#might be frustrated but to take it out on others is not cool lol. maybe i want them to yearn and pine okay gosh

[clawz-loopz]

I always laugh when people get mad at slowburns for being a slowburn... like. You do realize this is what you signed up for, ya?

[ellecdc]

Would you be willing write a Remus fic about that super blue moon that is supposed to be happening?? like maybe it’s so so bad for him and he takes it all out on reader and she’s really sensitive and you can go from there lol

that’d be great love but it’s okay if not, thanks!! <3

thanks for the request! decided to make this with our Black!sister reader since we've been having fun with her <3

Remus Lupin x Black!reader who he takes out his Super Blue Moon frustrations on [1.6k words]

CW: Remus was being mean/rude to reader but we don't really see the angst... just the consequences of the angst, hurt/comfort, big brother Sirius having absolutely NONE of the nonsense!

“Hey moons, have you seen my sister around lately?” Sirius asked nonchalantly as he entered their shared dorm room; noticing immediately the tension in Remus’ shoulders as he positioned his body away from the door. 

“How should I know?” Remus muttered darkly. “I’m not her keeper.”

And though Sirius had tried to be cool when he first realised his baby sister and best friend had less than platonic feelings for each other and vowed to stay out of their relationship, there were unfortunately some things that Sirius couldn’t let slide.

“Did she eat all of your chocolate?” He asked calmly, causing Remus to roll his shoulders in an attempt to pacify himself. 

“No?”

“M’kay.” Sirius agreed as he put his school books in his trunk. “Did she throw your books into the Black lake?” 

“Sirius.” Remus hissed warningly.

“Did she tell Snape to sneak out after curfew to the Whomping Willow one night so that he would come face to face with Moony, only for James to have to fight you off of him as Snape ran for his life? Oh, wait, that was me.”

“Fuck off, Sirius.”

“No thanks.” Sirius huffed as he closed his trunk with a thud. “Well, if she hasn’t done any of those things, why are you treating her like such an arse?” 

“I’m not treating her like anything, Pads. Stay out of it.” Remus nearly growled as he stood abruptly from his desk and moved towards his bed. 

“Shan’t.” Sirius refused, following his friend across the room. “You chose to date my sister, you have to deal with the consequences.” 

“Great bloody choice I made.” Remus muttered petulantly, yelping when a book hit him in the head.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He hissed as he looked at Sirius who was staring him down defiantly. 

“If you know what’s good for you, Rem, you will never speak about my sister like that again, got it?” 

Remus seemed to relent as he laid back on his bed and pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to bring his boiling anger down to a simmer. 

“I’m the first to admit that Black’s are not often a good bunch, but if a Black could be perfect, she’s about as close as they would come. And I don’t like seeing her this terrified.”

Remus sat up at that, narrowing his eyes at his friend in confusion. “She’s not terrified of me.”

Sirius shrugged in disagreement. “She tenses every time you walk into the Great Hall and can’t seem to make eye contact with you, which usually only happens after a crucio or two from mummy dearest.”

Sirius watched the fight leave Remus almost immediately as he looked down at his lap in shame. “She’s…sensitive, Rem. We all are, we-” Sirius cut himself off as he stared unseeingly at the stone wall behind his mates head. “We can’t handle these kinds of moods as well as some other people can; tension and anger always led to pain and punishment growing up.”

“It’s not her, Pads.” Remus whispered. 

“I know it’s not. Somewhere deep down she might know that too but…”

“I know.” Remus offered, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes. “It’s this…this fucking moon, I- it’s driving me barmy.” 

“I understand that, but you can’t take it out on her; it’s not her fault.” Sirius offered gently before retreating from the dorm to allow his friend to digest what he said; he may not like the fact that his best friend and sister found their way to each other, but he also knew that both of you deserved to be happy. If he could help you both achieve that by being supportive, well, supportive he would be. 

。.。:+* ﾟ ゜ﾟ *+:。.。:+* ﾟ ゜ﾟ *+:。.。.。:+*ﾟ ゜ﾟ *+:。.。:+*ﾟ

Remus felt shame course through his body as he walked through the library in search of you. 

Between his senses being heightened this close to the moon, the additional magic at play with the super blue moon, and the fact that he knew you were a creature of habit and had a table you often frequented, it didn’t take him long to find you. 

“Mind if I join you?” He asked quietly, feeling his heart crack painfully when you did, indeed, flinch at the sound of his voice and sat impossibly straighter in your chair.

“Okay.” You whispered in response, not looking away from your book as he moved to sit across the table from you, though he could tell you were no longer reading as your eyes remained glued to one spot. 

“I’m sorry that I’ve been such an arse, Dove.”

“It’s okay.” You said quickly, still not looking at him.

“No it’s not.” He argued softly.

He watched your jaw tighten as you repositioned yourself in your chair in obvious discomfort. 

“It’s this moon.” You explained breezily. 

“Which isn’t your fault, and I shouldn’t be taking it out on you- dove, can you look at me? Please?” 

He watched your throat constrict as you stole yourself and brought your eyes up to his. They were glossy, but not like you were about to cry - glossy like you were hiding, like you were occluding. 

He hated it; hated that you were hiding from him, hated that you felt like you had to hide from him, hated that he made you feel like you had to hide from him, hated that you even knew how to hide inside your own mind at all. 

“Dovey, look at me.” He repeated gently in hopes that you’d let the walls down, daring to reach a hand across the table in invitation. 

He watched as your eyes flit to his hand and back up again and he tried to keep his face neutral; no pressure or force as he let you decide if you were willing to trust him. 

You placed your hand in his, but kept your gaze pointed at your joined hands. 

“I know better than to let my moods affect you, sweetheart. I’m sorry.” He pressed sincerely.

You scoffed and moved your gaze to one of the rafters above you. “I’m not some delicate flower you need to tiptoe around, Remus; I can handle a bad mood.” You shot back defensively. 

“I know…” He whispered as he rubbed circles on the back of your hand with his thumb.

He knew you weren’t a delicate flower; on the contrary, you were one of the strongest people he’d ever met. 

You gave the entire Hufflepuff house a run for their money on who was the most loyal wix in the castle. You always looked out for your brothers, constantly playing referee, devils advocate, and a surrogate parent for the two young Black boys. You grew up making sure Sirius never acted too outlandishly or brought too much trouble onto himself, making sure Regulus wasn’t completely beaten down into nothing and grew up to be a semi-decent boy, and taking the blame when you were unable to do either of those things. 

And to top it all off, you put up with him; a foul-mouthed, poor, Welsh, anger-issue riddled boy who didn’t deserve you. 

“Baby, look at me, please.” He begged, reaching forward with his other hand so he was holding your one in between both of his.

You turned your gaze to him and it seemed to be taking everything in your power to hold his gaze.

“I’m so sorry, my love.” He whispered, bringing your hand to his lips to press a kiss to your fingers.

Your eyes tracked the movement before flitting back up to his.

You offered him a curt nod and chewed on your bottom lip. “I didn’t mean to upset you.” You whispered, eyes turning glossy for a whole new reason.

Remus made a pitiful sound from the back of his throat and stood to move to the chair beside you, never relinquishing his grasp on your hand. 

“You didn’t upset me, dove, I was just upset. And an arse; don’t forget the part about me being an arse.”

You offered him a wet chuckle at that as you sniffed, returning his hold of your hand and giving it a squeeze. 

“I hate not being able to…help, to take any of the burden off of you, to make it at all less painful for you.”

“You do, sweetheart, you do. By being here, and being with me, and being patient even when I’m an arse, okay?” He insisted, punctuating each reason he was grateful for you with a squeeze of your hand. “I don’t deserve it but I’m so lucky to have you.”

“You do deserve it.” You murmured, bringing your eyes back up to his.

And he couldn’t help himself, really; he had always been powerless against the pull you had on him and this time was no different as he closed the distance between the two of you to press a lingering kiss to your lips. 

“The point of all this,” Remus said as he broke away from you and bumped your nose with his, “is that you didn’t deserve to be treated the way that I treated you this week, and I won’t let it happen again, okay?”

You gave him a sad smile and gave his nose a bump in return.

“How mad was Sirius?”

“Fuming.” Remus admitted immediately.

“Did he throw a pillow at you?”

“A book.” He corrected solemnly, earning him an astonished look from you. 

“Oh…you crossed a line.”

Remus nodded abashedly. “Honestly? I think it might be harder to get him to forgive me than it was to get you to forgive me.”

Remus relished in the surprised laugh that bubbled out of you at that, and he vowed to never ever let another moon cause him to go this long without hearing it again.

[amberlynnmurdock]

Neighbor Pt. 6

Matt Murdock x Reader

Summary: On a random midnight, she comes to Matt's apartment to feel less lonely. Matt lets her in.

Words: just under 3k!

Genres: FLUFF with a dash of angst because of course... they are just two lost souls confiding in the other <3

A/N: I sort of had trouble with this chapter but she's finally here lol. This picks up from Pt. 5... hope you like it!!!

Part 5

Matt felt rejuvenated the next morning. 

Maybe it wasn’t stress he had been feeling the past few weeks… maybe it was something else, something he hadn’t felt in a while. Something that made him need sweet relief that throwing punches and taking hits couldn’t provide. He needed something more sensual—intimate. Something else to get his anxiety and frustration out. Even if it was a brush of contact. Something as simple as a touch. 

Yeah, it had been a while since he’d felt that. And it felt so good to listen to her like that… despite how wrong it was. That was until she said his name out loud. Matt pondered the question all morning as he lay in bed waiting for his alarm to go off. What did it mean? Did she like him like that? What should he do next?

  Nothing, he decided. It was wrong he knew she felt that way about him… it was wrong he continued to listen to her. It was wrong of him to think he could ever make her happy when he leads the life he leads. But God, did it feel so good to think that for a moment—just a moment—it might be possible. 

He rolls out of bed as soon as he hears his automated alarm go off. Wake up, wake up! Matt slams the alarm with his fist, harder than he intended to. He sits for a moment on the edge of his bed, feeling achy all over. Other people in the apartment are waking up right now, too. Downstairs, someone turns their stove on and begins to cook bacon. Another apartment opens its windows to the cool winter air. And her—she’s awake now, too. She turned her TV on to the news.

“Daredevil took down an armed robbery and saved an old woman at the corner bodega…“ 

Matt tunes it out immediately. 

It was strange to hear news about himself playing in her apartment. It made him uncomfortable. There he was, imagining a future with her and playing with the idea of being intimate with her, all the while having one of the biggest secrets ever. 

After a hot shower and brewing coffee, Matt was just about to be on his way out. He heard her shuffling behind her door, slipping her boots on, and zipping up her coat. They always walked out at the same time, an unspoken ritual. Maybe it was safer to keep it like this, Matt thought. Maybe this was as far as they’d ever go. 

Matt took a deep breath as he stepped out, unsurprisingly at the same time as she did. Matt heard her heart rate quicken as she saw him. 

“G’morning, Matt,” she said softly, as casually as she could.

“Morning,” he smiled. Act natural. “Sleep well?” 

She paused, ever so slightly, and locked her door. “I did, better than I normally do. You?”

“Same,” Matt answered, picking up on her hesitation. Maybe he should leave the conversation at this, not push anything further. From the way she was speaking quietly to her slight quiver, Matt knew she was nervous. He didn’t want to make her feel that way. 

“I hope you have a good day, Matt,” she smiled, walking ahead of him down the stairs. Before Matt could give a response, she was already out the door. Matt slowly followed behind, somehow feeling guilty about it all over again. 

She weighed heavy on his mind all day—did he do something wrong unknowingly? All of this was confusing—he heard her say his name at her most intimate, and this morning she seemed to want to avoid him altogether. What happened?

Maybe he was overthinking it. Maybe there wasn’t anything wrong. 

