from the other side.

Facchio:   Father! Oh, Father! I have sinned!

Domina:   Please hear Facchio’s confession! And please here mine as well!

Father:   Go on.

Facchio:   Pontartia has been prosperous here in Havenna. 

Facchio:   Eventually, we will cross the river and expand Pontartia to a hundred locations.

Facchio:   Please, God! Forgive my arrogance and ambition, and protect me from those jealous of my genius!

Domina:   And I will follow this man, whose pockets overflow with profit.

Domina:   Please allow me to support him in a way his wife is unable to.

Domina:   …And please punish that arrogant little Chickachina.

Facchio:   Father, what is it that we must do?

Father:   God is always watching over us, each day and each night.

Father:   He loves us in all our greed, arrogance, jealousy, and envy. Be thankful for the love from our magnanimous God.

Father:   You must dance.

Facchio & Domina:   Aah!

★Dance “Intense confessions at the confessional”

(3) Swaying Havenna

◆Agua Club

Fugio’s performance is a cheerful, empty song.

Fugio:   The future is a hope without a dream. Let me see your dazzling smile tomorrow! I am your princeps!

Fugio:   Shining tears become shooting stars! We can create a love that’s true, if we’re together! I alone am your princeps!

Audience:   Ahhh!

Audience:   Fugio!

Rukiora:   Amazing! I never imagined we could watch the princeps of the Agua Club from such good seats! Let’s dance later! I have to thank God for this!

Chicchi:   I’m happy for you, Rukiora.

Fugio:   Thank you, thank you! Here’s a flower to remember this night by.

Customer A:   Fugio threw a flower!

Customer B:   It’s mine!

Customer A:   No, it’s mine…

Rukiora:   Huh? No way!

Customer:   Aww, no fair!

Customer:   Fugio, one for me, too!

Fugio:   Thank you all! I love you like the stars do!

Rukiora:   Look, Chicchi! I got the flower from Fugio…!

Chicchi:   Well, you’re the cutest one here, Rukiora. I’m happy for you.

Rukiora:   Yeah… I’m so happy…!

◆Yorubeya

Chicchi talks to Miguel, an employee at the club

Miguel:   Rukki, Chicchi. Welcome to the Yorubeya. Hm? You look happy, Rukki.

Rukiora:   Listen to this, Miguel! Fugio tossed a flower to me at the Agua Club!

Rukiora:   Look at this flower! It’s so pretty…!

Miguel:   A man giving a flower to a woman is a meaningful thing. And that man is Fugio, the most popular man in Havenna.

Rukiora:   You’re right, Miguel. What do I do? What if Fugio becomes my lover?

Rukiora:   If I’m with him, I might even be able to leave Havenna and live somewhere far away from here…

Chicchi:   Leave Havenna?

Miguel:   If you do that, I won’t be able to see you or Chicchi anymore. I’d be a bit lonely.

Rukiora:   Miguel! I’ll write to you.

Miguel:   Really? I can see you taking your sweet time in responding.

Chicchi:   Rukiora, if you were to become Fugio’s lover, would you really leave Havenna? 

Rukiora:   Chicchi, the world outside this town is full of things that aren’t just pleasure and desire. 

Rukiora:   Things unimaginable to people like us who have grown up in Havenna!

Chicchi:   What do you think is outside Havenna, Rukiora?

Rukiora:   I don’t know. Probably…everything.

Miguel:   You think? It might just be dandelions and neshiromi fields, you know?

Rukiora:   That would be so boring!

Miguel:   Havenna’s a place with everything. You can get all the riches and privileges you want here. If you have the power, that is.

Miguel:   To me, Havenna’s the most amazing town! There’s no one to criticize you if you spend all your days having fun.

Rukiora:   You really are the embodiment of Havenna, Miguel.

Miguel:   There are girls as cute as you too, Rukki.

Rukiora:   You playboy.

Miguel:   Ahaha, it’s true.

Rukiora:   I want to get out of here as soon as possible. If only Fugio really WOULD take me away…

Chicchi:   But we’ll be apart if you leave Havenna.

Rukiora:   You just need to come with me! Me, you, and Fugio, all three of us will leave.

Miguel:   No fair. You’re only taking Chicchi.

Rukiora:   It’s different with Chicchi, Miguel. We’re special friends.

Chicchi:   …

Chicchi:   …So you want to leave Havenna, Rukiora? You have no desire to stay here?

Chicchi:   Even if I’m with you…?

Rukiora:   Wait, Chicchi. It’s not like I want to leave Havenna right NOW.

Rukiora:   Though if I could leave, I would.

Miguel:   Are you okay being with anyone, so long as they’ll take you away from Havenna?

Rukiora:   Well, of course I’d prefer Fugio. He’s a pure-hearted princeps. This flower must be a sign of things to come.

Rukiora:   I’m sure something will happen before this flower’s fragrance fades. Oh, what a nice smell. If my nose weren’t so stuffy, I bet it’d smell even lovelier. 

Chicchi:   Rukiora, you’ve got pollen on your nose.

Rukiora:   Oh, no! I need to touch up my makeup!

Rukiora leaves her seat.

Sound of her hurrying away.

Miguel:   Rukiora is quite taken with Fugio.

Chicchi:   It’s because he threw her that flower. What is he trying to do, anyway?

Miguel:   You think he could’ve been trying to throw it to you? I mean…

Miguel:   I’m sure you were the cutest one in the audience.

Chicchi:   …That’s why people call you a playboy, Miguel. I don’t eat up sweet talk like that.

Miguel:   You’re my guest today. Shouldn’t I be serving you?

Miguel:   …I can’t sleep. I crave the scent of mugwort.

Chicchi:   Don’t talk about that here. Rukiora will be back soon.

Miguel:   It’s tough, isn’t it? Having to keep lying.

Chicchi:   I’m not lying. I just haven’t told her the truth. 

Miguel:   And you want her to believe a false truth? Why are you so adamant on hiding it?

Chicchi:   When I first started taking customers and Pontartia, Domina always scolded me for failing to knock them out right away.

Chicchi:   … ‘We don’t need someone like you here, you freeloader’.

Chicchi:   I cried as I walked around Havenna, and when I arrived at Pig’s Rear Street, I heard someone singing.

Chicchi:   “‘Oh, Rama Havenna’… I love Havenna so dearly. You can be a good-for-nothing, and that’s all right. Laugh and dance, and you can forget it all…

Chicchi:   I was crying.