***

Matt walked up the steps to his apartment slowly, one hand using his cane to guide himself, the other holding onto the rail. He passed the floors of the other apartments. They were all so loud to him. Fran had the TV on a bit higher than usual. Someone’s dog was barking begging to be fed. Another was on the phone having a heated conversation with an in-law. All day, Matt was consumed by conversations he wished not to be part of. Sounds he wished he could drown out and turn off.

Finally, he reached the floor of his apartment—and hers. He liked that he shared this floor with only her. He paused at the top of the steps and pressed his fingertips against the wall. She was inside, home already from work. From the sound of her soft breathing and very still movement, Matt knew she was sleeping. A part of him melted inside. Tired from a long day of work himself, he walked as quietly as he could to his apartment and opened the door slowly to avoid making any sound.

He wasted no time changing into his Daredevil gear and waiting on his roof.

***

Matt felt accomplished when he arrived back on his rooftop after a night out as Daredevil. He stopped another robbery and saved an old couple’s bodega. He saved an old man from being mugged. He saved a young girl and her mother from an abusive ex-boyfriend. 

Entering his apartment, he stripped himself of his Daredevil gear and locked it away in his old trunk. He paused, hand still on the locked trunk that held his most detrimental secret. This trunk used to belong to his father. He pushed it inside the closet and closed the door. He made a sign of the cross and stalked off to the bathroom. 

It was shortly past midnight. After washing off in the shower, Matt changed into sweatpants. He lay in bed and shut his eyes. His thoughts always drifted to the same thing: was there more to this life, than just keeping a secret? 

After reciting a prayer and just as he was about to fall asleep, he heard a gentle knocking on his door. His eyes shot open and his senses were fully engaged in the source of the sound. More knocks came. It was her. She shivered under her cardigan and shifted in her slippers from foot to foot, anxiously. Was something wrong? Why was she at his door so late?

Matt threw on a shirt quickly and walked over to open his door. Just as she was about to turn around and retreat to her apartment, thinking this is stupid, Matt opened his door. She stood there with her arms tucked around her frame and shivered from the cold in the hallway.

“Hi,” she said in a tired voice, “I’m sorry, Matt. I know it’s late. But I heard your shower go off and assumed you were awake and—God, I realize how creepy that sounds that I heard your water running so I knew you were awake—never mind. I’ve spoken too much,” she rambled nervously, shivering from the cold in the hallway. Matt was surprised by her presence; he wasn’t upset at all. He welcomed her sudden appearance but couldn’t help but wonder why she was there. 

Not to mention her apologizing for hearing his water running, and assuming he was awake. After all the things he’s heard her do through her apartment… Matt was in no place to judge (not that he would, anyway).

“It's okay,” Matt whispered her name. “I was awake. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah,” she said, and Matt didn’t have to listen to her heartbeat to know she was lying. It was in her voice, her mannerisms. The way she answered quickly without really considering his question. “I just—“ and she was shivering so much.

“You can come in,” Matt opened the door wider. “It’s cold in the hall.” 

“Okay,” she stepped inside his apartment and away from him as he shut his large, old door. Matt locked it and turned around to smile at her. It was then Matt realized he forgot to put his glasses on. 

“I’m sorry, let me get my glasses on,” Matt said sheepishly, reaching for them on the side table. 

“It’s okay,” she said, “you don’t have to put them on.” She paused, looking at his handsome face in the low glow of his apartment. He wasn’t hard to look at at all—from his warm hazel eyes to his plump lips. 

“Are you sure you won’t be uncomfortable?” He asked. 

“Yeah,” she answered. “I’m barging in on your place—you don’t have to sacrifice your comfort for mine.” 

He smiled at that and then offered her to take a seat on his couch. He allowed her a moment to get a sense of her surroundings—she’d never been in his apartment before. Her heartbeat was steady. She looked around his living room and squinted at the windows when the large screen across the street flashed bright purple and pink lights. 

“Wow,” she said, looking back at his dark apartment. “Those are bright.”

“So I’ve heard,” Matt said lightly with a warm smile. “Do you want any water?”

“I’m okay. Thank you.”

She curled up on the corner of his brown leather couch, tucking her feet in underneath her legs. She was still shivering. Matt offered her the blanket that lay on it and she took it gracefully. 

“I’m sorry to bother you,” she said sheepishly wrapping the blanket around her shoulders, “truthfully, I couldn’t sleep and I could use a friend to talk to.”

A friend? Matt’s heart jumped at this. She considered him a friend. 

“I’m glad you came,” Matt replied. 

“On Christmas, you told me that any time I felt lonely, I could come by. So… this is one of those times.”

“Yeah,” Matt nodded. “Felt lonely tonight?”

“Not anymore,” she sighed, pleasantly, like his presence alone was enough to cure whatever it was she was feeling. “I took a long nap after work to avoid it and woke up feeling worse than I did before. Like a harrowing, deep hole in my chest.” 

Matt knew that feeling all too well—a hole he’d been trying to fill since he was 11. It occurred to him in that moment Matt hardly knew anything about her. Where she came from, what her story was. She knew bits and pieces of him but he didn’t know anything more than that she lived alone and worked at a bookstore. 

“I understand,” Matt said. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Maybe another time,” she said, pushing the matter away. “I just wanted to get my mind off it.”

Matt was happy she was comfortable enough to come to him this late at night for nothing more than just another person to talk to. He could be that person for her—he wanted to be that person for her. 

“I didn’t know you had hazel eyes,” she said softly. “You shouldn’t hide them as much as you do behind those red glasses.” 

Matt blushed—unfamiliar with this feeling in his chest, like a bubbling warmth spread over that harrowing hole she was talking about just moments ago. “Oh,” he said. “People can get uncomfortable when they see my eyes.”

“Then screw them,” she said defiantly. “Like I said…you shouldn’t sacrifice your comfort for theirs.” 

“Thank you,” Matt replied. “For understanding that part.” 

“Were you—“

“Born blind?” Matt had finished this question so many times, that it became a habit to interject whenever anyone began to ask it. “No. It was an accident when I was a kid.”

“What happened? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“I don’t mind,” Matt shrugged. He wanted to open up to her, as much as he could—without revealing his biggest secret of all. “I saw an old man crossing the street. A large truck with chemical containers was coming down the block at the same time. I pushed the old man out of the way. The truck lost control, and swerved to avoid hitting us. Well, it did bump me a little, and all the chemicals fell over, leaking everywhere. Some of it got in my eyes and—“

“That was it,” she finished his sentence. “Wow.” 

“That was it,” Matt repeated. His gaze fell on the carpet. He sat at the opposite end of the couch. 

“So, little Matt was a hero?” He could hear the smile in her voice when she said this. Matt chuckled. 

“I did what anyone else would have.”

“How many adults were there, do you remember?”

“It was on a random corner in Hell’s Kitchen. Plenty of people were walking around.”

“So, you did what anyone else would have avoided.”

Matt blushed, looked away from the general direction he was looking in. It felt different to be called a hero when it was coming from her lips. 

“Sure,” he finally said. “We can go with that.”

“Do you…” her voice trailed off, unsure how to phrase her next question without sounding offensive. 

“You can ask me anything,” Matt assured her. “You know a lot about me that some of my closest friends don’t know. Nothing’s off the table.”

“Do you miss having sight? That’s probably a silly question. Do you remember the last thing you saw?”

“The sky,” Matt answered, a flash of blue appearing in his mind. “That was the last thing I saw. And I do miss having sight,” Matt took a deep breath. “But there are other ways to see.”

“Absolutely,” she agreed. “How do you see in other ways?”

What a loaded question, he thought. 

“Touch, for one. I can get a sense of something when I touch it. Smell—easy to distinguish what’s on my plate. I still know what a majority of things look like.”

“But not people,” she stated. 

“Not people,” Matt affirmed. “But there’s a way for me to paint a picture in my mind.”

“How? A person describes what they look like?”

“Descriptions help,” Matt answered, “but touching their face helps a hell of a lot more.” 

She was silent for a moment, understanding his answers and pondering them. She wondered what he would think of her if he could see. Matt felt as if she was wondering that very thought.

“Do you want to touch my face?” She asked in a hesitant voice. “Or I can describe to you what I look like.”

Matt felt his heart grow in his chest. How could he answer that question, without revealing his true feelings for her right then and there? It had been months of being her neighbor that he hoped and prayed he could cross that threshold with her. Hell, it was a miracle she was in his apartment at that moment. 

“Only if you’re comfortable,” Matt finally said, shifting in his seat. 

“I am,” she whispered, leaning forward. “Come here.”

Matt moved closer to her on his couch until his left knee was touching her right. When he sat close enough to her, she grabbed his hand and wrapped her fingers around his wrist to guide him. 

Starting with her hair, she gently brushed his fingers through it. It was soft. Every thread of her hair felt like water slipping gently through his fingers. Matt held his breath as his fingers grazed her neck. He had to close his eyes for this part. Matt gently placed his hand on the side of her neck, feeling how soft her skin felt on his fingertips. Like Braille, he ran his fingers ever so lightly on her skin, goosebumps following his touch. 

He moved his hand to the side of her face, cupping her cheek in the palm of his hand. He gently ran his thumb over her brow bone, smoothing it out. Then he traced his thumb under her eye in a sweeping motion. His gaze fell on her chin. He traced the pad of his thumb down the bridge of her nose, stopping at her cupid’s bow. She gently let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding. Matt gently let out a breath too. He took his other hand and cupped the other side of her face in his palm, feeling her cheeks heat against him. Her heart was pounding in her chest, a steady boom boom, boom boom, he had come to memorize to help him fall asleep. He caressed her chin with his thumb and traced her jawline before slowly running his hand down the length of her neck, retreating to his thigh. 

“Beautiful,” Matt whispered. It was all he could say. 

“Matt…” she uttered his name, trailing off, losing her words. Her heart felt like a cement block in her chest. He swallowed hard, resisting the urge to touch her again. She reached for his hand and placed it on her face, desperate to feel how gently he held her again, something she hadn’t felt in a long time. 

She turns her head into his hand and kisses his palm. Matt moves his fingers to the back of her head and guides her lips to his, a kiss that should’ve happened a long time ago. Her lips molded to his, the taste of her bringing him back to life, filling that empty hole in his chest again. He hoped it had the same effect on her. Her hand moved to hold his face, a plan to not break the kiss. A plan that didn’t matter if it worked or not, because Matt wasn’t going to let go anytime soon. He wasn’t going to let go of her. 

When she eventually did pull back, he only wanted more. 

“Thank you,” she whispered breathlessly, “for letting me in.” 

Letting her into his apartment, or letting her into his heart—both answers were suitable. 

Eventually, she did go back to her apartment, for reasons they didn’t need to say out loud. But it would be a while until they brought up this night again. 

______________________________________________________________

TAGS: @mattmurdocksstarlight @yentroucnagol @danzer8705 @allllium @i-marvel-bitch @babygrlmurdock @writtenbyred @uncle-eggy @marvelcinematiquniverse @sweetbee0108

[speedforce-zoomies]

I’ve seen a lot of posts about the Batfam wearing the others merch recently

So I would like to add for consideration- the ultimate act of acknowledgment from Tim is him adding a sticker of your hero identity on his skateboard (list based roughly in the order he would have met them)

Prior to becoming Robin his skateboard only had stickers of the Batman, Nightwing, Robin, & Batgirl symbols (either NW Dick + R Jason or both for Dick idk if he would but you can’t tell me Dick’s biggest fan wouldn’t have at least consider it lol)

Then he becomes Robin and he slowly starts adding on to it

Oracle & Huntress get stickers added on super quick after their introductions though at the time he might have needed to custom make Oracle’s- maybe Huntress’s as well?

Spoiler hit him in the face with a brick when they first meet so even though he forgave her pretty quick it still takes him a moment to make/add her sticker on. (How long do vigilantes need to be on the scene before people start making merch, do y’all think?)

Impluse gets added on pretty quickly after Tim meets him. Superboy gets added on a while after their meeting because the two annoyed the HECK out of each other when they first met and Tim’s petty like that.

Tim was a bit suspicious when he first met Cass but AS SOON AS he gets over it he’s adding on a sticker. Like immediately.

While he meet Secret before the rest of YJ I’m not sure those meetings would have led him to making a sticker for her but once she joins the team I think he would.

Wonder Girl, Arrowette, & Empress like Impluse, gets their stickers added on pretty soon on after he meets them.

He later makes a custom one for Slobo.

Ray gets one too but not as quickly as the others & both Ray & Slobo get one quicker than Superboy did, relatively. It makes Superboy fume a bit lol in a way he didn’t with the girls lol.

Every time Red Hood is close to get his sticker added he does something that pushes the time table back lol. Sometimes Jason tried adding his own sticker but the skateboard is never where he can find it when he tries.

He added one for Batwoman, BlueBird, & The Question (Reene) because he thinks they’re cool (+ without even realizing that he also felt a communal pull to do so)

It took a bit of time after the whole “I left Gotham in search of Bruce who was lost in the time-stream” thing for things with Damian to settle. Tim added his Robin randomly without any fanfare and Damian pretended he doesn’t care (but he does obnoxiously brag about it when annoyed by Jason to bother him in return)

Tim was MIA & considered dead when Duke became Signal (if I’m recalling correctly) but Dick tells him about The Skateboard and when Tim comes back Dukes already ready and hands him a Signal symbol sticker. Tim is amused and immediately puts it on. Jason is frustrated.

When he starts working with Sparrow he makes one for her.

Also every time Nightwing changes his suit, a new sticker gets added on which makes everyone complain and say they should get more than one sticker if they’ve had more than one suit/super identity.

Tim responds by adding more Nightwing stickers

[boxofbonesfic]

Title: 𝙳𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚕𝚐ä𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 [4]

Pairing: Dark!Ransom x Reader, Lloyd Hansen x Reader

Summary: Your husband’s twin brother has always made you uncomfortable, and after two years of marriage, you finally find out why.

Warnings: Obsessive Behavior, Possessive Behavior, Stalking, Kidnapping, Basement-wife, Gaslighting, Manipulation, Breeding kink, Smut, Darkfic, Dead Dove: Do not eat!

Word Count: 4,609

A/N: omg i’m back from the dead with an update, lol. thank you all for being patient!! i really hope you all enjoy this next installment. i think it’s pretty safe to say… the shit is hitting the fan. mind the warnings! divider by @firefly-graphics​

You sleep so fitfully it wakes both you and Ransom, your husband blinking blearily at you in the dark as he asks if you’re okay. 

 “I’m fine,” you mutter, turning over onto your side with a frustrated sigh. A quick glance at the digital clock on the bedside table tells you it’s after four in the morning. The last you looked, it had been just after one-thirty, and you aren’t really sure where the time’s gone. You can’t get comfortable, and though the pills normally make you drowsy, you find yourself frustratingly awake. Ransom mumbles something you don’t really catch before settling back down again. 

With a huff, you slide out from underneath the covers, and the tile flooring is cool on your feet. If you can’t sleep, you might as well walk. You pull a hoodie out of the dresser, and slip from the room. You squint into the darkened living room, and sigh with relief when you find no one there. On your way past, you sneak a piece of fruit from the refilled bowl on the counter, peeling the banana on your way out the door. 

You immediately feel better outside, taking a deep breath. The air is tinged with salt from the sea, and you suck down grateful lungfuls of it, sighing. You don’t know how to explain your drop in mood after dinner, excepting maybe hormones. Either that, or— 

No. You shake yourself. You’re not going to think about it. Not going to give that tiny, ridiculous seed any leeway to sprout. Besides, you have more pressing things to be concerned about—like the fact that you’ve already pregnancy’d out of your swimsuit. What you had thought was gas upon packing your bikini a few days ago is now clearly something else. You’re just on the cusp of two months along now, and you supposed—rather foolishly, apparently—that you would not yet be showing. 

You glare at the slight protrusion and take another bite of your banana, all while getting the distinct feeling that your belly was glaring right back at you. 

 “You’re supposed to be working with me here, kid,” you mutter. You know that part of the purpose of this trip is to spring the news, but you don’t want to hop on the train to grandparent-town before you and Ransom are ready. Though it’s just a bump, you rub your belly somewhat absently as you stare down at the ocean.

“Mind if I join you?” Lloyd sounds like Lloyd when he speaks. You turn in the chair to look at him. He raises an eyebrow. You want to say no—and you can tell he knows it too. 

 “No,” you say after a moment, biting back the put upon sigh that threatens to escape right after it. Try to get along. Try for Ransom. “Go ahead.” He settles himself in one of the other patio chairs, before raising an eyebrow. 

 “Having trouble sleeping?” He asks, and you nod with a grimace. 

 “Um, yeah.” You nod, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “I think it’s, well. You know.” You point at your stomach, and Lloyd laughs. 

 “Kid keeping you up already? That was fast.” He gestures down at the slight swell, and even though it’s hidden by your t-shirt, you get the feeling he might have noticed it before you did. “I figured they had to be out of the womb for that.” You laugh in spite of yourself, and the sound surprises both of you. You aren’t used to Lloyd being funny. Well, funny to you. 

 “Yeah,” you say. “Me too.”

 “Have you thought of any names yet?” He asks. You have, privately. Ransom had said he didn’t want to pick a name too early—how can we name a kid we haven’t met, Sweetheart— but you can’t help it, looking up baby name lists in secret, going through each letter section and writing down the ones you like in the notes app on your phone. 

 “What, did Ransom not tell you?” You say saltily. “We’re waiting.” Lloyd rolls his eyes. 

 “Yes, but that’s not what I asked. I asked if you thought of any.” Your head snaps up, and you can’t help but look at him, surprised. Lloyd’s observant, you know that’s a quality both he and Ransom share, but you can’t help but be shocked at the depth of said observations. 

 I didn’t know he knew me so well.

 The three of you had known each other since college, of course, but being that you spent most of your time with Ransom—and that hadn’t changed since you’d gotten married—you hadn’t realized Lloyd had had as much time to observe you as he apparently had. 

 “Well, yes,” you admit after a moment, biting your lip as an embarrassed smile blossoms on your face. “I guess I’ve… thought of a few.” Lloyd smiles and leans in conspiratorially.

 “You want to share with the class?”

 You narrow your eyes. “Why? So you can run and tell Ransom I didn’t?” Lloyd scoffs, and has the gall to look offended. 

 “Me? You wound me, Princess. I would never tell tales about something told to me in confidence.” He holds up his right hand and crosses his fingers. “Scout’s honor.” 

 “You never were a boy scout.” You say flatly, and Lloyd laughs. 

 “Fine. Agent’s honor, then.” He stares at you imploringly, and with no small amount of hesitance, you fish your phone out of the pocket of your shorts and pull up the tab. 

 “Well, I… I have them separated, you know. Boy names, girl names, neutral names, I’m sure you get it.” 

 “Start with the boys.” Lloyd leans back in his chair, his hands behind his head. He reminds of you of Ransom just then, and guilt fills your stomach with cold lead. This is a conversation you should be having with your husband, the father of your child, first and foremost. Not his brother. You swallow thickly. 

 “Maybe… maybe I should wait for Ransom,” you say guiltily, but Lloyd waves his hand at you, dismissing your concerns. 

 “Come on, Princess. It’s not like you’re picking now, right?” You nod reluctantly. “Right. We’re family now, aren’t we?” It’s tempting—you’ve been dying to talk names with Ransom. But with him being stuck on waiting until the baby actually comes to discuss it—at least for now—you’ve been shit out of luck. 

 “He’s my husband Lloyd. It’s a little different.” You reply, and he raises an eyebrow. 

 “Is it?” He hums, tapping a finger on the wide arm of the chair. His signet rings clack dully against the wood as he cocks his head at you. Your face heats, and you don’t really know why. 

 “Y-yes,” you say, forcing a laugh. “Very.” 

 The way he says family makes you shudder, like he wants to say something else entirely—you just don’t know what. Ransom would say you were being ridiculous, looking for something that isn’t there. He did want me to get closer to Lloyd…

 “I guess you’re right, though,” You say as you glance back down at the app. “About, um. Family.” Resigned, you scroll down to the first name. “I really like Harlan,” you begin, and Lloyd laughs. 

 “After the old geezer? God, Ransom’ll love that. Keep going.” You’re pleasantly surprised at how enthused you feel at his approval—perhaps that means Ransom will like them too. Heartened, you continue. 

 “Oliver, I really like Oliver. And Devin.”

 “Devin’s not bad.” 

 You run through the list, finding it shockingly easy to talk to Lloyd. You reason that it’s because he’s not showing off, or parading something expensive around in front of you with that weird, knowing smile playing at the corners of his mouth. When you run out of names, the two of you sit in silence for a while, watching the dark water. 

 “I think Ransom will like your list.” Lloyd says after a lengthy silence. “They’re good names.” 

 “Thanks.” The sky is just barely beginning to lighten at the edges. How long have I been sitting out here? You stand up hurriedly, stretching. “I should, um. Head inside and try to get some sleep before everyone gets up,” you say, shuffling awkwardly between his chair and yours to get to the door behind you. Lloyd makes an approving noise low in his throat. 

 “Yeah, you need your baby-sleep,” he says, and when you look back at him, he winks. “You have a good night, Princess.” Again, you feel like he wants to say something else with the nickname, like it has an unspoken connotation you don’t know. 

 “Um, yeah,” you say, turning to avoid his gaze as you shuffle back inside. “You too.” 

 —

 You wake mid-morning, your stomach churning as you race to the bathroom, a hand clapped tightly over your mouth. Acid burns your throat as you empty your after-midnight snack into the bowl, groaning. You lean back against the tub, the porcelain thankfully cool against your back through your t-shirt. It feels good against your heated skin. 

 You grimace at the foul taste in your mouth as you get up, leaning hard against the sink as you splash water on your face and rinse the bile from your tongue. You’re glad Ransom’s not there—his doting is becoming exhausting, especially now that Lloyd is doing it too. Their constant overbearing presence is enough to make you glad you’d woken up alone. The shower is still wet from Ransom’s turn in it, the stone flooring in the stand-up shower warm to the touch.

 The villa’s bathroom is as luxurious as the rest of it, equipped with a jacuzzi tub in the corner opposite the shower. The water is perfect when you step in, and you stand there, absently enjoying the feel of it. The sound of a knock startles you, and you lean your head around the foggy glass divider that separates the shower from the rest of the bathroom.

 “Ransom?” 

 Your husband pokes his head into the bathroom. 

 “Oh good,” he says, stepping inside. “You’re up. I know you had trouble sleeping last night.” There’s a sympathetic note to his voice. “I’m sorry.” You duck back around the partition, shivering at the cool air that gusts over you with his entrance. He crosses the room with long, purposeful strides to poke his head into the shower. Ransom pays no mind to the water as he kisses your cheek, worried little frown working its way onto his lips. 

 “Are you okay, Sweetheart?” 

 You shrug, leaning back into the spray with a sigh. “I’m just tired,” you say, and he nods, pressing another kiss to your forehead. You’re half expecting him to make a joke about you being tired on vacation, but he doesn’t, his eyes dropping down to the swelling curve of your belly. 

 “Well, you’re baking a person in there,” he replies with a smile. “It makes sense that you’d be tired.” 

 You make a face, and he laughs. “Still.” You run wet hands through your dripping curls, massaging your scalp with the tips of your fingers. “Ugh, what time is it, anyway?” 