Chicchi:   I cried and cried, and couldn’t stop. When the show ended, I still couldn’t move from where I was… 

Chicchi:   Rukiora spoke to me.

Chicchi:   I think she thought of me as a pure-hearted girl who was moved by her singing. When in truth, I’m far from pure.

Chicchi:   But I was happy.

Chicchi:   Rukiora’s the only person who can’t know who I really am. No matter what happens. 

Miguel:   Even if it hurts her in the end?

Chicchi:   Is there anything that would her her more than the truth that her friends sells mugwort?

Miguel:   Don’t glare at me like that. It’s fine. No one knows anything about who you really are. No one in Havenna. Not even me.

Chicchi:   Miguel. You’re different. You’re special. 

Miguel:   Hey, now. Look who’s dishing out the sweet talk now.

Chicchi:   Then, will you be honest and tell Rukiora that you care for her?

Chicchi:   You’re a liar, too. You mix in flippant, nonchalant flirting with your true feelings, then shrug off your sleepless nights with mugwort.

Miguel:   …I give up. You win. You sure are mean today. Are you annoyed that Rukiora’s so obsessed with Fugio?

Chicchi:   Rukiora seemed happy to get a flower from him. That’s why I’m happy, too.

Miguel:   You’re not telling the truth again.

Rukiora comes back.

Rukiora:   Sorry. Where were we?

Chicchi:   We were thinking about how you could stay in Havenna, even if you and Fugio become lovers.

Miguel:   I think Fugio going totally broke at a casino would be most effective.

Rukiora:   Idiot. Fugio leads a proper life, so he wouldn’t go somewhere like a casino.

Chicchi:   …

(4) Noisy Havenna

◆Town Streets

Miguel:   Then, can I get those? The Bakuu cookies. Yeah, thanks.

Rukiora:   …Those cookies are cute.

Miguel:   Rukki! If you had cookies, I would have gone straight to buy them from you.

Rukiora:   I have no such thing.

Rukiora:   Are they for your customers? I think they’re a little too cute to give out at the club. 

Miguel:   They’re for me, I just like them. 

Rukiora:   Oh, you’re so adorable.

Miguel:   Right? I AM adorable!

Rukiora:   Oh, never mind that. Look, the flower Fugio gave me. It’s still alive. Isn’t it amazing?

Miguel:   That’s love for ya.

Rukiora:   It is.

Rukiora:   I’m going to have my nose checked now. I want to be able to enjoy the fragrance while I still can.

Miguel:   I see. I hope your nose gets cleared up soon.

Rukiora:   Yes. Goodbye now.

Sound of her walking away.

Miguel:   …I think tonight’s going to be another sleepless night.

◆Pontartia - Chicchi’s Room

Fugio:   Chickachina, how I’ve missed you. We couldn’t stay and talk for long last time.

Fugio:   First, thank you for coming to my show. My heart was dancing just from seeing you there at the Agua Club. 

Chicchi:   Rukiora was there, too.

Fugio: Oh, right. So, that flower. Did it surprise you?

Chicchi:   Rukiora caught it.

Fugio:   My aim was abysmal. I really wanted you to catch it. I’m sorry!

Chicchi:   I see. She was really happy. She’s a big fan of yours.

Chicchi:   But I don’t want you to play with her feelings. She’s a dear friend to me.

Fugio:   I see. I didn’t mean to do so, but I admit it was wrong of me. I’m sorry.

Fugio:   I’ll throw it next time so that you catch it. No, maybe it’s better if I give it to you directly. 

Chicchi:   Rukiora is enamored with you. You’re all she talks about.

Fugio:   What about you? Talk about me, too.

Fugio:   About how you want to run away from Havenna with me.

Chicchi:   What a ridiculous conversation. 

Fugio:   You always avoid the topic whenever it leads to what’s outside Havenna. 

Fugio:   …Could it be that you have the strongest desire of all to see what’s out there?

Fugio:   Don’t you want to escape this harsh reality? 

Fugio:   Why? Why are you working as a mugwort seller? Debt? Is there something you need?

Fugio:   I can give you what it is you desire. Whatever you want, even a moment to make you forget reality.

Fugio:   So, just quit being a mugwort seller and…

Chicchi:   …Stop already!

Chicchi:   If you’re just going to pity me so much, then just stop buying me!

Chicchi:   What do you even know about me? …Jire! This customer is on his way out. 

Fugio:   Chickachina, calm down, I was out of line.

Jire:   Chickachina, what’s wrong?

Fugio:   It’s nothing. This is between the two of us.

Jire:   And I’m stepping in between the two of you as well.

Fugio:   Aren’t you just Domina’s lackey?

Jire:   What did you say? I’m Chicchi’s ally!

Fugio:   What can you do, with no status, prestige, or money?

Jire:   You’re one to talk! Buying mugwort all the time when you HAVE status, prestige, and money.

Fugio:   What was that?

Jire:   What’s your problem?!

Chicchi:   Stop!

Chicchi:   …It’s fine. I’ll just do my job. I’m a mugwort seller, after all.

Jire:   But, Chickachina…

Chicchi:   I’m sorry, Jire. Leave the room. I don’t want to be seen working. 

Fugio:   And this is time that I purchased. Am I mistaken?

Jire:   …Understood.

Fugio:   Oh, wait.

A clinking sound.

Fugio throws a tip.

Jire:   100 panie…!

Fugio:   It’s a tip. Go get yourself some kebab with that.

◆Pontartia

Jire:   Who’s he kidding with the kebab crap.

Jire:   I don’t need this!

Jire throws the 100 panie. 

Sound of him throwing the coin

Jire:   …Chicchi! Aah, Chickachina! ! I… I…! 

Jire:   The smell of mugwort is seeping into her body…!

Jire:   …

Jire:   …100 panie.

Jire picks up the coin.

Jire:   He has the power to give 100 panie as tip…

Jire:   What I have is…

Jire:   …Chicchi.

◆The Edge of Town

Father:   …Lost little lamb.

Jire:   …

Domina:   Oh, Jire. I didn’t think I’d run into you here. Have you been up to no good?

Jire:   Please don’t lump me in with you. I don’t have any sins to confess.

Jire:   I have something to talk to you about in regards to Chicchi. I’ll ask bluntly. What do you think about her?

Domina:   She’s a pupa who doesn’t know her place. She may grow to be a carbunculus-patterned butterfly.  