 “Almost time for lunch,” Ransom says, and you can see his silhouette through the frosted glass as he reaches for the sprayable sunscreen on the bathroom counter. “That’s why I came to get you, I figured you might be getting hungry.” It’s true that your stomach is painfully empty. “And, you know, Linda and Richard are here.”

 You groan, smacking your palm to your forehead with a wet clap. “Oh my God. I’m sorry, I totally forgot they were getting in today.” Great. You and Linda haven’t exactly been close—her gin-doused toast at your wedding had been more of a lament over the loss of her son than a celebration of your union. In fact, the only person in a worse mood at the reception than Linda was—

 Lloyd. 

 “It’s okay. They’re settling in, getting all unpacked, and besides, I told Linda you weren’t feeling well.” You swallow your retort as you turn off the water and force a smile. You know your mother-in-law well enough to know she had most definitely taken your absence as a personal affront. Despite your attempts to deepen the relationship, she’d remained aloof, barely tolerating your presence at the few family events you were actually invited to before the wedding, and enduring your frequent presence after said nuptials with simmering contempt. 

 In fact, you were surprised that she was even coming at all, all things considered. Ransom seems to notice the look on your face and he scoffs, reaching forward to tap the tip of your nose with one finger. 

 “Don’t be like that.”

 “Be like what? I didn’t even say anything,” you grumble, grabbing your towel and shimmying past him. “Besides, it doesn’t matter what I’m like, your mother hates me.” Ransom scowls at you as you plant yourself on the counter, rubbing lotion and sunscreen into your dewy, post shower skin. 

 “She doesn’t hate you.” You fix him with a look, and Ransom holds his hands up placatingly. “She doesn’t. She just… she’s… protective.” You raise an eyebrow as you stare at him, pressing your lips into a firm line. “Look, all of that stuff aside, she’s here now, and I think she’s really trying to meet us halfway. And I know she’s going to be especially excited about…” He trails off as he rests a hand on the swell of your belly. When you don’t respond, he pouts a little, sticking his lower lip out until it trembles. 

“I did it for your father,” he reminds you, and you sigh, throwing your hands up. 

 “Fine,” you relent. You grimace at Ransom in the mirror, and he pulls you close, pressing a kiss to your wet hair. “But I’m doing the announcement. You’re riding high on your locket gift, you gotta give me something.” You sigh, and he laughs. It’s infectious, and you can’t help but smile. 

 “Deal.” Ransom kisses your cheek. “Come on, let’s get some breakfast in you two.” 

 —

 Breakfast—brunch, really—is served on the beach. You’re not sure when the tables had been set up, but they’re laden with fresh fruit, waffles, oatmeal, bacon—too many things to count. The anxiety that grips you at the sight of the small crowd gathered there is almost enough to make you turn around, to tell your husband to shove his deal, and return to the safety of your hotel room, but you swallow the urge. As if he’s privy to your thoughts, Ransom squeezes your hand affectionately. 

 “Don’t worry about it, Sweetheart.” He whispers, one hand on your back as he helps you down the stairs and into the sand. “It’s gonna be like cuddling a basket full of kittens, you’ll see.” You find your mother-in-law in the crowd, her lips pressed thin and brow furrowed as if she’s already displeased about something, despite the fact that they’d only just arrived. 

 Maybe, if one of those kittens is a grizzly bear.

 You offer your husband a strained smile. 

 “Thanks, Ran.” You make your way across the warm sand, dreading every step. 

 “Look who’s up!” Your father is the first to see you, waving as he stands up from the table. He claps Ransom on the back vigorously. “Glad you could join us. This one wouldn’t let us touch a thing till you all got here.” He jerks his thumb at Lloyd. He grins at you over your father’s shoulder. 

 “I thought Sleeping Beauty would appreciate us waiting.” You don’t know why, but you feel guilty about your midnight conversation with your brother-in-law, like you’d crossed into unfamiliar territory. You offer him a strained smile. 

 “Thanks.” 

 You make your rounds, greeting your family as you apologize for your tardiness. Your brother hugs you warmly. 

 “Look at this spread,” he says, gesturing at the table. “Your in-laws go all out.” 

 “Lloyd doesn’t do anything halfway,” you laugh dryly. “I’m just happy you’re here.” You’re reminded of how intense he’s been this entire trip, how focused he is on ensuring everything goes well—almost like he’s the one trying impress his in-laws, and not Ransom. You spot Linda, deep in conversation with your mother, and as you grimace as Ransom steers you in her direction. When she sees you, her tight mouth curves into what you assume is meant to be a smile. 

 “And I—Oh! There you are.” She hugs Ransom, pulling him tightly against her chest. Your husband had told you early on that his mother was not the most… publicly affectionate of people, and as she pulls him  but wonder who the show is for—you, or your parents. “I’m so happy to see you both.” She greets you in a more muted fashion, but you are still unprepared for her over-familiar embrace. It’s a far cry from the last time you’d seen her, coldly wishing you a “Merry Christmas” over a pack of wholesale department store socks.

 You try to smile anyway, awkwardly fitting your arms around her shoulders. 

 “Its, um, it’s good to see you too?” You curse inwardly at yourself for  making it sound like a question, but Linda either doesn’t notice, or doesn’t care as she regards you warmly. 

 “Lloyd’s told me you all have been having a ball,” Linda laughs, clapping her hands excitedly. “I love that.” You nod stiffly, unsure of what to say. 

 “Um. Yeah. It’s been lovely.” 

 “I was just so excited to come, you know family is everything.” She nods sagely, as if dispensing priceless advice, instead of parroting what Lloyd’s been saying to you for four days straight. tWhen it comes down to it, it’s really all we have.” 

 “I, um. I couldn’t agree more.” You jump a little as Ransom rests his arm around your shoulders, but quickly lean into the reassurance of his touch. “Thanks for coming.” 

 “We couldn’t be happier,” Ransom replies, leapfrogging effortlessly off of your awkward input. “In fact, we’re so happy all of you could come.” He speaks louder, and you swallow thickly, knowing where he’s leading you. Ransom looks to you pointedly, and suddenly, despite your earlier determination, you find yourself struggling to speak. 

 “I—um, yes. God, sorry. I’m not good at speeches, you guys know that,” you reply, a self-deprecating little smile worming its way onto your lips. “I’m just, um. I’m really thankful you could all be here. Blending families is never easy.” You look down at your feet. “But I’m so glad we’re all trying. My parents told me that it takes a village to raise a child, so… hopefully I’ve found my village.” You rest a hand on your belly as you peek at your family through your lashes. 

 Oh no. No, they’re all angry, they—

 “Oh my GOD!” Your mother shrieks, before bursting into tears as she charges forward, hugging you tightly. She places her hand over your own, wiping messily at her face with the other. “You think you could have buried the lead any deeper?!” She squats down until she’s face to face with your belly. “Hello in there!”

 “Oh my God, Mom—” Your father’s embrace is tighter than ever, and you can feel his happy tears soaking into your hair. “Dad, you’ll kill us both like this,” you wheeze, and he releases you with a cough, wiping nonchalantly at his wet eyes. Linda hugs you again, pressing lipstick-stained kisses to your cheeks as she babbles about how happy she is to be a grandmother, and you bear it with as much patience as you can. 

 Lloyd clears his throat, holding up both a bottle of champagne and several flutes. 

 “A toast, maybe?” He asks, before popping the cork. As he’s pouring, he winks at you. “Sorry Princess. None for you.” You return his smile thinly. Lloyd finishes filling the glasses, and your families grab them hurriedly as he lifts his own. Lloyd’s eyes find yours. 

 “To blending families.” 

 The words seem to echo in your ears uncomfortably. You mumble your agreement as you look away, twisting your wedding ring with nervous fingers. It lingers in your mind even as you try to dismiss it. Your father clears his throat. 

 “Now can we eat?” 

 You’re careful of your queasy stomach, picking at a few slices of toast along with a few mouthfuls of fresh fruit. As the rest of your family socializes, you wander down to the water, standing with your feet in the surf as you eat.

 “I just wanted to say congrats again.” Linda repeats herself as she comes to stand next to you. “I really can’t tell you how happy I am.” 

 “Thank you,” you reply with a stiff nod. “We’re… we’re really excited too.” 

 “To see my boys be family again… It’s worth anything.” 

 For a moment you’re confused. “I mean, babies do bring families together,” you say, your brows furrowing. Linda shakes her head. 

 “You don’t understand. I mean, how could you? You tore them apart without even thinking twice about it. But this is a new chapter for you—for all of us. I think it’s going to be wonderful.” 

 You scoff disbelievingly. “I didn’t ‘tear your family apart’,” you reply sharply. “You disagreeing with Ransom’s choices—you know what? I really don’t want to argue right now.” You say, smiling tightly. “Thank you for coming. Really.” You ball your hands into tight fists around the rim of your paper plate as you march back toward the table. You toss the plate into the trash with more force than necessary. Ransom rests a worried hand on your shoulder. 

 “Hey are you—”

 “I’m going for a walk.” You grit the words out through your clenched teeth. “I just need a couple of minutes.” Ransom moves to follow you, but you shake your head. “Alone.” You aren’t in the mood to hear him defend his mother, not today. He watches you silently as you about-face, storming off down the beach. 

 You march steadily until you can no longer hear the sounds of music or conversation, following the shoreline until your family are just vaguely people-shaped specks against the sand. There are more rocks on this side of the little cove, and you pick your way carefully across their slick surfaces as you walk. You bend down to sift through the wet sand for a couple of small stones, and you toss them angrily into the water one by one. 

 “Family,” you mutter, watching a rock skip across the water’s surface twice before throwing another one. “Maybe that’s where he fucking gets it.” Ransom’s heavy sigh makes you turn, slipping a little on the rocks. 

 “Careful, don’t want you falling and hurting that pretty head. I need you to tell me where who’s getting what.” 

 You turn to glare at him sharply. “I told you I needed some space.” 

 “I gave you some,” he replies, smiling amusedly. “I waited a whole ten minutes before I followed you out here.” You scowl at your husband, before turning back to the water, hurling another stone into the shallow water with a satisfying plop. “Come on, Sweetheart. Talk to me. I can’t help if I don’t know what’s wrong.” 

 You release an exasperated breath as he makes his way over to you. 

 “You know what’s up, Ransom.” You fix him with a tired look over your shoulder. “Your mother loves to hate me.” 

 “I know.” His soft reply takes the wind out of you, leaving you sputtering at his admission.

 “I—what?”

 “I know. I know she doesn’t like you, Sweetheart. Everything changed after we got married, and… it was hard for her. And for Lloyd.” You roll your eyes at his brother’s mention. 

 “Lloyd? Please.” You roll your eyes. “So what, he had a little crush on me from before you and I got together. It’s been years.” 

 “It was more than a little crush.”

 “Oh my God, Ran. So what? That makes it okay for her to make me miserable every time I see her?” You moan, throwing your hands up. Ransom catches them, placing them gently back down by your sides before he pulls you to his chest. He smells good—familiar. 

 “No, no it doesn’t.” He presses a kiss into your hair. “It doesn’t make it okay.” It feels silly to cry over something as minuscule as this, but you can’t help it, frustrated tears filling your eyes as you press your face into your husband’s shirt. He strokes your back quietly as you sob, rubbing soothing circles into your skin until you run out of tears. 

 “Stupid pregnancy hormones,” you sniff, drawing the back of your hand roughly across your face. 

 “Is that what we’re blaming for this?” Ransom asks amusedly, and you swat at him, still sniffling even as a small smile plays at the corners of your mouth. 

 “Yes.” You nod stoutly. “Get ready for that for the next nine months.” 

 Ransom laughs. “Noted.” He leans down to kiss you, and you let him, sinking gratefully into his arms. He doesn’t stop, though, nipping at your lower lip as he hums with pleasure. You giggle against his mouth as Ransom’s hands find your hips, squeezing them. There are plenty of large boulders sticking out of the sand, and Ransom takes full advantage, walking you backward until you’re pressed against one. You hiss as the cold, wet stone meets your skin, but it’s easy to ignore it as your husband kisses his way down your jaw. 

 “You’re so fucking perfect,” Ransom mumbles, making quick work of the buttons on your shirt. The bikini top you’re wearing underneath is quickly pushed up to allow Ransom to roll your puffy nipples between his eager fingers. He deftly undoes the button on your shorts, and you let him tug them down one leg before he lifts the other, wrapping it around his hip. 

 You whine as he tugs aside your swimsuit bottoms, his thick fingers stroking gently at your already damp folds.

 “Already wet, Princess,” he says with a sultry chuckle. “Gonna blame the pregnancy hormones for that, too?” He drags his thumb through your slick folds, and you stare up at him, your hips twitching as you whine. He grins at you, before popping his wet thumb into his mouth. 

 Princess. You don’t know why it gives you pause, your cottony thoughts slow to connect the dots as he grinds the heel of his palm against your swelling clit. He’s hard already, his cock pressing hard into the soft meat of your thigh, throbbing. 

 “Fuck—wait, Ran—” He kisses you again, sweeping your words away with the sweet press of his tongue. Princess. 

 “Don’t wanna wait,” he growls against your lips, and you feel him fumble between your bodies for a moment before his bare cock slides against you. You can’t help but moan at the feel of it, the thick tip of him pressing enticingly against your entrance. The stretch and burn of his entry is delicious, and for a moment you’re entirely wordless, staring down the line of your own body as he    forces you open. 

 “Fuck, Princess, can’t get over how tight you are—”

 Your eyes widen as he bottoms out, the sharp chords of pleasure cut short as fear takes their place. You stare up at him as terror curdles the desire growing in your belly, his name a fearful whisper on your lips. 

 “Lloyd?”

 He grins, pulling out slow before sinking back in to the hilt. 

 “Aw, Princess,” he says, rolling his hips into yours with heavy, languorous strokes. “What gave it away?” 

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Thank you for reading! Please check out my masterlist for other, similar works, and follow my library blog, @box-of-bones-library for updates. ❤️

[apt502-if]

i’m stuck between choosing L/C/R/M for my first route. as you can see my taste in people always goes down the more angsty road simply because i’ve always liked a challenge. i was wondering if you could list a pro&con about each of them to maybe help me figure out which route to go down first? ~ <333

I'm not sure if I'd be able to do pros and cons since hm but I'll explain the routes and their personalities a bit more deeply.

A: A's route is a lot of will they/won't they. A will not be outwardly affectionate and even during romance, A is more hesitant to do that. It will happen, but they won't be as open with their affection as someone like Cal or L would be. A's moments are rarer but more special, I guess. It's definitely a route of opening up and basically A is experiencing everything again for the first time, so they're a bit nervous.

Rainn: Rainn's route is a lot of yearning. There will be a lot of awkwardness in the beginning and Rainn chasing after MC or vice versa might cause some drama. It's angsty as MC is trying to get over the break up. Rainn will react if MC romances someone else and their relationship does hang over MC's head a bit in every route. Rainn is basically present in every route (but obviously the flavor of that changes and MC can get over it). Rainn also won't be super affectionate in the beginning since yk...they broke up.

Cal: is a love triangle route, and Cal will be torn between what they're comfortable with and what they want. It will be frustrating. I advise people who don't like indecisiveness and slow burns not to go down Cal's route. MC will not get any outright romance until deeeeep their route because of their partner. It's a lot of yearning, longing looks, subtle messages they can't face. It's just a standard love triangle, except Cal is in the middle.

M: enemies to lovers/ rivals with benefits. Like Cal, this is also going to take a bit. Every route is slow burn but Cal and M's (romantically) take a little while. You can quicken that process by being rivals with benefits, which mixes the hatred and the romance in one. M will deny their feelings as much as they can though, so like Cal, they're indecisive for a while.

L: Can not be started without a physical relationship, so in that respect, it's pretty quick. L makes their attraction known pretty soon after meeting, and that part isn't something MC won't know. The romantic part is also super slow burn, as L doesn't want to face they're falling for MC. It'll be a lot of denial and L will definitely be trying to force their attention on other people, which may spring up jealousy (or not). L's route will have a lot of other people involved so if you don't like to see (single) ROs being with others before they get with MC, then....yeah.

G: G is probably the most standard route. You're just getting with a cool writer who has some commitment/emotional issues lol. So it's more that the problems come from when the romance has already started.

[thoseyoulove]

Reacting to The Vampire Lestat - Part II (with a bit of spoilers)

I found out my problem with the narration and description isn't with Anne, but Lestat. That dude sometimes focuses on the most useless stuff instead of telling what is happening or what he's feeling. I'm like, Lestat de Lioncourt, get your priorities (not) straight? But it's not much of a problem anymore now, because it gives me a better idea of who he is and how he thinks, so I appreciate that. I enjoy the immersion, even with someone as chaotic and as distracted as he is.

Turns out when Lestat FINALLY gives me a good picture of things, it's with the WORST event possible.

Remember what Louis said about the little drink? That's the whole experience from the moment Magnus kidnaps Lestat, turns him, kills himself before his eyes and leaves him completely alone. Multiply your worst case scenario by a trillion.

Not that I would want Magnus to stay, God forbid, but the next moment is still pretty bad. You might believe it gets better after his death, but it's not immediately.

Lestat goes from being too frozen to move, to fighting with every fiber of his being and then trying to take it as a positive thing? Which, well, it's a realistic reaction to it, but also heartbreaking.

It's not exactly "rape", but it has pretty much everything a rape can have without penetration? So it basically felt like the same thing to me.

It's quite a long chapter, it's considerably graphic (at least for me), took me over 2 hours to finish it (maybe it was even closer to 3 hours, I don't remember anymore, but I struggled a lot), I kept taking pauses, whenever I thought it was over it kept going and kept getting worse.

It is well-written in the way that makes sense, that moves the story, that narrates and describes what's happening with details, that you can really picture it in your head, that is extremely intense and emotional... But it's obviously not an exciting part.

I feel bad for the way Lestat immediately shifts afterwards and tries to make the most of it. Not that I wanted him to be miserable and feeling sorry for himself, but I'm like, something terrible happened to you and it's okay to take time to deal with it. I'm not even sure he understands how traumatic that was? If he does, he doesn't acknowledge it, let alone admit it. Not even to himself. And it's just frustrating.

Even after I read it, it stuck with me and took me more than a day to get over. I kept remembering it even when I was doing totally different stuff.

It's cool to navigate through things with him as Lestat finds more about how his body and powers operate.

When he went to the village and began to experiment with his powers was fun. Him jumping, cutting trees and whatever the other silly things he was doing and I can't fully remember... It was like an ADHD child high on sugar and sort of cute.

Is that presence... Armand?

You can take the man out of the church, but you can't take the church out of the man (or the vampire), apparently.

This probably isn't necessary, but I want that scene that he sees the house with the family and reads their thoughts? The idea of seeing the thoughts of babies is so sweet... It's not even for him, it's more of a me thing, I guess. I would just like to see it. I don't know. Maybe I'm being too sensitive and PMSing lol. Don't @ me.

Lestat has kissed so many people at this point and he hardly gives details, so I'm like, what are you kissing? A cheek? A hand? A mouth? Is it a friendly peck on the lips? Is it tongue-kissing? Elaborate? I mean, I don't care because the way he does it feels as trivial as a fart lmao. The only one he really has a deeper relationship with so far is Nicki, so I only kind of care about Lestat with him. It's not really a problem, but I just find the whole thing vague and ridiculous lol.

It's not even Lestat that has BPD, but BPD has Lestat at this point. The man is intense, has crazy mood swings, has extreme reactions to things, engages in dangerous behavior, is highly irresponsible with money, has a chronic fear of being alone... I know one when I see it. And vampirism didn't fix it, it only made it worse.

A bit off topic, but there's something about France that is so enchanting? I've always been obsessed with it in some ways, some places, the architecture, the language, the art... It's not like I'm a big nerd or anything, I can't barely name stuff to save my life, but just looking, hearing and thinking about it... There's just some charm to it. I've realized that the simple fact of stories being set in France makes me excited for some reason. I would love if they filmed there and in some of my favorite spots (cough Sainte-Chapelle and Carcassonne cough), for the mere reason it would look gorgeous and they should because I said so. Maybe in a past life I lived there or something, but I've always had that fascination, God knows why.

"Why the hell did Anne write and word it like that?" moment #1, I guess. At least it was fast and I can erase it from my memory.

The book has gotten quite faster and more eventful now, it's definitely better than when I first started it. I hate when it takes too long for things to happen, so this pace is good. And crucial moments happen pretty early on, which I appreciate. It's nice to know I've read some of the most important events by now, even as disturbing as they are. One of the downsides of being in this fandom is not having the full information, so already knowing part of the big events is satisfying.

P.S. Nothing is permanent, opinions might change and this is based on Lestat's narration, which can be unreliable. I'm reading the books so I can find out more about the characters, what potential events might happen in the show, what I can expect etc. This is my favorite show in the universe, so I want to be as informed as possible. I have no idea if I'll become a legit fan of the books or not, but so far I'm enjoying it. I'm posting these comments only for fun.

[makethatelevenrings]

Coexist // D. Grayson x assassin!reader

A/N: I'm alive. This is...a Lot. Maybe taking a break from writing was a mistake lol

Requested? yes but also no. I took an idea and decided to try and rival Usain Bolt with this sprint

Warnings (PLS READ FOR THIS ONE): a lotttt of introspective thoughts, existential crisis, grief, allusion to child loss, reader's past as an assassin, confusing language as a representation of the confusing and frustrating world we live in

the gif is really just bc i need something to break up the wall of text and his face is pretty

Assassin!Verse masterlist

You barely recall being awoken. On the precipice of sleep and wakefulness, you allowed yourself to reside in that quiet place. For so long you lived alert to the latent dangers of the world, but there was no prickle of anxiety on your skin this time. Not when Dick sat so closely next to you.

His hands rested, one on the steering wheel and the other on the gear shift. He had woken you when the sky was still dark, but the phantom calls of birds rang out amongst the stars as they searched for the coming sun. His touch was gentle, as it always was with you, and his words spoken gentler so he didn’t wake Damian who had declared himself your guardian.

The faux leather upholstery was cool against your cheek and you savored the way it soothed your burning cheeks. You don’t know when the salty tang of tears began to drip down your cheeks. Had you been crying for the whole drive? Or had the tears always been a part of you, but only now they were exposing themselves as your mask slowly chipped away?

He pulled the car into a small lot that was composed of a few concrete blocks that functioned as parking barriers and grass trampled by hundreds of feet. Dick wordlessly exited the car and took a moment to inhale before he rounded to your side and opened the door. You felt clumsy and shy, like a newborn foal trying to walk for the first time. What happened to the grace that was instilled in you? It wasn’t lost, you knew that, but today was not about who they had made you to be.

He pressed the stems of the bouquet into your hands and the presence of soft, bumpy earth bit into your skin with a mental sharpness that rivaled thorns. The sharp exhale and inhale of your breath mixed in a tentative dance with the cool air that nipped at your skin. It was bitterly cold. It was practically frozen.

It was a perfect reminder of your mortality. You loved it.

Dick walked in tandem with you. Up the lane, past the wrought iron gates that creaked in greeting, and past the weathered stones and marble blocks that showed so little of so lived a life. He faltered in his steps once you caught sight of the small stone and his hand fell from its careful place in the crook of your elbow. You surged forward and let your heart carry you with all its heaviness.