Jire:   You’re scared of her, aren’t you?

Jire:   Would you like to make a deal?

Domina:   A deal?

Jire:   Yes.

(5) Aromatic Havenna

◆Singing Pub

Rukiora:   Chicchi, Miguel! You came!

Chicchi:   You were lovely today as well. 

Miguel:   You sang like an angel.

Rukiora:   Hee-hee, thank you.

Rukiora:   Here, look, Fugio’s flower! Two petals fell, but it’s still in bloom!

Miguel:   Perhaps it’s the magic of love.

Chicchi:   It’s not a fake flower, is it?

Rukiora: A fake flower wouldn’t have a scent like this!

Rukiora:   Here, have a sniff. Hnnn, hahh, hnnn, hahh… Huh?

Chicchi:   What is it, Rukiora?

Rukiora:   I smell something displeasing.

Chicchi:   Huh? From Fugio’s flower?

Rukiora:   No. Mugwort.

Chicchi:   …That’s just your imagination isn’t it? Remember, your nose is stuffed.

Rukiora:   I changed doctors. Thanks to that, it’s getting better day by day.

Chicchi:   …!

Rukiora:   I DO smell it. That filthy stench… That dreadful stench. 

Miguel:   Maybe it’s this.

Rukiora:   What… The cookies?

Miguel:   There are all sorts of flavors. These are mugwort.

Rukiora:   What terrible taste you have, Miguel!

Miguel:   I didn’t think your nose would get better… Sorry!

Rukiora:   I’ll forgive you since you were honest.

Rukiora:   Ah, it’s time to give the flower some water. Excuse me for a moment.

Sound of her leaving.

Chicchi:   Thanks, Miguel. 

Miguel:   Never thought she’d change doctors

Miguel:   What are you going to do, Chicchi? If her nose gets completely better, she might notice the smell of mugwort on you.

Chicchi:   I’ll change perfumes. 

Miguel:   …Chicchi. I don’t think you can fool her forever. What about being honest with her?

Chicchi:   …

Miguel:   Or maybe… I’LL be the one who takes Rukiora and runs away from Havenna?

Chicchi:   You’re joking, right?

Miguel:   Yeah, just trying to distract us for a bit.

Chicchi:   Stop. I’m not in the mood for this right now.

Miguel:   Then, want a Bakuu cookie?

Chicchi:   I ate those as a kid. There aren’t any that are mugwort-flavored.

Chicchi:   You like those, Miguel?

Miguel:   I hate them. They’re dry and have no taste. But they remind me of the past.

Chicchi:   Are you eating them to not forget about the past?

Miguel:   That’s about right. You don’t have anything like that for yourself?

Chicchi:   Memories just make me feel empty.

Miguel:   That’s so like you.

◆Pontartia

Chicchi:   …

Jire:   What’s wrong? You don’t look great.

Chicchi:   Rukiora’s stuffed nose is starting to get better.

Jire:   Huh? But that hospital’s supposed to be full of quacks…

Chicchi:   She found another doctor.

Chicchi:   If she finds out the truth…

Jire:   It’ll be okay, Chicchi. God will protect you. 

Chicchi:   God’s been asleep for a long time.

◆ Pig’s Rear Street - Second District

Rukiora:   The flower smells so nice! I’m so glad I changed doctors.

Domina:   You’re in the way.

Rukiora:   Aaah?!

Sound of the two bumping into each other. 

In a hard collision, the flower falls onto the street.

The woman who bumped into her steps on the flower.

Rukiora:   What are you doing! Huh?!

Domina:   Well if it isn’t the moonlight princess of the singing pub.

Rukiora:   I feel sick… Of all people, I had to bump into you…!

Rukiora:   Ah, the flower. My flower…

Domina:   Flower?

Domina:   You mean this filthy trash under my shoe no different from a rat’s carcass?

Rukiora:   Move!!!

Rukiora:   How could you… The flower I got from Fugio!

Domina:   Oh, too bad I’m not sorry.

Rukiora:   Don’t you ‘not sorry’ me! What are you going to do about this?

Domina:   It’s not something to be so down about. Flowers wilt eventually. Humans are the same.

Rukiora:   Quiet! You vermicurmi! You rotten matrik woman!

Domina:   How rude. I am still in my prime.

Domina:   That’s why your father is still so obsessed with me!

Rukiora:   You dreadful mugwort woman…! Shut your filthy pig mouth!

Domina:   And how is that woman doing, tossed aside by her husband?

Rukiora:   Don’t make fun of my mother…! She’s… passed.

Domina:   I see. Facchio made no mention of that at all. 

Rukiora:   I’ve erased any memory of that man reeking of mugwort!

Rukiora:   Ah, I’m going to vomit! I’ll leave you all in this filthy putrid town… With Fugio, my beloved.

Domina:   Fugio? From the Agua Club?

Rukiora:   Yes! The princeps Fugio! One who would never reek of mugwort like you!

Domina:   So what if you found out that Fugio spends his time buying mugwort?

Rukiora:   Huh…?

Rukiora:   …What a joke! Fugio is Havenna’s treasure. He’s my idol!

Domina:   I don’t know if he’s an idol or an idiot, but I’m only telling you the truth.

Domina:   He’s a man stained by Havenna, collapsing every night in the arms of a mugwort seller.

Domina:   What an innocent young, Havenna-like woman you are, fooled by such ostentatious displays as his. 

Domina:   Your fate is to have everything taken away by mugwort sellers in the end.

Rukiora:   Lies… Lies!

Domina:   If you think it’s a lie, come by Pontartia sometime. Behind Ant Hill Alley.

Domina:   It’s possible… that he might come today.

Domina:   He’s mad about a woman named Chickachina.

Rukiora:   …Chickachina?

Domina:   You want me to tell you more? She…

Miguel:   Stop!

Rukiora:   Miguel…!

Domina:   What do you want?

Miguel:   Get away from her. If not…

Domina:   If not, then what? …Hmph! Out of my way!

Sound of her leaving.

Miguel:   Rukiora, are you all right?

Miguel:   That woman is a mugwort seller full of lies. Don’t take what she says seriously.

Rukiora:   Miguel.

Miguel:   Yeah?

Rukiora:   Then why did you interrupt her?

Miguel:   Because she says the most ridiculous things.

Rukiora:   …You lie so much that the truth is clear.

Miguel:   Rukiora? Ah! Wait, Rukiora!