It wasn’t a conscious decision to fall to your knees and present the bundle of red and white spider lilies, but it happened and there you were. You were here and there. You were the lines of etchings engraved into stone and you were the finger touching the worn surface. Other flowers crowded you as you sank into the unfathomable realization.

Most people (you cannot bring yourself to say all because you are proof that it is not all, and you know others who struggle with this realization) only live one life. There is no guidebook that explains step by step how to proceed in this big, scary world around you. Every person from the barista at the corner coffee shop to your own mother are all experiencing the world for the first time. They are experiencing the profound joy of the simple things and the devastating loss of the greatest loves of their lives.

You are one of these people. You are not one of these people.

Before you sat an epithet to the person you were. There is no space in your mind to consider the life you might have lived if the things that happened to you hadn’t happened at all. But would that have been you? You have had these discussions with Alfred many times late at night, raving at a God who, if he exists, destined you to a life with stains of blood on your hands placed there by people who should have protected you.

The sun crests the hill and bathes the world in an unfelt warmth and it ignites the anger in your veins. How dare these people weep for a child they barely knew? You hate yourself for thinking it. How dare you grow angry at the love of a parent?

They knew you. They don’t know you.

You are two people; a ghost and a mirage kneel side by side on the frozen ground that covers an empty casket. Your name marks the stone, but it is not the name you call yourself. It does not ignite the warmth of familiarity that it does when it comes from the tongue of your found family.

You don’t know how long you stay there, grieving the loss of who you once were and coming to terms with the choice laid before you. The sun has decided to cling to you and despite the chill, you can feel the way it bites at your skin.

It is simple, the answer to your choice.

You were once a child. You are now an adult. These two things can coexist.

But you were once this child. You are now this adult.

The fabric of the small toy seated at the grave is rotten with weather and age. The plastic eyes are scratched, but they gaze up at you with a sincerity you know only in one other person’s eyes.

Dick had been here before you. He laid this small robin at the foot of your grave and you nearly weep at the sight.

Instead, you slowly pull yourself to your feet, draw yourself up high, and let who you once were lay protected and loved.

His hand enclosed around yours and you let yourself fall into the warmth of his embrace. The two of you turn your back to the past and, together, step into your choice.

To live, to love, to feel.

To exist as your own.

You were you. And now you are your own.

These two things can coexist.

Tag List:

@someoneimsure@perpetual-fangirl900@visagebrise@cursedandromedablack@alexxavicry@the-wayward-daughter@raging-trash-of-mind@khaylin27

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

Up next we’ve got the post-season seven stories! (Lol that was some fun alliteration)

🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷 (it might be a BTHB but i’m loving the family feels! Loving chris’s new understanding of eddie but hating how he got it - diaz parents better watch out!)

🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️ (there was only one bed! Seriously buck and eddie really thought it through and this was the only option. Like really there was nothing else to be done. No don’t think about it too much just trust them! 😝 i’m so pumped for this one!)

- PCA <3

Loving the themes!!

45 for 🦷 (Yay! thank you!!!!):

---

“Christopher,” Eddie exhales, voice barely audible. It hurts too much. 

“I thought I’d feel better because they’d comfort me, but all they do is make everything feel worse.”

“Okay,” Eddie mumbles. He takes the tub of ice cream from his son and places it in the overfull basket. Then he puts the basket on the ground. He pulls Christopher into a hug. “I’m sorry, Chris. I’m sorry it happened this way.”

Vaguely, Eddie is aware they’re having this conversation in the frozen dairy aisle of a grocery store. Not, like, a therapist’s office. Which is what he might have preferred. But, fuck it. Chris is ready to talk. 

“It made me sad for you,” Chris blubbers. 

“For me?” Eddie asks.

“Yes, you, Dad!!” Chris snaps. “Because I always had you to make me feel better, but who did you ever have? Did you ever feel okay?”

Eddie is shaking a little.

“You don’t have to worry about that, Chris.”

“But I am.” 

Fuck. Fuck, Eddie doesn’t know how to fix this. He doesn’t know what to do. It’s like Christopher’s brain has matured a big lunging step forward over the summer and he’s seeing Eddie as a whole person and Eddie doesn’t know what to do with that. He’s not supposed to be something Chris worries about. 

“Christopher,” Eddie says. “I… Okay, maybe you’re right. Maybe I’ve spent a lot of my life feeling kind of bad about myself. But I’ve got Buck and Bobby and lots of friends that help me. I’ve got you. Being your dad makes me so happy, okay? So you don’t need to worry about this.”

Christopher makes a small, frustrated noise. “And-and I’m working on it, okay?” Eddie reminds him. “I’m working on feeling better about myself, and who I really am, and not… Not hiding. And it’s going to be better. It’s all going to be better, and it won’t be like this forever, okay?”

---

48 for 🛏️ (There was simply no other way!)

---

“Therapy,” Eddie answers. 

Buck tries not to react. He hadn’t known Eddie was going back to therapy. Despite multiple suggestions from literally everyone in his life. 

“Cool,” Buck replies. 

“Where were you?” Eddie asks. 

“Mowing your lawn,” Buck replies. 

The city has regulations, after all. 

“Oh,” Eddie replies. “Fuck. Sorry, Buck, I…”

Buck squeezes his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. Therapy is more important.”

That same night, the compliments sort of… Well, they amp up. They go from Buck being nice, to both of them being… Well, something. 

It starts innocently enough. Buck’s fault, as per usual.

“You look cozy,” Buck says as Eddie - donning an oversized sweater - flops down on the mattress to watch a show. They’re trying to catch up on old episodes of Hotshots, now that they know Bobby is going to be advising for the next season. 

Eddie looks down at the hoodie. “Oh? Uh, it’s yours.”

“Mine?” Buck asks. 

“Mine are in the laundry.” Eddie says. “Sorry, I can go home and grab more.”

“No, no, no,” Buck blurts. He doesn’t want him to stress or think he broke some sort of boundary. “You look good in my sweater.”

Eddie freezes. “I look good in your sweater?”

Fuck. Why did he say that?

“Uh, yeah. Sure. You look good in every sweater.” 

“Do I?” Eddie smirks. 

Fuck. This is a disaster. 

[badchoicesworld]

Hello hello :)

I hope you're having a good day!

May I request Hobie and Spider-Noir with a s/o who cries a lot?

Not only out of sadness, but out of everything. They're happy? They cry. They're frustrated? They cry. It's just their body's natural reaction to any intense emotion. Even like, if they're listening to a song that itches their brain just right, boom, tears (talking of personal experience, me? Absolutely.)

I'm just kinda insecure about my crying habits lol, I need reassurance. (I cried to System Of A Down and Slipknot, send help)

Thank you and sending lotsa love :)

hobie brown and spider-noir with an s/o that cries a lot !

ok, first i wanna stress that you should never feel insecure about your natural bodily functions- ever. crying is completely natural and a normal way to express any type of feeling, so i hope you gain a little confidence in your ability to feel so strongly :] it’s a beautiful thing

second, you should check out demon slayer in you haven’t, there’s this character that always cries at everything and he’s the strongest ! gyomei my love

third, these are kinda short and i’m very sorry, i struggled w noir

separate scenarios

warnings: crying ?? insecurity ?

pairing: hobie brown x gn!reader, spider-noir x gn!reader

requests: refer to this bad boy

★⋆ ⋆☆⋆ ☠︎︎ ⋆☆⋆⋆★✧

i bet hobie’s one of them guys that gives out great advice about mental health or just in general and doesn’t take his own advice

he’s too cool to cry, he claims

but suddenly it’s not cool for everyone else to NOT cry

also uses common sense and figures that crying is a completely natural reaction when you feel any type of emotion, won’t be embarrassed by you if you start bawling your eyes out in public if you happen to feel happy to be spending time together

he just smiles and rubs your back, shaking his head but in a playful way since this is a common occurrence

does one of those side hug things where he hooks his arm around your neck and squeezes you to his side a few times, talking about “let it out”

it’s nice in a way, he knows that you’re crying cause you’re happy to be spending time with him

he’s close buddies with pav who i can also see crying at a lot of things, man’s not judgemental

and he can of course understand crying at sad things ! if you two are kicked back one day and you’re violently bawling at a movie that’s meant to be a tear jerker, he’s not gonna shame you

he’s probably thinking about how accomplished the movie directors must be/feel while simultaneously shaming the big company who produced it

it’s nothing new and he’d rather not address it directly by asking you each time if you’re okay when you cry, he imagined it would get irritating and make you feel like it’s wrong

so he probably does something to show he’s there, an arm around your shoulder, maybe he ruffles your hair or something if you’re excited crying (i do this w my special interests, there’s no shame)

overall, hobie just wants you to feel comfortable enough to cry at all- this stuff should be normalised after all, no reason to even justify it to begin with

he may even encourage you to cry, get it out your system

he definitely understands frustrated crying, i imagine he’s a man who’s had his fair share of frustrations and sometimes crying is the only way to cope

if it bothers you so much, he might try introducing you to other coping mechanisms that he personally does

encourages you to get into music, play an instrument, do something spontaneous with your appearance

if he ever catches you crying over one of his own creations, the man’s floored with this appreciation

the last fucking thing he’ll do is ever make you feel guilty for crying, he’s having none of that and he’ll silently scowl in such disgust at the people that do

it’s not cool to shame peoples emotions, no invalidation here

if he’s in the right mood and you’re crying for something, happily he might just hype you up honestly

go bestie go, cry your eyes out

noir

someone else who sees nothing wrong with crying- he admittedly associates it most with grief so definitively panics the first few times he sees you crying at anything

but explain how crying is your response to everything and he’ll relax

he’s probably envious of your ability to feel so strongly about everything, since he struggles to feel a thing

the man literally lets matches burn to his fingertips out of hopes of feeling anything

that being said, he doesn’t want you to think like you now get to feel ungrateful for your tendencies to cry at everything since he envies it- crying is still taxing as fuck and you’re entitled to your own functions, he just wished he could take a page or two from your book

nine times outta ten he will probably assume each time that you’re crying out of sadness, he’s horrible at reading the room

it’s a pretty instant reaction from him to ask what’s wrong and assume the worst, man’s is instantly ready to start a fight if you’re crying for something bad that’s happened

makes a really big deal out of hugging you and dramatically wrapping his coat around you before suspiciously listing all of your enemies

he’s more of a “cheer up, sport” kinda guy and is a lot more insistent about talking to him about your feelings

partly because he want to understand the feelings, mostly because he wants to help you

probably cites some old 30’s techniques on how to make your face less puffy after crying if it bothers you- a really bizarre remedy

he’s also heard some more modern techniques, like chewing gum when cutting onions

he assumes that works for crying as a whole

happy crying takes him some time to wrap around his head, but he’ll get it

it’s a little surprising to him at first that you cry at every little thing, but that’s okay

he cant imagine that he’ll ever get over that initial surprise, seeing you cry at all immediately catches his attention - he’ll eventually stop assuming it’s bad, but he does attempt to comfort you each time without fail

you could be crying in such joy and he’ll fail to read the room, strokes your head while talking to you like you’re a dog that’s just had their paw stepped on

thinks he’s helping an incredible amount, has a small ego boost when he does successfully comfort you

he really does embrace it instead of trying to avoid it, which he imagined would be arrogant anyway

he’s envious, overall

good for you for being so in touch with your emotions

★⋆ ⋆☆⋆ ☠︎︎ ⋆☆⋆⋆★✧

IM SORRY THIS KINDA SUCKS IM BAD AT CRYING

[abavo]

My thoughts on the new LMK season

With no (or at least very minor) spoilers

TLDR: Its easy to focus on the drop in quality of the visuals since we can't focus too much on the other aspects of the series due to the language barrier, the english fandom will likely start having a more positive reaction to the season when the eng version drops and we can focus on character interaction and story.

RIP The YT channel hosting the episodes I will edit this post if it comes back up or someone reuploads them.