(6) Fussy Havenna

◆Pontartia - Facchio’s Room

Chicchi:   Excuse me

Facchio:   Ah, come in, Chickachina

Chicchi:   You wanted to talk?

Facchio:   It’s as though you are my adorable daughter. I can ask about how you’re doing, can’t I?

Chicchi:   I’m having a lot of fun. All my customers are good people.

Facchio:   I’m glad to hear it. I want to ask you, my adorable little girl. 

Facchio:   Chickachina, what do you think about Domina?

Chicchi:   Domina? If you’re playing the role of my father, that would make Domina my kind stepmother. 

Facchio:   Chickachina. I swear I will never tell Domina.

Chicchi:   She’s an aged vermicurmi.

Facchio:   Ahaha! Oh the things you say behind people’s backs are always so amusing!

Facchio:   Domina’s a clever woman. She’s planning on a higher status in Havenna, using me as a stepping stone.

Chicchi:   Is that so?

Facchio:   Of course she is! Chickachina. Aren’t you interested in status as well? What would you think of becoming the madam of Pontartia?

Chicchi:   But the madam is Domina.

Facchio:   You’re popular among the men. You’re affectionate, and you knock them out quick. And above all, you’re clever.

Facchio:   There’s no one better suited to represent Pontartia.

Facchio:   Will you build this business with me?

Chicchi:   Facchio. I don’t intend on going from daughter to stepmother. 

Facchio:   Of course, I’ll prioritize whatever it is you wish. It’s just that there’s no mistake that a brighter world awaits you.

Facchio:   Just think about it. A woman of mine will wear a ring of carbunculus. 

Chicchi:   …I understand. I’ll think about it.

◆Outside Pontartia

Rukiora:   Pontartia… there’s no mistake. This is it.

Rukiora:   I can smell the mugwort even out here. Is it possible Fugio actually comes to a place like this?

Rukiora:   There’s no way such an upright and clean man could…

Rukiora:   …

Rukiora:   No, this isn’t right!

Rukiora:   I should be ashamed for getting led on by that woman and doubting him!

Rukiora:   I’ll go home… Huh?!

Rukiora:   Is that…?!

◆Pontartia

Chicchi:   Facchio wants me to be…

Jire:   …Chicchi. It’s time for work, Fugio’s coming.

Chicchi:   R-Right…

◆Pontartia - Chicchi’s Room.

Fugio:   Chickachina, I’ve missed you!

Chicchi:   Good evening, Fugio. You can’t sleep again?

Fugio:   I feel like my face is heavy with a mask I put on myself.

Chicchi:   All right, I’ll light some mugwort then…

Rukiora:   Hey!

Chicchi:   …!

Rukiora:   To think the princeps would come to a mugwort shop…!

Fugio:   You’re…

Chicchi:   A-Ah…

Rukiora:   Chicchi…!!!

Chicchi:   Aah, ah…

Rukiora:   …What is the meaning of this?

Chicchi:   I… I…

Fugio:   Let’s calm down for a moment.

Rukiora:   You be quiet! You falsa of a man!

Fugio:   Wha…

Rukiora:   Chicchi. We’re friends, right? Friends don’t hide things from each other, right?

Rukiora:   Tell me the truth. If so then I, I… will forgive you.

Chicchi:   Rukiora…

Chicchi:   Tell me!!!

Chicchi:   I… I…

Chicchi:   I’m actually a mugwort seller. A mugwort-selling woman, the likes of which you hate so much…

Chicchi:   I’m sorry for hiding it from you… You’re the one person I didn’t want to find out.

Chicchi:   Because I care about you. Because we’re friends…

Rukiora:   Chicchi…

Rukiora:   You’re terrible! To trick me like this!

Chicchi:   R-Rukiora…

Rukiora:   What do you mean ‘friends’?! You were ridiculing me, drenching yourself in mugwort with Fugio!

Chicchi:   No, Rukiora! I…

Rukiora:   You were jeering at me, exhilarated over a single flower!

Rukiora:   Don’t ever come near me with that disgusting stench ever again!

Sound of her running off

Rukiora leaves the shop.

Chicchi:   Rukiora!

Chicchi:   Ah, my dear friend…

Chicchi:   Because I’m… a mugwort seller.

Fugio:   Chickachina… Poor thing.

Fugio:   Come here!

Fugio takes Chicchi’s hand.

Chicchi:   Fugio?! Were are we going?

Fugio:   Towards hope.

Sound of them running off.

Jire watches in the shadows as the two of them exit Pontartia

Jire:   …

◆The Edge of Town

Rukiora arrives at the church.

Rukiora:   …Please let me confess!

Father:   Proceed.

Rukiora:   God… Please forgive me! Please forgive me for being unable to forgive such a dirty lie, unable to forgive my precious friend!

Rukiora:   I wanted to… I wanted to forgive her, but my head and my heart are all a mess, and I can’t do anything about it at all!

Rukiora:   Not only that, I want her to be punished, even though we’re friends! Even though we WERE friends!

Rukiora:   Or, am I the one in the wrong?

Rukiora:   Am I the terrible one? Is my heart the one that is dirty? Aagh!

Rukiora:   Is everything disappearing around me because I’m the one who’s no good? If only I had done better, If only I had more value, things wouldn’t have turned out like this?

Rukiora:   Then Father wouldn’t have been taken away, and Mother wouldn’t have gone mad?

Rukiora:   Please forgive me, forgive me, please forgive me. Please take out my heart, and wash away all its sins.

Rukiora:   Please forgive me, forgive me, please forgive me, forgive me…

Miguel:   Mind letting me confess too?

Rukiora:   Miguel…! What is all that luggage?

Miguel:   I’m leaving Havenna. I finally saved enough money.

Miguel:   In fact, I’ve been able to leave for a while now. I just kept letting things drag on.

Miguel:   But I made up my mind after watching you run off. 

Rukiora:   Whatever do you mean?

Miguel:   My family is made up of poor neshiromi farmers. We are not from Havenna.

Miguel:   With so much debt, the farm was in danger, so I was sent to Havenna to earn money.

Miguel:   But now that I have enough saved, I’m going back home.

Rukiora:   What are you here to confess about, then?

Miguel:   For lying to myself.

Miguel:   Rukiora, I’m in love with you. 

Rukiora:   What?

Miguel:   Escape from Havenna with me.

(7) Drowning Havenna

◆Pontartia

Facchio:   Chickachina! Where’s my pupa?

Domina:   She went off somewhere with a man.

Facchio:   Domina! Why didn’t you stop them?

Domina:   I saw my younger self in her and thought she might get in my way, so I just thought to rip off her wings before she became a beautiful butterfly. You don’t need two women, Facchio.

Facchio:   What a terrifying woman you are!

Domina:   Who’s the terrifying one here?! You ebrietas of a man. I’m the one who raised Pontartia to who she is, you leech.

Domina moves behind Facchio

Facchio:   What are you doing! Stop!

Domina:   My skills have not yet dulled. Hmph.

Facchio:   Rrghk!

Sound of him dropping to the ground.

Domina:   …Chickachina, Facchio. Now everyone in my way is gone.

Domina:   I’ll confess to God later.

◆Havenna Lakeshore

Fugio:   Alright, we’re here.

Chicchi:   This is the lake.

Fugio:   Right. We’re going to cross it on a ferry and reach the other side.

Chicchi:   Stop, Fugio. I don’t want this.

Fugio:   Then what DO you want?! Your lie has been found out by your dear friend.

Fugio:   Is it money? Status? Fame?

Chicchi:   I don’t want any of that.

Fugio:   Then tell me, Chickachina. I want to help you.

Jire:   Chicchi!

Jire runs forward. He has a knife in his hand.

Chicchi:   Jire! What are you holding…

Fugio:   A knife…

Jire:   Celebrities have so much confidence. To think you’d take Chicchi away from Havenna.

Fugio:   Urk…

Jire:   Chicchi. Come back here. This man is nothing more than a thief.

Chicchi:   …No, Jire. This man is the princeps of the Agua Club. Rumors will spread quickly.

Jire:   Then…

Jire:   All I can do is pretend I didn’t see anything.

Jire:   Chicchi, you decide.

Jire:   Whether you’ll cross the lake with that man and leave Havenna, or punish him and come back to Pontartia.

Chicchi:   Jire…

Chicchi:   I won’t cross the lake, nor will I punish him.

Fugio:   Chickachina…

Jire:   That’s not a choice you can make! You need to leave. I don’t want to see you dirtied by rumors.

Jire:   When you first came to Havenna, you were pure as the purest white. A vase for a single flower, descended down to us in the snow. 

Jire:   To watch you poisoned by this town, stained by the scent of mugwort is… painful.

Fugio:   Even he agrees. Leave Havenna with me.

Fugio:   If you do, you can become pure again. You won’t have to lie anymore.

Chicchi:   …

Chicchi:   …Leave Havenna so I can become pure again? How can you decide that all on your own?

Chicchi:   I came to Havenna of my own free will. When I leave Havenna, it will be of my own free will as well.

Jire:   Chicchi…

Chicchi:   It was you who provoked Domina into telling everything to Rukiora, wasn’t it Jire?

Jire:   I…

Chicchi:   How arrogant of you to get Fugio involved in this.

Jire:   Chicchi, I just wanted you to…

Chicchi:   You should confess to God. Before I can no longer stand you. Goodbye.

Chicchi leaves.

Sound of her leaving.

Jire:   Chicchi!

Fugio:   You…

Jire:   Uurgh…

Jire:   I… just cared about her so much…

Fugio:   I understand

Jire:   …Thank you.

Jire:   Hey, sorry for dragging you into this. Will you join me in the confession booth?

◆Pontartia 

Sound of murmurs

A crowd forms around the shop.

Domina and Facchio are arguing.

Facchio:   You finally showed your true colors, you sneak!

Domina:   What about you? Isn’t it about time you realized you’re about to be fired?

Chicchi:   Facchio and Domina?

Man:   They’re arguing over who gets ownership.

Woman:   It seems like the fight led into an investigation, and it turns out this shop is illegal.

Chicchi:   I see. That’s terrible.

◆Pig’s Rear Street - Second District

Chicchi staggers.

Chicchi:   …

Chicchi:   Ugh…

Chicchi:   Urgh… Aagh…

Chicchi:   Aaaaaagh…

Rukiora’s voice can be heard.

???:   Oh, Rama Havenna! As warm as a baby’s first bath.

Chicchi:   …?!

Rukiora’s voice continues.

???:   Oh, Rama Havenna! As gentle as a rocking cradle.

Chicchi:   Rukiora.

Chicchi:   Rukiora!

◆Singing Pub

Chicchi runs into the pub.

Chicchi:   Rukiora!!!

Rukiora:   Chicchi…!

Chicchi:   Rukiora. I…

Rukiora:   I was asked to leave Havenna with someone.

Chicchi:   Huh?

Rukiora:   By Miguel. He wasn’t raised in Havenna.

Rukiora:   He said he’ll be returning to his family of neshiromi farmers… He wants me to come with him. 

Chicchi:   Miguel…?

Chicchi:   Ah, right. I see. Miguel was finally able to be honest with himself.

Chicchi:   …I’m sorry.

Chicchi:   Miguel told me as well. That I needed to tell you the truth. But I couldn’t.

Chicchi:   I just didn’t want you to hate me.

Chicchi:   I thought that instead of hurting you, it would be better for me to stay silent.

Rukiora:   I see.

Chicchi:   I wanted us to become true friends.

Rukiora:   …I see.

Rukiora:   Even if it meant lying?

Chicchi:   …Yes

Rukiora:   Your problem has always been that you’re too lovable.

Chicchi:   Huh?

Rukiora:   Hey, Chicchi. Are you able to forgive me?

Chicchi:   Huh? What do you mean?

Rukiora:   I lied to you, too. I was unable to tell you the truth.

Chicchi:   That’s not true! You’ve done nothing wrong.

Rukiora:   Then, forgive me. That’s far simpler than having God forgive me. It’s a pain to go all the way to the church.

Chicchi:   But…

Rukiora:   Chicchi!

Chicchi:   …I forgive you. I forgive you, Rukiora.

Rukiora:   Then I forgive you, too.

Chicchi:   Rukiora…!

Rukiora:   When Miguel asked me to go with him, the first thing that came to mind was you.

Rukiora:   When you listened to my song, so full of tears. You were so beautiful.

Rukiora:   Whether you’re a mugwort seller or a kebab seller, I don’t care. You’re you. My dear friend.

★Song "Faded Color"

Chicchi:   Rukiora…

Chicchi:   …Pontartia’s gone.

Rukiora:   You can just sing here with me. Dancing would be good, too.