I'm probably gonna talk about the animation the most as I'll have to wait for the eng version to come out before I can talk too much about the story.

Also all of this is my opinion if you don't agree that's fine, make your own post with your thoughts.

Like most people, I don't really like the new animation, which sucks because WB is capable of good animation (some really good animation) but because LMK wasn't designed for puppet animation and WB was likely pushed to get this season out, the quality suffered. Some of the animation looks pretty good but a lot of it is stunted and some characters look out of place. It also doesn't help that a lot of older animation was reused (for flashbacks and such) which makes it a lot harder to adapt to the new animation style.

I'm not one to notice mistakes in animation so I wasn't taken out of the experience every time a character is off model but if you are you might have a hard time watching it.

The 3D models are also especially rough this season, there's one that keeps appearing (likely due to a tie in set) but it looks bad and it's really jarring

But I think "give workers more time to create higher quality products" is like, the coldest take in the world and I think most people wish FB had stayed or a studio that works with hand drawn animation was picked as a replacement. I think WB can do some great stuff and if they animate the next season I'm sure it will look better and I hope that lego will give the studio more time to work to achieve that polished look.

Pacing is a potential problem I'm noticing as well. I feel like some characters show up for like a minute and then disappear which is fine for some cameos of fan favorites but its frustrating when new characters that showed up in the trailer barely had any screen time (it really sucks because some of them are really cool looking! and I wanted to see more of them)

I can't talk too much about characterization but there are some things that definitely feel out of character, most notably something that happens towards the end of episode 1, I've seen some people refer to this as fandomization of the character but I'd need to wait for the eng version to come out before I can say yes to that. I think it's much more likely they just needed that character to do something and figured it could be a way to show how that character has changed although I do think it needed more buildup maybe that will change when I actually understand what's happening though lol.

Other than that I think the characterization is mostly intact (again will need to see the eng version) but its the same writers so I don't see why characters would act strange. There does appear to be some super interesting stuff that happens towards the end can't wait to figure out what thats about.

Plot is hard to follow (again language barrier) but seems fun if a little generic, I can't talk too much about it because I don't really know whats going on and this is spoiler free

New characters seem fun! Wish I knew what they were saying though! I wish some of them stuck around a little bit longer as some of them are only shown for a few minutes which again sucks! because some of them have really cool designs and I would have liked to see more of them.

[systorytimes]

Heya this blog idea is really cool! I'm looking forward to what other people send in here :) (I hope what I'm about to send in is what this blog is for, otherwise feel free to delete (/_\) ) System Storytime, this one is a bit of a silly one but I want to share it. One of our littles is extremely good at video games, like it's actually wild to me how good they are. Most of the time it's me (the host) playing games and others in the system watching in co-con, and I'm more so-and-so when it comes to games, sometimes I'll be really good at it, sometimes really bad. So a few years ago I was playing a metroidvania with our sister, since it didn't have multiplayer and no mods that added multiplayer at the time we had to take turns and swap the controller. At the time we were stuck on one of the late game bosses, and I did a solid 200+ attempts in a row for about 4 hours straight before finally beating the boss in a stoke of luck.

Fast forward a few months from that, our little decided they want to play the metroidvania with me after seeing some gameplay footage from it while we were browsing Youtube. So we played the whole game again and the whole time I was dreading getting back to that boss because of how difficult it was. Instead of the long and frustrating session I had with our sister, the little beat the boss on their second attempt. I was really proud of them but also lowkey kinda salty because it took me so long to beat it and they made it look like a cakewalk We finished the rest of the game within like a week or so and they also managed to power through the newly added bossrush modes in the DLC that came out a bit before we started our playthrough, and honestly I'm still kinda astonished they managed to get us a new ending because to this day I haven't been able to beat the final bossrush on my own

(could we claim 🫧 as our anon tag?)

Omg, so glad you like the blog idea!! I think is was necessary because we wanted something similar but couldn't find it... No back to the storytime!!!

That's a... Pretty interesting storytime I might say, kinda funny how the little could beat it so easy and you couldn't TT (No offense to you ofc)

This show how different the skills are between systems and it's so curious!!

Hope this little can play all the game they want and maybe become a master in video games, they deserve it (Tell them to teach me, I suck in video games lol)

Little is wild, they're gonna beat world records in games /pos /pf

Guys we have our first storytime AND anon claim, omg I'm so happy!!!

[twistmusings]

Mod Azul I just had the craziest idea. Can I request teaching Octanaville how to drive? Just,,, Octavinelle and cars in general LMFAO??? Would their flying ability transfer to their driving ability? Have a driving playlist on hand? Would they decorate their cars? Idk bestie Floyd could be a car guy... Maybe? Would they listen to our wisened driving advice, or just ignore us? Or fail? Or just completely freak lmao. Would they prefer us driving? You dont have to answer all of that lmao, Im just having a grand ol' time imagining this. They're just so,,,, so silly. Hope ur having a slay day lol <3

I've been laughing at this idea for like a week. I hope your day is spectacular.

Teaching Octavinelle how to Drive.

CW: Don't teach a fish to drive, it will end like if you give a mouse a cookie. Unsafe driving practices.

Azul Ashengrotto

If you value your life, you will not get into a vehicle with Azul Ashengrotto.

He could probably learn how to drive very well if he wanted to, but he lumps it in with flying as a 'surface dweller' thing that he probably won't be doing for all that long, so he doesn't really care to dedicate the time to it. It's pretty common in certain parts of Twisted Wonderland to never set foot in a car, so it's really not that surprising that he hasn't ever been in one.

So he doesn't want to learn how to drive, but would he be willing to give it a shot once or twice to see what it's like? Yes.

He needs complete silence when he's trying to drive because he's focusing so hard. He looks like he might pop a blood vessel and he's white knuckle gripping the wheel. Machines like this are very uncommon under the sea in general. Trying to drive a car for him would be like the average person trying to figure out how to fly a plane. He cannot for the life of him grasp why the left turn signal and right turn signal use a lever that goes up and down? How do you tell the pedals apart? What are all the buttons on the dash?? (One of them looks like the seat with bacon on it? There a button that looks like it's supposed to rotate the car? There's a light on the dash that just says "ABS", what do abdominal muscles have to do with driving?) What in the fuck is "PRNDL"? WHY IS THE ENGINE SO LOUD?? HOW COULD LAND DWELLERS POSSIBLY LISTEN TO MUSIC WITH ALL THIS OTHER STIMULI GOING ON???

His final straw that made him swear to never get behind the wheel of a car was him jumpscaring himself with the horn. He pressed against it not even realizing it was a thing and was so embarrassed at himself that he wanted to hide.

As for being a passenger... he handles it better but not well. He's less afraid but because he's not used to being in something that moves without him being the main method of motion, he gets severe motion sickness.

Azul likes the aesthetic of cars. He thinks certain kinds look super sleek and cool. However, he could never be a car guy, and not just for the reasons listed before. He wouldn't be able to maintain it: it's too messy. Cars use a lot of oil and grease, and all of that would make it extremely frustrating for him to try and do anything with one. Even trying to refuel a car would make him feel the need to scrub his hands because the smell of gasoline is repulsive to him.

Jade Leech

If you value your life, you will not get into a vehicle with Jade Leech.

For the safety of everyone around him, Jade was forced not to get his license. He actually finds cars to be rather cool concept, and would love to drive one.

Jade cannot grasp how to drive in any serviceable way no matter how hard he tries. Something about it doesn't click with him. He brakes like he's trying to strangle his passengers, he doesn't have good speed control, and he is terrible at paying attention to if he's in drive or reverse.

Curbs are the enemy. When he hits the curb he will laugh and exclaim something to the effect of it being "like bumper cars". It should not be like bumper cars. Someone please come get him.

He takes every turn on two wheels.

He's allergic to using his turn signal.

He gets very easily distracted from driving by the buttons on the dashboard.

"It's only illegal if I get caught."

He is also a godawful passenger. He is the biggest distraction in the car because his curiosity gets the best of him and he just starts fucking around with the buttons and knobs.

As soon as he realizes he can, he cranks the AC because he likes the feeling of cold air.

Floyd Leech

If you value your life, you will not get into a vehicle with Floyd Leech.

That being said, of the three, Floyd is the only one who is sometimes a good driver. So long as he's in the right headspace for it, he can drive very safely and responsibly. It's when he decides to freestyle it that you have to worry.

No one can tell him shit. Don't even try. If he's behind the wheel it's trial and error, and that's everyone else's problem. Vehicle operation laws are a suggestion. Godspeed to the brave, brave idiots who get into the passenger seat. However, despite this, he's very quick to pick up how to do it.

He actually does better driving with music. He gets into his own zone and the music give him enough stimulation to make him be able to focus on how to drive well. Plus it makes it feel fun for longer! He could probably last close to an hour and a half in the car driving just by listening to a bunch of fun music he can groove to.

He failed his first time getting his license because he 'wasn't feeling it'. He did eventually get it though! If for no other reason than just in case he needed it in an emergency. (Also to be the get-away driver if they need one.)

He is quick with the horn. And gets just a little road rage. Not enough to get violent but he definitely gets frustrated when people are driving too slow for his tastes.

"It's only illegal if I get caught" pt. II. He's less egregious about it than Jade, though.

No, it's when Floyd is a passenger that he is an actual nightmare to deal with. Being in a car all scrunched up with his long legs and not able to move around or do what he wants? That's basically his personal hell. He gets grouchy and snappy fast, and he will start fiddling or playing around and being distracting. He'll try and stick things out the windows to watch them flap against the windows, fuck around and stick legs up on the dash, and fuck with the radio settings to see what he can find.

When it comes to tinkering on cars, Floyd has middling interest in it. He would find it fun to do it a couple of times but it's not something he would have interest in long-term.

[strawbrygashez]

Under the cut is questions and answers to some otp prompts I gathered. They are for Fillmore x Gnarly bc no one cares enough about the ship to ask me questions about them 💀💀

————————————————————————

• Who fell for the other first?

Fillmore totally fell in love first. I think Gnarly knew of Fillmore but didn’t think much of him tbh. He thought his style was kinda cool and wouldn’t hate talking to him but he just didn’t think much about him. For Fillmore, it was pretty much love at first sight.

• Who made the first move?

While I think Fillmore would have been the first one to try to start a conversation, Gnarly is the one who would have to make the first real ‘romantic’ move. Fillmore is too awkward to do it himself.. and or he’d do something he thought was an ‘move’ but Gnarly misses it because Fillmore is so awkward/weird about it.

I haven’t thought too much about what the first move Gnarly would exactly do is but maybe something like holding Fillmores hand while they walk because Fillmore keeps bumping his hand on his.. hm 🤔

• What personality trait do they love the most about each other?

Gnarly loves how weird and off putting Fillmore is. Gnarly has just always found himself enjoying the company of ‘weirdos’ and loners most his entire life. He also is entertained by how passionate Fillmore is about his interests even if he himself doesn’t believe in all of his conspiracy theories.

Fillmore loves how effortlessly cool Gnarly is. Even taking away the crushing aspect, I think Fillmore genuinely would look up to him in a few ways. Like yeah Fillmore has fun freaking people out by screaming about conspiracies but he also dreams about successfully pulling off the ‘mysterious bad boy vibe’ like Gnarly 💀 but a few things are stopping him.. (mostly the mental illness)

• What are things they don’t agree on?

Conspiracy theories

Extremely g0rey movies & extreme metal music (Gnarly loves them)

Weather preferences. (Gnarly loves winter, Fillmore doesn’t because he always feels cold no matter the time of year. Winter just makes it worse)

The Smiling Friends (Gnarly doesn’t hate them as much as Grim does but he still thinks they are lame)

How many blankets should be on the bed. (Gnarly would be fine with a super thin blanket with holes in it while Fillmore could sleep with every single blanket he can get his hands on in the house)

• Love Language, Flirting Style, bigger tease?