Chicchi:   But what about Miguel? Aren’t you going to leave Havenna with him?

Rukiora:   There is a desire in his heart that Havenna cannot fulfill.

Rukiora:   I do like Miguel, but he and I desire different things.

Rukiora:   I want to be with you.

Chicchi:   Rukiora…

Rukiora:   …Chicchi, can I ask you one more thing?

Chicchi:   What is it?

Rukiora:   I want to know the truth.

Rukiora:   Coming here to Havenna, going so far as to become a mugwort seller… What was it that you desired?

Chicchi:   …

Chicchi:   I’ve been asked this question by everyone. But I’ll tell the truth only to you, Rukiora.

Chicchi:   I wanted to live the life of a mugwort seller.

Monologue:   After that, Chicchi and Rukiora lived their lives. Singing and dancing, laughing and crying in Havenna, the town of desire and pleasure.

(8) Havenna

◆Back Alley

A few days later, Chicchi stands in a back alley.

A man appears. It is the priest.

Chicchi:   …Oh, Rama Havenna. As warm as a baby’s first bath. Oh, Rama Havenna, As gentle as a rocking cradle.

Father:   …

Chicchi:   It’s you…

Father:   I cannot sleep.

Father:   I cannot sleep, night after night. What should I do?

Chicchi:   I see…

Chicchi:   Shall I burn some mugwort for you?

Father:   Oh, Rama Havenna.

The End

[birgittesilverbae]

hi so since shannon survives in babea au 🥺 would she and mary ever think of getting married?

v normal about this

in the wake of losing the halo, shannon remains a sister warrior for a few months, but it doesn't feel right, the way she feels rejected by god, the way beatrice is barely on speaking terms with her, the pitying looks she gets in the halls of the convent. she leaves the church quietly, mother superion giving her blessings and her understanding, but remains with the order in the way the mary exists within it, as an outsider standing at the periphery, held only by a handful of a commandments and the family she's found amongst her sisters

she moves in with mary, has been dating her for about five years at that point, but is more focused on doing what she can to keep bea safe from vincent than she is on their relationship, which is a homecoming and a safe haven and on the backburner for two women trying to protect the teens they love. (the visions, the knowledge of the betrayal, come earlier in this 'verse because vincent is giftwrapped a warrior nun who has grown up under his care, who he has groomed to be the warrior nun adriel needs). 

ronda happens, and bea's relationship with shannon resettles, and bea allows herself to listen to what shannon's been trying to tell her all along. that vincent cannot be trusted. that trusting him would lead to her downfall.

vincent gets squared away, and bea can focus on becoming number one efficient warrior nun, and mary and shannon can relax a fraction, relax a hair (can never fully relax when bea is a reliquary and a raw wound and a scar). they learn to live with each other in their new normal, shannon in the first freedom she's ever truly had

it's mary who raises the question late one night, after a family dinner at which lilith had made some jab or another about them basically being married already. it's just an initial conversation, she says, just seeing whether they're on the same page about where they want this to go (mary, her trust shattered by vincent, always, always hedging her bets), but shannon takes mary's face in her hands and forces her to make eye contact and tells her this is the only place she wants to be. that if mary feels the same way, then there's no point wasting time not being engaged

they go get rings the next day, matching white gold bands and chains to wear the other's on around their neck when they're in the field. they quickly end up getting silicone rings too for daily wear, spend most of their time wearing the other's engagement band around their neck. they keep it quiet, beyond telling bea and by extension lilith, and bea snaps into action planning their wedding

it's a small affair, on the overlook in ronda, where the four of them had stood in the early dawn so many months before and revelled in their survival. lilith stands for shannon, their bond grown so much closer in the aftermath of shannon losing the halo and lilith being passed over for bea. bea stands for mary, feeling every year between them in the ache in her heart, at mary's shoulder the way mary has so often stood at hers. bea has both their rings tucked in the breast pocket of her suit (having been ragged on for being the ring Bearer for months), and mary squeezes her hand affectionately when she passes them over

mother superion conducts the service, tries desperately to contain her tears but to no avail, and shannon holds a hand out for her to take, to support her, to remind her that at least one of her girls has made it out of the meat grinder alive, that at least one of her girls has found safety and happiness 

[alexanderlightweight]

Hi! It’s my first time asking or posting something on tumblr, I just joined to be able to read your works! They are amazing thank you for sharing with us! ❤️ I recently read all Wednesday prompts they make my day, I was wondering if you could maybe do something where mob wife Alec has super femme fatal vibes, I was really taken with that prompt, Simon rambling and almost dying was hilarious (sorry if my writing is too formal or is not expressed correctly English is not my first language) thanks again for sharing your work I really love it!

oh this is so sweet! I hope you enjoy being on here and I'm so glad you like my writing so much <3

I had so much fun with this and I hope you enjoy it! I love writing in this verse so prompts for it are always welcome, even if it may take me a while to get all of the pieces together for an actual fic!

your writing is absolutely fine and your prompt easy to work with!

<3 lumine

-

“Honey, are you sure this is a good idea?” Mari can’t help but ask her husband as he finishes zipping up her dress for her. It’s been a point of tension between them, though not because she doesn’t trust Leo or mind when he gets a bit friendly with the entertainment.

It’s just that Bane’s brought his husband with him every single time since the first he introduced him, and this will be the first-time entertainment’s there at the same time.

Most people know to ignore Bane, to avoid him and respect his boundaries and space but not everyone is as aware, and Mari knows that most of the girls coming are from a different city. Somewhere they don’t know the rules, with someone leading them who might not know to give Bane the respect he demands.

So, Mari is nervous, both because she doesn’t know how Bane will react to being propositioned, but also because Bane’s boy is terrifying, and Mari isn’t sure any of those poor girls will survive.

“It’ll be fine, sweetie.” Leo promises her and Mari hopes that this isn’t another promise that’s about to be broken.

—

It is not fine. Nothing about it is fine and Mari knows it from the moment Bane enters, holding the door open like he’s escorting royalty and entering with his hand on his boy’s back. Mari bites her lip, not caring about the waxy taste of her lipstick or that the red might stain her lips.

She’s gotten used to how Bane dresses and when his husband first showed up, she’d gotten used to that as well.

This is, she takes a ragged breath and just hopes that Bane won’t make them pay for any drycleaning he’ll need to get the inevitable blood from his clothes.

Her hand shakes a little as she grabs a passing waiter and for once, instead of juice, she takes the champagne.