Fillmore in my mind is terrible at flirting. He can barely even do it if he tries. Most of the time whatever comes out of his mouth that’s supposed to be ‘flirting’ might come off as creepy or just weird. Hes better at flustering Gnarly when he doesn’t think of what he’s doing as ‘flirting’. Like when he just genuinely speaks from his heart or puts a lot of effort in to show that he cares about him, that gets to Gnarly a lot more than just some odd ‘flirting’ line. So I guess his main love languages are acts of service and words of affirmations.. OH yeah Fillmore complements him lots :) for his looks, stuff he does, and how.. he smells (ew)

Gnarly is a horn dog IMO!!!!!!!!!! His flirting is really blunt and freaky.. and he’s the ‘bigger tease’ between the two. He doesn’t even need to do or say much to have Fillmore swooning tho tbh. But when he does flirt it’s like.. really just saying what he wants to do with him once they are done with whatever bullshit they have to do during the day 💀 He’s big on physical touch also. Half the time he doesn’t even think about it when he puts his arm around him and whatnot.

• How do they comfort each other?

Fillmore can NOT tell Gnarly he learned his comforting techniques from Pim because Gnarly would probably get even more frustrated that they work LOL but yeah he learned a lot from Pim back when him & Pim were in high school together and Pim helped him through breakdowns and panic attacks.

Gnarly prefers to have space when he’s upset and Fillmore will respect that. He’ll use what he’s learned from Pim once Gnarly has calmed down a bit which usually includes them talking it out. If Gnarly doesn’t feel like talking about whatever happened in the moment, Fillmore is fine with just being there for him and taking care of him.

Gnarly is so bad at comforting others but he tries if he REALLY cares about the other person. In the beginning when Fillmore would have a breakdown, Gnarly would just be like “uh..I guess I’ll head out then so you can deal with whatever this is..” 🤦‍♀️ Eventually when Fillmore starts begging him to not leave him when he’s like that, Gnarly will get more used to at least being near him when he’s upset.. and then he slowly learns that he doesn’t even really need to talk it out with him. Fillmore is someone who just needs help getting grounded in reality sometimes so something as simple as Gnarly holding his hand is enough to somewhat calm him down. And if the relationship gets SUPER serious,, Gnarly will email Pim ONCE to ask for some advice and what worked the best to help Fillmore in the past. He threatens Pim not to tell anyone about the email though. If Fillmore realizes what Gnarly must have done to know what used to help him in the past and points it out, Gnarly is quick to tell him to shut up 🤭

• Who’s more sentimental?

Gnarly tho he’d never admit it.

• What happens if the other is sick?

Fillmore is there for him 24/7. He doesn’t care if he gets sick. Hes either running around getting stuff for him or is cuddled up in bed hugging him all the same if that’s what Gnarly wants.

Gnarly also will get him things but probably won’t be so quick to be all up on him. Hes mumbling ‘ew’ when Fillmore sneezes or something and tells him he looks like shit (so sweet 😍). He’ll leave the door open so Fillmore can yell for him if he needs to while he’s off in the living room doing whatever.

• Do they get along with each others family/friends?

Gnarly doesn’t care much for Pim or the UFO group. Hes not gonna be terrible to them really. Hes just gonna kinda mostly ignore them and would probably just be on his phone for the most part.

Fillmore wants Grim to like him but Grim finds his obnoxious and his romance with Gnarly, cringe.

And if we are going with the theory that James might be Gnarlys brother, James would pick on Fillmore and keep asking stuff like “Where the hell did you find this freak?”

• A song that perfectly describes their relationship?

Love at first fright by Murderdolls

• Favorite games to play with each other?

Mortal Kombat, Postal (they take turns), Guitar Hero, Doom.

• Who uses more emojis?

Oh god. Fillmore. Almost every text he sends has a emoji at the end.

Gnarly uses them mostly in a dad way like sending 👍 👎

• Who’s a light sleeper?

Fillmore. He jumps a lot at every sound during the night. Gnarly has to sling an arm over him to get him to stop moving so much and to stay in bed.

•Pet names/nicknames?

Cringe warning for this. I think it would be funny if Gnarly randomly called him Philly Cheesesteak once, found it amusing and then started calling him Philly or Phil from then on. He has him saved as ‘Philly Cheesesteak 🖤’ in his phone.

Fillmore doesn’t really call Gnarly anything crazy besides sweetheart maybe lol

• Who’s more possessive/jealous/protective?

Fillmore ‘knows’ everyone is just dying to have Gnarly as their boyfriend but is actually pretty chill unless he thinks Gnarly is actually flirting with someone back. If he thinks something like that is happening, he’d try to drag him off.

Gnarly is protective of Fillmore more than he is possessive ?? I guess. Like he knows most people would be quick to give Fillmore shit for the way he acts and whatnot so he’s always on guard in public with him. If someone looks at Fillmore wrong he’ll stare them down until they get uncomfortable enough to look away.

I also can see Fillmore being kinda guillble so if Gnarly thinks someone is trying to mess with him, he’ll have the same protective feeling come over him.

(Ok that’s enough for now.. I answered more than I thought I would 💀)

[neu-apostolisch]

i feel like the conversation gets derailed when people hyperfocus on "but it's an interesting plot!” and bg3 the game, when the point—at least the one that was originally made in the complaints on here—was that it was odd that they agreed that him ending it all in Act 3 was The Right Ending, and the implications that has when you consider how they treat gale versus all the other characters, as well as how they use their treatment of their characters to make comments about those social issues in real life. people weren't upset that they were presented with that rp choice or that such an ending even exists for him; they were upset by the comments of the creators and how they would never say such a thing for gale's mirror, aka a certain vampire. you brought up good arguments to that anon and i don't mean to discount either of your statements i really don't, but people were upset by what the creators specifically said which was yeah in many ways that is the right ending. sorry for continuing to discourse and vent in your inbox lol this isn't directed at you i just liked reading your thoughts so far because you said it better than i could have. i just really don't like how "but it's interesting and not every story has to be happy" and "you're just too attached to gale" get thrown out as rebuttals when that's really neither here nor there and doesn't address the actual issue being raised.

hello! thanks for your thoughts. and yeah, the discourse on this topic has gotten pretty…difficult to engage with, in a sense. that’s what prompted my first post on the topic actually—eagle eyed readers of my posts might find another one where i complained about the discourse only to follow up with a long winded treatise lolol. but i did it because i felt the conversation was lacking a specific viewpoint, so be the change you want to see in the world and all that. i’ve actually really appreciated the responses from everyone on the post/follow up! :)

as a proud galemancer i deeply feel the frustration of all of us. on a personal level, this sucks. i love our wizard boy and he deserves better! the complaints and anger make sense to me. the writers treating him so glibly is rough, but before i talk about it i always try to remind myself of what IS there—which is a really interesting story about a gentleman with some complex flaws, motives, and goals. the writers talking about which ending is “right” cannot take that away, and you should feel comfortable disagreeing with the writers!

to my fellow gale enjoyers and galemancers—i would encourage you to maintain a critical lens but also to continue to enjoy and mine out the richness that is there. sure, that’s a rosy and maybe naive view, but don’t allow the frustration to infect your enjoyment of an amazing character. i am not saying to settle for less, but if you can’t think of gale without despairing at his treatment, you should step away from the conversation for a moment to refresh yourself before you get too stuck in the bog. it’s healthy to remind yourself why you’re here—because you think a wizard is really really cool. he’s got one of the most fulfilling and interesting romances in the game, the unique scenes with him are gorgeous, and he’s an incredible character.

i actually have additional criticisms about how they handled other characters in this game. it’s funny, but a common knee-jerk reaction people have when they read criticism of something is that the critic must not like the writing or the game, so they automatically jump in to argue on that point. on the contrary, a lot of criticism comes from a place of genuine support and appreciation for writing, game design, and narrative structure. but you’ll see a lot of backlash from people misinterpreting that idea or taking criticism personally, so that’s why i’m always careful to state my positives and that i truly love this game. it’s as much a reminder to me as it is a declaration to others. i’m not here because i want to hate on larian. i’m here because i want to chat about stuff to the internet machine and maybe people like you and the other anon(s) will say some interesting stuff back to me.

the right kind of discourse is actually healthy for a fandom because it keeps ideas flowing and circulating, and lets us commiserate together. however, i might just be relaxed because people have been really civil to me so far hahaha.

anyway, thanks again for your ask! hope you have a good one.

[forcebookish]

I don't care what anyone says I hope topmew is endgame and top takes mew away from that nasty friend group 🙏 I know some people like to victimize certain characters but let's be real here they are all shitty friends that constantly overstep his boundaries and I'm sure we don't need to get into all of Boston's atrocities. I guess the thing that gets me is people act like mew always has to carry the baggage of his friends and be the bigger person no matter what but somehow top is the one that is irredeemable and should not be forgiven under any circumstances?? If he wasn't cornered, manipulated, and coerced I would agree but that is definitely not the case here. Anyway this was longer than I expected and I'm not the best with words so I hope this at least makes some sense lol.

you're making perfect sense, anon!

i've seen folks try to say that boston is the "real victim" in his "relationship" with top...?????????? someone made a whole thread on twitter. if i had to say "no one owes anyone sex" once, i'd have said it too many times - but i've had to say it MULTIPLE times!!! what did top even do to boston? tell him he doesn't want to sleep with him?? tell him "stop?" nearly cry (twice) when boston told him that mew might be cheating on him? push him away when he wouldn't let go? wow, such abuse, so victim🙄 top out here literally just trying to stay in his own lane, date a guy, and work on the hostel while boston can't keep his creepy hands to himself😒 but i guess it's boston's god-given right to touch people who don't wanna be touched, apparently😒😒

and people got mad at mew for being "mean" to ray when he was frustrated about ray calling him drunk in the middle of the night. he even says, "i'm not picking you up again." again. he has had to help him out of these situations he puts himself into before. pathetic little meow meow or not, that is a huge burden to put on your friends time and time again. the drama already established that ray tells his friends he loves them when he's drunk, mew had no reason to think that ray was going through a crisis until he actually heard he was crying. AND THEN CAME RUNNING TO HIM!

re: mew's shitty friends (hey, cheum you can stay!), what's cool about the relationships in this drama is how many characters mirror each other, not being the same but being flipped and on opposite ends of the spectrum. the most obvious example is top and mew: top being sexually active, open to new experiences, and LOUD during sex, while mew is celibate, likes to stick to books, and hardly even breathes during sex. and for topmew, i personally think that's a strength!

but ray and boston are also mirrors to each other: ray looking up to/loving mew and boston hating/looking down on mew. and they both kinda ruin his life about it lol

and yeah, i really, really want endgame topmew. honestly, they seem to have the strongest relationship (at least among the boys and including the friendships) in the drama. i can't, and absolutely don't want to, see mew reconcile with boston. maybe ray, depending on how things go down - but i'm so not into the idea of mewray, because it smacks of "wearing him down." he held that torch for years.

i would never say that what ray has done is as bad as boston, but it's another case of not respecting someone's boundaries when they have firmly rejected them. (it's not just because it's not a forcebook ship!!! i promise!!! ...i mean, it is a little bit, of course😅)

and i find it very ugly that it wasn't until top and mew had someone serious in their lives that ray and boston couldn't deal. i've been saying this before the drama aired, but i really think that top and mew would have just had a normal, you meet, you date, you fall in love relationship (even with the drug use, it's not impossible to work through that as a couple), if it weren't for ray and boston actively trying to sabotage their relationship - if they were actually good friends. and the drama seems to be delivering on that theory. seems to be the point, actually.

thanks for popping in, anon! prayer circle for endgame topmew 🙏🕯️🙏🕯️🙏🕯️🙏🕯️🙏🕯️