Bane is dressed to kill as he always is, but it’s his boy, taller than ever with boots that go to his knees, gold buckles, black leather pants and a gold and black waistcoat that Mari is sure ends in a corset. He’s stunning but terrifying, his dark eyes rimmed with gold, and he looks inhuman, his lips dusted with gold as well, as if he’s been kissing the sun.

Mari shudders and hopes that this evening goes better than she fears, because Bane’s husband has a smile on his face and Mari is pretty sure that poison is less deadly than it.

She gets her wits about her and goes to greet them, trying to find a way to unattached Alec from Bane. It sends a shiver down her spine to use his name — to even think it — but there is only one Bane, even if they share a last name.

“We have a new painting; you really have to see it.” Mari tries, her third and final attempt and she reaches out, fingers barely trembling to quickly pat Alec’s arm. “We can get our men fresh drinks.”

It’s a ridiculous thing, to act like Alec is anything like one of the wives but it works, and Mari has never been so glad that he and Bane don’t care about gender stereotypes.  It means that she gets him out of the room, but she doesn’t have a plan after that, and the other wives and girls all know better than to try conversing with Alec.

It normally ends in tears and Alec’s latest response of offering to get a bottle ‘just in case your husband wants to drink your tears’ was not normal, no matter how nonchalant he was about it.

It means that the painting and Mari’s frantic attempts to discuss its meaning and technique only hold his attention for about twenty minutes.  Then, as it always does, he focuses back on his husband.

There’s an intensity to Alec when he’s not around Bane, a terrifying aura that melts away and Mari knows Leo has never noticed.

She still doesn’t think he’s a cop and he’s not undercover for anyone else, but he is something, someone dangerous and he’s unknown, which makes it all the worse.

They get back to the others and Mari realizes that despite her best efforts, she’s only made things worse.

The newcomer is there, all slick smiles and easy words and he’s got a girl in his lap and one on each side. It’s not uncommon, the young and untested thinking that easy sex and pretty women are the best way to prove their power, but it’s gauche and Mari can’t help but wrinkle her nose.

And then she sees the two girls focusing on Bane, approaching him with coy smiles and plunging necklines and Mari has never wished more to hide two people away.

She turns, hoping to figure out how to handle this but Alec is gone, as if he was never next to her at all.

It’s a shock, because he’s even taller than normal and Mari feels dwarfed in his presence on a good day and this was not a good day.

But there he is, gliding like a swan across a frozen lake. Ignorant of the appreciative gazes of some of the new girls or the mocking look of the newcomer and Mari just knows whoever this Cameron fellow is, that things aren’t going to go the way he wants.

One of the girls is next to Bane, fluttering lashes that Mari knows for a fact won’t compare to Alec’s natural ones — the bastard — and she reaches out, as if to touch and there’s a dark, low chuckle.

“If you want to keep your fingers, then keep them to yourselves.”

Mari has never heard such a cold, deadly tone before.

She’s never seen a threat like the one being made.

Alec doesn’t walk around the low sofa Bane is sitting on, he steps over it. One ridiculously long and leather clad leg elegantly sweeping over the back and then the rest of him follows. He drapes himself over Bane’s lap with a cool elegance that wouldn’t look out of place on a hunting anaconda and when he grins, Mari swallows.

“What the fuck—” Leo mutters, coming up behind her, eyes wide and little wild.

There is a tension in the air that wasn’t there before and while the girls are listening, both of them tripping over themselves to put space between Bane and his husband, Alec isn’t watching them.

Alec is watching Cameron.

There is a glint to his eyes that promises a wealth of cruelty and he smirks, tongue darting out over his lips before he just lays back, legs and heels crossing over the arm of the sofa as he settles down in Bane’s lap, looking up coquettishly at his husband.

Like he has any business turning soft when he’s clearly made of steel and kept sharpened.

“I think I’ll stay here tonight, babe.” He tells Bane, “keep you company.”

Mari mentally wishes Leo the best of luck during his meeting, relieved that Alec will be haunting someone else tonight.dr

[alwaysaqueene]

Destined Queen

Indie RP Blog for Original Character’ Medieval, Regency, and High Fantasy Verses — Sideblog to @joyfulmagic & special verses for Relta & Aislin of @fantasiesandfolklore, guest test muse Prince Alastair as well

Written by 𝕷𝖊𝖙𝖙𝖎𝖊 [Lettie] || Mun is 25+ || Blog is 18+ (Preferably 21+)

Minors (under 18) and Personal Blogs DO NOT INTERACT

[Relta’s “Regular” Bio]

[Verse Info Tag] [Guest Staring Lord Alastair, Half-Brother to Relta] & Aislin’s Medieval Verses from @fantasiesandfolklore FCs Used: Charlotte Hope (18-32); Rebecca Ferguson (30+); Ruairi O’Connor (18-35); Anya Taylor Joy (18+); & Natalie Dormer (30+)

Rules are below the readmore on this post

Heavily Affiliated With: @ofheroesandscholars, @singeart, @blackarrcw, @luposcainus, @aislingarrow and @tsarincvdova

𝒜 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝒹𝓎 𝒾𝓃…being the bad guy, raising Hell and high water, religion, paganism, royalty, destiny, fighting fate, the girl with ice in her veins and a heart of gold, blood spilled for justice, living out of spite, heroics, being the final girl, the stench of the battlefield after a war, and taking one’s rightful place on the throne.

𝕽𝖚𝖑𝖊𝖘

NO minors (under 18 years old / still in high school) or personal blogs please! I’d prefer to write only with muns ABOVE age 21, as I am currently 27 (6/2024) years old.

Open to non-mutuals, but still semi-selective toward the selective side

Preferential treatment given to those I’ve built an OOC relationship with / am heavily affiliated with. Just being honest.

No god modding with the exception of starters, as I know you kind of have to a bit to write a decent starter

Multi-para / novella length replies usually. Please attempt to meet my length or at least my effort. Sometimes replies are short to move things along, I get that.

No auto-shipping, as Relta does not want to fall in love or have a co-monarch as a default in the phoenix queen/queen of ashes verses

IF we do ship, know I’ll be simping for them and wish to talk about them OOC a fair amount. Also, expect playlists for solidified ships haha.

My main triggers are animal death, parent death, cancer, infertility, and Dementia/Alzheimer's. Memory issues due to other reasons are fine. PLEASE let me know your triggers so I can avoid them as well.

Dark topics will be present, and the presence of NSF/W isn’t impossible. I will tag NS/FW as “lemons” or “mild lemons” depending on the severity (like PG-13 versus R rated).

Relta is queer, as is the mun. Please be respectful of that.

The mun is neurodivergent and disabled, so please be patient with me. I may miss stuff like social cues at times.

My discord is open to mutuals, but it’s an easy one to guess based on my main blog hub title lol

I have studied history and international politics in college, and plan to focus on medieval times in graduate school when I attend. Relta’s verses on this blog are heavily influenced by actual history and historical figures, so please know I HAVE done my research or asked my Tudor historian friend lol I might twist it and throw in a ton of various influences, but it’s still historically inspired.

I saw BBC’s Robin Hood…18 years ago now…when it first came out and I was a kid, so I’m a bit rusty on it since I can’t find a free way to rewatch it. Thus, I’ll be leaning into headcanons a bit and actual history about King Richard, the Crusades, and Robin Hood lore for the V: Lionhearted verse. I’d be happy to discuss the show AND history/lore with anyone interested in this verse.

I often post worldbuilding and headcanon stuff about Relta in these verses, so don’t be surprised if they outnumber IC posts for a while.

Relta has been an OC of mine since I played make believe with my friends in elementary school, and simply has evolved to who she is now through a passion for creative writing and a gaining of knowledge on character building. She’s still a bit Mary Sue-ish at times, but I work hard to incorporate her flaws and weaknesses as much as I do her strengths and positive traits. She’s not perfect, as no one is.

I am mobile always, so I cannot cut posts unfortunately.

[pilferingapples]

   ah that bit in every Romanticist bio where we gotta get the who's who as the author sees it (all this is from the Fourth Musketeer)

At the Café de Paris, on the boulevard, Alexander breathed the air of the great world. There the celebrities of journalism, literature, and dandyism met.

...this gets long

That man with the warlike hat and blinking eyes' is Nestor Roqueplan who has now left his garret, his washbasin-clock and his pistols-candelabra for the comfortable offices of the Figaro.

OK was this before/after/during its time as an anti-Romanticist paper??

Next him is Jules Janin, who looks comfortably rotund but thinks only of snapping at his neighbor, and who will later fight a duel with Dumas about a wretched question of dramatic criticism.

JULES JANIN DUELED ALEX DUMAS?? ...JULES JANIN DUELES ALEX DUMAS AND LIVED?!?

That fellow by way of being a gentleman, dressed with the correctness of an English lord in a blue coat with gold buttons, a yellow waistcoat, and pearl-gray trousers, is the husband of Marie Dorval, Merle, one of the legitimist party, an epicure and an authority on gastronomy.

..wait, isn't that outfit a Werther cosplay? Am I getting the colors wrong?

. . Over at the long table, orating in a high voice, with his face awkwardly swathed in an enormous neckcloth to hide certain unpleasant scars, is Veron, nicknamed the Prince of Wales, actually the manager of the Revue de Paris, who pays Dumas royally, at least for the time being. With his high color, his greedy lips that look as if they were smeared with jam, and his gluttonous eyes, he seems at once an abbot of former times and a comedy valet.

This guy is way more important than you'd guess by how little he shows up in histories! Also he got his start in patent medicine, which is really jumping out at me post-Blue Castle read!

     That tall, thin, dark man, with hair cut brush-shaped and a prominent nose, wearing a velvet caftan and a cap lined with martin fur, is Adolphe de Leuven, librettist of the Postillon de Lonjumeau, who launched Alexander. By his side, flaunting a magnificent kidskin waistcoat and whirling his rhinoceros cane, is handsome Roger de Beauvoir, with a mop of curly black hair, the only one of Alexander's friends who is an aristocrat of wealth-Beauvoir who entertains six hundred people at the Hôtel de Pimodan, and who has just challenged Balzac for accusing him of being named neither Roger nor Beauvoir. Although Balzac took the trouble to send him "forty pages of excuses," the dandy will listen to nothing and proclaims: "I scorn M. de Balzac's prose, I want only his skin!"

holy shit Balzac you messed up??

     Here is Eugène Sue, very smart in his sea-green coat, with a rather vulgar turn of the nose that detracts from his good looks. Last, simpler and jollier than the rest, is that good fellow Méry who passes for a librarian at Marseilles, but who is always off on a lark to Paris; an amazing improviser who can compose correctly an act of a classical tragedy within two hours, and in the drawing-rooms describe the tortures of hell so vividly that the ladies beg for mercy.

Fun new party game: Describe the tortures of hell!

     Near these gentlemen, but on a lower plane, the madmen appear. "He who was Gannot" and has made himself God under the name Mapah, is a fop and a billiard player now fallen on evil days who sends out manifestos signed "By Our Apostolic Ruin."

The Mahpah is one of the wildest ...visionaries? religious ...somethings? movement leaders? of the time, love seeing him get mentioned (Wiki) (Nonbinary wiki)

Jean Journet, called the Apostle, goes about dressed as a begging friar and sells his verses unfailingly entitled "Songs" or "Cries."

...I have no idea who this is . Sounds like he's coping with poverty very artistishly.

Poor Petrus Borel imagines himself to be a wolf; at his house Alexander has eaten cream from a skull. . . .

excuse you he never said he was a wolf he said he was a werewolf and no one actually disagreed also man,you serve ice cream in skulls ONE time...

         ...you might see (Dumas) in the rue Grange-Batelière, in the salon of the dancer Marie Taglioni, "the sylph of sylphs," or at Delphine de Girardin's on the days when she recited her poems. But Alexander always grew sentimental near "the Muse" and asked her to receive him in private. "I love you," he said, "with an affection too selfish to share you with the world." Then, when they were alone together, she would interrupt him with questions about dramatic art. "Do tell me how one writes for the theater?" Dumas laughed at what he called "the naïveté of genius."      He was attractive to women, there was no doubt of that, even to the most distrustful of them. When Sainte-Beuve, who was fond of playing the rôle of intermediary, proposed to introduce Alfred de Musset to George Sand, she answered: "I don't want you to bring Alfred de Musset. He's too much of a dandy, we should never get along together. . . . Instead of him, do bring Alexander Dumas, in whose art I have found a soul, exclusive of his talent." Alexander came and Sand took a great liking to him.

Wow, imagine if George Sand had ever hung out with Musset What a disaster that would have been huh in that alternate world ><